Chapter 21
Dark Fall
(1)
Cody stood dead still. His breath caught in his throat. His heart was beating ninety miles a minute, his brother standing several yards away in front of him.
"Gotcha!"
Was all Zack said.
"Man, I can't believe you fell for it again, brother! That was the most ELABORATE prank I've ever done! The journals, the 'secret' room, getting London Tipton in on it... man, you wouldn't believe what I had to go through to get that fake altar shipped out here and that book made... the 'Necronomicon'! I can't believe you fell for that!"
Cody didn't say anything. He was still frozen to the spot.
Tricked? Tricked again?
His mind tried to make rational sense of it all.
"And the special effects guys... this all set me back a huge chunk... but it was all worth it to see your face right now!"
Cody couldn't speak.
"Come on, now, Cody, not going to say anything? Not going to admit that you were got good by your ol' big brother again? You don't have to look so shocked. Come on over here and give me a nice, big hug..."
He stretched out his arms and started to walk over to Cody. Cody, still in an almost catatonic state, instinctively began to step back.
Tricked. It was all a trick. Zack got me good. I was fooled again. Just his stupid little baby brother... it was all a lie..
At least, that was what he wanted to believe. He tried to. Tried to accept this was all a joke and that he had been gotten again, but when he took a closer look at Zack, he wanted to scream.
Zack didn't look normal. He looked all crooked and kinda out of proportion.
No...
No no no...
"What's the matter, Cody?" Zack grinned, and Cody felt there was something unnatural about that, too.
"Don't tell me you're taking this all seriously? I know this is the most elaborate prank I've ever pulled, but you can rest easy now. Punch me if you want! Don't you want to do that?"
"Stay back." Cody managed to weakly force out.
"I'm sorry? You're really going to need to spe..."
"I said STAY BACK!" Cody yelled, and he raised his cross up to eye level so it was between him and Zack.
A bright light illuminated from it, and all of a sudden Zack shrieked a demonic shriek and backed away.
Cody saw it, only for a second, but Zack changed shape temporarily when the light shined on him. It was so brief it was gone in the blink of an eye, but some of Zack's features had temporarily disappeared, and in their place had only been darkness.
The light from the cross disappeared as the Dark Man hung back.
It looked up at Cody, still in the crooked image of his brother, and his eyes were red.
It gazed at Cody, smiled, and began to laugh. It was a twisted, demonic laugh.
It opened his mouth, and the voice that came out was no longer Zack's, but something more evil.
"Do you really think that can save you now? This is MY unhallowed ground! The angels that saved you from my grasp so long ago cannot help you now!"
"But you can't come near me as long as I have this!" Cody said weakly. "I'm going go down to the basement, then the temple. I have all the lyrics! I'm going put an end to you! You will never hurt anyone ever again!"
"Ah, Cody." It said. "Lost your faith for so long. Finally regained it back. Just like the first one. He was my puppet for so long. I remember, when he dug his knife into the boy, how his screams echoed like music in my ears. The blood... Do you know how it feels to desecrate one of God's creations? What it feels when one of them willingly gives their soul over to us? What it feels like to bring pain and death to one who won't turn to us? To bring about their painful demise?
They tried to stop us. One had already given himself over to the darkness long ago. He tried to fight darkness with light, though his soul was still darkness. The other one, who was always the Light's, could not stand against my power over the one who had sold his soul to me. The innocent blood of the boy was the most potent. Ah, he did ascend to heaven that day, unfortunately, but not before he gave me life! You will give me even more life! Faith itself cannot save you from the darkness."
Cody was silent. The Dark Man began advancing towards him again. Cody started to back up.
The closer the Dark Man got, the more the cross began to light up again.
"You have no power against the light." Cody said.
"Oh, but I do! Sometimes it is the most innocent and good intentioned animals that give us the most power. They think they can stand against us, but they're wrong. Their cross only saves them by grace, but at some point, that grace will inevitably run out. Like here."
The light from the cross began to get brighter. The light illuminated parts of the Dark Man, which began to change from human features to pure blackness. There was a burning smell, like sulfur.
"Don't come any closer!"
But the Dark Man did come closer. It was pushing Cody back into the hallway, where there was no escape.
Crap. There was no way to get around it and head for the temple now. It was preying off Cody's fear, and Cody feared he was giving in.
