Evil Read online

  “Who are you?” I questioned the silence. There was no response except the insistent tugging that felt as if a young child was pulling on my arm. “Alright, lead me,” I said, letting this invisible force direct me out of the room and towards a staircase which descended into the dark.

  I stopped, too frightened to take another step. “I can’t go down there. It’s dark and…”

  A light floated up the stairs. It stopped before me and slowly moved downward. Mesmerized, I followed it. With each step, I worried about the Walker finding me there. But deep inside I knew that the Walker would not come here, any more than the presence here could leave the building.

  I reached the bottom of the steps, where I expected it to be damp and wet with the filth from our streets. There was no wetness. There was no filth. The floor was made of fitted stone. The floor was very dusty but dry. I found no footprints in the dust. I must have been the first visitor for dozens of years.

  The light had moved into the barred window of a room at the end of the cellar. I walked faster, now excited by the prospect of a discovery. A thick wooden door barred my entrance to the room. I pushed hard, but I felt no give to the door. The light still shone brightly through the barred window at the top of the door. Unfortunately, it was too high up for me to see into.

  “Hello, is anyone there?” I called upward.

  “Yes, Mar, I am here,” a tired male voice answered. “Mar, I have waited a long time for you to come to me.”

  “Who are you, and how do you know me?” I asked, trying hard to stop the quivering in my voice.

  “You sat and cried upon my steps, did you not?”

  “Yes, but that was so long ago. I couldn’t get in, and the Walker found me! Where were you? I was so frightened of the things in the street, but the Walker found me and escorted me to safety.”

  “I was here, where the Walker put me!” he growled. “So, the Walker saved you. I called to you every night, and you were his all this time.”

  “I am not the Walker’s! I am myself. I live here, suffer here. I’m as trapped here in my dark world as you are behind that door!” I pounded on the door with such fury that my fists started to bleed.

  “I’m only trapped here until you open the door,” the voice said impatiently.

  I kicked the door to emphasize my point. “I have pulled, pushed, and kicked, but the door will not open.”

  “Not this door. The door out front. The one with the seal. You must break the seal and open the door. Then, and only then, I’ll be released,” the voice explained.

  “But the Walker is out there!” I cried. “He and the things that slither in the night. He calls them his guard. I shouldn’t have come here.”

  “Why did you come, Mar?” the voice asked quietly.

  “I came to find my sister Nell. My brothers told me she was dead. I think that I even heard her death cries, but I still had to know for certain,” I explained.

  “Why here?”

  “I came here because she wasn’t anyplace else. Today, I remembered this place. No, that’s a lie. I never forgot this place. I was just hoping she came here and was safe.” I stopped briefly, but I had to continue, “This place isn’t safe to get to or to go from, but when I was here last, I knew it would be safe inside. I don’t know how I knew. I just did.”

  “She’s not here, Mar. Nell died after you heard her scream. The man, whom she was with, hurt her beyond repair. Your brothers were right. Your uncle did sell her to the medical school. He wasn’t even sad. Mar, why, wasn’t he sad?”

  “Because he doesn’t care. No one cares. I don’t know why I care? I didn’t care until I came here the first time.” I stopped twisting my hands when I realized the impact of what he had said to me. “You knew about Nell. You knew about Tag. How do you know these things? You’re the Walker, aren’t you!” I accused the voice, backing away from the door. I turned to run away, but his words stilled me.

  “Mar! I am not the Walker as you call him. I don’t have a name. Some people refer to me as Hope. I can’t explain what I am, but I have always been here. Not trapped, of course, but I existed out there along with the Walker. We fought daily. We were balanced. I was full of energy, and, unfortunately, I got full of myself. I let my pride get in the way, and I abandoned the people here. My power was all but gone until you sat on those steps.” The voice paused. “Mar, the difference you felt when you left was because I called to you and guided you through life.”

  “You made me miserable! I saw what I was, and it sickened me! You may have guided me, but you never let me escape. Why should I let you out?”

  “I can’t give you the reasons, but you better find them for yourself. When you do, come back here at midnight, any night, and open the seal.”

  I could tell the voice was tiring. The light had dimmed, and I could barely see the door anymore.

  “You better go now, before darkness descends and the Walker’s demons come out.”

  “Before I go, tell me about why you killed that man up there? Is that my fate if I let you out?” I asked cautiously.

  “Mar, you must leave now. Tonight, when you dream. I’ll tell you about Him and the sacrifice He made for you. Now go! I’ll run interference with the Walker for a while, so he won’t know you’ve been here. Go!”

  The light went out in the room. I followed my instincts and found my way back up the stairs and out the back door. Much to my dismay, I saw the sun going down. I started running. I ran past the mildewed buildings as if death was chasing me. As I turned the corner, I looked back.

  The Walker stood in the middle of the street with his back to me. He was watching a light that traveled between the buildings. He shooed the slithering guards away as he pursued the light. As I walked home to the shop, I could hear the Walker call, “Make way. Make way for the Walker.”

