The central characters of Poltergeist: The Legacy do not belong to me –

they are the property of Trilogy and MGM – I’ve only borrowed them for a while.

All other characters were created by me. Hope you enjoy …

POLTERGEIST:

THE LEGACY

BETWEEN THE DARK AND THE LIGHT

Chapter 1

Dark

It was black. Everywhere he looked. A suffocating, pulsating, velvet, total blackness which hinted at infinity yet at a space so small it could easily crush him. But it wasn’t silent. He could hear things – the rush of his own blood was the loudest sound, hammering in his ears. It almost drowned the rustling of small creatures, possibly rats, certainly something alive. The drip of water. The more distant thundering of .. a waterfall?

He swallowed, moistened his lips with his tongue, and tasted .. something sour on the air. Something swooped low over his head, its wings beating at his hair. He choked off a scream, not wanting to alert anyone to the fact that he was here.

The darkness was undeniable – it was his whole world. Above, below, left, right, ahead, behind. Something else was undeniable too – the raging sense of fear which clung to his back and threatened to turn his knees to liquid.

I’m not a child, he told himself, thinking it clearly although he dared not say it aloud. I am a grown man. An adult. I take responsibility for my own life.

The fear eased its grip a little but refused to let go. Fear is the unknown and the unknown was everywhere. He couldn’t face it; fear was a coward and hid when he tried to look.

Very well, in this place .. wherever it is .. I am blind, but I am not deaf. I still can feel, touch and taste. I can detect scents, odors. I am not helpless, even if I am scared. Standing here, I will learn nothing. I must move. One step.

No. Wait. I could be on the very edge of a cliff. One step could send me plunging to my death. It could be behind me or in front. To either side.

He swallowed again, closing his useless eyes. Carefully, he lifted one foot straight up and brought it down again. A hard surface. Rock. Yet cushioned slightly. Rock with a layer of gravel or sand, or soil. He turned his head, listening. The drip of water. The rustling scritter of tiny feet. The occasional flutter of wings. He frowned. Distantly, so distantly, the faint, systematic sound of labor. Hammer on stone. Chink, chink, chink. Getting his balance right, he carefully slid one foot an inch forward, using his toes to feel for an edge. He didn’t find one. Carefully, he lifted one arm and held it out to his left, his fingers extending, searching … They touched rough stone. Cold. Clammy. He opened his eyes again to stare wonderingly at the dark world he was in, trying to understand it.

A tunnel. I’m in a tunnel. But which way is out ..? Is it ahead, or will that only lead me deeper? Is it behind? Those sounds .. rats. Bats. Yes, a tunnel. But the other sound. The sound of a hammer. A mine tunnel …

In the distance, a glimmer of light teased him. Not enough to identify his surroundings. Just enough to prove him right. Lengths of timber supported the roof. A layer of sandy soil on the ground. Rough hewn walls. The glint of tiny rodent eyes.

He turned, seeking an escape. Something deep in his memory told him he knew this place and that it was a bad place to be. Bad things happened here, in the past. Or was it in the future? Just as he had known it was a tunnel, he knew too that time, in this place, was distorted. It didn’t run smoothly from the future into the past, pausing just long enough for it to be the present, the now.

Carefully, he peered ahead, searching in the gloom for a clue. The distant chink, chink of the hammer was behind him now. The thundering sound of water was somewhere ahead. Back .. or forward? Which way was safety and which was danger? Choose. Choose, scared little man. Live your life or embrace your death.

Something swooped over his head. It wasn’t a bat, not this time. There were no leathery wings beating at the air. This was a demon. He whimpered silently, half recognizing it, half denying it was possible.

I killed you once!

The scream rang in his ears. The tunnel rang with silence.

Where am I? Is this Hell?

He broke into a run, following the demon, ready to duck, swerve, anything to avoid it. His heart was pounding in his throat, threatening to choke him. Cold sweat drenched his body, soaking his clothes, filling his nostrils with the acrid stink of terror. His bulging eyes searched the tunnel, looking for a hiding place, an entrance to a parallel shaft. Anything. He whimpered again and immediately clamped his lips over his teeth. This wasn’t happening! This wasn’t real!

“This way,” whispered a soft voice. A gentle voice. A voice which had an undercurrent which throbbed with ‘trust me’.

