THE HIDDEN — CHAPTER 26: THE PHASES OF THE MOON — T.D. BARTON & DEREK BARTON
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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: PHASES OF THE MOON
The wind blew, fiercely, dusting the face of the moon and sending tattered clouds racing across the sky. The interwoven mat of branches that made up the forest canopy swayed before it like some dark prima ballerina assoluta in a macabre dance of death.
The denizens of the wood were all hunkered down in their burrows, awaiting the approaching storm. In the surrounding farmhouses, villagers battened down gates and shutters. Cows bawled, miserably, from their barns, voicing their fright to the hardened hearts of seasoned farmers. No one cared to venture out on a night like this unless there was mischief on their minds, or they were victims of misfortune, caught in the teeth of the maelstrom.
In the clearing, amidst the stone-like figures of the monsters, the driving gale tousled the hair of the four, whipping it mercilessly about their faces, as they emerged from the craggy depths of the cavern. Each of them, in turn, stopped to gaze in fascination at the still, silent horrors, frozen like statues in their howling postures. The din continued, sounding its knoll only in the minds of these four humans. They alone would witness the savage, godless spectacle of the Kophet-kur, as they communed with their alien forefathers.
“I don’t believe it!” Alice said as she waved her hand rapidly before the closed eyes of one of the creatures. “I heard about this Gathering of theirs, but I never actually seen it — you know — in progress. This here’s the dangdest thang I ever did see!”
Zelda, too, was having trouble believing her eyes, but part of her concentration was distracted by the feeling of relief at being outside once more. She had thought she would never see the sky again, and, with a gasp of sheer pleasure, she tilted her head back and breathed in the cool evening air. In her hand, the torch she’d brought with her from Chirkah’s chambers flickered and roared as the flames were fanned by the breeze. The one that Alice now held high to illuminate the features of the savage Chirkah, king of the Kophet-kur, did the same.
“Hey, Zelda!” Alice called across the clearing, snapping the younger woman out of her reverie. “Here he is, the big lug!”
Zelda came cautiously near.
“Ugly as hell, ain’t he?” Alice’s smug face, dappled by the light of the torch, looked like a Halloween jack-o-lantern, floating crazily in the dark, independent of her body. She turned to look at Zelda. “This here’s Chirkah.”
Zelda went numb all over, as she contemplated the fate that had awaited her. She thought the term “ugly as hell” didn’t quite cover it. This creature, with its scaly, bristly skin and gaping maw, lined with crooked, dagger-like teeth, was perhaps the most repulsive thing she had ever laid eyes upon. The very idea of being shut up in a room with it for the purpose of sexual contact was anathema to everything she considered wholesome and pure. If it were possible to imagine the devil incarnate, this gruesome mass of misshapen flesh was it. With a shudder, she drew closer to Nate, hugging his arm tightly to her breast.
Susie spoke from the edge of the clearing, her voice sounding small against the rushing wind and the howling of the beasts. “Let’s get out of here.” It was a simple suggestion, but it carried the wisdom of Solomon to the ears of the other three. All of them had had their fill of these filthy brutes, and, uppermost in their minds was leaving this all far behind. Susie turned and started down the trail, followed closely by Alice.
“Go ahead,” Nate told Zelda, and he gave her arm a squeeze. “I want to say good-bye.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. Reluctantly, Zelda crossed the clearing alone, looking back frequently at Nate, standing in the bright moonlight next to the immense bulk of Chirkah.
“Don’t do anything heroic,” she called. “I want a live husband — not a martyr!”
“Not to worry! I’ll be right there!” Nate again studied the grisly features of this king of beasts. He leaned in close enough to see the silver hair flecking Chirkah’s massive jowls. “It would be interesting to know,” Nate reflected. “Just how old this son-of-a-bitch is. How long has he been in charge of this pack of devil-dogs and just how long have they been hiding here in these woods, preying on the weak and the innocent.” His dander rose as he contemplated the havoc these savage animals had wrought on the surrounding community. He vowed, at that moment, as he gazed with disgust on the visage of the mighty Chirkah, to see to it that he and all his kind was eradicated from the earth.
They may, as Chirkah had intimated, be distant cousins to humans; but, at this moment, Nate felt no kinship, only loathing, for these horrid creatures. And he knew he could not rest as long as they lived. When he had his loved ones once again safely at home, he would come back, and he would bring an uzi, or whatever it took, and he would blow their nasty asses to oblivion. He could never —
Suddenly the face of Chirkah faded out, and all Nate could see before his eyes was darkness. The howling that had filled his mind for so long now stopped abruptly, like someone lifting the needle from a phonograph record. Somehow, the sudden absence of that hellish noise was far more terrifying than the howling itself had been. He jerked his head around to find Zelda and saw her, disappearing down the trail into the darkened woods, the torch blazing, brightly, in her hand. For one brief second, his eyes locked upon her then he looked up at the sky.
