Clickers III (30 page)

“We just wanted to help.” Clark’s tone was sullen.

Tony nodded. “And by the look of things, Ruby could have used our help. Tell me something, Amethyst. Does it even fucking bother you that she’s dead?”

“No more than it bothers you, Tony. Ruby knew the risks from the moment she was initiated into our organization.”

Tony started to respond, but his reply faltered as the Elder grunted with pain. He, Clark and Amethyst turned toward the strange confrontation. Veins stood out in Diamond’s head, and his face was beet red. His body shook as if in the grip of an epileptic seizure. The same thing was happening to all four of the Dark Ones. They collapsed to the floor, quivering and thrashing in obvious agony. Spittle flew from their mouths. Their tails slapped the ground. Their talons raked against the rocks.

“
Ph’nglui
,” the Elder croaked.
“Mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn
.”

Diamond’s seizure increased. A low moan escaped his lips.

And then the four Dark Ones were turned inside out.

Tony, who was no stranger to gruesome deaths, gasped out loud, recoiling from the wet, red explosion. One second, the Dark Ones were lying on the ground, eyes rolled into the backs of their heads, muscles tensed in pain. The next, their organs and innards were on the outside. They quivered for a moment longer, and then lay still.

Sighing, Diamond relaxed. He seemed weakened and disoriented from his ordeal. He glanced over at them. Blood ran like tears from the corners of his eyes, and dripped from his nose, ears and mouth, as well. He wiped the sweat from his brow with one hand. Then he took a wobbly step forward.

“Finished,” he gasped.

“Well done.” Amethyst nodded at Tony and Clark. “Okay, gentlemen. It’s show time.” The pain in Tony’s head flared brighter. Wincing, he flexed his shoulders and tilted his head, cracking the joints in his neck. “What do we—”

A series of surprised shouts and screams interrupted him.

“Shit,” Tony said. “That’s Jennifer!”

***

Jennifer’s heart raced as she listened to the clicking sounds draw closer. At first, she had assumed it was a Clicker, but after a few seconds, she realized that this sound was different from the telltale noise the mutant crustaceans made with their pincers. It was softer. More sedate. Susan giggled again, and Jennifer clamped her hand over the woman’s mouth. Susan didn’t struggle. Instead, she snuggled close to Jennifer and remained still.

“What is it?” Wade’s eyes were wide. His voice was barely a whisper.

Jennifer shook her head.

“Talons,” he mouthed. Then, louder, “It’s a Dark One. One of them must have slipped past the others.”

“Be quiet,” Jennifer urged.

“I can’t. My fucking head—God, it hurts. Can’t seem to think straight.”

The clicking sound ceased. Jennifer glanced around, peering into the darkness. The tunnel had grown noticeably lighter. The source seemed to be the main chamber. She wondered what was happening. The gunshots had stopped, as had the wind, and she couldn’t hear Tony or his friends anymore.

“It must be over,” Wade said, after a moment. “Maybe our heads will stop hurting now.”

Jennifer hoped that he was right. Her temples throbbed as she fought against what felt like a raging migraine. She removed her hand from Susan’s mouth. Susan remained where she was, pressed up against Jennifer’s side. Wade sat huddled beside both of them. For the first time Jennifer was aware of the scent of their sweat; it clung to them like a miasma, and it was hard to tell whose body odor she was smelling.
Probably mine
, she thought.

Wade looked out around the rock. “Maybe we should join the others. What do you think? Would Tony be—”

He stopped in mid-sentence and made a surprised, clicking noise in the back of his throat. Slowly, Wade looked down at the ground. Jennifer followed his gaze…

…and screamed.

Wade’s index and middle fingers had been severed at the first knuckle by a diminutive Clicker no bigger than a housecat. The tiny creature feasted on the bloody digits while another scampered over Wade’s foot and slashed at his pants leg.

How could they be that small
? Even as she thought it, Jennifer realized the truth.

“Oh my God,” Susan yelled, verbalizing Jennifer’s thoughts. “They’re babies. Oh, how cute.”

Four more of the infant Clickers—the smallest of which was no bigger than a human hand—skittered out of a crevice in the wall and crawled over Susan’s legs. She reached for them happily as Jennifer sprang to her feet.

Wade’s shock turned to shrieks as one of the baby Clickers disappeared beneath his pants leg and crawled up his leg. Before Jennifer could stop him, he turned and ran into the darkness, heading back the way they’d originally come, heedless of the danger. She glimpsed him beating at his knee as he fled.

“Oh God,” he wailed. “Oh, Jesus, it’s stinging the fuck out of me. It’s crawling toward my—”

His cries became garbled echoes. Seconds later, they were lost beneath Susan’s laughter. She tilted her head back and giggled as the Clickers reached eagerly for her breasts. Four sets of pink pincers hovered in the air—and then latched on.

Susan’s laughter turned to screams.

Jennifer screamed too as she ran toward the main chamber.

***

Right before Jennifer’s scream, Clark had been idly wondering what they’d do once Dagon had been stopped. Surely, there were more Dark Ones within this maze of tunnels and caves. They also had to contend with the Clickers that were still running rampant topside. Clark wasn’t sure if they had enough firepower to handle all those. They needed more reinforcements. They needed what they’d had in DC—they needed a battalion of soldiers with the latest in weapons and technology at their disposal.

