Nigel's Demise....

This is just an excerpt from a completed chapter. Blake's response immediately follows in the next entry. Be sure to check out my fan page for more! https://www.facebook.com/#!/jldyersbook

Tuesday 9:23 p.m.

 

It was late in the evening. He had worked the closing shift at the comic store.  He was hightailing it home on his bike in the chill of the night for the mere sake of turning in.  Nigel wasn’t much of a night owl and loved his sleep.  Weekends were different, but it was still early in the week and it was dragging on.  Sleep made time go by quicker.

“Friggin’  Wednesday though.  Algebra exam. Decker’s outline already due.  Come on Friday.”

He spun around North 2^nd Street past the old arcade and several other businesses that had long since closed.  Wondering what they would ever do with these old buildings always got him to thinking of having his own shop of sorts. His love of comics had always encouraged him to do so.  Seemed so easy to him given where he was currently working. 

                “It’s a labor of love so there can’t be much more to it.”

Slowing his speed, he envisioned himself behind the counter on any given day, critiquing the physical quality of one comic and the content of another.

“Superman’s first death, huh?  I can’t give ten bucks. Come on, kid.  It was an amazing storyline but they flooded the market with these things.  Yes, the hype was insane, but you know how it goes with supply and demand.  The market will…“

“Always the daydreamer. “

Nigel’s bike, though slowed to a crawl, let out a loud skid as he stumbled back, avoiding collision.  He didn’t know what scared him more; the sudden encounter or who it was with.

“No way!  KARA!” He faked a welcoming smile. “What are you up to out here?  About as bored as I am, I’m sure.”

Arms folded, staring him down, the girl smirked.  “Boredom.  It does set in more often lately.  I’m running out of things to do.”

Assessing her appearance, as well as her sanity, he put the kickstand down.  “Well, you haven’t been to school in over a week so I’m sure you’ll have plenty to do, Kara.  And why in the hell do you not have a coat on?  It’s freezing! Want mine?”  He advanced while attempting to take his jacket off but she halted him.

“Not quite.  I’m glad we ran into each other actually.”

Pausing at her refusal, the boy tugged his jacket back around and figured humor would lighten the tension he felt.

“I don’t know about running into each other.  I think you’re stalking me.”  His wink was returned with a blank stare.  She held it with silence, making him feel more uneasy than ever.  His eyes widened upon her as he tried to make sense out of this.  Not having seen her in over a week, combined with all the crazy rumors that were going around the entire town about the happenings in Dayton Falls, brought a chill about him that the coldness of the night couldn’t match.

“Kara,  I’m glad to see that you’re ok.  You have no idea how many people miss you.  Especially at church.  You know that Devin…“

“Church!” she spat.  “Now you’re losing any other potential interest I had in you, Nigel.  It’s old and it’s over.”

“What in the world?”  he pleaded in utter disbelief. “What…what do you mean ‘it’s over’?  What’s going on with you?  Have you even spoken to anyone?  Like the police?  Your dad?”  He was getting desperate for understanding.

After a moment of thought, Kara assured him of some things.  “I’ve pretty much kept to myself the past several days…haven’t slept much…hungry though…and now that you asked, I do believe I did encounter a cop at one point.”  The last statement aroused a smile out of her as she gazed off into the sky.

Nigel didn’t know what to think.  “You definitely are not yourself, Kara.  I mean, I don’t know what else to say other than it looks like maybe you need some sort of help.”

Still squinting into the moonlight, as if she was ignoring him the whole time, Kara eventually lowered her eyes to meet his.  “It isn’t help I need, Nigel.  Not at all.  In fact, I’ve never been more certain about what I want in life.  I’ve finally found purpose.  Meaning.”

“You want to leave, but you can’t.  If you leave you will feel overridden with guilt.  You won’t know when or if you’ll see her again and as a result, you’ll blame yourself for her continued disappearance.  She’s sick and needs help.  Get on your cell and call the authorities.” 