He flinched back from it, unable to trust anything in this world.

“It’s all right. I know the way out. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

Cautiously, like a fearful animal starving for food and willing to do anything, even die, to get it, he edged toward it, a dark gray draped shadow in the blackness.

She smiled at him. It was like being showered with peace, with serenity. He felt his heart slow, his fear retreat. The touch of her hand on his brow brought only hope.

“Poor little man,” she said. “Always, you run and you run but you cannot escape the darkness. It haunts you. It always will. Such a war you fight, little man,” she went on, her voice a mere breath. Her hand stroked his cheek. “Unable to surrender, and the victories you win hardly seem able to stem the tide. So you fight on, and on, getting older and more weary, until at last the day will come when you can fight no more and you lay down your arms to rest.”

Is that now?

He wanted it to be now. A great lethargy had taken hold of him. He wanted to sink down and lose himself in sleep. He wanted it all to be over. To be free again. To rest … God, he wanted to rest. To sleep .. forever …

“Not yet, little man. This could be your greatest foe. You must escape him, and then you must face him. Beat him. Or he will have you at his mercy forever.”

His shoulders sagged.

I can’t run anymore. I’m too tired.

“That way,” she whispered. “Run, little man. Live your life or embrace your death!”

His eyes snapped open. She had gone. The touch of her soft hand on his cheek, he could still feel that, but the fingers had grown cold and hard. Now he stared into the face of the demon, its red, glittering eyes in its skeletal face mocking him. He slapped its bony hand away and ran, his heart lurching and aching with distress, toward the sound of thundering water.

He slipped in mud, opened his mouth to the moisture. The air was filled with it. Rain. A torrential downpour of rain …

I know where I am –

It stopped. He blinked, looking around, scared again. This time, he really was on a cliff edge. A dark, moonless night, the sky filled with thunderheads. No stars. Hastily, he stepped back, moving onto safer ground.

Where am I now? Why is everything so dark, so still? It feels like a storm is coming …

He stumbled over a grave marker and flinched away from it. Lightning flickered in the distance, a single jagged, brilliant flash. Yet no thunder followed it. It seared his eyes, blinding him again, but, in that instant, he had seen the graveyard.

Should I run again? These people are all dead, all sleeping.

Then he heard the screams – distant, faint, but enough to strike terror into his soul and bring him to his knees, his hands pressed over his ears. Cries of accusation, of torment, of futile rage.

You did nothing to save us!

It isn’t true!

He wanted to shout it aloud but he was dumb. His voice only echoed in his head. No words emerged to shatter the silence of the night.

I’m going mad … I am insane!

He staggered up as the white, ethereal wraiths clawed free from their graves and began to surround him. Their faces, shifting from peaceful to furious, swam before his horrified eyes.

You did nothing to save us! You condemned us all!

He shook his head, backing away, his heart climbing again into his throat. Run, run, while you still can. Live your life .. or crawl into your grave …

He turned and fled, running along the cliff path, the approaching storm on his left, the darkness with its ghostly white markers on his right. Ahead, somewhere, a church bell tolled the hour. Voices rose softly in a hymn of praise.

“Why do you run?” asked a voice. “You know you run into danger, don’t you? But that’s always been your way, hasn’t it? Stubborn, unable to listen to anyone’s views but your own.”

He skidded to a breathless halt, wildly searching out this new enemy .. or this possible friend. Or .. maybe it was neither. Simply another ghost risen to mock him, tease him. Taunt him into some rash action. Or it could be only a disinterested observer, willing or unwilling to show him the way out.

Because he knew, he knew it with a heart stopping certainty, that he was not meant to be here.

The man emerged from the darkness of the graveyard, walking slowly, not in any hurry and apparently ignorant of where he was. He moved to his desk and sat down, leaning back to gaze at his visitor.

He blinked and frowned. The cliff was gone and he now stood in a sumptuously appointed study. A large dark wood desk. Mahogany, by the way the soft light from the lamp imbued the wood with reddish tones. A comfortable leather swivel chair. Oh, how he wanted to sink down into it, rest for a few moments. His bones cried out for comfort, his muscles ached and trembled with fatigue.

