92

Manifest

"I have drifted o'er seas without ending,

Under sinister grey-clouded skies,

That the many-forked lightning is rending,

That resound with hysterical cries;

With the moans of invisible daemons, that out of the green waters rise."

– H. P. Lovecraft, "Nemesis"

She was running through the halls. They weren't supposed to run inside the school, but how often had she and the others broken that rule when there were no adults around? Two instances in particular came to her mind. Coming in from the rain and rushing to the computer lab to meet her brother, when Agumon had needed their help in the Digital World. And another time, not long afterwards, when she'd seen something in the stairwell that sent her fleeing from the building. On that day the sun had been shining. People had been outside enjoying the spring weather. She had wanted to grab hold of that bright normalcy and hold onto it, to keep the sane, healthy world she knew from slipping away.

This was nothing like that day. The sky through the windows was as dark as the halls, and everywhere, inside and out, was flooded with shadows. Hikari was terribly afraid. She had to find Tailmon. Her partner was somewhere in these halls and rooms, and she had to find her before whatever she feared made its move.

As far as she could tell, the entire school was empty except for herself. But although she didn't see or hear any hint of danger, the whole place seemed saturated with menace. There was something here that wanted to harm her. She could feel it. With every passing of a door or turn of a corner came a sudden wave of dread. The slap of her shoes on the linoleum floors threatened every moment to bring the terror down upon her, but she didn't dare stop running. She had to find Tailmon.

There was an open door on her left. She whipped her head about to glance inside, as much to see if Tailmon was there as to verify that nothing was ready to lunge out at her. There was nothing… but through the adjacent window she got a full view of the classroom. There were rows of empty desks – and a white shape atop one of them that she recognized immediately. Hikari brought herself to a sudden halt. Despite the terror of the situation, her face brightened into a smile.

She hurriedly entered the door nearest the front of the classroom. Tailmon stood on the farthest desk in the front row, with her back to Hikari, apparently gazing out the window at the lowering sky.

"Tailmon," Hikari said, quietly but joyously, as she stepped forward at a slower pace. Her partner didn't answer, or even turn around. For a moment Hikari felt a strange disturbance in the air, as if a wind had come through the room without quite touching her. "Tailmon," she repeated. Her smile was gone, and fear had crept into her voice. She reached out with a gloved hand, her fingers falling lightly on the Digimon's shoulder.

It didn't feel right. Something about the fur and the flesh beneath it was different. Hikari jerked her hand back as if she had laid it on a snake. The suddenness of the motion and its unexpected violence turned Tailmon around, and Hikari realized that she was looking at a plush toy in the shape of her partner. As the doll's momentum stopped, it tipped over and fell backwards. At the same instant the head, with its lifeless eyes, toppled forward off the body, leaving a gaping hole in the neck where the cotton stuffing could be seen.

Hikari gasped as the head landed at her feet, a sound that may as well have been a scream in that silence. Was there an answering sound from out in the hallway, or was her frightened imagination working on her? She looked toward the door, but saw no dark shape through the window. She looked back to the desk and the stuffed animal. The head's glassy blue eyes stared up at her. The doll's body was halfway off the surface of the desk, and as she watched it slipped slowly into the seat. It was gravity and other simple laws of physics that allowed it to continue its sluggish motion, but to the girl watching it looked horribly like the body was crawling down to the floor to retrieve its lost head.

Feeling somehow sickened, Hikari turned back to the door, putting the unexplainable stuffed doll behind her. She wanted to leave the room, but she recalled that impression of a sound in the hall, and looked closely at the open door. If she really had heard something a moment ago, she heard nothing now.

Maybe it had been nothing…but what about that replica of Tailmon? Had she been lured into a trap? She thought of what might be crouched beside the door or under the windows, what dark shapes might be lying in wait. Should she try to leave? She had to find Tailmon – the warm, living, protecting Tailmon – and she couldn't do that if she stayed here. Maybe if she was quick, or if there was nothing there at all… But what if there was? What if she wasn't fast enough? What if something snatched her, held her, and she didn't have the strength to break free of its talons?

There was a soft thud behind her as the doll's body hit the floor. Startled into action by the sound, she made for the other door. From what she could see as she passed by the windows, the hallway was as empty as it had been before. Still, she left the room at a run, and didn't slacken her pace once she had determined that she really was alone – or as alone as she had ever been in this threatening place.

She was getting closer to the end of the hall, where the stairwell was. She thought again of that long ago day when she had begun to disappear. Her imagination flew ahead of her, populating the shadows with things still darker. But the hallway remained clear, and she kept on, knowing there was a chance that around the next corner might be the little white shape she needed so much at the moment.

