Behind the Black Curtain: Voidwalker

An acrid smell filled my nostrils. I awoke instantly, I know, but it felt like it had been over a year… My eyelids fluttered as I gathered my wits about me, my eyes struggled to regain focus.

“There he is,” warmly exclaimed a deep gravelly voice from somewhere nearby. I blearily sought out the source of the voice that I had heard.

I found it.

I quickly sat upright, my eyes locked on the sight before me, my face a mask of shock, confusion, and fear. The one who had spoken stood across the room from me, and all I could think was, ‘What in the hell is that?!’ Thinking back, that was pretty on the nose… He looked at me with eyes just too big, they were solid black and seemed to absorb all of the light that fell on them. A wicked smile played across his face revealing a mouthful of sharp, pointed teeth. He had mottled, angry red skin that appeared to be stretched too tightly and looked as though it might burst with little provocation. He had no hair on his head, instead, he had two curved horns protruding from his upper forehead.

The demonic looking being was dressed in such a manner that was a shocking contradiction to his garish appearance. He wore a gray, woolen sweater with chibi style cats stitched into the front of it, a rather unremarkable pair of khakis, and perhaps most strangely of all…he had on a pair of black crocs covering orange socks. His right hand grasped the handle of a coffee mug that said ‘I heart my students’, not the heart symbol, but the actual word ‘heart’.

“You gave us quite a fright, young man.” He stated, confirming himself to be the owner of the gravelly voice that had spoken previously. I took a quick glance around the room. To my right I spotted a short, gray-haired woman who appeared to be the nurse, and was likely the one who had revived me with smelling salts. She seemed either unaware of or unfazed by the presence of the demon in the room. On my left was an older man in dark blue coveralls leaning on a broom handle. If I had to guess, I’d say he probably found me sprawled out in the entryway to the building. The man had a sharp scowl on his face that made the demon look friendly by comparison. He kept looking back and forth between the demon and myself.

I couldn't help myself, my eyes locked back onto the demon, a bemused look of surprise and horror played across my face as I struggled to hide my expression. I had to get myself under control. If what I saw was in fact real, I knew I was likely in quite a bit of danger. I rubbed my eyes, but the demonic visage did not fade.

The smile on the demons face did, however, and the demon narrowed his eyes. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?” He asked, a hint of menace creeping into his voice. He took a step toward me, his talons growing longer, a dark fluid began to run down his chin. “Is there something on my face?”

My heart raced even faster, I struggled to keep my breathing in check as I forced myself to lower my gaze. “Wha-“ I said, trying to sound as groggy as possible, “What’s with the black crocs and orange socks, sir? I didn't think Halloween was for a couple more months…how long was I unconscious?”

The demon froze mid stride and visibly relaxed. He chuckled, “I admit, my choice of footwear is a little unconventional for someone of my station, but they are quite comfortable. As for the colors, I do so love Halloween. For me, Halloween is every day. My name is Desmond Moncrief, I am the History professor in Reaper Hall.” He paused and chuckled to himself as though thinking of a joke only he was in on. “You can call me Mr. D or Mr. Mon, whatever suits your fancy. But enough about me, let's talk about you. Let's start with something simple, what is your name young man?”

“Uh, Isaac. Isaac Isaacs, sir.” I replied hesitantly.

“Isaac Isaacs?” repeated Mr. Moncrief, he scrunched up his face, clearly debating whether or not I had given him my real name. He quickly typed something into his phone, which I hadn’t seen him remove from his pocket. After a moment he exclaimed, ”Ah, here you are. You’re registered for the public speaking course at 8pm. Your instructor is Mrs. O’Hara. Looks like there's only about 25 minutes left of class. We'll get you there soon, just need to ask you a few more questions. We wouldn't want you being counted absent on your first day now, would we young master Isaacs?”

“No.” I mumbled, dismayed at the idea of walking into a classroom well after class has started. I could feel the embarrassment creeping up already.

