Psycher Chronicles

The Wick Effect

(Darcy Renolds)

Fear.

Darcy always had an active imagination. For years as a child she swore she could hear the plants in the house talking to her. Then she swore she could tell when it was about to rain, when she saw spirits riding in the air.

Over time she learned to hide these odd daydreams. Perhaps that was why she was called here, to Dave's coffee shop. Something about the statue on Dave's counter seemed to ignite that childish dream for understanding, a dream that seemed to hint at something far greater than the typical world around her.

She even brought her friend here, to see if she too could feel that same level of intrigue. One that seemed to awaken the very soul.

Yet, things went wrong from the very start. For starters, Misha collapsed almost instantly upon touching the statue. Then Dave went back to call for help, while Darcy found herself pulling out her own phone trying to call for help, only to realize that this was somehow a dead zone in the city.

Slam!

At that point, the windows and doors began slamming shut, as if a panic switch had been hit. The speed of the panic windows was nothing special, the ones at her family house were much faster, but Darcy instantly understood what that meant. That she was now stuck in here, just as any would be attackers would be stuck outside.

Just as Darcy was wondering who would try to rob Dave's shop, the next issue came.

Darkness.

The lights flickered once, the only warning that something bad was about to happen. Then a faint sound of currents finishing their course, and finally the room filled with darkness. At this point Darcy realized how messed up she was, as the windows were clearly the kind that went below the ledge of the window, making it so even tiny rays of light can't get through. Realizing this, Darcy found herself getting up, while gently placing Misha's head on the ground.

That's when she saw the green light illuminating a half crazed face.

Clatter, slide.

Of course, it was at that exact moment that Darcy fell into the trap that made her get the most robust case available for her phone, one that protected her from dropping the phone like she always seemed to do, without being suddenly startled. However, this time it was much worse as the phone slid off somewhere towards the tables at the front.

Realizing that phone was likely her only chance to get her and Misha out of this, she found herself blindly reaching forward trying to desperately grab for the phone.

Skerrt.

That's when her less than graceful movements found the nearest wooden table and chair and began pushing them away on the highly polished marble flooring, causing an unmistakable screeching sound to erupt. All but giving away her position to the attacker who, looking back was clearly wearing some type of glowing green goggles.

Panic.

Seeing the half crazed look on the man's face, Darcy again panicked, then turned and tried to see if she could once again find her phone. For a moment she thought she did as light seemed to reflect a green ray of light from an area on the floor.

SKKKRRRTTTT!

Darcy like a panicked buffalo just charged forward trying to find the spot once more, only to realize the spot she had mentally noted to check was the floor. A very shiny portion of the floor, but the floor nonetheless.

Splash!

There was the sickening sound of bone and tissue being broken.

Shiver.

Darcy didn't want to look, but she had to, there to her horror was a sight that would forever be engrained into her brain. The sight of Dave over Misha's body, with his odd statue in his hands as a dark, reflective liquid oozed over and around the odd statue.

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Seeing the sight, Darcy decided to give up on the phone and instead went for the door. One that could be seen now due to how close the monster was to her. Darcy ran forward, her entire life flashing before her mind, as she realized that even if she got to the door it would likely still be locked, more than enough time for the monster to find her and no doubt bash her own face in, just like Misha.

Misha?

Just the thought caused her to turn around and face the monster once more. She couldn't be dead, not Misha. She had survived through so much, the Hasty concert in Pittsburg, the random werewolf that attacked her outside her grandfather's farm, and even the woods. She had been through so many events that she had survived, that to be taken down by Dave of all people seemed a bit anticlimactic.

FWOOSH!

Just as Darcy had that thought, of how much of a waste it was, that's when a miracle happened. Dave caught fire. Not just any fire either, but a bright blue one that seemed to burn from the outside-in.

Darcy watched in horror as the body of Dave began to thrash and flail about, causing Darcy to recoil in fear, as she began moving tables and other items between her and the flailing body.

She didn't know why, maybe it was a bad joke, or something, but Dave, meek and unassuming barista Dave had tried to kill her. Even now, Darcy looked down to see that the statue he had glowed with an eerie flame that seemed to continually burn inward on itself.

Darcy watched in horror as the body finally stopped moving, as if the fight had left its body. Then she watched as the flames continued to burn white hot, burning away everything, even the glowing NVGs were not safe from the flames. Oddly enough, the cloths that Dave wore were perfectly intact, a fact that Darcy could prove as she saw his clothing illuminated. Everything was backlit as it being held over the brightest of Hollywood lights. She could see the outline of Dave's Coffeeshop Perfect Brewing glowing as his apron was the first to light up. Then there was another image under that which showed a famous band's image. One that Darcy could point out if she saw again, but at this moment her mind wasn't making the connection.

Instead, all Darcy could do was just stare down at the body that was slowly crumpling in on itself. While somehow never burning away the clothes. Only now, after so much time had gone on, and she no longer felt lingering fear from being attacked by Dave did she even try to move forward.

Crumple.

An act that was seemingly enough to cause the body to completely collapse in on itself.

