Perspicacity

Sometimes Jimmy just knew. He didn’t know how he knew, it just… was there.

It was never anything extraordinary; he just… seemed to have fortune on his side is the best way to put it. He always seemed to be in the right place at the right time; he always had the word at the tip of your tongue; he always won at bingo. Good things just seemed to happen to him.

After another uneventful day of being on luck’s good side, he was nestled warm in bed, falling asleep to the 11 o’clock news. The last story of the newscast was about the newly elected patriarch of the non-denominational (and eccentric) Light Piercing the Darkness Church. The story was of the patriarch (on behalf of the church) donating the proceeds of their rummage sale to the local food shelter in Dallas. There was something odd about the man smiling as he handed over a novelty sized check. Something about his eyes. There was a… an emptiness behind them.

“Rasputin looking motherfucker,” he mumbled as sleep began staking its claim. “I don’t trust him.”

Jimmy dreamed of him that night, the man with the empty smile. His dream began with smoke and rubble, the heat of nearby fires driving him to flee an as yet anonymous building. He carefully stepped past larger chunks of ragged concrete, discovering with horror the seemingly endless pieces of people strewn about: arms and legs and heads littered the floor, further obstructing his hideous escape. Blood and intestines and viscera painted the walls, turning his stomach. All amidst a building on the brink of collapse.

He finally made his way out to the street, only to discover that the entire block had suffered the same fate as the building he had found himself in. Fires burned everywhere; pained and frightened screams echoed from all over.

And there, standing in the rubble, was the empty man. He stood there staring at him, smiling. He opened his arms and gestured at the destructive scene to Jimmy, as if to say, “look at what I have wrought, and tremble.”

He saw the man everywhere now-reflected in windows and mirrors, standing among the crowd in his periphery, and he was all he dreamed of: always staring; always smiling.

As time went on, he considered his dreams to be visions of… something. He didn’t know what they meant, what he was supposed to do about it, but… he knew there was a reason for them.

The dreams progressed in a lazy manner, its story unfolding a little each night. He would find himself in the street, being stared at by the smiling, empty man. He was beckoned to follow.

He did so, stumbling through the debris and bodies on legs that didn’t feel like his. The smiling man floated a few inches above the ground, staying just far enough away from him.

All he could do was to follow and watch as the story continued to its climax.

As he followed the man floating before him, details began revealing themselves: several of the upturned and burning cars were adorned with “Keep Austin Weird” bumper stickers. Now he knew where to go, which was pretty convenient (he lived somewhat nearby in Corpus Christi). Street signs bent from nearby explosions said 3rd Street and Lady Bird Lake. A burning newspaper gave away its date of April 19 of next year.

For the longest time, the dreams ended outside the Driskill Hotel. He was led there to the entrance, the man disappearing into the darkness inside, laughing softly.

He still didn’t know what this all meant; what these dreams were supposed to tell him, or what he was supposed to do with this information. But he knew he needed to do something.

About three months before the date in his dreams, the story came to its finale. It was the only dream he had now. It only ended in one of two ways: they were both in the hotel lobby; one of them crushed by a pillar, the other on top, squeezing the life from their neck.

On the nights where Jimmy was pinned, this odd, disturbing man squeezing the life from him, he could see that it wasn’t quite an emptiness, but a… lack of something from the man killing him. The man was empty because his soul was missing, with something alien and sinister taking its place.

After seeing either his doom or triumph in his dream, Jimmy knew it was his destiny to be there, to stop this mysterious man. But how? He needed to find answers. He became a member of the Light Piercing the Darkness Church, immersing himself in their philosophies and beliefs, trying to find answers. He found none. The website for the church was a generic cut-and-copy version of every other contemporary non-denominational church of similar ilk. Fellow church goers were kind and helpful. They all spoke in favor of their new pastor, but noted he was strange and secretive. However, he was always kind, and very giving, so they overlooked his… eccentricities.

The only slightly odd and disturbing blurb was found at the end of their mission statement, which was amended after the new pastor took leadership.

We hold steadfast to our faith, and will not stray or stumble, regardless of influence from fellow creature, or spiritual enemy. The darkness will come, and we’ll be ready. Our God, awakened once more by our devotion, will repair our souls and our world, keeping the stars in their firmament.

It was April 18th, and he was in front of the Driskill Hotel, watching the people walking their dogs, stepping out to begin their evenings, stepping in to get a room for the night.

It was a relatively slow evening: the last event had ended the night before, and the next event wouldn’t be happening for a few days. It seemed a strange time for a terrorist attack; if the goal was killing people, there weren’t a lot-

The explosion caught him off guard- he wasn’t expecting it tonight (it cemented the feeling he had that his presence was fated and necessary). He was blown back about 15 feet, landing flat on his back, knocking the wind from him.

Faintly heard over the screams and car alarms was a laughter void of any humanity. Once Jimmy felt okay getting up, he saw him. The empty man was there in the broken entrance, taunting a pursuit.

Jimmy took the bait.

A frustrating déjà vu struck him once he was in the lobby; he recognized this place from his dreams. The pillars (half of them were blown away, the other half would soon fall with only the help of a soft gust), and the furniture (now thrown akimbo over the lobby, broken and burning) were clear indicators he’d been here before, but he didn’t know what to do past this point. The night would end in one of two ways, but he didn’t know what to do to ensure the ending he wanted.

The man who had consumed Jimmy’s life was standing in the center of the lobby, feet floating a few inches above the cracked floor.

“I am here now,” he said. His voice sounded odd and excessively guttural; his attempt to pass for something human was not believable. “You can finally fulfill your destiny.”

Move five feet to your left, Jimmy’s intuition cried. He heard it absently, his thoughts and actions preoccupied with how to stop the threat in front of him.

A second string of explosions rocked the building, knocking Jimmy’s legs out from under him.

Move five feet to your left. NOW.

Jimmy’s intuition screamed at him to move, but he wasn’t listening to it. He was too busy worrying about the broken glass that had become embedded in his back, and what he was about to do about the threat floating towards him, looming ever closer.

Jimmy tried to move out of the way and get up to attack the man responsible for all this chaos, but he was too late. The roof collapsed, knocking him unconscious.

He was brought back to coherent thought by feeling the pieces of wood and plaster being flung off him, by none other than the man that orchestrated the evening’s events.

Once the debris was cleared, they began struggling for dominance and control. Jimmy tried to turn his attacker over, but his leg was pinned down. The roof’s collapse caused a pillar to tumble, crushing his leg.

The man (or the being inside the man) began speaking to Jimmy telepathically, mildly taunting him. The pupils in its eyes moved as it spoke; they slithered and undulated in rhythm with its speech.

"I aw your dreams; I saw your desire to be near me. Here I am, soon to be fully awakened, free to exercise my power justly, and save the world."

Jimmy was glad he was dying; he didn’t want to see what horror this eldritch monstrosity would unleash upon the world. And if he had to keep hearing this… creature speak with its natural voice, he would go mad.

The gray of the world was slowly fading to the matte black of death. Jimmy was sad at the outcome, but he couldn’t be mad. After all, he saw it coming.