The wind, rushing through the treetops, had carried a large black cloud across the sky, draping it over the silver face of the moon. A white corona blazed around its edges where the moon’s light spilled from behind it. The clearing had gone pitch black in the absence of the moonlight, and from the depths of this blackness came a low growl that made the hairs on the back of Nate’s neck stand on end. All around him he heard the Kophet-kur coming slowly and ominously to life. They stretched their limbs and worked their jaws, snickering and slobbering wetly in the darkness.
From the lightless void before him, a deep, sonorous voice whispered cunningly, “Why, Nate Malone! How good of you to attend our little Gathering.” The familiar voice crawled inside his head like a lizard, dragging its scaly belly across dry sand. “And that must be your lovely wife…” An evil, totally self-satisfied chuckle hung in the air, and Nate could visualize Chirkah’s tongue lolling out in a nasty grin. Again, his memory played the words Chirkah had taunted him within the clearing: Either way, I have won… and you have lost!”
With a cry of warning to Zelda, Nate sprang forward, thrusting his spear with all his might, blindly hoping to connect. There was a howl of rage and the shaft of the weapon splintered in his hands. Nate leaped sideways and ran with all his might, tossing away the ruined stump of his spear. Panic spurred his steps as he chased after the torch receding through the darkness ahead of him. The entire pack of Kophet-kur had come to life and there was no time to consider revenge — only escape.
Ahead, on the trail through the forest, Zelda turned, with a frightened gasp. Instinctively, she tried to go back to her husband, but Alice laid a beefy hand on her arm and held her back. “Get that little girl on outa here!” the big woman commanded. “I’ll get him.” She pushed Zelda ahead and, clasping the torch in her fist like a flaming sword, she hurried back toward the clearing.
Zelda remained standing, locked in indecision. “Alice, they’ll kill you!” she warned.
Alice turned and smiled a crooked smile. “Aw, what the hell! Nobody lives forever, right?” She and the torch disappeared down the path, while Susie tugged, desperately, at Zelda’s sleeve.
As Nate bolted from the clearing, the clamoring pack hard on his heels, he saw the torch stop and turn, coming rapidly back toward him. When he closed with it, he caught just a glimpse of Alice’s face, set in a determined scowl, as she brushed past him in a head-long rush. There was not the slightest chance of stopping her as she flung herself at the pack leader with a snarl nearly matching the monster’s ferocity.
Nate lingered just long enough to see her raise the flaming brand high over her head and shove it deep into the gaping mouth of the beast, as it reared up on its hind legs to meet her. Resuming his flight, he heard Chirkah’s roar of pain and rage and the answering screams and snarls of the pack as they swarmed over the woman, weighing her down, and devouring her alive.
The gruesome sounds of the pack’s feeding frenzy rang in his ears and spurred him on. Sick at heart, he sprinted, madly, toward the second torch, which flickered in the depths of the forest, where Zelda stood her ground, waiting for him.
When he came close enough to see her worried face, squinting into the darkness, he called out to her, telling her to run. “Go, babe! Get the hell out of here… I’m right behind you. Get going”
It was all the reassurance she needed, as she fled, Susie racing along before her. Before long, Nate overtook them and together, the three scrambled wordlessly through the forest, straining with all their might to put some distance between themselves and the vicious creatures of the clearing. As they burst, at last, into the small opening in the forest where Nate had his tree-top conversations with Chirkah, they could hear no sound of pursuit coming from behind. They were all winded and, as if someone had given a signal, they stopped for a second, gasping and wheezing, trying to catch their breath.
Zelda gazed at Nate and, between gasps, her eyes pleading. managed a one-word inquiry, “Alice?”
Nate stood, wheezing, bent at the waist with his hands on his knees, and his expression told her everything she needed to know. Susie too was awaiting his answer, and when he shook his head, slowly, she sadly dropped her eyes and stared at the ground.
Suddenly, they heard a crackling sound, as if someone were moving through the forest, just beyond the edge of the clearing. Zelda held her torch aloft and they strained their eyes in its limited glow. She gasped as an answering “crack”· erupted from the underbrush on the other side. As one, the trio swung around and saw one of the creatures entering the clearing ahead of them. To the right, another left the cover of the forest and stealthily approached. Nate knew, even before he turned to look, that their exit would be blocked. Sure enough, there were two of the hulking beasts glaring at them from the forest trail.
The three drew protectively together as the creatures began emerging from all sides to surround them. When a complete circle had been formed, Chirkah entered the ring, his tribesmen parting, humbly, before him.
Chirkah was not at his best. His mouth had been burned badly, the hairs on his muzzle singed away to reveal blistered skin. One of his huge canine teeth was broken off about halfway down, and there was a jagged gash under his left eye where Nate’s home-made spear had found its mark. He stood, swaying in the light of Zelda’s torch, and glared savagely at the three prisoners. There was death in that glare — death and dismemberment. Everything about the way Chirkah was looking at them told Nate that the time for talking was through. Chirkah was set on revenge, and no force on earth could sway him from his course. A bright red bubble of blood seeped from the monster’s left nostril and popped as he leaned close to the humans.
