Harbinger (The Bleeding Worlds) by Justus R. Stone Page A

dozed in one of the chairs. He caught sight of her for a brief moment, but he recognized the agony in her posture. A parent, thinking her child was lost forever. Yes, he knew the signs of that pain all too well.
    “Popular girl today.” The orderly said. “You’re in luck. We made her presentable for her last visitor. She doesn’t seem to care much about her looks nowadays.”
    Pridament mustered a weak smile.
    The door shut behind Pridament, the orderly promising to return in ten minutes. If the girl noticed him, she made no sign. He took in the display of art on the walls. He shuddered as he recognized some, and felt thankful he had never run into others. The bulk of the art shared a dark swirling pattern. Pridament knew it well. He pitied the girl. Lovecraft had been right, “When you look into the abyss, the abyss looks back into you.”
    Still, it made little sense. If Gwynn’s account of events was true, the girl had been within proximity of the tear for a few minutes. How could it have fried her mind in such a short time?
    Pridament knelt in front of her. He almost fell back when the girl’s eyes locked onto his with a fierce intensity. Her gaze held him in place, pulling deep at the essence in his core.
    “Know Thyself.” She said.
    “What did you say?” Pridament trembled.
    “He will go with them, and you need to let it happen.”
    “Who? Who’s going and with whom?”
    “You cannot finish his journey with him, but he will lead you to the end of yours.”
    Pridament couldn’t speak. Then the connection severed, and the girl’s gaze fell onto some distant place that Pridament couldn’t see.
    “Sophia?” She was gone, lost to whatever inner demons tormented her.
    Pridament stood up and moved behind her. “Sophia, I don’t know if you can hear me, but I just need to check something. I’m not going to hurt you.”
    Pridament pulled the girls hair up to inspect the back of her neck. Hidden just above her hairline, he found the birthmark. His stomach lurched.
    “What the hell have they done?”
    He let her hair drop at the sound of someone approaching the door.
    “Everything okay doc?” The orderly asked as he entered.
    Breathe. How could something so vital and natural be so easy to neglect?
    “Yes, fine. Seems my friend has nothing to worry about.” Did the orderly notice how he forced his smile?
    The man smirked and escorted Pridament out of the ward. The doors groaned as they closed behind him. The arteries in his neck throbbed with the racing of his pulse. This was bad. No, beyond bad. He had sensed that first day with Gwynn that someone had been orchestrating events. But to this extent? He had some answers, but those were leading to more questions, which all led somewhere dark and frightening.
    He pondered his next move when his phone started buzzing. He picked up and listened to the frantic voice on the other end.
    “Gwynn?”
    §
    Gwynn leaped to his feet and pulled hard on the emergency signal. The bus came screeching to a halt, throwing the passengers who had started to creep toward him back. Gwynn dashed for the closest door and fell out of it.
    He hit the ground hard and scrambled to twist and face any potential attackers. Only normal, confused, human faces greeted him.
    Gwynn drew his breath in ragged gasps. It seemed an eternity before the doors shut and the bus continued on its way. He fumbled in his pockets until he found Pridament’s card. The phone number listed was unlike anything he had seen, just a series of numbers that formed no familiar pattern. He pulled out his cell and dialed.
    When the line connected, Gwynn didn’t even allow the person on the other side to speak. Words fell out of his mouth; mad rantings about monsters and shadows. After he’d spewed out a number of sentences, he managed to grab hold of himself and take a desperate breath.
    “Gwynn?” Hearing the warm, baritone voice on the other side of the phone loosened the tightness in his