Edge of End (31 page)

The earthquake was still
rocking the ground as though the whole
town
had become an enormous cradle.
The hole continued to expand and was about to swallow me up. I
pulled myself back, helping myself along by digging my elbows in,
but I was too slow, and the dark angry mouth was gaining on
me.

It’s almost here, you’re
slow, Jonathan; it’ll gulp you up, you’re too slow,
my mind kept telling me. And then, all of a
sudden the erosion of the ground came to an abrupt halt, the crack
stopping right at my feet as if time itself had stopped.

For a moment there was not a sound,
just complete silence.

“
Jonathan, are you okay?”
I heard Elizabeth’s worried voice from behind me.

Elizabeth and Malcolm ran up to me.
She knelt down beside me and held me by my shoulders. Malcolm took
a quick look around and then steered his eyes towards
me.

“
Get up, quickly,” he
ordered bossily. “Go! I’ll hold them as long as I can.”

“
No!” I cried. “We’re all
going together.”

“
No way! You’re not going
to get past all of them. The passage is about to close.”

“
But you’ve done so much
for me,” I refused to give up. I looked at Elizabeth demanding that
she supported me. “I can’t leave you. Why did you fight and
struggle for us? You won’t have a chance to go back to
Earth.”

“
I wasn’t fighting for the
way back, Jonathan,” he grinned delightedly and winked. Then he
bent forward and pulled me up to my feet. He took my arm and stared
deep into my eyes. “I have no place on Earth anymore, but you
have.” He glanced at Elizabeth politely for the first time. “Both
of you. I’ve never seen anyone find love in this town. You’re
something new in hell, and you shall survive to be living
proof.”

“
What kind of proof?” I
asked in astonishment.

“
Proof of God’s presence.
Here, in hell,” he added showing me his old teeth. “During my time
here I have learned that even in hell we’re never alone. God is
among us, lurking deep in the soul.”

“
Malcolm,” I
whispered.

He cut me off with a gesture, “Go!” he
ordered as he let go of my arm.

I stared at him for a long moment then
glanced at the abyss separating us from the passage.

“
How are we supposed to
get across?” I wondered.

“
Believe in yourself. You
can handle it,” and with these words he spun around and rushed away
into the mist.

I heard the wail of a devil coming
from the direction in which Malcolm had just
disappeared.

“
Jonathan?” Elizabeth
urged impatiently.

“
We can do it,” I
reassured her trying to sound unfazed.

“
How?”

Moving rapidly, I took her into my
arms. She wrapped her arms around my neck, her eyes still full of
disbelief.

“
Ready?”

“
Yes,” she whispered, even
though she had no idea what she had to be ready for.

I bent over almost double, took a deep
breath and held it, then thrust myself up into the air.

Elizabeth in my arms, we were flying
over the abyss invisible behind the dense mist.

We shot through the air. I gazed at
Elizabeth longingly, possibly for the last time. Who knew if I
could even manage this giant leap?

Elizabeth held onto my neck tightly
realizing that both of us could just fall and drop into the
darkness, falling forever in each other’s arms, but she wasn’t
scared, I could see that clearly in her eyes. She was willing to
take the risk so that she could be with me.

Gradually the mist cleared. I had a
clear view, and there was a stream of light that was hanging before
us. I felt as if we were dropping, landing, and with a sudden jolt
of glee, I realized that my feet touched the ground.

We have done it
Elizabeth
, I told her with my eyes. She
looked at me and smiled happily, her eyes twinkling, her pupils
dancing.

Elizabeth was still in my arms. I was
holding onto her for dear life, I didn’t want to let go of her,
ever. I collapsed and fell to my knees, and she stepped out of my
arms. Kneeling down in front of me, she cupped my face tenderly in
her hands and stared into my eyes.

“
You did it,” she squealed
with delight and a genuinely happy smile appeared on her face. I
looked up at her dubiously; I needed confirmation of what she had
just said. “Yes, Jonathan, we did it. Look at the light,” she
peered back over her shoulder pointing at it. Her words hung in the
air and she lowered her hand reluctantly.

A tall man with bulging muscles
bursting out from under his tight T-shirt stood completely still
facing the light source with his back to us. In slow motion I stood
up releasing Elizabeth. My eyes stung from the dryness of the hot
air. Unblinking, I stared at him, hoping that my idea about his
identity was wrong.

The man turned back to face
us.

My mouth fell open in
shock at his appearance. He had black straggly hair. His skin was
dark gray, burned, and his eyes were as red as blood. He was the
first humanlike creature I had met in Elizabeth’s house, Malcolm’s
neighbor, the monster that had been sucking on the power of others.
That snotty
man
craved my power too; it was by far the strongest power among
all of the residents.

“
I’m glad you’ve found
your way and come to me,” his hoarse voice projected clearly across
the distance between us.

He folded his arms smugly, most
probably waiting for me to thank him, but I couldn’t speak, I was
mute.

“
I’m sorry about our first
meeting. I was behaving rather impolitely,” he grinned at me with a
satisfied look on his face. “I’m Richard by the way. I’ve been dead
since–” he raised his eyebrows and looked downwards as his thoughts
sunk into his memories. “A long time ago,” he added uncertainly.
“But it’s me. I believe that you’ve probably heard all about me.
Malcolm must have told you.”

“
He did,” I interrupted
gathering my braveness to me, and pushing my fear away. “You’re the
last resident, you’re a gamer. But my life isn’t a game. It’s not a
game for me, and it’s especially not one for you. I’m going to ask
you nicely to let me walk past you, and I promise I won’t harm
you.”

His high mocking laugh thundered
through the air. Of course, I knew very well that he wasn’t going
to let me pass so easily. He had come for me after all.

