Fearless, ear-less, peerless

cool wind eases over my naked body, giving me a sense of relief from the heat of a summer night. The shadows hide my nakedness from the drunken stragglers who stumble loudly down my street from the farrago of pubs that litter Hawkesburn. I watch over the Bush Inn from my vantage point like a sentry, blowing smoke from my cigarette at the fiery sparks that flash intermittently inside. The image has entranced me for the last half-hour or so, for the last week or so.

As the cigarette burns close to my knuckles, I hear the clumsy movements of my lover as she tries to find her way out onto my balcony.

�Damn it� she spits as she smashes a toe on the windowsill that is the only access point to my sentry. �You and your stupid bloody house�.

�Don�t blame me� I throw back at her as her head pushes through the heavy curtains and she locks her eyes of venom on me. �I didn�t design it� I turn away from her and catch the flashing flame that hides beyond the poorly partitioned windows of the old inn. �Why some asshole couldn�t put a door there instead of a clumsy window is beyond me.�

As Alison reaches my side I put my hand around her waist and feel her slender body through the thin fabric of her bodice. She cannot resist squeezing my naked arse and making guttural sound that makes me smile.

We lean on the balcony and watch the hotel in front of us as we share a smoke. I return to my transfixion on the flashes that seem somehow to be intensifying.

�Chopper used to hide out in there� I say casually.

�Chopper Read?�

�Yep. There�s a cellar down there where he used to stash his guns. He used to torture his victims down there�

�With a blow torch� she states simply.

�How did you know that?�

�I�ve read his books too.� Alison says proudly �Scary guy. Any man that slices his own ears off with a razor blade just for kicks is someone I don�t want to meet in a dark alley.�

�Fearless, ear-less and peerless. If Chopper weren�t in jail, I�d swear blind he was down there right now with his blowtorch. I wonder what the hell they�re doing down there at this hour?� I say absently knowing that it must be close to 3am.

�Whaddaya mean?�

�Those flashes, there� I point with my smoke in hand �Now. Did you see it?�

�Julian there�s nothing there.�

�Nothing there?� I pull my hand away from her side and look incredulously at her. �Those flashes of light. Somebody�s welding. They�re renovating the place, I just can�t believe they�re working at this hour�

Alison strains her eyes again and I prompt her on several occasions �there�, �now�, �there�. Pointing, pointing, pointing.

�You�re fucking blind� I say completely frustrated.

�And you�re fucking mad�

We both laugh at the strangeness of the moment and suddenly I feel aroused again. The curves of my delightful woman wash over my loins and within moments I have her bodice removed and our hands and tongues are everywhere in a hurry. From the corner of my eye the flames from within the inn flash urgently, brilliantly. I swing Alison around aggressively and bend her over the balcony. She is gasps at my sudden move but opens her legs to me.

I sodomise my woman as her breasts heave in the night air. Pounding away to the rhythm of the flashing pulse in front of me I explode with a cry of ecstasy I have never known before. Such is the force of my orgasm, that I collapse to one knee.

�Wow� is all Alison says as she drops to me and strokes the hair from my sweating face. �Enjoy that did you?�

�I don�t know how to explain it� I begin �the flashing light ��

�It was a flash alright� she laughs at me.

I reach out and grab her wrist firmly and she tries to move away from me but I hold her firm. �I�m serious Alison. That light � it�s not natural�

�Julian you�re scaring me� she says and tries to back away from me.

�I�m sorry.� I drop my eyes to my feet as she quickly grabs her clothes and moves back into the house.

Through the Victorian curves of wrought iron lattice the flashes taunt me. It�s almost like Morse code. Flash, pause, flash-flash, pause-flash, long flash, short flash.

�Where are you going?� Alison looks up from the bed.

�To find out what�s going on down there�

�But it�s three in the morning� she says incredulously. �This isn�t like you Julian, why don�t you just come back to bed?�

�I won�t be long� I say as I slip on my Blundstones.

�I won�t let you go down there alone� she says and leaps out of bed. She is near to tears now, I can see that. We haven�t known each other more than a couple of months and my strange behavior is beginning to worry her.

�You stay here� I say trying to placate her and at the same time knowing it won�t do any good.

