by D. R. Mather
“In a few hours, go to the nearest car truck rental and have a hitch put on your Taurus, then get a small trailer. Take only the things that are personal to you guys and things you absolutely need. I’ll set you up here, so don’t you worry, okay?”
“Kevin, I’ll never be able to thank you enough for what you’ve done already, so you know it’s okay. I’ll get some coffee and wait for them to open the rental, then I’ll call my boss as soon as he gets in. He knew I was only good for another month or so anyway. I’ll be out of here by nightfall and heading your way.”
“Great, we’ll be expecting you in a few days then, give everyone a kiss from Judy and me. I’ll talk to you soon, bye.”
Kevin spun sideways and hugged Judy. “I think I got to them in time but it tells me one very important thing, Benny’s about to move.”
He hugged Judy tight. He couldn’t see her face, and he didn’t see the tears.
***
A few hours later and Kevin was outside. Judy was in the kitchen with Barb, helping with breakfast. Kevin was surveying everything. In another month the trailer could go, as the place was almost done. They began stringing cables for the lifts; soon the chairs would be added. Kevin had an elaborate array of fencing put around the lifts so that people could come and go to their destinations and not bother the one area that he saved for sledding, his favorite three hundred foot hill. He’d had it all smoothed over earlier and it was perfect now. He even had a ‘catch’ fence put at the top of the return hill just in case someone hit a world sledding speed record and managed to crest that second hill. He kept the mine pulley system and had a special steel and wood pulley system made too, so that it now ran a constant set of pads that fit four people each for their return to the top of the hill. He did replace the tree he tied it with originally with a steel pole and had a set of reverse directional pulleys set up so that it ran horizontally instead of over or under. It was a never-ending circle once it was on.
The pool was filled and a new filtration system was up and running. Pool lounge chairs lined the pool edges. The grass had already had two cuttings over at the golf course. Will was out every morning playing. He couldn’t seem to get enough.
“Just making sure it plays through okay Kevin,” had become his favorite saying. When asked if it met his expectations he always said, “It’s the best damn course I’ve ever played.”
Most of the crew had moved on to other jobs. Steve was still there to oversee the ski lifts and wrap ups, and he’d agreed to come back to remove and repair the back ballroom entry area later on.
Kevin had stopped hearing the blasts coming from mountain four a few days ago. There was a small crew cleaning up the rough rock in the new cavities and in the next few days, choppers would start dropping steel to frame in the fronts of two shops. Except for the steel plates in the back, Kevin figured they were about a week from final checklists. Once the tram was running, all the products could be brought to it from them.
As Kevin turned from the sled hill he saw Steve walking from his car to the trailer.
“STEVE!”
Steve looked over and waved, then changed direction towards Kevin. “Morning Kevin, what’s up?”
“Morning Steve, listen, can we get an emergency crew in the lodge to finish it up?”
“For you, I’ll do it myself if I have to. I’ll tell you right now Kevin, I’d be one happy son of a bitch if I knew you were my boss every day. I hate it when these jobs end, and I’m forced to move on to beg for the next one.”
“Boy, don’t I remember that Steve. Let’s go have a look at the lodge, I have my tenants coming early.”
***
Billy and Michelle had a very busy day; Michelle got a sitter for the kids which made everything a lot smoother. The sitter came and picked them up so they wouldn’t be under foot all day. Billy showed up around ten in the morning with a small ‘lugger’ trailer hooked to a new tow hitch on the back of the car. They spent the remainder of the day quickly packing everything important. Michelle was great about it. She’d already had a plan in mind, so she only had to step up that day, and actually, this was a lot easier as there was no furniture to move. She wasn’t going to miss it anyway; most of it was purchased second-hand to begin with. The only hard room was baby Scot’s room; everything had to go from in there.
Brandon’s room was only toys, clothing, a few blankets and his pillow.
By ten that night, Billy was shutting off the light and closing the front door. Michelle was waiting in the car, the kids in the back seat. Billy jaunted down the walkway, got in the car, put it in drive and drove away from their old life.
They only missed Benny by six hours.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
To say that Benny was pissed would be the understatement of the century; Benny was almost psychotic. Vince and Stan crashed through the back kitchen door. Well, okay, Vince crashed through and Stan followed behind. Benny and three men broke down the front door. They all began running from room to room. Nothing, no one was home.
“FUCK!!!”
Benny was plain ‘rip-shit’; he was trashing everything his hands could get near.
He sprinted up to Stan and Vince and yelled, “They were supposed to fucking be here!”
Stan was sweating. He didn’t like it when Benny got mad, as he ‘did’ things when he got mad. “I don’t know Benny, are you sure this is the right place?”
“Does this look like the right place?” He grabbed a few pieces of junk mail that were sitting on the kitchen counter: it was the right place.
“What the hell is going on? Can’t I even count on the “BOSS” to get his information right?”
Maybe two seconds went by after Benny had said that, maybe. Suddenly Benny’s body was lifted up hard enough to be slammed into the ceiling and leave a hole, and then he was thrown out of the kitchen. He didn’t land again until he hit the sofa on the far side of the living room.