Nate raised his chin proudly and returned the beast’s malicious glare as he steeled himself to take the brunt of Chirkah’s fury. He noted, with admiration, that neither Zelda nor Susie whimpered with fear. Although he knew they were both terrified, they had resolved — just as he had — to die with dignity.
As Nate stared into Chirkah’s eyes, he suddenly became aware of something strange. The red, fiery glow that had marked Chirkah’s inner fury had been replaced by a white light. It hung in the depths of the beast’s eyeballs and shone dazzlingly bright from the shadows of his face. With a gasp, Nate realized it was a reflection — the moon’s reflection! Its pale light sparkled there in those twin pools of murk, surrounded by red, broken vessels which spider-webbed across the white part of Chirkah’s eyes. As he watched, Chirkah shifted his gaze and turned his attention to the sky. Tentatively, Nate turned his own head to look, and there, bright as a beacon, shone the moon. It blazed in the black night-time as brilliantly as any star, and it filled Nate’s heart with joy.
When he turned back to the monster, he saw immediately that it had again taken on its posture of worship. Chirkah’s mangled jaws were turned skyward, his eyes were clamped tightly shut, and that dreadful howling had again started creeping into Nate’s mind. He never thought he would be glad to have that ghastly caterwauling screeching around inside his head again, but, if it meant a reprieve from the mangling execution that had confronted them only seconds before, he welcomed it eagerly.
Apparently, these beasts had no choice but to assume this statue-like pose when confronted with the full moon. Either it was ingrained, instinctively, into their nature, or, after centuries of communing with their ancestors in this eerie fashion, they felt compelled to put it before all other considerations, even to the exclusion of enacting revenge upon their enemies.
Nate gazed around the clearing, and relief nearly overcame him as he noted that all the other creatures had, likewise, resumed their rigid stances of communion. All other thoughts were thrust aside, and they blithely entered this transcendental state. He made a mental note of this. He would be back to battle these creatures again, of that he was sure, but until that time, he would remember their strengths — and their weaknesses.
Then, as he took in the clearing, Nate became aware that something was wrong — there was something oddly out of place in this scene. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something just didn’t measure up. He cocked his head in puzzlement and tried to examine the bizarre spectacle with new eyes. Everything was like before, the beasts standing in their frozen postures, howling, miserably, up at their alien gods. Above them hung the cold moon, casting its ghostly light — NO! There was no light! The shadows cast at the feet of the Kophet-kur were the wavering, dancing shadows created by Zelda’s torch. There was no moonlight flooding the clearing as there had been before the cave entrance.
He swiveled his head around again to peer at the moon. It was there, hanging in the sky as bright as ever, and when he looked away it had burned an after-image on his retinas, leaving its ghost to dance before his eyes. He furrowed his brow in consternation and looked at Zelda. But she wasn’t looking at either him or the moon or even the Kophet-kur. Instead, she wore a worried expression as she looked down at Susie. The little girl’s face was screwed up, tightly, and Nate thought he saw a few beads of sweat standing out on her forehead.
“What’s wrong with her?” Zelda asked, in hushed tones. “She doesn’t answer me… Its almost like she isn’t even here.”
Nate looked at Susie and a sudden burst of insight struck him, making him smile. “I’ll be damned!” he exclaimed, excitedly; and Zelda looked at him as though he’d gone mad. “She’s doing this! Don’t you see? She can play with their minds the way they played with ours!” He leaned close and whispered in Zelda’s ear. “The moon is still behind the clouds, but Susie’s planting the image in their minds. We even think we see it, but — it’s just not there!”
“I don’t understand it,” Zelda replied, meekly. “But, what the hell! If it buys us some time, good for her. Can the three of us get out of here while she has them under her ‘spell’ or whatever?”
“I don’t know,” said Nate, and he was suddenly worried. “If she tries to run, it may break her concentration.” He bent to talk into Susie’s ear. The wind was still howling fiercely through the forest, and, together with the din created by the Kophet-kur, it made it hard to even think, much less speak. Slowly, cautiously, he addressed the girl. “Susie, can you hear me?”
She nodded.
Nate looked up at Zelda and smiled with relief. Then, with a sigh, he turned back to Susie. “If we carry you, can you maintain this… image?”
There was a long pause, and then another nod — slow, but firm.
Nate stood again, carefully gathering Susie in his arms. He glanced at the sky once more and then at Zelda. “Let’s go!” he said, and together they left the clearing.
As the flickering torchlight faded down the forest trail, darkness came rushing in to shrowd the figures, motionlessly rooted in the damp forest grass. Together they stood, transfixed, howling dismally up at a stormy sky that housed a moon only they could see — they, and a little girl who was trying very hard not to think about anything else.
Meanwhile, the wind continued to wail, and occasional flashes of lightning heralded the approach of the worst part of the storm.
