Brian Keene: Ghost Walk

“Keep an eye on that line,” he said. “Don’t let anybody else through.”

“So you suddenly believe me?” Maria’s tone was skeptical.

“No,” Ken told her. “What you’re saying is ridiculous. But I do think something’s happened. Hell, something’s been happening. I was just too stupid and fucking prideful to notice. And now my best friend is missing, along with a whole bunch of other people. I’m going in there. You and your crazy friends are staying here.”

“The hell we are.”

“I’m not gonna argue with you, Maria. Stay put until the police get here. If that really is Adam Senft, then you’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

“Somebody mention my name?”

Adam and Levi had returned from the car. Levi clutched his bag and Adam had the sack of salt thrown over one shoulder. Ken glanced at it and snorted.

“I don’t think ice on the trail is a problem right now.”

Ignoring him, Levi nodded at Maria and Adam. “Come on. We’re running out of time. I can feel it getting stronger.”

“What part of ‘stay here’ don’t you people understand?” Ken shouted.

“Ken, please!” Maria shook her head in frustration. “Listen to us.”

“Screw this. I don’t have time to argue with you. You guys want to follow me, fine. But stay the hell out of my way.”

He wheeled around and marched toward the entrance. Levi, Adam, and Maria followed along behind him, walking side by side.

“Are you sure about this?” Adam asked Levi. “I mean, maybe we should get a couple shotguns or something. Maybe some chainsaws. They worked okay when me and my friends did this.”

“They’ll do us no good this time.”

“Okay.” Adam shrugged. “It’s your funeral.”

“No,” Levi whispered, “it isn’t.”

The four of them stepped onto the trail and plunged into the forest. Ken stopped before he’d taken a dozen steps. The others halted behind him.

“Jesus,” he wheezed. “Look how dark it is in there. I can’t see shit. The flashlight doesn’t even penetrate.”

“That’s because it isn’t a normal darkness,” Levi said, hunkering down on his haunches and staring at the path.

“It’s so quiet,” Maria whispered. “What do you think is happening, Levi?”

He didn’t respond. Instead, he examined the ground closely, running his hands across it. “What are these white lines?”

Frowning, Ken glanced back at him. “It’s lime. We use it to line the trail, so people don’t wander off. It’s supposed to glow in the dark, but for some reason, it’s not doing a very good job tonight.”

Levi fell backward, landing on his ass. He began to laugh. The sudden outburst surprised the others.

“Are you okay?” Maria asked, concerned.

“What’s so funny?” Ken demanded.

“Lime! Oh, this is perfect. Better than I could have ever hoped for. This, my friends, is a testimony to the power of prayer.”

Ken glanced at Maria. “What’s he going on about?”

She shook her head.

Levi gazed upward. “Thank you, Lord! Thank you for this boon.”

“LeHorn used lime,” Adam said. “I remember, from his journal. He used lime in one of the banishing spells, when he tried to cleanse the hollow.”

“That is correct.” Levi stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants. “He did indeed. Although lime is not as powerful as salt, it can be used as a substitute. All you have to do is charge it properly.”

While Levi examined the lime, Ken turned back to the trail and took another tentative step forward. He thought he sensed movement in the darkness, but he couldn’t see anything. He stared harder, trying to peer beyond the black curtain. There it was again—movement, a slight tremor. But from what?

Then his eyes widened.

It was the darkness itself.

As he watched, it crept toward them, slowly, excruciatingly, as if it were a rubber band stretched to its limit.

Noticing his reaction, Maria and Adam followed Ken’s gaze. Maria gasped and Adam screamed, dropping the bag of salt. It split open, spilling onto the ground.

“That’s it!” Adam shrieked. “He Who Shall Not Be Named! It waits at the heart of the Labyrinth like a big tumor, infecting the universe. And now it’s here!”

Maria grabbed Ken’s shoulder and tried to pull him backward, but he remained rooted to the spot, staring as the darkness crept closer.

“Ken,” she urged, “come on!”

“It’s moving slowly,” Levi said.

“Not slow enough for me,” Maria replied.

Adam ran to the edge of the forest.

“It’s sluggish,” Levi insisted. “Which means that it’s extended to its limits. It won’t be able to go much farther until the barriers are down. We still have time. Maria, Mr. Ripple—get behind me. Adam, come here. I need your help.”

“No thanks,” Adam called. “I’m fine right here. You go ahead. Work your voodoo.”

“Adam,” Levi insisted, “you promised that you’d help me. You agreed that you owed it to your loved ones. Now I need you to honor that promise—and to honor their memories.”

“I can’t. I’m… afraid .”

“We’re all afraid, Adam. But this is what we’ve been called to do. Now please, come here. You have to trust me.”

“Trust you?”

“Yes. I’ve helped you so far, haven’t I?”

Adam slowly approached him, while Maria tried to drag Ken away. Ken shrugged free of her and pointed at the darkness.

“Look!”

The night rippled. Ken glanced over his shoulder to verify that Maria had seen it, too—but she was gone. They were all gone. Maria, Levi, and Adam. The woods. The trail. All of it. He floated in a sea of black. There was only him, adrift in an ebony void, completely alone.

His greatest fear. Ever since Deena’s death, Ken was afraid of being alone.

The darkness pressed in on all sides, and Ken screamed.

Maria tried to pull him away, but before she could, two figures stepped out of the darkness.

Maria …

“M-Mom? Dad?”

Her parents glided toward her. Their skin, hair, eyes, and clothes were black.

You have failed us, Maria. You are an embarrassment to this family. To your culture. Your heritage. Our standing in the community .

“No.” Maria closed her eyes. “You’re not real. Levi said you take the form of the things that haunt us. The things we fear.”

Maria, look at us!

“I’M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!”

Maria opened her eyes again. Her parents reached for her, and her resolve shattered. Maria screamed.

“Adam,” Levi shouted, “to me!”

The darkness swirled around Ken and Maria, poised to strike.

Levi scooped up a handful of salt and ran toward them.

“ Ia Ishtari, ios daneri, ut nemo descendre fhatagn Shtar ! God, guide my hand.”

He tossed the salt at the entity. The crystals sparked, turning blue as they soared through the air. They pelted the darkness, and it withdrew, shuddering.

“Grab Ripple before he falls,” Levi told Adam as he reached for Maria.

Stumbling, they guided Maria and Ken back to the beginning of the trail, out of reach of the darkness. Levi peered into Maria’s eyes.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “I think so.”

“Ripple, how about you?”

“I’ll live. The fuck just happened?”

“We’ve been trying to tell you,” Levi said, “but you would not listen. Now I’m afraid I’ll have to insist that you stay out of my way.”

“Fuck that,” Ken said. “I want to help. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

Levi knelt, picked up the bag of salt, and handed it to Ken.

“Be careful that you don’t spill it.”

Ken frowned. “What am I supposed to do with this?”