Dark City

52.

Nathan drove far from the motel, bounding down the highway in a flight of madness. His head was in a fog. He still saw Lacey in his mind's eye, covered in bruises and scabs. The way she faded in and out of consciousness as he rinsed her hair had pushed him over the edge. And then the dream vision brought him back to the truth he had known for days now.

It was what God brought him back for, the reason he was still alive. He was the only one who could stop the monsters.

Nathan's left hand was twitching. Clenching it hard, he screamed into the rear view mirror. He parked outside of his own house, but instead of going in, he walked several blocks until he reached the house with the chipped paint, the cracked foundation and the garden of weeds littered in cigarette butts. There were no cars in the driveway, but the TV was on inside.

Nathan checked the surrounding homes. Lights were off. Blinds were drawn. He proceeded onto the porch of the Serrell residence and looked in the window. Jacob was inside, alone. At night this place would be crawling with junkies, but during the day it was only inhabited by a psychopath who couldn't sleep.

Nathan tried the door handle, which was unlocked. It opened directly into the living room. The windows were dressed with newspaper and magazine pages, light penetrating them, casting a dark, purplish aura about the space. Jacob lay on the couch watching TV and smoking crystal.

    "Fuck you think you're doing?" Jacob said, sitting up.

Nathan ripped him off the couch by the front of his shirt and sent him flying into the floor. Jacob's glass pipe shattered on the tile.

    "Chill out, man! Fuck do you want?" Jacob started to get back up. Nathan kicked him down into the brittle shards and drove his foot into his ribcage again and again until he heard bones pop. He wanted Jacob's injuries to match Lacey's. Every bruise. Every cut. And of course, the bite mark. Nathan pinned him down on the tile floor. The glass pierced the skin on his knees, but in his frenzy, he hardly felt it. He pulled Jacob up, and sank his teeth into his shoulder, carving out a nice chunk of flesh. The screams that came out of the young man took Nathan back to the blind terror of the IED.

    Jacob coughed blood. "Why are you doing this?" He tried to grab a fistful broken glass, but Nathan caught his hand and squeezed. Blood seeped down Jacob's wrist. One twist, and his joint snapped. Nathan pulled and pulled, trying to rip off Grendel's arm like Beowulf.

    The glass sprinkled over the tiles, glistening like rubies. His screams of agony reached new heights and Nathan started to worry someone would hear. He released Jacob's arm.

    Jacob cried out for help, but all he managed to scream was, "Hell!" before Nathan grabbed his head and twisted it around as hard as he could. After the loud spinal pop, Jacob cried unintelligibly, gasping and twitching on the floor. Nathan covered Jacob's mouth and nose with his hands.

    "It will be over soon," Nathan said. He could feel Jacob's tears on his hands as he smothered him. "Close your eyes." Jacob would not. "I said close your eyes!" Jacob grew still as the life went out of him. His eyes never closed. In the silence, Nathan could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his head. All that remained of Jacob, the drug dealer, the cultist, the monster, was the twisted body of a scrawny youth.

Hell.

Jacob's last legible cry continued to scream in Nathan's mind. This was Hell. Hell was the feeling that came with releasing that incredible weight of a human life, being that person, that last person somebody connects with before plunging into the unknown. Nathan pressed Jacob's eyelids down.

Killing was more peaceful than he remembered.

    A phone vibrated in Jacob's pocket. Nathan reached in and removed it, flipping it open to read the text message. It was from Hypatia.

-the cop's kid is in my fucking shower.
he's out cold. I don't know what to do.

The messages kept pouring in. Each time the phone buzzed Nathan ignored the call.

-why aren't you picking up????
-I need you.
-if you don't get back to me soon I'll have to call Liam.
-i really don't want to do that.
-we don't need another Hannah situation.

Nathan slipped out through the back of the house and continued to call Tom as he walked home. He got in his car and tossed his phone into the passenger seat.
Tom wasn't picking up, but it didn't matter.
Nathan had planned on seeing Hypatia anyway.

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Music: "Knights of Cydonia" Muse