Erik knew he had to find his wife and son, but he had no idea where to go next. This entire world had been designed with one thing in mind-to be completely and totally monotonous, featureless, and uninteresting. The black sand went on for as far as the eye could see, broken only by obsidian rocky outcroppings that became tedious in and of themselves. The sky-or whatever it was-was completely black and starless. Erik suspected it was more a ceiling than a sky. He had the dreadful image of being trapped underground in an infinite cave on a planet that made Jupiter look like a speck in the universe.
There was no sun or moon to point out time or direction. Only a red glow to the edges of the horizon in all directions. It shed enough light to see by, bathing everything in a hellish red tint, but did not throw enough light to give even the impression of daylight. It was like a perpetual sunset in all directions, but an ugly black-red monotone sunset not broken up by atmosphere or clouds.
The doomed souls still wandered around the place, but their movement was aimless and pathetic, and Erik tried not to look at them. He was still sickened by their presence, and didn’t think he’d ever forget their horrible touch upon him. They would be no help. He was just thankful that they now shied away from him as if he were poison.
He looked at Dovecrest and shrugged. “So where do we begin?”
Dovecrest looked carefully in every direction. He seemed to study the horizon, searching for clues. He knelt down and put his ear to the sand. He seemed so intent, so focused. But after a few moments, he stood up and shook his head.
“Nothing,” he said. “I’m not even sure they’re still here.”
“Where else would they be?”
“I don’t know. But this place is endless. I don’t even know where to begin.”
Erik shook his head. “We have to do something. We can’t just give up.”
“It won’t do any good to just go off wandering without knowing where we’re going,” Dovecrest said.
Erik nodded. “But what else can we do?”
“Unless you can make some connection with your wife…or your son….”
Erik thought for a moment. It seemed impossible, but why not? Everything that had happened to him during the past week was impossible by all scientific standards. If people could raise demons and go through a portal to the waiting room of hell, why couldn’t he establish a psychic connection with his own wife or son?
“What the hell?” he said. “No pun intended.”
He had read a little bit about meditation, and, though he was certainly no expert, he had learned how to relax and train his thoughts when he was searching for ideas in his writing. And Dovecrest had taught him how to find the altar stone. He sat down on the sand and squirmed around until he had dug himself a comfortable seat. Then he pulled his feet into his thighs, closed his eyes, and covered them with his hands. He heard Dovecrest sit down across from him, but there were no other distractions to bother him. There was no sounds of traffic, or even nature-no birds, no wind…. Not even a breeze. It was perfectly silent.
He tried to empty his mind of everything. The stillness helped, but it was difficult not to think. So much had happened. His mind had been ripped raw, his nerves pulled and prodded and tortured beyond what he could bear. He’d gone from earth to hell to heaven and now back to hell in just a few short hours-if he could even measure things by earthly time. It might have been minutes-or days, for all he knew. Time just didn’t make sense anymore. For that matter, nothing made sense.
He tried to stop the wheels from spinning in his head. But all he could think about was his family, and what he would do if he found them. They had no plan, no idea…. The frontal attack had failed miserably. Even if he could rescue his family he had no way of escaping. He wondered if Vickie was even strong enough to be moved. Had she delivered the baby yet? Was the child all right? What had happened to Todd? They could all have been killed by now, for all he knew, and all of this might be for nothing.
“Stop worrying and relax.”
It was Dovecrest’s voice, almost as if the Indian had been reading his thoughts. Erik opened his eyes and looked at him. Dovecrest had been watching him. The two men smiled.
“Ok. Let me try this again.”
This time Erik stretched out on the sand as if he were at the beach, putting his arms up over his eyes to block out the eerie, red glow. He took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. He paced his breathing and concentrated on letting his body go loose, beginning with his feet and working upwards. He listened to the sound of his breathing as he relaxed his legs, then his hips, then his chest. He imagined a purple dot in the sky and concentrated all of his efforts of seeing it and experiencing it.
His mind went blank. Then he saw an image of his son. It came suddenly, unbidden, suddenly snapping into focus like a photograph. He saw the boy squatting in the black sand of this awful place, looking very worried and concerned. Erik knew he was seeing things as they really were when he noticed the demon standing beside Todd, its back towards the boy as it drew in the sand and seemed to be chanting. Erik knew that Todd was looking at his mother, and that Vickie was just about to give birth.
Suddenly Todd’s eyes widened, and Erik could see his gasp.
“Dad!” he heard him whisper. “Are you dead?”
Erik channeled his thoughts to comfort the boy. “Shhh. I’m not dead. I’m still here. I’m coming for you. Just don’t let it know you know.”
Todd forced a smile, and then the picture faded, slowly, as if at the end of a scene in a movie. Erik was suddenly aware of where the boy was. Every muscle in his body was tense and tightened up like a guitar string. He felt sweat pouring down his face.
“Erik…Erik…. Are you all right?”
Dovecrest was calling to him. He opened his eyes slowly.
“Yeah. I’m fine,” he said. “They’re still alive. And I know where they are.”