Rakitaki: A Jonas Quartermain Adventure Page 5

  The second time was worse. The voice was wrong. It was not made by a human throat. He wanted to flee, to leave the house, to forget the things he had seen. He could not control his body as it took each step into the deeper darkness of the basement. A single wood pillar blocked his view of the room at the bottom. He took the last step around it…

  And found nothing. The room was bare. Cement floor, brick walls. There was very little water damage down there. It looked like it had been abandoned just a day before, not ten long years.

  The voice sounded again, this time from right beside him.

  “You’re here! I’m so glad.”

  Frozen in fear, his muscles refused to respond. He tried to scream, to move, to do anything. To flee the situation in which he was trapped. He couldn’t, despite straining with every fiber of his being.

  “I’m so happy,” the voice said. A gust of sickly hot air brushed his ear. His hair stood on end. “You’re going to be in my family, forever.”

  The scuttling began again, and then he could see what he had missed. The brick was not. Hundreds, thousands of segments of a three-foot-wide centipede moved at once. Each segment had a human face frozen in terror extruding from it. The walls writhed as the monster circled him. It was hundreds of feet long, wrapping the room dozens of times. Finally, the head appeared and reared up in front of him. The clicking of ten-thousand feet stopped. Bronze chitin rose, dotted with a multitude of black insectoid eyes. Long mandibles dripped saliva. They spread wide revealing a toothy maw. Inside the mouth a human face appeared. It looked like a child’s face, a young girl. Her black eyes stared at him from the creature’s mouth.

  A thousand legs wrapped him tightly in a hug. “Welcome to my family,” she said with a smile.

  Jonas woke up screaming at the top of his lungs. He frantically brushed at his skin, trying to throw the thousands of little insects clear of him. He could feel the feet all over.

  6

  Jonas had slept little after the dream. He was troubled by how vivid it had been. He rarely remembered his dreams at all. When his alarm clock started to buzz, he reached over and turned it off. Then he dragged himself out of bed and to the communal bathroom. He took a shower, and by the time he was dressing himself, he felt like a person again.

  Sleep deprivation tugged at the edges of his consciousness. He hadn’t been sleeping well for a few days. The nightmares were not helping. He left his dorm and walked to Holcomb’s Pharmacy. When he arrived, the other two were just opening the store.

  “Good morning, sir,” Jonas called out as he walked in. Holcomb turned to him, surprised.

  “You’re here much earlier than I expected, Jonas.” He looked the young man over with a note of concern. “You look a little rough. Are you sure you want to work?”

  “Yes, sir. I think that’s the best thing I can do right now,” Jonas said with a nod.

  “Very well. Danielle, do you remember that package I told you about?”

  She nodded, still popping her gum.

  “Excellent. Please go retrieve it. The trip will take a few hours, don’t worry about rushing. I think today, I will train Jonas to use the register.”

  She nodded, put her magazine down, then retrieved her purse from under the counter. She left without another word. Jonas looked back and forth until she left.

  “What was that about?”

  “Oh, just a little side project. She’ll be gone most of the day. If you’re willing to work the full day, I’m sure it will be nice to have some real pocket money.”

  “Yeah, it will. I’m in,” Jonas replied. He grabbed the apron from the office, put it on, then walked to the register. “What’s first?”

  “First, we wait for a customer,” Holcomb said cheerily as he sat in his usual place. “When the time comes, I’ll walk you through the process.”

  Jonas shrugged, then sat on the stool. He idly paged through the magazine Danielle had been reading. It was an average trash-teen magazine with nothing of interest to him. Nevertheless, he started reading the articles out of sheer boredom. He had no idea how people could turn a simple process like moisturizing skin into a full article.

  Around noon, the same tall black man that Jonas had seen before walked into the store. Holcomb put his newspaper down.

  “Jonas, why don’t you take your lunch?” He said when he saw who it was.

  “What about learning the register?”

  “This is one of my regular customers, I’ll handle this myself. Don’t worry, you can work with the next customer.”

  “Uh, okay.”

