The Creator

by Neil Carstairs

  The girl screamed again. Followed by Alfie barking like a wild dog. Through that sound came the drum roll of footsteps on stairs and splintering wood. Pete came to his feet. He grabbed Jane as she ran for the door. ‘Wait!’

  She tried to pull free but Pete held on. He dragged her back as he reached for his bedside cabinet. He yanked a drawer open and pulled out a big silver automatic. Jane stared at it and then at Pete. She saw him change. He became the cop he’d been for years. He took a couple of seconds to pull on a pair of boxer shorts and shoved his shirt into her hands. He ordered her to put it on and then he was out of the door and onto the landing.

  Julie came out of her room. She saw Pete and his gun and behind him Jane, half-naked and trying to button up the man’s shirt she wore. Pete ran past Julie, without seeing her. He held the gun out and kicked his way into the third bedroom that the contractor had sub-divided to put in the staircase up to the loft conversion. The stairs were to his left. He stepped through the door that led to them and looked up. Pete had faced all kinds of things when he’d been a cop. Crackheads with knives, gang-bangers with guns and drunks with broken bottles. He’d never faced the thing that waited at the top of the staircase.

  Short and squat. Grey skin, dried to parchment, and elongated limbs. A big, swollen head dominated by bulbous jaws holding curved fangs and centred by eyes that glowed like the embers of a fire. Pete put the sights of the automatic in the middle of the creature’s body mass. Its arms unfolded, hands opened to reveal long fingers tipped by razor sharp claws.

  Pete put one round into the creature’s chest. It fell back as flesh popped in a burst of desiccated material. Pete went up the steps two at a time. He stepped over the dead thing in the threshold of the door and swept the gun round the empty room.

  Empty except for the body of Alfie that lay beneath an open window. Pete went to the retriever. He knelt in a pool of blood that came from a tear in the dog’s throat. He had a moment of pain at Alfie’s death and then heard Jane coming up the stairs as she called for Emily. Pete went to the window. The builder had put a narrow balcony in around the loft conversion fronted by a white balustrade that did little more than add a bit of character. In the dim light Pete could see claw marks on the paintwork. Further on where the sloping roof of the upper level met the lower roof of a ground floor extension he saw broken tiles.

  ‘Emily! Emily!’

  Jane stumbled into the room. She saw the dead thing and then Alfie and her voice rose into a scream. Pete reached her as Julie came in. She dragged Jane around and hugged her tight. ‘Quiet now. Quiet now. We need to be calm to face this.’

  Jane pulled back and turned to Pete. ‘Where is she?’

  ‘Outside. More of those creatures must have taken her.’

  ‘Outside?’

  ‘You stay here. I’ll go look for her.’

  ‘You won’t find her on your own.’ Jane pulled free of Julie.

  ‘‘Those things are only small. They can’t travel fast.’

  ‘You don’t know that.’

  ‘Jane,’ Julie said, her voice sharp. ‘Don’t argue. We get dressed and we all go outside.’

  ‘Yes, yes.’ Jane’s eyes were wide with fear. She led Pete and Julie back down the stairs. Pete threw on a pair of jeans and a Chicago Bears sweatshirt. He was first outside and ran down to the street. He stood in the cold night air and listened for any kind of sound. Jane and Julie joined him. ‘Why are you just standing here?’ Jane asked.

  ‘I’m trying to hear them,’ Pete said.

  Julie caught his eye and said, ‘If they were anywhere nearby we would hear them. Emily would be making a noise at the very least.’

  ‘If she’s still alive,’ Jane said.

  ‘Of course she is,’ Julie said. ‘Now, you two go on foot. I’ll circle the block in the car and come back in, that way we can get them in a pincer movement.’

  Pete led Jane towards the nearest intersection just for something to do. He had no idea if Emily still lived. The dead thing in the bedroom looked more built for killing than kidnapping so unless they had a reason for keeping the girl alive Pete thought they’d find Emily dead in a neighbour’s garden. ‘Have you ever seen a creature like that one back in the house?’ he asked.

  ‘I’ve seen pictures of worse,’ Jane said.

  ‘You have?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Is this to do with the government unit Emily worked for?’

