legion

Twelve years, three hundred sixty four days and an odd number of hours. Jacob Fisher sat in his room regarding his mildly violent cartoon calendar. The countdown was almost at its end. In less than twelve hours he would be thirteen. “Bout damn time ol’ Jakey,” Kyle, Kyle the older, Kyle the smarter, Kyle the crafty. Jake’s older brother interjected with his arms folded leaning against the blue frame of his door. “Startin to get any fuzz in barren areas my friend?” This question put a mild sense of disgust through Jakes stomach but he would expect no less from his big bro. “Why? Of all questions would you ask me that?” Jake said, beginning to wonder if puberty had passed him by altogether. It’s not like he was in a rush, but from showers in the school locker room the other guys were well on their way to manhood. “Well why not? I have every right to know if my little brother has started to sprout man grass. And just a heads up our dear mother and motley crew of family members are planning a surprise party later on. But you haven’t heard that from me.” Kyle leaned back to peer down the hallway laden with floral patterns and smelling of spring time and lemon which his mother bought by the can. “I told dad I did not want anything weird to happen. I just wanted to hangout with friends.” Jake had a tendency to get flustered easily but this was a perdition he could not escape if he wanted to. His mother was overbearing, over religious and just plain nutty sometimes. His father, the ever passive, ever confusing, and mostly naive older man of fortyish broke all too easy to his mothers sway. “Quit thinking so hard brat and just take it like a man.” Kyle was fidgeting and holding his jacket, a dickies jacket which he paid for dearly one birthday. Jake saw this and wondered what his brother was up to. “So. What’s in the jacket?” Jake knew that it would equal trouble and that most things involving Kyle equaled trouble, especially for him. “Not so loud you little dick! It’s a surprise. And no, this will cause no bleeding, scolding, or other punishment from our matriarch so you can rest easy.” Kyle was a bit distressed and rightly so. The sheer gleam of the object made him uneasy but not as much as the fact he lifted it from his fathers study. His father the historian in a long line of historians and archeologists. This object did put a fear in him and he couldn’t comprehend why. “Throw a hoodie on Jake and let’s take a walk.”
This was the middle of fall. Brown, red, and orange littered the yards and streets as if someone committed a horrible genocide on mother nature. The air was thin but not freezing and the sun still had five hours at the least on this particular Saturday. The neighborhood was cliché to a fault. Various vans and SUV’s littered with stickers about soccer, Jesus, and my kid is an honor student at whatever school. Kids running through the streets re-enacting bygone wars or dispensing injury in overtly violent football games. This was a sleepy hollow where nothing out of the ordinary happened but that was about to change.
“Kyle, where the hell are we going?” Jake was damn near exhausted already trying to keep up with a guy 3 years his senior. “Shaddup, just a little further and quit bitchin your gonna love this.” Kyle decided that being around people of any persuasion with an idea like this was not good at all. People had a way of talking, and more importantly people had a way of paying close attention to what you are doing, especially when you shouldn’t be doing it. The path taken was without concrete, lamps, or mail boxes. This path was laden with spider webs, thorns, and a small creek that ran behind and under the neighborhood. Stories abound about serial rapists, killers, and demons who are said to have taken victims back here. Worry was far from these two minds though as is much logic and reasoning in young boys. Jake spotted a few crows and cardinals and a stray dog that looked as if it was about to turn to dust if the wind blew just right. Through the canopy of branches the sky looked shattered, a disarray of blue and white that reminded him of a kaleidoscope but barren and rotting. “Jesus Christ! Stop already!” Winded and covered with web and scratches Jake was only a few inches from the wall. Kyle however, was listless and filled with a tenacity that only made Jake much warier.
“Ok. This is a good a spot as any. Take a look at this!” With that he pulled a small box from his jacket. Not a particularly great box, small and wooden with copious scratches, a few indiscernible characters, and small rust laden hinges. Oddly enough there was a remnant of a red x on the top of the box that was fading into the brown. Also a nail was sticking up where someone nailed the box shut. Before any of this even registered to Jake he knew what this was as he knew full well the consequence of meddling with something his father told him never to meddle with. Jake remembers that time because it was the only one in memory he could recall his father yelling at him. “Holy shit Kyle! We are gonna be so screwed!” “Relax Jake; dad won’t be home for at least three more hours. And I know you’ve wanted to see what is in here and much as I have” Which was true, Jake had wanted to learn the secret of the box. He wanted to entertain his curiosity to no end and found his hand reaching for it as his thoughts played on then he sent the command to his right arm to stop dead in its tracks. “Have you opened it yet?” Jake said dividing stares between Kyle and the box. “Just one small peak. Took forever to get the nail out tho. It was embedded in the metal of the old latch that held the box shut.” Kyle was now turning the box around in a rubix cube fashion. “What’s in it? Something valuable? Something weird? Mom’s recipes? What!” Jake’s curiosity was now in extremis and he couldn’t hold it in any longer. Kyle handed him the box while murmuring something about Pandora and the predicament she got herself into.
The box was light and felt antiquated. Upon closer inspection the nail sticking out of the box was covered meticulously in characters Jake didn’t recognize. Infact the entire box was covered in similar characters of some long gone civilization he guessed. The palm of his hand pressed against the front of the box and the hinges let out the tiniest creaking sound as the lid gave way to sunlight. The interior was a faded purple that was now a dark blue and almost black. A gleaming medallion lay in the center of the box. About the size of a cd but thicker and covered with markings like the box and nail. Jake held the “coin” and passed it between his hands and rolled it between his fingers. Suddenly Kyle interjected on this ballet of discovery with, “Heads up Jake, there is more to that coin that there seems!” Jake however was gone, lost in the void of this metal disc. He didn’t notice Kyle disappear from site or the temperature suddenly drop. The environment his mind was accustomed to shifted or rather metamorphed into something not unlike a dark closet but a reddish black haze filled the space. Jake was not longer subdued by the machinations of the artifact but instead his mind was spinning with fear and uncertainty with his current situation. “Kyle!... Kyle where the hell are you!?! What the hell is going on?!?” Indeed, on was the main point. Jake glanced down and saw that the characters on the medallion were glowing. The characters were arranged in circular rows the next smaller than the last. Each row was spinning in an opposite direction and producing a low vibration Jake could feel from his head to his loins to his feet. Jake was in a dire strait and he didn’t know what to make of it or where to go since every direction looked identical. The vibrations intensified and he held the medallion up to his face. In the middle was a space with no characters and that space emanated the brightest light in this dark realm. Jake could feel his mental hold on his bladder weakening and that followed with warm urine running down his pant leg. “Oh my god! Oh sweet holy Christ!” The medallion wrenched Jakes entire body around and the light from the middle section erupted into a stream of energy. The beam shot through the dark matter and, as Jake with think of it later on, literally tore a hole in reality like so much paper. Jake held onto the medallion for all he was worth. Not because he wanted to but because it was something real in a place where real was nothing more than a notion. The hole began to widen and seemed to come into being at all angles. There was no perfection in its shape for it was nothing but utter chaos. Jakes mental stability crashed and tears and thoughts of his life, family, and his bowels flowed freely in what he thought of as his last moments. Jake dropped the coin and the last thing he remembered was a dry and dead voice saying, “Consummatum est….”
Jake Became aware of the smell of piss and shit and opened his eyes to his brother kneeling beside him. He looked around for the medallion which was a few feet away sitting lying on the ground in which it had burned a circle. Kyle put a hand on Jake’s shoulder and said “This is only the beginning Jake. It gets much more interesting from here on out.”



