No Fear

by Nolon King

  Did something happen?

  Her heart pounded, chest constricted. Air became harder to draw.

  No.

  Not fucking now.

  A Xanax would help. But pills also dulled the fight or flight response, and she needed her senses razor sharp. Katie would die if she fucked this up.

  The realization made it more difficult to breathe.

  No, no, not now.

  Mal did one of her calming exercises, inhaling deeply through her nose, then holding for three seconds before exhaling through her mouth.

  But focusing on her breath while counting only made her more aware of the passing time. Every minute in the woods brought her closer to believing Katie was already dead.

  She checked her signal and saw barely a bar on her phone.

  What if he’s already called and I missed it?

  Fuck!

  Heart still racing. Chest still trapped in a compactor, slowly crushing her to death.

  Just go.

  Now. Fuck the cameras.

  No. Do it and she’ll die.

  You have to trust Jasper.

  Mal fell back against a tree, still sucking wind, certain she was about to pass out again.

  Calm.

  The.

  Fuck.

  Down!

  She took in another deep breath and counted.

  One.

  Two.

  Her phone rang.

  She answered instantly. “Yeah?”

  “He’s coming out the front door,” Jasper said. “Go.”

  Mal ran.

  Chapter 48 - Jasper Parish

  Jasper watched as the door opened then Katie was marched out at gunpoint.

  Howard loomed behind her, dressed in black body armor, with a matching trench coat and mask. He looked like a fat weekend soldier, or any host of racist militia men whose closet was also filled with white robes and hoods.

  When Howard realized it wasn’t Mallory standing at gunpoint before him, he stopped in his tracks. “Mother?”

  “Let her go, Howard,” Jasper shouted. “We can all still walk away from this.”

  Howard screamed, “Who the hell are you? I told her to come alone!”

  “He’s gonna snap,” said Jordyn, standing behind them.

  Where the hell is Mallory?

  “Tell your son to let the girl go,” Jasper told her.

  But Enid said nothing, stubbornly shaking her head.

  “You want a child’s blood on your hands?” Jasper pushed the gun against the back of her skull. “Tell him.”

  Enid cleared her throat. “Why don’t you let her go, Howie?”

  “I can’t do that, Mother. I have to prove I’m worthy.”

  Howard was talking about the thing Jasper had seen in the shadows, the thing he believed was commanding him.

  “Are you doing this for Mister K?” Jasper asked, taking a chance.

  If Jasper could see his face, he’d probably note Howard’s shocked expression, but the beast said nothing.

  Jasper needed to keep the man talking. The longer he spoke, the more time Mallory had to take him out from behind.

  “Mister K is a liar, Howard. He’s playing you.”

  “You don’t know him.”

  “I do, Howard. Mister K showed you the messages in those books, the one that told you to kill Alice Shaw, then to take this girl. But you know what, Howard?”

  Silence, then he finally said, “What?”

  “He also talks to me.”

  “Liar!” Howard bellowed.

  “He’s testing you. He wants to see if you will kill a pregnant girl, to see just how far gone you are.”

  “Liar! He says you are lying!”

  Jasper was losing him.

  Where the hell is Mallory?

  “Say something.” Jasper pressed the gun harder into Enid’s head. “Get your son in line.”

  “Howie, let her go. Now!”

  “No, Mother. This is something I have to do.”

  “You’re not my son if you do this. And you will burn in Hell for all of eternity!”

  Howard was silent. Jasper couldn’t tell from this distance if he was thinking or crying.

  Jasper nudged Enid forward, just enough to get a closer shot.

  “He promised you a place with me in The End, Mother. I have to do this.”

  “Don’t be such a fool, Howie! You are being a tricked by Satan. You are allowing yourself to be the devil’s pawn.”

  “Mister K is an agent of God. He’s going to show me—”

  “You stupid, stupid boy! You are such an embarrassment. You let that girl go right now and stop this before you—”

  A gunshot exploded like thunder, then Enid said no more.

  Chapter 49 - Mallory Black

  Mal raced through the woods to the house, her weapon drawn and ready to fire.

  She made it to the sliding glass door in the back. The blinds were closed, so she hoped Howard wasn’t waiting as she lifted the door off the track.

  It popped off. She slid it aside then creeped into the house with her ears and eyes perked for any sign of movement.

  Mal saw through to the living room then to the front door beyond.

  It was open, and she could hear Howard yelling at his mother.

  She raised her pistol and approached the front door.

  Howard’s gun went off as she reached it.

  Mal crossed the threshold, her weapon aimed.

  Chapter 50 - Howard Loomis

  “Howie, let her go. Now!”

  “No, Mother. This is something I have to do.”

  “You’re not my son if you do this. And you will burn in Hell for all of eternity!”

  “See, she doesn’t love you,” said Mister K in his staticky leathery voice. “She stands in your way. She’s with them.”

  Howard whispered, “No, she’s just saying what he’s telling her to. Mother would never betray me.”

