by Chris Cooper
The blare of sirens echoed through the industrial park.
“We better get out of here,” Oliver said.
Ruby walked to the driver’s side of the car and hopped inside.
“So what do we do with him?” Asher pointed at the henchman still strapped to the gurney.
“Let the police find him,” Oliver replied.
As they drove down the windy drive, the car backfiring once or twice along the way, Oliver looked into the rearview mirror as the building burned behind him. When they reached the main road and the first signs of civilization, a fire truck raced past toward the flaming building.
Chapter Fourteen
The sun rose as the stolen car sputtered into Christchurch. Oliver parked next to the town hall and scanned the horizon for roaming blood seekers.
The bodies of two seekers lay in the stone walkway to the hall’s front entrance. The doors were still locked tight, so Oliver pounded hard on one with his fist.
“Who’s there?” The voice on the other side sounded like Martin’s.
“Oliver,” he replied.
“Oh, thank God.”
Gideon was the first to stick his head out, sword still clenched in a fist, prepared for any surprises. When he saw Oliver, his expression softened, and he opened the door wide.
The townsfolk inside rushed toward them.
Oliver spotted Eric in the crowd as he approached. “We still have work to do,” he said. “Blood seekers are still running around Briarwood, and we have to find Izzy. The train is gone, so you shouldn’t have any trouble calling the station in Amberley.”
“So the storm was just a trick?” Eric asked.
“Just an illusion,” Oliver replied.
“What happened to the woman?” Eric asked.
Oliver lowered his head. “She and the Collector are both dead. We’ve got to get back to get Izzy and take care of the remaining blood seekers.”
“You should let the police handle it. Once we get more people over here—”
“You’ve seen what the seekers are capable of. Do you really want to send a bunch of officers into the woods?” Oliver asked. “They may have guns, but the seekers are wild animals. We’ve got more than enough firepower, and we know the town layout. We can take care of them.”
Eric rubbed his temples. “You haven’t steered me wrong so far. Just go before I change my mind.”
“I’m coming with you,” Ruby said. “Should be of some use to you now that I’ve gotten my power back.”
Oliver turned to Asher.
“I know, I know—I’ll stay here where it’s safe.”
“No,” Oliver replied. “I was going to say we should all go together.”
Asher grinned.
Oliver made one final march to Briarwood with Ruby, Anna, Asher, and Gideon close at his side. Gideon seemed eager to get back, his hands fiddling with the wrappings on the hilt of his sword.
“I’m sure they’re okay,” Oliver said.
As they approached the center of town, the bodies of several blood seekers lay scattered throughout the square, arrows lying haphazardly next to them.
“Aymes must have been practicing his aim.” Oliver traced the edge of the town hall up to the metal lantern and saw the archer perched in the shattered window frame.
When he saw the group, he jumped from his seat and waved his bow enthusiastically.
“Praise be!” he yelled. “I was starting to think you’d all been slaughtered. Is the Collector dead?”
“Roasted!” Oliver shouted back. He felt a twinge of sadness when he thought of the woman running back into the blaze. “We came to help clear the town of blood seekers.”
Aymes gestured for them to come inside. Oliver’s ankle throbbed as they approached the side door. The long walk through the woods had taken its toll on him.
After a few knocks on the wooden door, the viewing window slid open, revealing the Clockmaker’s wild eyebrows and smiling eyes on the other side.
The reinforcement bar fell to the floor, and the Clockmaker opened the door. “So good to see you!” As they entered, he looked at Ruby. “Who is your friend?”
“My name’s Ruby,” she replied as she looked around the workroom.
“Nice to meet you, Ruby,” he replied. “Izzy is waiting upstairs for you with the others.”
He led them to the entrance of the main hall and pulled the heavy doors open.
Oliver scanned the room for Izzy. Pan lay cuddled against her as both napped in the corner of the room, and Nekko gnawed on a piece of straw nearby, clearly unhappy with her Briarwood diet.
