Transparency
Written by Brian Mundt

Ben Reiker stared through the semi-transparent window shade. His light green eyes stayed locked in one position. Occasionally, the muscles in his jaw would clench and he would squint to see deeper into the dark Monday night.
Danielle Gast gently massaged his shoulder blades before moving to his lower back. Her hands worked with ease, carefully removing the stress that had accumulated from the week of endless work. She noticed his stare but decided not to say anything. Minutes passed and he remained focused on the street below.
She broke the silence; "What are you looking at?" Not wanting to prod, the question came out in the tone of an afterthought.
Ben spoke slowly. She sensed caution in his timid voice. "I don't know, but it just moved."
Her hands stopped in the middle of the methodical pattern. For a brief second, her eyes remained tightly glued to his. Moving to the edge of the bed where Ben sat, she peered through the drapery. Through the light fabric, everything appeared as if it were a clouded dreamscape. The cloth made it look as if a dense fog had settled on the street below. A lone street lamp cast a low light on the deserted street.
She could see nothing. With an uncertain hand, she slowly pushed the drape aside. As if it was born from the shadows, something darted from the darkness and disappeared into the night at the end of the street.
Danielle jumped back and collided with Ben. With a reassuring hand, he caught her and pulled her closer. Immediately, she could feel his trembling body.
"What was that thing?" Ben didn't answer. She repeated the question, this time with more intensity in her voice. "Ben, what the hell was that thing?"
His answer came in a low, steady voice. "I don't know." His response scared her. Something was wrong; something out of place.
Trying to silence the worries that were stacking higher and higher with each passing second, she spat out another question; "How long were you watching it?"
"When I got here, I had the feeling that I was being watched. At the time I couldn't place it, but it was a feeling I didn't like. I noticed something move down there on the street." With a shaking hand, he pointed about ten feet to the right of his parked car.
The answer wasn't enough. She wanted more explanation even though she knew an answer would only bring her more questions. Thousands of ideas and questions ran laps through her mind although she could only choke one out. "What was it?"
Ben shook his head. "It looked like a dog but it wasn't. It was something else. It ran close to the ground. It had these eyes. It stared at me Danielle and I couldn't think. The eyes, they would change; white to grey. There was metal on its legs, I saw it reflected in the light, a lot of it too."
Something sank within Danielle. The boy sitting in front of her struck an unconscious nerve. Her skin crawled with an intensity she had never felt before. Gooseflesh appeared on her arm and she slowly moved her hand away from his.
Ben turned his head and looked at her. Blue light from the muted stereo played across his face and turned his eyes a light blue, they seemed to shine as though backlit. Everything in her body screamed to look away but her eyes were stuck to his. For the past ten months of their relationship, she had noticed his eyes every time they saw each other. These weren't his eyes. Something inside them different; it wasn't anything she could consciously place, but it was noticeable.
With an unexpected smile, he slowly put his arms around her. She squirmed in his embrace and looked around the room nervously. His grip loosened and he pushed away from her. He looked into her eyes once again, Danielle was calmed. His eyes no longer frightened her, they seemed to be normal.
As strange as the night had become, the remainder was as it always was. Laughter filled the second-floor room and music slipped under the door and flooded the rest of the house. The memory of the mysterious creature drifted from her mind.

It was an unspoken tradition that they would see each other once a week. It had been this way since they started to date. The next week passed as quickly as it always would. Days of work and nights with friends passed the seven nights with ease.

Red digital numbers displayed twelve-thirty-two. Early mornings weren't uncommon for them; their conversations usually ran through the late- night hours and overflowed into the morning.
In their conversation anything was a possibility. Religion, life, death, incarnation, God, Lucifer, heaven and hell were some of the topics that would pass the hours as though they were seconds.
Tonight was no different. Minutes passed and showed the weaknesses of the man-made invention that is time.
"There's no way to know." The words flew out of Ben's mouth with the flare that Danielle loved about him. No matter how boring the topic was, Ben could instantly transform the conversation into a heated debate.
"Okay, what about all of those miracles that they can't explain?" Danielle fired back ferociously.
"I saw a TV special on that one time. They proved almost all of them wrong."
"See! Almost all of them. What about the ones they couldn't prove?" Ben could sense a little cockiness in her response.
"Ah, touché." Ben made a bowing gesture and rested his back against the wall. A small giggle escaped her lips and she leaned back against his chest.
"I love you Ben."
"I love you too Danielle." After the words, he gripped her hand, raised it up to his mouth, puckered his lips and gently kissed her skin.

