Level Zero by Dan McDowell (debian ebook reader .txt) 📗

He continued through the passage behind the Spring of Life as it continued to dry up, a lasting consequence of his forceful and unwelcome entry into the place.

That was too weird. Not only do I need a colonoscopy, I also need a CT scan!

He sloshed through to another tunnel that became city property as its rank odor became more pronounced.

The spring’s contents took hold on Herbert.

He fell into a puddle of the flowing sewage as it rose to his neck level. The Shadow appeared to him in a ghost-like fashion, communicating from the end of the sewer passage in an unfamiliar voice, “Never speak of this place or return to it again. It isn’t for the unworthy. If you do, unending torment awaits in this life and the next…”

Detective Penske’s head floated down the sewer, staring up at him as it went by. He spoke to Herbert, “Shouldn’t have meddled around. It would have been better if we’d left it to the feds.”

“What are you saying?” He stood up lunging toward the head and it disappeared. Herbert continued to move through the sewer passage as the torrent of gray water pushed him onward.

His late wife stood further down, waving him on. “Come home to me, Jack. Dinner’s ready.”

“Honey, I… I… it’s so good to see you.”

“I wish you would have said that more before I was gone. Always working and never home.” She washed away under the sewage.

“I’m sorry, Marie.”

The spring influenced mirage of scenes ended and the torrent from the sewer reduced to knee deep water. He continued through the sewer tunnel for several minutes until finding a way out.

Come on now. Find a distraction, old-timer. That was worse than any bender, wasn’t it?

The chilling voices lingered in the back of his mind, leaving him unsettled to the extreme. He climbed the exit ladder, pushing up on the lid and surfacing in the middle of Clairmont Avenue just west of Oak Hollow Lane.

I’m going to open that frozen yogurt shop. I’m done with this.

He hoisted himself into the street as a taxi cab sped by. It plowed him over in an unexpected sweep. The trauma to the head killed him on impact as he faced the sky motionless.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

TODD ADAMS made his way back to the archery room. The lights darkened and dimmed as white noise came through on a nearby speaker.

“Livewire, you in here?”

He looked around. A voice whispered from the corner, “Come over here.”

Moving toward it, he came closer and saw a burly, red-headed man.

I saw you at RGH. Wait a minute… you’re Wilkerson.

“Chris, is that you?”

“In the flesh. What’s left of me. I woke up next to the SPRING OF LIFE. All of my wounds were sealed up and healed. I must have angels watching over me. If Joe sees me, he’ll have my head.”

“Why are you still here, then?”

“We’ve got to get you out of here. I discovered something about Creeper Joe.”

“Why bother with us? Aren’t you mixed up in all this?”

“I need a clear conscience.”

Get on with it, then. Joe’s gonna pop out any minute.

“Fine. What is it?”

“He’s a Creeper,” Chris replied. “You know what that means?”

“Not really.”

“Joe’s youth is fleeting. He’s getting weak… much weaker than you might realize.”

“How do you mean?”

Chris looked over his shoulder as if he feared being seen. “I never heard of such a thing before Joe, but the best I got it figured… Creepers can only remain for so long. You may have heard that Joe’s dead, and that’s mostly true, but that doesn’t mean he can’t disrupt the physical dimension. He does it all the time. He’s no spiritual being, but he’s sure not a full-on physical one either. You have to get to him a different way.”

“How does this help me any?” Todd asked. “You’re just spinning your wheels. Why should I trust you?”

Chris slicked his hair back nervously. “You act like I had a choice. I never had a choice. If I wanted to live, I had to keep on.”

“Not true. You have the right to make every choice. Why let a goof like Joe keep you in his grasp?”

“I don’t have time to discuss that. It’s more complicated than right and wrong, or good and evil. There are too many layers to examine anything at face value.”

“Okay, Chris. So, what’s going to help me here?”

“Creepers feed off of two things. Blood and fear. You’ve got to do everything in your power not to permit either of those. If you aren’t afraid, he can’t haunt you. If he can’t haunt you, he can’t bleed you.”

What a weird thing to say.

“What? Bleed me? What are you getting at, man?” Todd asked as a puff of air came from his nose. “You’re not going to send me on a vampire hunt, are you? Come on! This just gets dumber by the minute.”

“No. It’s nothing like that. It’s much bigger. It’s a state of being. You get it?”

“Can’t say I do.”

“Creepers are indebted to the devil for their love of the dark arts,” Chris said. “The thing about it is, Lucifer’s caught admiring his own handiwork, despite there being millions ripe for the reaping.”

Todd stroked the side of his cheeks as he pondered the comment. “So what are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying…”

A rush of energy pulsed through Todd’s body as a flashback came through the eyes of Wasserman.

He spoke to a much younger Joe. “You found your way to the basement, I take it. I hadn’t thought about that cornerstone for years. I think it’s an excellent idea. The Oak Hollow Hotel should be a place where we can uphold and affirm more righteous living. I like it.”

“Thanks, Mr. Wasserman.”

“Mr. Wasserman was my father. Call me, Don. You feeling okay? You look peaked.”

“I’m fine, sir. Thanks for asking.” A nefarious twinkle glimmered in Joe’s eyes.

.     .     .     .     .

Chris shook TODD a couple of times, whistling as he snapped his fingers to get his attention.

“Todd, you there?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. Drifted for a