“My overworked and underpaid associate here, Mr. Humboldt,” he said gesturing lazily to the scowling man on his right, “found you collapsed just inside the main entryway. He enlisted my aid in order to bring you here to Nurse Gina’s office.” He gestured to the older woman on his left, “She was able to return you to consciousness with the use of smelling salts, and here we are. Now, what I need to ask is do you have any medical conditions the staff needs to be aware of, for your safety? Blood sugar issues? Dizziness? Fainting spells? Anything of that nature we need to be on the lookout for in order to be prepared for a repeat of earlier?”

I shook my head, “No, this isn't a regular occurrence. I don't have any medical conditions that I am aware of. I just stepped inside and blacked out. Never happened before, hopefully it won't happen again. I think I'm just tired, and this is the first in-person course I've taken in a while.”

Mr. Moncrief looked at me with a dubious expression playing across his red face. “Well, be that as it may, we’ll be keeping an eye on you, at least for now. If you'll excuse me, I need to speak to Nurse Gina in the hallway before you can be released to class.” With that, the demon and the nurse filed out of the room, leaving me alone with Mr. Humboldt, whose expression softened ever so slightly once the others had left.

He reached into one of the pockets of his overalls and proffered a piece of paper. He quickly wrote something on it and folded it. “The name’s Theodore, you can call me Ted,” he grumbled. He handed me the paper and gestured for me to pocket it. I complied. “You ever need anything, feel free to look for me.” He grimaced, “I've got a lot of area to clean, and not a lot of time to do it in. I'm gonna get back to it. See you around, kid.” He picked up his broom and headed out the door. I wanted to see what was on the paper, but decided it was best to wait until I was home. Probably a good decision as Mr. Moncrief reentered the room shortly thereafter.

“I see Mr. Humboldt has returned to his duties. Well young master Isaac, let's go ahead and get you to class. Your bag is in the chair over in the corner. If you would kindly follow me…” With that, he turned and strode from the room, pausing to hold the door. I hopped up from the table/bed that I had been seated upon, and wobbled as I felt a head rush. I tightened my abdomen and it quickly abated. I snatched my bag and hastened after Mr. Moncrief.

He led me down a long hallway, which was only remarkable in that it was just too long. I was markedly disappointed with how bland it looked. In stark contrast to the rather gothic appearance of the outside of the building, the hallway that I saw looked just like any other school or campus hallway-thick white paint over cinder blocks, florescent lighting, occasional inspirational posters up on the walls, hard glossy white with black fleck flooring, and those particle board ceiling tiles that almost always had a few that were missing pieces or displaying water damage.

We passed approximately 7 classrooms, I tried to sneak a peak through the little windows on the doors, but there was nothing to see, all of the lights were out. This wasn’t necessarily strange, as it was quite late. We finally arrived to my classroom; Rm 1608 it said on a placard on the door. Mr. Moncrief stopped, abruptly knocked on the door, opened it and peaked his head inside. “Ms. O’Hara, I do believe I have your last student here. You must forgive his tardiness, as there was a medical occurrence upon his arrival. I figured it best that he not miss his first class, my apologies for the disruption.”

“Not at all, not at all!” Came a woman’s voice excitedly from the classroom, “Please, bring him in!”

“I shall entrust him to you and take my leave then.” Stated Mr. Moncrief, he pushed the door further open, gestured for me to enter and then strode off in the direction from which we had come. I lingered in the hallway, I was apprehensive about walking into the classroom. Not out of fear for my safety or anything like that, but I already didn't like walking into classrooms, and walking into one whilst being exceptionally late…all eyes on me as I'm scrutinized by a room full of strangers who will judge me without ever getting to know me…I'm not really about that.

I stood in the hallway just trying to regulate my breathing, trying not to hyperventilate, working up the nerve to walk in. I strongly considered just walking away. (Blood powered doors, unnatural weather, disembodied voices, beings of shadow, deathly visions, and demons aren't enough to send me running, but walking into a classroom late, that'll do it…go figure.)