  ‘Yes.’’ Jane shivered. She still wore Pete’s shirt and only had her denims and trainers on. ‘There is something wicked in the world bringing things like that to life. We were trying to stop it.’

  ‘So how did it find Emily?’

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe it can sense her because of her talent.’

  Pete stopped and looked back.

  ‘What is it?’ Jane asked.

  ‘I thought I heard something,’ Pete said.

  ***

  Julie drove the little red hire car around the block. She had all the windows down and the wind chill made her shiver. She stopped at each intersection with a quick look left and right, up and down. Only security lights shone at any houses and no other vehicles were on the road. A quiet neighbourhood at a quiet time of night. She took the next left. She glanced into gardens as well to see if anything moved. At the same time, Julie had part of her mind concentrating on the ether. She tried to sense anything unnatural or the psychic emanations from Emily and the things that had taken her.

  Another intersection approached. Julie felt the pull, a little electric spark in her heart that made her brake the car and swing it one-eighty degrees. She felt them, somewhere ahead. The car picked up speed. Headlights reached out and sought movement. Julie saw them as they hurried down the centre of the road. They carried the pale form of a child. Julie floored the accelerator. The engine revved high as the car leapt forward. The creatures turned, dazzled by the headlights as Julie flicked them to main beam. One clung to Emily as the others came to meet her. Julie picked the one on the left.

  The thing flipped up as the car struck it. Julie saw its face in the moment before the creature hit the windshield and the head exploded like an overripe melon. Julie stamped on brakes and the car skidded to a halt. Emily lay in the road. One of the things hunched over her like a raptor protecting its prey. Julie saw rips in Emily’s T-shirt and through them bloody scars on the girl’s body. The thing hissed a warning. Julie ignored it. She ran forward and kicked the creature in the chest. It hadn’t expected an attack and fell back with a grunt. Julie saw Emily look up, her eyes stark with terror.

  ‘Run!’ Julie reached down and pulled Emily to her feet. ‘Get to the car.’

  She pushed Emily ahead. The driver’s side door stood open and the interior looked like a blessed sanctuary. Emily dived head first into the gap. She scrabbled to get across to the passenger seat. Julie fell as pain seared her right leg. She turned. One of the creatures had its jaws clamped around her calf and it pushed against the asphalt road to drag her away from the car. Julie kicked with her free leg, only a glancing blow that the thing ignored. Beyond it, the one she had freed Emily from regained its feet and came closer.

  Julie felt a hand on her arm as Emily leant out of the car to pull her in. Julie screamed. Muscles tore and blood sprayed out around the creature’s face as it bit again. She felt faint as vomit filled her mouth. Behind her Emily sobbed. Before her, she saw the second creature leap.

  Julie used all her will to turn. She pushed Emily into the car, ignoring the ten-year-old’s scream of fear. Julie slammed the door shut. Emily’s pale face appeared against the glass in the moment before a heavy weight smacked Julie into the bodywork of the car. She felt her breath explode from her lungs as claws sank deep into her shoulder. The creature lifted Julie and flung her aside. She bounced off the blacktop and came to rest on her side. Blood flowed freely from her leg and shoulder wounds. Darkness closed in.

  The creature pawed at the glass and metal of the car door, desperate to re
ach Emily. Julie tried to rise but the strength flowed from her body. She sensed movement. The creature that had torn her leg came to her. Its face glistened with the red of her blood in the street lights. Its claws rose and fell. They drove deep into Julie’s abdomen before they pulled back with a force that tore Julie apart. Her body jolted as her mind became lost in a flare of agony. Julie saw its face come close to feed on the blood that ran from her.

  And then feed on her flesh.

  ***

  Pete kept himself in decent condition. He ran a couple of five-mile loops of the neighbourhood two or three times a week when he could. But this desperate sprint along the streets of Westchester left a burning hole in his chest as he saw the splash of light from the headlamps of the red hire car. A surge of fear pushed him forward as he saw one creature beating at the car and another feeding on the still form of a body. A scream of rage built up. He ran without thought as his legs turned leaden. The creatures heard him. One left its attack on the car. The other lifted a face covered in blood and flesh. Both prepared to meet him.

