Hawk Hallow

by J. D. Oliva

  She was almost afraid to ask.

  "We?"

  "The Network. We hide in the shadows, speaking only through a series of codes on encrypted channels. We hide our messages in plain sight. Television commercials, print ads, billboards, even certain novels. But not the internet, that's far too dangerous. You never know when they could be listening."

  He was crazier than she thought, and now she was stuck inside a car with him and his shotgun. And for all that crazy talk, he still hadn't answered her question.

  "That bastard took the most honest and beautiful person I've ever known. He twisted and mutated her brain. By the time I finally got her away from him, she was too far gone. It looked like her, sounded like her, but it wasn't her. He took her from me, and I'm going to take everything from him."

  "He killed your wife?" She asked.

  Blake reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an old picture frame. Setting it on his lap, he gently stroked the corners. Leah didn't want to take her eyes off the road but couldn't help herself. There was a yellowing photograph of an overweight, middle-aged woman in glasses with her hands folded in her lap. While she wasn't smiling, Leah didn't have any reason to believe that she wasn't a nice lady. There was something very familiar about her face. The picture had to be over forty years old, but she was positive that she'd seen that face before.

  "She was an angel. The center of my world. She was everything to me," Blake started to tear up. "She was my mother."

  Mother. That's when it hit her. Leah knew where she had seen that face before. It was the face of the woman that was sprawled out on Gable Point Road last month. The mother of the family that died in the accident. She would never forget that image. It was burned into her memory. She didn't recognize her at first because the hair was different, and she wasn't wearing glasses, but Leah was certain that this was the same person in the photograph on Blake's lap.

  "He needs to be stopped. Roscoe Slater's fighting a war and mankind is the enemy."

  XXXVI

  Nick followed behind Cody and Abi as they trekked through the darkened halls of the Hallow. He never put his cell phone away. He kept staring at the home screen, wondering why he couldn't catch anything close to a signal. Nick couldn't remember having such a tough time getting a signal while they worked down there all month. Why now? There was probably some science behind it. He was sure Abi could probably explain it to him, but then he would just get a long drawn out answer that he wouldn't care about or understand. His cellphone didn't work. That's all he needed to know. Still, he kept looking down at the screen, hoping something would change.

  One thing changing that he wasn't a fan of was how close Abi was walking toward Cody. It was obvious to everyone that Abi was into Cody and Cody didn't care. Like most other things, girls just came easy to him. Nick understood why, he was athletic, good looking and brooded like he didn't care about anything. Being his best friend, Nick knew that it wasn't an act. Cody didn't care about the same things as most people their age. He was too wrapped up in his little pity party to care about anything. It annoyed Nick sometimes, but then he remembered that his best friend was pretty screwed up. When Mr. Burk died, Cody ran to his house and spent the better part of three days crying in Nick's bedroom. He wouldn't leave, he just wanted to stay there with Nick's family. The rest of the summer all Cody talked about was death. Even when he calmed down with the morbid talk, he still wasn't the same guy he grew up with anymore. Nick wasn't sure why no one else couldn't see it, especially Abi.

  "What are you looking at?" She asked him.

  "The Princess of Eternal Darkness!" Nick responded mockingly.

  “What?"

  "Nothing. You just look really stupid in that outfit," he said.

  "You're such a dork," she said.

  There was something about her that made him angry. Yes, she was smart but the fact that she had to act like she was so much smarter than everyone else annoyed him. So did her brown eyes, which weren't just regular brown, like his. They were almost this burning tinged shade of brown. That must have been it, her eyes were too brown. That's why they were annoying. It had nothing to do with how pretty they were. Still, it annoyed him how she just hung on Cody's every move. There were other people in the group too. What about him? He was a good dude. Everybody thought he was funny. Probably because he wasn't broody enough for her. So what? She shouldn't think she was something special. She was a nerd. Whatever. Her loss anyway.

  "Help! Help!"

