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Tony Stewart’s

THE NIGHT OF THE DARKNESS

Episode 52

“I’ve got a key here somewhere.”  William stated in an extremely exasperated voice as he fumbled through his pockets; his fingers getting nowhere fast as he became flustered in his attempts to be quicker in his movements.

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Finally finding it, and after several unsuccessful attempts to open it with shaky hands, they heard the lock tumble and William quickly turned the handle, only to find their way blocked by a chain.
  “Stand back, William.”  Joseph requested and William quickly moved out of Joseph’s way.
  Joseph took a few steps back, then ran at the door and put his shoulder into it.  He felt the chain give some and quickly readied himself for another charge.  However it was too late to stop his movement when he realised that Martin had decided to join him in the action and was already charging in towards the door; or perhaps he had decided to do the job himself – whichever, Martin was closest to the door in this attempt to get into the room, and as Joseph crashed heavily into him a millionth of a second later, the collision unintentionally smashing the already moving Martin into the door itself, and that action resulted in the chain snapping, the door opening, and the pair of them sprawling onto the floor in the poorly lit room.  And, at exactly the same moment the door was opened the hallway light in front of Rosetta’s room exploded in a flash of light leaving the two men desperately fighting to get their bearings in the now eerily illuminated room.
  Joseph immediately used the palms of his hands to push himself upright and untangle himself from Martin, but he had only reached a position where he was on his knees when his eyes become momentarily blinded by a flash, and, unbeknown to him, so did Martin who had looked upwards as Joseph was scrambling all over him … while William and Mary had become stuck barely within the framework of the room for much the same reason.
  Joseph was uncertain what had happened, so he attempted to make verbal contact with the others, asking them all if any of them currently had vision.  But when all replies came back in the negative, instinct cautioned him about their next move.
  “Alright, everybody stay exactly where you are until your vision returns.”  He called out as he remained on his knees and lifted one hand up to give his eyes a gentle massage, “We came in response to a call for help.  The last thing that we want to do is walk straight into danger ourselves.  It shouldn’t take too long, I hope.”
  And Joseph was right, their sight began to return in far less time than a quarter of a moment had elapsed, and, as the contents and happenings taking place within the room exposed themselves to his inquisitive eyes, Joseph was amazed by what they revealed … and quickly understood the reason for the semi-darkness of the room.
  A single, dull, almost lifeless, spotlight was all that illuminated the room other than the limited light that glowed in the backdrop to  the framework of the doorway from the hallway lights some distance from either side of Rosetta’s room.  And sitting on a chair in the middle of the feeble light that filtered down towards the floor was a woman whose face Joseph partially recognised, but couldn’t quite place.  However, the woman’s face screamed at him for attention, and so he responded dutifully.
  But his intention was not as easy to carry out as he had first thought it would be.  Though he tried valiantly to concentrate on the woman, and where she fitted into his memory, he found himself constantly distracted by the grotesqueness of her exposed facial features in the spectral light that currently masked her grey face.  He could not see her for whoever she was in real life, he saw her only as the room showed her; a haggard, fatigued old woman facing either death … or madness; perhaps even both.  For, to his eye, the woman’s face expressed fear, terror and confusion in equal measure, and Joseph found the woman’s torment to be contagious.
  There was something macabre happening in the badly lit room, but he could not put a handle on it.  Though what he could put a handle on was the grip her fear was fast putting on him … and Joseph wondered if the others were capturing the same degree of edginess surrounding their nerves.  Joseph could feel a cold sweat forming on the nape of his neck and under his armpits; a tenseness on the side of his neck that was so severe it was making it hard for him to concentrate on anything but the pain it was causing.  And to make it even harder for him to focus, the salt laden sweat that was beginning to run down his face from his forehead was now beginning to burn his eyes.
