Copper: Book 2 A Garden of Goblins

By JB Murray

“What happens when the barrier between worlds starts to crumble? Things come through, that’s what.”

Recovering from an intense battle with an Otherworldly army of spider-things, Gabriel Copper sets out for a much-needed, normal day at his coffee shop. But his uneventful morning is turned upside down when he finds a girl awaiting him in the alley behind the diner. Though he’ll soon find out, she’s no ordinary girl.
One moment, Janice is out on her front lawn, coffee in hand, wondering where the strange little lawn ornaments had come from. In the next, she’s boarded up the house, trying to keep her kids safe from the creatures lurking outside. But they keep scratching at the door... and she knows it’s only a matter of time before they find their way in.
They knock, they knock, but don’t let them in. They’re oh so hungry, these little green men.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JB Murray
• Release date: Oct 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781644561942

JB Murray

Poised to write since learning the alphabet, rural New Englander JB Murray crafts prose like the way he devours literature: with his dog by his side, a scotch in his hand, and a cigar smoldering in an ashtray. Aspiring to be a full-time author, Murray nurtures his creative energy by consuming a vast array of literature; studying as if he were an apprentice of the great Edgar Allen Poe. He balances his life by carving out time for his musical ventures, spending time with family and friends, enjoying nature, and the occasional Netflix binge.

Book preview

PART ONE

A Nap Like No Other

The exhaustion. Let’s just say I’ve never experienced exhaustion like that in my life… ever. It washed over me, smothering the few waking moments left in me, that dared cling to life. I guess… why wouldn’t it? I don’t think I’d be alone in that aspect, given what I’d just been through… what I’d just done. It’s not every day you find yourself battling a race of spider-things the size of Volkswagens. I still struggled to believe all of it myself. No, let me rephrase. I struggled to believe any of it.

For the most part, it festered like a bad dream; and in between when you’re not quite sure what’s real and what’s imagined. But when I got home following those events, my head hit the pillow like a falling rock; my eyes took only a fraction of a second to close, and I was out. What concerned me most, when I finally woke, was that I stayed in bed for several days. In fact, Maria, the woman who helps run my little coffee shop, had been calling at least that long. But I had never heard the phone ring; sound asleep.

When I eventually arose, her exasperation was clear. She confessed she had suspected my involvement in some pressing matter, but it wasn’t like me to not give her a call or some fair warning. If she drove, she said she would have been over the house the day before to check up on me. In fact, she was only an hour or two away and one more phone call from taking a bus to the nearest stop, which was a good four blocks from my neighborhood. She said she had almost called the police, had considered it only moments before. You can imagine my relief that it hadn’t come to that.

So, a couple days had passed while the things I’d done, the things I’d witnessed, played over and over in my head and I slept a sleep of death.

I had just set the phone down, my eyes still heavy with sleep. Fairly sure I had slurred some of my words when talking to Maria. Damn, I was still tired. I twitched my neck left and right, trying to release some of the strain which had wedged its way between every muscle. And that’s when it hit me. Holy hell Batman! I really had to pee.

I ran through the kitchen and living room, making my way down the small hallway worrying I might not even get close before my bladder decided to betray me. But by some good grace, I just made it. And the smile that spread across my face was as bold as the feeling of complete satisfaction when I had finished my business. I sighed, flushed, and dropped the lid. Then I plopped myself down on the seat, bent forward, and dropped my head in my hands. Holy shit… two nights ago had been… been…

The images came crashing into my head again. Though this time, they lacked that certain film all dreams have. These memories were bold, emblazoned and determined to upset the balance of my sanity.

I saw myself again, running around that bedroom. The draperies hanging from the ceiling and walls, even the bedposts, were not draperies at all, but rather woven strands of webs. The chandelier hanging above the bed, fingers alight where candles should have burned. The pieces of bodies caught in those webs. The two young women, who thought they’d simply seduce me; how they changed when they were denied, ripping from their skin, all carapace and hairy spider legs. Pincers working at me, wanting to dismember and devour. And then, the attack came. One of the spider-sister things leapt at me, and I grabbed the Lia Fáil stone in my pocket. Felt the surge of power. Closed my eyes and offered a silent prayer I knew what I was doing. Thrust out my fist, felt the warmth of the magical fire envelope it as my hand went through the underside of that giant spider, killing it almost instantly.

