Black Angel
By Andy Morris
Zoe used to love the thrill of the chase but it was starting to lose its appeal these days. Especially since those stories appeared in the news about people disappearing. Zoe wasn't particularly worried – she could take care of herself. She may be only four foot 10 and a half but she could pack a punch. That's why she was going home early tonight. Hopefully, that bloke that grabbed her in the pub wouldn't try that again with any other women! She hadn’t hit him that hard, but he looked like he might cry. He’d definitely have a black eye in the morning. Obviously, she didn’t condone violence and now she was a social worker she really needed to rein it in. That’s what had prompted her to leave The Railway pub and find a taxi.
“Looks like you’ve had a good night, Luv?” The driver eyed Zoe in the mirror as she collapsed into the back seat. The smell of fried food and spicy aftershave was almost suffocating as she closed the door. Dried crumbs rolled under her fingers as she hauled herself up into a sitting position and found the windows didn’t open.
“So?” he waited. “Where to, Luv?”
Zoe screwed up her eyes and the world revolved like a merry-go-round. She belched quietly and felt the sickly burn of ale bubbling up her throat. Now more than ever, she regretted having that seventh pint.
“Oh, I don’t know. Take me to KFC will you,” she managed after a moment. “I need some proper food before I go home.”
The driver grunted, touched a rabbit's foot that was hanging from his rear-view mirror and pulled out into the traffic and they were away. Darkened buildings and drunken revellers passed by as the car sailed out of the town centre. The driver's beady eyes were staring back at her in the mirror, but he returned his gaze to the road a split-second after Zoe caught him looking. An AFC Bournemouth air freshener was hanging from the dashboard, but it clearly didn’t work as the stale odour of the car still burned her nostrils. It was as if the driver worked, ate and slept in here. His ID certificate on the dashboard said his name was Eddie. Next to this were peeling stickers detailing anti-EU and anti-immigration slogans. His political leanings were further trumpeted with a faded St George flag tattooed onto his fat blotchy neck. His red football top strained to contain his beer-gut where it oozed out and pressed up against the steering wheel. He had a wedding ring. That was good; he probably wasn’t one of those paedo-rapist taxi drivers, although the thought of being married to a man like that caused an involuntary shiver. Well, Zoe reasoned; the ring didn’t necessarily mean he was married. Nor did it mean he wasn’ta paedo-rapist!
"You all right there, Luv?" Eddie was scrutinising her again in the mirror.
“Actually” Zoe decided. “Just take me home, please”.
“I thought you said you were hungry?”
The smell of the cab had put her off eating anything. "Well to be honest," Zoe folded her arms. "I should probably get back to my friend, he'll be worried. He doesn't like it when I'm out late."
When the driver didn't respond Zoe hesitantly added: "The address is Chestnut Drive?"
“Right” the driver sighed heavily and began pressing buttons on the Sat Nav with one hand while steering the car with his other meaty paw. Her address appeared with the ‘Time to Destination’ reading ten minutes. That was reassuring. KFC would have been nearly double that.
Eddie reached up to touch his rabbit’s foot again and Zoe briefly wondered whether he was living with OCD. As if reading her mind Eddie explained: “My lucky rabbit’s foot. I’m not superstitious but… you can’t be too careful these days, what with that Black Angel murderer going around. Don’t worry though, Luv. You stick with your Uncle Eddie, and I’ll look after you.”
Zoe didn’t reply.
“So, if you ask me, it’s all down to Blair for opening our borders. You see, they let anyone in these days so it’s no wonder ordinary people are scared to go walking the streets.”
Zoe switched off while Eddie continued pointing out all the mistakes the government was making with Brexit and immigration and how it had brought the Black Angel killer to the UK. Zoe had read about a couple of local murders recently and social media, not the police, were linking them to the Black Angel. The Black Angel was an urban legend created on the Internet, like the Slenderman. The story said the Black Angel appeared as a black smudge or a dark haze in people’s photos or videos. It was only visible through a screen or a mirror and if you saw it moving towards you, you had to run. If it caught you on the screen, it kills you in real life. Kids loved scaring themselves with stories and there were apps that showed it chasing you in real time. According to the stories people had been killed in Toronto, Barcelona, Rome and most recently, in Brighton. It was a load of rubbish!
