The Dark Horde (15 page)

The next victim is chosen, a savaged female whose swollen eyes struggle to open as she awakes from deep slumber...

Helpless to watch as her slayer smashes through her ribs to rip her heart out and show it to her.

The
Venomed One
laughs as it watches life fade from her eyes. Screaming in bloody glory, it slams her still-living heart upon the pillar’s spikes, sending forth a new rush of hot blood. The fire within the column grows brighter, its beats more violent. Dripping ichor, moving with a life force of its own, it begins to smother and penetrate the helpless humans.

The
Dark Horde
are a sea of howling screams, drowning the tormented cries of raped human souls...

The executioner completes its gruesome task, systematically tearing the humans’ hearts out and impaling them on the gigantic gorging phallus, which finally erupts in an orgasm of death, spraying hot squirts of ichor about the blood-soaked platform.

Exultant, the
Venomed One
roars and the Elders rush forward to fornicate with the human dead. Committing obscene acts of corpse violation, the Elders mix their seed with that from the pillar. The
Dark Horde
watching are a frenzy of howls amidst the sickening, carnal indulgence of mortal flesh.

The
Venomed One
, its thick frame spattered with sacrificial blood, faces the ejaculating obelisk of necrophilic orgy and scoops dark purple lumps of rapidly hardening mess from its oozing orifices. In doing so, the Elders cease their unclean acts to stand back and unleash bloodcurdling howls, thronged all around by the lamentations of the
Dark Horde
beyond count.

Their leader is silent as it moves around the circle of Elders, handing each a lump of ichor, moulded into the crude likeness of a human heart, beating with supernatural life.

It returns to the centre of the platform and joins the evil chorus with its own head-crushing roar. The Elders move forward to deposit the replacement hearts within the chests of the violated dead, chanting morbid hymns to awaken the dark within them, invoking a dark new life to begin...

The
Venomed One
screams with enough intensity to kill a man and the infernal fluid covering the corpses begins to sizzle, seeding new life and making the butchered bodies unnaturally whole again.

The created
Halform
open their eyes for the first time on their new world. Their lungs fill with tainted air to disgorge chilling howls of corruption, united with the universe of voices around them.

The
Venomed One
speaks with a voice like thunder, carrying over the abysmal din,
“LET US MAKE MAN IN
OUR
IMAGE, ACCORDING TO
OUR
LIKENESS.”

TUESDAY 1:39
AM

Voices in the dark called Amy’s name. The hot wind of their breath tickled the fine hair on her neck and licked her ears.

Teasing.

She had fled the campsite, crashing and stumbling through thick and thorny undergrowth, her mind fixated on flight. After what seemed like only a few minutes, she’d recovered enough to realise that she wasn’t being pursued. Suddenly terrified for Vincent, she double-backed towards the campsite, knowing that Vincent’s car was also there... As a baleful moon shone overhead through grey slivers of cloud circling like sharks.

Running back through cutting branches, she approached the campsite and saw through the cover of trees, a scene of ruin. Flickering in the ember light of the fire lay tatters of tent, belongings and intestines. The car, a yellow Datsun Sunny, was gutted, its steering wheel torn free and cast aside. The forest was cold and silent, like a tomb.

She sank to her knees, crying, overcome with anguish.

And then something stirred behind her...

Laughing.

Things became a blur of fear and confusion after that.

Screaming... Running... Something chasing... Falling onto stinging nettles... Hot breath upon her... Running again... Colliding with trees... Bleeding and sore, but still running... Galloping crashes through the forest behind her... Feral grunting as it drew nearer... The rancid stench of its hot breath... Claws ripping at her back and legs... Ribbons of clothing and flesh... Somehow still running... Ever the demon at her heels...

Until she could run no further. And collapsed.

And now, hearing voices, she stirred awake. A dark prickly forest pressed down on her, infested with crawling bugs and other horrors she didn’t want to imagine.

Something hairy ran across her leg.

She leapt up screaming and from behind came a voice grating like rusty nails,
“You cannot run from deeeaaath.”

She spun to see the towering bulk of the demon in moonlit silhouette. Piercing red eyes flickered from the shadows.

Her mind left her and the world became a long, dark tunnel. At the end stood a black figure with eyes of fiery crimson. The power of its fixating stare compelled her into submission. Her body resisted efforts to move. Her mind abandoned efforts to think.

A cruel rasp,
“Accept your faaate.”

It moved closer.

Its wretched face was clear now. A wolf-like snout swollen with teeth, extending back to a hairy black head set with red eyes that burned with malice. Its demonic visage rose over her, enveloping her with its shadow.

Screaming, she started running again.

Again, it followed...

Every step a struggle... Every breath a battle... Every move it shadowed... Crying for help... Praying for salvation... Falling in desperation... Somehow finding the strength to rise and stumble on... Blood throbbing in her ears and bleeding from her cuts... Crashing through endless forest as unyielding as her pursuer...

Aching, exhausted, her pace slowed to a crawl... And yet ever it maintained a cruel distance of a couple of metres behind her...