The feeling washed over him again. Suddenly, he felt as though he were drowning. Something was watching him; it was the same feeling that had gripped him seven days ago.
The translucent drapes flew in the wind from the open window. As the air reached his nostrils, he violently ripped his head to the side.
"Do you smell that?" No response came. He asked again; still nothing.
His stomach suddenly felt heavy as if it were filled with drying concrete.
His nose stung with the stench of sulfur.
Danielle made no sound. The bed didn't move with her breathing and she gave no response to his questions.
Ben looked over stared. Danielle sat exactly where he had seen her last. She was perfectly still. With dead eyes, she gazed at the far wall. Upon first glance, Ben thought the worst.
"Danielle!" Her eyes remained fixed in the same position. He shouted her name once more; again, the same response.
As much as he tried, he couldn't look away. Even though he couldn't place it, he felt that she was alive.
With a hard jab, he struck himself in the face. He shook off the pain and looked again.
"Wake up Ben!" His shouts didn't do anything. The seemingly lifeless body sat motionless and the reality he had hoped was a dream proved to be true.
Ben clenched his eyelids and took a deep breath. With a quivering hand, he could feel his heart struggling to break from his ribcage.
At once, he noticed something he hadn't before. The clock on the wall wasn't producing its monotonous click. The second hand remained motionless. Everything was silent. Cars didn't disturb the silent street below, owls didn't sound from the trees outside and crickets didn't let themselves be known.
Ben stood, he felt as though a magnetic force was drawing him to the window.
Again, the powerful sulfur smell assaulted his nostrils. He ignored the stench and the bile that was threatening to expose itself and moved the flowing drape from his view.
It stood in the middle of the street; its eyes turned from gray to a brilliant white. The creature stared at him. Fear held Ben in place. He wanted to turn and run but his legs seemed as though they had become fused with the floor. His entire body trembled.
The monster standing in the street let out a howl that sounded like television static. The sound pierced his ears and he fell to his knees. The screech froze him in place. After each labored breath, Ben listened for a sign that the creature was gone.
Scattering sounds flowed through the open window; Ben knew where the creature was headed.
Downstairs, the kitchen door exploded from the hinges. Fractured wood landed on the worn dining table and shattered glass lined the linoleum floor.
The animal stood in the doorway. Muscles in its neck bulged as it raised its massive head. It sniffed the air once and stood as if it were a statue. As suddenly as it had burst through the door, the creature bolted through the living room and up the stairs.
Ben heard the hard paws on the hollow, wooden steps. With the pass of every second, Ben felt the fear welling inside of him.
At once, the footsteps stopped. Ben allowed himself a millisecond to blink. As one eyelid touched the other, the door burst open. In disbelief, he blinked again.
Suddenly, the fear was overpowering. He tightened the muscles in his legs; nothing. With straining arms, he tried to lift himself from the side of the bed; he was completely paralyzed.
The monster standing before him was unlike anything he had ever seen. In the broadest sense, it resembled a dog. It seemed to walk on all fours but its front legs were much bigger and muscular than the back. On its hindquarters, there appeared to be armor of sorts. A heavy metal lined its legs, came up its back and stopped just before the head.
Ben wanted to look away but something prohibited him. The creature's face was the worst. Dark black eyes lay deep in its skinless head and its lips appeared as though they had been ripped. Silver teeth pierced through holes in its cheeks and stretched almost to its eyes. Fangs hung down past its bottom jaw and slowly dripped saliva onto the wooden floor. Each drop of liquid would touch the floor, sizzle and evaporate.
The creature cocked its head and stared at the horrified face Ben wore. The thing let out a low growl and looked to the floor. '
All of the questions that Ben silently harbored suddenly turned into answers. The creature didn't use telepathy but rather sent large amounts of understanding.
Ben pieced a small portion of the message together.
My master has plans for you. You have been chosen. You know not what waits.
The monster standing in front of him raised its head and locked eyes.
For a brief second, Ben couldn't think. Countless questions created themselves in seconds. One question prevailed over all and fought its way through his clenched teeth. It seemed as though his mouth was the only part of his body that was movable.
"What the hell are you?" He surprised himself when the words came out a whisper.
Death
The understanding came immediately.
Ben glanced at Danielle. Her body was in the same position it had been before. The hands of the clock didn't make a sound; they were stuck in the same position. Ben looked back to the creature and stared.
At once, the creature turned and slowly walked through the doorframe. Before it disappeared from sight, Ben received another message.
You know what you must do to enter my master's kingdom.

Ben allowed minutes to pass before he got from his bed and left for his car. The car door opened with a squeak that rang throughout the deserted streets. The night was completely lifeless; no wind ripped through the trees and no animals scurried through the darkness.
Ben removed a small object from the glove box and returned to Danielle's room.
Two gunshots rang through the night. One bullet cut a path through Danielle's chest, the other through Ben's temple. The last thing Danielle saw before she died was the glowing white eyes of Ben Reiker.

The creature greeted him in the street. Ben floated to its side effortlessly. For a brief second their eyes met and he looked away. Every fear he had felt faded, just as he was about to do.
Ben knew what was next. The cement they were standing on opened into a black tunnel that led deep underground.
Before the shadows covered his face, Ben smiled and looked to the black sky one last time. His eyes followed a shooting star until it faded.
He looked to the end of the tunnel and saw Danielle waiting for him below. "An eternity together." His voice echoed into the deep abyss below.