Banshee Box Set

by Sara Clancy

  “She’s under the bus!”

  Caught in a state of shock, Cheyanne didn’t put up resistance as Nicole cranked the lever. The door hurled open and Nicole leaped into the pouring rain before anyone could stop her. She didn’t need to look back to know that Benton was half a step behind, followed by a few others. Those that remained on the bus plastered their phones to the glass once more, creating tiny shafts of light that lit out in all directions. Nicole focused on the beam of her mother’s flashlight. It broke free of the murky pool of water that now grounded the back wheel of the mini bus.

  Even in his near broken state, Benton was fast. Spurred on by adrenaline, he easily overtook her and rushed into the floodwater without hesitation. He was already blindly groping the obsidian depths before anyone could catch up. With a bellow that was more sound than words, he dropped to his knees and dragged Dorothy back to the surface. It was an awkward angle and her mother didn’t seem to have the strength to keep her head up on her own. Benton slipped deeper into the icy water, positioning himself behind her so he could keep her afloat. Water careened down the road and against their heads making the puddle swell high and the tires slide. The bus rolled a little back, and Dorothy screamed in agony.

  “The wheel’s on my leg!”

  Nicole could see Benton’s strength was draining fast as she waded through the puddle. The water was only as high as her knees, but by the time Nicole was behind the bus, the water lapped against her thighs and her body shook. Joined by the others, Nicole pressed her shoulder against the flat end of the bus and shoved. They could force it up a little before the breaks engaged. She didn’t see who spoke, but someone reached up and slapped their hand against the glass, yelling for whoever was inside to release the brake.

  Having already taken the weight, the bus didn’t rock back far. But the slight movement was enough to force a horrific, bone-crunching scream from her mother. The cluster of people around her continued to push and slowly the bus began to inch up. That was when the giggling returned.

  It swirled around them, drawing nearer with every loop. People struck the glass above them in rapid bursts, trying to warn the others of what instinct alone would tell. Rain poured down the side of the bus, drenching the metal and making it slippery. The laughter came from all around, until it echoed within her head. Nicole’s body trembled in strain and fear. Inch by excruciating inch, the mini bus was pushed up the hill.

  “She’s free!” Benton’s words were almost lost under Nicole’s mother’s sharp cry, and the demonic laughter.

  A boy next to her reached up and slammed a hand against the window. The body of the bus jerked and rocked as the breaks were reengaged. Some had already begun to scatter back to the bus, while the vehicle lurched again. Nicole glanced up. Heavy rains impacted her vision and she blinked against the water to see the shape perched upon the very edge of the bus roof. It was only a few inches above her head yet was still shrouded by the ebony clouds. But its eyes weren’t. Twin pinpricks of glowing red burned like embers within the darkness. She stared at it and it stared back. Rows of milky white fangs glistened with blood in the weak light as it opened its mouth and laughed.

  Spinning on her heels, Nicole sprinted through the water as fast as she could. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see two of the bigger boys lunging up onto the bus, Dorothy holding on to both of them. Most were back on board with the others cramming their way inside. But Benton was slower, his body failing under the strain. His knees buckled and the cackling creature swooped. Without thought, Nicole pulled her weapon, aimed it a good foot over Benton’s back, and fired.

  The sharp crack brought new screams that smothered any sound the demon might have made. She couldn’t tell if she had hit it. But it had soared back up into the blackened sky. She lost sight of it within the clouds as she raced to Benton’s side. He blindly reached for her and didn’t protest as she yanked him roughly onto his feet.

  His skin was as cold as an arctic wind as he pressed against her side and he swayed more than once. But he kept pace with her, forcing his body to respond to her demands. Nicole’s fingers tightened around the handle of her gun as she kept one eye on the sky and one on the small opening of light they were headed towards. Hands reached out from the depths of the bus. They latched onto both her and Benton the second they were within reach and hurled them inside. The door swung shut just as the cackling materialized once more.