“Mr. Isaacs,” sang out Ms. O’Hara in a melodic, almost hypnotic voice, “please come inside.” She giggled playfully. I found my feet moving toward the door as if of their own volition. I stepped through the doorway and halted abruptly, my breath catching in my throat. If my eyes widened any further, I feared they would pop right out of my skull. I had to actively stop my jaw from hitting the floor.

Like Mr. Moncrief, Ms. O’Hara was a demon, to the surprise of no one…that is about where the comparison ends. While he may have been trying to emulate a white bread Freddy Krueger, she had gone an entirely different route. The hellspawn that stood before me looked like a skillful artists rendering from a lewd fan service website. She was voluptuous and curvaceous and carried herself like she knew it.

Her skin, while also an angry red, was completely smooth and unblemished, she had long black hair that flowed down to her lower back and constantly shifted as though a gentle breeze perpetually blew through it. She wore a long black skirt, that had a slit going up each side revealing the skin of her slender, shapely legs. She also had on a white, short-sleeved, button up shirt that was just too tight and unbuttoned just a little too far, exposing quite a bit of her…endowments…she also, clearly wasn’t wearing a bra, I don't know if that information was relevant but…boobs…

“Well, hello delicious.” She said, slowly walking toward me, her hips swaying seductively, the slits in her skirt parting to reveal glimpses of light blue lace, her high heels clicking with each step. As she approached, she fixed me with a gaze of glowing golden eyes, looking at me the way a tiger eyes an unaware deer. She closed the distance between us.

Her demeanor completely changed in an instant. She flashed a pearly smile, I noticed her incisors were slightly longer and sharper than a humans. “Welcome, Mr. Isaacs, welcome!” She reached out a neatly manicured, talon tipped hand and pulled me toward her, she then wrapped her arm around mine and pulled me even closer. I was all too aware of the firm yet squishy flesh pressed against me. My face grew hot, and I felt my mind fill with all of the lewd, obscene, dare I say depraved things that she and I could do together. It was all I could think about. I was absolutely consumed by carnal desire.

I feared, my arousal would physically manifest in front of the class. “Naughty boy.” I heard her say quietly, warm breath on my ear. She released her hold on me and I felt the lustful fog begin to clear from my mind. She turned away and addressed the class, “Class, this is Mr. Isaacs. I hope you will be kind and welcoming to him.”

“Yes, Ms. O’Hara.” Droned a chorus of male voices in a monotone. She turned back to me, “ I would love to sit you up here next to me, sweetie, but unfortunately the seating chart has already been set, and moving the whole seating chart just for you would be favoritism.” She spoke louder, clearly addressing the class, “And you’re all my favorites, aren't you, my lovelies?”

“Yes, Ms. O’Hara.” Once again droned the class in a monotonous chorus of voices.

I tore my lustful gaze from the desirous and tantalizing creature standing next to me and surveyed the room. There were thirteen tables; three rows of four and a single table in the back. Each table sat two individuals, all males, who sat transfixed, blank eyes locked onto their instructor.

“Unfortunately, my lovely,” she said dolefully, “there’s only one seat left, you'll be in the back, next to my…troublemaker.”

I looked at the last table, surprised that I hadn't noticed anyone sitting there. I guess that I had overlooked them because I was distracted, both by the teacher and her drone-like students. The person sitting there was hunched over, writing utensil in hand, clearly intent on whatever they were writing or drawing. They wore a hood of a familiar shimmering green material that obscured their face, a few locks of, you guessed it, red hair hung down below the hem of the hood. I was pretty sure I knew who it was, that meant she was the only female student in a class of drooling males, and I may have made an ass of myself in front of her earlier…ah, crap.

The horny demon and the rest of the world faded away as I slowly plodded toward my seat. I could hear my heart thundering in my ears and felt heat rising in my cheeks. I was anxious. I was terrified. I was…excited?