  Mother was tough, but only because she wanted greatness from him. She expected him to follow the Lord’s path, to stay vigilant and never surrender to sin. She only hurt him for his own good, to prepare him for the ills and evils of this world.

  She loved him and wanted to help him keep Satan away.

  He just had to convince her he was on the right path. Mister K was showing him the way. “He promised you a place with me in The End, Mother. I have to do this.”

  “Don’t be such a fool, Howie! You are being a tricked by the Devil. Allowing yourself to be his pawn.”

  “She lies,” Mister K said. “She’s never loved you. She’s only tried to hold you back from your destiny. She’s guilty of the most grievous of sins, being jealous of her child, trying to hold her son back from the man he is destined to be.”

  “Mister K is an agent of God. He’s going to show me—”

  “You stupid, stupid boy!”

  “You see!” Mister K shouted. “She thinks you’re nothing.”

  “You are such an embarrassment. You let that girl go right now …”

  “An embarrassment,” Mister K repeated. “And she still thinks you’re under her thumb. It’s time to embrace your destiny.”

  “…and stop this before you—”

  Howard fired his gun at Mother.

  The first shot missed.

  She stared at him, stunned, eyes glaring with hate and betrayal.

  Fear gripped his throat, threatening to crush him as shame burned his face.

  “Again!” Mister K shouted.

  Howard fired, this time finding his target, twice.

  The door burst open behind him as his mother hit the ground.

  No, no, no!

  Howard spun, raising his gun as he fired on Mallory Black.

  Chapter 51 - Mallory Black

  Mal went through the doorway, gun raised, as Katie fell and Howard spun toward her.

  She fired. Hit his shoulder. Went to squeeze the trigger again.

  But the fingers on her left hand erupted in an exp
losion of pain, bone, and blood as his bullet landed. She screamed as the impact sent her backward.

  Then the behemoth was on her.

  His gun jammed, so he grabbed Mal by the head and slammed her into the open door.

  She crumpled to the ground in agony.

  Howard screamed in rage, looming over her.

  Mal looked up just as he was about to smash his boot onto her face.

  Chapter 52 - Jasper Parish

  Jasper aimed at Howard the second Enid’s body fell, but with Katie and Mal both in motion, he couldn’t get a clear shot.

  He ran to the front door as the giant knocked Mal to the ground.

  When Howard raised his boot, Jasper got his shot.

  He fired three times.

  Howard spun around. Stared at Jasper. Tried to clear his jammed gun.

  Jasper raised his pistol to fire again, but Katie was running toward him, away from the monster and blocking his shot.

  He yelled at her to get down, but she either didn’t hear him because of the bullets or was too panicked to understand. She kept racing toward him, then straight into his arms.

  He turned and rushed Katie toward the back of the SUV. “Stay behind the vehicle and get down.” When she hid, he ran back into the fray. But by the time he had a clean line of sight, so did his enemy.

  Howard fired. The windshield shattered.

  Something hard hit the ground in front of the car.

  And smoke began to billow.

  Chapter 53 - Mallory Black

  Mal’s sight swam in and out of focus thanks to having her head smashed into the door.

  She heard Jasper fire, watched Howard throw a smoke grenade. He whipped open his jacket, drew a machete, then marched toward the smoke. Toward Jasper and Katie.

  Mal looked at her left hand, quickly losing blood. Two fingers were now missing from the mid-knuckle and above.

  The pain was unbearable. She was about to pass out from either head wound or blood loss.

  So much blood.

  She ripped material from her shirt for a makeshift tourniquet, but gunfire and Jasper’s scream captured her attention before she could wrap her hand.

  Howard’s laughter carried back to her, followed by the ting of his machete hitting the metal door.

  Smoke by the car was too thick for Mal to do anything but imagine the horror show — Jasper getting hacked by the sharp, curved blade before Howard turned his twisted hatred on Katie.

  She crawled toward her gun — on the ground with her fingers — and grabbed it with her right hand. It was slippery with blood, but Mal managed to grip it.

  Up to her knees, slowly, carefully, terrified of passing out and hitting her head again, dying on the way down. She braced against the door frame, dizziness and pain at war in her head and in her gut as she stood.

  Mal grabbed her stomach then emptied it. Vomit everywhere.

  A break in the curtain of smoke showed Jasper and Katie were on the opposite side of the car from Howard. She cowered behind Jasper, who looked paternally protective.

  But he wasn’t armed. Howard must have knocked his weapon away.

  Maybe he maimed Jasper’s hand too?

  Mal aimed, but Howard dropped another smoke grenade before she could fire.

  She swallowed then saw how far she could make it.

  Chapter 54 - Howard Loomis

  Howard hurled another grenade then followed with a flash bang.

  The explosion and light disoriented the black man.

  Howard went at him, swinging his machete in a downward arc toward his body.

  The man somehow managed to dodge, but now Howard had him pinned against the car.

  “Kill him.” Mister K in his ear.

  Howard dropped the blade then aimed his gun at the black man.

  “Howard!”

  He turned and saw the detective approaching him from behind a billow of smoke.

