by Hamill, Ike
She advanced.
Glancing up the stairs to the second floor, she saw some lights on in the hallway. They weren’t bright enough to penetrate the open door of one of the rooms up there. That was fine with Amber. She hoped that the monsters had retreated into their rooms. That would mean that they weren’t lying in wait.
She paused at the front door of the house and then reached up to flip the deadbolt. Her hand paused on the latch and then she removed it. From her experience, the lock wouldn’t keep out the creatures and it might slow their retreat if something went terribly wrong. She proceeded into the library and waited for the others to catch up. The sound from the speakers muffled everything. She barely heard George’s footsteps. If it blotted out the hypnotic tapping from the creatures, Amber was glad for the noise.
“The lights are on,” George said, leaning close to be heard.
Amber nodded. She continued on. Through the kitchen, she could see that the back door was wide open. The cold air was blowing in. Amber stayed close to the left wall to keep away from the darkness of the back yard. George put a hand on her shoulder and she froze in place. When she turned, George was pointing down to Tucker. His upper lip was quivering and the hair on his back was standing up. Amber looked in the direction that he was staring. The tablecloth on the kitchen table stirred. It could have just been the wind, but based on Tucker’s reaction she didn’t think that was the case.
George crept forward. Using the tip of his stake, he flicked at the tablecloth, getting it to slide to one side. With another flick, gravity took over and it rippled to the floor. Amber didn’t see anything for a second. Then, when she pointed her light under the table she saw what looked like a dark blob. It was only visible for a moment before it disappeared.
Ricky crouched and added his light as he wrapped an arm around Tucker to make sure the dog didn’t get too close. Albert was pulling on the rope, trying to go back to his door to the basement.
The screeching sound started low and gradually built until Amber could hear it easily over the white noise from the speakers. The house lights flickered and then stabilized. George flipped his stake around and gave the table a good shove with the blunt end. The table screeched back a couple of inches and the horrifying wail from the creature under the table grew in intensity.
George lifted his foot and kicked the edge of the table. It didn’t slide far before one of the legs caught and it tipped. The creature was clinging to the underside. Amber saw it try to shift into the shadows, but Ricky tracked it with his light.
George and Amber both advanced, flanking on either side while Ricky highlighted its position with his light. The thing was letting out a high-pitch whine that made Amber want to plug up her ears. It was almost worse than the tapping. Instead of lulling her into a trance, the sound made her want to run out into the night regardless of the consequences.
Mary yelled something. Amber ignored it. She just needed to get a little closer.
“It’s a distraction!” Mary yelled again. She was waving her arms, sending her flashlight beam roving like a searchlight. Amber froze and looked to Mary for an explanation. George backed up. Alan began pointing over Amber’s shoulder and she turned. One of the cabinet doors was beginning to open. A creature was hiding in there, waiting for Amber to get close enough so that it could strike. They had sacrificed two of their own for the chance to infect Amber.
She ignored the screeching one and used the end of her spear to flick open the cabinet. It began to smoke immediately from the light. Amber jabbed and stabbed until it was gone. By that time, George had taken out the one under the table, and the horrible sound was gone.
They continued through the kitchen.
The purple lights mounted on the wall facing the shed were almost comforting. Amber no longer minded their weird, fuzzy glow. Alan threw open the door to the shed and waved everyone forward. It looked like the area was clear. The lights didn’t penetrate all the way to the end, but the flashlights didn’t pick up any movement down there. Mary propped the door open with a chair that she dragged into place so that they wouldn’t be cut off from retreat.
Tucker paused at the window while Albert cowered. Ricky had to practically drag Romeo’s dog along by the rope. Tucker was sniffing at the glass and looking out at the yard. Amber saw an island of light out there with Alan’s car in the middle. Purple lights spilled from the garage. Everything looked how they had left it.
“Your father’s not here yet,” Mary said.
“We should stay here,” George said. “We have multiple exits and we saw that those lights are wired directly into the batteries. We can’t be sure about the garage lights.”
Amber agreed and glanced around to see the rest of them nodding.
Thirty-Six: Ricky
The dogs knew that someone was coming before Ricky even saw the headlights. Albert began to pull on the rope even harder, and Tucker gave his tail a tentative wag. Tucker knew the sound of all their vehicles, and Albert was well-trained to hide at the approach of anyone new.
“He’s coming,” Ricky said.
They all turned to him.
“Dad, I mean.”
A moment later, they saw the headlights on the trees. Ricky’s father pulled up right next to Alan’s car and then rolled in closer to the purple lights of the garage. He gave his horn a couple of quick blasts. Mary started for the garage.
“Careful, Mom,” George said. “They have a way into the top of the garage, remember?”
“You want to stay here forever?” Mary asked as she continued towards the door.
“No, I just…”
George didn’t finish the sentence before their mom opened the door to the garage. The purple lights out there were even brighter. She peered carefully up above the doorway and then entered the garage, followed by Amber.
“My car better start,” Alan said. “Or it’s going to be a tight squeeze.”