“I’ve never understood how you engender the loyalty you do,” the man remarked.

His was another pleasant voice to listen to. Calm, modulated. But the eyes in that face were shrewd, cunning. They appeared mild but they weren’t. It was a mask, carefully crafted. And there was no way to pierce thru it. Beneath only lay another mask. A smile gently curved the lips.

“But then I’ve never really understood you. All those years of trying. I rarely fail but .. with you, I failed magnificently. Of everyone I thought I could, maybe, rely upon, you were the one I never truly suspected of wanting to stab me in the back. I never realized,” he smiled, “just how much you truly hated me.”

You said I was running into danger.

“Yes,” the man nodded slowly. “I’d be careful, if I were you. Nothing here is exactly what it seems. Will you take some advice? Listen to me .. just this once?”

He backed away, shaking his head.

I don’t trust you! I never did! If nothing here is what it seems, what are you?

The man shrugged idly, smiled again. “Go your own way then. Why should here be any different to anywhere else?”

The room winked out and the smothering blackness returned and, with it, came a total silence. No faint thunder of water. No soft flapping of wings. He waited, anxiety screaming along every nerve. Run .. or stay still? Wait or act? Live .. or die?

“Those are profound questions, dude, but you don’t need to answer them just yet. This is a place of solitude, and of rest. I’d advise you to make the most of it because it can’t last forever.”

His head had whipped round to confront this newcomer.

“Whoa, take it easy!” the guy with the long blond hair grinned. “I’m no enemy. Believe me, I’m more of a friend than you’ll ever know. Especially here. Sit down, take the weight off for a while.”

Can I trust you?

“Sure!” The guy kept his distance, close but not invasion close.

His knees buckled and he collapsed, his head burying itself in his folded arms.

“You’ll be okay here, but only for a while. I can’t keep him out forever. Hey, don’t sleep!”

He felt a kick on his leg and he slowly lifted his head, blinking stupidly. He was so tired.

“You sleep here, you’ll be running forever.”

But that’s what I want. I want to sleep.

“No, you don’t. Straight up, you don’t. You have to escape him, then you have to face him an’ beat him. If you don’t, you’ll be his prisoner.” The blond haired guy squatted down in front of him. “Eternity in prison can be a real bitch, okay?”

I know you …

“Yeah, we’ve talked before .. or we will talk. Time’s pretty screwed around here. You were sick, when we spoke. You had to rest up for a while then as well.” The guy watched him. “Listen, not everyone here is a friend. Not everyone is an enemy. Some want to help, some don’t, and some only want to watch. Some are real, some aren’t. Things are totally twisted round. Listen to what they tell you but then you choose whether to believe it or not. He can reach so far into you, he’s practically out the other side, but he can’t touch the true truth. What you have to do is decide what’s true and what isn’t.”

I’m so tired … I can’t think anymore.

“Then he’s won. Don’t let him do that. You can beat him, but you have to know his game. Then you gotta learn how to play it.”

Is there a way out? A way out of this? Will I live forever in endless darkness?

“There’s a way. Finding it can be tough or it can be easy. Depends on who you believe you can trust.”

I trust you. Can’t you tell me?

The guy considered. “I can give you a clue. Not all darkness is evil. Not all light is good. Not all shadows are bad. Be careful, an’ you’ll make it.”

His eyelids felt weighted with lead. He couldn’t keep them open.

“Hey … ”

He jumped, forcing himself to do the one thing he didn’t want to do – stay awake.

“When you make it outta here, the trouble is only just starting.” The guy looked round, came smoothly upright. “He’s coming again. You’d better start running.”

He scrambled up, pain coursing thru every joint in his body.

Run, yes, but to where? It’s all –

Light. Soft light but it still hurt his eyes. Inside again. A room, a big room. Comfortable furniture and he wanted to sink into it, just for a moment .. except he knew that moment would be his last. Tasteful decorations. A huge vase of lilies. A reek of cigar smoke.

“Hello, I wasn’t expecting you to .. drop in. How are you? You look terrible. Been getting enough sleep?”

The voice sounded familiar. So did the face. Bronzed. Lean. Smiling with a predatory confidence.

“I don’t believe you have. You can take my bed for a while, if you like. It’s currently empty. Very comfortable.”

