Hellscapes: Hellscapes, #2

By Stephen Zimmer

Return to the nightmarish, shadowy realms of Hell in the latest installment of the Hellscapes series by Stephen Zimmer. Six brand new, macabre tales of the infernal await you … but be that you only visit these realms, you do not want to share the fates of the inhabitants you will encounter!

Included in the pages of Hellscapes, Volume II:

In "The Cavern", a man finds his way into a nightmare, subterranean world that leads to an even greater, and more devastating, revelation.

A police officer takes pleasure in violently executing his duties and it appears to be open season in "The Riot" when he is part of an operation sent to crack down on a gathering of people protesting an economic summit nearby. But this is an operation that is going to take a very different kind of turn, one that opens his eyes to a new reality.

A woman finds herself stranded on a high, rocky ledge, along with many other men and women, surrounded by a frothing sea in "Above as Below". Shadows glide beneath the surface and soon she will discover what lurks within the depths.

"Spots Do Not Change" tells the story of a man who has never had any qualms lying, cheating, or deceiving the women in his life. A reckoning day looms as he comes to understand that his actions have harmed the lives of many others, actions that in the realms of Hell take on forms of their own.

Having spun webs of intrigue and personal destruction at the heights of national politics throughout his life, a man finds webs of another sort to present grave danger when he finds himself lost within a strange wilderness in "Weaving Webs".

Many are drawn to "The Club" in the heart of the decaying, shadow-filled city of Malizia, hoping for some entertainment and release, or even safety from the monstrous dangers lurking in the darkness. One man struggling against amnesia finds his way to the seemingly popular establishment and its confines give him momentary hope; until he discovers the nature of this night club and those who run it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seventh Star Press
• Release date: Oct 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781941706305

Stephen Zimmer

Award-winning author and filmmaker Stephen Zimmer is based out of Lexington, Kentucky. His works include the Rayden Valkrie Saga of a Lionheart TV Pilot, the Rising Dawn Saga, the Fires in Eden Series, the Hellscapes and Chronicles of Ave short story collections, the Harvey and Solomon steampunk stories, and the Rayden Valkyrie Tales. Stephen currently resides in Lexington, Kentucky.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Information

Acknowledgements

Dedication

The Cavern

The Riot

Above as Below

Spots Do Not Change

Weaving Webs

The Club

About the Author

More from Seventh Star Press

Hellscapes, Vol. 1 by Stephen Zimmer

Heart of a Lion by Stephen Zimmer

The Rising Dawn Saga from Stephen Zimmer

Shadow Out of the Sky by Brick Marlin

The Horror of Michael West

Vampires Don’t Sparkle!

Paranormal Thrillers from R.J. Sullivan

The Road Ghosts Trilogy from E. Chris Garrison!

Shadows Over Somerset from Bob Freeman

Urban Fantasy from John F. Allen

Southern Haunts Spirits That Walk Among Us

Death’s Dance by Crymsyn Hart

Appalachian Gothic in Irredeemable by Jason Sizemore

Transport by Peter Welmerink

Southern Haunts 2 Devils in the Darkness

Hellscapes

Volume 2

Stephen Zimmer

Copyright © 2015 by Stephen Zimmer

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be copied or transmitted in any form, electronic or otherwise, without express written consent of the publisher or author.

Cover art: A. Christopher Drown

Cover art in this book copyright © 2015 A. Christopher Drown & Seventh Star Press, LLC.

Editor: Scott M. Sandridge

Published by Seventh Star Press, LLC.

ISBN Number: 978-1-941706-30-5

Seventh Star Press

www.seventhstarpress.com

[e-mail]

Publisher’s Note:

Hellscapes, Volume 2 is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are the product of the author’s imagination, used in fictitious manner. Any resemblances to actual persons, places, locales, events, etc. are purely coincidental.

Printed in the United States of America

First Edition

Acknowledgements

I would first and foremost like to acknowledge my mother and father, without whom I would never have embarked on a path as a writer and reached this stage, my eleventh book to be released. They opened my eyes to the limitless realms of imagination and then encouraged me to embrace them.

A big thanks to Scott Sandridge for becoming the editor on this second volume. Scott made sure that I took another step forward with this volume and has been a pleasure to work with. .

I extend Aaron Drown my heartfelt appreciation for an amazing job with the cover art that truly captured the essence of this volume. Aaron has such an eye for both art and design, and be brought both to bear fully on the cover that graces this book.

I salute the Seventh Legion, which came into being this past year, you are right there with me as we take this journey forward. Thank you for the steadfast faith and support. You make a real difference and the interaction I have with you is something I really look forward to on a regular basis.

My deepest appreciation to friends who have stood with me during the traveling of a difficult road this past year, such as Christina Butcher, Eric and Kylie Jude, Frank Hall, Robin Blankenship, Bob and Katrina Cable and Dick Graff. You all really matter to me.

To all of my readers, you are the top priority to me as a writer. Without readers, an author has nothing, and I never take you for granted. I will always work hard to give you my best and to keep growing and improving as a writer. Thank you for being there for me.

Dedication

To the Source of all possibilities within the imagination given us, may we find the light in the darkness and the strength to make our way to it.

To my mother and father, the brightest of lights in my world, who shine with a radiance that nothing can dim.

To my sister, who fights the good fight, has demonstrated courage and continues to advance on a difficult path.

The Cavern

The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.

-Albert Einstein

A featureless, arid landscape stretched to the far horizons. The emptiness sprawled beyond the limits of Nicholas’ vision, in any direction he gazed.

He trudged forward without aim, having no road to follow, or the slightest notion of the place he found himself in. Setting one foot down after another, again and again, he continued, the immensity of the desert pressing in from all sides.