  Then, abruptly, everything in his mind disappeared as the first explosion of bright light that had been seen since they had entered the room a minute or so earlier brought their attention to what was really taking place in the room, and just who it was that was trapped in the chair under the ghostly light.
  Suddenly, the four friends felt their lives to be in danger, and quickly looked for an escape route as a dazzling array of silvery blue bolts of energy unexpectedly surged from within the wall on the doorway side of the room.  The strength of the new bolts of light were not as extreme as the previous one had been, but they never-the-less made their presence known as they roared across the room in deadly earnest towards the poor woman that Joseph now realised was the night nurse he had met the previous evening when the doctor arranged for a twenty four seven medical surveillance for Rosetta.  The streaks of miniature lightning crackled and popped at a incredibly high volume as they sped across the room and smashed into the crucifix held tightly by the unfortunate woman on the receiving end of the barrage,
  The near death face that they had seen on centre stage when they had first arrived in the room was now transformed by the brilliance of the power surges into a much different version than the singular light had illuminated.  Now the expression on the woman’s face had changed from anticipation and fear of the future, to the absolute horror and unaccountable pain she was encountering in the present, yet she made not a sound.  And, as if to augment her mind-set and pain to the very extreme, Joseph and his friends could smell the odour of burning flesh and singed hair as the heat from each spear struck perilously close alongside her thin, unprotected arms and hands as they ploughed into the crucifix she held.  It was then that Joseph realised that it was the crucifix that was protecting her from a fatal burst of energy … and it also made him wonder just how long she could continue to hold the shield.
  As Joseph watched on, horrified at what he witnessing, but uncertain what action he could take, William suddenly appeared next to him, brushing past Joseph as he began to make his way across the room towards the damsel-in-distress.  Joseph looked disbelievingly at William; walking forward as if an uncloaked hero with the potential to absorb the vicious attacks of the powerful and deadly streaks of fire that would pound into him as he rescued the nurse.  Joseph shook his head in disbelief, but admitted admiration for the man’s tenacity.  However, before William had a chance to fully commit to his attempt, Joseph grabbed him by the arm to restrain him.
  “If she doesn’t have a heart attack first, she’ll be alright for as long as she is holding the crucifix it would seem.”  Joseph stated softly, but coldly, knowing his words were having the desired effect immediately as he could feel the tension easing in William’s body as he mulled Joseph’s words over in his mind.  “For some strange reason the metal is acting as a repellent to the energy bolts, however, if you move her you run the risk of making her lose her grip on the crucifix – and that may make things rather permanently difficult for her.  While you, on the other hand, are likely as not to be killed immediately if just one bolt makes contact with you.  So don’t you move for any reason, William … in fact nobody is to move; we are not under attack at the moment.  Let’s see if we can ensure that it stays that way.  Is that fully understood, William?
  “Yes.” William replied in a ‘still-not-all-too-happy tone.
  “Mary, Martin, where are you physically positioned?
  “I am still in the doorway.”  Mary replied.
  “And I am just behind you.” Martin advised, “Right where you left me when you walked all over me.”
  “Then stay where you are.  William, do you have any fireproof material in the hotel?”
  “Yes, the blankets.  All the blankets in the hotel are fireproof.  We have supplied them to every room.”
  “Good.  Stay where you all are.  I am going in to Rosetta’s bedroom to get one.  Don’t try to follow me.  I am going to need you to be exactly where you are now when I get back.”
  Before anybody could debate the decision, Joseph began crawling on his hands and knees until he reached the door to the bedroom, then reached up and opened it wide enough to gain entry.  Once inside he pushed the door back until it was all but closed, and stood up.  Joseph was pleased to find a bright lamp in the room blazing away on Rosetta’s bedside table.  Despite its size and location it did the job adequately; far better than the single light in the other room.  This pleased Joseph no end as he absolutely had no intention of turning any more lights on lest it brought undue attention to what he was about to do.  He made his way over to where the still sleeping Rosetta lay on her bed, pleased to see she was unharmed.  He quickly whipped the top blanket off her,
held the blanket over his head while gripping it on the inside, and cautiously made his way back to where William was waiting.