You’re dead. I know you are.

“Life, death. Just words, especially in a place like this. Do you know that, here, anything is possible. Even the bad guys winning for a change.” The smile broadened; the teeth shone white against the bronzed flesh. “Do you believe I’ll win this time?”

You’ll never win. You’re too much a coward.

“Oh, yes, once. Who knows how I’ll be in this place? I could even be .. invincible. I like the sound of that. Invincible. Leaving so soon?”

He walked to the door, flung it open. Outside was stifling blackness again. He looked back into the light, into the white teeth of that broad smile.

You will never be invincible. You’re a liar, a coward, and a murderer.

“It’s dark out there … Sure you want to go into it? You can stay. We’ll have a nice little chat about old times.”

Not all darkness is evil.

“But most darkness is. How can you tell the difference?”

He stepped forward and fell. Fell a long way. He hit the hard ground with a grunt, all the air knocked out of him. It was so peaceful to just lay there, even with the pain of a bruised shoulder and a broken arm.

“You mustn’t sleep, not here. Let me help you.”

He scrambled away from the gently probing touch, his eyes wild.

Stay away from me!

“I’m a healer! Don’t you remember me? You helped set us free. Let me help set you free.”

Tell me the way out!

“I can’t. I don’t know the way out.” The guy angled his head. “You called to me, and I came. When you don’t need me anymore, I’ll go back.”

Take me with you! Please! I have to escape!

“It isn’t possible. Do you want to forget?”

He shook his head.

No! I must remember. I must remember everything. It’s all important, every word, even the lies. The lies may be true. The truth may be lies. The darkness, the light, the shadows. Past, present, future … How do I know?

“I can’t tell you, I don’t have the answers. Let me fix your arm. Take away the pain.”

Mend it but leave the pain. It keeps me awake.

“Sleeping here would be bad.”

Bad .. or evil?

“Both, I guess.”

Heat flared from his wrist to his shoulder, and there was a moment of blessed relief. But then the pain of standing motionless rolled back.

I have to go. I have to run. Thank you. Now you must go too.

The guy faded back into the darkness.

He braced himself and took a deep breath. Run, little man. Run till you drop. Live your life or embrace your death.

Why should I run? Why can’t I just face you here, now? Is dying such an ill choice? If it truly is my life to live, why can’t I surrender it? And then .. I could rest.

The demon swooped over his head again and he realized he was back in the mine tunnel. Its shriek deafened him.

“Do you want to surrender your life here?”

He froze. No .. this couldn’t be happening. He swallowed, felt tears scorch his eyes.

“Why won’t you look at me?”

No .. it isn’t real.

“I’m as real as you are .. here, at least.”

He felt the hand on his arm, turning him around. He lowered his head, staring at the hard, sandy soil covered rock. The hand moved to his chin, tipped his head up.

“That’s better. You look bad. You’re not sleeping enough. Don’t lie to yourself and say you are. You’re not.” The dark brown eyes were full of concern. The voice tore at his heart and left ragged holes which dripped blood. “People are depending on you to get them thru. You can’t let them down. You have to .. find your way thru this maze of deception and false images. You’re not the only one. Do you understand?”

Yes, I understand. But .. you are a false image.

“Am I? Is that what you believe, son?” The older man gave a crooked smile. “There is a way out, for you and for them. You have to go to the between place. It’s hard to find, harder still to stay there, but you have to do it. If you don’t, you will die. They all will. It’s as simple as that.”

The between place ..?

“Between the dark and the light.”

The shadows.

“More than just shadows. It’s .. between. Like the silence between the ticks of a clock, or the space between the connection of the circuit and the bomb going off. The between place defines the other two so you only see them, not the gap between. It keeps them apart, stops them merging.”

I don’t understand.

The man glanced over his shoulder. “He’s coming again. You have to go. Take that tunnel, run as fast as you can. I’ll try and hold him off.”

But he’ll kill you!

“Son .. I’m already dead. Remember?” He smiled again. “Go! Run!”

He hesitated.

I love you …

“I know,” the man whispered. “Go. Please.”

He turned and ran hard down the tunnel, deeper into the mine. Deeper into the darkness which rolled over him like a smothering blanket.

