Sweeping lights to Soggy rocks

Long blasts of boat horns lauded the quest of numbing winds leaving the calm lands for restless seas. Star-studded horizons and wavering waters had already merged together in the face of stark darkness. Foaming waves continued its relentless crashing on to the gritty shores. Tommy shrugged and rubbed his palms together as he hurried along a road past the main gates of National Coast Guard buildings, towards the armory counter.

Large beams of light shooting from the eye of the lighthouse, skipping and sweeping the waters was a thing to watch. He walked on. It was going to be his first night at work as a special contract, armed guard with National Coast Guard. Although he had not applied for that particular post, he was shortlisted from another pool of applications originally made towards lighthouse keeper position. He walked on.

Salty winds deluged him with his most cherished memories. He and his father used to spend many evenings on that very beach. They would fancy that the lighthouse was indeed a daemon with a magical eye. As they lie on the beach, looking at giant clouds coming over to fight the lighthouse daemon, the Sun would start sinking and then the daemon would open its eye and it would start to control the waves and all other things on earth.

‘AG 11295N’ said Tommy into a cage-like counter in front of the armory. He had noticed a pair of brown eyes nested under a white cap, shooting at him from behind the steel railings of the fortified armory counter. Tommy produced his identity card and placed it high against the railings so that the guard could verify. Tommy had six fingers on his right hand- one extra digit after his thumb, dangling there. Also, he had seven digits on his left hand. However, as a child, he had cut off one from his left hand as a child.

‘Sign here please’ came a voice from inside and then a ledger came out, sliding on the marble-top counter. He looked at the writing and noticed that his duty station was code named AF12. He promptly signed on the ledger page and slid it back. Then a tray came along, sliding. It contained a flashlight and a Glock 17 pistol with a few extra clips. He collected the items, shoved them into his jacket pockets and walked away.

*** *** ***

‘You have to listen carefully…’ said Colonel Alexander somebody (Tommy could not remember his second name) ‘…very carefully’ He made a hand gesture that looked like he was placing an invisible brick in front of Tommy, slowly, using both of his hands.

‘Yes sir, listening’ affirmed Tommy.

‘I see that you have experience with Territorial Army, yes?’ asked the colonel

‘Yes, sir, five year’’

‘Do you know how to use a pistol, Tommy?’ asked the Colonel. He was about to call Tommy, son. Like do you know how to use a pistol, son? But then he changed to Tommy.

‘Yes sir, I have good practice’ Tommy nodded and smiled.

‘Good practice. Hmm…’ The colonel repeated under his breath. ‘…Have you ever… well, leave it. The reports say that you cut off one of your digits by yourself. Would that be true?’’

‘Yes, sir, while I was young’

The colonel laughed quietly as if his age had made him immune to such dreadful accounts.

‘Do you believe in ghosts, Tommy?’

‘No, sir, I am a man of science’ said Tommy, still smiling .

‘Very good!, You are just the man we wanted…’ The colonel adjusted himself in his chair and rested his upper body on his elbows placed on his desk. He locked his clasped his palms and leaned forward ‘…when you are posted there, that is if you are selected, you might come across some animals or insects that are new here, which are undocumented by science. Because this is a coastal area and these kinds of things happen. You might be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.’

‘Yes sir, very well’ said Tommy

‘Who all are in your family?… and… well… would you like a drink?’

The Colonel stood up briskly and walked to a closet nearby.

‘Father died long ago. Mother is a little unwell’ said Tommy

‘We knew your father Tommy. He was a nice man’

‘How do you know him sir?’ asked Tommy

‘He was a good friend… yeah… okay. You are dismissed, we shall get back to you soon’ said the Colonel

He then leaned back as Tommy stood up and walked to the door.

*** *** *** Appointment order came by post. Special contract Armed Guard. Nobody had ever heard of such a position. The pay was good. Benefits were good and he would get to spend time on that beach. The only downside was that he had to work on night shifts, all the time. But then again, he enjoyed the nights. Sometimes he would not be able to sleep, he would not be able to turn off his brains. Night is an old friend, he would think. “Do you know how to use a pistol?”, he chuckled thinking about the Colonel’s question.