Part Two



His head was throbbing, his pants were soiled, and his mind was on fire. Jake had awakened under the grey canopy of winter and was unable to process if indeed what happened was real or not. The hair on his arms and his face were singed slightly and he had an overwhelming urge to expel the contents of his stomach which he did vigorously next to his brother. Innocence is a virtue of the young but Jake’s felt as if it was violently molested as if hell itself had ravaged his soul. Taking was energy he had left he proceeded to sit himself up in a position that did not require him to lie in the decadent pool he had created. His started to clear and he looked at his brother with eyes that hid no sign of distress and overwhelming horror. Kyle started off, “well at least you lasted longer than I did. But you saw it? Didn’t you? The darkness and the effect of the coin?” Kyle hunched on his right knee into the light snow on the ground and stretched out a hand to Jake. Unfortunately Jake also gave a hand to Kyle in the form of a fist filled with dejection and a rage unlike any other thirteen year old to be has ever given. The impact, across Kyle’s right cheek, grinded his flesh into his teeth producing a copper taste in his mouth. “What in the hell is that thing!!! You knew that would happen and you still let me do this?!? Jake was exhausted, the last bit of energy he has went thought that blow into his brothers face. Tears flowed down Jake’s eyes as he stumbled to his feet. His pants a dirge of urine an feces clinging to his legs. “I’m sorry,” Kyle said not being able to look at his brother for he knew full well the extent of the damage done to him. “I needed to know. I needed to see someone else experience it, to show that it was real.” Jakes heart softened as he looked into his brother’s eyes. These eyes like his own that have been through such dark a hell were eyes of a broken young man. Kyle began to wipe tears from his own face, tears mingled with snow and a feeling of sorrow he now shared with his younger brother. “Jake you can hate me, but you have got to understand now. This thing, that place, they are corrupted and that’s my best explanation at this time.” Kyle was biting his lower lip and holding in what emotion he could. “Kyle. Why didn’t you just tell me? What good does it do to put me through that?” Jake stated in a stern but openly confused manner. “I wasn’t gone as long as you but I too fell into the darkness Jake. There is no good excuse for my actions but would you have believed me if I tried to explain it to you? Of course not, you needed to see it for yourself; I needed you to see it. I… I just couldn’t handle this all alone.” Jake didn’t just see but felt the sincerity as one could feel the biting cold or a knife turning in your gut. “Let’s go Kyle… we need to think and I need a shower but this, as you said, is only the beginning.” Jake said reflecting on his brother with outstretched arms welcoming an embrace. “Yes we do Jake, because now they will come for both of us.”