Zoe put her hands on her stomach as it sloshed audibly when Eddie made a sudden sharp turn to the right.
“Idiot!” He snarled out of his window. Zoe looked out of the rear window but didn’t see the other car or pedestrian.
“Damn. Bloody missed the turning now. Hang on, Luv”.
For some reason, they were now going in the wrong direction.
Had he missed that turning on purpose? Zoe was instantly alert. She sat back watching the buildings pass by. It was okay, as long as he took a right at the crossroads he could go down Wimborne Road and… Should she remind the driver that it was a 30 mile an hour zone down here? The driver put his foot down but hopefully, he was just making up for lost time. She watched curiously as they took another turn, much faster then she would have liked. They shared the uncomfortable silence until Zoe had to point out he’d missed the turning again and they were heading out of town.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get you home safely.”
His reassurance fell short of the mark.
"What? It's back. Hang on!" he snapped.
Zoe felt herself being pushed into the backseat as the car accelerated.
“Do you know where you’re going?”
The driver mumbled something as he threw the car into another sharp right-hand swerve. Adrenalin had replaced all the alcohol in her system.
“What are you doing?” Zoe’s voice was a little higher now.
“There’s something behind us.” His eyes were fixed on the rear-view mirror. Behind them the road was empty. There were no other cars. Or any sign of life.
“I can’t see anything. Look, just drop me off and I’ll walk.”
Eddie ignored her for a few moments before pointing at the Sat Nav. “Look at this.” he pointed a hairy finger at the display. Zoe peered between the seats causing the sticky seatbelt to dig into her exposed neck and shoulder. The screen showed the taxi as a small blue car in the middle of the main road. Behind it, a dark circular blob followed them. It was slowly expanding, filling the bottom of the screen. She’d never seen anything like that before. It rolled like smoke, twisting and curling behind the little blue car. Zoe felt stupid as she glanced backwards. There was nothing there! The driver was now doing nearly seventy miles an hour, heading out of town and into what looked like an industrial estate.
“I want to get out now” Zoe demanded. “Please, just let me out here!”
The driver turned his head and shot Zoe a look of total disbelief.
“We can’t stop here. It’s coming!”
“There’s nothing there. Just stop the car and let me out.”
“Look, we’ve got to go. I can't stop here."
“Yes, you can. Stop the car. Now!”
The taxi sped on. There were no other cars or houses around. No other witnesses.
Her phone was in her back pocket. She pulled it out but as she unlocked it the vehicle spun around another sharp bend. The phone flew from her hand and clattered down into the footwell behind the driver. Eddie swore as the taxi screeched to a halt, throwing her against the disgusting seatbelt once again. With thoughts of the Black Angel killer rushing through her mind Zoe slipped out of the seatbelt and scrabbled for her phone. Her hand brushed against something that felt like a large clump of hair in the grimy foot well but then she had it. As she sat up she was pushed forward as the car lurched backwards in reverse. Eddie was peering over his shoulder to look out of the back window.
“Dead end!”
Zoe caught sight of the Sat Nav, which confirmed this road was a dead end. Behind them, on the screen, the road and the rest of the industrial estate were curiously dark as if a fog had descended around them. Eddie slammed on the brakes again and pointed at the black probing tendrils reaching out from the mysterious fogbank behind them.
“Oh God” Eddie undid his seatbelt and dragged himself out of the car. Behind them, there was nothing but blackness.
This could easily be some elaborate trick. It was just dark because the moon was hidden behind a cloud. Everything was silent outside. Large two-story buildings interspersed with rolling garage doors flanked the road ahead of the shadow. Blank windows looked out at the empty road. There were no lights anywhere, save for the dim pool from the taxi’s headlights. There was no sign of life here either.
Zoe gripped her phone tightly as Eddie obese form wobbled round to her side of the car towards her. She couldn’t see a lock anywhere, but it was too late. His pudgy hand lifted the handle and he yanked the door open.
