Zedlist – Part Twenty Eight
Thriller Fiction
“Focus on that energy, close your eyes gently and try to clear your mind. When a thought drifts in allow it to be there for as long as it needs to be and let it float away, don’t hold onto it. Just allow your thoughts to drift in and out, like ocean tides. You feel completely calm. Follow my breath, in… and out. You are feeling more and more centred, calmer and more relaxed with each breath. When you are ready you can open your eyes.”
Colin opened his eyes.
“I want you to repeat after me”, Tim said, “No one can take my power away from me.”
Colin repeated this.
“Louder”, Tim said, “Believe every word. Fill up the room with your voice.”
“No one can take my power away from me!” Colin shouted.
“Keep going, keep repeating the same words. Really believe them”.
As Colin repeated each sentence he sat up taller and his voice became more commanding.
“Good”, Tim said, “now every time you feel out of control, dis-empowered or ignored, just focus on the strength of the energy flowing through you, centre yourself and imagine a white healing light around you. Remember nothing can take your power unless you let it. If you see the demon again, don’t let it make you feel small. If you believe in your own power there is nothing it can do.”
“Thank you”, Colin said, smiling.
“How do you feel?” –
“I feel reborn”, Colin said softly.
“You are”, Tim said, beaming. “There are many other people who are being threatened by the demon you met, and they feel powerless just like you did.” Tim continued to impart most of the information he had given Kevin on their first meeting. Colin sat and listened intently.
“You need to tell everyone about this”, Colin said, “They need to be warned.”
“They won’t listen to me. I have tried, everyone just thinks I am mad. I have tried to convince people using the internet, but no one takes anything on there seriously”.
“If I were to tell people about this on over the radio”, Colin said, “people will listen to me”.
“No, I couldn’t ask you to do that.” Tim said.
“I insist”, Colin said, “after what you have done for me, it’s the least I can do. People need to know about this.”
“Oh, okay. If you think it will work. Let me just go and tell my friends and I’ll be back.” Tim left the room, taking the scissors with him.
“Great”, Colin said as Tim left the room. Kevin and Alex looked up in anticipation as Tim entered the hall.
“So”, Kevin said, “did he agree to do it?”
“Yes, he is eager to help us. He thinks the whole thing was his idea”, Tim said.
“That’s awesome”, Kevin said, “We need to broadcast as soon as possible. Time is running out.”
“Wait here”, Kevin said to Alex as he followed Tim back towards the recording booth. Tim opened the door a crack and put his hand through with Little Paul still on his finger. “Hello Colin.”
Kevin watched as Colin’s face suddenly dropped and he let out a yelp. Tim pulled his hand back through the door with the puppet stapled to his finger. The door opened to reveal Colin standing with a stapler threateningly in one hand and a pink mobile phone in the other.
“Fuck you!” He shouted, holding up the phone and taking a picture of Tim’s shocked face. Before either of the men had fully processed what was happening, Colin pushed past them and charged down the corridor like a Pamlonan bull. He hurled himself into the lift head first. Alex, the quickest of the three, got to doors just as they closed.
“I thought you said he was ready to help us”, Kevin shouted.
“He was”, Tim replied.
“You clearly underestimated him”, Kevin said, “Now he has a phone with your picture on it and is loose in the building somewhere.”
“…and he has a stapler.” Alex added.
Kevin ran for the stairwell, calling Dale on his phone to warn him of their escapee.
“Whatever you do, do not let him get out. Do whatever you have to do to stop him, we need to get to him before he calls someone. It might already be too late.”
Alex got to the ground floor just as the lift pinged and the doors opened, shortly followed by Kevin and then a wheezing Tim. Colin was lying on the floor of the lift, his face a rich glow of purple. The phone had dropped out of his hand and he was clutching onto his shirt feverishly. With a final throaty gasp, his back arched upwards and then his entire body went limp.
Kevin’s face froze for a split second in an expression that conveyed a state somewhere between panic and revulsion. “Shit, shit! Colin can you hear me!? He felt his neck to search for a beat and found none. He tried again with his wrist, still no pulse.
“Don’t you dare die, Colin, don’t you fucking die on me!”
Kevin was saying this over. The words seemed to form a mantra, changing the atmosphere. Everything was now still as if something was about to happen any second. Suddenly the light from outside was eclipsed by a large form. Kevin looked up to see Dale standing over him.
“He has no pulse,” Kevin said.
Dale immediately jumped into action. He moved Colin onto his back effortlessly, felt his pulse, checked his airways for any obstruction, and then started compressions, pushing down with both hands on the middle of Colin’s chest. Kevin picked the pink phone from next to Colin’s body. It said, “Please enter pin”, on the small screen. Dale stopped pressing, looked up at Kevin and shook his head. Kevin stood in shell shock, unable to take in what had just happened.
“We need to think about this calmly”, Tim said.
Kevin was pacing up and down in the lobby and Mad still sat in her chair, cackling in glee of the new turn of events. There were telephones going off everywhere now, creating a dissonant symphony, ringing out through the entire building.
NEXT: Zedlist – Part Twenty Nine
PREVIOUS: Zedlist – Part Twenty Seven
more by LUCAS HOWARD
photograph by Breather