  Her body was bloody, her hands were shaking, but she aimed her gun at his face all the same.

  “Do it,” said Mister K. “She can’t hit you. Kill him, then the whore.”

  Howard looked down at the black man, frozen with his hands up, speaking at the edge of a crack. “You don’t have to die, tonight, Howard. You can still walk away from this, maybe get some help.”

  “Do it,” Mister K urged. “Do it or you will never see the truth.”

  “I know what it’s like to have voices in your head, voices that won’t shut the hell up. I also know what it’s like to have a mother who doesn’t love you. What it’s like to live in a world that can never see who you really are. You did some bad shit, Howard. But you are not a monster.”

  Tears stung his eyes. This stranger spoke with an empathy that dipped its shovel into the open grave of Howard’s pain. For the first time in a long time, he felt understood.

  And confused.

  “Kill him, now, you fucking pussy!”

  “Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Howard kept shaking his head, wanting Mister K to go away.

  “Do it. Now.”

  His head was going to explode. Howard needed a minute to think, sixty seconds in peace.

  “Your mother was right about you, wasn’t she? You’re just a worthless little shit. You’ll never —”

  “Just shut up! Shut the hell—”

  Chapter 55 - Mallory Black

  Mal fired three shots.

  Direct hits to Howard’s head and neck.

  He fell to the ground.

  And Mal right after him.

  Chapter 56 - Mallory Black

  Mal woke up in the back of her car, sick. In pain.

  Confused.

  They were so moving fast.

  She looked up and saw the back of Jasper’s head.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “You’ll be okay,” said a voice above her.

  Her head was resting in Katie’s lap, the girl holding something over her wound.

  “You lost a lot of blood,” Jasper said from up front. “I’m taking you to the hospital. Figured it was faster than waiting for an ambulance.”

  “Oh,” Mal said before …

  Mal opened her eyes, vision blurred and hazy mind, the daylight making her blink. She eventually made out a shape sitting in a chair next to her — Katie looking at her phone.

  “Hey, kiddo.”

  “Mal!” Katie dropped her phone and jumped up from her chair.

  “How are you?”

  “Good.” She smiled. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  Mal looked around, searching for Jasper. “Where’s …?”

  “Your friend? He’s gone. Don’t worry, he told me not to say anything to the cops.”

  “Oh? What did you say to the cops?”

  Katie looked at the door conspiratorially, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

  “Your friend told me to give you this. I didn’t read it, but he said it’ll have everything you need.”

  “Um, okay.” Mal went to take the note, saw her bandaged left hand, remembered losing a pair of fingers, and wanted to cry. Maybe the morphine was keeping her tears at bay.

  And fuck someone’s mother, now she would have to get off of opiates … again.

  But that was a problem for Future Mal. Right now, she would enjoy the relief. And the buzz that came on like an opening riff laid on a backbeat.

  She opened the letter.

  You followed up on an anonymous tip which led you to Enid Loomis.

  You accompanied her to the house at the address Howard gave you, hoping to talk him down.

  You knew you didn’t have much time to get anyone else involved.

  When you showed up, Howard’s mother tried to talk some sense into him. He shot her.

  The letter listed precise details of what was said, surely so their narratives matched.

  It went on to explain that someone showed up, a good Samaritan who fired shots — which nobody will trace to an actual name — and that same good
Samaritan drove her to the hospital after shooting Howard Loomis in the process of saving Katie.

  Once he outlined the specifics, he left her with a few last words and wishes.

  Thank you for everything.

  Katie is a good kid. She’s really worried about you. I know you’re not sure if you’re ready to be a mom again. But don’t do what I’ve done all my life and let fear hold you back from love.

  Best of luck starting over.

  I’m not sure where I’m going next, but I’ll be in touch if I’m ever in your neck of the woods again.

  By the way, Jordyn wanted me to give you this — Saturday’s numbers, in case you’re running low on cash:

  3-15-18-25-47-51-x2

  All our best,

  J&J

  She smiled and wiped tears from her eyes. From the meds, the message, or maybe the blend of them together, Mal’s gratitude suddenly felt ravine deep.

  Katie was staring at her.

  Mal felt a flush of embarrassment.

  “Was he a good friend?”

  “It’s complicated,” Mal said. “More like a guardian angel.”

  “No offense, but he was a little weird. He kept talking to someone who wasn’t there, kinda like that psycho who kidnapped me.”

  “It’s a long story. But he’s a good guy. How are you … did Loomis … hurt you?”

  “Nothing too bad. You got there in time. Thank you.”

  “It’s my job.”

  “No, thank you for everything — for taking me in, and for trying to help my mom and me.” Katy started to cry. “And I’m sorry I was such a dick to you after all that.”

  “It’s okay,” Mal laughed. “You weren’t that big a dick.”

  “You sure?”

  “A two, maybe three-incher at most.”

  Katie snort-laughed, then leaned in and hugged Mal, awkwardly in the hospital bed.

  Mal realized how much she missed having someone to care for. She wasn’t sure what would happen with Katie and her baby, but she felt good about their future.