Blood Games

by Richard Laymon

  ‘Sure. Hell, it’d beat walking all night.’

  ‘Scoot over a little closer, would you?’

  The request perplexed Abilene, but she did as asked. Cora put an arm around her back, gently caressed her bare side.

  Her heart started thumping.

  What’s going on?

  She can’t be… gay. She’s married, for Godsake! Got married only three months after the New York trip. (What does that prove?) She can’t be.

  ‘Just relax,’ Cora whispered, her breath tickling Abilene’s ear. ‘Just act like everything’s normal.’

  ‘Cora…’

  ‘There’s somebody in the bushes right behind you.’

  The words slammed through her chest. ‘Who is it?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Batty?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Oh God.’

  ‘It’s okay, it’s okay. Act normal. We’re gonna nail him.’ Cora patted her side. ‘Let’s get going,’ she said in a louder voice. ‘I’m tired of sitting here.’

  Fighting her urge to look back, Abilene got to her feet. Someone watching us.

  Helen’s killer?

  She glanced toward the lodge. No sign of Vivian and Finley. A great time for us to be split up.

  She bent over and clutched Cora’s left arm.

  She saw her blouse knotted around Cora’s ankle. Not that she needed reminding that she was half naked.

  I don’t believe this. Shit!

  As she pulled, Cora pushed herself up with the shotgun.

  ‘Let me see if I can walk on my own. Stand back.’

  She let go and took a couple of steps away. She watched Cora, keeping her eyes from the bushes where the stranger supposedly lurked.

  Cora stayed up. ‘See? I can get along without you.’

  Pivoting on her left leg, she shouldered the shotgun and swung its barrels toward the dense foliage beside the trail. ‘Come out of there or I’ll blow your fucking head off! ’

  Abilene heard a gasp, but couldn’t see anyone through the green tangle.

  ‘Come out!’

  ‘Don’t shoot! Don’t.’

  The head of a teenaged boy rose into view. Abilene recognized his long dark hair, the almost pretty features of his smooth face. He was the kid they’d seen yesterday in the pool, the kid who’d fled into the woods.

  Helen’s killer?

  Abilene pictured her friend sprawled dead in the showerroom.

  She pulled Batty’s knife from the sheath at her hip.

  The kid’s terrified eyes stayed on Cora as he came out from behind the bushes.

  He was shirtless and skinny, wearing cut-off blue jeans low on his hips. The jeans, too big for him, were held up by a couple of ropes that came down from his shoulders like suspenders.

  His stomach was smudged with bruises. Had Helen done that to him? Punched him as she struggled for her life?

  Halting in front of Cora, he shook his head. ‘I didn’t do nothin’,’ he said. ‘Ya ain’t gonna shoot me, are ya?’

  ‘More than likely,’ Cora said.

  ‘No, please! It weren’t me. I didn’t touch her!’

  ‘Oh you bastard,’ Abilene muttered. The kid’s head jerked sideways. He looked at her. She saw his eyes lower to her breasts but she didn’t care. ‘You killed her. You butchered Helen, you filthy maggot.’

  ‘No! It weren’t me! ’ He shook his head wildly from side to side. ‘My brother done it! He’s crazy, my brother. I didn’t do nothin’ but try ’n scare ya off!’

  ‘Bullshit,’ Abilene said.

  ‘I swear it! I swear it!’ Facing Cora, he blurted, ‘Don’t shoot… hey.’ His mouth fell open. He ducked his head close to the muzzles and squinted. ‘Them barrels is all plugged up,’ he said.

  ‘Ya go and shoot me, the whole gun’s gonna blow up, more ’n likely.’

  Cora frowned. She glanced at Abilene.

  The kid drove an arm forward, pounding his hand against the double muzzles, ramming the shotgun hard against Cora’s shoulder.

  The blow knocked her backward. The barrels swung toward the sky. Even as she tried to catch herself with her right leg and cried out, Abilene knew she was going down.

  The kid bolted, looking over his shoulder at Abilene. She was rushing him before Cora hit the ground.

  He raced into the field.

  Abilene sprinted after him, flinging her legs out long and quick, pumping her arms, the blade of Batty’s knife flashing beside her face each time her right arm shot up. In seconds, she was wheezing for breath. Her muscles burned.

  The kid got farther and farther away from her.

  And he was running along the edge of the field, not across it, not fleeing toward the lodge. He’d been watching. He knew that Finley and Vivian were in that direction.