  “There is a good burger place down the street. Why don’t you go there? Take your time.” Holcomb dug in his pocket, then pulled out a five. “Here, have lunch on me.”

  Jonas took the bill, looking it over, then looked back at Holcomb. He shrugged. “Thanks, Mister Holcomb.” He took the apron off, grabbed his jacket, then walked out of the store. Just before the door closed, he caught a few words from the taller man.

  “Do you think he has potential?”

  Anything said after that was cut off by the door. A wind kicked up, biting into Jonas. He pulled his jacket on and wrapped his arms around his chest. He walked down the block until he found the restaurant Holcomb had mentioned. He was motioned to a booth by a server and sat. He ordered a burger with fries and a shake. He took his time eating, wondering the whole time who the mysterious man was, and what he had been talking about.

  When he was done, he paid the tab and left the change as a tip. He was surprised the meal had cost four dollars. Prices were going up all the time. He walked back to the Pharmacy. The strange man had already left. Holcomb sat in his usual spot, reading a newspaper. The rest of the day went by in a blur. Danielle returned just before closing. She handed a wax paper wrapped bundle to Holcomb, then left.

  Holcomb took the parcel into the office, then returned empty-handed a few minutes later. He went through the motions, then closed the store. As they stood outside, Jonas began asking questions.

  “Mister Holcomb, how does the store stay operational with so few customers?”

  “The weekends are our slowest days. Will you be returning for work tomorrow?”

  Jonas thought about it. “Yes, I think so. Working here is great.”

  “Excellent. That means I can send Danielle out on errands more often. Now, we have two weeks until Christmas. If I can depend on you for the next two weekends, that would be excellent. Of course, I’ll pay you as well. Now, we do observe Christmas, and will be closed on that Sunday.”

  “Yeah, no problem Mister Holcomb.”

  “This won’t cause any problems for your schooling, will it?”

  Jonas shook his head. “No, sir. I can make it work. Thank you for the opportunity.”

  “Of course, son. Now, go on. Have a good night. I will see you first thing tomorrow morning.”

  “Will do.” Jonas jogged home, enjoying the cool air. He was glad the day was over, but enjoyed the job. He had a feeling it was not like a normal job. When he sat down to study, his eyes grew heavy. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

  Darkness surrounded him. He floated in the void again. He was neither warm, nor cold. Subtle breezes and shifting nothingness were the only indicators of his movement. He felt at peace. He knew something would happen soon, but was content to experience nothingness for as long as he was allowed.

  “The Night of Crimson,” said an unfamiliar Egyptian man’s voice.

  Two red eyes opened in the darkness. His heartrate quickened; adrenaline stormed his body. He felt panic rising. The eyes stared at him, into him, through him. He was interesting to them. They watched with hostile intent.

  Jonas woke with a start. His bedsheets were soaked with sweat and tangled around him. He was thankful his roommate was never around. He had been sleeping very violently, from the state of his bed. He rose, walked to the bathroom and filled a glass with water. He downed the glass all at once, then shuffled back to bed. The lack of sleep was startin
g to wear him down.

  He slept fitfully for the rest of the night. Every time he fell into dreams, the eyes seemed to be there. They never did anything to him except watch intently. When he woke in the morning, he felt ragged. He readied himself for the day, then trudged to Holcomb’s Pharmacy.

  “Jonas, you are looking quite rough around the edges, son.”

  “Nice to see you too, Mister Holcomb,” Jonas said with a sour edge.

  “Having trouble sleeping?”

  “What gave you that impression?”

  Holcomb looked him over, then went into the pharmacy. He returned a moment later with a nondescript orange bottle. He rattled it to show there were a handful of pills.

  “This is a sleeping pill. Should help you sleep at night. Take one tonight, then let me know how it worked tomorrow. As for right now, why don’t you go into the office and take a nap. I’ll wake you up in an hour.”

  Jonas nodded dumbly, accepted the bottle, and walked into the office. The only available space to sit was the plush leather chair. He sank into it with a sigh and immediately drifted off.