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“Alright, William, get ready to take one end with both hands, gripping the blanket on the inside to protect your hands, while I slide down to the other end.  But before we do that, Mary and Martin, this is what I need you two to do.”
Joseph then went on to explain his intentions to all and sundry.

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“Right,” Joseph began once he had finished outlining what was needed to be done, “Now, William, on my count of three, lift it up and move under it.  It should work, as long as we keep the blanket over both our heads, and her hands when we get close enough.  I have a strong feeling that she has a ruby in her hand, and I am hoping that the blanket should temporarily block out the connection it has with the energy bursts that are being thrown in her direction.  Mary and Martin, the minute that you can see that the blanket is preventing the energy bursts from hitting the crucifix I want you on your hands and knees and both under the blanket.  And between you I want you to remove the ruby from her grasp and throw it against the side of the wall where we came in as fast as you possibly can.  I am uncertain why the Punjaniti isn’t worrying about us, but that could change at any tick of the clock.  So let’s not lose any time.  Alright, William, One!  Two!  Three!”

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Two and a half seconds later Joseph and William had stationed themselves on either side of the chair and raised the blanket over the nurse’s head and hands.
  “It’s working, in fact it worked immediately.” Martin called out quietly lest he drew attention to their actions, as he and Mary moved in under the blanket and went about their business.  However, they quickly found themselves having difficulty in unlocking the nurse’s tightly clenched hands in the limited space they were working in.
  “It’s no good, Joseph.  She is too frightened to unlock them.  And they are so cold, it’s almost like they are frozen.”  Mary called out.
  “What is her name, William?  Do you know?”  Joseph asked.
  “I do, actually.”  William responded.  “I know her quite well.  Her name is Doris.”
  “Did you hear that, Mary?  Her name is Doris.”  Joseph called out in a loud whisper.
  “Yes, Joseph.”
  “Mary, I want you to talk to her in a soft voice, call her by her name.  Calm her down.  Stroke her hair and face as you speak.  Assure her that everything is alright, but she needs to release the ruby, or whatever is in her hand, so we can stop the attacks.  Please do your very best to relax her, Mary … and get whatever it is she is holding, away from her as fast as you can.  Martin, you can help out by giving her arms a good massage, try to warm them up.
  Martin and Mary replied agreement in unison, and began their task immediately, while Joseph and William watched on in hope.

