Chapter 25: The Coming

Luis pulled the collar of his shirt down, straightened the lapel to his jacket and walked out into the hallway. The guests were still milling about, checking in, and renewing acquaintances. He remained calm as he scanned the foyer for Martin or some of his people.

Out one of the large lake-front windows Luis watched the sailboats move lazily across Wellow Fall’s Pond. He spotted Martin on the beach by the sand. Beside him Pa Grandy in his coveralls and Susan Barbie from the bagel shop. Their gazes were fixed beyond the horizon. He followed their line of sight but the distance looked empty.

What do they see, he thought? What's it like to be one of them?

Further down the large beach, he could see some guests reading, others talking, and still others drinking large glasses full of Daiquiris and Margaritas. They were completely oblivious to the strange figures looking out across the water.

It was the end. He realized sadly that he never would have those kids and the house with the picket fence. He would probably never get to see the city again. He would never feel the energy of coming and going and smell the perspiration, the desperation, and the hope which made the Big City so unique and so much a home to him.

He traced his fingers against the wood panel and allowed himself to marvel at the lines in the heavy oak. Life was marvelous and short. He took one last look outside and stepped away. There was no turning back.

Let them stand outside. Together with Walt, he had ruptured the gas pipe downstairs. It was leaking into a section of the basement that they had sealed off to the best of their ability. Walt was guarding the door to ensure no one opened it. In the meantime, Luis was going to find Kathy and hopefully get her out of the house. He owed her that much. She didn't deserve to die and Redemption would only be complete if he could free her from the nightmare. If he didn't return within two hours, Walt was directed to light the fuse they had crudely fashioned out of toilet paper and gasoline and to leave.

The rest would hopefully go according to the laws of physics - a spark, gas, an explosion, and an end to a developing horror. Even on the beach, Luis figured the explosion would have enough force to vaporize the monsters.

People begin to congregate around the windows and he stopped walking. A white haired man pointed to something across the lake and Luis walked over and peeked out. He expected them to be looking at the line of figures at the edge of the water, but they weren't.

At first he had trouble finding what everyone was staring at.

"What is it?" he asked. And then a gorgeous brunette next to him grabbed his finger and pointed it above the line of trees at the far side of the lake.

"There," she said excitedly, "there don't you see." He looked again and then he saw it. It was a red slash across the horizon like a knife cut into the belly of a victim. It seemed to glow and brighten in the blue sky, throwing a weird tint over the tops of the trees.

"What is it?" someone asked. Seeing his uniform, they all looked to him for an explanation.

"I have no idea," Luis said. What he said was only part true. He sensed that whatever was opening up in the sky above the trees was maliciously evil. The fulfillment of whatever event Martin had set in motion.

The wind picked up, scattering leaves across the resort and the lake.

"Butterflies!" the brunette screamed in delight and Luis realized they were not leaves at all but bright red butterflies. Luis saw a line of them swarming forth from the gash in the sky like a flock of migrating birds. The brunette spoke again.

"I don't know how you people do it, but every year it gets better and better." Luis ignored her words because deep inside he realized what the butterflies and the gash meant. The force that Martin referred to as Monarch was coming.

Somewhere deep inside, Martin cowered in a ball trying to escape the visions and madness. At times it would be chillingly cold and black and he welcomed these moments. It was a respite from the horror which the visions brought. Bright colors, sounds, and smells seemed to bubble up from the ground and suddenly they became horrible pictures of another reality which Martin had trouble comprehending or processing.

They were mostly nonsensical but sometimes the images would gel and he would see visions of untold cruelty. Fields of dead bodies, men and women being tortured in ways he could never of imagined. And always the stench of death - a horrible rotting stench that didn’t fade but got worse and worse.