  Abilene looked toward the corner of the lodge.

  No Finley, no Vivian.

  Where are they?

  He’s gonna get away!

  Turning her head forward again, she fixed her eyes on the kid’s gleaming back. He was fifteen, twenty feet ahead of her. Closing in on the woods at the corner of the field.

  Can’t let him.

  Can’t let him get away.

  He killed Helen.

  Abilene staggered to a halt. She turned the knife around and clamped the blade tight between her thumb and the curled side of her forefinger. She cocked it back over her shoulder and threw it.

  Not a chance, she thought.

  But she knew she couldn’t chase him down.

  The knife tumbled end over end. At first, it seemed to be whipping straight for the kid’s head. That’s where she had aimed, figuring that even if she wasn’t good enough to make the blade stick, the handle might at least connect and stun him.

  But the knife began to drop.

  Gonna fall short.

  Expecting it to hit the ground behind him, Abilene wanted to be there fast to retrieve it. She forced herself to run. And only took a single stride before the blade sank deep into the back of the kid’s left thigh. He twitched and cried ‘Yeeah!’ His leg jumped upward instead of striding out. He dived at the ground as if sliding head first for a base.

  He reached around. He grabbed the knife. He yanked it out of his leg an instant before Abilene smashed down on his back. He grunted under the impact. Abilene hooked one arm across his throat and squeezed. Her other arm stretched out sideways and grabbed the wrist of his knife hand. She tried to keep it pinned to the ground as she choked him.

  He bucked and writhed, slippery beneath her. He shook his head. He dug his chin into her forearm. He shoved himself upward with his right arm. Abilene felt his body rise and tilt. Starting to slide, she swung a leg over his hip.

  Together, they rolled. He came down on top of her. Though she could barely breathe under his weight, she kept her grip on his knife hand and tried to tighten her stranglehold. She hooked her legs over his.

  When he shoved her arm away from his throat, she jammed her mouth against the back of his head. His hair was wet and oily, so thick that she thought she might not get through it. But her teeth found his scalp.

  He yelped and let go and drove his elbow down. It smacked into her just below the armpit. At the shock of pain, her mouth sprang open. He got his head away from her teeth, but she clutched his throat again. The elbow punched her a second time. And he kept on pumping it down, pounding her side. Each blow seemed to steal more of her strength.

  She was helpless to stop him when the kid pushed her arm away from his throat, freed his knife hand from her grip, kicked his legs out from under hers and rolled off.

  She lay on her back, struggling for air.

  He got to his hands and knees. The knife in his left hand was pressed against the ground. He was gasping just as hard as Abilene. Raising his head, he looked at her through cords of wet hair that had fallen over his face.

  ‘I… didn’t… do it,’ he panted.

  He suddenly raised his head higher. His face, red and drippin
g behind the strands of hair, twisted with despair.

  Abilene could guess why.

  She wondered if she had enough energy to turn her head so she could watch Finley and Vivian racing to her rescue.

  She was still thinking about it when the kid scurried to her side and pressed the knife blade against her throat.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  On his knees by Abilene’s shoulder, hunched over her and holding the knife against her throat, the kid stared up at Finley and Vivian. They halted just on the other side of Abilene.

  Finley had the old, rust-speckled knife in one hand, a water bottle in the other. Vivian was holding Abilene’s moccasins and a plaid blouse.

  ‘Go away,’ the kid said. ‘Leave me be.’

  Finley dropped the knife. ‘Just take it easy.’

  ‘Where’s Cora?’ Vivian asked.

  ‘She’s… okay,’ Abilene gasped.

  ‘I only just wanta go home,’ the kid said. ‘I never hurt no one.’

  ‘What’s your name?’ Vivian asked.

  ‘Jim.’

  ‘I’m Vivian. This is Finley. That’s our friend, Abilene. We don’t mean you any harm. Why don’t you put your knife away? You can leave. Nobody’ll try to stop you.’

  ‘Yeah, ya will. Ya think I killed that girl.’

  ‘Did you?’ Finley asked.

  ‘I already said. Weren’t me. My brother, Hank, he’s the one. He’s crazy. All I done, I tried to scare ya off. Didn’t want him doing that to none a ya.’

  ‘Are you the one who threw our stuff in the pool last night?’ Vivian asked.

  He nodded. ‘To scare ya off. I didn’t take nothing. Honest.’

