Banshee Box Set

by Sara Clancy

  “What happened?” she asked.

  He saw Meg open her mouth, but didn’t wait to hear whatever she had planned to say.

  “If Zack puts his hands on me again, I’m going to kick him in the head.” He knew that he had bellowed the words but he didn’t care. It was obvious that Nicole wasn’t sure how to respond. She didn’t have time to figure it out before Zack came hurling toward them.

  “I’m not done with you, yet!” he roared, also giving up on any hope for subtlety.

  It made his skin crawl and his muscles tense. Forcing people to own up to their theories in public was a good way to get them to back down. No one wanted to look like a ranting lunatic around their friends. The few times people stepped up to that kind of challenge from Benton, it had ended as a mob. Passing by Nicole, just enough to keep her out of the line of fire, he pointed back at her and then Zack.

  “Keep him away from me.”

  She was already jumping between the two of them, arms outstretched, like she could physically keep them separated.

  “One of you needs to start making sense right now,” she said with so much authority that Benton almost mistook her for her mother.

  “He attacked me!” Benton spat the words out with the solid push of his anger and fear.

  “What? Zack?” Nicole didn’t seem to know which one of them to look at, quickly turning her head side to side between them before settling her gaze onto Zack. “Well?”

  “I just asked him a few questions,” Zack said. “He’s freaking out because he doesn’t want to answer them.”

  “What questions?” Danny asked.

  “He accused me of being a serial killer who also has some kind of time- twisting abilities!” Benton had hoped that the offense attack would leave any of Zack's coming accusations sounding like a tone of madness.

  But he still didn’t back down.

  “There is something wrong with him,” Zack accused, looking from Nicole to Danny to Meg, searching each pair of eyes for an ally.

  “Zack,” Nicole said in a warning tone. “You’ve been acting weird ever since he showed up. You’re skittish and secretive. Hell, you skipped out on us last night. You’ve never done that.”

  “Benton got sick,” Danny said.

  “Yeah. Like on the bus. Did that look in any way normal to you?” Locking his eyes back onto Benton, he spoke loud enough for them all to hear. “I know you had something to do with Victor’s death.”

  “What is going on here?” Cheyanne snapped as she hurried over.

  Benton recognized the fear that lurked in his mother’s eyes and quickly looked away. “Nothing,” he mumbled. “Just a misunderstanding.”

  “Okay, both of you, apologize to the other, right now!”

  Zack hesitated. But, for all his certainty, he apparently wasn’t ready to voice his suspicions to an adult. With a stern look and a firm hold on Benton’s shoulder, his mother forced the apology out of him. Zack mumbled something that might have been mistaken for words, but Benton didn’t care. The matter was apparently settled since Dorothy bellowed over the crowd again and began to encourage them to get closer. Zack shoved past Benton, his elbow easily finding one of the bruises that littered Benton’s body. The spike of pain forced a grunt out of him but he refused to double over. Nicole lingered on, waiting for Benton to catch up. He only managed to take one step towards her when Cheyanne caught him by the arm.

  “Go on ahead,” she dismissed Nicole easily as her fingers tightened around his arm.

  “It wasn’t my fault,” Benton said the moment that they were relatively alone. “He attacked me.”

  “You’re to stay away from Nicole,” Cheyanne said without looking at him.

  “She’s my best friend,” Benton defended.

  Still, she refused to look down to meet his gaze, but her words were clear. “People like you can’t have friends, Benton.”

  And with that, she released his arm and walked away agitated, leaving Benton to wonder once more if she thought him a freak or a madman.

  Chapter 9

  The night came early under the influence of the coming storm. Shadows had gathered across the thick grass and between the tree trunks, churning through the mist until it was nearly impossible to see farther than a yard beyond the side of the road in any given direction.

