Gomory

                                              Gomory Arrives................                Chpt 4.









(part way through chapter four)....................



  Stacey feels the torch pressed into her dripping fingers and struggles to hold the



wet rubber. Pushing her fringe away from her eyes with one hand, she shines the



torch infront of her with the other. She blinks to see through the rain.  Her heart



almost stops in her chest.  She is aware of Steven bumping into her from behind,



of sliding slightly in the wet mud, then regaining her balance before she stumbles.



Stacey is even half aware of Steven shouting at her for stopping so abruptly, but



she cannot move, because standing - no floating - infront of her is the most



beautiful ghost she has ever seen. Is in fact, the only ghost she has ever seen...



Her heart is racing wildly, and though she wants to move, she simply can't. A part



of her acknowledges that to delay in doing so will be devastating for them all, and



yet......................



  Something about the bewitching figure - it's pale form, the flowing hair which



spreads around it in the whipping wind like the coiling snakes of Medusa's living



mane, completely and utterley mesmerise her...



  The melancholy figure floating above the forest floor smiles begnignley at her, as



if it has known her all her life... The four freinds behind Stacey are not as



enraptured by it's sudden appearance.





Like a dagger drawn across a violin, their nerves feel a terror deeper than the icy



depths of deepest space...They see it's opalescent face as a bleached



skull upon which has been painted a bitter smile, with cold, lifeless eyes full of



hate and malice.



  Michael gasps, horrified,, his very soul shrinking from the apparition before him.



The thunder now sounds like a tolling bell and he knows without doubt that he is



facing death incarnate. His feet start to skate backward, refusing to lift him out of



the mud that entombs them like partially set cement caskets.



  Janine wails, shoving James out of the way, sure this ghastly vision is one of



Satan's witches come to drag her kicking and screaming throught the gates of hell.



  Stacey is frozen in fascination, unable to turn herself or the torch away from the



phantasmical figure infront of her. She is overwhelmed by it's appearance, beguiled



by it's wide, disconsolate eyes. Until the ghost reaches out to embrace her,



smiling a smile only death would know.



  Like a hurricane she whirls past Steven, her fight or flight response overtaking all



others. It feels to Steven as though a locomotive has hit him. Fear, he surmises,



is a force to be reckonced with. He thinks this as his face splats into the mud,



and Stacey's light frame tramples over his prostrate body.



  He knows the others are running away, leaving him: Even above the howls of



the storm he can hear them crashing into trees, tearing through the thicket,



screaming as they wound themselves, desperate to escape.  He wonders if the



creature above him is some kind of hallucination, induced by too much marujana.



Surely they can't be responsible for it!!  Michael's stupid incantation isn't meant



to work. Slowly, despairingly, he raises his head to look death in the eye.  The



appartition has moved and is directly above him.  It is the most frightning thing he



has ever experienced..



  As it reaches down to touch him, as it passes through the infinity of space that



separates it from him, Steven wonders if they should have stuck with a simpler



sacrificial offering after all..



  The phantoms touch is like red hot needles - a million dispersing pin points



which propel through his veins, eviscerating tissue, exploding organs, shrivelling



his body from the inside.  He has just enough time to realize he is dying, enough



time to be flummoxed by the fact that the ghosts touch has given him a hard on,



and then he is dead.



  The ghost stares down at him, displeased. The boy has died too quickly, a



disappointment she is not willing to repeat.. She wants to savour the deaths of



the others, and she must hurry before they flee the forest.  In here it is safe. Away



from the civilized world no one can hear them. No one will save them.



  The Demonist closest to the ghost is the  young boy, James. He is entangled



within a sharp dog-rose bush - the long thorns shackling his sweater, his trousers,



even his hair, to the bush. He is cursing madly, trying to release himself, the thorns



pricking his skin and releasing hundreds of tiny droplets of blood which smell



much too delicious to the ghost.



  She glides slowly over to him, a luminescent aura surrounding her, so that even



in the darkness she is visible in the most ghastly way.



  James can see her quite clearly. She moves in an animalistic, predatory fashion,



swaying in a serpentine motion, like a viper about to strike. He is absolutely



terrified and no matter how hard he tears at the branches they seem to worm



deeper into his clothing, wrapping themselves against his body as if they are in



league with the monsterous thing that now manouvres toward him.



  Like a man-eating tiger she pounces at him, claws far more deadly than those



of the rose-bush which crucifies him. The ghost is not human, he realises that now.



He doubts it has ever been human. Nothing in humanity could have talons like



the ones that are now digging into his intestines and ripping them out through



the gaping hole where the flesh of his abdomen used to be.



  There is a terrible, terrible screaming sound coming from somewhere in the



woodland, and even through the torturous pain he is suffering, James cannot



help but feel pity for the perpertrator of that dreadful noise.



  Running together, having found each other and fleeing hand in hand, Stacey,



Janine and Michael stop abruptly, horrified by the horrible screeching which



suddenly blots out the sound of everything else.  It cuts them like a knife, but



worse still is the low whimpering cry that follows it, and then the deathly silence.



  Even the rain has stopped. No more roaring thunder. No more crackle of



lightning: It feels as if the forest itself has just died.



    Each one knows the scream is James, but none will acknowledge it, and so



they move forward again, praying to anything that will listen to let them leave



this place alive.



  James is still breathing, twitching in silence, his blood dripping onto the forest



floor, spattering against one plimsoll in a harmonious double click before bouncing



onto the wet mud.



  The screaming has stopped and he realizes that the voice was his own. He



thinks he might throw up, but his stomach is quite literally, empty.



  The ghost slides around him in a deliberate fashion, reaching out to caress



his baby soft skin.  How very pale he looks to her with the life draining out of him.



She dips one finger into the depths of his torso, liking the feel of the warm blood,



marvelling at how quickly it turns cold.  She licks the finger, relishing the salty



taste of it. It is a divine licquor and she wonders how she can ever have toyed



with the idea of giving it up.



  Banishing such foolish notions she turns in search of the others.  The young



one is almost dead and of no use to her anymore.  The remaining three are some



distance away, but not yet close enough to safety. She still has time to reach



them.



  The dark clouds have disappeared leaving in their wake a night sky full of stars,



glittering diamonds shimmering on a sea of nitrogen.. The moon is a half crescent,



a benevolent boomerang of light whose trail alights the forest floor like a highway,



showing the three friends the way home...



  Michael is in the lead, pulling frantically at Janine's arm, who is trying



desperately not to let go of Stacey's hand.



  'Come on' he yells, 'Were almost out, i can see the snicket to the main road..



Look!!'



    Janine almost cries with relief. They're gonna make it.. She too can see the



snicket, less than 100 yards ahead. She can even hear the soft hum of traffic,



odd vehicles moving quickly along the main road in the distance.



  A loud intrusive wail behind them causes them to falter and stop. A voice that



sounds as though it has crawled from the grave, calls out to them. It is a concert



of maggots and beetles and other repulsive crawling things, scurrying over each



other to make a  sound that is as inhuman as ever heard.



  The voice, rather than the wail, is the thing that causes them to turn with fear and



loathing.



  She comes toward them now, a ghastly smiling thing whose hair snaps toward



them like living tentacles, reaching for them, grasping for them.  Her arms are



held out in front of her, beseeching, inviting, and her eyes plead to hold them, to



have and seduce them. Her need is like a palpable presence, so deep it crushes



the resistance inside them, and Stacey falls to her knees, pulling Janine down with



her..   



                                          ....................................