  A voice came screaming from behind them. A figure emerged from the shadows, sprinting toward them. His face was torn and bloody, his purple t-shirt soaked in red liquid that Nick hoped was just corn syrup. He stopped in front of them. His eyes were wide and erratic. The jagged scratches on his face oozed. He looked them up and down for a second before grabbing Cody and pulling them face to face.

  "You have to get out of here now! There's this priest! He's a monster. He grabbed Karyn. She's dead! He killed her!"

  "Calm down," Abi said, putting her hands on his shoulder.

  He flinched and grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her in close to him.

  "You don't understand! He's a murderer, but he's not human! He changed into this demon with blue skin and sharp claws!"

  "Phil?" Cody asked.

  "Cody, you have to get out of here before he gets you too. Promise me you'll all leave! Promise me!"

  "Yeah, man. No problem," Cody assured him.

  "I gotta go! I have to find help! Don't let him get you too!" he shouted as he ran down the hall.

  "What was that about?" Abi asked.

  "That was Phil Callaway," Cody said.

  "The wrestler guy?" Nick asked.

  Nick heard his older brother Chris tell stories about the wrestling shows.

  "Yeah. He works here. I almost believed him 'til he started talking about monsters."

  "I don't know, man, those marks on his face--"

  "It's just make-up, Nick. C'mon, he's just part of the show. We've gotta keep going," Cody said.

  XXXVII

  Leah sat there listening to Blake go on and on about secret military operations and government coups. She thought he'd mentioned something about Roscoe Slater and the Kennedy assassination, or something. She had stopped paying attention to the craziness and started thinking about her boys. They came up the hill on Jericho Avenue and saw the lines circling the Haunted Hallow. She was proud, maybe even a little jealous, seeing how much foot traffic was out there. She still wasn't sure what the deal was between Slater and Blake, but it looked like she sold the Hallow to the right person.

  "Disgusting. Children lining up for their re-education from that mad man. Each of them is a potential soldier in this war."

  "What does that mean?" Leah asked.

  "You'll see."

  Leah had no idea what that meant. She was beyond frustrated with the situation. Blake hadn't told her anything about her children and was starting to believe he was just a crazy person who didn't know anything about her boys. How was she going to get out of this?

  "Where do you want me to park?" She asked.

  "Park in the lot like a regular customer. We'll start reconnaissance from there."

  "Okay."

  Whatever the hell that meant.

  Leah pulled into the lot and parked next to a red Toyota Camry. She saw the waves of kids from seven to seventeen scattered around the property. This would have made Mike happy.

  She stepped out of the van and asked, "What do we do now, Mr. Blake?"

  CLIK CLIK

  "We find Roscoe," he said loading the shotgun.

  "If that son of a bitch did anything to my boys," she said trying to gain Blake's trust.

  Blake nodded at her as they started to walk toward the Hallow. To Leah's surprise they got in line with the rest of the customers. This wasn't what she expected. The two of them stood in silence as the line inched closer to the entrance. Leah looked over to Blake who was still hiding his shotgun inside that stinky co
at. This situation was about to get a lot worse and she had no idea how to work her way out of it.

  "Hey, hey, Mrs. Burk!"

  Leah turned and found Dave Yarbrough, a senior at Carter-Hallow who worked at the Hallow every fall since he was in the seventh grade. Dave was a rail thin boy with red hair and deep pox scars from his bad acne. He wasn't the most attractive kid in the world, but he was very nice.

  "Dave!"

  Leah grabbed Dave and pulled him in for a tight hug.

  "I need your help," she whispered.

  Dave pulled back and looked at her strangely and then looked over to Blake. He seemed confused for a second before nodding.

  "I know what you mean. Come with me."

  Dave grabbed Leah by the hand and pulled her out of line. Blake followed closely behind. He led her up to the front of the line. Leah hoped that he was taking her to the office where she could talk to Mr. Slater or maybe even call the police. Dave stopped directly in front of the ticket counter and pointed to the ticket-taker.

  "Hey, this here is Mrs. Burk. She's the reason we all have a job here and right now she needs us," Dave said.

  Leah's heart started pumping harder. Her eyes moved down to Blake's trigger hand. His arm was tightening. This wasn't at all what she wanted.