  Pete stumbled to a halt. He had the gun up, but his arms shook with exhaustion as he focussed on the first shape, silhouetted by the car lights. He fired three times and hit it twice in the stomach. The third round bounced off the road somewhere. The second creature hesitated. It gave Pete time to steady his hands and put two rounds through its chest. He sank to his knees and wiped sweat from his eyes. Lights flicked on in the houses that fronted the road. That got Pete up. When he reached the car he saw Julie spread-eagled on the road, her bottle blonde hair matted and dark with blood. He saw no sign of Emily. Pete heard Jane calling and saw her run out of the dark. He also saw movement. A pale shape that shifted in the shadow of the car. Pete wrenched the door open. Emily had curled into a ball across the seats of the car. She screamed as the door opened. ‘Emily.’ Pete reached in. ‘Emily it’s me. Peter.’

  ‘Pete?’

  He got hold of Emily and hauled her out. ‘You’re safe.’

  Emily wept. Her tears soaked into his sweatshirt. He turned to Jane and rocked back as she threw herself against Emily. There were no words, just noises, as Jane took Emily from him. Pete leant against the car, feeling a sudden low as the adrenalin that had spurred him on left his body. ‘Where’s Julie?’ Jane asked over Emily’s head. She got her answer from Pete’s face. ‘No.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Pete said.

  ‘She saved my life,’ Emily said from Jane’s shoulder.

  They heard another voice, a man’s voice, as it shouted, ‘Whoever you are I’ve called the police. They’ll be here any minute.’

  ‘We can’t see the police,’ Jane said in fear.

  ‘Jane, you have to,’ Pete said but Jane turned away with Emily in her arms.

  ‘Stop!’ the man shouted at them.

  Pete started after Jane and then flinched as a gunshot rang out as the man fired at them. Pete saw the portly shape of the householder backlit by a security light. The man raised his hands again and Pete saw the gun he held aim at Jane and Emily. Pete fired high, the round going over the man’s head frightened him enough to scuttle back to his house. Pete swore. He ran after Jane and when he reached her he took Emily out of her arms. He led the way. He cut down a footpath that bisected one block until they emerged on his street and reached the safety of his house. ‘Get Emily cleaned up and dressed,’ Pete said.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Jane looked ready to flee if Pete said he wanted to call the police.

  ‘I’ve got cash in a safe. We’ll go to a cabin I’ve got up in the lakes. We can stop off at a twenty-four-hour mall to get you clothes and food.’

  ‘You’re not calling the police?’

  ‘No. There are people up there who can help us.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Hunters. Survivalists. People I interviewed for one of my books. They’ll help. We need to stay off the grid. Find out what’s going on before we make contact with the authorities. The best people would be the ones you showed me in the newspaper.’

  Jane sat next to Emily. She cradled her daughter. ‘They might not trust me any longer. They might want to take Emily away from me.’

  ‘If they do,’ Pete said. ‘They’ll have me to answer for.’

  ‘Pete, it may be best if Emily and I leave.’

  ‘No.’ Pete knelt on the floor next to Jane. He put his arms around her and gave her a tight hug. ‘We stay together. You, me and Emily.’

  Jane’s eyes filled with tears. ‘A family,’ she said.

  ‘Exactly. A family.’ He kissed her on the forehead and said, ‘Get Emily cleaned up. We need to move as soon as possible in case anyone who saw what happened can identify where I live to the police.’

  Jane nodded but clung to him for a moment longer and whispered, ‘Thank you.’

  Chapter 9

  Ben woke from a nightmare, haunted and hunted by a fat Korean in a trench coat. He lay on his back. He looked up into darkness and listened to thunder.

  No, not thunder, just a sound like thunder as someone hammered on the door. Ben rolled out of bed. The bedside light came on with a dim glow that gave him enough light to reach the door of his motel room. He opened the door to a blast of cold night air. Kramer stood on the threshold, hand raised to hit the door again. ‘What?’ Ben leant against the frame and stifled a yawn.

  ‘Julie Zabel is dead.’

  That got Ben awake. ‘How?’

