Dark Side Darker (15 page)

Rufus frowned at him. “Look, listen up man, we’ve got to get to the hospital.”

“Damn straight we are because I’m getting Sarah the hell out!”

“Think straight Josh! What can we do for her? Fuck man, I don’t know what the fuck’s going on but they can help her more than we can! So just chill the fuck out man!”

Josh reluctantly began to calm himself and gather his thoughts as Rufus fumed beside him.

“So, she’s okay?” he said at last.

Rufus turned a cold smile on him. “Which bitch?”

Josh was mildly taken back, realised he’d been thinking of Karen. “Well, both.”

“Karen’s hysterical and she didn’t mention Sarah.”

Josh let that all sink in for a second. “Right, okay, so what did she tell the police? Are they going to want to talk with us?”

“Nah, nah, she made up some bullshit story.” Rufus paused. “Hey who the fuck mentioned the cops?”

“You did.”

“What?
Did I
?”

“Sure you did, Just then.”

Rufus stared in silence at him for a long time. “Rrrrright, okay.” He shook his head, realising he was pretty stoned. “So er, yeah we’ve got to go and get Karen.”

Josh nodded. “Right, and then we’re going to find out whatever the fuck this Blue stuff is!”

It wasn’t a suggestion.

DOWN TIME

JOSH AND KAREN were sitting silently in Josh’s bedroom. NIN was playing quietly from his computer, while the screen filled with colours and shapes from some music program he had installed. Karen took in some more weed smoke and as she exhaled watched the colour dance behind the slowly dissipating veil? Her pupils widened and her head swam mildly. The world grew slightly less real.

‘So now wish?’

She snapped round, panicked. “What?”

Josh was staring through everything, a troubled look set on his face. His eyes were little more than windows to the infinite void that sat behind them. As he sat, in one hand a joint was dropping ash to the carpet and the other was drumming impulsively on the table beside his bed. If he had spoke then he had not been conscious of doing so.

Karen was watching him with an only mildly less troubled expression now.

What had she just heard
? The words had made very little sense to her,
didn’t seem real, the way they had... or did they
?
That
, she realised, was what was troubling her, they had seemed more real than was possible, flashed to her with a heightened sense of reality.
And had that even been Josh’s voice
? It had sounded like,
like a girl
?

Karen detached from her thoughts and found she was still staring at Josh, who sat oblivious of her attention as was so often the case.

He looked a mess. His hair was lank and greasy, long even for him and looked as if it hadn’t been washed for weeks. Mank stubble was gathering over his jaw. His long face was pale and drawn, dark purple flesh sat beneath his eyes. It was his eyes that troubled her the most though. Gone was that pained spark and now all she saw was what she could only describe as darkness. He looked insane but maybe she was beginning to understand why.

She coughed but Josh didn’t react. “Josh?” she said more explicitly.

He turned to her with a slowness and precision that chilled her; while his eyes were looking at her, they remained blank.

“Josh?” she repeated, with obvious concern.

He jolted, eyes blinking. “W-what? Oh christ, I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you.” Josh looked mildly panicked, glanced about the room as if he didn’t know where he was.

Karen just stared at him. He found the pained look, that strained her face hard to read. Jesus,
was she scared of him, or for him... or both
? Some warmth broke free in his chest and he smiled. Instinctively she smiled too and then, shyly looked down.

Josh’s smile began to turn into his usual frown as full realisation came creeping in.
Did she
...

Karen spoke before he could fully analyse the emotion that he was slowly becoming aware of.

“Josh, level with me.”

Behind where she sat the sun was slowly dying into night. Patches in the dark brown clouds that had gathered over the dimming city revealed lakes of gold, crimson and blue light from behind. The last of the sun’s radiant glow was basking over the side of her face. He struggled against the vision and managed to speak. “About what, Karen?”

She shook her head in disbelief. “Sarah? That guy at the shopping mall? This! All of this!”