Gloating.

Finally, she could run no more. She turned to face her attacker.

It stopped, its slavering maw widened to a grin. The time had come.

Through sobs she screamed, “WHAT ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU WANT?”

It licked its lips.
“I am deeeaaath and I want yooouuu.”

A pathetic gesture of resistance, she raised two fists and scanned around for something, anything, to use to defend herself. But there was nothing...

It was over.

It leapt forward to grab her throat. Its claws closed around her neck and lifted her from the ground. Her windpipe crushed, her hands fought to wrest free the vice grip, her legs kicked the air.

It caressed her face with its tongue, smothering her with drool. Helpless she was, but to bunch her face in horror.

Its eyes met hers.
“Taaasty.”

Then there was a violent crack as her neck snapped.

TUESDAY 7:06
AM

Howard stretched his arms and yawned as he craned his head to read his digital clock.

It was time to get up for school. Strange that it was still dark though... But that was probably just because the curtains were closed.

Strange shapes crowded the murky shadows – only the Treasure Island poster facing him was distinct. It glowed in the pale moonlight, the pirate’s eyes luminous and haunting...

Staring directly at him.

Howard hid under the bed covers, his pulse racing. He dared not move or breathe, lest the pirate become aware of his presence. His chest ached with the force of his pounding heart. He began to fear that even his heartbeat was audible and would reveal him.

After a tense silence, he began to hear voices:

“Howard’s so lazy, he’s always sleeping in. Why did I have to have such a lazy brother?”

“Yes I know. He should be up by now. Never mind, at least I have a daughter I can be proud of.”

Howard recognised the voices, but was still confused. It wasn’t even that late in the morning! Whatever were mum and his sister talking about?

He decided he would make a dash across the room for the light switch, braving the darkness and the pirate’s wrath. Light brought safety, but he had to be quick.

Summoning the courage, he flung off his doona and leapt from his bed. He landed on something sharp and cried in pain. Panicking, he rushed towards the light switch and tripped on toys scattered in his way. He fell against the bedroom door...

And it slammed shut.

The darkness seemed greater now, unbearable.

Trying not to think about the glowing poster behind him, or the pain in his feet, face and hands, Howard lunged for the light switch, but his fingers only met a bare surface. Frantic, he ran his palms along the wall...

Then came the sound of bestial laughter behind him.

Shuddering in terror, he found the light switch and flicked it on.

Nothing happened.

The sound of laughter behind him became louder.

He grabbed the doorhandle and tried to yank it open. His sweaty hand slipped free and he realised that the laughter was coming from the closet to his left. Shaking with fear, his head turned to the source...

As the closet began to open.

Too shocked to scream, he wiped his hands on his pyjama shirt so he could open the bedroom door. An eerie red light began to spill out of the closet, revealing a towering, muscular form crammed within.

The bedroom door opened onto a dark hallway. At one end was a closed door leading to the lounge where he could detect light and the happy voices of his family. He was safe if he could only reach the lounge. Monsters never attacked in the light or when adults were around. He ran into the hallway...

As something heavy landed behind him, growling.

His scream frozen in his lungs, he ran at the lounge door down the hall. He grabbed and twisted the handle, but crashed into the door with his momentum.

Something loomed over him, poised to strike.

Still unable to scream, he flung the door open...

His mother and sister sat on the couch facing him in plain view. Engrossed in the television, they made no reaction.

Then something grabbed his ankle.

His leg was pulled back with such force that he face-planted into the carpet. He felt teeth dislodge and a burning sensation in his nose. Then something began to drag him back into the hall as he tried in vain to resist by grabbing onto the doorframe.

Tears flooded his eyes as he saw through a blur his family laughing at something on TV. How could they not notice him? Surely they could see the monster dragging him away? Surely they heard the noise?

But his mother and sister didn’t even look in his direction. He tried to scream again, but failed. He banged the walls with his fists, desperate to attract attention, but could make no sound.

His fingernails raking the carpet, he was dragged back into the laughing darkness.

There was no escape. Howard turned to look at his captor...

And into the fiery red eyes of a hairy monster baring savage teeth, thronged by many more behind it, their red eyes lit up like candles.

Howard awoke screaming so loud, his eardrums almost burst.

His mother Julie rushed into the room moments later. “Howard! What’s wrong?”

Reality washed over his consciousness, comforting. Daylight streamed in through the curtains. The monsters were gone now.

“I had a nightmare about the monsters again.”

TUESDAY 9:13
AM

Brian turned into the carpark of Howqua Hills Police Station on Main Street and parked his 4WD patrol next to two others. He sighed as he grabbed a briefcase and stepped out of the vehicle. Light drizzle fell, dusting Brian as he made his way towards the front entrance.

Standing in the foyer was Sergeant Douglas McDougall, chatting to Constable Annette Baker, the fat bitch, at the reception counter. Down the hallway behind Annette, Constable Robert Harrington was quite literally scratching his arse.

Brian made eye contact with Douglas and Annette, ceasing their conversation. “Busy day, huh?”