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Only a further three seconds had elapsed when Mary called out softly, but jubilantly, of her pending success.  “It’s working!” Mary exclaimed, “it’s definitely working.  Her hands are becoming warmer already, and I think I could feel a twitch or two … oh, wait a minute … Yes!”  Catching Mary completely by surprise, the nurse ’s hands unexpectedly flew open giving Mary the opportunity to extract the item the nurse was holding and hurl it across the room as instructed.  Suddenly the quietness of the dark, silent, room exploded in sound as the bolts immediately burst back into action as they followed the path of the object and continued to harmlessly bombard it where it now lay.  At the same time, Joseph quickly whipped the blanket through the air and watched it fly across the room until it landed on top of the object, and as it landed the bursts of energy once again ceased … and the room fell back into its ghostly silence once more.
  “Well that should make it safe for a while.” Joseph sighed, wiping a small band of sweat off his brow, “though we will have to find out how to deactivate it sooner or later.  I wonder why it didn’t explode like the other one did?  Anyway, I suppose William could use it as a tourist attraction.  The Old Rat and Mouse Haunted Room, or something like that – that should impress a bank manager even more than a conference room.” Joseph laughed, as much out of relief to the situation becoming a lot safer for all of them, as at his own joke.
  “I don’t think so.”  William rebuffed with a grin on his face.  “They have no sense of humour at all.   That would probably appear to them to be a bit too cheesy for their liking.”
  “Oh, very droll,William.  That was worse than my joke.  Oh, by the way, I took that blanket off Rosetta, so she will need recovering.  Are there any more in the room?”
  “Yes, I will get them and cover her.  You get what you need to get out of Doris while everything is fresh in the poor woman’s mind.  I will also call a doctor.  Surely she will need checking over, if not counseling, after what she has just been through.  Though how we will explain it all to her or the doctor, I don’t know.”
  “Thank you, William.  Oh, and could you please turn the lights back on before you go.  It is still rather dark in here.” 
  A second later the room exploded in a blaze of light that quickly dispelled the mystique in the room, replacing it with a much more sombre atmosphere.
  “Oh, by the way, Joseph, it was a ruby.”  Mary called out excitedly.
  “I thought it would be, and I am beginning to become concerned where they may all be coming from?  Are these the ones that Raji’s off-siders received when they helped dig up the statue, or are they coming from a private source such as the Punjani’s ill gotten booty?”  It is a rather expensive way to call up a demon to do your dirty work if that is the case with the Punjani.  You don’t get much for your buck with the Punjaniti, or whatever was attacking Doris.  Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to mind it was taking all day to kill Doris.  In fact I doubt that it ever intended to.  It certainly didn’t seem to be the work of whoever or whatever killed the witches or Vittorio; this would-be killer seemed to have little interest whatsoever in carrying out their task.  This is why I feel we must learn to know more about the Punjaniti if it is still gunning for us … which I feel that it is.”
  “So you still think that we are not safe, even though you know where the statue is … and we will be out of here by tomorrow?  Martin asked in surprise.
  “I think that perhaps the two strange events we have witnessed tonight were either some kind of warning … or something is messing with us.  Whether it intends to kill us, or merely giving us a warning, I am unsure, but I am certain that it wants us to know that we are being observed … and we are not safe.  I doubt that we are on its hit list by accident, I think that we are at the very top of its agenda, though I have no idea why that is so.  But I do suspect that the appearance of the first ruby, the one I found under Rosetta’s pillow, was never intended for anybody but one of us four.  Why I think that way, I have no idea.  To be perfectly honest, I truly think that the only factual thing that I do know is how the rubies arrived in the hotel.”
  “How, Joseph?”  Mary asked with aroused curiosity.
    “I think William’s hotel security is not as secure as he thinks.”
  William’s response to Joseph’s accusation reeked of his objection.
  “What do you mean?”  He snapped.
  “I would assume that they came through the window again, even if the rooms are one level up.  I saw a long ladder leaning up against the wall when we first parked in the courtyard, and there is a balcony outside each room.  The window was open when I got the diary out of the bedroom.  The off-going nurse told me that the doctor is a bit of a fresh air fanatic.  Likes to leave the window open.  Maybe he had other reasons.  I closed them again, but who knows how long the rubies may have been in here … and are there more?”
  “No, Joseph,” Mary objected, “I know that you don’t trust Peter, but I am certain that it was just a coincidence.”
  “Time will tell.” Joseph replied with a shrug,  “At any rate, William, I would suggest that you get security locks for the windows.”
  “Yes, you are quite right, Joseph.  I will get on to it immediately.  And, to prove his words to be true, William pulled out his phone and began to dial.
  “In the meantime,” Joseph continued, “I think we should turn our attention to our poor nurse.  She probably thinks that we are as bad as the thing that was trying to attack her, ignoring her like we are.  Martin, would you mind making her a hot cup of tea while I duck in next door for a moment?  Mary, would you mind checking on her until I get back.  I will only be a minute,”
  “Yes, Joseph.”  Mary replied without hesitation, but quickly realised that she had her work cut out for her.  The poor woman was still beside herself with fear as she sat shaking in the chair, her hand still clutching the silver crucifix as though her life still depended on it.
  “Where is he going?”  The nurse unexpectedly screamed out in a coarse and demanding voice as Joseph left the room, the volume and intensity of her words nearly giving Mary a heart attack.  It had been the last thing that Mary had been expecting.  And when she swung around to stare at the woman, Mary found that the sudden movement seemed to have upset her equilibrium.  For as she turned, the movement seemed to cause her eyes to go out of focus.  To her vision, the woman’s eyes gave the illusion of now being a fire red and yellow, then changing again to an extremely bright shiny green repeatedly.  But in the space of three blinks they had reverted to her natural dark brown colouring and their former blank expression.  Mary shook her head and took a deep breath as she quickly prepared her mind to slow down and relax.  It had been a long day, and she really needed a mental break.  The sooner Joseph returned and took over, the happier she would be.
  “It’s alright.  You are safe now.  He will be back in a moment.”  Mary spoke slowly and softly, and patted the nurse’s hands gently as she tried to give comfort to her.  But the woman’s reaction to her attempts clearly displayed signs that she was obviously not going to obtain any peace until Joseph returned.