Tommy never liked to fire a gun. Yet he had to do it while he was with the Territorial Army cadet. Now, this was how the training paid off- landing him a normal job, he thought. He read the letter once again. The Coast Guard wanted him to report to the armory at 1030 hours the coming Friday, to collect some articles and to proceed as per instructions.

He folded the letter neatly and left it up on the drawing room table and walked away into the kitchen. He could hear his mother making a screeching sound. She has been down with fever and bronchitis.

He opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of cold water and then pressed it against his cheeks.

*** *** *** Tommy deliberately pushed his toes into the sands as he walked away from the armory. His boots started to fill. A large beam of light skipped sideways cutting through him. He kept walking. AF12 was indeed a cemetery. It is said that, for some reasons, bodies were buried shallow, over there. The field itself was of the size of a soccer field. There were no concrete graves there though, but only wooden crosses and small rocks that demarcated individual areas in long rectangles, six feet long.

A concrete compound wall, high enough to stop a man had been erected around the field. Gates were cast iron with heavy locks. Tommy’s instructions were to sit in a cabin inside the compound and watch for dogs and jackals feeding on dead bodies.

Wooden panels of the cabin creaked as Tommy entered. He looked around. There was a washroom, and another room with a desk and a chair. An empty cupboard stood beside the desk and in that, a few cans of consumables were arranged neatly. He switched on the lights and took a seat there. The next day, he would have to bring a magazine- he made a mental note. He pulled a lever labeled field lights and then floodlights illuminated the whole area. Such a waste of power, he thought. However, he left them turned on.

Tommy might have dozed off for a minute. Something startled him awake, perhaps a dream. He looked around. There were no living things around. No living things, he thought. His father was not a living thing now. Mother might pass away anytime soon. She might be dying as he sat there, in that cabin, at that very moment. She might be lying there, longing to see her only child…

The night passed without any events. However, Tommy was tired. He looked back to the field as he was walking away. There was something there, he thought. Something that draws him close.

For the next night, Tommy had come with a couple of books to kill time. He put them in the cupboard and then he eased into the chair. He pulled the Field Lights lever and then the flood lights turned on with a bang.

Tommy stood up and took a walk. He stepped outside and looked at the dark sky. He circled the field a few times. Then he went by some of the graves.

There was nothing much to do. The silence, barring the sound of the waves and the winds was disturbing.

He counted the graves. There were twenty-two numbers. Then he sat down in one corner of the field, on the ground and watched his cabin from there.

Where are the jackals? he wondered.

The next night he could not just sit in the cabin. Something strange was slowly toppling the balance of his mind. He felt that an invisible force was leading him to a particular spot at the centre of the field. He could feel something underneath there. He placed his palm flat on the ground. He could feel the beating of a heart. He was taken aback. He touched there again. He could now hear a man screaming, people talking, winds howling… He was being overpowered as if it was a dream.

He dug.

With his hands now, he dug into the ground.

Later he stood in that pit and looked around. He could see the jackals then, hundreds of them, circling him. Growling slowly…

He passed out

‘Tommy…’ A deep voice came about from distance ‘…Tommy!’

He tried to see who it was, but he could not move. He was sitting at the bottom of a tree, resting his back on its trunk. It was dark, yet, light from burning fires reached him carrying warmth. He could hear woods crackling as they burned. A scream had been echoing in distance. A man, he thought. The image of a man on the hunt, wielding a spear came to his mind

‘Tommy…’ came the voice again, to which he nodded and looked around in askance.

‘You are not from here. You know that now, don’t you?’ said the voice.

Tommy could not say anything. He just sat there.

‘We came here a long time ago. You, me and the others…’

‘What?’ asked Tommy , faintly.

