by Amy Cross
And then she'll thank me. And the world will thank me. And everyone will finally see that I'm the good guy here.
“Stop fighting me!” I shout, holding her down firmer than ever, fighting against her struggles as I drive the knife back into her chest. “I'm doing this to save you!”
Fifty-Three
Sheriff James Kopperud
“We've confirmed that somebody is at the farm,” Lewis explains as we make our way under the fluttering line of police tape and out across the field. “A vehicle arrived shortly before we got here, although we can't confirm the identities of the occupants.”
“I think we can take a wild guess,” I mutter, feeling another twinge of pain in my gut.
“We have the place surrounded,” he continues, “and there are lights on inside the farmhouse itself, but so far we haven't tried to make contact with whoever's inside. We figured we should wait for you to arrive, but... Are we going to go in soon? Do you think we should storm the place?”
Stopping next to the large, dark barn, I look toward the farmhouse and see that there are a couple of lights flickering in the upstairs windows. A moment later I spot movement over by the farmhouse's far wall, and I turn just in time to see two more armed officers getting into position.
Just like the night many years ago, when Buddy led a group of us into the exact same house. Things didn't go too well back then, and I've always felt that Buddy should have tried a more diplomatic approach, at least to begin with. I know Buddy would want to go in with all guns blazing, but I'm not Buddy, and I've got my own way of handling this.
“Boss?” Lewis adds. “What's the plan?”
“I'm going in there,” I tell him. “Alone.”
“You can't be serious!”
I turn to him. “I need a bulletproof vest, and then I'm going in there. If we send armed men in to flush Hinch out, Katie'll be dead before we even get up the stairs. I think I can get through to him if I go in alone. At least I'll have a chance.”
“But -”
“So find me some body armor,” I continue, interrupting him. “Let's get this over with.”
***
A floorboard creaks under my right foot as soon as I step foot in the farmhouse's hallway. I might be wrong, but I think that exact same board creaked ten years ago when I came in here with Buddy and the others. With the house having remained unoccupied since that awful night, nothing much has changed during the intervening years. The place is completely silent, as if nobody is here right now, but I know Hinch is somewhere around, and I can only hope that Katie is still alive.
“Hinch?” I call out finally, as I reach the darkened kitchen and look toward the stairs. “Liam? I don't know what name you want me to use right now, but I need to talk to you. It's me. It's James Kopperud. Can you tell me about Katie? Is she okay?”
I wait, and a moment later I hear a very faint creaking sound from upstairs.
“Hinch? Is that you?”
I wait again.
Silence.
“Hinch, if -”
Suddenly Katie lets out a brief, horrified scream. I flinch, but the scream ends as abruptly as it began, leaving me standing alone in the silence. A moment later, however, I hear hurried footsteps in one of the rooms above me, along with a faint muttering sound.
“Hinch?” I call out again, once the sound has faded again.
Silence.
“I'm coming up!” I shout. “Is that okay, Hinch? I need to see that Katie is okay, and then we can talk about everything else. Don't be alarmed and don't panic. I'm just coming upstairs, and I'm alone. Is that okay? It's just me. Everyone else is waiting outside.”
Making my way toward the stairs, I tell myself that Hinch isn't a bad person. He's clearly unstable, and the files from Gordonville mentioned some delusions from a few years ago, but I truly believe that deep down he's a good guy. Maybe I was fooled while he was working alongside me, maybe he lied about his name and about where he came from and about the details of his life, but I still remember finding him in the house all those years ago, when he was just a child. I can reason with him.
I stop halfway up the stairs, listening to a faint murmuring sound from above. I think I can hear Katie, and it sounds as if she's in pain.
“Katie!” I call out. “This is James Kopperud! Everything's going to be okay. Can you say something, just to let me know that you can hear me?”
I wait.
The murmuring continues, but she doesn't seem to have reacted to my voice.
“Katie!”
No reply.
“Hinch, can you let Katie speak?” I ask finally. “Just for me? Can you let her say something?”
Nothing.
Just that same constant, murmured whimper.
I listen for a moment longer, and now I'm certain that it's her. At least she's still alive. Figuring that I need to get closer, I start making my way a little further up the stairs, until I reach the top and see that only one of the doors is open, leading into the room where – many years ago – I found Liam Cane curled in the corner of the closet. There's no sign of anyone in the room so far, but the light is on and the murmuring, whimpering noise seems to be coming from somewhere behind the door.
How did that terrified little boy become the man who killed Leanne Halperin? I remember the fearful look in his eyes as I lifted him out of the closet.
“This is James Kopperud!” I announce yet again, taking a step closer. “Katie, if you can hear me, this is almost over. You're going to be safe in just a few more minutes. Trust me.”
Why the hell should she trust me? Why should anyone trust me? I let Hinch work alongside all of us, and I never once saw through the mask and suspected he might be dangerous. All I saw was a goofball, a guy who was mildly amusing to be around. I even met Liam Cane a decade ago, and I never realized that he and Hinch were the same person. Even though Liam was a small kid with a wiry frame, and Hinch is a pretty big guy, I should have figured that something was wrong. This is my fault.