I have a father. I am a son. But I don’t know who I am. Everyone here seems to know me .. and I know them. Dead people. People who are still alive. One other who is neither. And the one who is hunting me … I can feel his malice preceding him like a stinking, living cloud. Why? Why me? What have I ever done to him that he should want me as his prisoner .. running forever like a lab rat in a maze of darkness?

The tunnel forked and he came to a gasping halt, bending forward to catch his breath, and both legs spasmed with a vicious cramp.

“That way! Quickly!”

He peered suspiciously up to see the masked man from the office pointing at the right hand tunnel.

“He’s very close. This is the way to go.”

I don’t believe you. You have always played me for a fool. You never trusted me enough to tell me the truth.

“I can change,” the man said with a disarming smile. “You know that.”

Never. You never changed, from the first day I met you. You have only ever used me to get what you wanted.

“But I did change. I wasn’t always like this. I wasn’t always thinking of myself. I had to look at the big picture! You have no idea of the dangers ahead. Take this tunnel. It’s the way out!”

He shook his head.

No. You lie.

He pushed himself upright and limped down the left hand tunnel.

“You’ll regret it!”

Maybe, but at least it’s my decision to make, my decision to regret.

The tunnel angled down at a sharp pitch and he slipped, slithering more than walking. He held his arms out to either side for balance and to keep track of where he was by feeling the wall. The stone cut his fingertips to ribbons. The fear was growing in strength again. The darkness was so deep, it had a living quality to it. It seemed to breath, feeding on his fast dwindling reserves, sucking the energy from the marrow of his bones. The air became thick and it was hard to breathe. He was a long way under the ground now. Still up ahead, the chink, chink, chink of a hammer chipping away at eternity.

It should have been hot, this far underground, but it wasn’t. It was bitterly cold. He shivered in his soaked clothes, feeling miserable and alone, and so very scared.

A way out … Down here? Did I trust wrongly? Should I be going deeper into this darkness? Or should I have turned to the light? There are no answers here. Only questions.

The rock to his right felt different and he took a second to stop, probing with both hands. It was still hard and rough but there was texture to it which it had lacked a moment before. He frowned, feeling with his lacerated fingertips. Bark. The trunk of a tree. In a mine tunnel ..?

The chink, chink, chink had changed too. Gradually, by degrees, it had turned into the slow, ponderous tolling of a church bell.

He moved on, cautiously, peering into the darkness, trying vainly to distinguish some small thing which would tell him where he was. When he was. Wherever and whenever, a chasm of terror had opened in his gut, making him quiver, making him want to vomit. Slowly, he started to retreat.

“You cannot go back, little man,” she whispered at his shoulder. “He is behind you and you are not ready yet to face him. First you must escape.”

I can’t go out there. Something very bad is going to happen. I know it is.

“Fear is a controllable beast, my brother. It is the unknown.”

I cannot face my fear. The unknown is everywhere!

“It is only unknown until you know it. When you know your fear, you will be ready. Go, quickly! This is not a safe place to linger. He grows hungry in the darkness, and he will devour you.”

He nodded, yet still hesitated.

Will you be all right?

“I am always protected. I have my faith.”

Why do I not have your faith as well?

“You question too much, accept not enough. But you are strong. And you are favored, in your own way.”

I’m tired. I want to rest.

“I know but this is not the place and it is never the time. He will not let you.”

Who is he?

She smiled sadly. “That is a question you must answer alone, little man. The answer signals the end and the beginning. Go, quickly.”

No, wait. Who am I?

She had already faded away, leaving his words hanging silently in the cavern of his skull.

A blast of chill, stinking air billowed up behind him and he lurched forward away from it, his heart leaping into his mouth and fluttering like a terrified bird. Fear drove hot knives into his muscles and they stiffened, carrying him forward with no method or decision as to direction. Headlong, he careered from the forest and raced into the town.

No, no!

It was a scream destined to fall on deaf ears, he knew it as soon as it rang in his mind.

Don’t go into the church ..!

Time twisted. Minutes fled into fleeting seconds. There was a cracking sound, as if the bones of the world were snapping.

Too late …

The ground tipped under his feet and he staggered, shielding his head with his arms as the town collapsed around him. Screams filled the air, and there was a sense of falling, falling, falling …

He hit the ground and crawled painfully onto his hands and knees, winded but not drowned. Slowly, he came upright, knowing that he stood on the cliff path.