The rest came back as well. Leaving that bedroom, and the two dead spider-things dead on the floor as I went back down the hall and out into the main cavern where my ex-lover Violet, the spider-queen, my best friend who’d pretty much betrayed me, and the strange, small man known as a dearg held court. Well… rather, she was planning on enslaving Tabor once more so he could become a host for little spider-babies. Who knows what she had planned for my best friend Dave though? At that moment, I didn’t really care. I was filled with a power I had never known in all my life, fueled by the magick yes, but also a great sense of fear, an ever-present wonder, and quite a bit of anger. Damn both Dave and my ex. I was ready to take on the world; to obliterate everything in my path. I managed to defeat Violet, only narrowly escaping my own death, while Tabor had been responsible for eradicating the caverns of the rest. And as annoying as the little guy could be, I had been grateful for both the knowledge and the way he handled himself and the situation. The three of us made it out unscathed.

Dave, even though apologetic, would remain on my bad side for some time. Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad he was no longer in thrall to a creature like that. If, well, if he ever truly was in the first place. Gladder still he had made it out and could go back to his family. But that didn’t erase his willingness to serve me up on a silver platter to a freaking spider-woman-thing.

I’d definitely suffered some bumps and bruises. I felt them grow the more wakeful I became. My ribs burned, as if I had broken several of them. My hands hurt like hell. If I’d been a bit older, I’d have thought it was a serious bout of arthritis. I pulled them from my head and worked my fingers open and closed, trying to push some blood through them. But each twitch of the fingers sent a jarring pain coursing through and up into my wrists. My knees… let’s not talk about my knees. My knees weren’t great to begin with. All that chasing Dave around, skulking through the old industrial park, and up and down those staircases which seemed to never end, took its toll. Not to mention the battle itself. I arched my back, still sitting there on the throne, and felt a few satisfying pops. Then I stood to examine the worst of it. But my shoulder had healed remarkably fast. There was a scar from where Violet’s spider-leg had driven through, and the area surrounding it was red and aggravated. But all in all, the wound had healed. Had Tabor done something while I slept? I remember thinking I had to go to the hospital, but never quite got there. I’d have to ask him. Which begged the question: where was he?

I turned my head to the side, considering that very thing. I knew he’d made it out as well. He caught a ride back to my place with me. But I hadn’t seen him in… well… I guess a few days. Forty-eight hours of straight sleep can do that to you though. I shook my head, still denying anyone could sleep that long.

First thing I did, was make my way back to the bedroom, where I pulled off the clothes I’d fallen asleep in and slid into some sweats and a t-shirt. My dog, Poe, lay on his bed looking up at me from the corner of his eyes, not moving his head in the slightest. When he had to go, he would let me know. I pulled on some fresh socks and slipped my feet into sneakers I kept laced loosely. Easier to get on and off. And it wasn’t like I’d planned to go for a run anytime soon!

I left the bedroom and went back through the house. Tabor wasn’t in the living room. Nor in kitchen for that matter. Then I remembered. We spoke very briefly after I rescued him, when he swore to teach me the ways of magick, and how he wanted to use my basement. I turned toward the door and pulled it open. There was no sound coming from downstairs, but the lights were on. A good enough sign for me. I took the stairs one at a time, feeling a jolt in my knees and my lower back with every step. I ducked beneath the low overhang at the bottom of the landing. I looked to the left, then to the right. Nothing. So, where the hell was the little guy?

Lost Pets

It had been a cool evening, especially for the time of year. Summers in Satin City were often blanketed with wet sheets of humidity which only bolstered any impending heat. The days were even worse when the sun sunk behind a solid cloud cover. No, mid and late summer, for the most part, were disgusting in the city. Especially for those who were not fortunate enough to afford to live by the coast, where they at least felt some reprieve from the cool breezes blowing off the ocean waters, drifting in with the smells of open air and salt. But the further you got near the heart of Satin City, the heavier the air grew; the thicker the atmosphere seemed. One could cut it with a knife, to borrow an old cliché. And the day had been like that. Stifling hot and muggy.

