Simon Green - Spirits from Beyond

“JC,” said Kim, in a very small voice. “I’m scared.”

“Don’t be,” JC said immediately. “Take it easy. We’ve faced worse. It’s just. . dark.”

“What have you got to be scared of, Kim?” said Happy. “You’re a ghost! You’re already dead!”

“I don’t think the dark cares whether you’re alive or dead,” said Kim. “It’s the end of everything. Can’t you feel it?”

“I’d offer you one of my pills,” said Happy. “Except I don’t think I have anything that would affect ectoplasm.”

“Thanks for the thought, though,” said Kim.

“Have you got anything incendiary?” said Melody.

“Only metaphorically,” said Happy.

The darkness was still moving steadily forward. It had almost reached the counter. Everyone backed up against the back wall, staying inside the candlelight. The flickering, unsteady light only held on behind the counter itself now, as the rest of the room was swallowed up by the dark. The yellow light seemed to shrink back from the approaching dark, as though it were afraid of it. The darkness came right up to the far edge of the bar-counter, so close now any of them could have reached across the counter and touched it. JC picked up an empty brandy glass and threw it out into the dark. They all tensed, straining their ears, waiting for the crash of breaking glass. . but it never came. No sound at all from inside the dark.

“It’s cold,” said Happy. “Can you feel that cold? It’s sort of like a traditional cold spot-an energy drain. The temperature’s plummeting. It’s like the darkness is sucking all the heat out of the room. Or the energy. Maybe all the life. .”

“You can usually Do Something to stop things like that, Happy,” said JC. “Are you sure there isn’t anything you can do about this?”

“There’s nothing here to do anything to!” said Happy. “I keep telling you; there’s nothing alive or conscious in that dark, so there’s nothing there for me to work with! We’re trapped here, and we’re helpless. Go on, say something encouraging; I dare you.”

The darkness swept over the far edge of the counter, and edged forward, inch by inch. The candles disappeared into it, one at a time, their light snapping off. JC and Brook grabbed a candle each and pulled them right back to the inner edge of the counter, to preserve their light. JC, Brook, Happy, and Melody, and the ghost girl Kim, all huddled together, looking desperately around them; but there was nowhere left for them to go. The dark had already swallowed up both ends of the bar, and they couldn’t back away any further. They were already pressed up against the empty shelves that had once been full of bottles. Until they’d exploded.

Brook looked bitterly at JC. “You’re supposed to be the great expert; you’re supposed to know what to do about things like this! Do Something! There must be something you can do!”

“I’m thinking,” said JC. “If anyone else has an idea, feel free to contribute.”

“I’ve still got my machine-pistol,” said Melody. “But without something to aim it at. .”

“Hang on to it,” said Happy. “In case we need. . a final way out.”

“Really not helping, Happy,” said JC.

He yanked off his sunglasses, took a step forward, and glared at the darkness creeping across the counter like a great black wall. His eyes glowed fierce and golden. And the dark stopped, holding its position on the counter like a dark dividing line. And then it pressed forward again.

“Ah,” said JC. “I was hoping for rather more than that.”

He broke off as the dark surged forward. It came on in a rush, like a predator pouncing on cornered prey, rolling right over the last of the candlelight. The dark slammed forward and filled all the room. The candlelight disappeared, gone in a moment, and even the golden glow of JC’s eyes blinked out. The dark hit the far wall behind the bar; and there was nothing left but darkness everywhere.

* * *

“Everyone stand still!” JC said sharply. “Nobody move an inch! Now, sound off! Is everyone still here?”

“I’m here, JC,” said Kim.

“I’m somewhere here,” said Happy. “Can’t see a damned thing. Melody, are you here?”

“Of course I’m here!” said Melody. “Right beside you. Here, this is my hand. Grab onto it. That way we can’t be separated. I will never let you go, Happy, never leave you. You do know that, right?”

“Yes,” said Happy. “But I do like to be reminded occasionally. I can feel your hand in mine, feel your shoulder pressing up against mine. But I can’t feel your presence, can’t feel anything. .”

“Brook?” said JC. “Adrian? Speak up, man; are you still with us?”

“Yes,” said the barman. “Sorry. Couldn’t say anything there, for a moment. It’s hard to. . to. .”

“It’s all right,” said JC. “Trust me; we’re all as shaken as you are.”

“Maybe more,” said Happy.

“Shut up, Happy,” said JC. “All right; everyone stay exactly where you are! This would be a really bad time to go wandering off on your own and get lost. Adrian, you may hold my arm if you like.”

“Got you,” said Brook.

“I said hold it, not crush the bloody thing!”

“Sorry.”

“I wish I could hold you, JC,” said Kim. “I feel divorced from the world at the best of times, and this really isn’t helping.”

“Okay,” said JC. “It’s important we all to stick together. The light might have gone out of the world, but we haven’t gone anywhere. We’re still in the bar. I can feel the floor under my feet and the shelves digging into my back. So the dark hasn’t transported us anywhere. That’s important. We’re still in the bar, still in the King’s Arms. We just have to figure out how to get the lights back on.”

“Very practical,” said Melody. “Almost inspiring. Can’t say it’s helping me feel any better. I’ve never known anything like this, never encountered a darkness as. . complete as this. I really can’t see my hand in front of my face. I know it’s there because I can feel my palm bumping against the tip of my nose; but I can’t see anything. Not even those little flashes of light you sometimes get when you turn out the light to go to sleep. And it is so cold, JC! I mean really cold! I am freezing my tits off!”

“It’s the dark,” said Happy. “No light, no energy, and eventually no life. We can’t stay here, JC. The dark is killing us by inches.”

“Come on, Happy,” said JC, a bit desperately. “Are you sure you can’t sense anything here in the dark with us? Any motivating force?”

“No,” said Happy. “I can’t sense anything; as though the dark is suppressing my ESP. I can’t See anything; and normally I could See your souls shining at the bottom of a coal mine. Small and insignificant things that they are. . I can’t hear anything except your voices. And all I can feel is the cold. My hands are going numb. Soon I won’t be able to feel your hand, Melody.”

“Don’t say that,” said Melody. “I won’t be separated from you. I won’t.”

“What are we going to do?” said Brook, his voice rising hysterically. “I hate this! I hate being here. It’s horrible.”

“Well, not crushing my arm with your hand would be a good start!” said JC. “Seriously, Adrian, calm down! Or I swear I will find your head in the dark and slap you a good one!”

“Sorry,” said Brook.

There was a clicking sound, followed by several more.

“What was that?” Happy said immediately. “You all heard that, right? Somebody tell me what the hell that was!”

“I’m trying to get my lighter to light,” said JC. “Ah! Damn!”

“Now what?” said Melody.