“Izzy!” he shouted.
Izzy jolted awake. Pieces of straw stuck in her hair as she stood and rushed toward them, Pan close behind.
“You made it,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “I was so worried.” She tried to hug Oliver, Anna, and Asher at once, but her reach was too narrow, so she settled for one at a time.
“The Collector is dead, but we’ve still got to clear the rest of the blood seekers from town,” Oliver said.
Izzy looked at Ruby. “Wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again,” Izzy said.
“She’s been preoccupied,” Oliver said. “But we need to get to Aymes and clear out the town before the police get here and start snooping around.”
“I guess I’ll just return to the hay then,” Izzy replied. “It’s actually quite comfortable once you bunch it up the right way.”
They reached the platform and the empty blood pool above the atrium.
“Asher’s told me about this place, at least the bits and pieces he could remember, but words don’t do it justice,” Ruby said, admiring the copper door as they passed through.
Aymes stood from his perch in front of the window. Gideon approached, and the two slapped each other’s shoulders in a manly embrace.
“Good to see you, my friend,” Aymes said.
“We've come back to kill the rest of the blood seekers,” Oliver said.
“And how do you plan to destroy them? With that puny little explosive sword of yours?”
Oliver pulled the Collector’s lighter from his pocket. “The Collector’s power wasn’t his own.” He flicked the lighter and formed a small fireball in his hand. “I’m sure we can destroy the blood seekers with it.” Although he was better able to control the flame, Oliver was running out of blood vials to heal himself from the inevitable burns. He only hoped they’d last until the group cleared the town.
Aymes backed toward the window. “So we’re resorting to dark magic, then? What about her?” Aymes pointed at Ruby. “She a witch too?”
Ruby lifted her arm and pointed her hand toward the broken window. The jagged edges of broken glass shifted, forming razor-like teeth held together by the corroded copper frame. The archer stepped back into the room as the giant metal maw snapped shut around him, enclosing him in a mouth made of metal and glass.
“Still don’t think women can help?” Anna asked.
“Let me out!” Aymes shouted as he cowered in his imaginary cage.
“Keep him in there for a minute.” Anna grinned.
“Well, are we going to clear the town of blood seekers or stand here?” Asher asked.
“I’ve been wondering the same thing,” Ruby replied.
She seemed enamored with her surroundings. Had the situation been different, this would have been the perfect place to come to find odd trinkets for The Parlor.
Oliver had been quite frightened of the blood seekers before, but the power of the lighter surged through him, begging to be used. Oliver, Aymes, Gideon, and Ruby moved from building to building, searching for blood seekers and dispatching them along the way. Bursts of flame shot between the trees as they approached the back end of Briarwood. Now and then, when the burns became too much to bear, Oliver would stop to apply a vial of blood to his singed skin. He did his best to leave the buildings intact, allowing the others to dispatch those few seekers found indoors. He thought of Izzy’s home, now a pile of
ash. He wanted to ensure those in the hall had homes to return to, if only temporarily. They had been through enough. When the group had trouble luring them from the buildings, Ruby would draw the seekers out with an illusion.
Aymes had been right—most of the seekers had scattered to the back end of Briarwood, shifting to a large barn next to the forest when their source of human nourishment had dwindled.
A small farm cottage sat beside the large barn.
“Shall we go inside?” Oliver asked.
“Burn it,” Aymes replied.
“What about the house?” Oliver asked.
“Both are mine. Burn them,” he said once more.
Aymes turned his back while Oliver swept his hand back and forth, flames spewing out and overtaking the wooden structures. As the barn caught, two or three blood seekers pushed through the flames and out the large barn door.
Before Oliver could call Aymes’s attention to them, Gideon tapped the archer on the shoulder. Oliver watched Aymes’s face as he downed the blood seekers. He wondered if the man had had a family but quickly ushered the thought from his mind.