  "We're gonna let Mrs. Burk inside to check out the new Haunted Hallow. No charge!" Dave said. "Oh, and her new boyfriend."

  Eww! Leah gagged at the thought of her being anything more than Blake's hostage.

  Dave turned back and smiled like he was the world's toughest negotiator. Dave Yarbrough was a very sweet boy that was as dumb as a turnip.

  "Absolutely!" The ticket-taker said.

  Blake took her arm with his free hand. She didn't like the idea of him playing up this boyfriend thing. The door opened and for the first time, Leah stepped into the Haunted Hallow as a customer. She had no idea what to expect.

  XXXVIII

  Nick opened another door and stepped through into a vast warehouse. It was a huge, vacant room with a flipped over semi-truck in the center. There were dozens of shattered, wooden crates and more dismembered hog carcasses scattered. These ones were definitely made of foam rubber.

  "Cody, I think I've been coming here for years, and I've never been in here," Nick said. "This is just an empty room. I mean, who thinks car crashes are scary?"

  Cody stopped and turned and looked Nick right in the eyes.

  "Sorry," Nick said under his breath.

  "Seriously, what is with the pigs?" Abi asked.

  "Why, you jealous?" Nick responded.

  "That doesn't even make sense."

  "You don't even make sense," Nick said again under his breath.

  "There should be another exit over there."

  Cody pointed to small door across the warehouse.

  "Run out and call the cops."

  "What about you?" Abi asked.

  "I can't go anywhere without Connor."

  She could see that there was no talking him out of anything. But she still wasn't sure he understood what was going on.

  "Cody, you saw what happened to those guys back there. Connor might not--"

  "Don't even finish that sentence."

  "I'm just trying to say maybe--"

  "No! He's still alive. I didn't see him back there with the rest of them. That means he's still here. He's gotta be here. If he isn't...it's my fault. I can't--"

  Cody couldn't finish the sentence. Abi saw him struggling to hold back his emotions. She wanted to give him a hug, but she was afraid he wouldn't accept it.

  "Bad news. This one's locked too," Nick said, cutting their tension. "We're stuck in here with God knows what."

  "Not even God knows what we are!"

  A screeching, female voice boomed throughout the warehouse. The floor trembled beneath them. Again, they turned in small circles, trying to find the owner of that shrill Southern twang.

  "That's not a special effect, "Cody said.

  "What the--"

  Nick's sentence was cut off when Kyra Slater let loose another bellowing cry.

  SKKKKRRRREEEEEEE

  They dropped to their knees, covering their ears. Cody tried to keep his eyes open and saw Kyra walking barefoot on the concrete floor. Her white gown flowed like smoke trailing off behind. Once more, she let out an ear-piercing shriek that knocked them all over.

  SSSSKKKRRRREEEEE

  "Teehee," Kyra laughed.

  Kyra went down to her hands and knees and crawled toward Cody. Her long fingers scaled his teenage frame. Cody tried to wiggle his way out but she perched herself on his chest. She seemed to enjoy teasing him. The power of her new body almost matched the power of her true form, especially with teenage boys. One more ear-splitting shriek stopped him from moving at all.

  "What's a matter, baby? Your little ears hurtin'?" She asked.

  Cody couldn't answer. Mostly because he couldn't hear what she was saying. Normally, the thought of a beautiful, blonde woman in a silky, white dress would have been something right out of his dreams. But this wasn't quite what he had in mind. She ran a long finger down his chest and smiled. Her fingers danced back up his chest and gently touched him on the nose.

  "Boop."

  Cody couldn't move. Paralyzed with fear, he still wasn't sure if she was part of the show or something worse. She raised her index finger above his head. Cody watched in amazement as the finger stretched out way longer than any normal person's finger should. It snapped, bending to a right angle and coming to a sharp, jagged point. This was definitely not part of the show.

  Abi struggled to climb to her feet and saw what was happening to Cody. She looked around for something to hit the creature with but couldn't find anything. Abi ran over, grabbed Kyra by the hair, and ripped as hard as she could pull, releasing Cody. Kyra's eyes were glowing with an eerie, blue hue. She reached back and smacked Abi with the backside of her malformed hand.

