These Dark Places

By Paul M Shaw

Lee Drury, by his own admission, is an unremarkable individual living an unremarkable life – until his life changes in a way he could never have anticipated.

During a job, Drury finds himself being accosted by someone who'd been lurking in the darkness of an abandoned building – the bloodlust in the ghoul’s eyes enough for Drury to see his life flash before him. Until that moment is ended by another. A seemingly benevolent demon appears out of nowhere, to spare Drury from becoming just another statistic. But this demon makes a proposal that Drury finds himself obliged to agree to. From that moment, Drury’s life is turned into a maelstrom of bad happenings, all of which lead to him realising exactly what he has become.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul M Shaw
• Release date: Apr 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005791582

Paul M Shaw

Hello, I'm Paul. If you've found your way here, then you've stumbled into a dark part of Smashwords - but not too dark.I write dark fiction, some of which probably falls into the mild horror category, most of it involving some kind of magical undertones (and a little bit delving into sci-fi). If you're interested in stories that have dark elements, stick around. Dark Earth Stories might just be what you're looking for.I have a Wordspace site with stories/comics that aren't available anywhere else on the internet: darkearthstories.wordpress.com

Book preview

These Dark Places

A Short Story From The Dark Earth

Copyright 2022 Paul M Shaw

Published by Paul M Shaw

Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to your retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author

For further information:

darkearthstories.wordpress.com

www.facebook.com/TheDemonsAndTheDarkness

Contents

1 IN THE END THERE IS ONLY DEATH

2 THE LIGHT OF A NEW DAY

3 THE SAVIOUR

4 AN UNUSUAL PROPOSAL

5 TRIGGER POINT

6 SCAR TISSUE

7 THE LAST DAY

About The Author

1 IN THE END THERE IS ONLY DEATH

The scene is harrowing.

The body of a recently deceased man lies lifeless in the middle of an empty room, in a long-time abandoned storage unit. A trail of blood shows the way to his severed head, which has found its way under a broken plastic chair. Lifeless eyes stare back towards the body a few feet away.

Cowering in a darkened corner of the room, a man. His body is shaking involuntarily. What he’s just witnessed – what he’s just been a part of – passed by so quickly, but the horror will no doubt be with him for the rest of his life. However much there may be left of that.

On the far side of the room, a second man. His appearance is completely shrouded by the darkness that consumes much of the room. He’s speaking: You low born are of little interest to me...

The deep voice is sombre – and human, despite the shocking degree of inhumanity he’d displayed just moments ago.

Inhumanity or benevolence? For, if the man hadn’t appeared and carried out the brutal act, this moment wouldn’t be occurring at all. Rather than being a witness to the horror, the cowering man would have become another anonymous victim. Another nameless statistic.

The man continues speaking: If anything, I pity you; though, not quite enough to be a guardian for your needy selves. I’ll happily leave that to the do-gooders of the Light Order. I know not what they get from choosing to be the protectors of the equilibrium – self-elected protectors at that, and greatly unappreciated I dare say.

The man cowering in the corner is still coming to terms with what he’s just witnessed. The shaking that has now taken over his entire body is showing no sign of stopping. If anything, it’s getting worse. He has no idea what the stranger is talking about, he’s just thankful that someone had been there at that moment, to help. But he also wants this moment to end as well, so he can get away from this place, forget what has just happened and get on with life the way things were.

But something tells him that life probably won’t be returning to the way it once was.

Just a few moments ago, Lee Drury was living a very normal life, doing what for him were very normal things. His existence, like that of most people, followed a typical but uncharted course as he meandered anonymously through life. But all things must change.

Drury has always seen himself as just another face in the crowd, doing what he must to get by. If you ask him what his standout qualities are, he wouldn’t be able to think of one single thing that distinguishes him from the crowd, which has probably worked in his favour over the years, considering his chosen occupation.

As a burglar, he does pretty well. He makes enough to pay the bills, enabling him to keep a roof over the head of himself, his wife and his daughter, and he’s also able to cover his ever growing addictions.

Drury is largely unidentifiable among the low-born masses – the low born that Sable, the saviour in the darkness, had felt no real desire to become involved with. If truth be known, his helping, in circumstances that would have undoubtedly turned into a rather dire situation for Drury, is nothing new.

There have been a number of moments through the years where Sable has found himself in the position of the hero. In most of those cases, being a hero was the one thing farthest from his mind.

Normally, Sable lives by a code that keeps him unattached from the world around. He has no allegiances and no particularly important relationships. In Sable’s world, his continued existence is the only thing of any real importance. Nobody else comes into the equation; unless, of course, their presence could prove beneficial.

When a situation like this occurs, where the low born have come face to face with the demon kind, Sable sometimes plays along with the moment, allowing it to develop to the point where he’s sure the character’s existence is worth the intervention.

The shadowy figure coughs out a laugh. Maybe I’m the pitiful one, he says, his eyes misted with mournful regret, his past misdeeds worn heavily on his shoulders.

In the dark room, Drury is unable to see his saviour. He’s tall, that was plain to see once the body of his attacker had dropped to the floor. But, his face, as it was then, is hidden by darkness. What little light has managed to penetrate through the shuttered windows of the lockup, casts broken shadows on the floor in front of him.

Drury begins to sob. He can’t see any way out of this situation, other than a destination ending in his own death. He’s lived in this world long enough to know that witnesses to events like this are very rarely left to speak about it. His thoughts flash to his wife, Vanessa, and his six-year-old daughter, Ella – what he would do to escape this situation just to see their faces come the morning.

The lockup job had seemed like a cinch when he’d walked it through in his mind earlier; an old, abandoned building that was being used to store money and drugs, or so he’d been told, seemed too good to be true – even more so when, during his recce, he hadn’t witnessed anybody coming or going. Not a soul. He’d doubted anything of any particular value would be kept in a place that didn’t have anybody checking things out once in a while. The place was dead.

Harry was usually good with his tip-offs. In this instance, Drury thought it seemed way too easy. And with the building being hidden down a dark alleyway, with a gaping door ready to invite in any passing lowlife, he didn’t rate his chances of finding anything.

But, he did find something. Exactly where Harry had told him.

A couple of loose bricks hidden behind an old counter, were indeed the opening to a hidden stash. And Drury had found it. But his quiet celebrations hadn’t lasted long when he was interrupted.

The momentary elation he’d felt when he’d removed the second loose block to reveal a cloth covered loot, very quickly melted away. A hand on his shoulder made him freeze dead still, like a rabbit in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.

When Drury had turned to look at the person who’d interrupted his moment of glory, he’d been shocked to find himself looking at a well-dressed executive type, with immaculately side-parted hair and a wide smile on his face. Totally out of place for the shit hole lockup he was in.

But before he could come to terms with the sight in front of him, the man grabbed Drury by the throat and lifted him up against the wall, scraping his head painfully against the bare brick. The strength of the man was crazy.

These dark places do seem to attract a surprising number of passers-by. Weren’t you ever warned about the dangers in the darkness?

The curious words and the iron grip around Drury’s neck were enough to bring on an abounding fear, which had begun to manifest itself in ill-timed bodily functions, something Drury had never experienced before.

But, despite the appearing smell of his own shit-filling jeans, what disturbed Drury most about the situation was the face he was looking at. The human face that he’d turned to see just a moment ago had now become something far more malevolent. Drury could see an animal-like quality in the dark eyes that looked back at him with malicious intent.

When the man opened his mouth, the smiling pearly whites that had filled the grinning smile just moments earlier had been replaced with crooked, blade-like fangs. The sight sent a shiver down Drury’s spine. Was he really looking at the pointed teeth of