Chapter 52
Tales of Horror
This infernal scene begins with Sebastian and the driver, who succeeded in picking their locks and reached the dilapidated cellar door.
The detective drew his gun, fired a shot at the door until it opened, then exited the cellar and fell to the ground. They found themselves amidst tall grass, thick fog, and tall oak and maple trees, with the white moon above the clouds descending upon them with a holy light. The detective drew his gun, fired two shots at the locks that were on his and his companion's feet, then they began to run in fear and madness,
trying to escape the horrors of the psychopathic Costanas family. They were running quickly, heading towards what lay beyond the darkness and beneath the layers of fear, towards the tower of fear. Lightning struck the forest powerfully as they moved, and the ravens screamed their beautiful cries to melt the terror in their hearts and nourish my ears with delight, and the owls joined them in this magnificent symphony. The deeper they went into the forest, the shorter the grass became, gradually disappearing and burning, and the trees lost their leaves, becoming hollow and filled with ravens and sorrow.
While they were walking, the driver tripped on a tree branch, and when Sebastian bent down to help him, the driver's gaze began to turn into holy fear and terror. He started sweating and becoming agitated, then raised his trembling finger and pointed behind Sebastian, saying, "Look!" Sebastian turned his head in sweat and shock, and his features began to fill with astonishment, revealing his trembling teeth. They saw before them a bird that made all the predators around them seem like tame creatures. They saw a phoenix, black as coal, its feathers made of soot, five and a half meters tall, with blood-red eyes and a sharp, gleaming beak in the darkness.
It was hovering in front of them, near the tree. It stopped and spread its wings before them, as if in prostration, a symbol of the pride of fear. Its feathers filled the place with black ash as it flapped, then the phoenix of darkness began to scream with high-pitched sonic waves that almost deafened them, but its cry was strange, unlike the cry of any bird or even a raven. Its cry began with the letter 'Z'. Then it stopped screaming and faded away, but not before taking the stars with it and turning the place into darkness and changing the color of the moon to a deadly red.
The driver said nervously,
"What is this bird? Is it a messenger of the devil?"
Sebastian replied,
"I've noticed strange things happening in this place, but I didn't expect such horrors with this demonic power."
The driver replied,
"Neither did I! That cursed bird almost burst my ears, man!"
Sebastian replied,
"I noticed that you were screaming a name and saying it loudly, not just a normal croak."
The driver replied,
"I wouldn't be surprised if this demonic creature could talk. Anyway, what did that black phoenix say?"
Sebastian said in a low voice, and what he said caused all the trees in the forest and the ground as well to shake:
"It was saying 'Zulich'."
At that moment, this dark, terrifying, demonic forest, despite all its power, began to tremble in terror upon hearing this name that the detective spoke.
The driver said, looking around,
"What the hell we gettin' into?"
Sebastian replied,
"Don't worry about these oddities now. The devil's family will certainly send people to hunt us. Keep running!"
They were running over rocks and scorched plains quickly, and the fog thickened around them, and raven feathers fell before them, and the red moon illuminated the horizons and gleamed on the river beside them. They continued running in the forgotten forest until they stopped before a black, pointed iron fence. They were panting heavily when Sebastian said to the driver,
"Don't you feel that this world has become strange?"
The driver replied,
"What are you talking about now, Detective?"
Sebastian replied,
"I mean, there's something strange. Everything is passing quickly through time, as if someone has tampered with time and made it fast. Days have become minutes, months have become hours, and the year has become a day. And humans have become stupid and trivial, not like before. I think we are heading very quickly to be at the same level as animals. I think we've lost, man."
The driver replied,
"Your words sound like conspiracy nonsense to me."
Sebastian replied,
"Perhaps you're right, but I was speaking with complete seriousness about time, not black comedy."
The driver replied, remembering,
"Honestly, this reminds me of a legend I heard from a sailor who said he survived a leather island where time passes faster than it does on Earth."
Sebastian:
"Really?"
The driver continued,
"Not only that, but the man said that this island existed before the Earth existed, even before the universe existed. He told me its name was 'Land of the Old Gods'."
Sebastian:
"Haha, it seems you've met many madmen in your life."
The driver continued,
"But a few days later, this companion sailor died. On his deathbed, he said one word to his wife and children that made some take the legend of the island he always told a bit more seriously."
Sebastian:
"What did he say?"
"He said to her, as he breathed his last breath, 'Detective,' he said this word and then died. He said to her, 'They're gonna recognize us, and then they gon' to despise us'."
"Wow, what tales of horror, man! But do you know the name of this sailor?"
The driver replied, "Yes."
"I remember his name was Gabriel Sunderland."