Above, dense turbulent layers of clouds filled brooding skies. Of a deep reddish hue that he had never seen in clouds before, the vaporous masses marched steadily, pushing with great force, though not even the wisp of a breeze stirred a hair on his head where he walked across the parched ground.

A deathly quiet pervaded the area, weighing heavily upon him with an encompassing, oppressive stillness. A deep unease pervaded Nicholas, though nothing other than an endless sea of emptiness surrounded him.

Not even his footfalls upon bone-dry ground disturbed the ponderous silence. Blinking his eyes and shaking his head, he strove to clear his mind and grasp onto anything that could give him the slightest hint of where he found himself, or how he had gotten there.

On and on he continued the laborious tread, struggling to pierce the mental fog stymieing every attempt to think through the situation. He trekked across the desert landscape for what could only have been many hours, easily covering a distance far surpassing anything he had attempted before.

A singular thought struck him at last, taking firm hold and furthering the disquiet churning within. Not a shred of fatigue had come to Nicholas the entire time, or even a hint of thirst, despite covering a vast tract of ground and engaging in physical exertion that should have overtaxed his sedentary condition long since. Consuming his thoughts, the unsettling realization sent the anxiety that plagued him spiraling.

He slowed to a halt, staring into the desert void as despair contended with fraying willpower. Summoning a shard of focus, he turned in place, scanning the featureless horizons with great care.

Taking in the vast expanse, anxiety continued to well up inside him, spurred toward panic when his gaze fell upon the ground just behind him. No matter how diligent his scouring of the patch of land, Nicholas could not espy a trace of his steps within the dry soil.

The thought of how he had left no impression in the dusty surface confounded all logic. Not even a single breeze ruffled the air. Any of his footsteps should have been left clear and undisturbed to mark his path.

With no idea of the direction he had come, or even which way could be deemed forward, tendrils of fear slithered into his every thought. Coils of desperation tightened around Nicholas, filling him with an overpowering sense of hopelessness.

Where am I? he screamed at the crimson skies, projecting with every ounce of strength left within. The cry emerged from his mouth hollow and thin, dissipating into the desert maw.

Choking silence met his desperate query. A confining, unbearable sensation, the weight of the stillness squeezed in tighter from all sides. His mental state teetering, he loosed a guttural, forlorn wail into the gaping emptiness.

Moments afterward, the ground crumbled without warning, giving way beneath him. A dark fissure formed in an instant, swallowing Nicholas into a fast-deepening crevice.

He shrieked, though the collapsing soil dragging him farther under devoured the sound of his voice. Fragments of thoughts scattered into chaos with the terror swirling throughout him.

Plummeting in a haphazard tumble, his body spun over and over. Vision blackened and with nothing to grasp, he could only succumb to the force clutching him within its unshakeable grip.

After a long, chaotic descent, he broke free of the detritus’ hold at last. Sight flooded his eyes, but everything appeared as a coal-gray blur.

Toppling down the length of a steep slope, he landed hard at its rocky base. The shock of the abrupt halt left him stunned.

He lay for a moment without trying to move, fearing what the extended fall had wreaked upon his body. Above him, the contours of a porous, dark kind of rock spread to form the ceiling of some manner of subterranean chamber.

With delicate care, he moved to roll over and get to his feet, fearing at every instant the discovery of a major injury. To his amazement, no signs of damage emerged. Further, he harbored no aches or soreness, despite having endured such a tremendous fall.

Though relieved, the discoveries baffled him. Even stranger, all his senses appeared sharp, even heightened to a degree.

Examining his surroundings, he saw that he stood within a broad, tunnel-like passage. The corridor stood open to one side, blocked behind with the towering mass of soil he had just toppled down.

In the other direction, the passage bent to the left after a short distance. The tunnel’s rocky surface limned with a reddish, fluid glow, a dance of shadows hinted at something else nearby.

A muffled din flowed through the passage, a deep-pitched roar with nothing distinct to its nature that he could discern. The droning sound brought him no comfort. If anything, something about the amalgam of noises pricked his frayed nerves.

After walking across the desolate landscape far above, Nicholas thought he would have been relieved to see a hint of anything more concrete, but his surroundings flooded him with restlessness. Every shred of wariness shouted in warning not to take a single step forward in the direction of the shadows.

He remained rooted in place, indecisive, fearful, and devoid of answers. Climbing back upward an impossible task, he found himself trapped. Thinking upon his next action, he stared in growing agitation toward the shifting, coiling shadows within the passage ahead.

Piercing through the noise from the passage, rustling sounds breaking out from behind snapped his attention back around. All over the surface of the great pile of debris, a number of shifts and undulations indicated the presence of something moving just under the surface.

Nicholas’ eyes widened as the lengthy snout of a creature pushed through the soil. Brimming with needle-like teeth, the snout belonged to a grotesque thing that resembled a distorted hybrid of rat and spider.

In fascination and terror, Nicholas watched the macabre beast crawling out from the pile of debris. Around the size of a small dog, eight narrow legs covered with coarse hairs supported its elongated body.

The thing fixed its dead, rheumy eyes upon Nicholas. A rattling, hollow sound arose from its throat. Viscous streams of saliva began to drip from its lower jaws.

Others of its bizarre ilk started cracking through the surface, all over the debris mound. More than a dozen of the horrid creatures locked their baleful gazes on Nicholas, the air around him filling with their eerie, sepulchral hisses.

Nicholas backed away from the mound and creatures. Keeping his eyes on the beasts, he moved toward the passageway offering the only chance to get away from them. A few more of the creatures crawled out of the soil, adding their number to the first group until more than twenty of the things occupied the slope.

Nicholas flinched as a jumble of arms and legs burst into view from the ceiling. Hitting the slope hard, the body of a man tumbled downward.

Naked, his face reflecting confusion and fear, the young man looked around from where