He realized this was the Collaq's memory. And the glimpses of images made him realize that whatever inhabited his body was evil beyond even his wildest dreams. The Collaq didn't speak to him much anymore, at least not the small part of Martin that was still aware. Instead, he played and manipulated the dark sides with an adroit skill that shut Martin out of his own mind. He had lost almost all control. When Martin did try to break out of the blackness and the images and reclaim himself, the Collaq would laugh and whisper to him like back in the coffin. His words though, were no longer reassuring.

"Martin, struggle all you want. Pathetic boy, you're nothing more than a fly in the web. Struggle if you want." Martin realized that in the end he would cease to exist. The Collaq's domination over him would become complete and the darkness and the colors would swallow him completely so that he became one of them. Now he rested and saved his last energy for a last chance or opportunity.

While he waited, he used the brief snippets he was able to catch to piece together a history of the Collaq and to determine what the creature wanted.

They came from a land of islands, five islands. The Collaq had been a man, flesh and blood and he lived on the island. Martin had seen the water lapping against the shore and he had seen the strange looking boats that traveled back and forth from island to island. The Collaq was from one of the smaller islands. He had seen roads and people but mostly soldiers and weapons. It was a militaristic island and it was preparing for war. And then he had seen a bigger island. It was enormous and on it was a majestic castle which the Collaq despised. He had seen the ramparts and battlements and the broad plain which stretched in front of the castle.

There was something in the castle. A power and force so vast that it controlled the passing of the seasons on the five islands. It controlled life and death and it was called the Earth Stone.

Armies gathered upon the plain. He could see red and yellow and blue banners. There were also green and black banners and he realized they represented the five islands. Five colors for the five islands and the Collaq served under the red. He served and loved a queen. Her eyes were pitiless and her desires focused on possessing the one power with which to control everything. She was beautiful and she was Monarch.

He saw the glint of swords and the flash of something like magic. The defenders in the castle tapped the power of the Earthstone and Monarch used her own ancient magic. He saw the red banners surge ahead and then fall back and then retreat in disarray, defeated.

Monarch knelt in the rain, her arms outstretched towards the sky, pleading for assistance. Invading boats reached the red island and men swarmed onto the beaches. He could sense the emotions- treachery, defeat, hatred, and fear. The red army retreated. Thousands of men and women went to edge of the cliff. The water lashed the rocks hundreds of feet below. Monarch stood on an embankment and raised her hands to the sky again. The wind howled and the waves rose a hundred feet into the air to meet her. He felt the salty water hit his face and then Monarch plunged from the cliff into the water. Her red robe billowed in the wind and then disappeared as the water opened up to welcome her. Simultaneously, the thousands lining the cliffs followed. He felt himself plunging down and there was the blackness of death.

The blackness opened into a light similar to what he had seen in the coffin upon his resurrection. It beckoned and then a body. Unfamiliarity, difficulty, and then dominance of the body. Many body's and suddenly an army of bodies. The dead warriors from the cliff rising from the sea, led by the women in flowing robes. She was immutable, never changing. Years and centuries of living far away and off others and then the planning.

The planning and the treachery to bring the army to the castle gates. The gates falling, the Earthstone within grasp and then a last battle between Monarch and the guardian of the Earthstone. A flash as energy collided and merged together and then Monarch, the guardian, and the Earthstone gone. The defeat of the resurrected. And then...

Me. Me, Martin whispered to himself. And with that he realized why they were here. The Collaq existed to serve Monarch, and Monarch was here to retrieve the Earthstone. To find the source of ultimate power and to bend it to her will. To be the monarch over the forces of time and nature.

The moment of enlightenment must have surprised the Collaq for suddenly the darkness lifted and Martin saw a familiar lake. His head looked up towards a red light in the sky. Something fluttered above and landed on his arm. The Collaq pointed his head down and he saw that it was a red Butterfly.

No, Martin screamed understanding what it meant! The Collaq spoke to him.

"Yes Martin, yes, it has begun and it will not end. Once again we have risen from the dead and this time we will not return. Monarch is coming."

"Nooooooo!" he screamed at his possessor but it was in vein. The light dimmed and he receded back into his prison of blackness.