“What is it?” Steven asked.
Victor handed him a small flat rock, about the size of a quarter. It looked completely ordinary, but when he examined it closely he saw that there was a small hole in the rock on one side. He held the rock closer to his eyes, and he could see small gears and wheels inside, spinning like an old watch. “My father gave me that, and I want it back. It’ll camouflage you from the demon. You didn’t think it right to tell me that something truly devastating had happened to you because of this demon, but I can detect that it happened. You’ll need protection from him. This should do it. It’ll protect all three of you if you stay close together. That way he won’t be able to torture one of you to force you to give him the wooden half.”
“I’ll make sure you get it back,” Steven said. “And thank you.”
“Go, hurry,” Victor said. “If he gets it first, it won’t matter.”
Chapter Nine
“Are we going home first, or straight up to Diablo?” Steven asked as they crossed from Port Townsend to Coupeville in a small ferry.
“Straight up,” Roy said. “I’ve got a winch at home but there’s no time. We can pick one up at a hardware store on the way there.”
“What’s the plan? Who’s going down into the pit?” Eliza asked.
“I will,” Roy said.
“No, I will,” Steven said. “You’ll operate the winch. I wouldn’t know how to work it.”
“We’ll need flashlights, too. It’ll be dark by the time we do this,” Eliza said.
“We can get those at the hardware store,” Roy said.
“I wonder if the object he described is at Eximere?” Eliza asked. “The one that could tell you exactly what your markings do, Steven?”
“It was,” Steven said, “until I gave it to Aka Manah. It was on his list.”
“Damn,” Eliza said. “Of course he would want that object!”
“The more I think about it, the more I realize his list was just a way to clear anything that might be anti-demon from our control,” Steven said. “They weren’t his at all, he just saw a potential problem when he saw me with the planchette, and went on a fishing expedition. I should have only given him one or two things.”
“You said he would have known,” Roy said.
“As Victor said, demons lie,” Steven replied. “Maybe I should have taken the chance.”
“You’re forgetting that I was in the hospital,” Eliza said. “Sick as a dog.”
“That’s right,” Steven said. “I wasn’t going to put you at risk. It didn’t even enter my mind to hold back on some of the items he wanted until Victor told us about that object. I’m just second-guessing myself.”
“The real worry now,” Roy said, “is if the wooden half of the Agimat is still in that pit, and if it is, who’s trying to get to it before we do. Who knows what creature he might send in to retrieve it. Wish we had weapons.”
“The EM gun is still in the trunk, isn’t it?” Steven asked.
“Yes, but I doubt he’ll send a ghost to get it,” Roy said. “What we need is my 9mm, or a shotgun.”
“We don’t know if they’d work, either,” Steven said. He remembered when Michael had caused Roy’s gun to jam, rendering it useless.
“I’d feel better if I had them,” Roy said.
“Well, we don’t have time to get them,” Steven said, starting up the car as the ferry pulled into the Coupeville terminal. He wound his way up Whidbey Island, over Deception Pass, and through Burlington, where they stopped at a hardware store and picked up supplies. After a quick stop for food, they continued on, arriving in Diablo an hour later.
Roy directed Steven to a pull off near the pit, from his memory of the trance. Once they’d parked the car far enough off the road that they weren’t concerned it would be spotted, they removed their backpacks from the trunk, packed them, and followed Roy as he walked into the small stretch of forest at the base of a tall cliff. The underbrush was thick, and Steven found himself wishing he’d brought a machete.
“He hauled these bodies all the way here?” Steven said, stepping over fallen trees.
“It wasn’t quite as overgrown in the trance,” Roy said. “The brush was thinner. This just tells you no one ever comes in here.”
Roy pressed on, leading them around boulders and through areas tangled with fallen branches and tall weeds. It was getting dark and Steven was about to remove a flashlight from his backpack when Roy stopped at a rock outcropping. He walked around to the back side of the rocks, and waved for them to follow.