  At first, the bus ride was tense. The rain struck the roof and sides of the bus like hale, muffling the whispering conversations. News of Benton and Zack’s confrontation made a quick round, allowing Nicole to pick up the bits and pieces of a dozen conversations. From what she could tell, not many of them seemed to take Zack’s accusations seriously, but it had been enough to make them recall some of the odd things they had noticed about Benton over the last few months. Nicole had waited it out, and soon the conversation had naturally drifted to other topics.

  It felt weird to not have Benton next to her. She wanted to tell him about the strange couple and, more importantly, her encounter with Allison. She could practically feel the words on her tongue. But he wasn’t on the seat beside her. The second they had set foot back onto the bus, Cheyanne and Theodore had kept a secure eye on their son. It had been a tight squeeze, but they had forced him to sit between them on the narrow seat of the front row. At first, it had been an annoyance. But as time passed, her frustration had grown into deep resentment.

  They were now entering the Highway of The Lost and Benton was struggling.

  Slight shivers had turned into near violent quakes, his color going pale. She had only managed to catch a few glances of his face as he shifted to find a more comfortable position. When they had only been about half an hour in, his lips had shown the bluish tinge, she had seen before. Soon after, the dark circles under his eyes looked like sooty smears. His parents had noticed. It would have been impossible not to. Their son, squished between them, was deteriorating into a living block of ice.

  When Nicole couldn’t take it anymore, she gathered up the blankets she had bought and hesitantly approached them. Her hope had been that the gesture would break whatever strange tension that had come between them. It hadn’t actually worked that way, but at least Theodore and Cheyanne accepted the blankets. With a forced smile and a reluctant attitude, they had insisted she head back to her seat. Benton looked miserable, with sheets wrapped around him, but at least he had his headphones on. He always handled the weirder things better when he had a decent song to listen to.

  On the way back to her seat, her eyes had met Zack’s. He wasn’t joking along with the others around him. His usual smile was gone. Instead, he was seething, his mouth turned down into a deep scowl. She tried to give an apologetic look, yet it wasn’t clear if he understood her or not. Either way, he wasn’t ready to accept it. Danny and Meg weren’t in any mood to talk either. So she sunk into her seat, against the bus wall and focused on the pouring rain that sprayed down the window.

  She had been so lost within her thoughts and concern that it took her a moment to realize just how bad the storm was getting. As the bus had climbed up from the depths of the valley, the rainwater had gathered into a near waterfall that rushed back down the slope. The bus’s engine groaned as Dorothy forced it to go faster around the slick, twisting roads.

  Time dragged on and the shadows became thicker, transforming the encroaching fog from a dull slate gray into an impenetrable darkness. It consumed everything around them until only the bus’s headlights could gouge a path through it. The deluge limited even that feeble visibility. It steamed the windshield faster than the windshield wipers could force it aside. Nicole watched, with rising dread, as the night took a firm hold, swallowing up the world, allowing it only to reemerge when bursts of lightning lashed out at the sky.

  They had to be nearing the motel, but Nicole wasn’t sure how much more she could take; or, more precisely, how much Benton could. Hunched under the layers of his blankets, his interval moments of discomfort had become a state of constant squirming. It seemed no matter how he tried to position himself, in
the limited space between his parents, he couldn't get comfortable. Having to sit there and not help was steadily driving Nicole nuts. Her fingers ached from gripping the back of the seat in front of her and her forearm began to steadily throb. If her painkillers wore off causing her pain, she couldn’t even begin to imagine what was happening within Benton's skull.

  The engine groaned in protest as Dorothy proceeded to force it through a flooded road. It looked as if they were passing through a boggy lake, one that was quickly rising as the water trailed down the slope to pool into it. Muddy waters sloshed around the wheels as the lake pooled around the bus, making it buoyant for moments at a time before the tires could find the ground again. Her mother increased the speed, surging the bus fast through the stream, desperate to get out before they were stranded completely.