“Get out” he panted as if the exertion from hurrying around the side of the car had got him out of breath.
“I’m not going anywhere. You can’t do this.” Zoe said defiantly.
“What’s the matter with you? Run!” He tried to reach a greasy hand into the back seat, but Zoe pushed him away. Her hands balled into fists and she twisted around, raising a foot to kick him.
“Don’t touch me.”
But Eddie wasn't listening. Something behind the car had his attention. Zoe pushed him aside scrambled out of the taxi. If she stayed in there she'd be trapped. Eddie stepped backwards, distracted by whatever was behind them and Zoe slipped past him.
“It’s the Black Angel” Eddie backed away from the car, hurrying down the road. The black steam was billowing silently in the windless night. It moved like a jet of ink in water, swelling, twisting and reforming itself. Tiny silver dots, like stars, twinkled in its depths, reminding Zoe of an astral nebular she’d seen on a recent episode of Star Trek. The miasma rolled closer. Tendrils of black light coiled outwards as if probing its surroundings before retracting back into the mass. It wasn’t a natural phenomenon, there was an intelligence there, guiding it forward, towards the empty taxi. It was beautiful, almost hypnotic in its enigmatic parade. Zoe remained motionless as it drifted up to her, towering over her in eerie silence.
Several meters away Eddie was banging on windows and rattling metal doors, but everything was locked up. Of course, everything would be locked up at this time of night. He was getting desperate now. She could hear it in his loud cursing. Zoe turned her attention back to the impenetrable mist and a second later it fell upon her. Darkness engulfed Zoe as the entity surrounded her. As she breathed in the magic of the night she felt its presence, its consciousness, and its hunger.
Yes. Run away. She thought as she lifted a finger and pointed it towards Eddie. His lucky rabbit’s foot wouldn’t protect him. He didn’t even know what he was running from. This glorious cloud of the deepest night wasn’t the Black Angel. The cloud was the Black Angel’s companion; her friend and it didn’t like it when she was out too late. It was silently flowing towards the doomed taxi driver where he tried to back himself into a narrow recess between two warehouses. Poor Eddie had been carrying the Black Angel in the back of his cab for the last twenty minutes. Zoe smiled as he screamed, and she decided that; yes, she did still love the thrill of the chase.
“Looks like you’ve had a good night, Luv?” The driver eyed Zoe in the mirror as she collapsed into the back seat. The smell of fried food and spicy aftershave was almost suffocating as she closed the door. Dried crumbs rolled under her fingers as she hauled herself up into a sitting position and found the windows didn’t open.
“So?” he waited. “Where to, Luv?”
Zoe screwed up her eyes and the world revolved like a merry-go-round. She belched quietly and felt the sickly burn of ale bubbling up her throat. Now more than ever, she regretted having that seventh pint.
“Oh, I don’t know. Take me to KFC will you,” she managed after a moment. “I need some proper food before I go home.”
The driver grunted, touched a rabbit's foot that was hanging from his rear-view mirror and pulled out into the traffic and they were away. Darkened buildings and drunken revellers passed by as the car sailed out of the town centre. The driver's beady eyes were staring back at her in the mirror, but he returned his gaze to the road a split-second after Zoe caught him looking. An AFC Bournemouth air freshener was hanging from the dashboard, but it clearly didn’t work as the stale odour of the car still burned her nostrils. It was as if the driver worked, ate and slept in here. His ID certificate on the dashboard said his name was Eddie. Next to this were peeling stickers detailing anti-EU and anti-immigration slogans. His political leanings were further trumpeted with a faded St George flag tattooed onto his fat blotchy neck. His red football top strained to contain his beer-gut where it oozed out and pressed up against the steering wheel. He had a wedding ring. That was good; he probably wasn’t one of those paedo-rapist taxi drivers, although the thought of being married to a man like that caused an involuntary shiver. Well, Zoe reasoned; the ring didn’t necessarily mean he was married. Nor did it mean he wasn’ta paedo-rapist!
