Clickers III (22 page)

emotion that seemed to drift out of the vertical pool of water. Whatever it was, the sensation filled her with dread. She sensed a vast, cruel intelligence, and realized that it was aware of her presence. Indeed, it seemed to be aware of
all
of them. The entity projected psychic waves of annoyance and hate that seemed to crash over her. Jennifer’s head began to hurt—a deep, piercing ache that throbbed behind her left eye. Wade rubbed his temple and she assumed he was feeling it, too.

Josel stepped past the captives and spread his hands in a welcoming gesture. The Dark Ones stopped, staring at him with their yellow, unblinking eyes. The boy chattered something at him. Although Jennifer couldn’t understand the words, there was no mistaking the tone. The youth was angry for some reason. He seemed displeased with the old man’s presence. His voice rose in pitch and he gestured wildly with his hands, pointing at Jennifer, Keoni, Ed, Susan and Wade and then back to Josel. The Dark Ones and the scientists watched the exchange. Anger and impatience flashed across Josel’s features. He snapped something at the boy and shook his fist. The two began to argue in their native tongue.

Wade leaned closer to Keoni and whispered, “What are they saying?”

“The boy was leading the Dark Ones to us. The big one there?” Keoni pointed at the largest Dark One. “Apparently, he’s the leader. The boy referred to him as the Elder. It seems he’d promised to lead the Elder to us in exchange for them sparing his life. He’s not happy that Josel beat him to it, and he’s even less happy that Josel intended us to be snacks for Dagon.”

The argument between Josel and the boy grew more heated. Jennifer watched as the Elder and the other Dark Ones grew increasingly impatient. The two natives seemed oblivious to their human and reptilian audience. Josel curled his hand into a fist and raised it as if to strike the boy. The young man bared his teeth and glared at him.

Releasing a sudden hiss that reminded Jennifer of a hot steam iron, the Elder stepped forward and seized the youth by the back of the neck. Startled, the boy yelped. His eyes went wide and his mouth gaped as the lizard man’s curved talons ripped through his flesh. Jennifer and the others screamed and gasped as the Elder plunged its hand into the wound, burrowing deep into the boy’s flesh. The young native’s eyes rolled white in his head, He shuddered and jerked like a puppet on the end of the Dark One’s hand. Then, with one mighty pull, the Dark One wrenched the boy’s spine from his back and raised it over his head. There was a sound like breaking sticks accompanied by other sounds, wet, splashing, as the boy’s ribs were broken. Jennifer felt drops of warm blood splatter her face when the boy’s spine was yanked out of his body amid an explosion of blood. The youth crumpled to the floor, dead. The Elder swung the gory prize, using it to whip Josel across the face. The other reptilians laughed.

“Now or never,” Jennifer yelled. “Go!”

She placed both hands against Josel’s back and shoved the traitor out of her way. Squawking and off-balance, Josel stumbled forward and crashed into the group of Dark Ones. They leaped out of the way and as they scattered, Jennifer took advantage of their momentary confusion and darted toward the tunnel. She heard Wade and the others running along behind her, but didn’t risk turning around.

Josel floundered against a Dark One. As Jennifer ran past them, she saw the creature push Josel away with one hand. Its other hand clutched the hilt of a long iron trident on which Josel had been impaled. The weapon was buried deep in the old man’s chest. Blood trickled from Josel’s open mouth and nose. The three prongs came free with a wet sucking sound, and Josel tumbled to the stone floor.

Jennifer charged past the still confused Dark Ones and plunged into the corridor. The enraged creatures roared and hissed. A hand fell on Jennifer’s shoulder and she nearly screamed.

“It’s me,” Wade yelled. “Keep going.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. Jennifer ran, focusing solely on picking her feet up and putting them down again. Her legs pumped. Her heart pounded. Blood thrummed in her ears.

“Wait!” Susan’s voice echoed down the corridor. “Ed and Keoni are still back there.”

Jennifer risked a backward glance. Sure enough, the Dark Ones had closed ranks again at the tunnel mouth. She couldn’t see Ed and Keoni, but she could hear them screaming. Then, before she could process what to do next, several of the creatures gave chase, speeding down the corridor after Wade, Susan and herself. Turning, Jennifer fled, abandoning any hope of saving Ed or Keoni, and not caring if Wade and Susan followed her. Driven onward by primal fear, she plunged into the shadows and the darkness swallowed her whole.

***

Ed Steinhardt and Keoni Mumea stood close together, with Dark Ones closing ranks behind and in front of them. Several Dark Ones had taken off in pursuit of Jennifer, Wade, and Susan, leaving the others to block the only exit. In the center of the cavernous room, the rectangular pool of water began to pulse. That was the closest Ed could describe it; the water contained in the strange rectangle had been calm, but now

it began to lap at the sides, as if some-thing within was disturbing it. Ripples and rings surged through the liquid. Simultaneously, the strange, unseen presence seemed to grow stronger.

“
Oi Sole
!” Keoni’s tone of voice was frantic. “
Oi Sole! Oi Sole!
”

“Oh my God is right,” Ed said.

