“I see you are awake,” Reuben stated, as if he had just met me in the store and asked how I was doing.
Disbelief won over every other emotion as I stood there and gaped at him, not sure what to say. What do you say to a sadistic murderer? Hi, nice day, isn’t it? Why ruin a perfect day with murder? I hear it’s going to rain tomorrow and my schedule is free…
“I suppose you’ve met my other girls?” he added conversationally, a slight smile curving his lips.
All the little bumps of things in the water with you are people. Dead, murdered hikers. Well, not all hikers. I turned and looked again at Tiffany’s torn body, biting my lower lip to try to hold the hysterical scream back that threatened to tear from my throat.
“Why are you doing this?” My voice shook, and I hated myself for sounding so weak. I had to keep him talking so someone could find me. I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin stubbornly and glared up at him.
“Well, my dear. You wouldn’t stay out of the way, so I had to take care of you. I could not have you mess up my plans. You threaten too much that I hold dear. With you out of the way, no one would ever have to know what I am—who I am.” His smile was getting more eerie by the second.
“The Trail Killer,” I shivered.
He laughed. It was a short, loud burst that didn’t at all sound amused. “Yes, that’s what they call me. But I’m so much more. They don’t have any idea of everything I am or the power I hold.”
Okay, so he was a lunatic and a sadistic murderer, I decided. I tried to keep my voice level and strong, in spite of my body that was still quivering. “My sister. What have you done with Emily?”
“Oh, your little brat is fine. I didn’t have to touch her” he scoffed, waving his hand down as my little sister were nothing but a trivial matter. “She was only bait to get you to leave the game. Being a Keeper for as long as I have, you learn that sometimes you can make your Seer see things that aren’t precisely true, especially if you concentrate hard enough. I’ve done it with Jenna White Hawk for years. All I had to do was concentrate and think about abducting your little brat and that’s all you saw. The hardest part was getting that teddy bear so you would get close enough to the trees. I didn’t think she would ever leave it where I could snatch it. I finally did, though, and then everything was so simple. You believe everything you see so easily.”
Relief flooded through me that Emily was safe, and all the tension left. I was the only one in danger, so I could deal with this. I would find a way to get out of this deep, dark hole. Adam would find me, and then this man in front of me would have hell to pay.
Keep him talking. You need to find out more, I reminded myself.
“Where am I and what is this place?”
“Well, my dear, you are in a hole, in case you haven’t noticed. And it isn’t all that far away from your house. I happened upon it years ago when I was leaning against the rock and it gave a little. I pushed it, and discovered the nicest little hiding place. I knew no one would ever find anything here, being as it’s close to the edge of a Deadland,” he said, seeming rather satisfied. “I haven’t had to worry much, since your grandmother was so old. When she died, I made sure I was given the house at the rental agency to watch over. There hadn’t been any trouble until you showed up. Now, all of a sudden, the leader of the pack decides to travel this way on a daily basis. At least this stone blocks their scent.” He peered down triumphantly at me.
“Why Tiffany? Why is she here? She wasn’t one of the hikers. What had she done to you?” Sure, she had made everyone in school mad at her from one time to another, but I couldn’t make a connection from the hikers to her to him.
Sudden rage flared up in his dark eyes. “She was after the boy, but it was only because of you. She would never have bothered with him if you hadn’t …” he broke off and his head snapped up, as if he had heard something.
Now was my chance, someone was coming. “Help! Help me, please!” The sounds of my screams were cut off as he jumped to his feet and had the massive stone slid back in place in a mere second. My last word bounced and echoed against the walls, as if it were as trapped as I was.
Once again, I was left alone in my dark, watery prison. Now that I was aware that there were many more bodies down here than just Tiffany’s, my skin became super-sensitive as it felt the brush of things that bumped against my legs. I propelled myself backwards, trying to get to more shallow water. I took small, shallow breaths through my mouth in an attempt to ignore the overwhelming smell of rot and decay.