  Then Benton snapped up, his attention focused on the windshield as he lunged towards Dorothy. In that split second, Nicole could see the woman. Encrusted in filth from head to toe, standing knee deep in the churning water. The woman didn’t move a muscle as the bus barreled down upon her. Dorothy slammed on the breaks. Hysterical screams rang in Nicole’s ears as she was thrown forward. She whammed into the seat before her, her wounded arm trapped between her coming body and the unmovable slab. Hot pain blinded her, and water sloshed around the locked wheels of the bus, making it skid forward. It fishtailed well past the point where the woman had been standing and jolted violently as it found traction again. Nicole was shoved back into her seat as the bus climbed up the hill a few feet and lurched to a stop.

  Panting heavily, Nicole glanced around. The dim light within the bus brightened as person after person pulled out their mobile phones. When they first switched their flashlights on, the stark glow only brightened their look of shock and horror. Then, one by one, the lights were plastered against the windows of the bus. In the turmoil, Nicole could only pick up on shards of conversations. It was enough to know that they were looking for the woman. The woman they had just run down. They saw her too, the thought hit Nicole like a branding iron, and she spun around to face Benton.

  He wasn’t looking back at her. His eyes were locked on her mother as he purposefully shook his head; short, decisive movements that could be mistaken for tremors of shock. But Dorothy saw it, and a moment of recognition crossed her face before she popped open an overhead compartment and pulled out a flashlight. She’s going out there. Nicole was on her feet before the realization had fully formed in her mind.

  “Mom!” she yelled as she scrambled out over Danny’s lap. “Mom!”

  Theodore and Cheyanne were already trying to calm everyone down. The aisle was narrow and it wasn’t hard for the two adults to effectively block her path.

  “Everyone, settle down,” Dorothy said with calm authority. “Now, I’m sure it was just a trick of the light. I’m going to check it out, but I need everyone to remain where they are.”

  Benton was still shaking his head. He tried to get to his feet more than once, but each time he slumped back into his chair, shivering and drained. It made a new spark of fear flicker through Nicole and she pushed forward again. This time, Theodore grabbed her arm.

  “You need to listen to your mother and go sit down,” Theodore said. “We’ll take care of this.”

  “I’ll sit next to Benton,” she replied quickly.

  Cheyanne narrowed her eyes with annoyance. “For once, just be cooperative.”

  “For once, look what you’re doing to your son.”

  In a small miracle, her voice came out strong, devoid of the jittering nerves that often hid under her skin. But it took a lot more fortitude to hold the woman’s gaze. Eventually, after what had felt like a small eternity, Cheyanne said in a dark hushed voice.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  The doors folded open with a whoosh. Icy wind raced inside, bringing with it a near solid stream of rain. Between the two adults, Nicole spotted her mother heading down the small steps, her flashlight doing little against the shadows. Nicole nearly pushed Theodore into a seat as she forced her way passed and outright ran to her mother.

  “Mom!”

  Dorothy looked up to see her daughter at the very front of the bus. Nicole gripped the back of the front seat and forced herself to a stop.

  “Don’t go out there,” she pleaded through panted breaths.

  “I have to,” Dorothy said, with obvious reluctance.

  “This is a situation where you listen to Benton,” Nicole whispered, in a hush, and loosely gestured to the boy by her side. He was still shaking his head as if this was the only warning he could offer. “It’s Allison.”

  “But what if it’s not?” Dorothy asked. “I can’t just drive away when someone could need medical help.”

  “Then let me come with you,” Nicole begged.

  Dorothy rejected the idea and, before Nicole could protest, held up her hand and whispered, “Have you got it?”

  Nicole knew exactly what she meant and shifted just a little to feel the solid push of the handgun against her spine.

  “Yes.”

  “Close the door and don’t open it for anyone but me.” Her eyes flickered across the still, stunned crowed before she added. “Keep Benton safe.”

  And with that, Nicole watched her mother walk out into the raging night. The thin beam of her flashlight danced across the windows as she headed to the back of the bus. It was almost a physical pain to obey her mother’s order, but Nicole forced herself to scramble back up to the driver’s seat and pull the lever.