Nigel was at a loss for words, yet his thoughts ran rampant.  Kara seemed oblivious to him as she exuded an eerie confidence.

“Come with me?  I’ll show you what I’m talking about.”

The boy attempted to regain control.  “No.  We won’t go anywhere.  Listen.  You aren’t…you, Kara.  You need to get help and we’re gonna get it for you.”

With that, she spun around and ran.  “Kara!  Damn!”  Slamming his fists down on the bike handle in frustration, Nigel hopped back on and began pedaling after her.  Though he had already lost sight of her, he carried onward in her direction, continually shouting her name.

“For God’s sake, don’t lose her.”

Nigel worked his bike like never before and couldn’t fathom how she could be ahead of him, let alone out of view.  But he knew he had to keep going.  He was frightened yet drawn to her.  He pressed on to Jared Court until it eventually led into Samuel Day Park. 

He knew he was still heading in the right direction.  Without thinking, he leaped off his bike and maintained his momentum with a sprint.  He kept calling out to her.  He had not a care in the world how lost he was becoming in the dreary wetness of the forest .

He eventually had to stop to catch his breath.  Collecting his senses, he wondered if the entire thing was all taking place in his head. 

“Did I actually see her?  She’s been missing for eight days now.  The entire town has been looking feverishly so why am I the one to finally find her?  And WHY did I just lose her?!?!” Such an IDIOT!”

“That’s it.”  Speaking aloud, he fumbled in his right pocket and eventually produced his cell phone.  He blew into his hands while frantically trying to push the right buttons…not even knowing who to dial.

“Nigel.”  He whirled around, dropping the phone, but saw nothing.  Scanning the atmosphere with desperation, he knew he heard her voice and that this was not his mind playing tricks.

“Kara, come on now.  Don’t do this.  Let’s go get help.”

Upon turning to his left, Kara was once again face to face with him, no different than she was originally.  Nigel let out an embarrassing screech and fell backwards, to her amusement.

“I thought you would have gotten used to that by now, ya freak,” she giggled.

Scrambling to his feet, Nigel grabbed his phone and held it as if it provided a sense of security.  Once again, he stared at her with a sense of infatuation.  He was always attracted to her.  In fact, he was downright crushing on her for longer than he’d care to admit to himself, let alone anyone else.  But tonight was different.  He was drawn to her for a different reason.  A reason that he couldn’t quite comprehend, but knew it was far more serious than any sort of hots he may have had.  Unaware of the magnitude of this force, he attempted to neutralize things again.

“Ok. Fine.  No more games.  I’m calling-“

“Question.”  He froze again in complete submission as Kara quickly continued.  Clasping her hands together before her bosom, she began drumming her fingers as she began a slow pace which would gradually circle around him.

“Why haven’t you been to church lately?  I’ve never known you to miss a Sunday, Nigel.  And you started racking up your absences long before I did so don’t even think about turning this one around on me.  I want to know what is in your heart.”  She never looked him in the eye as she began this inquiry.  But his focus never left her face.  “I want to know why you disappointed me so much.  You let me down, Nigel.  You can bury your nose in pointless comic books all you want in your free time but to suddenly forsake the most important and most sacred occasion of our week? Do you not love…“

“Now STOP!  Don’t you dare tread on that conclusion!”  His voice had hardened and that earned an equally hard stare from her, as she made a dead freeze in all motion.  After a brief silence she softly continued.  “Where is your faith, Nigel?  Did you ever have it to begin with?”

All attempts to man-up were lost and her sense of confidence sealed the following course of action.

“Friend, I just struck the strongest nerve.  I honestly thought I would have been tested.  Entertained to some degree.  I have you alone, lost, afraid, and I haven’t as much as laid a finger on you.  Would you believe me if I said I can hear your human heart pound?  That heart that holds no allegiance to a higher power?”