As I reach the doorway, I realize I can hear a faint sobbing sound.
“Katie!” I continue. “Can you say something?”
The sobbing continues, and finally I push the door open.
There's blood on the floor. Lots of blood. There's more on the wall, too, and as I step into the room I see that mixed in with the blood there's also some kind of fleshy material.
Spotting movement in the corner, I turn and aim my gun, and I'm shocked to see Hinch sitting with Katie in his arms. Katie's face is covered in blood, with two dark red pits where she once had eyes, and there are several more gouged sections where flesh has been carved from her chest and neck.
“The demon won't leave her!” Hinch sobs, as I realize that it's his murmured whimpers I heard before I entered the room. “It's taken root deep and I don't think I can cut it out! You have to help me set her free!”
Fifty-Four
Liam Cane
“The demon won't leave her,” I whimper, my whole body shuddering as I continue to hold Katie in my blood-stained arms. “It's taken root deep and I don't think I can cut it out! You have to help me set her free! I've failed, I -”
I stop suddenly, as I realize that another demon has entered the room.
Looking up, I see the creature standing just inside the doorway, with a gun raised toward me. Demons don't use guns, they don't need normal mortal weapons, but sometimes they use them as part of their attempt to blend in with the rest of the world. This particular demon is familiar to me, and I recognize him from the office. I should have known that he'd be the one who came to stop me. His eyes are glittering so bright and so strong, I can barely even see the rest of his face.
“You should leave me alone now!” I hiss, filled with anger at the thought that this monster would dare try to interrupt me. “This isn't your house! It's mine! Get out of here!”
“Hinch -”
“Get out!” I scream. “I won't negotiate with demons! I know you're going to try to tur
n me into one of you, but I refuse! I kept you out of my head before, and I'll do it again!”
“Listen to me, Hinch,” he growls, with the gun still aimed at me. “Or do you want me to call you Liam? Would you prefer that?” As he speaks, his voice twists and burns, distorting as his demon form attempts to sound just a little more human. I see right through him, though. I see him for what he really is.
“I'm saving her,” I stammer. “She's not dead! I'm still working, I'm saving her from the rest of you!”
“Let me get her out of here,” he replies, edging closer. “We can talk, we can figure things out, but first I need you to let me take Katie out of here so she can get medical attention. I know you care about Katie. I know you don't want her to suffer any more. That's something we agree on, so let's work together and get her to -”
“No!” I scream, pulling her limp body closer and holding her tight. “I'm not done yet! I'm the only one who can save her!”
“What happened to her eyes, Hinch?” he asks, pretending to care. “There's a lot of blood here.”
“You know what happened to her eyes!” I sneer. “It's the first step to removing the demon influence from her soul. Are you stupid? The eyes are the first part of the possession, and then the rest grows from there. The eyes have roots that run down into the body and allow the demon's poison to spread.”
“Is that right?”
“Of course it's right! I learned it while I was at Gordonville! It's simple biology! Stop pretending not to know!”
“She looks hurt, Hinch,” he continues. “You don't want Katie to die, do you?”
“You're the one who's trying to destroy her!” I hiss. “Not me! You and your kind!”
“And what about Leanne Halperin? Were you trying to save her too?”
“I was looking for the marker! That was different, I was just doing my job!”
“The marker?” He stops just a few feet from me, with his gun still aimed at my face. “What's the marker, Hinch? Why did you go after Leanne?”
“I thought she might be the one,” I reply, feeling tears in my eyes. “He told me I had to find the whore, so I could deliver her to him, so he could destroy her before she got to the witch. The devil cut me a deal. It was the same deal he gave Mikey, except Mikey couldn't handle it. But I'm tougher than Mikey, and the devil saw that, and he told me I had to help him, and that in return I'd get a reward.”
Reaching down, I move my bloodied fingers through Katie's hair.
“She's my reward,” I whisper. “I get to keep Katie...”
I'm crying.
Why am I crying?
The more I cry, the more these demons will think they've got a chance. And maybe the tears are a sign of something leaking, as if they're coming through holes in my eyes. Filled with a sense of panic, I realize this might be the first stage of a demon reaching into my body.
“What are you talking about?” He pauses, and the glitter in his eyes seems to dim slightly. “Hinch, what does all of that mean? Ramsey was saying something similar when I talked to her earlier. I don't understand.”
“He's out there in the forest,” I continue, as more and more tears roll down my face. “He got Mikey and he got me, and then Mikey died and I was taken away, but I came back to do my job. I thought if I found the whore and turned her over to him, he'd give my brother back to me, and my parents too, and we could go back to being a happy family right here at the farm. He promised he'd do that! He said he'd make all the demons go away!”
“Who are you talking about?”
“How can you not know!” I shout. “He's everywhere! He's in the forest! You're a liar!”
“Okay, calm down,” he replies. “Let's just keep things very calm and very friendly. You're not the first person who's mentioned somebody who lives out there in the forest, Hinch. I'm starting to hear about that from a whole lot of people, and it's getting harder and harder to pretend that there isn't a pinch of truth in it. So how about you start by telling me his name and where I can find him?”