I set my bag down on the end of the table, pulled out my seat and sat, leaned back in the chair, rested my hands on the table and stared straight ahead. I wasn’t certain how to initiate conversation, or if I even should have. By this point the teacher had surprisingly resumed what sounded like a pretty standard lesson.

I didn't pay attention to her though, not that I needed to. School had always been easy for me. But also, so much had happened today, I had a lot to process. However, foremost in my mind was the woman sitting next to me. I sat there awkwardly, wondering what I should do, when I heard a sliding sound and felt something tap against the side of my hand. I looked down to see that she had slid a piece of paper to me.

Hi

I stared blankly at the single word written on the page. Of course, I knew this meant that I needed to respond. I started patting my pockets. Horror, as it dawned on me that I, having an over reliance on technology, had completely forgotten to bring a writing utensil. I'm sure she saw me frantically looking for something to write with and then my shoulders slump in defeat. There was a clicking sound as she took pity on me and laid her pen down on the page.

I picked up the pen gratefully, noting that it was made of metal. It had an intricate design inlaid, and was surprisingly heavy. Still unsure of everything going on, I decided to be reserved in my response.

Me: Hello

Her: Are you ok?

M: Yeah, I'm good

H: happened?

M: Honestly, I don't know.

H: Well, I'm glad you're ok.

M: Thanks. :) Btw, I'm sorry about earlier.

H: ? You mean when you called me 'the most beautiful woman you'd ever seen’?

M: Yeah

H: Oh? Were you lying?

M: No

H: In that case, I don't think you have anything to apologize for. :)

M: Can we talk after class?

H: Walk me home?

My breath caught in my throat as I read this. My hand trembled as I fought to contain my excitement. I calmed myself as much as I could and wrote my response.

Of course, I’d be happy to

Warm breath caressed the back of my neck. I tensed and turned to see Ms. O’Hara standing behind us. It was clear that she had been reading our conversation for some time now. How she had gotten behind us without us noticing, I can't say. She placed her hands on our shoulders and leaned down to talk to us, so far that I feared, (or hoped?) that she was going to spill right out of her top.

“Far be it from me to stand in the way of young love,” she said in a quiet, husky voice, seduction dripping from every syllable. I knew I was blushing. “But while you are in my class,” she tightened her grip on my shoulder ever so slightly, little flecks of red had appeared in the golden glow of her eyes, “I'm going to need you to pay attention to me.” I detected a hint of venom in her voice, and…jealousy?

“Yes Ms. O’Hara.” We responded in unison.

“Good!” She said bright and bubbly. The red disappeared from her eyes, she smiled then stood upright suddenly. I did my best not to be mesmerized by the ensuing jiggling. “Ok my lovelies, I want you to read the sections on interpersonal communication and communication apprehension before I see you next week. Class dismissed!” she ended in a sing-song voice.

There was an instant change in the energy and demeanor of the other students almost as though a spell had been lifted. Everyone started gathering their belongings, talking to each other, or just exited the room altogether. They all carried on as though nothing had happened except another ordinary class having gone by.

I gathered my belongings and walked along in silence with the girl whose name I hadn't gotten yet. Surprisingly, there were no awkward or ominous interactions with any more demons, and we were able to exit the building with no incident. The other students ignored us, largely I suspected, due to me. I was still quite shocked that she had even taken an interest in me. The others scurried off home, never sparing a glance at the out of place wonders that surrounded them. I couldn't help but look about still in awe of the sights before me.

We stopped to admire the massive dragon statue and by proxy the bioluminescent koi fish. I was still astonished by my surroundings. How did no one know this was here? We moved on in silence, hesitant to speak while still within this mysterious ‘winter wonderland.' The shadows had crept back into my vision, the whispers and sounds polluted my hearing once again. However, any fear that it induced, paled against the thundering of my heart and the elation of my current situation walking beside this beautiful woman that had noticed I even existed.

After a surprisingly brief walk (at least compared to the walk to Reaper Hall) we found ourselves outside of the snowfall and in a more temperate climate. The number of fellow students increased steadily and significantly, we were clearly back on the regular campus grounds.