"You all right there, Luv?" Eddie was scrutinising her again in the mirror.
“Actually” Zoe decided. “Just take me home, please”.
“I thought you said you were hungry?”
The smell of the cab had put her off eating anything. "Well to be honest," Zoe folded her arms. "I should probably get back to my friend, he'll be worried. He doesn't like it when I'm out late."
When the driver didn't respond Zoe hesitantly added: "The address is Chestnut Drive?"
“Right” the driver sighed heavily and began pressing buttons on the Sat Nav with one hand while steering the car with his other meaty paw. Her address appeared with the ‘Time to Destination’ reading ten minutes. That was reassuring. KFC would have been nearly double that.
Eddie reached up to touch his rabbit’s foot again and Zoe briefly wondered whether he was living with OCD. As if reading her mind Eddie explained: “My lucky rabbit’s foot. I’m not superstitious but… you can’t be too careful these days, what with that Black Angel murderer going around. Don’t worry though, Luv. You stick with your Uncle Eddie, and I’ll look after you.”
Zoe didn’t reply.
“So, if you ask me, it’s all down to Blair for opening our borders. You see, they let anyone in these days so it’s no wonder ordinary people are scared to go walking the streets.”
Zoe switched off while Eddie continued pointing out all the mistakes the government was making with Brexit and immigration and how it had brought the Black Angel killer to the UK. Zoe had read about a couple of local murders recently and social media, not the police, were linking them to the Black Angel. The Black Angel was an urban legend created on the Internet, like the Slenderman. The story said the Black Angel appeared as a black smudge or a dark haze in people’s photos or videos. It was only visible through a screen or a mirror and if you saw it moving towards you, you had to run. If it caught you on the screen, it kills you in real life. Kids loved scaring themselves with stories and there were apps that showed it chasing you in real time. According to the stories people had been killed in Toronto, Barcelona, Rome and most recently, in Brighton. It was a load of rubbish!
Zoe put her hands on her stomach as it sloshed audibly when Eddie made a sudden sharp turn to the right.
“Idiot!” He snarled out of his window. Zoe looked out of the rear window but didn’t see the other car or pedestrian.
“Damn. Bloody missed the turning now. Hang on, Luv”.
For some reason, they were now going in the wrong direction.
Had he missed that turning on purpose? Zoe was instantly alert. She sat back watching the buildings pass by. It was okay, as long as he took a right at the crossroads he could go down Wimborne Road and… Should she remind the driver that it was a 30 mile an hour zone down here? The driver put his foot down but hopefully, he was just making up for lost time. She watched curiously as they took another turn, much faster then she would have liked. They shared the uncomfortable silence until Zoe had to point out he’d missed the turning again and they were heading out of town.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get you home safely.”
His reassurance fell short of the mark.
"What? It's back. Hang on!" he snapped.
Zoe felt herself being pushed into the backseat as the car accelerated.
“Do you know where you’re going?”
The driver mumbled something as he threw the car into another sharp right-hand swerve. Adrenalin had replaced all the alcohol in her system.
“What are you doing?” Zoe’s voice was a little higher now.
“There’s something behind us.” His eyes were fixed on the rear-view mirror. Behind them the road was empty. There were no other cars. Or any sign of life.
“I can’t see anything. Look, just drop me off and I’ll walk.”
Eddie ignored her for a few moments before pointing at the Sat Nav. “Look at this.” he pointed a hairy finger at the display. Zoe peered between the seats causing the sticky seatbelt to dig into her exposed neck and shoulder. The screen showed the taxi as a small blue car in the middle of the main road. Behind it, a dark circular blob followed them. It was slowly expanding, filling the bottom of the screen. She’d never seen anything like that before. It rolled like smoke, twisting and curling behind the little blue car. Zoe felt stupid as she glanced backwards. There was nothing there! The driver was now doing nearly seventy miles an hour, heading out of town and into what looked like an industrial estate.
“I want to get out now” Zoe demanded. “Please, just let me out here!”
The driver turned his head and shot Zoe a look of total disbelief.