  Slumped against the small staircase, Nicole and Benton struggled to catch their breaths. Every heartbeat throbbed within her throat and she could practically feel her body heat being sucked into Benton, where he lay beside her. She didn’t check to see who pulled her up onto her feet. She was just glad that they did. Clutching onto one of the chairs for support, she called for someone to grab her backpack and the first-aid kit within. Dozens of questions circulated around as the group crammed together, each voice turning into a shriek as something unseen slammed into the bus.

  With the shifting light of the mobile phones, Nicole saw her mother’s leg. It was swollen and raw, the skin scraped away with part of a protruding bone visible.

  “It’s okay, mom,” Nicole said as she snatched up the first-aid kit. “I’ll get you fixed up.”

  “No, let someone else do it,” Dorothy grunted. Nicole’s words died on her tongue when she saw the sheer terror in her mother’s diluted pupils. “Get us the hell out of here!”

  Chapter 10

  Benton hunched his shoulders from the cold and jogged the few last steps to Nicole’s motel room door. His feet were heavy and drawing air was near painful, but the shower had helped him regain a little of his warmth. Of course, his new clothes were soaking wet and with his previous outfit, now in a Walmart bathroom, he had been forced back into the clothes he had worn on the trip here. They were still damp and a deathly chill clung to them, even as the thick layer of his raincoat trapped in a rising humidity.

  A mild quiver overtook him as he pulled himself up onto the small deck outside of Nicole’s room. Something inside him shifted and his skin prickled with the sensation of being watched. Slowly, he turned and swept his gaze across the parking lot. It was easy to see the rooms that housed their groups. Every possible light at their disposal was turned on and a luminous glow glistened on the growing puddles. The wind bent the treetops into sharp angles, and the whole place just felt soggy.

  A shiver rushed in the pit of his stomach as a car turned off the highway and made its way across the lot. He used the light of its high beams to check the darker shadows, but still couldn’t see anything. The car inched down to a crawl as it passed him and his brow furrowed. That’s the same car, his mind whispered. The one he had seen in the hotel parking lot last week. The simple sedan that made something rise and hiss in the back of his mind. It was too dark inside to see anyone.

  Benton was startled out of his trance from the door behind him flinging open. With an annoyed huff, Nicole reached out, grabbed him by the back of his raincoat, and yanked him inside. The room’s thermostat had been cranked up and the air now carried a near tropical heat. Just like his shower, it felt great on his skin, but did little to warm his bones.

  “You’re going to catch your death of cold out there,” Nicole chastised before adding in a secretive tone. “How are you parents?”

  “Rattled. They really don’t like you.”

  “I saved your life!”

  “You did. And I am very grateful,” he said as he flopped down on the end of her bed. “But they can’t really acknowledge that without admitting that I was attacked by a flying monster. It’s easier to just focus on you having a gun.”

  “This is getting ridiculous,” Nicole complained as she locked and relocked the door. “Maybe I should make them a punt cake.”

  There was a lot about Nicole that, given time and exposure, Benton could understand. But her obsession for getting everyone to like her would forever be lost to him.

  Confident that the locks were in place, she crossed the room and sat d
own next to him. “So how did you get out?”

  “Turns out that a dozen terrified teenagers is a really good distraction,” Benton shrugged as he toyed with the iron bracelet Nicole had given him. It was too small to spin around his wrist, so he had taken to flicking it along his arm instead. “Especially since my parents are now their sole caregivers for the night. How is your mom?”

  Nicole shifted her eyes to the bathroom door before looking back at him. “Rattled.”

  He smiled at her attempted joke but it didn’t seem to help.

  “If her leg’s not broken, there is definitely a few fractures,” Nicole said. “I’ve done all I can but I think she’s in a lot of pain. And she’s going to be in a lot more when the shock wears off.”

  Benton couldn’t look up from the bracelet as he spoke. “I’m really sorry, Nic. I should have done more to make sure she didn’t go out there.”

  “It wasn’t your fault.”