Soon, he told himself. Just let me rest for a moment. Just let me catch my breath.

“You can’t wait around here,” said the masked man, leaning idly on a gravestone.

Why not?

“There’s nothing to wait around for,” the man replied, inspecting his manicure. “Certainly, you won’t find a way out. You’re just wasting time.”

Then I will wait.

The man laughed. “I tell you one thing and you automatically do the opposite, is that it? It wasn’t always like that between us. Once, we were friends.”

Once, a long time ago. At the beginning of our .. association.

“And then I went and ruined it, didn’t I? I admired you, at the start. I respected you. But you didn’t have the vision to change.”

I would never want to be like you.

“Oh, but you are. You manipulate. You keep secrets. The only true difference between us is that I had the world as my plaything and you were never that greedy.”

No, I never was.

“More fool you,” said the masked man in a gentle voice. “Look where it’s gotten you. Trapped in this maze. You don’t know how to get out because you don’t know how you got in.” He straightened. “I’ll bid you farewell then. I hope you enjoy your stay. I wish I could say you don’t deserve it .. but the truth is .. you do.”

He watched the man vanish away and he swallowed.

Is that the truth? Or is it another lie? Who can I believe? Who can I trust ..?

“You can trust me.”

He turned quickly and winced as pain lanced up his leg from the badly wrenched ankle. That much was decided then – he couldn’t run anymore. He faced an elderly man yet this one was remarkably similar to the one wearing a mask. The eyes were darker but they glittered with the same cruel light.

Why? Tell me that. Why should I trust you?

“Because I have no reason to lie to you.”

Don’t you? You’re dead.

“I was. Dead and buried a long time. But here .. I can live again. That’s the secret of this place. Everyone can live here.”

He paused. The elderly man waited patiently on the cliff path, watching the black ocean heaving gently. On the horizon, lightning flickered but there was no thunder.

Tell me this then – what is this place? Where is here?

“Ah .. it is a special place. Not many get to explore it like this. You’re very honored .. in a way.”

What do you mean, like this?

“From the inside. Most don’t even know it exists, let alone explore it.”

How big is this place?

“Infinity. Eternity. As huge as anything could possibly be. And smaller than an atomic particle.”

That’s a paradox. Nothing is that big and that small at the same time.

“Did I mention time?”

Eternity.

“Time with no beginning and no end. Here .. time isn’t conveniently processed chunks which are easy to deal with. It doesn’t flow in a straight line. It swirls, eddies, loops around. It jumps, leaps back, springs forward, all in the blink of an eye.”

I had noticed, he commented wryly.

“That’s very good. You’re keeping a sense of humor about all this. You’ll last a very long time before he grows tired of you.”

He felt a jolt of fear. Every muscle trembled as it readied him for flight.

But I don’t want to stay here. I want to escape. I have to. Show me the way out.

The elderly man tilted his head, his crafty black eyes narrowing. “You won’t like it. I guarantee that.”

Like it or hate it, I have no choice but to go.

The man nodded slowly. “You remember me?”

Yes.

“I was dead and buried a long time before I was forced to wake and to walk. That was your doing. You stood there, more or less where you stand now, and you let them demand answers of me. You let them push me around.”

As I recall, you deserved it.

“And then .. you let them push me over the edge. You all went to bed and slept well after that, didn’t you? I didn’t. I was escorted to a very bad place. But first, I had to be the subject of a lot of revenge attacks. The sea boiled, didn’t it? And the bell rang once more .. in triumph that I had, at last, paid for my crimes.”

Yes.

“Now it’s my turn to be avenged.”

He frowned sharply.

What do you mean?

The elderly man smiled. “Time for you to go play with the fishes,” he said and pushed hard.

He staggered back, slipped and toppled over the edge of the cliff. He screamed silently as the black rock rushed past him, the black ocean rushed toward him.

It’ll change, it will, I’ll land on rock, on turf, in the graveyard, somewhere. I won’t hit the –

The water closed about him with a chilling, shocking punch, and he went under, sinking into the inky depths.

*****

With a muffled shout, Derek woke up.

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