  He found himself floating in the void again. Apprehension sank in, knowing he was going to be accosted by the eyes. It took some time for them to show up as he expected. Except, when they did, something happened behind him. The eyes fled. He tried to turn in the void, but could not gain purchase on anything. He continued his slow spin. When he had turned fully around, he saw the blinding golden brilliance that had driven his enemy away. It was a single massive glowing eye, stylized like something out of Egypt. It looked at him and warmth flooded him.

  He woke when Holcomb knocked.

  “Jonas, it’s been an hour. How are you feeling?”

  Jonas stretched in the chair, then stood up. He felt more rested than he had in a week. He stretched again, feeling his joints pop.

  “I feel great, Mister Holcomb! Thanks for letting me take a nap. I’m sorry for being grumpy earlier.”

  “Think nothing of it. As chance would have it, we have a customer, and it is time for you to learn how to operate the register.”

  Jonas followed Holcomb out of the office and to the register. A kindly old woman was waiting patiently at the empty register. She had a pile of goods on the counter.

  Holcomb walked Jonas through the process of ringing her up. She smiled brightly the entire time. Jonas blushed a deep red when he rang up the box of condoms she had in the pile, but said nothing. When it was all done, she paid, patted him on the hand as he handed over the bag of her goods, and left.

  When the door closed, Jonas turned to his boss.

  “Is that normal?”

  “Is what normal?” Holcomb asked innocently.

  “For little old ladies to come in here to buy condoms?”

  Holcomb chuckled. “At least she’s being safe.”

  “Oh gross, I did not need to think about that.” Jonas made a sour face at his misfortune. Holcomb laughed uproariously. She ended up being their only customer that day. During closing, Holcomb walked Jonas through closing out the register and adding everything up. After it was done, Holcomb gave him his pay for the week. Jonas happily took the bills and coins.

  They locked the store for the night. Jonas waited as Holcomb locked the door.

  “Thank you for your help today, Jonas. I’ll see you Friday.”

  “No, sir, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he replied.

  “Oh?” Holcomb asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “The sleeping pills,” Jonas said.

  “Ah, of course,” Holcomb said sagely. They went their separate ways. Jonas took a single pill just before bed and washed it down with a cup of water. He lay in bed, wondering what the night would bring. He was quickly and deeply asleep moments later as the pill took effect. He slept soundly that night, too deep to experience or remember any dreams.

  7

  Jonas checked in with Holcomb the next day. He confirmed the pills worked, which was received well by the Pharmacist. He told Jonas to keep the pills on hand and take one any time the dreams started up. The next two weeks passed in a blur. Jonas studied hard for his classes, but partied harder at night. On the weekends, he worked for the Pharmacy. Christmas rapidly approached.

  On Christmas Eve, Holcomb pulled Jonas aside before closing.

  “You have been a wonderful employee. You learn quickly and do any task I request with a minimum of complaining. However, as I recall, you have a rather large trip coming up.”

  Jonas nodded. “Yes, sir. The trip for the Archaeology class.”

  “Which is why you sent away for this,” Holcomb said as he produced a small blue booklet. He handed it over to Jonas. The young man opened and looked at the first page. It had all his vital statistics as well as a picture of him.

  “My passport!”

  “Yes indeed. As a thanks for your hard work, I have two additional gifts for you. First, your weekly pay, since we are closed tomorrow.”

  Holcomb handed over a small wad of bills. Jonas thanked him and put the bills away. He looked around awkwardly, shuffling in place. Holcomb laughed, his belly jiggling with the motion. He looked every inch the image of Santa, especially because he had dressed up to suit the part on Christmas Eve. He even had a fake beard and red cap. He opened a bag at his side and drew out an envelope and small box.

  “I wanted to give you a small bonus for working hard. It’s not much,” he said with what sounded like wistfulness to Jonas.

  The excited young man took the envelope and immediately opened it. The bonus was four five-dollar bills, totaling twenty dollars. It was a good amount of money, especially as a bonus for a part-time employee.

  “Wow, Mister Holcomb, thank you so much!”

  Jonas hugged the jolly man, then went to open the small box. Holcomb stopped him with a hand on top of his own.