Vrrm.

Flicker, spark, frits, light.

At that, like the end of a horror scene at the end of a bad movie the lights came on. Blinking, Darcy almost expected the burnt and melted body before her to be gone. That or she could finally see how it was all CGI or some elaborate prank.

This wasn't real right? I couldn't be? I'm being pranked, and Misha was in on it? These were the thoughts that raced through Darcy's mind. Then as if to prove her thoughts of this all being a scene from a low budget movie, Darcy felt her mind and body suddenly get released from their state of pure terror that held them in place. That was when she began speaking out loud.

"He just burned alive? Not even his clothes were scratched?" Darcy spoke, words spraying from her mouth in a torrent. No filter, as her mind was beyond the social pretenses of filters, as she had almost died.

"That was amazing? CGI right?" Darcy asked, as she went over and found herself nudging the clothes carefully with the edge of her shoe. Only afterwards did she realize how stupid it was to touch combustible clothing, even if it was with the edge of her shoe. Fortunately, there was no transferred burning sensation, no feelings of pain that coursed through her shoe and made its way up to her mind. Nothing that let her know that she was about to burn from the inside out as well.

Yet, despite how this all started, and what she did; the only thing that happened was what she expected to happen. Well the action that her mind and countless years of science class taught her would and should happen. That is, she touched a cloth of clothing lying on the floor with her toe and pushed, and the cloth would move in a similar distance and direction. Completely not what she had thought would happen.

Looking down, her mind began to move faster as she began processing more and more details. Charred bones covered in perfectly preserved clothing. All layers of fat, muscle, and tissue gone. Just a charred outline that coated the bones. The bones were yellow and black, somehow this struck Darcy as odd more than anything, as she almost expected the bones to be white.

Then her rational mind kicked in, letting her know that was how bleached bones were meant to appear. Bones that were somehow clean of a layer of baked on skin residue. In her mind she knew she should look away, that her mind would likely be filled with horrific reminders of these very images later tonight and for many nights to come. Yet, despite logic telling her to look away, she remembered that fear she felt a moment ago.

The strike to Misha, realizing that, Darcy looked to the floor. To her surprise, she saw the spot where Misha had been, and sure enough there was clearly blood there, but no Misha.

Clip-clop.

Feet moving across polished tiles could be heard coming from the back room. Hearing the sound, Darcy turned to see Misha entering the doorway.

Sigh.

Just seeing her caused a wave of relief to exhale from Darcy's mouth. Seeing her, it was clear that this was all just a prank gone bad, or exceedingly well, as Darcy almost believed it, for a moment.

"Oh good, is Dave back there?" Darcy asked.

"What?" Misha asked, a look of confusion on her face. By now it was clear that some of the fake blood was still stuck to Misha's head as it poured down her right side. "He's right there by your feet."

"No, this is just a skeleton."

"No, he combusted. I believe they call it the wick effect."

"The what?" Darcy asked, her mind suddenly spinning as she tried to take in these new words that suddenly made no sense.

"The wick effect, where partial or total destruction of a human body is caused by fire, highlighted by the fact that the clothing of the victim soaks up melted human fat and acts like the wick of a candle." Misha began speaking as if she was somehow reading it verbatim from an online dictionary.

It was at this point that Darcy realized something had gone exceptionally wrong, as she was suddenly less certain than ever that something had happened.

"What now?" was all Darcy managed to get out, before the world spun around her as she too found herself falling to the ground.

***

Sirens blaring.

Darcy awoke some time later, as the jostling and slight rattling of a strapped in gurney violently shook her awake. Feeling the presence of someone grabbing her left arm, she panicked and instantly startled awake.

"What are you doing?" Darcy demanded, attempting to sit up, as she had been lying down for some reason. Only to have her mind freak out a bit more once she realized she was being restrained by a seatbelt that strapped over her waist and part of her upper body.

"Calm down," the male EMT stated, his voice calming as he gently but forcefully pushed Darcy back to the floor. "I don't know what happened, but you were likely in shock after seeing your friend spontaneously combust before your eyes."

The male EMT spoke as if he was recounting details of a particularly interesting news article. Yet, this wasn't what Darcy had expected. Suddenly her mind that had been coiling tightly unwound, showing in graphic detail what had just happened.

She saw everything, from being chased, to Misha being struck, to the flames that burned Dave from outside-in. That's when the world spun around her once more, causing her to have to focus.

Bump.

Of course, the ambulance they were in chose that moment to hit a bump, causing the last bit of coffee she had consumed earlier to spew forth and spray right over top of the otherwise handsome EMT.

With the contents of her stomach expelled, Darcy still felt dizzy reclining back, as the EMT first made sure she was okay, before clearly wiping off his face with his medical gloves.

"Ugh, we have a return to sender. I repeat we have one return to sender." The EMT called out over the comms connecting the driver and the back operating area.

"Roger that, calling ahead to give an update."

The world started fading, and the last thing Darcy remember hearing were the words she accidentally found herself repeating, "a date?"

Then darkness.