The opposite wall was closer than I judged and once again I whacked against the solid rock, whooshing out what air I had, and bumping the back of my head. If I hadn’t already had a goose egg where he hit me earlier, it probably wouldn’t have hurt as much. But being as it had already been hit once, the slight tap sent bright white spots whirling in front of me. My eyes watered and I slid down the wall to crouch, waiting for the pretty white spots to leave me and the darkness to surround me again.
Adam, where are you? I need you so much. Why can’t you find me? I gave in and cried. I brushed the tears away after a few moments, irritated that I felt so helpless. For some reason the Keepers couldn’t find me, so I would have to help them somehow. Maybe brain waves didn’t carry through solid rock. I was going to have to try to get out again, and then maybe they would find me.
I waited another minute for my head to quit throbbing, before I attempted to stand. My mind raced as it replayed the conversation with Reuben. Who was the boy? Whoever he was, Reuben seemed very protective of him. If I couldn’t get out before he came back, maybe I could use that angle to gain some sympathy. I doubted it would work, but I was ready to try anything. Only his mention of the boy, had given him any emotion that seemed human. And human was the only part that I would be able to bargain with. Leaving my mental walls completely down in case he came back, I decided my best bet was to try to climb up the mud again and get as close to the opening as I could manage.
This time seemed easier than the first, and the closer I got to the opening, the clearer the voices and thoughts bounced into my head.
Did he hear her? If he did, there’s only one thing I can do.
Where is he? I could have sworn I thought I heard someone scream.
The first voice I knew, without a doubt, as my abductor. The other had me more perplexed. It wasn’t one of the Keepers. I knew their thoughts and voices. Each of them had a different feel that made them individual and pointed out who they were. I crawled closer to the crack and strained to hear more.
Worry took over all at once, flooding every cell in my body as my heart raced, threatening to beat out of my chest. My breath started coming in short gasps as if I had been running as fast as I could go, pushing myself harder than I had ever gone before.
Where is she? I can’t find her, Adam’s voice fuzzed brokenly through my mind, like a radio station with bad reception filtering out the voices I heard seconds earlier. Then, a bright flash blinded me.
I was racing ahead of the pack. I had to find her. I had always known where she was until now. I felt her at the football game, then I felt her fear, and then there was nothing. How could there be nothing? I never should have left her and went searching so far away.
The other four wolves raced behind me. Feeding off my fear, they bounded through the trees faster than they ever had before. We had to get back. Something was so very wrong.
Small clips of thought from the other four worked into my head. All worried and wondering where I was and if I was still alive. And one passing thought, that if I wasn’t, they would have to lay Adam to rest beside me, because it would kill him, too.
“Oh, no,” I said as I dug my heels further into the mud and shoved my face next to the crack. “That isn’t going to happen. I’m getting out of here.”
My nose pressed against the crack, I screamed for all I was worth, taking every bit of worry and energy that I had left in my body to be as loud as I could manage. Most of the s
ound reverberated back from the rock and blasted into my own ears. But surely, someone had to have heard me.
Something shuffled above me. I jerked. The movement caused me to slide back in the mud a couple feet. I scrambled to dig in and keep from falling. I still was concentrating on keeping my place, hands dug down deep into the muck like suction cups, when the rock moved again.
“Click, click, snort. Humph,” a familiar voice grumbled down.
The moon cast an eerie light on the biggest, hairiest, most beautiful, massive beast I had ever laid eyes on.
“Chewy, I’m so glad to see you!”
“Humph,” the Sasquatch snorted as he peered down at me. He made a high keening sound as he spotted Tiffany behind me.
“Yeah, I know. He’s a monster, but he won’t get away with it. Adam is on his way,” I said gleefully as I dug in made my scramble toward freedom.
I made it to the top and grasped the edge of the hole. My hands grasped bunches of full, dark grass. I pulled myself up. I sat on solid ground, physically and mentally pulling myself together. I took a deep breath and looked up at my hairy hero, who had backed up a few feet and was keeping a wary eye on me.