How long before he was backed up against a wall, and the Dark Man would get closer, not caring about the tiny makeshift cross trying to burn it, to it nothing more than a human considered flesh wounds? All it cared about was Cody, Cody and nothing more, and it would have him at all costs, and then...
Cody glanced towards the direction of the stairwell.
The Dark Man saw this and grinned.
"Running, Cody? Losing your faith already?"
Cody continued to breathe heavily. The Dark Man stopped advancing.
"I want to share one more revelation with you, Cody. Before the end. I want you to understand the extent of my power, and why no one in the world can stand against us, especially our god, Apollyon."
Cody stood as still as the Dark Fall. He held his cross tightly, still illuminating light, ready to hurl it at the slightest movement and make a run for it.
"Our god has perfected deception to an art. In fact, most people don't believe we actually exist. You've seen that. Oh, their subconscious minds won't fool them. Deep down, they always know the truth. Hence why they tried to seal off my domain. But how many tried to deny that something... as you humans like to call it... 'supernatural'... happened on these grounds? If humans believed we existed, it would make it a lot harder to summon our god into this world. But you all, through your pride, your vanity, your fear, your denial... you've made things all too easy for us. And now, the world finally ends tonight, with you."
Its eyes flared an unholy red. Cody truly did believe the world would probably end with him tonight.
"One more revelation, Cody. I failed that night, when I absorbed the souls of 600 people. Such a magnificent sacrifice. But George Tipton and Jonathan Crowshaw were the only souls I was able to absorb who had the special psychic energy necessary for me to expand my domain. Such a bizarre coincidence, considering ten percent of you animals have this special connection to the spiritual realm, and there were only TWO out of six hundred that night. We feed off of this energy. It is necessary for the perfect sacrifice. Without it, I grow weak. The energy does not last for long. All souls are good. All are not preferable. I was only able to get two of these 'special souls' the first night. Then came the young boy and that police sergeant. Always two and no more. I cannot work with only two. I've already taken all the souls I can get from this place. It's so... lonely."
It grinned even further, if such a thing was possible. Cody found himself feeling nauseated at the grin.
"Surely there are a few more running around in the city? Ah, I could take the entire city by morning, and several days later, the world! But I need a third 'special' soul. The first was that heiress' boyfriend. Then came your brother... and when he came into my domain and I probed into his mind, I was so pleased to learn of your existence. Twin brothers, both having that special connection to the world beyond the physical realm... Cody! You are my third!"
Cody shuddered. His theory had been right. He suddenly found himself beating himself up in his head.
He had been stupid. How could he have possibly tried to have carried on the work when it was his specific presence that placed the entire world in peril?
"Oh, and Cody..." It said.
Cody's cell phone began to ring. The sudden sound jarred him so much he almost dropped the cross. But he couldn't bring himself to reach down and pick it up.
"Answer it." the Dark Fall said.
Cody didn't want to do any such thing.
"Go on. Answer it. I'll wait right here. I promise."
Cody was disturbed that for a split second he thought of doing it. But what was he thinking? Was he really going to listen to a self-proclaimed 'master of deception' and trust it to keep standing there while he took a very ill-timed phone call? He didn't reach for his phone.
"You really should take that call, Cody. I think you will be surprised."
Cody gave a weird look. Surprised? Did the Dark Fall know who it was? Furthermore, who would be calling him at this early in the morning, anyways?
Keeping his eyes completely on the Dark Fall, he slowly reached down and pulled his cell out of his pocket. He noted that it had actually been ringing this entire time, which was strange, because after seven rings it was supposed to go to voicemail. It had been ringing longer than that.
Cody opened it and put it to his ear.
"Hello?"
The Dark Fall's mouth moved in sync with the voice on the phone. It was the voice of his brother Zack.
"If you're there, please pick up!
Darn it, don't you ever turn this thing on?
Yeah. I know what you're thinking.
'That Zack. Only ever calls when he needs a favor or something is wrong.'
Well, something is wrong. Very wrong."
Cody's eyes began to widen in shock as he began to realize.
"Look, I know this sounds really strange, but I need you to drop everything and come here right away. I don't think we've got much time left.
I think we've just made things far worse.
But listen, you have to be really caref..."
Now the voice took on a completely mocking tone.
"Oh God... it's here.
It's right outside my door!
I can hear it whispering my name! It knows my name!
But I don't think it can...
OH NO. I FORGOT THE..."
