by Mark Lukens
“I’ll go with you,” Cole said. For a moment she thought he was talking about the supermarket. “I’ll go with you all the way down there to find this shaman. I want to help stop this thing before it kills others like … like it killed my brother.”
Stella nodded. It felt like they had both come to the realization that their futures were bleak at best, like two gunfighters on the run and being chased by the law. It could only end badly. Even if by some miracle they survived all of this and there was a shaman who could help David, what then? Cole could always stay on the run, but eventually Stella would have to go back to her own life. She would have to face the authorities eventually, face their questions. She would either be charged with crimes like aiding and abetting a criminal or be thrown into the nuthouse. Her career was definitely over now and her life would be over after this.
But why dwell on that? The chances that they would live through all of this were pretty slim anyway.
She took David’s hand and he gave her hand a squeeze. He looked up at her and smiled. She couldn’t let anything happen to him.
“You ready to go to the store?” she asked him.
He nodded and they went.
• • •
Stella entered the convenience store with David and they headed right for the restrooms to wash up. A sense of déjà vu blanketed her, and her mind swam back to that night at the dig site when they had escaped the Ancient Enemy. They had driven the rest of the night up into Colorado and stopped here in this town, parked in the motel parking lot for a few hours of rest. And then they had gone to a gas station to clean up in the bathroom and stock up on some food and drinks.
And here they were again, on the run and going into a restroom to clean up. Only they weren’t in a gas station this time, they were in a small supermarket.
Stella took David with her into the women’s restroom. He went to the bathroom in one of the stalls while she cleaned the dirt and grime from her face and hands at one of the sinks. Thankfully the restroom was empty. She stared at herself in the mirror for a moment and her thoughts drifted back to a few mornings ago when she had stood in front of a mirror at that gas station. She remembered being surprised at how gaunt and haunted her reflection had looked. Now, a few days later, she still had that same gaunt and haunted look. It wasn’t quite the shock to her now as it had been then.
After they cleaned up, Stella told David to keep the hood of his coat up over his hair while they were inside the store. Nobody might remember a mother and her son shopping, but they might remember a blond woman with a Native American child.
David was fine with the hood being over his head—he didn’t fight her about it. He was such a good kid. And she believed that he knew that her only mission in life right now was to protect him and keep him safe.
He smiled at her and took her hand. He still wasn’t talking much, but with the horrors he had experienced, she couldn’t really blame him. If they survived all of this somehow, who knew how long it would take for him to recover. If ever.
“We’re going to shop for a few things,” she told him.
He nodded at her.
“I want you to pick out anything you want to eat. Okay?”
Again, he nodded.
“Just a few things. Just what we can carry in a few bags.”
He seemed to understand. He was ready to start shopping.
But Stella hesitated before leaving the restroom. “Listen, David. I want you to be careful around Cole. Okay? I know he seems nice, and he seems like he wants to help us, and protect us, but we can’t trust him. Okay?”
“Okay,” David whispered.
“I don’t want you going anywhere with him without me. Do you understand?”
He nodded.
“I mean it, David.”
“I know,” he whispered.
After they were out of the bathroom, Stella grabbed a shopping cart and they went down each aisle, trying not to hurry. She kept her selection small and light, foods in boxes or cans that could be eaten cold: packages of crackers, cans of tuna, a few pre-packaged meals that could go in the microwave, a box of Pop-Tarts, a package of energy bars, packs of nuts, a small bag of sugar, and Kool-Aid packets. She only bought one cold drink for each of them, figuring there would be vending machines at the motel. The motel would also have soap, shampoo, and other bathroom needs. She bought three toothbrushes and a travel-size tube of toothpaste, a can of spray deodorant, and a big bottle of aspirin.
They checked out at the cash register and the weight of her pistol inside her coat pocket felt so heavy; she felt like it was obvious to the young cashier that she was packing a weapon. She thought the cashier might have been taking a little too long studying her grocery choices, and then scrutinizing the twenty dollar bills that she’d given her. But maybe it was her imagination. The cashier gave Stella the change and bagged the groceries into plastic bags.
Stella asked David to carry one of the bags, and she carried the other three. They walked out through the automatic doors and a moment later they were back out in the freezing cold air again.
Cole met up with them about a block down the street as they had agreed earlier. The walk to the motel was a long one, at least another forty-five minutes. They didn’t talk much as they walked, and they tried not to glance around too much at anyone out on the street.
• • •
When they got to the Mountainside Inn, Cole waited around the side with the bags of groceries while Stella and David went to check in at the front desk. She wasn’t going to let David out of her sight, and Cole couldn’t blame her for that.
He found a little alcove near the dumpster at the side of the building to hide in. There were no cameras on this side of the building (he hadn’t spotted any security cameras at all so far) and virtually no traffic in the parking lot—foot or vehicle. The motel seemed mostly empty right now, but there were a few cars and trucks scattered around, pulled up tight to the two story building. Maybe some of these patrons were skiers, Cole thought; or maybe a salesman or family members who had gotten caught in the snowstorm while on their way to sales meetings or family visits.