�Not a chance� she says with the same stubbornness that attracted me to her from the very beginning.

I smile as she gets dressed faster that I would have ever thought possible. I can�t wipe the smile from my face as her determined scowl lifts my spirits and for a moment I reconsider what I am doing.

�Well are you coming or aren�t you?� Alison heads out the bedroom and I hear her hurried steps descending the creaking stairs.

�Wait up� I yell after her.

�Hurry up, someone�s going to see us�

�It�s almost there� I reply without taking my eyes off the doorframe.

I�m on my third attempt to break into the Bush Inn. The back of the inn is quiet but I am as anxious as Alison to get out of public view. I haven�t broken into a house since my misspent youth and my technique is rusty. A final smack from the palm of my hand drives the spatula through to old wood and the metal blade of my instrument catches the tongue of the door. Gently I push the door inwards and we eagerly slip inside.

�Where�s the torch� I whisper and Alison promptly hands it over. It is warm but Alison hugs her chest with a chill that doesn�t come from the air.

I reach out and grab her hand as the torch finds a direction for us. The place is deserted with scattered plastic covering exposed floorboards. Partially demolished walls and workman�s tools litter a large open area to our right. There�s nobody to be seen, no welding and no sound.

Instinctively I move straight ahead.

�How do you know which way to go� Alison asks as she glances about the labyrinth of passages that lead off in all directions.

�I just know� I reply with a conviction but not really knowing where it comes from.

I lead on and duck through a narrow door to our left and past an ancient staircase that leads up. We move through two small rooms with low arches and take a sharp right turn. A long hall stretches out in front of us and we move onwards, slowly now. Alison squeezes my hand anxiously and suddenly I stop, frozen to the unassuming spot I stand.

�What is it� she asks urgently.

�Shh�

There is nothing to be heard but the distant hum of some late traffic. I release Alison�s hand and drop to my knees. The hall is carpeted here and I place my ear to the ground. I can�t hear anything but suddenly a blast of fiery light bursts through the carpet.

�Here!� I cry too loudly and leap backwards from the spot.

Alison muffles a cry with hands pressed to her lips. Her eyes look at me with undisguised terror and I know she did not see the light that is burning into my mind.

�Damn it� I mumble and give Alison the torch. I get to my knees determinedly and feel for the edge of the carpet against the wall. �Shine it over here� I demand and I see the shaky light find my fumbling touch.

Bending my knees and arching my back I free the stubborn carpet from its ancient grip. In a frenzy I rip at it and tear it clear from the hall.

�Oh my God� Alison says with a rush of air.

I follow her gaze and see the torch hit the handle of a trap door. The blaze of flame from beneath it is brilliant. I grab at the handle without bothering to see if Alison can see the light now. I am too close.

The trap door is heavy but it gives without much trouble. The heavy wood arches upwards and chains catch it in an arc preventing it from slamming backwards. Stairs lead down into darkness.

From the arc of light I can see that Alison is terrified. Standing, I move to her. Stroking her cheek I look into her eyes.

�You can go back to house if you want�

�What if he�s down there� she manages to choke.

�Who?�

�Chopper Read�

I can�t help but laugh. �He�s nice and safe in a Tasmanian jail. I don�t think he�s going to bother us tonight,�

�How can you be so sure?�

The tear that finds its way down Alison�s cheek stops my next retort.

�It�ll be okay� I try to reassure her �You stay up here but I have to take a look�

�No. I�m coming with you� she demands and reaches out, taking my hand once again.

Together we find our way down the steps.

The stairs lead straight down and I am immediately struck by the strange smell in the place.

�What�s that smell? It smells like �� � like burnt flesh. I leave my last thought unspoken.

�Like what?�

�Nothing�

The basement appears to be entirely empty. An eerie dampness clings to our skin and I point the torch about the place seeking the source of the fires that have plagued my mind. Nothing, until my torch hits the roof.

�What the hell is that� I ask rhetorically pointing my light at the chains that hang from the ceiling.

We move over to the chains and I reach out to examine them, noticing the shackles clawing at the damp air.

�Julian don�t touch them� Alison pleads with me and tries to pull me away.

�They�re only chains� I return, but move away from them all the same.