  “Hold off on opening that just yet. I just hope you like it.”

  “Gee, thanks, sir. I, uh…” Jonas trailed off. “I didn’t get you anything.”

  “Your help these last few weeks as well as your positive attitude, and seeing you open your bonus is gift enough for me.”

  “Yeah, but I feel bad now.” Jonas said as he looked at the gifts he had been given.

  “I’ll tell you what,” Holcomb said with a small laugh. “Why don’t you bring me something nice back from Egypt?”

  “Oh, yes, sir! I’ll find something really cool!”

  “Perfect. Now, get on out of here. No need for you to stay late, especially since it is Christmas Eve. I hope you have a fun, and more importantly, safe, night, Jonas.”

  The emphasis on safe made Jonas pause. He looked at the jolly image of Old Saint Nick, who just winked in response. He nodded thoughtfully, then put everything in his pockets. He left the store in Holcomb’s hands and rushed home.

  Danielle turned to Holcomb after the door closed. She popped her gum out of habit before speaking. “Do you think that will work?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know, Danielle, I really don’t.”

  “Is it going to be enough?”

  “I hope so. He’s a good kid,” Holcomb said with an uncharacteristic sigh.

  “Which one did you give him?”

  “The one I was directed to. The Eye, with the ring.”

  She tilted her head to the side in thought. She popped her gum again. “Yeah, that’ll probably work. Did they say anything else?”

  Silence ruled in the store for a long time. He shook his head before speaking. “If he survives, he’s the one we have been waiting for. But… it looks grim.”

  “Why?” she asked. “He’s just doing an archaeological dig. I don’t understand why he needs so much protection. I mean, you gave him The Eye. That’s practically overkill.”

  He shook his head again. “Not according to what they said.”

  “That bad?”

  “That bad,” he echoed.

  When Jonas got back to his dorm, he counted out his money, put it in order in his wallet, then left
the small box on his nightstand. As he opened the door to leave his room, he froze.

  Elliott was standing there with a goofy grin and hand raised to knock.

  “Look at that timing! Want to go party?” Elliott dropped his right hand and held up a six pack of beer with his other.

  “Does the pope shit in the woods?” Jonas replied as he shut the door.

  “What?” Elliott said with a laugh.

  “Yes, I want to party! Let’s go!”

  They caught a taxi over to Madsen’s place. The house was decked out in Christmas decorations, candy canes and icicle lights everywhere. Snow was piled high in the yard. Some of the attendees had built a large snowman complete with a hat and carrot nose. Electronic versions of classic Christmas songs boomed from the house. The party was so loud, Jonas would have been concerned the cops would be called, save for the fact every house on the block appeared to be doing the same thing.

  He walked in with Elliott, shaking hands, giving hugs, accepting drinks and downing them. They were the life of the party. Madsen himself appeared in the kitchen to welcome them. Angie appeared out of nowhere, flying into a tackle-hug on Elliott. He laughed as he caught her. They kissed passionately.

  “Hey, get a room you two,” Jonas said with mock disgust.

  “Yeah,” said a woman nearby. She had laughter in her voice. He looked around to find the source, instead only catching a glimpse of intensely green eyes as she disappeared into the crowd.

  “Whatever, you’re just jealous I have an amazing monkey for a girlfriend,” Elliott quipped. She punched him in the shoulder from her perch.

  “Ow,” he shouted. Then he kissed her again. “I’m kidding babe. Jonas, grab some AMFs for us!”

  Jonas waited at the makeshift bar in the kitchen until the attractive blonde behind it noticed him. He ordered three drinks, and she whipped them up. She gave him a big smile.

  “Good to see you again, Jonas!”

  “You too!” He took the drinks and walked to the slider. The fire was roaring in the back yard again. Snow was piled high everywhere. Jonas opened the door, letting the bitter wind in. Shouts immediately informed him of multiple unlikely sexual partners he had engaged with, the likelihood of his father being some sort of livestock, as well as a few physically impossible acts for him to perform instead of opening the door. He trudged into the snow with the drinks in hand. Elliott followed, one hand holding Angie up while the other closed the door.