  ‘Details are sketchy. Some kind of incident. Maybe a road accident.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘Westchester, suburb of Chicago.’

  ‘Are we rolling?’

  ‘Dawson has contacted an air-taxi service. He’s called out the aircrew on an emergency request and paid triple the going rate. The airfield’s an hour from here. We should get there in time for the aircraft to be prepped and flight plan filed.’

  Ben realised he wore only the boxer shorts he had gone to bed in. ‘Want to come in while I get dressed?’

  Kramer shook her head. ‘I need to load the car.’

  ‘Maybe next time,’ Ben said.

  Kramer paused for a beat. ‘Maybe.’

  Ben watched her walk away, not sure if he had heard her correctly. He smiled, closed the door and hurried to dress. By the time he reached the Suburban Kramer had it in gear and rolling out of the car park. Ben scrambled on board and said, ‘This is getting to be a habit.’

  ‘Yeah, which is why we’re in a hurry. We’re behind the curve on this one. They got to Chicago and we had no idea they were there. If Julie hadn’t been killed, we still wouldn’t know where they were.’

  ‘You think Emily and her mother are there as well.’

  ‘Almost certain to be.’

  ‘We just don’t know if they’re alive or dead,’ Ben said. ‘Is Dawson going to go public on this? Put photos out to police and the media?’

  ‘Is that what you would do?’

  ‘I think so.’

  ‘Then tell him.’ Kramer pointed to her phone. ‘He’s in the contacts list.’

  ‘I’ll give it a couple of hours.’

  ‘Chicken,’ Kramer said with a laugh.

  ‘Better to be a live chicken than a dead duck.’

  ‘Dawson’s not that bad,’ Kramer said. ‘He might chew people out for being wrong but if they have genuinely held points of view he’ll listen and then disregard them.’

  ‘He kind of frightens me.’

  ‘That’s because you haven’t had a chance to get to know him.’

  ‘Way things are going I might not get to know him at all.’

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘People are dying too quickly. First is the attack on Kenyon. Second is the firefight in Seattle. Now Julie is dead and the others are still missing. I thought being an analyst was a safe job, but out here in the field the risks are stacking up.’

  ‘Life behind a desk is boring. You only realise how alive you are when you face danger.’

  ‘Well, that’s the kind of al
ive I could do without.’

  Kramer laughed. ‘You know, I may have misjudged you.’

  ‘In what way?’

  ‘In the way that when we first met I thought you were a typical spook who thought way too much of himself.’

  ‘And now?’

  ‘And now you’re still a typical spook who thinks too much of himself but I kind of like you,’ she said. ‘It goes against my better judgement, but once all this is over I might let you take me out for a drink.’

  ‘Do we have to wait that long?’

  ‘Yep.’ She smiled across at him. ‘It could help concentrate your mind and find a solution for all this.’

  ‘I’ll get straight onto it,’ Ben said.

  ***

  The air-taxi service ran three Cessna Citation Mustangs out of a hangar on the western edge of the airfield. Light spilled out of the open doors of the hangar as Kramer drove around the access road at the edge of the runway. Dawson’s money had woken people up. Kramer parked the Suburban next to four cars with the air-taxi company logos plastered all over them. One of the Mustangs was out of the hangar and Ben could see one of the pilots already in the cockpit.

  ‘What happens to the Chevy?’ he asked Kramer as they got their bags out.

  ‘Dawson said to leave the keys in the office here. He’ll get someone from the local DHS office to pick it up. Hopefully we get reverse treatment at the other end and have a car ready for us when we land.’

  They waited next to the car until a guy who introduced himself as the co-pilot came over. He checked their identities before taking them on board. The Mustang had four leather seats in the cabin space. Ben and Kramer made themselves comfortable as the co-pilot ran through the safety checklist. When everyone was happy he disappeared onto the flight deck and the engines spooled up for taxiing to the runway. Ben saw Kramer take a call on her phone, she spoke briefly before hanging up.

  ‘Dawson,’ she raised her voice so Ben could hear. ‘He’ll call back in fifteen minutes when we’re up. I’m hoping the cabin will be a bit quieter by then.’