  His attention flicked to the new, clean bandage that was wrapped on her forearm. “Yeah, it never seems to be my fault.”

  “Hey, at least this isn’t going to scar,” she said before rushing on. “I keep going over it but I can’t understand why Allison would do this.”

  “I think it was just bad timing when she showed up.”

  “Other people saw her, you know.”

  “Yeah,” Benton nodded. “I felt her more, too. That girl’s got a lot of rage.”

  “Well, if she wasn’t so horrible to you, I’d be a bit more sympathetic.”

  The bathroom door opened and they both jumped to their feet. Since the front desk’s well prepared emergency kit had included crutches, Dorothy was somewhat mobile. Still, they kept a close eye on her as she crossed to the nearest bed and eased herself down. She sat with her back against the wall and Nicole helped her to raise her leg up onto the mound of pillows. The rulers that were used for a makeshift splint gave the bandages around her leg an uneven shape. Only her toes were visible and they had become discolored and swollen. He tried not to stare as he sat down on the opposite bed with a pained grunt. Instantly, he felt stupid for being so delicate when the woman before him was under a bus an hour ago. It felt like all the fluid in his joints was freezing into place and he couldn’t stop wincing at almost every movement.

  “We should call you an ambulance,” Nicole said.

  “I’m not putting anyone else on that road,” Dorothy shot back.

  Benton got the distinct feeling that this was a conversation the two women had been having for a while and resolved to stay out of it.

  “And besides,” Dorothy said, “they can’t get here. We barely did. That road would be completely swamped by now.”

  “Okay, so we keep going forward.” Even as Nicole said it, the words morphed from a statement into a question and back again.

  Benton flicked the bracelet on his wrist as the room fell silent. It felt like they were both waiting for him to say what they all knew.

  “We can’t bring her in this state,” he said softly.

  Nicole shot him a dirty look and he rubbed his face so he wouldn’t have to see it.

  “Come on, Nic. I’m already slowing you down. If you try and look after both of us at the same time, we’re all going to get killed.”

  “I’m not leaving my mom here,” Nicole said.

  “I’ll be safer in here than I will be out there.” Dorothy spat out the words as if they tasted foul in her mouth. “You two need to leave. And soon. More roads are going to flood and you need to beat these things back to Fort Wayward.”

  “Mom.”

  “Honey,” Dorothy stammered. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It didn’t remove the tremble in her voice. “I saw it. Really saw it. After it rolled the bus onto me, it landed on my chest. It’s nothing but teeth, eyes and claws.”

  “Claws?” Benton asked.

  “You can’t see them when it flies. Just when it lands. I felt them cutting me as it forced me under the water.” Her words trailed off, broken by a gasped breath. “It smiled at me. It laughed as I was drowning. That laugh...”

  Quickly but carefully, Nicole bundled her mother into a tight hug. The older woman clung back, her hands balling into the sleeves on Nicole’s sweater. She looked pale, worn, but no matter how many times she closed her eyes, they always snapped back open. Benton sat silently. He had seen them, heard them, felt their teeth sink into his skin, and knew there wasn’t much that could be said to make that memory better. So he flicked at the iron piece on his wrist to keep his fingers from freezing into place and waited.

  Eventually, Dorothy let go of Nicole’s arms and sat up straight once more. “You said there are hundreds of those creatures?”

  “At least,” he nodded.

  “It’s okay,” Nicole said with a tremble in her voice. “I’m not going to let them get in here.”

  “You can’t let them get into town. Folks won’t be ready. It’ll be a slaughter,” Dorothy countered. She looked from Benton to Nicole and back before adding, “I will probably rot in hell for this, but you were right, this isn’t a two person job. You’re going to have to get some help.”

  “Benton’s parents will never listen to us,” Nicole said a second before she caught onto what Dorothy was actually suggesting. “Do you have any suggestions?”

  “Well, I know two people who have been eager to get in on the secret,” Benton said.

  Stunned, Nicole turned to him. “Meg and Zack? You really want to trust them?”