“ALRIGHT, I’m sorry, okay?” Benny said as he regained himself.
Everyone in the house at the time saw it. No one had touched Benny, he was just thrown up and sent flying through the room. The guys who came in with Benny apparently weren’t very ‘informed’ on what was going on, and they got very worried.
“Everyone get back in the fucking buses, NOW!”
Everyone left the house. As a parting shot, Benny lit the living room’s cloth chairs and sofa on fire.
Chapter Forty
Billy arrived at the Inn one and a half days later and told Kevin that they had eaten in the car and hadn’t bothered with hotels. He and Michelle had taken turns with napping and driving.
Needless to say, Cindy was all screaming and hugs, and Roland was all hugs. Screaming and hugging seemed to be the way to greet old friends from Indiana from what Kevin could see.
They all sat down to a nice dinner that evening; tales of birthings were exchanged, laughs went around, and food was eaten. Billy and Michelle’s furniture wasn’t coming until tomorrow so they could use the Inn’s rooms for the night. Near the end of the evening, while everyone was in the living room, Kevin abruptly stood up.
“Can I get everyone’s attention for a minute? There is something that has to be done, something I don’t like but needs to be done just the same. Will, Barb, Billy, Michelle, Cindy, Roland, I’ve booked you all into a hotel on the other side of Denver.”
Will was the only one who spoke.
“What? Why would you do that Kevin?”
“I told you, I didn’t want to, but I have to for your own safety.”
“But, why wouldn’t we be safe staying here?”
Kevin told them as much as he thought they needed to know and hoped it was enough to get them out of the Inn for a while.
Billy stood up, “Kevin, maybe we can help?”
“Thank you for the offer. Trust me, if I thought you could, you’d be here when it begins.”
Now Barb stood up, “This is all crazy, how could you possib…”
“
Alex, Beth, a little demonstration if you will?”
Alex and Beth stood near the middle of the room. Alex put his hands down his sides, he didn’t impress anyone.
“Beth, if you would? Just a little mind you, we don’t want to burn the place down.”
“Got it boss.”
Beth put one hand out and everyone saw the blue beam with white streaks moving threw it. It hit a wall, but a wall you couldn’t see until Beth hit it. The light spidered out in all directions but stayed on the wall.
Will started to walk over to it with his hand out.
“I don’t think I’d touch that if I were you Will,” said Beth.
“Oh, oh yeah, right.”
“Okay guys, that’s good.”
Beth and Alex relaxed and the light went away.
Kevin looked at Will again. “Something about this Inn, from the time of your great grandfather, links us to the ‘beings’ I’ve told you about. I don’t have the entire reason, all I know is that your great grandfather did the same thing that was assigned to me. The only difference is, I think I’m getting a much larger job than he had. We, this group in front of you now, we are the ones who were chosen to push this evil back. Very far back. We can’t end it, there has to always be a balance and free will plays a part in it, but its foothold has become far too strong. It’s poised to take over. Once that happens, we all lose forever.”
Kevin looked around the room. Even his group hadn’t been aware of some of what he’d just said.
“Kevin, what if we can’t beat it back?” April asked.
“We have to, that’s all I can say, we have to.”
Kevin’s story may have sounded weird, but the one thing he’d never done was lie to them or lead them astray. He convinced them all.
“Well Kevin, when do we have to go?” Will looked at him with real fear in his eyes.
“Tomorrow. Steve and the crew have been instructed to stay away from here until they hear from me. Once you leave, no one comes or goes from here until this is settled.”
Barb and Cindy each had an arm around the other’s waist. They were silently crying and kept patting each other.
Alex, Judy, Beth and April all moved to Kevin’s sides as Kevin told them, “We were entrusted to this; it’s ours to deal with. If it takes each of our lives to achieve this, then we give them gladly for the sake of all mankind.”
They all joined together by putting their arms around each other’s waists.
“I only hope we are good enough,” Kevin added.
Everyone else moved in on them and the hugging and crying began. Not one of them cried in Kevin’s group though, they’d reserve that for later if it was needed.
Will looked at Kevin, “When will it begin?”
“Boy, if I knew that for sure, they’d have a hell of a surprise waiting for them. However, as it is, I’m just not sure – the evil blocks enough to keep that hidden from me. I’m taking a guess at two days from now, tops.”
“Yeah, then you’re right, we need to go tomorrow, just in case you’re off on your guess Kevin.”
The next morning caused two things to happen: one, Barb seemed to have completely forgotten how to cook and was screwing up everything she touched and two, Will had been roaming around the Inn with no point whatsoever, like a lost puppy in the woods.
At the bottom of the stairs sat a randomly tossed pile of luggage. It looked like no one cared how they’d packed it. At breakfast, thanks to Beth, April and Judy, everyone was quiet, heads hanging down a lot. The babies were amazingly well-behaved, as was Brandon. Kevin could hear a sniffle every so often, but he didn’t want to see who it was as the pain might be too much, even for him.
Around ten in the morning, a minibus came into the yard and beeped.
“That’s your queue guys,” said Kevin as he stood from the table.