I was walking beside her in silence, trying to figure out how to start the conversation when I noticed the lights and open sign of a small coffee shop still illuminated at this late hour. I saw an opportunity, “Would you like to join me for some coffee and a muffin or something? My treat.” I asked hopefully.

Her face lit up. “I’d love to,” she said with a smile. I sighed with relief and led the way, holding the door for her. We placed our orders, no line, no wait. Turned out that we both had an affinity for chocolate. Chocolate-chocolate chip muffins and Mocha frappes with whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top. Something we both found quite amusing.

“So,” she said between greedy gulps of frappe, “what were you wanting to talk about?”

“Oh! Uh, right…yeah,” I spluttered, swallowing my coffee. “I guess introductions are in order. Hi, I’m-“

“Isaac Isaacs.” She interrupted with a grin, “I heard it when our horny teacher introduced you.”

“Oh yeah.” I said sheepishly.

“I'm Victoria Blackrose, nice to meet you, Isaac.”

“Nice to meet you too, Victoria.” I paused and glanced around before turning back to her. “So…did you notice anything…odd today? You know, outside of the giant castle, the dragon statue, the glowing koi fish, and the magical snow storm that shouldn’t have existed…”

Her eyes went wide and she quietly said, “You saw a castle?” The dismay must have been pretty evident on my face because she quickly smiled, “Relax Isaac, I'm just kidding! Yes, I saw what you described. I'm guessing you’re referring to our demonic instructors, like the succubus that almost molested you in front of a class full of brainwashed drooling idiots?”

“Yeah…that. I was worried that I may have been seeing…more things than usual…now that you’ve confirmed that you've seen it too, I feel I’ve got more to worry about now.” I stared out the window. “Did you by chance sign up for this class?”

“No.” She said, sounding surprised. “I actually tried to drop the class, but administration wouldn’t let me. Why do you ask?”

“I didn’t sign up for it either. I thought about dropping the course too, but decided against it. I had a feeling I should go ahead and take the course. I also figured I could benefit from it, since I’m terrified of public speaking. I'm willing to bet none of our fellow…scholars…signed up for it either.”

Victoria started giggling. I looked at her with an eyebrow raised inquisitively. “Which is more terrifying, demons or public speaking?”

I thought about it a moment, “Public speaking, definitely.” I said with a grin. She erupted into peals of laughter, music to my ears.

“You know,” she said, “We’re both incredibly calm about this, all things considered. I wonder why that is?”

“Well…I'll say, while I don't love it, I'm used to the weird…sorry to be so vague, it’s a whole thing…you’d probably think me insane. What about you?”

“I’ve read about them and I've seen some illustrations in my research. I'm afraid you would have to see it to believe it.” She smiled wryly.

“I guess we've both got our secrets.” I mused as I finished off the last of my coffee. Despite the fresh infusion of caffeine, my eyelids were starting to get heavy. I checked my watch. It was approaching midnight. “Wow, it is late. I would love to stay and talk all night, I really would, and I feel we’re probably not done talking, but we probably should get home and get to bed.”

“Oh my,” Victoria said with amusement, “a little forward aren’t we, Mr. Isaacs?”

My cheeks immediately grew hot as I started blushing, “Oh, uh. I meant our…own…respective beds…I just,” she smiled at me as the words stumbled their way out of my mouth. “Walk you home?” I managed to get out weakly.

She gathered her belongings and stood up. “Ok big guy,” she said as she patted my shoulder, “ walk me home.” I got up, tossed my trash, grabbed my bag and followed her out the door. We walked for about 15 minutes, chatting about random things as we went. Some of it relating to what we had just experienced, some of it was sharing information about ourselves, some of it was about nothing at all. It was the longest conversation I’d ever had. The conversation flowed much easier as our time together progressed.

We arrived in front of a large ‘compound’ for lack of a better word. There was a large wrought iron fence surrounding sprawling grounds. A massive mansion loomed in the distance. A uniformed man stood at the gate. He touched his earpiece and said something unintelligible as we approached.