  “Zack is strong and Meg is resilient,” Dorothy muttered as she mulled the choices over.

  “We’ll have to get Danny, too,” Nicole said.

  “Nope.”

  “Benton, Meg isn’t going to go without her sister.”

  “Yes, but I’ll be upset if Danny dies.”

  ***

  The rain pelted against the bus windows, accentuating the lingering silence. Nicole nervously flicked her gaze from one friend to the next, but couldn’t figure out how any of them were reacting to the information she and Benton had just laid out before them. It was a lot to ask a person to accept. Time dragged on until Nicole could feel every second of it consuming her. Benton wasn’t faring much better. While he tried to be patient, she could see the stress on his face. The cold in his bones was warring with the fire within his skull, and he was quickly losing his ability to simply sit back and give them the time they needed.

  “A banshee?” Meg said slowly. “You think we’re going to believe that?”

  “It would be impossible to accurately describe how little I care about what you think or believe,” Benton said as he rubbed his temples again. “Just help me get into town.”

  “Yeah, that’s the way to ask for a favor,” Zack scoffed.

  “I’m sorry,” he said as he pushed his fingers harder into his pressure points. “Am I not being polite enough offering to save the lives of an entire town? Not living up to your standards?”

  “Zack, he’s just trying to help,” Nicole commented.

  Zack bolted up straighter. “Help? I’ll help as soon as he starts telling me the truth.”

  “I just did,” Benton said. “Thanks for paying attention, by the way.”

  “The whole truth. Not just the bits you want to tell us.”

  Benton was practically grinding his fists against his skull now and Nicole quickly tried to take up the conversation to give him some time to regroup his thoughts.

  “Zack, that was everything, I promise.”

  “Come on, Nicole. You think I can’t do a Google search? Everywhere this guy goes, people die.”

  “That’s what people do!” Benton bellowed in exasperation. “It’s like a third of our existence; we’re born, we live, we die.”

  “There are way too many bodies for it to be coincidence.”

  Spreading his arms wide, Benton leaned forward and yelled with every ounce of strength he had left in him, “Banshee!”

  “This isn’t getting us anywhere,” Nicole cut in.
“So let’s find common ground. Hands up if you saw Allison.”

  Meg shot her a sideways look. “Well, we only really have Benton’s word that it’s Allison.”

  Nicole twitched and Benton looked to the ceiling as if praying for salvation. “Fine. Hands up if you saw the woman in the middle of the road.”

  She thrust her own hand into the air and looked expectantly at Benton until he lifted his too. Meg, Danny, and after a moment of hesitation, Zack, all put their hands up.

  “I’m not disputing ghosts. Or whatever that flying thing was,” Zack grumbled. “I’m disputing that this guy has a magical scream. Because if he doesn’t, this is pretty much a suicide mission. Anyway, banshees are females, everyone knows that.”

  “I’m done,” Benton mumbled. Nicole tried to soothe him but he just rubbed his hand over his face before snapping, “In or out? And I don’t just mean that abstractly. If you’re not coming along, get off the bus so we can go.”

  “He’s in a lot of pain,” Nicole offered as Benton burrowed his hands in the blanket on his lap.

  “I’m in.” Danny didn’t flinch as both Zack and Meg twisted around to face her.

  “Seriously,” Meg whispered.

  “Yes,” Danny affirmed.

  “You really think he’s a banshee?” Zack asked.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Danny challenged. “That demon is heading to our home, our families, and they’re the only ones trying to stop it. I don’t care if he’s a unicorn, I’m going to help.”

  Nicole reached across the space separating them and squeezed Danny’s hand. “Thank you.”

  “And you wonder why I like her better,” Benton mumbled, now holding the blanket to his chin and trembling. He seemed to be having a hard time keeping his eyes open.

  “Well, you’re not going without me,” Meg cut in before she turned to Benton. “For the record, I’m following Nicole, not you.”

  Benton didn’t give any indication that he had heard her or cared.