“How deep does it go?” Eliza said, looking down over the edge through the hole. It was about eight feet wide, with jagged edges. A tree had fallen over the opening, making the access smaller.
“I don’t know,” Roy said. “Now that we’re here, why don’t we enter the River and check it out, to see if we’ve brought enough rope?”
Standing around the top of the pit, they closed their eyes and dropped into the flow. Steven saw Roy drifting toward the pit opening, and he followed. Eliza was right behind.
The pit wasn’t too deep – after twenty feet it turned on an angle and came to a stop.
No bodies, Steven said, looking around at the pit’s floor. There should be bones. Nothing’s here.
Look, Eliza said. Over here.
They followed Eliza to a corner of the pit’s floor where it opened into a small tunnel, with a ceiling just high enough to reach with your hand stretched overhead.
I’m having trouble seeing in this tunnel, Eliza said as they moved down it. It’s too dark. We’ll have to explore it on foot, with flashlights.
Well, at least we know we’ll be able to get in and out with rope, Roy said. I don’t think we’ll need the winch. Ready to drop out?
They all left the River. Steven felt a small slice of pain shoot up the back of his neck, a familiar symptom when he exited the flow.
“So no bodies, and a tunnel,” Steven said as they regained their bearing at the top of the pit. “We go down and explore the tunnel, I presume.”
“Maybe animals dragged the bones further into the cave?” Eliza suggested.
“Any animal that was down in that pit wouldn’t be getting out,” Roy said, “unless there’s another entrance somewhere.”
“We should keep an eye out for the Agimat half regardless,” Steven said. “All that we know is he threw himself into the pit, with the ax. He likely decomposed at the base, and the wood might have fallen out and be on the ground somewhere, even though the bones are gone.”
Roy secured the rope to a nearby tree, and then they descended into the pit one by one, Steven going first, then Eliza, and finally Roy.
They turned on their flashlights and searched the bottom of the pit. They divided the area into thirds and began methodically going through everything they found on the ground.
After twenty minutes Eliza had finished her area. “Nothing,” she said, standing up and stretching her back.
“Me either,” said Roy. “There’s nothing that would even indicate that bodies were dropped here. No clothes, jewelry, nothing. A few animal bones, but that’s about it.”
Steven stood up, and raised his hands over his head, stretching out his back. “Me either. Alright, the tunnel.”
Steven led the way to the tunnel, then stepped in with the others following. Eliza walked to the wall and used her flashlight to examine it.
“Dug out,” she said. “Not natural.”
“Which means it might not be very stable,” Roy said. “Keep your wits about you.”
After walking twenty feet they found a large boulder that ran from the floor of the tunnel to the ceiling. The path curved around the rock to the left, then continued on in the same direction.
They walked another fifty feet, the tunnel heading straight ahead, deeper into the side of the mountain.
“I’m feeling a little light headed,” Eliza said. “Like I’m not getting enough air.”
“There’s something up ahe
ad,” Steven said. “Looks like another rock.”
This time the tunnel bent to the right, going around the rock and continuing on.
“Light up ahead!” Steven said to the others.
They followed him quickly as he emerged into the pit.
“Hey!” Eliza said. “Nice trick.”
“Did we make a loop somehow?” Roy asked.
“There were no junctions,” Steven said. “We walked straight in, and suddenly we’re back out here.”
“Let’s do it again,” Eliza said. “I’ll stay in the River this time.”
They reentered the tunnel with Eliza between them. They rounded the rock to the left, then continued on.
“Up ahead, where I said I felt light headed,” Eliza said. “Something there.”
They walked another twenty feet and stopped.
“You might as well both drop in,” Eliza said, “and see what we’re dealing with.”
Steven and Roy entered the River, and saw Eliza pointing to a dark red mist that hung in the air ahead of them. It was thick enough that it blocked their flashlights from illuminating anything beyond it.