Part Three

Angela Fisher. The ever so Christian wife and mother. The overbearing beast with not sense of boundary or no clarity on the personal space of her two boys. This woman now sitting. Sitting and thinking. Sitting, thinking, and cooking for the men in her life. Sweet Jesus, she thought, what am I to do? Boys will be boys I guess but when will they be righteous boys lord when? She was sat in a chair in the kitchen. This linoleum lined cedar heaven she loves so well. Mr. Fisher, or Hank as one who is fond of him would refer, didn’t feel the need for cedar cabinetry but he is a thin man both physically and mentally and his wife need but nudge him to break what remains of his will. The money could have been spent better on their Victorian style house. The roof needed repair the basement, with coal shoot still attached, and had cracks in the foundation which readily leaked water on the precariously placed items the family stored therein. Just as well the yard could use a resodding and a few windows could be replaced and then there’s the fact that a new toilet for the upstairs bathroom would have been a delight. This woman, however, was materialistic to a fault. Her wealth judged in wood, diamonds (what precious few she garnered over the years), furniture, clothing, and of course her faith. She was pious, well she thought so anyway and being such decided she should have the best house possible or at least the best materials they could afford to affix to the interior. She worried for her boys, not just because they didn’t share her reverence but also because they were distant from the family and would rather be around friends than sit at a dinner table. Hank dismissed this notion as teens being teens and the whole deal being normal. Which was later rescinded due to the way Angela had a hold on him. Apples and oranges, black and white, this couple made a rather dubious pair to be sure. Lets leave them however and attend to their offspring currently enroute to the house on Carolyn Avenue.
Jake was scared that much was sure but Kyle looked absolutely panic stricken. It was thirty-five degrees outside and he had broken into a sweat and started to become pale. Whatever had happened to him involving the medallion he hid it extremely well until now. The walk was awkward for Jake, not just because he was a veritable walking toilet but also he kept thinking about what Kyle said. “…now they will come for both of us,” had “they” already came to him and what were they exactly. That vile and abstract nothingness, from which Jake was still regaining his senses, roamed around his mind like spilled cooking oil. Could it possibly get any worse than that? He thought about what these things my look like or what they might do. Then he thought of asking Kyle what he has seen so far of these revenants. That was quickly shaken from his mind as he looked as his pale sweat soaked brother whose persona changed so profoundly. He was walking as if he could taste the green mile and he held the box so tightly his knuckles turned white. Jake didn’t expect much to be said but just as they made their way back into the neighborhood Kyle pierced the silence and came to a stop. “I have seen things Jake. Horrible things. I don’t know if I believe in hell but I know there is no light in that place. Isn’t that was hell is? If so how do we combat that? Who are we to stand in hells way?” Kyle was beyond fear now. His sweat was tree sap and his mind was full of thorns. Jake could smell the torment coming from Kyle and his conviction was tested then and there. “Have you seen them? Are they dangerous? You’ve gotta tell me Kyle! I have every right to know since I am involved up to here now,” Jake said while raising his hand a few inches above his head. Kyle gripped the box so tight at the moment Jake thought it would break and spill its hellish contents on the ground. Kyle said this and only this, “They sleep in the shadows and they feed on fear. You cannot hide from them, but light helps keep them at bay. They are made of death and despair and their eyes are the color of blood that glows. They come at night mostly, but I have seen things in the daytime like a reminder that they want me to understand how bad I have fucked up and that I am theirs to take at their leisure. I have no idea what we have done by opening that box but we released something… something evil and I don’t wanna die Jake. Not by these things. I have seen their home and where they go hell follows.”

Part Four
Fear is real and as a primary response one has it also is necessary to keep you alive. Jake and Kyle walked side by side as the sun waned and the temperature dropped to a fairly cool October chill. Children were being called into their homes, cats were just leaving on that nights hunt and the streets were lit auburn by the street lights shining on the dead autumn leaves. Time passed fast or at least skipped which Jake thought was due to the medallion. Kyle on the other hand thought only of the terror awaiting them both. His nerves were getting restless and the cold sweat he was having made the current atmosphere that much more intimidating. Evening was fast approaching and neither of them wanted to be out in the dark. Jakes mind swirled around their current situation as well as the predicament his pants were in.
Their house was lit and they could see their mother moving about the kitchen preparing what they expected to be a birthday meal. The driveway was filled with the cars of his family members. Then it hit, or rather slid further down his pants to remind him. “Shit Kyle, the family is here. I completely forgot.” Jake said registering his appearance and the foul odor thereof. “Backdoor. I’ll go through the front and stall while you hit the shower. After going through hell our family will be a piece of cake.” Kyle said through a mock smile. Jakes mind wavered with concern for his older brother but nevertheless he needed to get clean and clear his mind and left Kyle to deal with relatives. “Christ! Don’t forget the box Jake,” Kyle underhanded the box he so intimately held earlier and Jake caught it and hearing the medallion move inside with a slight ring looked at his brother and they both shared a calm and wordless exchange of the same idea then Jake headed around back.