“Thank you.” I smiled at him. He grumbled, a low and vibrating sound. Then he looked over the top of my head and started to fidget as if he sensed someone coming toward us. He took one more look at me, as if to make sure I was out of the hole and able to escape, then turned and disappeared into the trees.
She’s too loud. I know I heard her scream that time. I have to go back and finish her off. I hope he didn’t hear her and that I can do this in time. How dare she mess everything up? Anger seethed out of his mind and into mine, and I knew I had to get up and run, because this was it. There wasn’t going to be any talking him out of anything, he was coming in to kill, not to talk.
My body was aching and stiff as I struggled to my feet. Then, he appeared. I froze, somehow rooted to the spot and unable to move, even though everything in me told me I should be running. A silver mist was shrouding his body, causing it to sparkle and shine. If I hadn’t known he was deadly, he would have looked beautiful. He stalked closer, his dark eyes changing and slanting. His hands flexed into fists at his sides and a low, menacing growl came from his snarled mouth.
Well, this is it. I’m gonna die now, my mind told me, resigned to the fact that there wasn’t any need to run now. I had waited too long. I wondered if he would throw me back in the hole after he killed me. Of course he would. I shivered. Adam had to know, he would avenge me.
Adam, its Reuben. I wish you could hear me. Please, please, hear me. It’s been Reuben all along.
So caught up in my little broadcast of information, I never saw the huge black and white wolf jump in front of me until it landed, snarling and growling, and looking totally ticked off as it slammed one huge front paw heavy into the earth, then did the same to the other for good measure as if daring anything more to happen. I had half a second where I was frozen until I looked up and realized that Reuben had stopped where he stood and looked nearly as stupefied as I was. Obviously this wolf was not him, and it did not like what Reuben’s intentions were toward me.
It snarled again, baring its sharp fangs as if daring him to come closer to me. Reuben stared at it, indecision flickering across his face as if he were facing a major dilemma and couldn’t figure out what to do. The enormous wolf turned and nuzzled my hand, whining.
Are you okay? a worried voice asked.
“Yes,” I said. The wolf looked at me thru sapphire blue eyes that held worry and guilt. He looked more like a Siberian Husky than a wolf, I decided. The black intermingled with the white in his thick fur and his eyes sparkled in contrast.
“Who are you?” I asked, as if he could open his long muzzle full of razor-sharp teeth and answer as any person could.
He winced and put his enormous head against my stomach and gave a gentle, but rather solid push, as if to tell me to go. Then he turned and squared his shoulders to meet the enemy, and a deep, challenging growl seemed to vibrate the very earth I stood on.
“You know you don’t have to do this,” Reuben said. His face had partially changed while we hadn’t watched, and now he was speaking through a pile of sharp teeth. “You don’t need her. We can get rid of her, and no one would know. You’ve needed someone to show you what it is that you are. We always hunt better in packs. You won’t be alone, son.”
Son? I gaped at the wolf. Was it Darren? The boy who everyone assumed would be the sixth Keeper? I looked at the wolf again, and then looked over at Reuben. Somehow I didn’t think the little scrawny kid I had seen at the Res was this massive, beautiful—and deadly—wolf in front of me.
I saw Reuben look up at me and snarl, and then a flash blinded me as he projected his memories into my mind.
She was so beautiful, laughing and talking with her friends by the bleachers. She swung her long, chocolate-brown hair back over her shoulders. I wanted to go talk to her, but I was so nervous and afraid. What if she laughed at me? After all, I was one of the guys from the Res. We didn’t exactly fit in. I shifted nervously from foot to foot, wanting to follow her and keep her in my sight. But I didn’t want to confront her. Not yet.
It was getting to where all I thought of was her, and the weird part was that I always knew where she was. I could find her anywhere. I wasn’t sure what to do, especially when I found myself at her bedroom window, hoping to catch a glimpse of her. I only wanted to be near her.