  ‘It’s all right,’ Vivian said. ‘We don’t care if you took something.’

  ‘Well, I didn’t.’

  ‘What about the car keys?’ Finley asked.

  ‘I didn’t see no keys. Didn’t take no keys.’

  ‘What did you take?’ Finley asked.

  ‘Nothing! ’

  ‘Damn it, Fin,’ Abilene blurted.

  ‘He’s lying.’

  ‘He’s gonna slit my throat, you dumb shit.’

  ‘No, he won’t. Don’t worry. If he does, I’ll kill him. You don’t want me to kill you, do you Jim? What did you take?’

  ‘Nothing.’ He sounded as if he might start'to cry. ‘Just a… thing. It weren’t yours. Ya don’t wear ’em.’

  ‘A bra?’ Finley asked.

  ‘Yeah. Hers.’ He looked at Vivian. ‘I only just… borrowed it.’

  Vivian grimaced, but only for an instant. She managed a smile. ‘That’s fine, Jim. You can have it.’

  ‘Ain’t got it no more, anyhow. Hank took it off me.’ His lips started to tremble. ‘He made me tell where I got it.’

  ‘When was this?’ Finley asked.

  ‘Last night. I didn’t wanta tell, but he made me. I knew he’d come over. I figured he’d kill ya all. But he only just got the fat one. I sure wish he hadn’t.’ Jim started to weep. ‘I tried to scare ya off… ya just wouldn’t go. He’s… gonna get the rest of ya if ya stay, too. Ya gotta go.'

  Jim lifted the knife away from Abilene’s throat, then leaned away from her. As she sat up, he let the knife fall to the ground. He knelt there, head down.

  Abilene braced herself up. She was glad to get her back off the ground. It itched horribly, but she felt too exhausted to do anything about it.

  Every muscle in her body seemed to be trembling. Her skin, dripping with sweat, was rough with goosebumps like before. She noticed that her nipples were erect. Great, she thought. She glanced up at Finley and Vivian. They were staring at her, frowning. She expected a remark from Finley.

  ‘All that blood better be his,’ Finley said.

  ‘Yeah,’ she muttered, glancing at her outstretched legs. They were smeared bright red. ‘All his.’

  ‘Did he do anything to you?’ Vivian asked.

  ‘We… just wrestled.’ She wanted to tug her skirt down to cover her panties, but she couldn’t bring herself to move. ‘I think… all he wanted was to get away.’

  ‘What’ll we do with him?’ Finley asked.

  ‘Let him go,’ Vivian said.

  ‘That doesn’t seem like such a hot idea,’ Finley said. She crouched and picked up the knife she’d dropped. ‘No telling what he might do.’

  ‘I won’t do nothing,’ Jim said, his voice high and shaky.

  ‘He’s hurt,’ Abilene explained. ‘I got him in the leg with my knife. And bit his head.’

  ‘Are you all right?’ Vivian asked her.

  ‘I’ll live. But my back. Itches like crazy.’ She knew it must be scratched some and littered with bits of field debris clinging to her skin. Vivian crouched, wadding the blouse. Figuring what she had in mind, Abilene shoved at the ground and leaned forward. Vivian began to rub her back with the blouse.

  Abilene moaned as the itching faded to mild soreness.

  ‘Hey!’ Cora’s voice.

  Abilene looked up and saw her at the edge of the field, standing on one leg, propped up by the shotgun.

  ‘What’s going on?’ Cora yelled.

  ‘Everything’s okay,’ Abilene answered. ‘We’ll be over in a minute.’ Vivian gave the blouse to her. Putting it on, she looked over at Jim. He still had his head down. She picked up the knife. ‘You can leave if you want. I’m sorry about… going after you. Hurting you.’

  He wiped his eyes and looked at her. ‘I don’t blame ya none.’

  ‘All the same… I thought you’d killed our friend.’

  ‘How do we know he didn’t?’ Finley said.

  ‘I believe him,’ Vivian said.

  ‘He could’ve cut my throat,’ Abilene explained. To Jim, she said, ‘If you want to come along with us, that’s fine. We’ve got a first-aid kit at the car. We can bandage you up.’

  ‘Okay,’ he muttered.

  Abilene stood up. She straightened her skirt. She slipped her feet into the moccasins that Vivian had brought for her, then took a drink from the water bottle.