When this is over and we get out of here, somebody needs to tell President Livingston to nuke this fucking island
, Clark thought as he quickly ejected a magazine and slapped in a fresh one. He had no doubt that if they made it out, they would be leaving dozens, if not hundreds of Dark Ones behind. There were just too many of them.

“Finished,” Diamond groaned.

Amethyst nodded. “Well done.”

Averting his gaze from the inside-out Dark Ones, Clark’s eyes fell on the toppled statues. In addition to a series of seemingly identical carvings that seemed to depict a winged thing with numerous tentacles, there were others. Some were immense, others small. They were all of various figures, some loathsome and painful to look at. Almost indescribable. One looked like a hideous blob with hundreds of mouths all over it, sprouting hoofed tentacles. Another figure also sported tentacles but was also winged and had two giant horns sprouting from its three heads. Looking at them for any length of time made Clark’s headache even worse, so he refrained and concentrated on the task at hand. The fillings in his teeth ached.

“Okay, gentlemen,” Amethyst said. “It’s show time.”

“What do we—”

A series of screams interrupted Tony.

“Shit,” he said. “That’s Jennifer!”

Clark wheeled toward the entrance, his weapon at the ready. Jennifer ran into the chamber, sobbing.

“What’s wrong?” Clark yelled. “What are you doing in here?”

“There’s a little one after me!”

“A little what?” Amethyst asked.

“A baby Clicker. They killed Susan. And Wade ran off.”

Amethyst didn’t seem bothered by this news. “It’s okay. The Clickers won’t enter this chamber. Even with their rudimentary intelligence, they know this is a place of great power, and they fear it. As for the Dark Ones, with the Elder dead, the rest of them will retreat back into the ocean.”

“How will they know he’s dead?” Clark asked.

“Believe me, they’ll know. Just to make sure, I’ve sent the image to them. Think of it as mental email, CC’ing every one of them in these tunnels.”

“Telepathy?”

Amethyst nodded. “Something like that. Very good, Mr. Arroyo.”

“What about Wade?” Jennifer asked, coming to stand beside Tony.

“And not to mention ol’ tentacle face.” Tony pointed at the portal. “You were insistent we finish up here. Tell me what I need to fucking do already, and then let’s get the fuck out of here. My head is killing me.”

“Very well.” Amethyst nodded as if satisfied. “Mr. Arroyo, I’d like you to stand next to the portal, if you’d be so kind?”

“Why?”

“Because it is absolutely essential that we all be in place before Tony begins.”

Clark met Tony and Jennifer’s eyes. Then, with a shrug, he took his place as indicated. He suppressed a shiver as he turned his back to the hovering rectangle. Water slopped out of the doorway and onto his feet.

“Ms. Wasco, you are welcome to join him if you like.”

“Screw that.” Jennifer slid closer to Tony. “I’m not getting anywhere near that thing.”

“Suit yourself.” Amethyst turned back to the hovering portal and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a fistful of something—Clark thought it might be salt or flour—and sprinkled the substance on the ground. Then he spoke again.
“Eloim shammanta. Barra, Gigum xul.

Barra, Maskim xul. Ia idimmu, descente Leviathan.”

His voice had changed. Clark thought it sounded harsher—more strained. Clark noticed that as Amethyst spoke, the pain in his head increased even more. He reached up with one hand and rubbed his temple.

“It will pass soon,” Amethyst told him. “As soon as the entryway is closed.”

“What now?” Tony asked. His tone was impatient.

“The rest is easy,” Amethyst told him. “I’ll recite some words for you. Pay attention, because you’ll need to repeat them. Okay?”

Tony nodded. Clark and Jennifer shifted nervously.

“You must say
Ia verminus Leviathan. Ia destrato Leviathan. LEVIATHAN.”

“Gesundheit.”

“Please, Tony. No jokes right now. Pay attention.
Ia verminus Leviathan. Ia destrato Leviathan. LEVIATHAN.
Can you remember that?
”

Tony mouthed the words to himself and then nodded. “Yeah, I got it.”

“Correct. Once you have finished, you’ll need to say, ‘I bind and banish you according to the Law. You may not pass through the door. Go now and bother this Earth no more.’ Can you remember that, as well?”

“I’ve got it. So all I have to do is repeat that bullshit? How come you saying them just now wouldn’t work?”

“Because I am not one of The Seven. You are. And because there is something else you must do in conjunction with the words. Something that I cannot do myself. Something that only the person reciting the words can do.”

“And what’s that?”

“A sacrifice must be made. You’ll have to kill Mr. Arroyo.”

“What?” Tony sounded incredulous.

“All you have to do is say the words, kill Clark, and then repeat them again.”

“Is that all?”

Startled, Clark took a step forward. “Now hold on just a goddamn minute.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Diamond moving toward him. Clark raised his rifle and pointed it at Diamond. Diamond gestured at the weapon. Suddenly, the M16 grew hot in Clark’s hands. He dropped it, hissing with pain. The rifle clattered to the floor.

“No,” Amethyst said. “Our time is up. Summoning Dagon requires a sacrifice. Reversing the ritual requires one, as well. Kill him, Tony, and let’s be done of this whole thing.”

Slowly, Tony brought his rifle up. His expression was stone; his gaze was hardened.

Clark said, “Shit.”