Cody flicked off the phone and pocketed it.
Beads of sweat paraded down his forehead, despite the fact that the room was remarkably cold.
No...
He'd been had. He remembered now.
Zack had sounded genuinely panicked. But that was to be expected. Zack could practically win an academy award when he was screwing with somebody. But there was something else about the voice too. Cody wasn't sure what it was. He thought it was probably just his imagination, but...
something seemed a little off?
No...
I'm going to give a call to Cody, explain everything. I'm not sure if he will believe me, but he has to know to stay away from here and not come looking for me.
No, no.
Look, I know this sounds really strange, but I need you to drop everything and come here right away. I don't think we've got much time left…
No, no, no.
Zack had never left that message on his answering machine. Zack had never wanted him to come here and put his life in danger.
Something else had left that message. For a more sinister purpose.
"Their souls all belong to me. As do their voices. Their minds, bodies and spirits are all mine to do with as I please."
The Dark Fall started to open its mouth. Its mouth opened far wider than it would be possible for any human being.
Cody gazed into its mouth. It was like looking into a chasm.
Cody freaked and almost averted his gaze, lest he become hypnotized yet again and this time be truly powerless and unable to run.
But then he saw them. It was hard to make out at first, but he saw them. Faces. Deep within the chasm. He could see them, their faces contorted in fear and agony. He could hear thousands of whispers. He saw his brother. London. Timothy. Many other faces he didn't recognize. His brother gazed at him from the abyss, with the most sorrowful of eyes. The Dark Fall would not give him the chance to linger on the sight of his brother, his true brother, for a moment longer. The chasm closed, and the Dark Fall reverted back to 'normal' human form.
"Do you see now why you humans cannot win against us? Do you understand now the power of our deception? Do you understand why everything is futile now?"
The Dark Fall started advancing again. Cody stood his ground.
"Screw you." Cody said.
It kept coming. Cody kept standing, unmoving.
"Tell me one thing... if you are so powerful, then why is it that something like this is going to hurt like hell?"
Cody hurled the cross at the Dark Fall.
It hit dead on and struck the center of not-Zack's chest. The cross came to life and bathed the area around the Dark Fall in an illuminating light.
The Dark Fall let out a loud shriek. It was one of the most horrifying sounds Cody had ever heard.
The smell of sulfur was strong. It was a smell which smelled like it was not just sulfur but mixed with decay and something rotten. It was one of the nastiest things Cody had ever smelled.
Cody didn't waste any time. He bolted for the stairwell. He knew exactly where he was headed.
He could have bolted for the lobby doors, but he knew he probably wouldn't make it very far. He needed a refuge. Somewhere to be able to collect his wits. To think. He headed for Jonathan Crowshaw's room.
From the bottom of the stairs he heard a yell.
"!"
It was coming for him. Cody ran faster. He wasn't sure if he was going to make it. Surely the Dark Fall could move a lot faster than he could. Surely it would overtake him in a matter of seconds.
Cody picked up the pace when he realized the walls, floor, and ceiling around him were beginning to get darker.
He burst into the hallway. Almost there... He didn't dare turn around to see if anything was behind him. He made it to Jonathan Crowshaw's room, slipped in, locked the door, and bolted it.
(2)
All the crosses in the room came to life, even the ones on the floor where the carpet had been cut out, and they began exuding a great light. Cody could hear the shrieks of the Dark Fall outside the door.
"COOOOODDDYYY!"
Cody backed up as far into the room as he could go, eyes never leaving the door.
"You think you're safe now, don't you? Well, you have to come out sometime! Just like your brother and that girl did! Just like Jonathan Crowshaw did! The cross cannot save you forever! Nothing can! And when you start to get desperate... I'll be waiting!"
Cody slumped down and sat against the wall. Still watching the door. Nothing came in to get him. Nothing could. He was safe for now. But not forever.
He had only two choices. Either stay in this room and starve to death. Or bust out when he thought the Dark Fall wasn't hanging around and make a run for it.
Of course, that had been the mistake his brother had made.
Cody knew he had only the first option. He was going to have to starve to death. Die here. Rot.
If he left this room, the world would end. The only way to ensure the safety of everyone outside was to die here.
He would probably be better off if he just killed himself right now and got it over with.
It was funny. For once, the world actually WOULD be a much better place if he were to just put a knife to his throat and end it all now.