Keoni’s eyes were wide with fright. “I can’t believe Josel. He fooled us the entire time.
Ufakomo pukio!
”

The boy lay on the ground behind them in a rapidly spreading pool of blood. Lying next to him, the village witch doctor—Josel—lay on his back. Despite the wound in his chest, he was still alive. His searching eyes lit on the advancing Dark Ones and grew wide as the creatures drew closer.

“
Ia! Ia!
” Josel wheezed. Blood poured from his mouth with each syllable. “
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn
.”

“That, I can’t translate.” Ed took a step closer to Keoni as the Dark Ones advanced. “What do we do?”

“We fight,” Keoni whispered. “Get ready to run.”

“
Cthulhu fhtagn
.” Josel breathed, his eyes wide with rapture. He let out one last rasping breath, held it, and was still. His eyes held a look of sheer reverence.

“
Ga’o!
” Keoni said. He nudged Ed in the side with his elbow and pointed at the rectangular object in the center of the cavern. “Look!”

The water inside the rectangular was splashing harder now. It looked to Ed as if something was stirring the water around. As they watched, the churning of the water grew more frenzied, white foam splashing the invisible barrier. The rings and ripples grew wider.

“Never mind that,” Ed gasped. “We’ve got more important things to worry about.”

The big lizard-man stepped away from the circle of Dark Ones and fixed Ed and Keoni with its glare. Ed couldn’t help but take in its majestic stance. There was an intelligent cunning in those eyes, and as he looked at the creature he realized he was gazing at a being that was older than any creature he’d ever studied. Despite his over-whelming fear, Ed couldn’t help but feel a sense of dismay that he would not leave this island alive. With that thought, he couldn’t help but feel regret that he would not be able to share what he learned about the Dark Ones with other people…and perhaps warn them.

The Dark One raised one spade-shaped claw and pointed at them. It spoke in the same guttural tongue Josel had used. As it spoke, the pressure inside the chamber grew, along with the splashing inside the rectangular.

Ed winced, feeling his eardrums pop. His head throbbed with pain. Beside him, Keoni shut his eyes tight and hunched over. “
Ga’o, kefe!
”

The tall Dark One, the one Keoni had identified as the Elder, continued chanting in that strange guttural tongue, and as it did, Ed recognized a pattern in its speech. It was repeating the same thing Josel had said as the old man laid on the ground. “
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn
.”

“What does that mean?” Ed whispered.

“I don’t know,” Keoni said. He was regaining some of his old bravado. Though still scared, some confidence was creeping back into him. “But I don’t want to stick around to find out.”

“I don’t either.”

“Let’s make a break for it, while they’re chanting.”

Ed looked around desperately. The Dark Ones crowded closer, tridents and spears raised menacingly. The Elder stopped its trilling chanting and the air seemed to grow still, as if whatever in the rectangle had suddenly stopped giving out its power; that’s what Ed felt, at least. He was certain the weird vibe he was getting was coming from that thing. The sloshing water was slowing down, as if whatever had been making the waves within it had stopped.

One of the Dark Ones raised a trident over its head and charged. Ed and Keoni yelled simultaneously, ducked, and darted forward. The trident flew over their heads and crashed with a loud clang onto the stone floor at the base of the rectangle. As it hit, Ed felt the air begin to shift again just as he and Keoni dived toward the opening—right into the arms of two large Dark Ones.

When his children were younger, back before they’d moved out and gotten married and had children of their own, Ed had taken them to the zoo one summer day. His son had been mesmerized by the reptile house, and they’d spent half their visit looking at the snakes, iguanas, monitor lizards, and other reptiles. Ed had never forgotten the smell—a peculiar, heady, almost
wet
odor. The Dark Ones smelled like that, too. The stench grew stronger as the creatures clutched him tight in a deadly embrace.

He glanced over at Keoni and saw that his monstrous captor had lifted him off the floor by his balls. Ed closed his eyes and whimpered as the pressure around him increased.

Keoni screamed.

Ed wasn’t even aware he was screaming. He felt some-thing warm and wet flood over him and he was trying to run away. He knew

his legs were moving, but when he opened his eyes again and looked down, he saw that they were gone. A stream of gore jetted out of the lower half of his body and he caught a brief glimpse of his waist and upper legs as they became the subject of a tug-of-war between two Dark Ones. Ed could only watch as the creatures fought over the limbs, pulling them apart the way children would tear apart a wishbone at Thanksgiving. The bones came apart in a wet snap, and then Ed was lifted off the ground higher, a vice-like grip tightening across his chest. Ed struggled against the creature’s grip as it held him at eye level. He was dimly aware of Keoni’s screams, which were abruptly cut off as the man’s head was severed and flew through the air amid a spray of blood. Keoni’s head smashed against one of the hideous statues and bounced on the cavern floor. Blood ran from his ears.

The Elder grinned at Ed, sporting rows of jagged teeth. The pressure in the room grew heavier. Something roared—something that was not a Dark One or a Clicker. The last thing Ed saw before his eyes closed for good was the sloshing water inside the rectangle growing more frenzied as something else appeared within its depths.