Janice had kept the kids inside. Not because she was a worrisome kind of mother… but that kind of heat wasn’t good for anybody. And her son, at only ten, suffered from a few breathing ailments. She didn’t want to have to worry about whether or not he’d taken his inhaler. Not to mention, no matter how many times she either scolded or asked politely, the boy still ran wild with little to no concern for his personal health. How many times had she run his inhaler out to him, while he clutched at the front stairs railing, hunched over trying to catch his breath, while his little sister stood by, shaking her head as if she’d told him to chill for a second before he lost his breath, again? No, she hadn’t really wanted to think about it. She’d plenty to do during the day, and she didn’t need to be distracted. Besides, she worked so many extra hours the last few weeks so she could afford to put in the little air conditioner which now sat in the living room window. So why not enjoy it? She stared at the thing humming in the window and sighed, thinking to herself. She might have had one long before now if their father paid his child support. She shook her head often, stunned that he spent more time and money and care on his new girlfriend’s kids than he did his own. A shame really. But he could just go to H, E, double hockey sticks! Like always, she’d make sure her kids were provided for. And the three of them could enjoy the AC. Especially on a day like this. A day where even a cool night dissipated in the blink of an eye. No, the kids could just stay inside for one day. Stay cool. And they had.

Being that the day had been such, she expected the night to be that much worse. It seemed all too often, that once the sun went down, the air grew even thicker as night crept in. Even the night before, which had been cool, clung to remnants of that thick, moist humidity during the day. For the past two nights, she’d set up a couple air mattresses, and let her son and daughter build a fort with blankets and sheets and the cushions from the couch, so they could all sleep in the chilled air of the living room. As small as their house was, unfortunately, the air the AC spit out didn’t quite make its rounds throughout every room. It spread nicely into the kitchen but seemed to only creep down the hall in wispy tendrils, never breaking the thresholds to either of the two bedrooms.

However, she had been surprised when this night, cooler than the night before, offered a nice breeze. She stepped out onto the small back porch for a minute to try and get in a few puffs from the cigarettes she was trying awfully hard to quit. That’s when she felt the cool breeze on her skin. It gave her goosebumps, even though she had just come out from the air-conditioned house. In fact, it took her by such a surprise, she had forgotten all about her smoke, and went back in the house to open all the windows. The kids had been a little disappointed though, realizing their couch fort fun was over for the time being. But Janice reassured them it wouldn’t be long before the heat returned, and they’d be back sleeping in the living room again.

Several hours later, as the moon rose, night engulfing the day, she put the kids to sleep. Once the kids were tucked in, she slunk back out onto the back porch. She left her cigarettes atop the fridge and just opted for leaning against the railing and breathing in the cool, summer breeze. The bars of the railing supported her back as she closed her eyes to enjoy the evening. That was when she heard a rustle from behind her.

She waited a moment before moving; listened. The sound came again. Something moved along the side of her house, coming through the bushes. Janice smiled. Soon, she heard the jingle of the tags on the collar. She leaned her head to the right and lifted a hand as Benny, (that’s what she had named him, anyway) one of the neighborhood pups came running through the small backyard and up the three stairs, pushing his head under her hand and nuzzling the rest of his body against her leg as his ass swung from side to side with excitement. She wasn’t sure what breed Benny was, only that he was a sweet pooch. He was smallish, but thick. She guessed it was probably a result of his traipsing around the neighborhood, making friends with everyone so he could get a treat at every doorstep he visited. He was mostly brown, with a touch of black along his long snout, and a belly of white. His short tail bore several rings of white as well. She had never asked what kind of dog he was. She didn’t actually even know who he belonged to. When she asked her neighbors, nobody ever seemed to know.

The dog persisted for some time, soaking up the attention which Janice offered. But she was growing tired. It had been a long day. She gave the pup one final scratch behind the ear, accepted a sloppy kiss from him on the cheek, and sent Benny on his way. Curious again as to where he came from, she followed him out front of the house and watched as his wagging tail turned left and disappeared down the block. She shrugged to herself. Maybe one day, she’d follow him home, just to see.