Finally she was at the stairs. Now there was a new problem – should she go up or down? The school was three stories tall. On the upper level, she might get cut off from the building's exit. The dusky, unpeopled Odaiba outside looked no more pleasant than the school was, but she'd be less likely to be backed into a corner outside. Besides, why would Tailmon be on the third floor? She went down.

The halls of the ground floor were little different from the ones she had left behind. Just as dark, just as silent, and just as menacing. Hikari knew that she had to press on. She had to hurry to find Tailmon, or help of any kind, and to keep ahead of whatever horror was groping for her. But she was tiring. The run through the halls had sapped her energy, and there was still no sign of any living thing but herself.

Her previous sense of certainty was also wavering. Was Tailmon not here after all? Was there someone else she could turn to? There was no one here. She hadn't seen anyone inside the school, and there didn't seem to be anything moving outside it either. She'd encountered no friend, and no enemy. To all appearances, she was alone. But she didn't feel alone.

She took a few more uncertain steps down the hallway. Her eyes scanned the walls and the doors lining them, but they had no answers for her. She considered calling for Tailmon – or anyone – aloud, though she couldn't imagine that it would bring her any more attention than her footfalls had. Still…

"Tailmon?" She didn't say it very loudly. Even without being shouted the word seemed almost to echo in the quiet of the school. Hikari wasn't sure whether she was hoping more to get or to not get a response, but a response came. Far down the hall, one of the closed doors swung noiselessly open.

In reality, she didn't have to wait long for the opener to emerge into view, but it seemed to her that long, breathless minutes passed as she stood rooted, unable to approach or retreat. Then the moment was over, and she was looking at what her call had summoned. Even as far away as she was she heard the drops of water that fell from the black, hunched body.

It was that day again, as she must have known all along that it would be. She made no sound – only walked slowly backwards, watching to see if the thing would come running at her. It didn't, but it didn't stop its approach, either. She heard the sound it made, a growling, sewer drain gurgle in its throat, and as it stalked forward she saw first one door open and then another. A sudden splash on her right caused her to whirl in that direction, and her reflexes only just allowed her to recoil from the black creature reaching for her from the restroom's doorway.

Her nerve broke immediately, and she turned and ran down the hallway, the way she had come. It was too much. It had gotten too close. She couldn't stand to have one of those slippery monsters touch her.

She was making for the exit. The main entrance to the school wasn't far. She had no intention of using the stairs again, but as she passed them she did glance in that direction. Immediately she wished she hadn't. The school didn't have a basement, but she saw that there was another flight of steps leading down instead of up, down to shadow-choked water from which the first dark heads were emerging. She caught a glimpse of the emotionless yellow eyes, then she was beyond the stairs and picking up as much speed as she had strength left for.

The doors were just up ahead. If only they were unlocked… They were. The first that she pushed gave way, though with an agonizing slowness and heaviness that she had never noticed before. She pushed harder, putting all her weight on the bar, and taking a frantic look over her shoulder as she did so, down the hallway. The things were so close. How could they have covered so much ground with their slow, deliberate shambling?

As soon as there was room she squeezed her way past the door and into the little atrium. Another row of doors stood between her and the outer world. She threw herself at this last barrier, meeting just as much resistance as at the last door. She strained against the door's inertia, not daring to look back again. But it was not a question of exertion but a question of time. Regardless of how hard she pushed, the door would not open faster. Through the glass she could see the outside world – dark and uninviting, but her only chance for safety.

It couldn't have been more than ten seconds before there was enough space for her to escape, though each crawled by like an hour while she pushed. Though she couldn't see them, she felt the presence of her pursuers, and she realized that the stench of sea things, the smell of that ancient town in the other world, had crept into her nostrils. A sound between a grunt and a whimper escaped her as the door crept another few millimeters, giving her the room she needed to fit through.

She came close to stumbling, but it wasn't until she had run down the few steps to the pavement and crossed half the distance to the school's front gate that she paused to look back. Any elation that she might have felt at her temporary escape left her as her eyes fell again on the terrible shapes behind her.

The foremost of them had already reached the doors, which moved easily under the pressure of their inky limbs. Hikari couldn't tell how many were there and how many were still coming, but knew that it would only take the strength of one to immobilize her. Pausing only a moment to catch her breath, she still had time to wonder why they filled her with so much horror. She had looked on Digimon twice as gruesome without fear. But this was not the time to ponder. She not only feared them, she had reason to fear them, and now was the time to run.