That’s it, Eliza said. That’s what turns you around. You walk into that, and next thing you know, you’re walking back out.
Genius, Steven said.
There’s movement beyond, Roy said. I can sense it.
I wonder if you can pass through while in the River? Eliza asked. She moved forward into the mist, then passed through it to where it was quite dense.
So far so good, she said. She kept walking, and was soon out of sight. She reappeared within another minute, walking back at them through the mist.
Dirteaters, she said. Several of them. They’ve hollowed out a good section inside. I think if we drink some protection, we can make it through physically. Did either of you bring some?
I’ve got a thermos in my backpack, Roy said, and dropped out of the River. He located the protection and they each took a couple of swallows.
“Let it sit for a moment,” Eliza said. “Once it’s fully absorbed I think we’ll be able to walk right through.”
“What are dirteaters?” Steven asked.
“We’ve run into them in California,” Eliza said. “People like to employ them to dig for things. Of course we don’t allow dirteaters inside our barrier.”
“Do you think these dirteaters are our murdered family?” Roy asked.
“Very possibly,” Eliza said. “Someone found them and put them to work.”
“But they were dead,” Steven said. “They reanimated them?”
“Yes,” Eliza said, stretching her hands and arms as she felt the protection kicking in. “They were turned into dirteaters. There’s nothing left of the original person’s mind. No personality, no thought. They just dig, endlessly, consuming dirt. Whenever they run into something other than dirt or rocks, it goes into a bag or bucket. Someone comes along and collects the bucket, hoping for gold or silver, that kind of thing. It’s a cheap way to mine, since the dirteaters keep going until you destroy them or they destroy themselves by tunneling under a boulder. They’re not smart.”
“So this pit is an enterprise for someone,” Steven said.
“Most likely,” Eliza said. “Ready to walk through?”
“Yes,” Roy said. “I’m all juiced up.”
“Let’s go,” Steven said, and Eliza led them into the mist. The mist gradually became thicker and thicker, and at one point Steven couldn’t see in any direction. He felt panic rising, but he tamped it down and kept moving, following Eliza. Eventually the mist thinned out and he found himself in a hollowed-out room with tunnels leading in all directions.
“Where are they?” Steven asked.
“Down the tunnels,” Eliza said. “Look, here’s the bag where they deposit what they find.” She walked over to the edge of the room where a large canvas bag was sitting against the dirt wall of the room. She opened it up to show the others. “See?”
While Eliza held her flashlight on the contents of the bag, Steven and Roy looked in. He saw a number of nuggets and other objects in the bottom of the bag.
“So basically, someone came along, found the bodies, and put them to work,” Steven said. “An opportunist.”
“That’s what I’m guessing,” Eliza said.
“Sure stinks of Jurgen,” Roy said. “But we know he’s out of the picture.”
“We didn’t see him die, Dad. He might have recovered.”
“I doubt it.”
“Do either of you have a mirror?” Steven asked.
“A mirror?” Eliza said.
“I still have the one I saved from Oregon,” Roy said. “In my backpack.”
“You mean the one you stole off the wall in the bathroom,” Steven said.
“I saved it,” Roy said defensively. “It’s a good mirror.”
“Let’s find one of these dirteaters and check for a signature,” Steven said.
“Come on,” Eliza said, leading them down one of the tunnels. They stopped after ten feet, where the tunnel seemed to abruptly end except for a sixteen inch tall crack in the earth at about knee level. They knelt down and Eliza shined her light into the crack.
Wedged three feet into the crack was a body, twisting slightly as it slowly inched forward, deeper into the crack. Eliza moved her light and the face of the body came into view. The flesh was blue and purple; putrefaction had clearly been underway before the reanimation occurred. From the size of the body, Steven guessed it was one of the ax man’s little girls. She was using fingers that were nothing but bone from the top knuckle to the tip to scrape dirt into her mouth, and slowly chewing. When she sensed the light on her face, she turned and snarled.