  My uncle Tag was waiting for me when I returned. He didn’t talk to me; he just raised his fist and punched me in the face. I picked myself up from where I had fallen and went upstairs to my room. I shut the door, placing a chair under the knob, as I did every night. I laid down, not bothering to bathe my swollen cheek. My last thought, before sleep overcame me, was the look of immediate fear that crossed my uncle’s face after he hit me. It was as if he knew there would be retribution.

  The Walker

  I

  woke the next morning with a headache and swollen cheek so enflamed that my right eye was swollen shut. But my mind wasn’t on my physical self. It was on the promised dream Hope had sent me. The dream took me on a trip through history. It showed me things I never thought possible. The man on that cross was the same baby the mother was holding. He wasn’t of my world but another. He was sent to save everyone who believed in him.

  I was angry because I knew nothing of this god, his spirit, or his son. I knew nothing about Heaven or Hell. Although, I thought, maybe, I was already living in Hell. I was angry at Hope for being trapped and letting my world fall into evil. Balance is what Hope said. I surmised that he was good and the Walker evil. Something had disrupted this balance, and because of this, evil had won. The knowledge I was given showed me that the whole world beyond the front door of Tag’s shop wasn’t like the world in which I had lived my years. It angered me that the people in the good world ignored us here. Did no one remember that there was a church here? What happened to the people of the church?

  “The Walker happened,” I said as I scrubbed my face clean. Somehow the Walker had gotten to the people. The slimy things who haunted the street were the corrupted souls of the church!

  I dressed and went downstairs to work. Uncle Tag wasn’t there, and no one knew where he was. My sisters told me that he wasn’t around to open up the shop for the late-night customers. I saw this as an opportunity to escape. I felt a new freedom as I opened the front door, walked out of the shop, and kept on walking. And then I stopped. I would have never come back if I hadn’t been given those dreams. I knew, even if I left the shop and my world, that I would still carry
the ugliness with me. I cursed Hope and returned to the shop.

  My mother was waiting for me in the baking room. She had cleaned up a bit. Gert walked over to me and lifted my face so she could see the damage. She squeezed my chin.

  “Tag is dead. Don’t get any ideas, because I’m here to take over,” she announced.

  “How did he die?” I asked, shaking my head loose from her grasp.

  “They found him torn up in the street by the old church,” Gert informed me. She pointed to my face. “I have a feeling he died for this. I should have known you had a protector. Clothes showing up on my doorstep for you, your uncle never putting you into the trade… I always wondered about that. Who is he, my dear?” Gert asked.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” I turned away, walked over to my table, and began making my pastries.

  Gert went out front to size things up, which gave me time to think. I knew that it wasn’t Hope that had killed Tag. He was trapped behind the sealed door. True, he had sent me the dreams, but Hope didn’t buy me dresses - how could he? Hope had claimed that I was the Walker’s woman.

  “No!” I cried. I fought this revelation with all the logic I had, but eventually I concluded that he was right. My protector was the Walker and I was Evil’s woman.

  Why was I being protected by the Walker? I shuddered to think of the Walker laying side by side with me, or me carrying his child. If only Hope didn’t haunt my mind, I probably would have been fine. I wouldn’t have known better.

  “Curse you, Hope!”

  That night I dressed in my best dress and carried my handbag carefully. The weight I carried in the purse made it dangerous to let it swing casually. I took care in my footwear. I had chosen a pair of stout boots that would guard my feet from the filth of the streets. I left the store and headed directly to the church. It was nearing midnight, and it was as dark as pitch. Occasionally, the light from a house or brothel pierced the darkness. But tonight, there were no lights to help me find my way.

  As I approached what I knew was the street to the church, I stopped and called, “Walker, are you there?” Hearing nothing, I advanced another yard into the street. “Walker, I’m too scared to come any further!”

  “What scares you here, Mar?” His voice was at my ear.

  “Wa… Walker! You startled me!” I took a moment to calm myself before I spoke, “Now that you’re here...” I reached out and touched his arm, repressing the shudder I felt inside. “I need to know something. Gert tells me that I have a protector. Is it you?”

  “Mar, has anyone hurt you?” His cold hand caressed my arm. “Hold on.” Something in his other hand started to glow. He held it near my face. “Tag should have never hit you! Mar, he regretted it all night. Strange that he should last so long.”

  “Walker, hold the light to your face. I want to see my protector. I want to know if my fantasies live up to you,” I said, reaching up to touch his cheek.

  “Is this what you wanted to see?” he asked as he lifted his hand to his face.

  The light became brighter. In it, I saw his blue eyes dance as I studied his face. His hair was coal black with streaks of silver. His chin was strong with a deep cleft centered in it. The Walker’s mouth smiled, but it was a cruel expression. His pointed teeth sparkled like ice.

  “Yes, Walker. Thank you.” I turned around and slowly walked towards the church. “Why me, Walker?”

  He stepped over and kept pace with me.

  “What do you want from me?” I asked him.

  “Mar, what does any man want from a beautiful woman?” He stumbled against something in the dark. “Make way. Make way for the Walker.”

  “But you’re not a man, and you could have had me anytime. Why the courtship?”