He had a pocket knife. He thought of severing his jugular.
Let the Dark Fall chew on THAT. Let it go on in despair, realizing that it had lost its chance yet again. Then someone else would come, with most of the lyrics, find the rest, go down to the temple, and probably put an end to it all.
Yes. Ending his life would be the most logical solution. Cody pulled his knees up to his chest, buried his head in them, and not for the first time that night, cried.
He cried for himself, for Zack, for London, and for all who had gotten caught up in this nightmare.
He cried for a good ten minutes.
He thought of what his life had been. He thought of what it could have been. He wished things could have turned out differently. He wished he could have a second chance. But this was reality, and reality was harsh and cruel.
So, this is how it all ends now. The life of Cody Martin...
Of course, many people died before their time, anyways. Whether it was the six year old who was struck by a car in the street, or the young aspiring college student who had his whole life ahead of him who was stabbed to death in a fatal mugging just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or a whole host of other possible scenarios...
It was the curse of living in a fallen world. Many people who had the potential of a bright and prosperous future never got to experience it. How could he have ever thought he was exempt? How could he have ever conceived of the idea he was ever meant for anything great?
He never was, even from the beginning. It was not right or wrong that nothing in his life ever panned out for him. That's just the way things were. That's just the way things were supposed to be. There was no point in crying for the things that could have been. They were never meant to be anyways.
Cody wondered why the angels had bothered saving him. Any potential of saving the world had been in vain. All he could do now was end it. Or himself.
He fished out his pocket knife. He selected the blade. Slowly, he lifted it up to his neck.
Cody felt no more sadness, no more fear, no more regret. This was just the way things were supposed to be.
One more unimportant life, one that was going to end in not in a blaze of glory, but a pathetic whimper.
There would be one more disappearance tonight. But neither would it be his soul nor his body.
His soul was going to heaven. Probably. His body would stay here. He would not vanish into thin air, but remain a corpse. And any hope the Dark Fall had of using him for its own evil designs would be lost.
He put the blade to his neck and prepared to slice.
Then the voice started up.
"COOOOODDDYYYY."
Blade still to his neck, he grimaced in anger.
He hated this thing. He hated this thing so freaking much.
He didn't move a muscle.
"COOOODDDYYYY. HEEELLLPPPP MEEEEE. THE PAIN. I CAN'T TAKE THE PAIN ANYMORE."
Cody lowered the blade and his face contorted in a rage.
The utter nerve of this thing!
"COOOODDDYYY! WE'RE ALL HERE! WE'RE ALL WAITING FOR YOU TO JOIN US!"
"COOOODDDDYYYY. WE'RE COMING TO GET YOOOOUUUU."
Not just Zack's voice, but many others joined in. He could hear London's voice, and many others he didn't recognize. They were all begging him to join them, pleading, mocking.
He was so sick of this thing. He didn't want to kill himself. He wanted to kill it! Hurt it! Make it pay for all it had done! He wanted vengeance. But he didn't know how he could exact vengeance.
He put the blade down and sat, thinking.
All he could process at the moment was anger. The voices just kept making it worse and worse.
Within a split second, he had lost the will to suicide. But he couldn't think of anything else to do.
He put his head in his knees again.
He reached over without thinking and grabbed the blade. Slowly, he began to cut a pattern into the floor. It was the shape of a cross.
He whispered as he cut;
"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of the hole that is under this hotel, I will fear nothing, for you are with me!"
He repeated this mantra over and over, still cutting.
"Help me remember, please!" he said. He didn't know why he said that last part, but all of a sudden, it hit him.
It was instant and revelatory and horrifying all at once. Something in Cody's mind snapped, as if something had been locked away, chained up, and now the chains had instantly fallen off, and suddenly he remembered everything.
The last memory that he knew he had forgotten was so terrifying it shot chills through his spine, as if he were suddenly reliving it all over again.
No... no... couldn't be... couldn't have been...
Yet, he knew it was true. He forced himself to realize it was true, lest the memory slip away once more and be lost to him forever.
He sat there, shivering, thinking about it, wondering if it could be used somehow in his plight.
But yet, he felt like it couldn't possibly help in this situation. The Dark Fall had grown too strong.
However...
He thought of something.
He reached inside his bag and pulled out a pen. He stared at it.
So simple... really. Maybe too simple. And stupid.