“This earth above her looks like it could collapse any second,” Roy said.
“They don’t have any claustrophobia,” Eliza said, looking at the girl as she turned her attention back to digging. “If the earth caves in on top of them, they just eat their way back out. They need a path back to the bag, to deposit what they find, but other than that, they just keep digging, like worms.”
“But where did all the dirt go?” Steven asked. “They hollowed out all this space, the dirt had to go somewhere.”
“They digest it,” Eliza said, “use it for energy to keep going. Waste is some kind of gas.”
“You got that mirror, Dad?” Steven asked. Roy fumbled in his backpack for a moment, then produced the mirror. While Eliza kept the girl illuminated with her flashlight, Roy positioned the mirror in Steven’s hands so that he could see her inside the crack, then dropped into the River. He emerged within moments.
“I’ll be damned,” Roy said. “Same fucking pattern as Oregon! I was wrong, it is Jurgen.”
“He could have had a number of these kind of operations going when you killed him,” Eliza said. “Maybe they’re just running on automatic?”
“Someone comes around and collects the bag,” Steven said.
“That might be all they’ve accumulated since Jurgen died,” Eliza said. “Who knows how often they collect the bag, might be once a year. These dirteaters go slow.”
“Jurgen had some kind of organization under him,” Roy said. “He might have animated these corpses years ago when he found them, but the work of overseeing it was probably in someone else’s hands. Those other people might be keeping his work going, keeping the money flowing.”
“Or, he’s still alive, directing things like before,” Steven said. “We didn’t see him die.”
“I can’t believe he survived,” Roy said. “Not in the state we left him in.”
“Jurgen must have taken the Agimat necklace from the ax man when he first discovered them down here,” Eliza said. “I’ll bet he sold it to someone, and that’s how it wound up at Eximere.”
“The question is,” Steven said, “did he know what he had? Was he smart enough to remove the second half? Or is it still embedded in the ax man?”
“Let’s find him,” Roy said, standing up. “H
e’s got to be in here, somewhere.”
“Hopefully not buried under a collapse,” Eliza said.
They walked back to the room with the bag. They divvied up tunnels, and each went exploring, looking for the ax man. They agreed to meet in the bag room every five minutes.
Steven walked down the first of three tunnels assigned to him, scanning his flashlight along the walls as he walked, looking for movement. He found the first one at the end of the tunnel, facing the wall, scratching at the dirt. It turned to look at Steven as he approached; it appeared to be one of the boys. His face was ashen white, and Steven saw that his legs were blood red and purple. His eyes looked filmed over, and he wasn’t even sure if the boy could see him as much as hear and sense him. Steven backed off, and the boy turned to continue digging.
Steven checked his watch; they’d hit a five minute mark. Time to check in with the others.
He was back in the bag room within a minute.
“I’ve got one of the boys,” Steven said.
“I found another of the girls,” Roy said.
“Nothing for me, so we’ve found three of them,” Eliza said. “One more girl, one more boy, and the ax man and his wife. Roy, you said you saw him decapitate the baby?”
“Yes, I did,” Roy replied.
“Then the baby wouldn’t have been reanimated,” Eliza said. “That means four left to find.”
“Alright, another five minutes, and we meet up again,” Steven said, and they all turned to find a new tunnel to explore.
They returned after five minutes.
“The girl and the boy were down this one,” Roy said, pointing with his finger.
“Nothing for me,” Eliza said.
“Me either,” Steven said. “So that leaves the husband and the wife. And this is the last tunnel.”
“We’ll all go,” Roy said, as he marched toward the tunnel’s entrance. Steven and Eliza followed.
After twenty feet and a sharp bend in the tunnel, they came upon the lower half of a body sticking out of a hole freshly carved near the ground. The upper half of the body was inside the hole, which wasn’t any larger than the size of the torso. It moved slightly, the result of digging on the hidden end.
The Diablo Horror (The River Book 7) Page 10
