Pandora’s Box
March 1st, 2023
Ben Miles - Short Story #1
The train swayed side to side as it raced down the underground subways. I gripped the comic in my hand and read intently, blocking out all the other passengers as they came and went from the train. White Knight issue #7 was out. A man with the spirit of a hero from a bygone age who fended off evil in modern times. He was the newest addition to the line of comic book heroes that Fantastical Comics had released. They were releasing a new line of heroes based on ancient warriors but in urban settings. Gifted with ghostly supernatural powers from the spirits of dead warriors they chased demons, monsters, and evil back into the crypts they spawned from. There was something visceral and terrifying in the art. Each panel connected these dynamically colored heroes to a dark and grittier world.
“Hey, is it okay if we sit next to you?” A man asked. I looked up, startled by the interruption. A demon was getting gutted by White Knight’s sword on the open page. A small child, no older than three, glanced from the comic back up to me. She buried her head into her dad’s chest after seeing the comic’s red-faced demon.
“Um yeah, no worries. Sorry… it’s a new comic.” I commented back nervously. He nodded before sitting down. I glanced back at the comic and watched as White Knight swiftly beat back the demon horde that had spawned near an amusement park. The train started moving again. It swayed into motion. I looked up to see which exit we had just passed. The display indicated we were leaving Rockefeller Center which meant I had missed my exit. I sighed and went back to my comic. I had nothing better to do. I could always just ride the train back in a few minutes.
The train car started to shake viciously. My eyes shot up from my comic with uncertainty. What in the hell? It was like an earthquake. The train began to shake more violently and then the world spun into motion. My body ragdoll forward into a train pole. The memory of where I was slipped away from my mind’s grasp. The train leaped uncontrollably into the air. Flying through the air, I slammed into a pile of bodies that were stacking up in the back of the train car. The wind flung itself from my lungs as I watched a man fall straight toward me. His elbow smashed into my face and then blackness reigned.
Time crawled back into existence. I blinked through the uncertainty and the nagging pain that radiated around my body. My face felt as though it had been splashed with water. I only had one hand free. I touched my cheek and pulled it back. Red sticky blood clung to my fingers. I started screaming. The sound came back to my ears, and I realized it wasn’t just me. I looked up and through the ruined train car roof I could see a cloudy grey night.
A flash of violet light flashed across our mangled mess. Ice-chilling fear gripped me. I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t cry out. My eyes watched frantically through the broken windows at the street above. Cars were on fire and smoke was thick in the air. Everyone stood motionless outside. Fear had gripped us, and it wasn’t letting go.
An otherworldly howl clawed its way through the air. I could hear something moving outside. The screech of metal. The roof of the train was removed by a massive taloned hand. Red and scaled, it pulled back the metal roof as though it were the top of a soup can. A dragonish visage was exposed and my mind questioned reality again as I stared into the eyes of the same demon from my comic book. It looked hungry and its maw drooled over the pile of motionless people. It reached forward and grabbed at the man in front of me. I realized it was the man from earlier. Clutched in his hands was the little girl. The child that had seen the demon in the comic book. As if the touch of the demon had restarted time for the girl, she started to scream and uncontrollably sob into this unnaturally quiet world. At that moment, my heart seemed to beat once again. It was as if time began for me as well. My fear-covered limbs dethawed enough to scrape franticly at the man on top of me. Adrenaline flooded my system, and I leaped from the pile towards the child struggling in the demon’s grip. Her purple parka tore as I ripped her away from the taloned hand. The front of the train car was smashed open. Without thought, I ran. Without hesitation, I ran.
I jumped into the hellish night and saw the street on fire. In the distance, a purple light gleamed atop the Empire State Building. I ran and I heard the metal crunch as the demon undoubtedly pursued us. I didn’t dare glance over my shoulder as I ran towards the nearest corner store. I was possessed by the image of the child as it neared that monster’s hungry jaws, but suddenly my forward progression stopped. I felt that ice returns to my veins, but it was different than before. I caught a reflection from a nearby shop window. The demon stood monstrously behind me. A piece of rebar from the broken street was lodged in my back. The kid in my arms screamed again calling my attention. I looked down and saw the rebar protruding from just above my hip bone. It had missed the kid. I fell to my knees as I tried to set her down in front of me.
“Run! Please run and hide.” I cried. Her eyes were petrified by the terrible scene before her. I stood shakily and turned towards the demon, watching it warily. There was nothing to do but fight it. It wanted the child so I couldn’t lure it away. I gritted my teeth as blood tried to cough its way up. I fell to my knees in a spasm. My mind flung itself forward to the future trying to think of a way to save the child. A similar coldness that had gripped me before was returning. It wasn’t fear that chilled my bones but something more ominous. The rebar in my chest was going to kill me. The child was going to die.
Then a bright white light flashed between the encroaching demon and me. My eyes were blinded but, in that brilliance, I saw a knight extending its armored hand towards me. Something instinctive took over and I reached out for that helping hand. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the holly light was gone. The demon howled and the hand I had extended was now armored in white metal. The coldness was gone from my limbs, and strength coursed through my body.
I looked down and saw that I was now completely covered in white armor. However, the rebar remained. I glanced back at the demon and saw it was watching me cautiously. I reached towards the rebar protruding from my armored chest and pulled. As if it was not there at all, the rebar was easily wrenched from my body. With it still, in hand, I watched it melt and mold itself into something else altogether. Feathered metal wings blossomed into the guard of a sword while the round rebar became flat and bladed. In a moment, I was carrying the same sword that White Knight used in the comics. It was Excalibur, exactly as it had been drawn. A grin spread across my face as I looked back at the demon. I jumped forward swinging the sword in a large arc. The demon slashed forward with its claws as if expecting the sword not to cut through its taloned hands.
A large red-scaled hand fell to the ground. Blood, black as tar, dripped from the stump and the demon fell backward on its haunches. It looked at me with a face of surprise. I stepped forward swinging the sword like a baseball bat. The blade bit into the face of the creature kneeling before me and the sword cut it cleanly in two. The creature’s lower jaw and throat fell to the ground. The demon shortly followed. Looking across the street I caught my reflection.
A vision of hope stood before me. As if from a lucid dream the reflection showed the white steeled helm with angel wings placed along the side. The figure stood heroically with shoulders square and prominent to face a threat. A tattered blue cape cascaded down my back to just above my mid-thigh. I was White Knight from the comics. The wind rustled the cape’s fabric. I glanced down the street towards the central park and saw the same purple pulse of light come racing back towards us. Before I could react, it washed over me and continued. I spun around and watched the purple glow retract back toward the Empire State Building. I wasn’t sure what to do. The reality of the world around me settled in. Cars were on fire, broken bodies littered the street, and as if the world had unfrozen, fresh screams of the dying began again.
“Ben Miles.” A woman’s voice gripped the air with authority. I spun around to see a raven black-haired woman wearing a flowing white gown. Wings spread out, filling the street with their brilliance. A soft glow emanated from her, and she looked at me with the gravest expression. She was the Lady of the Dawn from the comics. The woman who bestowed White Knight all his powers.
“A great nightmare has descended on this city. However, with every nightmare comes the hope of one day waking to a better world. Do not fret. For from the chillest lands and the strangest seas, the sweetest songs are sung by the bird that perches in the soul. We will speak again, Ben Miles.” Before I could ask her a question, her body broke into a thousand glowing feathers and a great light exploded washing over the street. The cries of pain subsided, and I glanced back at the child who watched me with a tear-streaked face that was transfixed in awe. I watched as the few scrapes she had disappeared as if they had never been there at all.
“Are you a superhero?”
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