“Well Ms. Blackrose, I, uh, had an absolutely wonderful time with you this evening.” In the boldest of moves, I took her hand in mine, leaned down and gently placed a kiss just below her knuckles. I released her hand, paused a moment, then smiled, “I guess I'll be seeing you. Have a good night.” I turned and walked away. I was in the middle of congratulating myself for maintaining my composure and hopefully appearing at least a little gentlemanly and suave when Victoria grabbed my attention again.

“Hey, Isaac! Aren't you forgetting something?” She called after me. I stopped abruptly and knitted my brow, perplexed. What could I have forgotten? I turned slowly, a mystified expression on my face.

“What might that be?” I asked cautiously.

She slowly walked toward me and held up her cell phone. “You forgot to give me your number, and maybe forgot to ask me out on a proper date.”

My mind blanked.

I mean completely empty for a good 6 seconds before it managed to process what had just happened. “Oh, uh, yeah, of course.” I floundered. Dammit, fell apart right away. I carefully took the phone from her. Then I blankly stared at the illuminated screen in a panic as I struggled to remember my phone number. It's not like I ever call myself. After what felt like an eternity, I was able to bring to mind my number and quickly tap it into her phone before handing it back to her.

She took the phone from me, her hand lingering on mine for just a moment longer. She stepped closer to me and started lazily tracing circles up the length of my arm. “You know,” she said casually. Forearm. ”I think I'll save you the trouble of asking me out.” Elbow. “See, my mother is a strong woman.” Bicep. “And she taught me that if I wanted something, I need to take action and go for it.” Triceps. “Or else risk losing what I want to someone else.” Shoulder. “What I want,” her fingers started playing softly up the side of my neck. “Is you,” she said in a quiet, almost sultry voice. She slowly started to trace my jawline toward my chin with her fingertips. “So what do you say? Saturday, my place, 7:30, bring yourself and a game controller? I'll make sure Tony lets you in.” Her fingers came to rest on my chin.

“Um, yeah, that’d be fantastic.” I replied, barely able to contain the super enthusiastic, anxiety laden glee that was bubbling up beneath the surface.

“Good.” She said brightly. Suddenly she moved her hand up, fingers splayed, palm resting on my cheek opposite from her. She stood up on her tip toes and gently pulled my face closer to hers. I felt her lips brush against mine ever so slightly as she kissed me firmly on the cheek, not just a quick peck. She pulled away begrudgingly…or maybe it was just me wishing that she hadn’t . “I'll see you then.” She said cheerfully, she then turned and practically skipped toward the man at the gate that I assumed was Tony.

I watched wistfully as she disappeared from view before beginning the familiar, lonely, silent walk toward my home. As I walked, the giddiness and euphoria of my time with Victoria buoyed me along, and I barely felt my feet touch the ground. The longer I went and the closer I got to my empty apartment the more those feelings faded until they only lingered at the back of my mind.

I began to notice more of the movement in the shadows and in the corners of my vision figures would rise only to dissipate when I attempted to look directly at them. The whispers reasserted themselves in full force. Luckily home wasn’t too far away. I could relax with some music before bed, but, more than likely I’d be up playing video games too late.

I finally arrived home a little after 1am. Still enough time to get a couple hours of gaming in before bed. I set my bag down on my bed, fired up the console and went to the fridge to grab a soda. I went back to my room, set my drink on my bedside table and started emptying my pockets. It was the start of my weekend, I could at least get my clothes ready to launder.

I heard a crinkling sound as my hand settled on some folded paper in my pocket. I froze. The piece of paper that Mr. Humboldt…Ted, had given me. I unfolded it with shaky hands, forcing my breath to remain steady. I read and reread the paper. My blood ran cold.

“Ah…shit.”

Hastily scrawled on the paper, Mr. Humboldt had written the following words: They know that you can see them!!!

This is not the end…