Jackals had been howling from somewhere near. He could hear them panting too. A pack was very near. But he was not afraid of them. They might not even recognize him, he thought, it was strange. Leaves crumbled; he could hear. He saw something flickering in front of him. Then, two long legs that looked like thin pieces of long transparent glass pieces came to his side and stood there touching him. You are shot. Wait for it to heal, don’t move, he thought in someone else’s voice. Perhaps it was not his thought. He then looked at himself. He could not find his body. He then felt his face with his palms, he was touching a block of something, it was polished, smooth.

He would pass out now, he thought. He looked up and he could see infinitely long trunks of trees. His vision became blur, the scene started to rotate.

Later, Tommy woke up in the pit. He climbed up quickly and ran to the cabin. He was panting like a dog, sweating too. He dusted his jacket and sent his palms through his hair and then he dropped himself in the chair.

‘By mistake…’ the voice came again, and Tommy was startled. He practically jumped out of his chair.

‘Where are you?!’ asked Tommy turning his head frantically to all sides

‘In the woods. You have seen it.’

‘Are you a ghost? What do you want?’

‘You know Tommy, your name is Ei. These people have been toying with your mind. You are not one among them’ said the voice calmly.

Tommy now adjusted himself in the chair and listened .

‘You think your father died, don’t you? You are him Tommy. They killed you and extracted your computer and built you up in their form. Look at you…’

Tommy did not speak a word, He sat there, lifeless.

‘Have you seen your mother recently? You have not, I know. Because she is in her true form, restrained. And they have extracted her computer too’

‘So, what do I do?’ said Tommy. He looked around to see who was tricking him. The voice came from all the sides as if the splinter walker was invisibly moving around.

‘We want to take your computer back… it is the only one near here…’ said the voice

It was still dark. He was terrified now. If there was a radio set…, he thought.

He looked out through the window and there he saw a strange being gliding towards the cabin. Its body looked like long and lean pyramids made of charcoal crumbs put together. It had a block of thick crystal for a head.

‘Stop!’ uttered Tommy, quickly taking out his pistol

‘…that in your head… give back…’ said the voice even calmer. The splinter walkers hit the cabin walls with loud thuds. One of them glided in through the front door. Its face was as blank as a concrete brick. Tommy aimed at its head as he sprang from his chair. He took a stance with his arms extended. His index finger cautiously rested on the trigger

The splinter walker continued to glide towards Tommy, as if he was going to move through him.

BANG!

Tommy shot at its head. The round went through making a clean hole. The splinter walker dropped on to the floor instantly. Tommy then moved closer to it and kicked it. It was not moving.

*** *** *** Tommy was asked to the Colonel’s office the very next day in the morning. As he walked into the office, he noticed a few others sitting opposite to the Colonel, across the large wooden desk. They were middle aged men attired in slouchy suits. He hesitated at first by the door. But the Colonel beckoned him in.

‘We are glad that you killed it, you know’ said the Colonel grinning.

‘What was that?’ asked Tommy

‘What was that? hmm. We are still looking into it. Extra-terrestrial, most probably. We are pulling you out for now, okay?’

‘But I can continue, sir’ said Tommy, forcing a smile across his face. Something in his mind has been persuading him to get back to AF12, like a calling.

‘No, Tommy, we will have to run a medical test on you now. Then we will pull you out and assign you to the lighthouse’ said the colonel without taking his eyes off him.

‘I will file the incident report then? Sir?’

‘Ah, what incident?’

‘Yes Sir. Understood’ Tommy stood in attention and nodded to the Colonel. He then left the room.

‘Failed!…’ said the Colonel to his men sitting opposite. ‘…We will do this until we get it right… okay?’

‘What if he always kills them? What if he could never talk them to stand down? Let alone extract data’ asked a middle-aged man with white hair

‘We will try doctor… We have to try. Orders from above’

*** *** ***

The next night saw Tommy hurriedly passing the gates of the National Coast Guard Buildings and walking towards the armory. Large beams of light were sweeping the waters, many times going over a part of the coast. Cover page of a fashion magazine which he had stuffed into an outer pocket of his jacket gleamed in the passing light. He had already taken out his identity card. It was going to be his first night at work as a special contract, armed guard with National Coast Guard.