With what sense he had left, he turned to flee.  He didn’t know where he was going nor did he care.  Away from her was the only objective.  The kid scrambled about the forest of Samuel Day Park.  Continually crunching and kicking the sticks. “Find familiar territory!  Find your bike!  Find a friend!” 

  He was bumping into trees, stumps and logs, pushing on some as if he could move them.  But it was when he hit the one object that sent him bouncing backwards, shoving all the wind out of him, eliminating all chance of a scream, that he knew complete and utter fear.

Standing firm, a half-hearted brush of her left shoulder, she locked the most intense gaze upon him and then advanced with a stomp. 

All Nigel could do was look on in mortification as she leaned into him.  Bunching the front of his collar, she lifted him up, shoved him back a few steps and slammed his back against a stump forcing a painful howl.

“Where is your faith?” she demanded, seizing his throat with a firm grip.  Grabbing her wrist with both hands, his teary eyes met hers.

“Well?” Her face bearing down on his, she smiled an expression that appeared to be nothing more than playful.  Although breathing heavily, she showed no anger, no frustration whatsoever.  It was as if she was merely asking him who his favorite comedian was.  But it was time for all true colors to emerge.  The smile morphed into an expression of predatory and primitive hunger.  The squeezing began.

”Kara,” Nigel gasped as he tried to reach around her unforgiving fingers, racing about her hold looking for any sort of crevice in hopes of sliding in to pry it apart.  Maintaining his glare into her deep blue eyes, hallucinations came as a montage from her present face….to that angelic smile he once saw across the lunch table…to innocent glances his way in the hallway…to the boisterous laugh of hers amongst her peers in the church parking lot…

The stories, the rumors, the warnings were all linked to the truth that held him down.

He could no longer breathe, the sharp pain was unbearable, and consciousness was fading.  Her smile re-emerged as if this was the first time she learned of her own power as well as his inability to challenge it in any way.  This kill wasn’t her first kill.  But she enjoyed it all the same.

She released the choke just before he slipped away.  With the same hand she ripped his collar across his right shoulder. 

Gasping all the welcoming air he was allowed, Nigel managed one final plea. 

“Kara, please.”

“Oh, I will.”

His blurred vision didn’t mistake the bright pink in her eyes for a hallucination. Then her face vanished from view and he could feel the sickening coldness of her mouth around his neck.  Taking a deep breath, he knew that he would be Dayton Falls’ next obituary but he also wondered if this was the price he was paying for never having the necessary faith that their religion commanded. 

“Did Kara ever believe?  Was this her price as well?”

Thoughts came in rapid succession but were interrupted with the delivery of her bite as her teeth sunk in as far as they could go.

Fear, they say, is merely instinct taking over the body as its means to survive.  However, some who are capable of accepting death the moment they know it’s unavoidable, regardless of timing and circumstance, can lose that fear.  Die with dignity, perhaps. 

Knowing that he was dying by the hand of a creature that was previously perceived as fictitious, Nigel didn’t believe in anything else.  Therefore, the last thing he ever knew, as his life was being drained from him, was undeniable despair.  And he was petrified to the very end.

 

Reviews

[ms. barrie]

This is brilliantly written, very descriptive, the imagery your words... captured me in a web, very intriguing, enjoyable read. Looking forward to reading more of this. Thanks for sharing :)

[Jason Dyer]

Thanks girl! Yes, plenty more being developed as we speak.

[ms. barrie]

write on, right?

[Jason Dyer]

Always.

[KAOlmsted]

Okay. I read through this and a lot of it is good. I'd like to chew on it for a while before offering a review, though, because I have some suggestions and not a lot of time right at the moment to offer them. I will be back.

[Jason Dyer]

Thank you for reading. I'm comfortable with the direction and message but not so much the flow of it. Either way I know there's more work to be done! lol I look forward to your thoughts.

[Hanhil]

I noticed a mistake there where Nigel berates himself. Its wriiten "and idiot" and I think you mean to use the word "an". This is interesting. Where can I read the full novel?