Simon Green - Spirits from Beyond

“There’s nothing out there,” he said numbly.

“Nothing but the dark,” said JC.

“Kim’s right,” said Melody, in a shocked, unsteady voice. “No stars, no moon; not even any lights from the town at the end of the road. . This can’t be right.”

“And,” said Kim, still not budging from the counter, “there’s Something out there.”

JC looked back at her. “In the dark?”

“I think it is the dark,” said Kim.

It occurred to JC that Kim was seriously frightened. He hadn’t seen her look that scared since both of them were nearly destroyed in the hell train down in the London Underground. He was sure he hadn’t seen her look even seriously worried since then. He started to say something; and all the lights in the main bar went out. And stayed out. Everyone made some sort of noise. They couldn’t help themselves. Things were bad enough already, without this. The dark seemed so. . absolute, this time. Like the kind of dark you find at the bottom of the sea, down in the depths where the light has never penetrated.

JC turned his head quickly back and forth but couldn’t make out a damned thing anywhere.

“It’s all right!” said Brook. “I’ve got some candles behind the counter, for emergencies! You stay put, and I’ll go back and find them! I know this bar like the back of my hand!”

Several loud bangs and crashes and a certain amount of rough language suggested that might not be entirely true, but Brook did make it back to the counter. They could all hear him, scuffling and searching behind the bar. Picking up things that probably felt a lot like candles and putting them down again. JC turned in what he hoped was Melody’s direction.

“Melody! Try your lap-top again! The light from the screen should give us something to work with!”

“Way ahead of you, JC,” said Melody’s voice from over by the counter. “I’ve got my lap-top, but it’s dead in the water. Nothing’s working. I think the faces manifesting through the screen screwed it over, big time.”

JC thrust one hand into his jacket pocket. “All right, nobody panic, I’ve got my lighter here with me.”

“Who’s panicking?” said Happy. “Who said anything about panicking? I’m concerned, for Melody’s sake. And what are you doing with a cigarette lighter? You said you gave up smoking ages ago.”

“I did,” said JC. “But a lighter is still a very useful thing to have about your person in this business.”

Everyone made emphatic and very satisfied sounds as JC’s lighter burst into flame. The cheerful yellow glow didn’t spread far, but the simple dancing light was enough to warm all their hearts after so long in complete darkness. JC held his lighter up high, but the glow didn’t even travel far enough to reach the counter. It was only just bright enough to illuminate his hand and arm.

“Now if this were a movie,” said Happy, “that lighter would provide us enough light to do emergency surgery by.”

“Hollywood lies to you all the time,” said JC. “Get used to it.”

“I am not panicking!” said Happy. “In fact, in my current highly medicated state, I don’t think I’d panic if an elephant stood on my foot. And then danced Gangnam Style.”

Brook set out several assorted candles, in various assorted holders, on top of the bar-counter, and lit them up, one after the other. A flickering pale yellow light illuminated the bar, and everyone hurried forward to stand in the narrow pool of light. JC put out his lighter and tucked it away. Making a careful note of which pocket he put it in, in case he needed it later. Happy moved quickly over to be with Melody, who had given up on her lap-top and pushed it away. Brook was breathing more easily, his eyes fixed on the candlelight. JC had almost reached Kim when she looked suddenly back at the windows and made a loud sound of distress. They all turned to look.

Darkness was seeping through the closed windows, right through the solid glass. It passed swiftly through all the windows and spread out across the far wall, like so much sticky black treacle. It oozed through the windows, without breaking or even affecting the old leaded glass, and covered the entire wall from floor to ceiling in only a few moments. As though the darkness from outside the inn had. . pressed forward and broken into the main bar. It was inside now and still moving forward. Edging slowly across the floor, eating up the open space, and replacing it with darkness.

There was no sense of physical presence, no sense there was anything in the dark. Just the darkness itself-a huge, impenetrable wall or curtain of utter darkness. A brutal implacable absence of light. Drawing steadily closer to the small, beleaguered group in their pool of yellow light.

“The night’s come in here after us,” said Kim.

“I really don’t like the look of that,” said Melody.

“Should we run?” said Happy.

“Where to?” said JC, angrily. “Use your head! There’s nowhere to go!”

“We could go upstairs,” said Melody.

“Bad idea,” Brook said immediately.

“Why isn’t my tech working?” said Melody, picking up her lap-top and shaking it, then slamming it down hard on the bar-counter. “There’s no reason why it shouldn’t be working!”

“Hold on, Mel,” said JC. “Don’t let it get to you. Happy, are you picking up anything?”

“I’m getting nothing,” said Happy. “And I mean nothing. I can’t See or feel anything. There’s a total absence of any kind of presence. Which is. . weird.”

“Have you noticed?” Kim said suddenly. “The storm’s gone, too. Not a sound anywhere, not even a murmur. It’s all gone quiet.”

They all stood very still, listening. The entire main bar seemed stuffed full of an eerie, oppressive silence.

“As though. . the storm isn’t there, any more,” said Kim. “As though there isn’t anything outside this room. Like the darkness has. . swallowed everything up.”

“Nicely put, Kim,” said Happy. “Very smart, very succinct, and evocative. Oh yes. If you have any more insights like that, do feel free to keep them to yourself.”

“No disagreements in front of the enemy, children!” said JC. “Put on a brave face and a united front and stare the darkness down! I’ve got an idea.”

He grabbed the brandy bottle off the top of the counter and strode forward. He emptied the bottle’s remaining contents out over the nearest chair lying on its side on the floor, right in the path of the creeping dark. JC used the last of the liquor to lay a thin trail back to the counter, put the bottle back, knelt, took out his lighter again, and lit the trail of brandy. A puff of blue flames sprang up from the trail, shooting forward to ignite the liquor-soaked chair. It burned brightly with the same blue flame, blazing away in the face of the approaching dark. It made loud crackling and creaking noises as it burned, while everyone watched silently from the counter, waiting to see what would happen. The light from the burning chair helped illuminate more of the bar; but the light stopped dead where it met the approaching dark. Until, finally, the dark wall rolled over the burning chair and engulfed it, stamping out its light in a moment.

And now the darkness covered more than half of the main bar.

“Bugger,” said JC, succinctly. “I was hoping for rather more than that. . Okay, everybody fall back, and get behind the bar with Brook.”

By the time he had finished talking and joined them, they were all lined up behind the counter, standing huddled together, shoulder to shoulder. For company and support. Kim stuck as close to them as she could get, staring wide-eyed at the slowly moving dark. The light from the candles on top the counter stopped where it met the creeping darkness; and inch by inch the dark pushed the candlelight back towards the counter.