“We can’t stop here. It’s coming!”
“There’s nothing there. Just stop the car and let me out.”
“Look, we’ve got to go. I can't stop here."
“Yes, you can. Stop the car. Now!”
The taxi sped on. There were no other cars or houses around. No other witnesses.
Her phone was in her back pocket. She pulled it out but as she unlocked it the vehicle spun around another sharp bend. The phone flew from her hand and clattered down into the footwell behind the driver. Eddie swore as the taxi screeched to a halt, throwing her against the disgusting seatbelt once again. With thoughts of the Black Angel killer rushing through her mind Zoe slipped out of the seatbelt and scrabbled for her phone. Her hand brushed against something that felt like a large clump of hair in the grimy foot well but then she had it. As she sat up she was pushed forward as the car lurched backwards in reverse. Eddie was peering over his shoulder to look out of the back window.
“Dead end!”
Zoe caught sight of the Sat Nav, which confirmed this road was a dead end. Behind them, on the screen, the road and the rest of the industrial estate were curiously dark as if a fog had descended around them. Eddie slammed on the brakes again and pointed at the black probing tendrils reaching out from the mysterious fogbank behind them.
“Oh God” Eddie undid his seatbelt and dragged himself out of the car. Behind them, there was nothing but blackness.
This could easily be some elaborate trick. It was just dark because the moon was hidden behind a cloud. Everything was silent outside. Large two-story buildings interspersed with rolling garage doors flanked the road ahead of the shadow. Blank windows looked out at the empty road. There were no lights anywhere, save for the dim pool from the taxi’s headlights. There was no sign of life here either.
Zoe gripped her phone tightly as Eddie obese form wobbled round to her side of the car towards her. She couldn’t see a lock anywhere, but it was too late. His pudgy hand lifted the handle and he yanked the door open.
“Get out” he panted as if the exertion from hurrying around the side of the car had got him out of breath.
“I’m not going anywhere. You can’t do this.” Zoe said defiantly.
“What’s the matter with you? Run!” He tried to reach a greasy hand into the back seat, but Zoe pushed him away. Her hands balled into fists and she twisted around, raising a foot to kick him.
“Don’t touch me.”
But Eddie wasn't listening. Something behind the car had his attention. Zoe pushed him aside scrambled out of the taxi. If she stayed in there she'd be trapped. Eddie stepped backwards, distracted by whatever was behind them and Zoe slipped past him.
“It’s the Black Angel” Eddie backed away from the car, hurrying down the road. The black steam was billowing silently in the windless night. It moved like a jet of ink in water, swelling, twisting and reforming itself. Tiny silver dots, like stars, twinkled in its depths, reminding Zoe of an astral nebular she’d seen on a recent episode of Star Trek. The miasma rolled closer. Tendrils of black light coiled outwards as if probing its surroundings before retracting back into the mass. It wasn’t a natural phenomenon, there was an intelligence there, guiding it forward, towards the empty taxi. It was beautiful, almost hypnotic in its enigmatic parade. Zoe remained motionless as it drifted up to her, towering over her in eerie silence.
Several meters away Eddie was banging on windows and rattling metal doors, but everything was locked up. Of course, everything would be locked up at this time of night. He was getting desperate now. She could hear it in his loud cursing. Zoe turned her attention back to the impenetrable mist and a second later it fell upon her. Darkness engulfed Zoe as the entity surrounded her. As she breathed in the magic of the night she felt its presence, its consciousness, and its hunger.
Yes. Run away. She thought as she lifted a finger and pointed it towards Eddie. His lucky rabbit’s foot wouldn’t protect him. He didn’t even know what he was running from. This glorious cloud of the deepest night wasn’t the Black Angel. The cloud was the Black Angel’s companion; her friend and it didn’t like it when she was out too late. It was silently flowing towards the doomed taxi driver where he tried to back himself into a narrow recess between two warehouses. Poor Eddie had been carrying the Black Angel in the back of his cab for the last twenty minutes. Zoe smiled as he screamed, and she decided that; yes, she did still love the thrill of the chase.