Ricky looked up, squinting at the overhead lights, before he led the dogs through to the garage. Albert was pulling towards the truck, but Ricky snapped the rope to get him to go towards his father’s SUV. When Mary opened the rear door, Tucker bolted and jumped inside.
Ricky went around back to open the hatch and lift Albert up. The dog was hesitant and squirmed until Ricky lifted him. He shut the door and felt exposed back there, with only the taillights to protect him.
Alan’s starter sounded sluggish at first, but it gained speed and the engine turned over. Ricky heard his excited yell through the glass. Amber was exploring the back of Alan’s car with her flashlight and spear. She declared that it was safe. George and Mary were already in the vehicle with Vernon and the dogs.
For a moment, Ricky stood between the vehicles.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“Home,” Mary said after rolling her window down a couple of inches.
Ricky shook his head. He looked over at Romeo’s truck, wondering if Amber had been right about the keys being in it. He had a flashlight and he could borrow one of the headlamps, although the more he thought about it, he wondered if it would be safer to stay in Romeo’s house until it was closer to dawn. The place was somewhat protected with the white noise and the UV lights.
His mother said, “Ricky, get in the car.”
Ricky shook his head.
“No. To go back home? We already know it’s not safe there. I think we have the advantage here. I’m going to push on.”
“Push on?” his mother asked. “What does that even mean?”
Amber leaned over Alan and answered the question.
“He’s going back to the gravesite. It’s a decent idea,” Amber said.
“I’m thinking I’ll stay here until just before dawn and then…”
“No,” Amber said. “Hold on.”
She collected her things and got out of Alan’s car. Amber came around and stood with Ricky.
“No, I think we go now while there’s a chance he’s on his heels.”
Ricky t
hought about that and then nodded.
“Alan, thank you,” Ricky said. “Get back to your family. Mom, Dad, take George and Tucker back home.”
“No way,” George said. He opened his door. “We had a setback, but you’re right. We came up here to finish the job and we should do that.”
Mary put up her window and then turned to talk to their father.
George and Ricky exchanged a glance. They waited to hear the verdict. Sometimes Ricky felt like it would never matter how old he was or how independent he tried to make himself. His parents would always have the final say.
“Take what I have in the back, at least,” Alan said. “I didn’t bring much, but take my flashlights and everything in the trunk.”
Amber nodded. She headed for the back of his vehicle while he unlatched it.
Mary put her window down.
“Your father packed some stuff too. It’s in the back seat. We’ll take the dogs and go to Amber’s. Come there when you’re done.”
Ricky nodded and thanked his mother.
“Wait,” Alan said, after lowering his window again, “do you guys need my car? Amber’s car is dead, right?”
George jogged into the garage and leaned in to Romeo’s truck. A moment later, they heard the engine rumble to life.
“No,” Ricky said. “We’re stealing his. It’s the least he can do.”
Alan nodded. “Before you call the police about him, we should get on the same page.”
“Will do,” Ricky said.
He and Amber retreated to the purple light of the garage as the vehicles turned around and pulled off into the night. They started loading all their gear into the space behind the seats of the pickup.
“Hey, Amber?” Ricky said. He lifted the folded tarp in the bed of the truck to show her what he had found.
“My battery,” she said.
He nodded.
They piled into the truck. Ricky got behind the wheel.
# # #
He pulled up in front of Amber’s car and they all turned on their lights before he killed the engine.
Ricky put down his window and Amber lowered hers. They both threw out handfuls of seeds from Alan’s bag.
George adjusted his headlamp.
“Ready?” Ricky asked.
“If we get separated. We all come back here,” Amber said.
“Got it,” George said.
They got out.
“Stand guard for a second?” Amber asked. After checking under the rental car, George and Ricky took up posts on either side of Amber’s hood as she lugged the battery back to her vehicle. She found a pair of pliers in the back of Romeo’s truck and used them to tighten the positive cable. When she connected the negative to the terminal, the horn began to blare with the car’s alarm. Amber found the keys and punched the button to stop it.
“Should we go tell the person in that house that it was just us?” George asked. He was pointing towards Jan’s dark house.
“She’s dead,” Ricky said. “Romeo killed her.”
“Oh.”
Amber shut the car’s hood and brushed off her hands.
Nobody said a word as they marched down the road towards the path. George brought up the rear and he spun around every few steps to check behind them. In the distance, some large animal screeched. The sound echoed through the woods.
“He’s waiting for us,” Amber said.
“I feel it too, but we’ll see,” Ricky said. “It could be a trick.”
“This isn’t the first time someone has come for him,” Amber said. “We know that a mob came after him when he was stealing their animals and doing his experiments. It wouldn’t surprise me if others have come through the years. It’s safe to assume that he knows how to deal with people like us.”
They formed a triangle as they stepped down from the pavement to the dirt path. Amber was out in front. The brothers took up either side and pointed their lights to the woods.
“It’s too quiet,” George whispered.
“The snow just melted up here,” Ricky said. “The season is a couple of weeks behind.”
“Still…” George said.
