Read Online A Hard Day's Knight by Simon R. Green - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Simon R. Green
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they when I needed them?”
“You still care about your children,” I said. “That’s who you’re doing this for, right? You let the Outsiders loose in our world, and they won’t stop here. Eventually, they will get to where your children are and make them scream with horror before they destroy them.”
“That won’t happen,” said Oliver. “He promised the Outsiders would be contained inside the Nightside. He made a deal with them.”
“And he believed them?”
I was about to try for this particular fool’s name when I noticed that Oliver’s breath was steaming on the air before him. Mine, too. The mall was a hell of a lot colder than it had been. Fern-like patterns of hoar-frost crept quickly across the shop-windows and spread unevenly across the floor, walls, and ceiling. And though the overhead fluorescent lights were still burning just as fiercely, darkness appeared in all the surrounding corridors, one by one, filling them up, then edging slowly forward until only a narrow pool of light remained, surrounding Oliver and me.
“Something’s coming,” I said. “Something’s draining all the warmth and energy out of our surroundings, from the world itself, so it can force its way into our reality. Something from Outside is coming here, to talk to us.”
“But I haven’t blown open any of the gateways yet,” said Oliver.
“Something as powerful as an Outsider doesn’t give a damn about doors,” I said. “They come and go as they please. But they can’t stay long if they force their way in; reality itself rejects them and forces them back out. This is only a messenger boy, here to announce their coming.”
A fountain of vomit blasted up out of the floor, slammed against the ceiling, and rained down, thick and foul. Oliver cried out in disgust and scrambled up onto his feet. I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the way. The foul stuff kept spurting up from the unbroken floor, hitting the ceiling and falling back again, a thick, pulsing pillar of vomit. The stink of it filled the passageway, harsh enough to choke on. Maggots curled and writhed in it. A great face slowly formed itself out of the vomit, its details just human enough to be disturbing. The unblinking dark eyes fixed on Oliver and me, and the ragged mouth stretched slowly in an awful smile.
“Don’t let it get to you,” I said to Oliver. “It’s showing off. Trying to find some form that will scare us, disgust us, give it power over us. Think of it as psychological warfare, with a scratch-and-sniff ingredient.”
“This is an Outsider?” said Oliver, past the hand he’d clapped over his mouth and nose to try to keep out the smell.
“No, I told you: this is one of their messenger boys. Hey, you! Yes, you, puke face! Knock off the special effects and take on a more traditional form, or I’ll turn the fire hose on you! I am John Taylor, and I don’t take no shit from demons!”
I did my best to sound confident, like I knew what I was doing, and the demon must have fallen for it because the horror show disappeared in a moment though the horrid smell still lingered. In its place stood a man in a white trench coat, with a familiar face. It was meant to be me, except it had bulging compound insect eyes, and blood dripped steadily from its ragged mouth. The thick blood fell down onto the white trench coat, leaving stains. Its wrists were stuffed deep into the pockets, and something about the way the figure held itself made me think I wouldn’t want to see what it had instead of hands.
I looked it up and down and sniffed loudly.
“I suppose that’s an improvement. What do you want?”
Its mouth moved uncertainly, as though it wasn’t used to human speech. When it finally spoke, it sounded like it was choking on blood.
“We are coming here, and you can’t stop us, John Taylor. Little human thing. When my masters finally manifest, in all their awful glory, the sight of them will blast the vision from your eyes
“You still care about your children,” I said. “That’s who you’re doing this for, right? You let the Outsiders loose in our world, and they won’t stop here. Eventually, they will get to where your children are and make them scream with horror before they destroy them.”
“That won’t happen,” said Oliver. “He promised the Outsiders would be contained inside the Nightside. He made a deal with them.”
“And he believed them?”
I was about to try for this particular fool’s name when I noticed that Oliver’s breath was steaming on the air before him. Mine, too. The mall was a hell of a lot colder than it had been. Fern-like patterns of hoar-frost crept quickly across the shop-windows and spread unevenly across the floor, walls, and ceiling. And though the overhead fluorescent lights were still burning just as fiercely, darkness appeared in all the surrounding corridors, one by one, filling them up, then edging slowly forward until only a narrow pool of light remained, surrounding Oliver and me.
“Something’s coming,” I said. “Something’s draining all the warmth and energy out of our surroundings, from the world itself, so it can force its way into our reality. Something from Outside is coming here, to talk to us.”
“But I haven’t blown open any of the gateways yet,” said Oliver.
“Something as powerful as an Outsider doesn’t give a damn about doors,” I said. “They come and go as they please. But they can’t stay long if they force their way in; reality itself rejects them and forces them back out. This is only a messenger boy, here to announce their coming.”
A fountain of vomit blasted up out of the floor, slammed against the ceiling, and rained down, thick and foul. Oliver cried out in disgust and scrambled up onto his feet. I grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the way. The foul stuff kept spurting up from the unbroken floor, hitting the ceiling and falling back again, a thick, pulsing pillar of vomit. The stink of it filled the passageway, harsh enough to choke on. Maggots curled and writhed in it. A great face slowly formed itself out of the vomit, its details just human enough to be disturbing. The unblinking dark eyes fixed on Oliver and me, and the ragged mouth stretched slowly in an awful smile.
“Don’t let it get to you,” I said to Oliver. “It’s showing off. Trying to find some form that will scare us, disgust us, give it power over us. Think of it as psychological warfare, with a scratch-and-sniff ingredient.”
“This is an Outsider?” said Oliver, past the hand he’d clapped over his mouth and nose to try to keep out the smell.
“No, I told you: this is one of their messenger boys. Hey, you! Yes, you, puke face! Knock off the special effects and take on a more traditional form, or I’ll turn the fire hose on you! I am John Taylor, and I don’t take no shit from demons!”
I did my best to sound confident, like I knew what I was doing, and the demon must have fallen for it because the horror show disappeared in a moment though the horrid smell still lingered. In its place stood a man in a white trench coat, with a familiar face. It was meant to be me, except it had bulging compound insect eyes, and blood dripped steadily from its ragged mouth. The thick blood fell down onto the white trench coat, leaving stains. Its wrists were stuffed deep into the pockets, and something about the way the figure held itself made me think I wouldn’t want to see what it had instead of hands.
I looked it up and down and sniffed loudly.
“I suppose that’s an improvement. What do you want?”
Its mouth moved uncertainly, as though it wasn’t used to human speech. When it finally spoke, it sounded like it was choking on blood.
“We are coming here, and you can’t stop us, John Taylor. Little human thing. When my masters finally manifest, in all their awful glory, the sight of them will blast the vision from your eyes
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