  He stopped. “You’re smart, Mar. You were just another street slug until you happened upon the church.”

  We were about halfway down the street. Something grabbed my ankle. “Walker! Help me!”

  “Walk with me, Mar. Make way for the Walker!” He commanded. He turned and took my hand and secured it in the crook of his arm. “You started to change after your visit to the church. You became different, more of a challenge. I saw a need to corrupt someone. And that was you.” He laughed at me. He bent down so I could see the cruelty of his eyes. “But you never knew you were being compromised until now. Tell me, Mar, why have you come to me now?”

  “I saw you yesterday. You were here. Why are you always here in the street?” I asked, moving us closer to the church.

  “Yes, I was here yesterday. I’m always here. I have special business here.”

  I needed to know if he had seen me leave the church, so I asked, “You were standing here, looking at something. I waited for you to see me, but you never did.”

  The Walker stopped. Now both of his hands glowed. He reached for my shoulders and said, “I saw you at the corner. But I was too busy pursuing an old friend, Mar.”

  His hands traveled down the front of my body and around back. I knew I couldn’t stop my body from shaking. I only hoped he would think of it as desire or virginal nervousness, instead of the revulsion I felt.

  “Mar, you’re shy of me. What did you expect when you came to me? Cakes and tea?”

  I looked around us. “Walker, where is that old friend of yours?” I asked, pulling his hands closer to my body.

  He stopped exploring and smiled. “Mar, come with me, and we’ll find someplace more comfortable.” He led me up the church’s steps. “Maybe my old friend has room for us here?” He laughed. His hands pushed me down. He stood over me and called into the church, “How does it feel, old man? How does it feel for me to take your last hope? I’m taking Mar the pure!”

  “Who are you talking to?” I said, struggling to my feet.

  He didn’t answer me. The Walker was too distracted by his one-way conversation with the occupant of the church.

  “Should I tell her of how you screwed up? Would it humiliate you? Yes, I think it would.” The Walker’s eyes glowed red as he smiled his cruel smile. “Mar, many years ago, this was a thriving community. This church catered to the spiritual welfare of all. Well, they did until they become too good for their less fortunate neighbors. They acted high and mighty, and they turned the needy away from their door. I waited outside and encouraged the people to feel bad. I turned their hurt into anger. It was so easy to form a mob of disenchanted lost ones. They stormed the church and pulled the privileged people out. I made clear to the church people how their religion had led them wrong. I asked the poor souls if they wanted to die by the crowd or renounce their god?”

  I stood still. The story held me there more securely than if I had been chained.

  “Mar, those people didn’t hesitate to save their own necks. Soon they came over to my side. I offered them eternal life for their devotion. They accepted my terms, but I wanted one more thing. I knew that, if Hope survived, I wouldn’t hold the people long. I told the people to seal the church. By their own hands, they melted the wax from their holy candles and sealed the door. Hope called to them from within, but they laughed at him. The people finished their job, and I gave them their reward.”

  The Walker clapped his hands and spread them wide. The street illuminated and the demons crawled forth.

  “See how they worship me!” Walker screamed.

  The blackened crawling flesh raised their bone-thin arms. They fell forward and quivered in soundless agony.

  I took my eyes off the horror before me. I gripped my handbag tightly. I swung the bag with all my strength. The iron press, I had added to it before I left, made my purse a hammer. I hit the doorjamb, the very first time, with enough force to crack the seal.

  The Cold Blue Flame

  T

  he noise woke the Walker from his reverie.

  “Mar, what are you doing?” He looked at me in disbelief, before he lunged to stop me. But I had already connected again with the door with my iron-weighted purse. The seal broke and fell. Angry, the Wa
lker struck me with incredible force. My body flew forward to the ground in front of the door.

  My ribs hurt and my breathing was strained, but my spirit was still strong. I pushed myself up along the wall and faced my attacker.

  “Walker, you have been alone for far too long.” Looking into his eyes, I pulled at the handle of the door behind me. The door gave easily. “Hope, I release you from your prison. May God save my soul!”

  I felt a rush of air catch me as I fell forward. I watched as a cold flame shot out from the door of the church. The Walker stumbled back as the flame pushed him aside. The flame grew larger and spread out from the church and into the street. The ground beneath us began to shake. The buildings that lined the street began to burn. The demons of the Walker quickly were reduced to ash. The bricks of the houses were burnt white before they came tumbling down.

  The noise and the tremors brought the people of my world out of their homes. They shielded their eyes from the intense light that emanated from the cold flames as they spread into the darkness of their world. My old neighbors huddled together in disbelief while their streets and houses were purified by the flames. The fire burnt the clothing from their bodies without harming them. They cried when they saw their nakedness, not out of shame but from fear.

  The flame, when it was finished, had reduced my world, including Uncle Tag’s shop, to rubble. The bricks were cleaned from the years of neglect, and the timbers were freed from mold and the vile creatures that had nestled in them. The materials lay in stacks as if the bricks and wood were ready for new construction. The streets were cleaned of muck. The river, which had lost its life as it moved through our world, was now free of the filth. The water from it was clean enough to drink.