He nodded, tried to think. “Honey, I really don’t know—Jesus I wish I did.”

She nodded slowly deciding whether or not to ask the question that was still bothering her. Lastly she realised she couldn’t resist. “Josh, did you just say something to me, a few moments ago?”

He just looked at her perplexed and then something seemed to click and his eyebrows slowly raised above his glasses into a look of surprise. When he spoke it was with exasperation. “
You heard it too
!?”

“What, it wasn’t you? Then who was it?” She shook her head. “No that’s silly. It had to be you because...”

Josh was smiling now, seemed delighted. “Wow, this is great!”

Karen shook her head, all wide-eyed. “What is, Josh? What did I,
we
just hear?”

Josh laughed. It was the last thing she had expected. For the first time in a long time he seemed to be shifting out of himself. “I mean, I knew I wasn’t crazy, not now, not after what I’ve seen but...
that you can hear it too
!”

Karen grew frustrated. “Hear what damn it! Hear what?”

Josh seemed taken back. “So you don’t hear it now?”

Karen was bewildered, was shaking her head and smiling. “You’re not making any sense.”

“So you can’t hear,” Josh snorted out a laugh at what he was about to say. “So you can’t hear the voices?”

She was visibly taken back. “voices? God no! And you can? Now?”

He frowned. “Now look,” he started.

“What are they saying, Josh?” She was speaking with a calm he knew she didn’t have.

He was silent for a second, gathered his words. “It’s distant at the moment, I can barely make them out, most of the time I can ignore them, it’s only occasionally when I hear them clearly. Except when I sleep, it’s worse,I can’t escape them then.”

Karen’s mind was racing. She thought of Sarah, those impossible black eyes, but even so she couldn’t fully accept what she was hearing. Did he know how crazy he sounded?
Was he crazy
?

She forced herself to remain calm. Mature as always. “Who are they, Josh?”

He knew it wasn’t the question she really wanted to ask and smiled. “They tell me to kill, over and over again.”

“
What
?!!?”

“No relax, Jesus Karen, I’m joking.”

She breathed out. “Josh, don’t joke. Not now. Something weird is going on and I want to know what it is.”

“Okay, okay, sorry.”

She spoke softly. “So who are they?”

He nodded. “I think they’re just people, yeah most of them are just people but there’s something else too...” He caught the look in her eyes. “Hey I know how this sounds, but me and Rufus have seen something that... something not human.”

Karen remembered the joint in her hand and stubbed it out into an ash tray. “Okay start at the start.”

“Okay. It started a couple of months back. I had some strange vision, a painting, the one with a guy on a crucifix and...”

“What happened?”

“It seemed to come alive and then I started hearing voices and seeing things, more visions. It started slowly and I wasn’t sure it was real. I thought it was the weed. you know that it can trigger psychosis and schizophrenia and all of that.”

“You have been smoking a lot recently.”

“Yeah but it’s not like that, look I really do know how this sounds but I’m not crazy! I think I’m,” he hesitated, didn’t want to say the word. He looked away from her, couldn’t face her and say it.

“What, Josh? What?” Her face, eyes and voice were pure concern.

“Psychic,” he said. “I think I’m psychic.” He looked at her expectantly.

Karen had no idea what to say. “Like, er, ESP?”

“Yeah, and something’s happening in this city to trigger it. Something to do with a guy, or
something
, named Carthy... maybe. Shit I don’t know! All I know is that Sarah’s got something wrong with her and it may be to do with a drug she took.”

“A drug!?” Karen was exasperated, this was all quickly becoming too much for her. “But I just made that up. It wasn’t real.”

“Thing is Karen, that story you made up for the police, may have been more true than you thought.”

“A drug?” Karen questioned again.

Josh nodded. “Yeah... Blue.” He told her matter-of-factly.

This was all completely crazy.
Why am I even partly accepting any of this
? She asked herself, but she knew why.
In Sarah’s black mirror glass eyes alone she’d seen something beyond explanation
. “So what’s Blue, is that a new drug?”

