Perception

Chapter Thirty-one

Chapter Thirty-one

 “The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not nessessary.  Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” 

Joseph Conrad

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“Boomer!”

     The panicked cry cut through the befuddled tension like a knife. For the count of three, no one moved, No one breathed and then the screaming started.

    Like a stampeding herd everyone pushed their way back into the club crushing the unlucky few who got sucked under.  Inside they clawed the walls trying to find a way out. Soulless reflective eyes followed everything, his head whipping from one side to the, tracking the hysterical victims in their desperate need to escape.

     Black. Piercing screams fusing together with the fast tempo techno beat.

     White. A longhaired girl ran past.

     Black. Screaming.

     White. A lanky man in stretched vinyl running in the opposite direction.

     Black. The song changed to something faster, something darker.

     White. Both bodies lay unmoving on the floor.

     The strobe light flashed giving the scene an unreal quality. It felt as though I was watching a horror movie rather then real people fleeing for their lives.

      The tidal wave of flesh had swept me up and deposited me near bar. After much elbowing and at least one bloody nose, I had fought my way over to one of the stone pillars. I couldn’t see any of the boys but over near the entrance I thought I caught a glimpse of Petra trying to restrain a struggling Cathy. The scene went black with Petra still trying to pull her down. What ever happened in the blank must have worked as when the lights returned she was sitting on the screaming girls back. Crouching low I breathed a sigh of relief and began to map my course.

    The Boomer smiled and launched himself at someone who had gotten too close. Landing on the poor guys back he preceded to pull their arms out their sockets. Someone ran across my field of sight, sparing me the view. Something Troye once said played across my mind and I prayed with every inch of my rotten soul he had been telling the truth and wasn’t winding me up.

     “Where is everyone?” The words screamed in my ear had me jumping out of my skin. The bloodied panting Miner stood above me, one scraped hand on the pillar the other holding his leaking side. His glasses were nowhere to be seen.

    “Over there,” I nodded while watching the Boomer bend to pick up a torn limb.

    “Next time the light goes out we play statues!” He screamed.

    Black; we ran.

    White; we froze watching the arm arch across the room and hit someone in the back of the head.

     Black and we were off again.

    The muted sound of protesting metal could just be heard over the din. 

    White. The angel’s fell from their walkway.

    The lighting changed and pulsing red, yellow and orange in quick succession. The sinister light reflected off the feathered wings of the fallen angel at my feet. Around her head a pooling halo of blood. I’m not sure why but I slowly bent down and rearrange her lopsided wings. Something exploded behind me and the music died.

    I hadn’t realized The Miner had gone on with out me. Raising it took me a bit to find him half way across the room. He must have realized I wasn’t with him before I did, as he stood frozen staring at me, signaling me over.

     The wooden bar stool fractured as it slammed into The Miners back. The demented moron with more guts then sense cheered when he went down. Oblivious to the real danger just metres away he started stomping on him, kicking him again and again. The constant screaming drowned out the youth’s words but soon another two joined in the assault.

     I wish I could say that I moved to stop it, as much as I distrusted The Miner he had helped me more then once in the past, but there was no need. As soon as I lent in that direction a chunk of spinning metal whizzed past my head straight at the vile trio. They when down like bowling pins, one knocking over the others. The way the blood spurted and limbs was testament to the fact they would not be getting up anytime soon.

  Somebody crashed into my shoulder, spinning me round to face my doom. The Boomer soulless mirrored eyes were focused straight on me as he charged. The veins on his thick red sweat covered neck pulse with each step he took. Like a rabbit in a spotlight, I froze my brain stopped functioning. I could virtually feel the pain of the blow before it hit and my body went into automatic shutdown mode.

      Fighting against the numbing in my limbs I managed to take half a step back before the blow hit. It didn’t come from the front as I had expected, as I had braced for but from the side. Suddenly I was airborne, launched across one of the few remaining upright tables and crashing into the pile on the other side. I felt the first sharp pin pricks as the broken shards ripped through the thin material of my pants before slipping into the darks sweet embrace.