She headed for the entrance to the schoolyard at a rapid pace, not thinking about where she was going, but determined to put as much distance between herself and the creatures as possible. The long hedges that fronted the school ended in short walls, between which a gate stretched when the building was not in use. Luckily, the way was open… But as she approached she almost stopped in surprise as the gate thrust out of the wall, shortening the gap. She started running again as it gave another jerk forward. Had the distance to the gate always been this long? She ran harder as the gate drew nearer to blocking her escape route.

Suddenly she was there, with just enough time to dash through before the gate jerked shut with a clang. She stood on the broad sidewalk, gasping, her knees weak from emotion and exertion. She didn't want to stop for long, but she had to stop for a little while. For the first time she really paused and took in what lay beyond the grounds of the school. Mostly it was what she had noticed before: the familiar surroundings under an oppressive twilight, devoid of vehicles.

But she could see now that it was not devoid of life. Someone was standing on the other side of the street, and with a thrill of relief she saw that it was her brother. He was standing with his back to her, apparently watching the bay. For a moment she stood staring in joy. Then it occurred to her that he was probably in as much danger as she was, and she started across the empty street. She had to warn him, find out if he knew what was going on, and she needed to hear his voice.

"Onii-chan!" Her call seemed unpleasantly loud in the silence; she was too excited to keep her voice down. But he showed no sign of having heard her, and remained motionless even as she came within a meter of him. Setting foot on the sidewalk, she slowed to a stop, wondering what the matter was. Uneasily she thought back to the fake Tailmon in the school… but that was ridiculous. This was clearly her brother – no statue or mannequin could look so realistic. "Onii-chan?"

He finally turned and looked at her. She smiled, but the smile faded as she looked into his face. There was an expression in his eyes – or rather a lack of expression, as if he didn't recognize her.

"We have to go," she said, remembering what was following her, and trying to dismiss the strangeness of Taichi's manner as a result of the unnatural situation.

"Yes," he answered, though his agreement did nothing to put her at ease. His voice was as cold and distant as his look. "Hikari."

In all the years since she'd been born, Taichi had said Hikari's name countless times, in tones conversational, amused, concerned, irritated… but he had never said it like that. That strange inflection was so unfamiliar that she wasn't even sure what it signified. But she knew that it frightened her. As she hesitated, he took a step in her direction, extending a hand.

"Onii…chan…" She tried to form a question, one of many, but he spoke again before she could get it out.

"Come here, little sister. I will show you where we must go."

Taichi stood before her, and his voice was his own, but the tone was alien, and his way of speaking was strange. She took a step backward as her suspicion became a certainty. This was not her brother. A strange feeling of déjà vu came over her, and she realized that she was reminded of the vision BelialVamdemon had put into her head when the tide of battle turned against him. This person wasn't her brother, and this grim place wasn't Odaiba. It was another illusion… No, another nightmare.

As she continued walking backward, she looked past the false Taichi to what had been Tokyo Bay. Gathering mist and darkness had shrouded it, and the gray waters matched the sky. Hikari knew now where she really was, and she turned away from the shape of her brother, to run down the street. She ran at a dead sprint, pouring all her remaining energy into that flight from unknown horror, and not stopping or slowing when the pavement gave way to sand beneath her shoes.

She wondered how long she could hold out. Besides a passing interest in dancing, she wasn't an athlete, and her energy was almost gone. An insane image came into her head: herself, dancing – spinning and leaping across the sand in preparation to meet the Thing whose lurking presence she had felt throughout the dream. She shook the thought away and ran on.

At last her strength was spent. It seemed like she had run for miles before her aching legs were too weak to go on. Unable to remain standing she fell to her knees, taking burning gulps of air into her lungs. Though she didn't look around, she knew that there were no longer any landmarks or living beings. The mist obscured whatever lay beyond a few meters of her. From her right came the lapping of the ocean.

Wake up, she ordered herself, as she listened for any sound of pursuit. Wake up, wake up…

When that had failed, she tried to calm down, reminding herself that a dream could not hurt her. Then it occurred to her to try and call out to the waking world. Maybe this time her voice would reach. Maybe someone would hear. Her true brother, in his bedroom, or Tailmon, who even now must be right beside—

Her train of thought stopped short. No, she was not in her bed. Sand beneath her feet… she had been in the desert. She had been watching the battle… She had seen it when Tailmon…was killed.

The first edge of the incoming tide washed against her right leg, and flowed back. Tears had formed in her eyes by the time cold hands gripped her upper arms. She was hauled to her feet, her legs weak with more than exhaustion. As the next wave of the tide soaked her shoes she was turned about to face the Dark Ocean.

"A long time we have waited," the voice that resembled Taichi's said behind her. "Prepare yourself, Hikari. The time has come, little sister."