A minute later and a man was carrying everyone’s luggage to the back of the bus. They were all at the entrance to the Inn and everyone except the group were balling. The group was there to try and ease them, and to say goodbye.
Will finally made his way to the last ones in line, Judy and Kevin.
“My little ‘fireball’ is all grown up, and you’ve turned in to quite a wonderful woman. Be safe for me, will you?”
Judy came close, she almost lost it, but she stood tall and bit her lip, “Don’t worry Will, I’ll be here to harass you soon enough.” She gave him a huge hug and kissed his cheek.
“Kevin, I don’t know why you are what you are, but I only wish half of the men on this blue ball were like you. I trust you to do your best. There’s something in you that shines like a star. You make sure my little ‘fireball’ stays safe, okay?”
“With my very own life Will, you have my word on that.” Kevin hugged him and then shook his hand. “I’ll call you as soon as it’s safe,” he added.
As the crowd moved on, Cindy was the last to get to Kevin.
“You know I can’t ever thank you Kevin, but I can tell you that I remember, now, right here, I remember, and I’ll always love you for your gift.” She reached up and kissed Kevin’s forehead, then lightly kissed him on his lips. “Make sure you do everything to keep them with us, will you?”
“Everything I can, for as long as I’m able to. You know that as well, I think.” He took her hand as she slowly walked away, “I’ll let you guys know.” They parted hands and Cindy turned, went to the bus, got in and opened a window so she could see them without the glass in the way. No one said anything as the bus pulled away. When it was out of sight, they turned and went back inside.
For almost two hours, they sat in the living room, not talking and not looking at each other. They all dealt with it inside; this was no time for weakness.
Kevin finally stood.
“Okay, I guess there’s no time like the present to close this place up tight.”
They all got up and headed in different directions, all of it set to a plan that they already had. All the steel shutters were closed. Kevin went to the side hallway door and put special steel bars he’d had designed across the places in the wall on both sides of the door. The half inch thick bars now blocked the door from being opened. He went to the front doors of the Inn and looked to see if things were ready there. He didn’t want to block them all in until it was absolutely necessary. He looked to the left and right, and could see the three bars that would soon be slid into slots located in the side stone of the door. It only took about two seconds for each bar to be placed. All of the shutters were barred from the inside so it would be impossible to open them from outside. There were no windows in the basement so that was never a concern. The only thing that nagged at Kevin was the attic dormers; he couldn’t get the shutters in time but they were almost thirty-five feet in the air, therefore he figured it should be okay.
They all met in the living room afterwards.
“I guess we wait,” said Kevin as he sat down and turned on the TV to occupy everyone’s mind. It didn’t do the trick, not even for himself. Judy was nestled on his lap, her head against him so that her eyes were facing the room, and he could see that she was looking around.
The entire next day was spent checking locks, snaking for a meal, watching TV, or just pacing. Kevin went up to be alone for a while; he wanted to see if he could contact the ‘voice’ one last time. It didn’t take long before he started smelling mint.
“Hello Kevin, we see that you’re as ready as you’re going to be. We all wish you the best, trust me on this.”
“I wish I had more than that, but I guess you can’t give it.”
“As it was, we came very close to crossing the line with what we have given already. Especially with Beth – that is a very powerful tool she has, it comes from the very energy which makes up our existence. We were expected to give her some of it; we just found what you’d call a ‘loophole’ and gave her more.”
“For that, I guess I owe you my thanks.”
“You’re very welcome Kevin, let’s all ho
pe she does not let us down.”
Kevin chuckled a little, “Beth won’t let you down, as it’s not in her to do it, on that you can trust me.”
“The evil approaches, Kevin. They are mere hours away. I will let you go so that you can prepare the others. Be safe Kevin, you have outshone every ‘‘savior’ that we’ve ever had and as such, your name will live in out archives forever.”
“Well, let’s just hope I’m here to sign autographs later.”
Kevin got no response; the ‘voice’ had gone.
Kevin gathered them all into the living room area again.
“Okay, Alex, pay close attention. What you can do, it can be both a positive and a negative for us. If you use it to shield the entire Inn, we can’t send anything out, including Beth’s talent. If she has to shoot out a bolt, she has to be able to get past you, got it?”
“Got it.”
“April, you know what to do: straight up, as far as you can, let them fall where they fall.”
“Right Kevin, I’ll send them straight up to the moon if I have to, to hell with falling.”
“That’s my girl. Judy you have to hang back. Remember, you need to touch in order to suck the life out of anyone, and I’d rather not have it get that close.”
Judy did her head hanging and foot dragging thing. “Yeah, I know honey. And what about you?”
Kevin turned to her, “Amm, I’ve been holding this back from you, I admit, but baby, I have to go out there in order to do anything. I can’t do it from here.”
He saw Judy’s eyes almost explode. “WHAT?”
“Baby, like you, I have to touch, there isn’t any other way.”
“Then you hold back too, they can do it!” Judy looked around but everyone’s head was looking at the floor. They all knew that Kevin was going to have to do this; they just never talked about it to Judy.