He thought carefully. Dare he risk the fate of the entire world over something with such a low probability of succeeding?
But yet, without a second thought, he found himself proceeding anyways.
So stupid...
He took the pen and began to draw.
(3)
Cody was not a man of risks. He had never been a man, or boy, of risks. There was not a single thing he could think of that he had ever done that had carried some probability of risk.
Zack had always stated that he was the ultimate party pooper. He was. He knew the probability of things that no one but a true obsessive compulsive would now.
This here was the riskiest thing he had ever done in his life.
Even if he had been a risk taker, he knew that this would still come out on top as the stupidest and riskiest thing he had ever done in his life.
As he opened the door to Jonathan Crowshaw's room and stepped outside, he was unable to fathom just what had gotten into him.
He knew he would probably regret this for all eternity. Literally.
But he carried on with his plan nevertheless. He didn't see anything. He thought maybe it was wandering the hotel somewhere else, not realizing that his human pray was actually already being stupid enough to make a break for it.
But he realized that was not the case. Zack and Maddie had hoped for that and they hadn't made it out alive. Cody knew it was watching him. It would not reveal itself to him immediately, but Cody knew it was there. It was not going to let his prey escape, and it had all the time in the world.
Cody decided to skip the whole charade and just call it out.
"HEY! ASSWIPE! YOU WANT TO TAKE ME? GO AHEAD AND COME AND GET ME!"
Nothing. Cody started wandering down the hall.
"HEY! DON'T YOU HEAR ME? I CONCEDE DEFEAT! HURRY UP ANDCOME TAKE MY SOUL ALREADY!"
But it didn't respond.
Cody was getting irritated. He could feel the adrenaline pumping harder, his breath becoming more hitched with each passing second.
That's probably what it wanted. To allow the panic and fear to build up just enough, to savor it, to enjoy the show.
"I'm leaving now!" Cody said.
"I'm making my way out of the hotel! I'll come back in several months and put an end to you! If you want to get me, now's your chance!"
Cody made it all the way to the stairwell. He looked back. Nothing in the hallway came from behind him to get him. He opened the door to the stairwell. Nothing there.
He proceeded down at a moderate, relaxed pace until he arrived back at the lobby. There was nothing waiting to jump him there, either.
"Okay!" Cody called out as he began waking towards the front door.
"I'm on my way out! Hasta la vista! I'll be seeing you so..."
He knew it was behind him right before it rushed him and he felt the darkness wash over him.
He felt the surge of evil. Immense evil. He was suddenly completely paralyzed. Couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. The hotel had faded out of existence instantaneously as if someone had turned out a light. All around him there was only darkness. And whispers. Thousands of them. He looked up. He could see eyes right above him. Two red, demonic slits in the midst of the darkness. Gazing at him. Ready to devour his soul. He was about to become one with it. Just another lost soul, but the one that would herald in the end of the age.
He felt the darkness wash over him. Felt it slither all over his body. Cody realized this was probably the end. He closed his eyes and waited for it to all be over, before entering into his final eternal torment.
But it never came. The Dark Fall shrieked as Cody's entire body suddenly lit up. Radiant light illuminated from Cody and blasted through the darkness. He opened his eyes. He could see the eyes of the Dark Fall. He could see the shock and rage in them. Cody smirked.
"You were right. Deception is a powerful force. But you're not the only one who can play that game..."
Though the whole area was still surrounded by blackness (Cody presumed his body had crossed entirely into the dark realm), Cody could suddenly move and act as the light continued to radiate from his body. The eyes remained stationary. For now, the Dark Fall was unable to do anything. But Cody would have to act quick. Cody felt like he was floating. There was no ground or anything. It felt like an out of body experience. But Cody's physical body was still there.
Cody grabbed his shirt and ripped it open, the buttons popping off as he did so. The light from his body grew stronger.
Cody had drawn crosses all over his body. The Dark Fall had tried to absorb him, not realizing what it was subjecting itself too. The Dark Fall shrieked in pain and rage as it realized it had been had for once. But Cody wasn't letting it go anywhere. Cody grinned as he produced the pen he had used, uncapped it, and began visualizing a cross in his head. With heavy concentration, the tip of the pen started to glow.
Cody reached up to where the eyes were right above him.
"Got ya."
Cody drew a cross right in between the eyes on the entity itself. It shrieked, a bright white light exploded, and everything faded away.