Black Holes - The Mors Mortis Trilogy Book 3

Chapter Fourteen

Jared didn't know how long he'd been stuck in this corridor of darkness. Time and space had been swallowed up almost instantly. And now, his memories were starting to fog and haze too, desiccating like a corpse.

He couldn't remember why he'd come here. Or who he'd been with. But the last thing he'd done, that plummet through the air, he saw vividly. He could still taste the desperate hope on his tongue, still feel his stomach rising in his chest. Even though he knew that fall ended here, that he'd been hurtling towards this crushing oblivion, he clung to it. Let the touch and taste and feel remind him of who he was.

Because he knew this place, and the moment he lost those last memories, he was done for.

That was what the in-between did, after all. It crushed silence into to your ears, it stole touch and sight and weight. It dissolved you into nothing, picking you apart atom by atom, until you didn't exist anymore.

If Jared had been anyone else, he knew that fate would've found him already. But he'd come in here with a backpack full of food and water. And every time he'd portalled from one world to another, he'd passed through this place, learning new ways to avoid the attention of what lurked in the darkness.

He'd never lingered this long before, though. Never let himself focus on anything other than the destination he had in mind, the portal that always opened the moment he stepped in, showing the way back out.

That hadn't happened this time.

So, when a flash of light pierced across his vision, one of thousands he'd seen already while suspended here, Jared ignored it, even as the scream reached his ears.

This one sounded male, more of a moan than the shrieks of terror Jared was accustomed to hearing, and he let out a sigh of relief. The in-between was always kinder to people who didn't fight. Those that were quiet, that came in with less energy, faded more gently.

Jared set up a count in his head, hoping he'd only have to relive that final memory a few times before silence surrounded him once more and he could pretend he was somewhere else.

He immersed himself in that final fall. Going over it once. Twice. Three times. He made himself feel the wind kissing his face, made his eyes see the portal that rushed to meet him.

Still, those moans echoed through the void, shattering his focus, and Jared found himself turning towards that sound, listening.

Dangerous.

So dangerous to let that happen.

But that voice.

The pain in it was obvious, horrible, but it was still something. He'd been starved of anything other than his thoughts for ages now.

He stepped towards it, eyes piecing darkness, as if he could tear through and find who it was letting out those terrible noises. It'd never helped before, never done anything more than make the people who found themselves in here panic more. But maybe this time would be different.

Maybe the beings that constantly stalked him, hunted him, wouldn't be diverted.

But no, there it was.

The popping in his ears as the creatures slipped away, advancing towards that easier prey.

Jared took another step, as if he could stop them.

He still hadn't decided if he'd risk it, if he could put himself in that much danger, when there was another flash of light. The brightness was blinding, coming from the exact direction he was looking, and Jared let out a cry, jerking backwards and shielding his eyes.

Black and white dots were spotting his vision, tears running down his cheeks.

But there, in the distance. That light lingered, cutting through everything. He could see someone curled in front of it and a hazy world beyond, flickering in and out of focus as something clawed at the darkness from the other side.

Jared couldn't see what it was that struggled to break through, couldn't determine if it was a friend or foe. But whatever it was had to be better than the monsters advancing towards that person from this world.

Jared's blood ran cold as he took in those blacker patches of darkness, took in their elongated limbs, and humongous, malformed bodies. They were moving slowly, but fast enough that they'd reach that person before whoever stood in that other world did.

Before he knew what he was doing, Jared started running towards it all, his heart pounding.

"Get up!" he hissed, trying to keep his voice quiet as possible. "Get out!"

But whoever it was couldn't hear him. He could hardly even hear himself.

A louder roar was filling his ears, drowning him out, as if something in here had awoken, had started hurling itself towards that opening, that window of light that was spilling in.

Jared pushed his legs faster, sprinting towards that opening.

He was still a hundred meters away, the monsters within a hairsbreadth of the person writhing on the floor, when Jared heard a rip, a scream, and then the light flared. Arms appeared from that portal, grabbed the person curled in front of it and hauled them back out.

Relief flooded Jared, intense enough that he almost wanted to sob.

But then the tear began to fade, and the hope he'd just allowed himself to feel shattered.

"Wait!" Jared yelled, begging his legs to move faster, begging that tear to mend slower.

"Wait!" he yelled again.

But he could see that opening shrinking, could feel the darkness converging on it, smothering it.

Just before it left, he got a final glimpse of the emptiness that sat here, of those black figures turning, kinking their heads towards him.

And then the portal disappeared, plunging him into darkness once again.

Jared's breaths were jagged as he screeched to a stop, deafening in the silence that thickened around him, pressing down on his chest.

That was when he realised his mistake.

The only reason he'd survived this long was because he'd stayed silent, because he'd kept himself invisible and uninteresting and absent. He hadn't let his mind acknowledge where he was, hadn't let panic send his heart pounding.

But now...

He could feel the blood rushing through him, thumping through his veins and announcing their vitality to every other creature in here.

Before he could move, pressure drilled into his ears, digging deep and making his eardrums scream, so much worse than before.

He felt a thud, the ground vibrating beneath him. Then another. Coming closer.

Those creatures had finally found him.

Gritting his teeth, Jared turned, silent as he could, and started shifting away, trying to blend back into the darkness. But he knew it was no use.

Those monsters had his scent. And he knew it was now only a matter of time before they had him too.

...

And now we've got our first glimpse of what lays beyond the portals! What did you all think of this chapter? Were you happy to have Jared back?

Next chapter out in two weeks!

- Skylar xx