  The doors snapped shut, closing off the encroaching wind and her mother’s main escape route. She wanted to rush back to the stairs, and plaster herself against the glass and search for any trace of her mother. Instead, she remained where she was, sitting in the driver’s seat with her fingers clasped around the lever handle. Across the aisle, Benton shifted closer to the window and strained his neck trying to look. His whole body was shaking and she was sure she could hear his teeth rattling amid the bedlam.

  “Can you see her?” Nicole asked.

  Benton shook his head but didn’t stop looking. A rolling tide of thunder crossed over them. It shook the windows and pressed on already frail nerves. Nicole had been so fixated on the door that she hadn’t noticed Meg approaching, until she slid into the space beside Benton. He seemed just as surprised, but after sparing her a passing glare, continued his search of the world beyond the bus.

  “What did you see?” Meg asked. She kept her voice low and Nicole could barely hear her over the pounding rain and worried chatter.

  Benton’s only response was to pull the blankets around himself a little tighter.

  “Come on, you would have had an unobstructed view,” Meg pressed. “Did you see a woman? I swear I saw this woman standing right in the middle of the road. She didn’t even try to get out of the way.”

  “Why did my parents let you up here?” Benton asked, with a stuttering whisper.

  Meg looked startled. The expression mystified Nicole. That kind of dismissive remark littered most of their conversations. But then she realized; that was the exact moment that her friend noticed just how badly Benton was fairing.

  Before Meg could decide which line of questioning to pursue, a noise weaved its way through the wind. The chatter on the bus instantly died down as people strained to hear it again. It wasn’t that the sound was loud or commanding that it drew attention, but it was how out of place it was.

  Giggling. Someone was laughing. Not a happy, carefree kind of laugh. This was a cackle. High and fast, and echoing in on itself like a metal chamber. Malicious. Deranged.

  Nicole nearly stopped breathing, and it didn’t seem like she was the only one. Within seconds, the bus had fallen into an apprehensive silence. They waited. The wind rushed over the sides of the bus and whistled through the few trees that surrounded them. Water babbled and bucked as it ran down the incline creating more puddles. Nicole’s skin crawled. Thunder snapped somewhere in the distance
and Nicole turned back to Benton to see recognition fueling his eyes. Slowly, carefully, she stood up to remove her jacket. Discursion be damned. She didn’t want anything between her and the handle of her gun.

  A deathly scream broke the silence as something came crashing down on top of the bus. The metal dented under the assault, and the teens parted as they threw themselves down. All other sound died amid the cackling roar. It streaked past the window, passing from one side to the next in a second. Everyone lurched to get away from it, but it always beat them to the other side of the bus. The demented sound chased them down until it seemed to come from all sides at once.

  In a sudden burst of energy, Benton sprang up from his seat and hurdled over Meg to get into the aisle.

  “Open the door!” he commanded, but Nicole was already rushing to do so.

  “No!” Theodore’s bellow was soon joined by a chorus of others.

  “My mom is out there!” Nicole blared out as she grabbed the lever.

  With a speed Nicole would never have guessed, Cheyanne lurched forward. Her hand closed over Nicole’s on the lever and kept it solidly in place.

  “You can close it after I get out there!” Nicole said, in an outcry, as she forced her weight against the lever.

  The folding door creaked open just a little, just enough for a burst of frigid air to slip through the gap. Some had begun to pound on the glass, trying to draw Dorothy’s attention. Nicole could only see the movement of her flashlight shifting aimlessly across the darkness.

  “Mom!” Nicole screamed as loud as she could. “Get in here!”

  “She’s around the back!” Zack yelled, in response as he smacked his fist against the glass again.

  The laughter grew louder as it rushed towards them. Nicole realized, an instant too late, that it was racing towards the front of the bus. The impact made the bus slope backwards a few feet. The breaks strained. Even while being braced, Nicole couldn’t keep herself from toppling, grasping for the dash to keep herself on her feet. Hysteria rampaged through the bus like wildfire. The noise was deafening and Nicole almost missed Zack’s frantic bellow.