“You know his name,” I whisper.
“I don't. Tell me.”
“Everybody knows his name.”
“Hinch -”
“The devil,” I add, spitting the name out.
“The devil?”
“That's what he is,” I continue, thinking back to the very first time, many years ago, when Mikey and I stumbled upon that house in the forest. “He invited us inside. He seemed so nice and polite, but then he started telling us a story about a witch he'd captured and placed in the tunnels. He said he had someone to guard her, a little boy he'd stolen, but that someone else was coming to interfere. He told us he needed help tracking down a whore, and he said he'd give us anything we wanted if we could just find her for him. He told us it'd be hard to identify her, but that we seemed like clever boys and he was sure we'd think of something. He said Mikey was in charge because Mikey was older than me.”
Katie stirs slightly in my arms, letting out a faint groan.
“About six weeks after that,” I whisper, “Mikey lost his mind. He hurt Mom and he hurt Dad, and then I got taken away to a hospital.”
“I know, Hinch,” the demon replies. “I was there. Remember?”
I look up at him.
“I remember seeing you in that closet,” he continues, “right over there, where you've got those twigs and rocks now. You looked so scared and terrified, and I don't blame you for that. I thought you were getting the help you needed at Gordonville. It never occurred to me that they'd let you out.”
Staring at him, I think back to that awful night. I remember being in the closet, and I remember someone reaching inside to lift me out. That was the very first time I ever saw the demons with their glittering eyes. If they hadn't come, everything would have been okay.
“I'm not a bad person,” I whimper. “I just needed to find the marker. It wasn't in the girl at the diner, but maybe it was in the other girl. Maybe it was in her friend. I left her down in the tunnels so the guarding creature could decide.”
“That girl is my daughter, Hinch,” he replies. “That's Ramsey. She's safe, she made it out alive.”
“So she's not the whore?”
“Hinch...”
“If she's not, she should be dead by now! Only the whore should have been able to survive!”
“She's got a lot of crazy stories. I'm still trying to figure them all out.”
“You were there the night Mikey died,” I whisper. “Weren't you?”
He hesitates for a moment, his eyes still glittering. “I was,” he admits finally. “I just told you that, Hinch.”
“Did you see him when he died?” I ask.
“I did.”
“And did you... Were you the one who killed him?”
“I wasn't, Hinch. No, I just... I was there, though. I was there when your brother died, and I heard what he said. He was very scared, and he wanted to be free. He was saying things that sounded like the things you're saying at the moment. I couldn't help him, but I really hope you're going to let me help you. And let's start by both of us, together, helping Katie.”
“Did he say anything about me?” I ask, as more tears stream down my face. “I came back to Deal to continue our work, so that I could get him back. The devil promised I'd get my whole family back if I just found the whore!”
“I'm not sure that's how it works, Hinch. Your family -”
“You don't know!” I shout, feeling a rush of anger in my chest. “You're a demon and you don't understand!”
“Hinch, calm down. Let's focus on getting Katie out of here and then -”
“You're just like all the rest!” I yell, shoving Katie aside and getting to my feet. “Every demon in this town has to burn!”
“Hinch -”
Before he can get another lying word out, I raise my right hand and aim my gun at him. I fire before he has a chance to react, and I hit him square in the chest. He stumbles back and I fire again, then again, until I've emp
tied my gun into him and he slumps back against the floor. Stepping closer, I grab his gun from the floor and aim it at him, and then I fire every last one of his own bullets into his body as he screams. Once the second gun is empty, I throw it aside and turn back to Katie, as I hear voices yelling downstairs and footsteps running into the house.
My heart is pounding.
I have to work fast now.
They're coming for me. A swarm of demons, ready to descend and rip me to shreds.
“I'm going to finish cutting the demon out of you now,” I stammer, stepping back to Katie and picking the knife up. “I was trying to make sure you didn't die, but now I see that maybe I have to just get on with the job and hope for the best. If you die, at least you won't have to spend the rest of your life with a demon in your soul. I'm going to set you free.”
She lets out a horrified whimper, but I kneel and stare at her bare, bloodied chest. Her heart is beating furiously, and I think maybe her heart is where the demon's black blood has gone to hide. It's her heart that I have to purify next, now that her eyes are done. Or...
No.
No, I'm wrong.
It's her face. That's where the demon's power hides.
Reaching down, I slice the knife's blade around the edges of Katie's face, even as she tries furiously to push me away. She's trying to force me to stop, but I know exactly what I'm doing.
“I've got to admit, Liam,” Doctor Ericsson told me once, “I'm very proud of you.”
Tossing the knife aside, I grab hold of the loose flesh at the top of Katie's forehead, and I start tearing it away. Even though she's crying out, I know this is what's best for her. So I pull and I pull, and finally the last sections come loose, and I firmly tear the flesh away from her entire face as she screams louder than ever.
“Freeze!” more demons shout from the doorway. “Put your hands in the -”
