ARCHAIC

Coming Soon

 

A figure stepped out of the shadows at the base of the ladder.

 

Larry.

 

He moved into the dim light like someone walking into a room he owned. The hole in his forehead was impossible to ignore, a black ring of torn skin and bone at the edge of his hairline. Old blood had dried in branching rivulets down his temple and into his eyebrow, hard and dark against his skin.

 

He smiled.

 

“Hello, Jason,” he said.

 

Jason backed up until his shoulders brushed the slick boards. His eyes kept jumping to the wound and back to Larry’s gaze. It felt like staring at a broken mask, one strangely alive and menacing.

 

“How the hell are you still alive?” Jason asked. His voice came out hoarse.