  Abi's body flew for a moment before hitting the cold concrete. She wiped the blood away from her mouth and looked back to Kyra, who spread her arms out and began floating in the air. Her hands snapped and twisted into claws, while her face melted to the shape of a demonic mask, as blue light poured out of her facial cavities.

  Cody struggled back to his feet and lowered his shoulder again. He took off and tried to attack the ghostly creature with the same tackle that had aided him many times before. Her talons caught his legs and whipped him into an errant crate, shattering it on impact. Kyra then turned toward Nick, who had no intention of crawling back up to his feet. She floated over to him and wrapped her claws around his face and pulled him in close.

  "Lookie, lookie at this chunky, little baby. I ain't had one of these in years. I wonder if they still taste like camel shit."

  Cody pulled himself back up again, trying to shake off what was probably a nasty concussion. He looked down and found a broken two by four with two rusty nails sticking out. He grabbed the wooden stake like a baseball bat and swung for the fences like Mike Trout. The smack of lumber caught Kyra in the head, driving the bent nails deep into her face. Cody wrenched the plank and ripped it out of his Kyra's skull. A burst of bright blue light flooded out from the jagged tears in her face. She screeched even louder than before as her body cracked and contorted. Cody looked down at the suffering creature and gripped the two by four tighter.

  "Where is my brother," he said.

  She answered with a shrill wail.

  SSSSKKKKKKRRRREEEEEEE

  Cody had no idea what that screech meant. He lifted the splintered piece of wood and let loose one more time, driving the nails back into her body. He ripped it out again and heard the unholy wail. Pulling his weapon back, he slammed it against the creature's body again and again. The more times he struck, the more light fought to escape the torn husk of a body.

  "What the hell is coming out of her?" Nick asked.

  "Smokeless fire!" Abi whispered in terror.

  Kyra rose up and used her own claws to rip away the r
est of the body she'd stolen only a month ago. Her true form was loose. A blue creature made from long, ragged bones that had a difficult time keeping their twisted shape. She slinked along the ground like plasma, twitching and wailing the entire time.

  "Dammit! Y'all just ruined my brand new body!" Kyra's garbled voice echoed through her hollow shell. "I was beautiful! Beautiful!"

  Abi felt dizzy. The room spun, and the walls started to bleed and sag out of shape. The entire world was moving with her, formless, like water. The floor turned to quicksand, and she began to sink.

  The Kyra creature crawled on the floor, quickly needing to find another host. It spotted Abi, still sinking into the shapeless floor.

  "I guesshhh thisshh one'll do jusssht fiiiiiine," her voice was breaking.

  "Stay away from me!" Abi cried.

  The creature spider-crawled over to Abi. Trapped in this bent world, she couldn't move. Wrapping its claws around Abi's leg, Kyra started pulling her in, ready to take possession of a new host.

  Struggling to keep his balance, Cody swung the two by four one more time, striking Kyra in the back. With the improvised weapon protruding, it released Abi and started uncontrollably shirking and convulsing. Its arms changed direction and now pointed toward its back as it struggled to pull out the piece of wood. The creature stopped moving. It turned and stared into its own reflection in the side mirror of the flipped over semi-truck. The Kyra creature shrieked again and propelled itself up into the air, hanging there for a moment before finally exploding with a thunderous flash of light and wind that shook everything in the warehouse. Like the fallout from a nuclear blast, the force had knocked them over and out of consciousness.

  Silence.

  Nothing stirred for a few minutes. Cody blinked a few times. His ears rang the same way they did after the accident. He was dizzy and a little nauseous. He thought about lying there and just letting that creature take him and be done with everything. Then he thought of Christmas five years ago. He was eight and Connor was ten. They rushed down the stairs and found two brand new bikes wrapped in shiny red and green paper. Even though it was the middle of winter, the boys ran outside to ride their new bikes. Of course, Cody hit a patch of ice and fell. Connor helped him back to his feet and gave his baby brother a hug. That was a long time ago.