Her friends left her. She waved to them, and then started to walk around the bleachers, on her way home. The wind blew softly, carrying her scent to me on a light breeze. It was intoxicating. I breathed it in deep and watched as the wind blew her skirt tight against her thighs, showing every curve, every detail of her tanned, slender legs. My breath caught, and I knew now was the time for me to gather my courage before she left.
My wolf had stirred at her scent, and I drew upon it for its courage and bravery, since my own had abandoned me. I gave myself over to the animal and let it have its way in return for the strength it gave me to follow her.
She rounded the bleachers and I moved silently behind her, reaching my hand out. It brushed through her warm, silky hair and she turned around, startled. The animal was in complete control now, and there was only thing it wanted to do.
I watched as her beautiful eyes widened, as she realized what was to come, and what I was.
“Brian,” I whispered, knowing now who the wolf was in front of me with the sapphire blue eyes. It was his father who was trying to kill me.
Brian hesitated in mid-growl when he had heard me say his name, and I watched as his tail dropped between his legs in shame. Reuben picked that instant to try to leap over his son to me. As soon as his feet left the ground, he changed into a huge silver wolf. His teeth bared, he was coming for my throat. Brian launched himself off the ground and slung his full weight into the oncoming silver wolf. Teeth snapped mere inches from my skin, and then Brian managed to roll both of them away from me.
The ground shook, as the huge ball of black, white, and silver fur rolled. I backed up. I didn’t know whether to run or to stay. The part of my brain that was in charge of self-preservation was telling me that I was definitely the weakest one here and that I should be running for cover.
But I couldn’t do it.
My feet were frozen to the ground as I watched the two wolves face off and circle before they attacked again. Brian seemed to be stronger and bigger than Reuben, but what he lacked in muscle, Reuben made up for in experience. Brian charged, snapping towards the other wolf’s neck in an obvious attempt to end it once and for all. Reuben leapt to one side and sunk his teeth into Brian’s back hip.
Brian yelped, but turned to snap again, this time to be rewarded with a mouth full of silver fur from Reuben’s side.
You won’t hurt her, I won’t let you. Do what you can to me, it doesn’t matter, but this will end here, Brian’s voice was calm in my mind, which seemed at odds with t
he snarling, black and white wolf with bloodstained fangs.
Blood oozed in the coats of each wolf, matting their silky fur. Each seemed oblivious to the pain as they attacked, then squared off and circled again and again. Brian’s goal, it seemed, was to kill Reuben. He snapped each time in a spot that would injure the smaller wolf the most.
Reuben was clever with his attempts. Each movement seemed to have purpose, which was to disable, not kill, his son.
Yips filled the air as fangs sank into flesh, and growls echoed. It seemed I had stood in the same spot for years watching them fight. One was desperate to kill me, while the other wanted to save me.
Nikki, I’m coming. I know where you are. Hold on, Adam’s relieved voice soared into my brain loud and clear.
I nearly went limp with relief. If Brian could fight just a little longer, help would be here and it would all be over.
Brian seemed to be holding his own, and it almost looked like he was wearing the older wolf down. As if knowing that the others were on the way, Reuben lunged towards Brian’s neck. A split second before it would have been too late, Brian turned and his father ripped out his shoulder. Bone crunched and blood sprayed.
My hero went down.
Reuben backed up, and sat, satisfied, and watched as his son tried again and again to stand. Each time he fell back down, unable to stand and face his attacker. Nothing human remained in the silver wolf’s eyes, as he sat panting and watching. Blood dripped from his fangs. The silver wolf that would have been beautiful, now looked only like a thing made of nightmares.
He got up and padded slowly over to the injured wolf, and circled him slowly, as if taunting him. Only an animal remained, and the prey was lying in front of him helpless.
You are nothing like me. I tried to teach you the way, but you wouldn’t listen. You aren’t worthy of the skin you wear, and so now you must die, and the girl will be next. His voice snarled in my head.
Hidden Moon Page 21
