Bonfires Burning Bright by Jeremy Bishop, Kane Gilmour Page B
Authors: Jeremy Bishop, Kane Gilmour
Tags: Horror
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space, but each was currently blocked by twenty-foot-high metal gates with crisscrossing bars, each as thick as Griffin’s arm.
A booming crash came from behind, and Griffin skidded the ATV to a stop, the rear wheels spinning him around.
Another gate had dropped into place, sealing Griffin in. He hadn’t seen where it had been concealed above the walls, as he’d come in. His eyes had been captivated by the clearing. He knew he was being led, but he had continued to believe—perhaps foolishly—that he was the hunter, not the hunted.
Behind him came another crashing noise, this one softer than the falling gate. Griffin turned to see that Skull-Eyes had leapt from the top of the wall and into the arena, landing in a crouch on his reptilian, clawed feet, his long tapering tail extended backward for balance. In his massive snake-armored hand, he held a long black lance, which he let fall to the ground behind him, as he stood to his full height. He was easily twice as tall as Griffin, his white dragon skull stretching out in front of him and casting his neck in shadow. As he stood and stretched, the skull’s long teeth slipped out of the giant’s chest with a slurp, oozing blood. Then he relaxed, and the massive canines slipped back into place, stemming the blood flow and holding the skull in place. Just like in Griffin’s dreams and paintings, the creature had human skulls placed where his pupils should have been.
Griffin stepped off the ATV, and reached back, into the backpack, his eyes never wavering from the towering foe in front of him. His hand found the collapsible javelin and he pulled it out. In seconds, the javelin expanded to its full five foot length, wickedly sharp metallic tips snapping into place at either end.
With a degree of practiced calm that would unnerve most foes, Griffin strode toward the monster.
22
Helena Frost had heard all the theology she could stand. “Listen, Ellison. I really don’t care who has a bigger Bible. I want—”
“I know, Sheriff. I know what you want. You want to stop it. To turn it off, and send us back. I know.” He shook his head with a grin.
Frost didn’t understand. She had the upper hand. Barnes was down, and the old man wasn’t armed. “If you think I won’t shoot you—”
The man held up a hand. “I believe you. But I cannot stop the—what do you all call them?— shifts between dimensions. I do not know where we are going next. I do not know if it is even possible to get back. Nor do I know how many more shifts there will be before we reach our glorious destination. It is all uncertain, which is why the US government pulled their support. They could not control it.”
Now it was Dodge’s turn to be outraged. “Are you telling me you have no idea what you’re doing?”
Ellison’s grin was subtle, but unnerving. “Now you begin to understand. Even if we could return to the dimension from which we departed, would you recognize it? How would you know for sure? I have been watching. You have encountered things and even people beyond the borders of town. Some of these dimensions are very similar to our own. How would you know for sure that you were home?”
Turkette leaned against a wall, her rifle leveled toward Ellison, but her eyes minding Barnes, on the floor.
Frost began pacing around the room. “Can we disable the shifts? At least control when they happen, so we’re better prepared for them?”
“No,” Ellison shook his head and folded his hands on his lap on top of a blanket covering his legs. “The process is completely random. The shifts happen when the computer decides to make them happen. I hope you appreciate the magnetic leash on the church bell. You at least have that warning. I do not control the machine. I barely understand it. I am intelligent, yes, but dozens of scientists worked on different parts. It was all compartmentalized knowledge, you see. I do not run it from here. I just watch what happens.”
Dodge
A booming crash came from behind, and Griffin skidded the ATV to a stop, the rear wheels spinning him around.
Another gate had dropped into place, sealing Griffin in. He hadn’t seen where it had been concealed above the walls, as he’d come in. His eyes had been captivated by the clearing. He knew he was being led, but he had continued to believe—perhaps foolishly—that he was the hunter, not the hunted.
Behind him came another crashing noise, this one softer than the falling gate. Griffin turned to see that Skull-Eyes had leapt from the top of the wall and into the arena, landing in a crouch on his reptilian, clawed feet, his long tapering tail extended backward for balance. In his massive snake-armored hand, he held a long black lance, which he let fall to the ground behind him, as he stood to his full height. He was easily twice as tall as Griffin, his white dragon skull stretching out in front of him and casting his neck in shadow. As he stood and stretched, the skull’s long teeth slipped out of the giant’s chest with a slurp, oozing blood. Then he relaxed, and the massive canines slipped back into place, stemming the blood flow and holding the skull in place. Just like in Griffin’s dreams and paintings, the creature had human skulls placed where his pupils should have been.
Griffin stepped off the ATV, and reached back, into the backpack, his eyes never wavering from the towering foe in front of him. His hand found the collapsible javelin and he pulled it out. In seconds, the javelin expanded to its full five foot length, wickedly sharp metallic tips snapping into place at either end.
With a degree of practiced calm that would unnerve most foes, Griffin strode toward the monster.
22
Helena Frost had heard all the theology she could stand. “Listen, Ellison. I really don’t care who has a bigger Bible. I want—”
“I know, Sheriff. I know what you want. You want to stop it. To turn it off, and send us back. I know.” He shook his head with a grin.
Frost didn’t understand. She had the upper hand. Barnes was down, and the old man wasn’t armed. “If you think I won’t shoot you—”
The man held up a hand. “I believe you. But I cannot stop the—what do you all call them?— shifts between dimensions. I do not know where we are going next. I do not know if it is even possible to get back. Nor do I know how many more shifts there will be before we reach our glorious destination. It is all uncertain, which is why the US government pulled their support. They could not control it.”
Now it was Dodge’s turn to be outraged. “Are you telling me you have no idea what you’re doing?”
Ellison’s grin was subtle, but unnerving. “Now you begin to understand. Even if we could return to the dimension from which we departed, would you recognize it? How would you know for sure? I have been watching. You have encountered things and even people beyond the borders of town. Some of these dimensions are very similar to our own. How would you know for sure that you were home?”
Turkette leaned against a wall, her rifle leveled toward Ellison, but her eyes minding Barnes, on the floor.
Frost began pacing around the room. “Can we disable the shifts? At least control when they happen, so we’re better prepared for them?”
“No,” Ellison shook his head and folded his hands on his lap on top of a blanket covering his legs. “The process is completely random. The shifts happen when the computer decides to make them happen. I hope you appreciate the magnetic leash on the church bell. You at least have that warning. I do not control the machine. I barely understand it. I am intelligent, yes, but dozens of scientists worked on different parts. It was all compartmentalized knowledge, you see. I do not run it from here. I just watch what happens.”
Dodge
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