Janice turned back to the house and stopped a moment. Her brow furrowed in deep curiosity. Her lawn, though often kept, always lacked any kind of ornament. She just didn’t care for them. She even left the flower beds along the front of the house bare, filled with only mulch. But there, in her front yard, sat three peculiar things. Garden gnomes.

She furrowed her brow and bent down to pick one up. Turned it in her hand and giggled to herself. Must be Danny. She wouldn’t put it past her boy to have dug them out of the garbage at one of their neighbors and set them in the front yard. In fact, the one in her hand looked worse for wear. It had seen better days. The paint of the red jacket it wore was cracked and peeling. One of the pointed toes on one of its feet had broken off. The white hair beneath the weathered hat had faded to the texture of the terracotta beneath. Even the face was void of color, with one exception. The thing’s eyes were a bright blue, as if they’d been painted just that afternoon. She thought it peculiar, but it remained even more so how they got there in the first place. She shook her head, replaced the gnome, and made a mental note to ask her son in the morning.

She then made her way inside. After a quick stop in the bathroom to brush her teeth, proceeded to her bedroom where she peeled off the day’s clothes, pulled on an old baggy t-shirt and climbed beneath the covers. Letting go of the day, she closed her eyes as her breathing steadied, and slipped off to dreamland.

A loud bang pulled her from sleep. She sat up completely at the sound. Janice grunted and looked to her left. The glowing red numbers on the clock read just after two in the morning. She let out a disgruntled sigh and waited. Maybe one of her kids had gotten up to use the bathroom or get a drink. She was met with silence. Satisfied the sound had been nothing of importance, Janice lowered herself back on her pillow and closed her eyes. The screech tore through the night! She sat up again. It was followed by another. Then another. She stumbled from her bed; sure it would wake her little girl. The sound came from just outside the front of their house. Cats. At least one anyway. It yelled and hollered. Screamed. In pain. Janice almost covered her ears with her hands. It sounded as if it were being attacked. When she rounded the corner to the kid’s bedroom, she saw her daughter sitting up in bed, her eyes wide with fear. The little girl turned to her mother as she entered the room.

Mommy? Mommy?

It’s OK honey, Janice cooed as she made her way to the bed and wrapped her arms around the girl.

Mommy? What is-

It’s just a cat, she tried to reassure her.

Is it OK? Mommy? Mom? The cat’s screeches continued.

It’s just… I think it’s in a fight or something honey.

It sounds bad Mommy.

I know.

Janice wondered how much suffering the thing could endure. She had heard cats fight before. She didn’t think this was the case though. The cat sounded as if it were suffering something fierce. Like something was trying to tear it apart. She closed her eyes and rocked her daughter. She was just thankful that her son hadn’t woken up yet. She breathed a small sigh of relief as the cat’s cries soon faded. But just then, a dog growled. Barked. And then it too screamed.

Mom? Danny sat up in his own bed, looking across the room at his sister and mother.

It’s OK Danny, she consoled, offering a hand. He jumped from bed and joined his sister in his mother’s arms. It’s OK, she said again to both.

But it wasn’t OK. No, it was far from OK. Just outside the bedroom window, the sounds of a dog snarling and screaming, howling in absolute pain rattled the windows. She didn’t look out it though; had no inclination whatsoever to witness the butchery which was taking place. She closed her eyes again and prayed the suffering wouldn’t last much longer.

PART TWO

A Hole in the Wall

For the briefest of moments, where Tabor had ventured remained a mystery. I stood in the basement, alone under the naked light bulb scratching my head. I could swear I had heard someone. But maybe that had just been my imagination. Then I noticed the changes in the basement. It seemed some things were missing. Well, not some things, but a lot of things in fact. I spun on heel and realized someone, Tabor, if I wagered a guess, had scooped up a bunch of boxes and such and placed them neatly in a pile in the corner by the back of the stairs. He’d also removed several old counter tops, which had been haphazardly nailed together on a platform by the house’s previous owners. Where