Cole leaned against the wood-sided wall inside the little alcove, protected from view and the wind. He finally had a chance to breathe easily for a few minutes. He’d been so preoccupied with the police that he hadn’t even thought much about the Ancient Enemy (as Stella called it) until now that he was alone on this deserted side of the motel. The tree line was only a hundred yards away across a field of snow that was probably an area of tall grasses in the summertime.
He could imagine another dead person stumbling out of those woods, another hollowed-out puppet controlled by that thing. He could see that person in his mind stumbling forward through the snow, an unstoppable zombie on a persistent mission, a puppet with that strange and crooked smile hung on its face and that glazed look of the dead in its eyes.
But no one came.
Cole had begun to wonder about this Ancient Enemy. A theory had popped into his mind, a theory he had expressed last night when they’d been hunkered down in the cabin, waiting for the dead to come back.
What if David was doing this? Even if he wasn’t aware of it, what if he was somehow causing this to happen?
Of course Stella discounted his theory immediately. And maybe she was right, but maybe she wasn’t. Cole had to look at all possibilities through a detached filter, and as improbable as everything had been so far, the idea of David somehow manifesting all of this, even if it was subconsciously, couldn’t be discarded so quickly. He’d heard of children being born with strong telepathic and telekinetic abilities that faded away as they got older. He wasn’t sure where he’d read or seen this—possibly some horror movies—but he couldn’t rule it out right now. He couldn’t afford to rule anything out.
If David was doing this, even if he was unaware of it, then he was very dangerous. And Cole needed to be ready for that.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The Mountainside Inn
&
nbsp; Stella and David entered the lobby of the Mountainside Inn through the double doors set in a wall of glass panels. A chandelier hung in the middle of the lobby ceiling two stories above them. Two sets of wide, carpeted stairs led up to the hallways to more motel rooms. Massive potted plants decorated the corners and stood next to sofas and smaller couches arranged in the middle of the vast room with tables nearby, spreads of magazines fanned out on the table tops. Stella had expected more of a lodgy feel to the motel, something targeted more towards skiers, but this seemed like a much fancier motel for such a small town.
She guided David across the empty lobby towards the long wood counter to their left where a clerk stood behind the counter, dressed in a burgundy vest over a crisp white long-sleeved shirt. He was a little overweight and his dark hair was slicked down and parted severely on one side. He had a neat and trim mustache and wire rim glasses. He smiled at them as they approached.
“Welcome to the Mountainside Inn,” the clerk said.
“Thanks,” Stella answered and smiled at the man. “We’d like to get a room for the night.”
“I think we can arrange that,” the clerk said, typing away at the computer hidden underneath the high counter.
Stella glanced beyond the clerk at the neat counters behind him. There was a chair in the corner even though the clerk chose to stand. A TV was on the counter, but the sound was turned all the way down. It looked like some kind of basketball game. There were displays on the countertop advertising ski lodges, mountain tours, horseback riding, restaurants, a spa, and an Old West museum.
“Name?” the clerk asked.
“Molly Reed,” Stella said without hesitating. She had already come up with the fake name on the way there, the name of one of her professors when she was a student at Arizona State.
“Just the two of you?”
“Yes.”
“I can put you upstairs in Room 237. It has a balcony view.”
Yeah, I really want to hang out on the balcony in sub-zero temperatures, Stella thought. “That would be great,” she said and smiled at him.
He placed a piece of paper on the counter for her and a pen. “Just fill out your vehicle information.”
As Stella filled out a fake address and vehicle information, the clerk worked on getting the key cards ready, running them through a small machine. He placed them in a small paper sleeve with the motel’s logo on them and handed them to her with a smile.
“Do you have vending machines here?” Stella asked.
“Of course. You go up that set of stairs over there, take a right, and to the left you will see a small lobby area with vending machines, an ice machine, and even a few video games.” He gave David a wink. “There’s also a change machine there if you need it.”
“That sounds great, thanks.”
“Checkout is at eleven thirty, and we have a small continental breakfast from seven to ten o’clock. Just some coffee and juice, sweet rolls, fruit, cold cereal, toast, stuff like that.”
Stella’s stomach rumbled with hunger just from the clerk’s description of the food and she was afraid he might have heard it. She smiled at him again. “We might take you up on that.” She put her arm around David, pulling him close to her. “Right?” she asked David. He looked up at her and smiled and then nodded.
“Okay,” the clerk said. “If there’s anything I can help you with, just call down here to the desk. The instructions are on the phone, but it’s pretty easy … just dial zero on the phone.”
“Got it.” Stella was ready to go.
“You guys just passing through?” the clerk asked.
This guy was either nosy or lonely. Either way, Stella didn’t want to get into a long conversation with the guy. “Yeah. On my way up to see my aunt.”
“There are some great things to do around here. And if you’re looking for some suggestions for dinner, there’s a great pizza place just down the road. They deliver, too.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Stella said. “Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but my son needs to use the bathroom.”
“Oh,” the clerk said, his smile disappearing. “Of course. Sorry. I hope you enjoy your stay here.”
“I’m sure we will,” Stella said and she ushered David away quickly.
They walked up the set of wide steps that were carpeted in the same garish carpeting that covered part of the lobby. What was it with hotels and their ugly carpeting?