“
Harm me?” his face grew
serious, but you could see the hint of wickedness in his eyes. “You
can’t harm one who’s already dead. You’re just showing off in front
of your beautiful girlfriend, but to me you’re nothing but a lousy
worm.”

“
I could tear you up into
little pieces and let them rot in the town ground for another
eternity,” I tried not to pull away, I had to press ahead. “By now
you’re well aware of what kind of power I bear. The passage is
going to close off at any moment. I’m way too strong for you.
There’s no way you can block me.”
Really?
I asked myself.

“
Yes,” he hissed like a
snake. “And that power is what I’m eager to suck out of you.
Actually, your power’s useless anyway. You’re going to lose it as
soon as you reach your mortal body again.” He dropped his arms down
and clenched his fists tightly.

He was the last standing
obstacle, the final test, the very last fight. I had already
defeated him in Elizabeth’s house, before I realized the true
strength of my power, but he hadn’t been ready for me that time–he
thought that I had been just another prick wandering aimlessly
about the
town
.
And I had already been privy to his malice that time on the road,
but fortunately Malcolm had saved me.

Now he was fully ready to pick a fight
with me. I reasoned that, even in the afterlife, man doesn’t stop
lusting for power, a lot of power, endless power. A man’s soul is
possessed with a greater desire for power than love, friendship or
happiness. Personally, I had found that small glimmer of love
buried deep inside my soul and I had let it grow. Of course,
Elizabeth had helped me, and I ought to fight for that love, and
hold onto it tightly.

I looked over at Elizabeth, my eyes
asking her for her approval to fight. She read my thoughts and
nodded. She averted her eyes away from me and looked in Richard’s
direction. Then she suddenly broke out into a sprint.

A delighted smile covered
his black lips. It was a smile that told me ‘
at last I’m going to have the power I’ve been craving
for
.’

I ran towards them as fast as the
wind. As I ran the dust flew up into the air. My right hand was
balled up into a tight fist and my nails dug deep into the rough
skin of my palm.

Richard held his ground patiently
waiting for us to arrive.

Elizabeth reached him first. She
attempted to strike his face, but Richard with great ease snatched
her hand in mid-air. Pushing it back down to her side forcefully,
he punched her directly in her stomach. She let out a deafening
scream as she was thrown backwards about five steps and crashed to
the ground hard on her back.

I took it as my cue to jump in.
Lifting up my feet, I flew purposefully towards Richard. Still in
the air I swerved to the right. He dodged, but I managed to punch
him in the chest. Gripping his chest in anguish and pain, he flew
backwards. Not giving him any time to recover, I jumped on him and
continued to attack with a series of mighty punches. With every
blow, he weakened and eventually he was forced to his knees. With
his hands covering his head, he tried to defend himself from my
wrath. Then, suddenly, I missed one of my hits, and I found myself
stepping back.

Richard rose, his mouth bloodied, and
he stood there staring into my eyes, a wicked gleam in his. With a
horrendous roar, he threw himself forward. Dodging, I grabbed him
by his shoulders before he was able to jump on me. Using all his
strength, he pulled my arms off him, and, as he did, he squeezed my
head and jumped over me.

I was facing the light, Richard behind
me, and he began to viciously kicking me in my back so that I found
myself dropping to the ground, facedown.

I coughed out the dust from my mouth
and managed to bring myself up to a crawling position. I felt
giddy. Richard had gripped a clump of my hair firmly in his hands.
I screwed up my eyes in agony and tried to look up at him. He
punched me in the face, and I was back on the ground breathing in
dust again. I could taste my own blood in my mouth mingled with the
dust.

“
Let him go!” Elizabeth
came to my help. Richard wheeled around and threw a punch, but
Elizabeth ducked successfully and gave him an upper-cut under the
chin. It was so forceful; some of his teeth were knocked out. His
feet rose off the ground, and he writhed in the air slamming to the
ground howling in agony with blood and teeth falling from his
mouth.

Elizabeth kicked Richard, causing him
to roll further away. Somehow he was still able to force himself up
by his elbows and stand upright again. He dashed towards Elizabeth,
snarling like one of those wild dogs as the blood poured out of the
corners of his mouth. Elizabeth froze; there was doubt in her
eyes–she was facing a beast. If Richard had once been a human, a
long time ago, there was nothing left of that man.

Reaching Elizabeth, he grabbed her by
her throat and lifted her into the air. She grasped his arm with
both hands, desperately trying to free herself, but the furious
Richard had a strong hold on her. Gathering his strength, he threw
her far away.

“
Elizabeth!” I shouted out
and jumped up to my feet.

She, with a loud thump,
fell to the ground, rolled over and then stopped.
She couldn’t be dead, she was already
dead,
but she remained completely
still.

My blood rushed to my ears, I took a
deep breath, outraged, arching my eyebrows and balling my hands
into fists. Richard turned back to face me, the corner of his mouth
twitched.

“
We’re alone now,” he said
blood splashing out of his mouth. He glanced back at Elizabeth
lying limply on the ground. “I guess she’ll like me after I finish
with you.”

“
You will never have
chance,” I roared sprinting forward. There was a long distance
between us, though I could cover it in a second like lightening.
But a loud scraping sound coming from the mist that had been
hovering over the abyss assailed my ears. I took a closer
look.

A big shadow materialized in the
mist–growing quickly.

“
Malcolm,” I
whispered.

The old man had missed one of the
devils. It appeared from out of the mist close to me. Without any
hesitation, I recoiled. I tried my very best to avoid the devil,
but its leg was long and stretched out. It kicked me in the chest
and threw me about ten steps away.

Holy
crap
, I was in dangerous territory once
again.