The Somnibus: Book I - Finding the Mark (A Paranormal Thriller) by Craig McGray Page A
Authors: Craig McGray
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question him. I scrambled to the door, unlatched it, and pulled it closed
before I ran down the hallway. I ran out the front door with the siren of the
Somnibus screeching through the silent night air. I stood and watched from
across the street as the upstairs window glowed with dancing light. Mort was in
a battle for his life, and I could do nothing.
-Chapter 13-
T hree hours passed before the sun broke the
horizon. The lights in the upstairs room had finished dancing over two hours
earlier, but I couldn’t get myself to move. Afraid to go back into the house, I
waited outside. Not because I worried about getting hurt, but because I didn’t
know how I would find Mort.
I talked myself into walking up the stairs,
fearing that I would find him lying there, in a heap. The thought of it caused
a tear to slide down my cheek.
My feet slowly made their way upstairs. The foul
smell penetrated my nose, and I tasted metal in the air. As I walked down the
hallway leading to my bedroom, my eyes watered from the rancid odor that hung
heavy in the house.
At the open doorway, my stomach twisted on itself.
The putrid smell became too much to handle, and I braced myself on the
doorframe as I heaved. I wiped my chin on my shoulder and held it there, using
my arm to shelter my nose from as much of the stench as possible.
As my eyes absorbed the scene my senses went numb
the smell of death forgotten, all sound gone.
On the floor at the foot of my bed, a stain
saturated the carpet. I made my way to the mark and I remembered Mort telling
me about the only way to destroy a Somnibus. This was it, the remains of
Somnibus destruction. He’d given himself in order to protect me. I lowered my
arm from my face and stood over the soiled carpet.
After the initial shock wore off, I studied the
stain, squinting at the image buried within. It looked as if Mort had been
lying face up on the floor and had a huge pane of glass dropped upon him from a
building. His face stared straight up, mouth agape with his hands chest high
facing outward, like a shadowy mime, forever trapped behind a glass panel.
I sat on the floor next to the stain while my mind
wrapped around the fact that even though he had just come into my life, it
seemed like I had known him forever. I’d had an unexplainable bond to him;
something I didn’t know of before, but became aware of now that he was gone.
Mort was now a blemish of a memory on my bedroom floor.
I found myself grieving for a man I’d only known
for a short time. My grief flowed from sadness to anger as I questioned why
he’d died. I owed it to Mort to learn all I could about my power.
After a couple of hours, I decided to figure out what,
if anything, I needed to do. After all, I’d had a man living in my house who’d
melted into my floor. Surely, someone would come looking for him. I wondered
how I would explain it to the police if they came around asking questions.
Then the thought occurred to me; I lived in his
house, not mine. What would happen to the house since he’d just disappeared
into the thin air?
-Chapter 14-
I stood in Mort’s room, going through the paperwork
on the desk next to his computer. I spent the rest of the afternoon with the
windows open, trying to rid the air of the constant, lingering reminder of his
death. The chirping from my phone in my room brought a needed dose of reality
back to my mind, and I walked down the hallway to answer my cell.
“Hello?”
“Is this Mr. Black?”
“Yes.”
“My name is David Honeycutt. I’m an attorney and
it appears we had a mutual friend, Mort Bell.”
My breath caught in my throat, and I swallowed
hard.
“I believe you knew Mr. Bell…I mean Mort. He hated
to be called Mr. Bell.” He chuckled.
“Yes, I know. I mean, I guess I knew Mort.
How did you know? I mean, how did you find out?”
Honeycutt interrupted me when I struggled to form
a complete sentence. “It doesn’t matter. As you’ve surely found out, he was
question him. I scrambled to the door, unlatched it, and pulled it closed
before I ran down the hallway. I ran out the front door with the siren of the
Somnibus screeching through the silent night air. I stood and watched from
across the street as the upstairs window glowed with dancing light. Mort was in
a battle for his life, and I could do nothing.
-Chapter 13-
T hree hours passed before the sun broke the
horizon. The lights in the upstairs room had finished dancing over two hours
earlier, but I couldn’t get myself to move. Afraid to go back into the house, I
waited outside. Not because I worried about getting hurt, but because I didn’t
know how I would find Mort.
I talked myself into walking up the stairs,
fearing that I would find him lying there, in a heap. The thought of it caused
a tear to slide down my cheek.
My feet slowly made their way upstairs. The foul
smell penetrated my nose, and I tasted metal in the air. As I walked down the
hallway leading to my bedroom, my eyes watered from the rancid odor that hung
heavy in the house.
At the open doorway, my stomach twisted on itself.
The putrid smell became too much to handle, and I braced myself on the
doorframe as I heaved. I wiped my chin on my shoulder and held it there, using
my arm to shelter my nose from as much of the stench as possible.
As my eyes absorbed the scene my senses went numb
the smell of death forgotten, all sound gone.
On the floor at the foot of my bed, a stain
saturated the carpet. I made my way to the mark and I remembered Mort telling
me about the only way to destroy a Somnibus. This was it, the remains of
Somnibus destruction. He’d given himself in order to protect me. I lowered my
arm from my face and stood over the soiled carpet.
After the initial shock wore off, I studied the
stain, squinting at the image buried within. It looked as if Mort had been
lying face up on the floor and had a huge pane of glass dropped upon him from a
building. His face stared straight up, mouth agape with his hands chest high
facing outward, like a shadowy mime, forever trapped behind a glass panel.
I sat on the floor next to the stain while my mind
wrapped around the fact that even though he had just come into my life, it
seemed like I had known him forever. I’d had an unexplainable bond to him;
something I didn’t know of before, but became aware of now that he was gone.
Mort was now a blemish of a memory on my bedroom floor.
I found myself grieving for a man I’d only known
for a short time. My grief flowed from sadness to anger as I questioned why
he’d died. I owed it to Mort to learn all I could about my power.
After a couple of hours, I decided to figure out what,
if anything, I needed to do. After all, I’d had a man living in my house who’d
melted into my floor. Surely, someone would come looking for him. I wondered
how I would explain it to the police if they came around asking questions.
Then the thought occurred to me; I lived in his
house, not mine. What would happen to the house since he’d just disappeared
into the thin air?
-Chapter 14-
I stood in Mort’s room, going through the paperwork
on the desk next to his computer. I spent the rest of the afternoon with the
windows open, trying to rid the air of the constant, lingering reminder of his
death. The chirping from my phone in my room brought a needed dose of reality
back to my mind, and I walked down the hallway to answer my cell.
“Hello?”
“Is this Mr. Black?”
“Yes.”
“My name is David Honeycutt. I’m an attorney and
it appears we had a mutual friend, Mort Bell.”
My breath caught in my throat, and I swallowed
hard.
“I believe you knew Mr. Bell…I mean Mort. He hated
to be called Mr. Bell.” He chuckled.
“Yes, I know. I mean, I guess I knew Mort.
How did you know? I mean, how did you find out?”
Honeycutt interrupted me when I struggled to form
a complete sentence. “It doesn’t matter. As you’ve surely found out, he was
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