Amber came to a stop at the edge of the stream. She had her light pointed at a stand of trees that were just up the hill.
“I saw something,” she said. “A set of eyes, maybe.”
George’s light flicked around, chasing after nothing.
“Well?” Ricky asked.
“Stay on this side of the stream for a second,” Amber said.
“Why?” George asked.
Amber didn’t answer. She jumped from one rock to the other and then started up the slope while Ricky and George waited. She moved fast until she was fairly close to the trees. Then, without notice she turned and sprinted back towards them. Amber reached the edge of the creek and jumped without trying to land on the rocks. She turned and they saw why she was running.
The thing that had followed her out of the woods skidded to a stop at the edge of the water. There was a patch of skin hanging from its skull and naked muscle and tendons showing on the side of its face. On one side of its chest, ribs showed white through a hole in its hide. The bare tail whipped back and forth—the bones clattered like a rattle. Its teeth gnashed and snapped, but there was no growling or barking. The thing’s eyes glowed with orange fury.
Amber stabbed forward from her position and missed the monster. It tried to snap at her spear but she pulled it back too fast.
Ricky rushed forward, splashing into the stream and tried to get a different angle to impale the thing.
“Don’t cross,” Amber said as she thrust again. “It hates running water.”
George stepped into the stream but didn’t attack. He held back, watching to make sure that Amber was right.
The tip of Ricky’s spear slid off the thing’s skull and he took out one of its eyes. It reared back, looking more like a horse than a dog. When it did, Amber stabbed low and caught it in the chest. It thrashed and wrestled but her spear was caught in its flesh. With it immobilized, Ricky was able to drive his spear down and take out the other eye. It jittered and quaked at the end of their weapons for a few seconds and then it was still.
“Scout?” Ricky asked.
Amber nodded. “Could be.”
She pulled her spear free. Ricky jerked his back, but it was lodged firmly in the former dog’s skull. The whole body came along with it. The thing was much heavier than Ricky would have imagined. He put his foot on the top of the skull so he could…
“Wait!” George shouted.
Ricky spun to see what his brother was shouting about and the dog spun under his boot and snapped its teeth. Ricky tumbled back, away from the jaws. He was still gripping his spear—that kept the thing at arm’s length for the moment, but it was strong. It stood and tried to lunge forward, nearly jerking the spear from Ricky’s hands. George waddled up, lugging a heavy rock from the river. The dog tried to twist and bite him, but Amber grabbed Ricky’s spear too and the two of them managed to hold it steady while George lifted and then slammed the rock down on its skull.
It went limp under the weight and Ricky was able to free his spear.
He took a deep breath and let it out with a shudder, thinking how close the teeth had come to grabbing his boot. There was no telling how infectious the horrible dog was, and he never wanted to find out.
George helped him to his feet and they collected themselves before heading up the trail.
# # #
Just before they reached the cemetery, Amber put up a hand and they all stopped. Something galloped through the woods a few dozen yards from their position. They heard it, but all they saw of the thing was a dark shape darting just past the reach of their flashlights.
“They’re close,” Amber whispered. “I feel it.”
Ricky looked to his brother. George’s headlamp was scanning all around as he turned his head this way and that, trying to look in every direction at once. Then, George froze. Without movin
g his head, George’s eyes strained to look up and then he locked eyes with Ricky, raising his eyebrows.
The brothers moved at the same time.
They both ducked down and swept their lights upward.
The creatures were hanging from branches and clinging to the trunks of trees, dangling as low as they dared towards the light. Ricky saw one just above Amber and he thrust his spear up, puncturing its soft skull as she ducked. George impaled one that was clinging to a tree. Amber realized what was happening and she spun around to spear one that was about to drop down from a branch. A couple escaped back up into the canopy, dodging from the beams of the lights, but they got several. Once killed, the creatures dissolved rapidly and then the remains practically evaporated before their eyes. George stared down at a smoking puddle.
“That was close,” he whispered.
“He has an army,” Ricky said.
“No,” Amber said, shaking her head. “Don’t think of it that way. These are his last desperate attempts to save himself. He’s frightened and he’s throwing out sacrifices.”
“It’s both,” George said. “They may be his last desperate efforts, but they’re definitely an army.”
Amber frowned and looked between the brothers.
“Lead on,” Ricky said.
“Yeah,” George said, nodding.
Slowly, Amber’s frown disappeared and she turned back towards the cemetery. They moved through the trees slowly. This time, they didn’t ignore the possibility of being attacked from above or below. Ricky imagined talons emerging from the leaves under his feet and grabbing his ankle. He tried to tell himself that he would be ready for that—ready for anything—but in reality he had no idea.
Amber circled to the right when they saw the first headstone. It felt impossible that they had just been there hours before. It felt like days or weeks had passed. The whole thing was one long nightmare.
“Look,” she whispered.
Ricky followed the beam of her flashlight and saw that the door to the tunnel was open. When George added his light to the door, it caught something slipping behind. Amber kept circling and pinned the creature with her light so she could stab it with her spear. Ricky and George kept watch to make sure she wasn’t attacked.