When they returned to the hall, Oliver saw flashing lights at the top of the hill. Several figures waited in the distance, leaning against police cruisers. Eric must have told them to hold off, to give Oliver a chance to take care of things.
Oliver thought for a moment, looking at the hulking figure of Gideon with his broadsword.
“The police will take this place over,” he said.
“Who?” Aymes asked.
They have no idea who police are.
“Men who enforce the law. Now that the barrier is broken, they will find the town hall and may take the people inside.”
Aymes tightened his grip on his bow. “Then we will kill them before they have the chance.”
“No, they are here to help you. They will ensure your people’s safety.”
“Why should we trust the outsiders?”
Oliver massaged his temples. “I’m an outsider… Look, we don’t have time to debate this. Trust me. And you have to hide your weapons.”
Aymes scoffed.
“Blend in with the other townspeople. Let them find you in the hall. If you have weapons, it will only lead to more questions and make you look responsible for all the violence. You’ll be lumped in with the blood seekers.”
Aymes looked at Gideon.
Gideon patted Oliver on the shoulder and nodded.
“Modern life isn’t so bad,” Ruby added, “medicine, reliable food, and a definite lack of bloodthirsty creatures.”
Gideon dropped his broadsword on the ground and gestured for Aymes to do the same with his bow. Aymes reluctantly set his bow down and unslung the quiver from his shoulder.
As they reached the hall, Oliver ushered Gideon and Aymes inside. “We’ll shut you in here and let them discover you. Just pretend you’ve been locked away,” he said.
As Gideon turned toward the people inside the hall, Oliver grabbed his arm.
Gideon turned toward him, and they locked eyes.
“Thank you for all you’ve done,” Oliver said. “I’m sorry about Mercy. I wish we could have saved her.”
Gideon looked at the floor.
“Once you’re out of here, come find us. Not sure what’s next, now that Izzy’s house is gone, but we’ll have a place for you. You’re family. The same goes for Aymes and Clockmaker.”
Gideon looked up from the ground, eyes red but refusing to shed tears. He grabbed Oliver by his shoulder and pulled him in for a rugged warrior hug.
After Izzy and Anna corralled Pan and Nekko, Oliver and Ruby barricaded the door into the meeting hall.
The group reached the town square, and Oliver turned back to take one last look at Briarwood’s hall. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever return since Izzy’s house had been destroyed or if he’d ever see any of his Briarwood comrades again.
They broke through the tree line to the field downhill from Izzy’s.
“Do you think the police will take the town?” Asher asked.
“Bodies are scattered everywhere—they’d have to at least question the townspeople,” Anna replied.
“Do you think they’ll let them go back to Briarwood?”
No one seemed to know how to answer. Even if the citizens could return, Oliver was certain the town wouldn’t be permitted to continue as it had, outside the rule of law. And with many townspeople killed and resources destroyed, Briarwood’s remaining self-sufficient would be difficult.
The sight must have been strange for the police officers to behold—five humans, a feline, and a corgi pup ascending the hill into Christchurch square.
Will rounded his police cruiser. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“Just a few bumps,” Oliver replied.
“Wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep the others from stumbling down this way. Eric sent me down here to keep an eye out.”
“Are these Amberley officers?”
“Amberley, Circleville—half the damned state’s mulling around or on its way.”
Will gestured for them to enter the cruiser. “Come on, I’ll take you to the police station. Eric’s waiting for you.”
They crammed into the vehicle, a feat in itself with five adventurers and two animals, and headed toward the police station, which was abuzz with activity.
Eric stood talking to another officer—one who appeared to be much higher in the chain of command, based on appearance and demeanor. Eric looked toward them as they entered. “If this isn’t déjà vu…” he said as he rushed over. “Do what you need to do?” he asked under his breath.
Oliver nodded. “The townspeople are in the hall. Make sure they’re taken care of.”
“Will mentioned seeing fire down the hill. Want to tell me what that’s all about?”
Oliver grinned. “The job’s done. What more do you need to know?”