I throw my light about the corners of the room trying to find something, anything that might explain the source of my fiery vision. In that moment I see it for the first time.

Something moved on the wall in front of me. The shape of a small man, his shadowy silhouette moving sprightly along the wall.

�What the fuck is that?�

�What Julian? What is it?� Alison squeals at me.

I can hear Alison�s voice degenerating into near hysterics.

�There�s something in here� I say although I have lost the vision to the darkness again.

I lead Alison into the center of the basement and swing my torch urgently around the perimeter.

�There!� I catch it again and in an instant it�s gone again.

Finally the image stops moving and I nail it in the center of my beam. I shiver involuntarily noticing the shadow on the wall yet at the same time noticing that nothing is casting the shadow.

�You are welcome� the shadow whispers with a voice that grates on my teeth like someone drawing their nails down a blackboard.

�Who� what are you?� I ask nervously.

�Julian, who are you talking to?� Alison asks.

I look at her though the murkiness blinking several times. �You mean you can�t see it? You can�t hear it?�

Alison has a look on her face as close to pure terror as I can remember seeing.

�She does not see. She does not hear� the shadow grates at me and I wince involuntarily.

I shake my head and try and clear the nerve ending this creature is tearing at. Releasing Alison�s hand I move towards the shadow and stop only feet before it. It is a nymph like creature that stands no more than a meter tall. The light shadow that makes its body is constant, only its eyes are a dark and pure black.

�What are you?� I ask forcefully.

�I am the Archas. Your book of Revelation calls us the Ten Horns�

�Archas? Ten Horns?� I repeat it's words dumbly?

�You are not a man of religion. That is good.�

�This is insane. I�m going out of my mind� I cry out and start to turn away.

�Do not!� is yells at me and compels me to look at it once again. �Do not doubt your eyes and your ears. I am as real as the woman who stands beyond.�

�What do you want?�

�I have come for you. Since the time of Christ I have come for souls such as yours.�

�But what do you want from me?�

�Only to give you what you seek� the shadow replied.

With that it began again.

Off to my right the flashing flame rose once more from behind a paneled wall. Its flame was intoxicating and for a moment nothing else in the world existed for me.

�Julian I�m leaving�

�Stay where you are!� I screamed and noticed the nymph scream the same thing with me simultaneously.

From within the darkness I heard Alison�s undisguised sobbing. A part of me wanted to go to her then, a part of me was still sane. �It will all be over soon� was all I could manage.

The wall beckoned me and I discarded my torch for it was no longer needed. My heart beat in time with the flickering flame as it drew me to the rough timbered wall. A warm fire threw heat and light at me through the cracks and I reached out and ran my fingers through the shards of light. It seemed almost sensual and I gasped at its touch.

�Take it� the nymph called to me from one side of the burning wall.

�It is yours� it cried now from the other side of the flame.

I was entranced. I didn�t even notice that the Archas� voice was no longer like a grating blackboard to my ears. I didn�t notice that its voice now sounded like a soft purr. And I no longer noticed Alison�s sobs in the background of my mind.

I could stand it no longer. Dropping to my knees I clawed at the boards on the wall like a feral animal. The wood gave easily and within moments I had discovered a cleverly concealed hideaway a few feet deep. There were a dozen hand guns, a cut off shovel, a small meat cleaver and a blowtorch with a flame on its lips like a serpents tongue. Without hesitation I reached out and grabbed the blowtorch.

And as I withdrew my prize the Archas reached out and touched my arm.

I don�t know how long I was unconscious but I suddenly remember lying on my back with eyelids so heavy they seemed glued together.

The darkness was comforting, it gave me a moment to think. Was it all a dream. Could I possible wake and find myself back in my bed with my beautiful lover. The concrete under my head and the cold clammy touch under hand told me otherwise.

And then I knew. I knew it all in a rush, though I can�t recall the act. My right hand still clung to the blowtorch, though now dead with a spent fury. And the smell of burning flesh, so much more than my senses had perceived when I first set foot on the stairs. I swallowed deeply not wanting to introduce the contents of my stomach to my mouth.

The only sound was of chains swinging in the night air. The rusty iron loops strained from a heavy weight in the night air.

I did not need to open my eyes, nor find my torch, to see the picture my hand had painted this evening.

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