A moment later they found the vending machines exactly where the clerk said they would be. They left the bags of food with Cole, but Stella decided to stock up on a few cans of soda and water before going to their room.
“Pick out what you want,” she told David.
He pointed at the Coke button.
Stella found two five dollar bills in her purse, smoothed them out, and then fed them into the change machine. Quarters plunked down into the metal basket and she used them to get two cans of Coke, two cans of Sprite, and two bottles of water. Hot coffee sounded good, but she could come back for that later.
“Someone’s thirsty!” a man roared from behind them.
Stella whirled around expecting the see the clerk for some reason, thinking he had followed them up here.
But it wasn’t the clerk who had bellowed at them. A tall fat man stood there grinning at them. He was nearly bald and his face was red with a splash of broken capillary veins across his cheeks. His gut pushed out of the white button-down dress shirt that was tucked into the waistband of his black pants. He wore a necktie that was only slightly less loud than the pattern and colors of the motel carpeting.
For a moment she thought the large man could be a puppet controlled by the Ancient Enemy, but she dismissed that thought in the next few seconds. It was something about the way he stood, the way he looked at them, but most of all it was the way his voice sounded—he didn’t have that monotone guttural growl.
Salesman, Stella thought. It was the way he was dressed, the overly-friendliness in his voice, a vibe that came from him that was probably so ingrained in his personality from decades of sales work that he couldn’t turn it off anymore.
“Uh …” Stella tried to think of a good reason for all the drinks.
“Great mixers,” the man said and gave Stella an exaggerated wink.
She forced a smile on her face. “Yeah,” she agreed.
“Name’s Bruce Goldman,” the man said. His voice was so loud, and he seemed to fill up the small area with both his personality and sheer mass.
David was eyeing the video games, apparently already bored with Bruce’s conversation.
“Hi, Bruce,” Stella said. She didn’t offer their names, hoping the man would get the hint.
“Heck of a storm we had, huh?”
“Uh, yeah. We just got here.”
“Oh, you missed a doozy. I haven’t seen a snowstorm like that since I was a kid.”
“It was nice to meet you,” Stella said, practically pushing David out of the room towards the hallway.
Wow, people sure were friendly around here.
Stella and David walked down the hall and found Room 237. She saw that there was an exit to a set of outside stairs at the other end of the hall, a great place to sneak Cole up here. She was sure there were cameras around … she just had to hope that the clerk wasn’t studying them.
• • •
Cole still waited in the alcove. It had been at least twenty minutes now and he was beginning to get a little worried. He looked back at the trees covered with snow in the distance, and then he looked at the small drive leading out of the parking lot down to the road below, the road that led south.
The road that led away from here … away from this nightmare.
“Cole,” Stella hissed from around the corner.
Cole jumped and he’d drawn his gun without even realizing it. He shoved it back down into the waistband of his pants and pulled his coat back down over it before she and David came around the corner and saw him with his gun in his hand. He did
n’t want them to see a wild-eyed man pointing a gun at them.
“Right here,” Cole said. He grabbed the plastic bags of groceries down by his feet and stepped out from the alcove. He trudged through the snow to her and David who waited by the back of the building.
• • •
They climbed the set of concrete steps outside the building at the far end and entered through a metal-framed and glass door. Even this area was fancy, with two chairs and a table positioned next to a picture window that looked out onto the mountains. A potted plant stood in the corner. The heat was blasting down from the air ducts and it was an immediate relief from the cold.
Cole followed Stella and David down the hall, passing door after door as they walked along the garish carpeting made up of strange geometric designs in muted reds, oranges, and purples. Cole didn’t really like being upstairs, but he couldn’t really complain to the manager about it.
Stella stopped in front of Room 237 and slipped what looked like a credit card into the key slot above the metal door handle. The little light in the shiny metal plate turned green and she opened the door and hurried inside.
Cole was the last one to enter the room and he closed the door and then engaged the deadbolt lock with a flip of his thumb. The lock thunked into place and the door seemed sturdy.
For the first time Stella felt somewhat safe. She took off her coat and laid it over one of the chairs on the other side of the room, spreading it out so the snow would melt and the coat could dry. She helped Cole unpack the groceries from the bags and she put one of the prepared dinners into the small microwave that was on a counter in the area near the door and the bathroom.
She looked at Cole who seemed a little less tense now.
“We wait it out for a few hours,” he told her as if she had asked a question. “We get cleaned up, eat, and then we can sleep for a few hours in shifts.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Route 217—Cody’s Pass, Colorado
Travis drove his snowmobile down the snow-covered road that wound down through the mountains, down into the valley where Cody’s Pass was nestled. He needed to get to the motel at the other end of town, the Mountainside Inn; it was the only motel he could think of. That’s where this kid David would be, the thing inside his dead father had told him. Travis wasn’t sure how that thing knew exactly where this kid was, or why that thing just didn’t kill the kid itself, but he couldn’t think about things like that; he had to do what it wanted or it was going to tear his mother and sister apart. He had to do this, he didn’t have a choice. It was just a bullet in the kid’s head. Lights out. He wouldn’t feel any pain at all.