  Jim got slowly to his feet. He winced when he put weight on his left leg. Bending over, he clutched the back of his thigh.

  ‘Can you walk?’ Vivian asked him.

  He gave it a try. Hand clamped to the wound, he took a few hobbling steps. The back of his injured leg was sheathed with blood. Some had gotten onto his good leg as well.

  Abilene expected to find blood all over his hair and neck and back, but there was none. Apparently, she hadn’t bitten his scalp hard enough to break the skin.

  Of course not, she thought. I would’ve gotten it all over my face.

  Finley took over the lead, walking backward, holding the knife at her side and keeping her eyes on Jim. Abilene and Vivian walked behind him.

  Cora, up ahead, had lowered herself to the ground. When the others got to her, she asked Abilene, ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘The blood’s his. I got him in the leg.’

  ‘He didn’t hurt you?’

  ‘No, I’m fine.’

  Finley gave her the water bottle and she took a long drink.

  ‘He says his brother’s the one who killed Helen,’ Finley said.

  ‘A likely story,’ Cora said.

  ‘He could’ve killed me, but he didn’t.’

  ‘He knows I would’ve nailed him,’ Finley said.

  ‘I think he told the truth,’ Vivian said. ‘He admitted throwing our stuff in the pool last night. He said it was to scare us away so his brother wouldn’t get us.’

  ‘Where was this “brother” then?’ Cora asked.

  ‘Back home,’ Jim explained.

  ‘The thing is,’ Abilene said, ‘the brother apparently didn’t know we were at the lodge until later last night. He caught Jim with Vivian’s bra.’

  ‘Fuckin’ pervert,’ Finley said.

  Jim stood there with his head down, his hand clasped to the back of his leg.

  ‘I never even noticed it was missing,’ Vivian said. She sounded apologetic, a
s if she blamed herself for luring the killer to the lodge.

  ‘The brother took it from him,’ Abilene continued, ‘and made him tell where he’d gotten it. Apparently, he beat Jim up.’ She flapped a hand toward the dark blotches on Jim’s stomach. ‘That’s how you got those bruises, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he murmured.

  ‘How do we know Helen didn’t do that to him?’ Finley said.

  ‘I never hurt nobody.’

  ‘That’s what you keep telling us.’

  ‘What were you doing at the lodge in the first place?’ Cora asked him.

  ‘Isn’t that obvious?’ Finley said.

  ‘It’s… I just like to go there. It’s quiet ’n nice ’n… I go there all the time. Just to swim and stuff. Ain’t nobody ever there. Till yesterday.’

  ‘And you liked what you saw,’ Finley said, ‘so you came sneaking back last night.’

  ‘That ain’t it. Figured ya’d be gone. But when I seen ya was still there, I tried to scare ya off. Hank, he goes there sometimes. He’s crazy. He’ll go and stay the whole night, sometimes. It’s ’cause he done stuff there when he was just a kid… killed some folks ’n… done stuff to gals. He likes to… stay in the lodge ’n run it all through his head. Ya hear him, ya’d think it was just the finest thing ever… what he done that night. So I knowed what he’d do if he come across ya. That’s how come I thrown your things in the water. Just to spook ya off.’

  ‘If you were worried that way,’ Abilene said, ‘why didn’t you just come out and talk to us, explain the situation?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he muttered.

  ‘He was having too much fun,’ Finley said.

  ‘Were you afraid of us?’ Vivian asked.

  ‘Not much. I… liked ya.’

  ‘I’ll just bet you did.’

  ‘Quit it, Finley.’

  ‘Oh, come on. The kid’s a voyeur. He was getting his jollies spying on us.’

  ‘That may be,’ Abilene said, ‘but I think he’s telling the truth about his brother.’

  ‘Brother or not, he got Helen killed. If he hadn’t been spying on us and decided to fuck around with our stuff, we never would’ve lost the car keys and we would’ve gotten outa this shit-hole last night and Helen’d still be alive. If he hadn’t swiped Viv’s bra, his fucking brother wouldn’t even’ve known we were here.’ She suddenly lunged at Jim. Arms outstretched, she rammed her hands against his chest. He staggered backward, dropped, and landed on his rump. As he looked up with surprise and pain in his eyes, Abilene sprang at Finley. She grabbed her friend’s arm and tugged, but not quick enough. The toe of Finley’s sneaker punched Jim under the chin. The kid flopped backward, his head bouncing off the ground.