He shrugged and sucked in some more smoke. “I don’t know. That’s what Rufus is doing now. Talking to his drug dealer friends to see if anyone’s heard of it.”

“He’s, what? Trying to buy some Blue?”

“Well not to buy it, no. I just have to find out who’s selling it. Look whatever this is, it’s about a lot more than drugs!”

Karen shivered and convulsed, her red ponytails flailing in the air and her chakras erupted violently.

“Urghhhh! Josh I can’t accept this! It’s all paranoid madness. I think you need help. What exactly do you and Rufus think you saw? A monster?”

He laughed but it was a hysteric sound. “Yes! A fuckin’ monster that used to be a girl called Cally!” He grimaced at the memory and then couldn’t face it.

“No, Josh no! This is crazy! Just stop it, you’re scaring me!”

But there was no stopping him now. A thought had just connected up in his brain. He stood up suddenly, scaring her.

“Josh sit down! What are you doing?”

“The police!”

“What about them? I already told you that after I went with Sarah to the hospital, they kept me there and interviewed me in the...”

Josh interrupted. “No no, you told me you told them a story about drugs!”

Karen was baffled. “Yes, I said Sarah had turned up at mine and said she’d taken something but she didn’t say what and then she seemed to pass...”

Again Josh cut her off. “When they spoke to you, did they ask about drugs or did you just make up a story?”

“W-what?” she stammered, frightened by the sudden mad energy about him.

“You made up a story about drugs but did that just occur to you or did they ask if she’d taken any drugs first?”

Karen paused. “I’m pretty certain I just made it up. What difference does it make?”

Josh laughed. He had grown quite manic. “A lot. I’m wondering if they know something about this Blue already and what it does to people or whether they were as baffled as us.
You see
?”

“M-Maybe but does it help us if they do?”

He paused. “Actually I don’t know.” Josh froze, and then sharply looked towards his door just before it opened. Rufus stumbled in, smiling his big grin.

“I’ve found someone who knows about Blue!” “Who?” “His name’s Floyd, he’s waiting in the car.”

DEATH OF A PARTY

“DID YOU GET THEM?”

“Do you realise how expensive this stuff is?”

“Yeah, but did you get them?”

The young man nodded. “Yeah I got them, that’s seventy quid you all owe me.”

He looked like a young executive, sharp suit, designer stubble.

The other man was surprised. “Seventy!! Fuck! How many did you get?”

“Eight like you asked. One for all of us.”

The eight friends—all in their late twenties and all successful in their own fields—were spread around the expensive, Ikea fitted interior of Pete’s flat. Royksopp was playing quietly on the stereo, joints were lit and Belgian beers were being drank. The mood was relaxed and pleasant.

Pete’s girlfriend, Sara, moved up behind him slinking an arm around his waist. “Did he get them?” she hushed in a slightly stoned tone.

Pete nodded. “Yeah he got them, one for each of us.”

Sara turned to the room. “Hey guys, he got them!”

A general cheer went up throughout the gatherers.

“How much were they?” Sara asked.

“Seventy for eight capsules, call it nine pound off each of you and I’m happy.”

“Guys,” Sara called. “Dan’s going to need nine pounds off everyone. Is that ok?”

“Well, let’s see them then, Dan,” said Pete.

Dan pulled a camera film canister from his pocket and flipped the lid. A mild blue glow escaped into the dying sun light.

“Wow it glows,” cooed Sara. “Is it safe?”

“As houses,” Dan replied. “But seriously you’ve got to try it. It’s not like anything you’ve ever tried before.”

“My friend said it’s like acid. I don’t really like acid, too intense.” Sara told him.

Dan thought for a second. “Well, sure you trip,
but acid
? Nah’ it’s not really like acid. Here, try one.”

Sara took a capsule from him, marvelling at the tiny glow. “Bottoms up!” she said and swallowed the pill.