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The seconds seemed to drag by like hours for Mary as she watched the woman now in the process of reclining deeper and deeper into the dark world that consumed her:  The eyes seemingly receding into their sockets, their colour deepening from brown into a never ending shade of black by the second, and Mary found herself without any words whatsoever to comfort her.  No matter how hard she tried.  Words, both soft and calming, and physical contact, seemed to be having no part of her recovery even though she was now out of physical danger.
  Mary was not without compassion, but she felt that her presence in the room was of little, if any, comfort to the poor woman and for that reason Mary was more than pleased with Joseph’s sudden return to the room.  Even the nurse displayed appreciation of his return Mary noticed.  Her eyes suddenly displayed a hint of a smile, though to Mary it seemed more like a smirk than a smile, but never-the-less her face now began to display a healthy glow instead of the ghastly, ghostly colour of grey it had presented to the world when they had first entered the room and came across her horrific predicament.  However,  Mary once again shook her head in dismay because she was certain that she saw flashes of red, green and yellow in the woman’s eyes yet again, but it all happened so fast she began to wonder if she, herself, was on the onset of a migraine.  And when she felt the sudden blast of cold air begin to wrap itself around her, she began to worry that she may be coming down with something, which wouldn’t surprise her after what she had been through at the hospital, and the hostile weathered journey that had accompanied her there and back to the hotel.
  Joseph too felt the sudden arrival of the coolness as he arrived in the room; an unexpected arising that momentarily forced his mind to close down to adjust to it.  And in this state of total darkness, as his eyes closed tight, his world exploded in a world of images.  Bright, clear images that appeared in the style of screenshots from his memories.  Images that included scenes from the stone lined river and several other unexplained images that would always drift into his thoughts when he went online to check his stars at Johnson’s.  Then there were more recent images from his memories.  Images of Rosetta, Mary and Martin, and finally things that seemed to come from his imagination rather than a memory.  A planet somewhere in the solar system that he didn’t recognise; tall, thin, leather skinned, demons with wide wings and sharp teeth, giant flying spiders and ants of a shape and colouring he had never seen in real life … and in between each shot he saw the image of Rangor the Punjaniti … or was it a different version of the Punjaniti he wondered?  An image of his nemisis that seemed each time to somehow not be the same as the preceding image; each display a version that seemed to indicate that the Punjaniti was not one, but two , perhaps even more.  Then, a change in the program. All that now appeared in Joseph’s mind was the alternating images of the Punjaniti.  And then, suddenly, unexpectedly, from the head of the vile monster, a thin, orange and yellow flame began to burn itself into Joseph’s mind … and the intense pain seared through his entire body.   For a moment Joseph was in so much shock and confusion he was willing to capitulate to the pain; to the suggestion that the creature was suggesting to him; to succumb to the creature, to submit to death.  Then something inside Joseph exploded in rage at both the thought that almost overpowered him, and the ongoing pain.  Somehow, in an instant, he turned the tables on the creature.  His mind suddenly burst into action, he momentarily froze the discharge, changed its molecules, then forced the flames back in a liquid form at the creature.  Sent back at a stronger, faster pace.  The creature was jolted by the ferocity of the liquid death.  For a second its eyes displayed absolute hatred, but within a millisecond it displayed pain – then fear and panic.  Things were going wrong for it and it knew not what it could do.  Joseph sensed the creature’s despair and increased the attack three fold.  Suddenly Joseph found himself standing but inches from the eyes of the creature, its blazing green eyes glaring at him, screaming at him to resist, to succumb in a desperate attempt to throw Joseph off balance.  But Joseph focused on the trigger hidden deep inside the darkest depth of his mind … and pressed down even heavier on it.
  The room exploded in a kaleidoscope of colours, the sound of a thousand atomic bombs detonating at the one time rang through his ears, then a level six cyclonic wind blasted from within Joseph’s mind … and the pressure it produced instantly began to rip away the skin of the writhing creature layer by layer, until there was nothing left but a memory of where it had stood.
  Then the wind abated … and the room exploded with such force there was nought but whiteness in Joseph’s world until a new wind arrived; a soft, silent, wind that slowly, quietly, methodically, began to shape the whiteness.  Gently blowing it and blowing it until every drop of whiteness was formed into a monstrous whirlwind that flew upwards towards the ceiling.  And when it reached the ceiling it pushed forward, pushing so hard it pushed the ceiling up towards the roof until the ceiling was pressed hard against it.  Then the force of the wind increased until it gained enough strength to lift the roof off the building … and once the roof was lifted off, it was flipped over and fell quietly down to the ground below; the noise of its landing completely lost to all by the roar of the now cyclonic whirlwind.  A cyclonic whirlwind continuing ever upwards until it reached the heavens above … then disappeared forever.  The power the whirlpool had generated began to take its toll on the hotel.  The walls and floor of the hotel began to break up, and as Joseph slowly closed his eyes the entire building around him completely disintegrated.

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