Chapter Fifteen
Oliver awoke to corgi feet shuffling around his head. He stretched his back and cracked his neck, trying to ease a large crick that had formed at its base. Asher was snoozing on the couch next to him, and Pan licked his hand, which hung slack over the edge of the couch.
The cottage had been quiet, for such a tiny house packed with so many people. Oliver wrapped the blanket he’d been using around his shoulders and walked to the kitchen in search of a caffeine source. He spotted a coffee pot and a bag of beans in the corner next to the sink, and as he grabbed the pot to fill it with fresh water, he noticed Izzy sitting on one of the wooden lounge chairs outside.
“Aren’t you freezing out here?” he asked, poking his head out the back door.
“Oh, it’s not that bad,” she replied, patting the chair next to her. “Come sit for a minute.”
Oliver pulled the blanket tight and sat.
“What are you doing out here?”
“Just watching the waves.” Izzy rubbed her lips with her index finger.
The crisp breeze created ripples that stretched across the lake. The ducks had flown south for the winter, and most of the fish lay dormant at the bottom, pacified by the frigid water.
“How are you holding up?” he asked.
“It will take me a while to get over this one, kiddo. Just happy we all made it out alive—that’s what really matters.”
“Ruby says we could stay with her at The Parlor,” Oliver replied. “Think she’s looking for some company, now she’s decided to go back to Amberley. She’ll also need help to clean up the place.”
“That’s kind of her,” Izzy replied. “You know, Madeline offered us the same? Said we could stay with her as long as we need. Can you imagine? A year ago, that woman wouldn’t be caught dead with me, and now she’s offering to let us move in.”
“This town cares about you, Izzy.”
“We’ll need to stay somewhere until the insurance check clears—thank God for that.”
“Think you’ll rebuild there?”
“Dunno. Everything happens for
a reason—perhaps this is the cosmos’s way of telling us it’s time to try something new,” she replied.
“At least we still have the bakery and the hives,” Oliver said.
Asher stuck his face out through the crack in the back door.
“Anna’s making breakfast. She wanted to know how pancakes sound.”
“Delightful,” Izzy replied. “We’ll be in in a minute.”
“Better hurry—you’ll freeze out here.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that? It’s not that cold,” she replied.
Asher rubbed his arms as he closed the door and returned to the kitchen.
“It is supposed to snow again this weekend,” Oliver said. “Not quite a hallucinatory apocalyptic blizzard like this week, but snow all the same.”
“Bring it on,” Izzy replied.
Oliver looked out over the lake and recalled his conversation with Anna on the roof of The Horseman, more than a year prior. She would sit out back, look at the lake, and imagine she was somewhere else, maybe on the coast of an exotic country, anywhere but Christchurch. Looking back over his shoulder through the kitchen window and seeing Anna standing at the sink, he wondered if she still felt the same.
Oliver felt different about Christchurch now. Originally, the town had been an escape for him, a place to hide from responsibilities he didn’t care to face. But the more he’d gotten to know the town and the people in it, the more he realized the place wasn’t just an escape. Despite the challenges, the deaths, and the destruction he’d faced, all because of an invisible town on the other side of the woods, he couldn’t think of a place he’d rather be than there, in that moment, with all the others crammed into Anna’s cottage.
Anna called them inside for breakfast, and they gathered around the table in the tiny kitchen. For a second, everything felt as if it was back to normal as the sun rose over the town of Christchurch, and all seemed well with the sleepy little town.
One evening, Ruby brought a copy of the Amberley paper to Anna’s. They laughed as she read aloud the story of a mysterious cult hidden behind the borders of a little town down the road from Amberley. As the police scoured the woods, they discovered several dozen bodies scattered through a town hidden in the center and a group locked away in a large meeting hall. Those who had survived were carted away to be interviewed. The story wove an intricate tapestry of murder, Satan worship, and mass suicide—most of it complete nonsense.
