“Just hurry, Luke,” Tammy urged him. “Shoot the chain, if you have to. He’s a maniac. He killed a wild dog with his bare hands.”
She glanced past him out at the darkness through the shed door. “He could be anywhere. Hurry, Luke.”
He gave up the search and he went back to her. Lucas tucked the gun into his pants and he grabbed the chain. He tugged on it. It moved. He put his foot against the wall and he pulled harder. It gave more.
“One more pull,” he muttered, letting go of the chain. He rubbed his palms on the legs of his pants, drying the perspiration off to get a better grip.
There was a harsh blast from a shotgun. Luke’s left shoulder exploded. His head snapped back as his body lurched forward from the shot. Tammy screamed as his body fell against hers and rolled off, leaving her soaked with his blood.
“No!” she shouted, reaching out for him. Lucas was still alive. He grimaced and his eyes fluttered open and shut.
“Keep pulling,” he muttered, taking the gun from his waistline.
The black wound was pumping an alarming amount of blood and Tammy could smell Luke’s burnt flesh. She looked up and Dreg towered over them, smiling evilly.
Dreg reached for the gun just as Luke had leveled it at him. Dreg swatted it away. It flew toward the generator.
“This why you no be Dreg’s louve, huh, Tammy?” Dreg sneered, tossing his empty shotgun aside and stepping on Luke’s chest. “You got uptown beau. Pretty boy face beau, yeh-heh?”
“Don’t you hurt him anymore!” Tammy hissed, lurching at Dreg.
Dreg struck her forehead with his open hand, forcing her back against the wall. He then grabbed Luke’s feet and he pulled the fallen man out of Tammy’s grasp. Luke screamed, clutching his wounded arm. Tammy leapt back at the crazy old man. She pulled at her restraints. Dreg knelt down to Luke, and the psychic could do no more than suffer. His head lolled and his eyes looked far away.
Dreg brought out the large knife from his boot sheath. He held it up for Tammy to see. “When Dreg get through with yo’ beau, maybe Dreg be pretty then. Maybe Dreg look better than beau.”
“Please don’t hurt him, Dreg,” Tammy pleaded, tears running down her face. “I’ll do anything you want, but please leave him alone. This is between me and you. Understand? He has nothing to do with it.”
“Too late for Tammy!” Dreg bellowed, pointing the knife in her direction. “And too late for beau.”
“You sick mother fucker!” Tammy shrieked, straining even harder against her shackles. “Leave him alone!”
Dreg snickered, lowering the knife slowly toward Luke's face. Suddenly, the injured man's fist shot upward, catching Dreg in the nose. Dreg fell back, dropping the knife. Blood surged from his nostrils.
“You will never have louve, traiteur!” Luke suddenly shouted through the pain.
Dreg stared at Luke in shock. He froze, sprawled on the dirt scant feet from the psychic. Dreg's eyes were big with fright.
“Wha is?” he muttered, fearfully.
“The couchemal has sent me for you,” Luke continued, speaking with authority despite his torture. “Your line ends here and now. You join your brother, now, Dreg. You join him in hell, where Le Loup will never shine upon you. Where you will be forsaken and swallowed by the darkness.”
Dreg shook his head frantically. “You, no, no- you,” he stammered, his eyes traveling from Luke to Tammy and back to Luke again, searching for a reason that his secret thoughts were exposed by the outsider.
“He waits for you in hell, Dreg,” Luke said hatefully. “Il vous attend en enfer!”
“Evil thing! Evil thing!” Dreg shouted. He quickly shed the confusion and fear and he pounced on Luke.
The wounded man was better prepared for the attack this time, his intuition ringing through the pain. He groped at Dreg's face with his good hand.
“Keep pulling, Tammy!” he shouted. His voice was hoarse with agony.
Dreg grasped Luke’s throat with one hand and he held down the struggling man's free arm with the other. “Got enough wolf left to deal wit’ you, evil beau! Deal wit’ you good and proper! Gonna send you to hell! And send Tammy wit' you!”
Dreg opened his huge mouth and lunged his head toward Luke’s face. Luke managed to squirm his good arm free and he slammed it against Dreg’s jaws. Dreg bit into Luke’s forearm, blood squirting his cheeks. Luke screamed again, trying to shake the maniac off.
Tammy bucked on the chain. Suddenly, she fell forward as the post snapped. She ran headfirst into Dreg and Luke, who both cried out in pain and surprise. Dreg was flung to the side from the action. Tammy rolled past him, stopping short of the open door. Her head slammed into the dirt. She glanced up. Luke was crawling madly for the knife. Dreg bound at Luke, sinking his teeth into Luke’s calf and opening another geyser of blood.
“No!” Tammy shouted. She charged and jumped on Dreg’s back. Dreg stood up immediately. He reached chaotically for Tammy.
“Off!” he screamed. “Off!”
Tammy held on for dear life, her legs clamped around Dreg’s waist and her arms pressed against his throat. He began to thrash about harder, grabbing at her hair, her face, clothing, releasing his grip only when she would squeeze on his throat harder in an attempt to cut off his oxygen. He rammed her into a wall. The jolt nearly made her let go, but she held on, catching her breath. He slammed her a second time, rougher, and she felt her grip relax. Her lower back screamed with agony. She looked over Dreg’s shoulder.
Luke tried to help, but Dreg quickly kicked him away. Luke slumped to the dirt, his strength finally exhausted.
And then it came to Tammy- her only recourse. The only possible way she and Luke might leave there alive. Dreg’s jugular vein warmed her cheek. She rejected the idea. There was no way she had the strength or nerve to do such a thing. Then Dreg managed a handful of her hair and he pulled it from her scalp. She screamed and nearly lost her grip again. She would fall eventually. And she saw that she had no choice. No choice at all. It was her only chance to end this.
She craned her neck to Dreg’s throat, opening her mouth and closing it over Dreg’s foul-tasting flesh.
He froze for a moment, and then he thrashed around harder. He began to scream as Tammy penetrated further, rending the filthy flesh of his neck. She didn’t stop until the pounding was in her mouth. She had her eyes closed the whole time. Dreg slammed her against the wall once more, and then her teeth opened his throat. Blood spurted Tammy's face.
Dreg fell to his knees. Tammy released him, wiping the blood from her eyes and retching on the floor from her gruesome labor. She could still feel Dreg’s blood pour against her tongue; taste the metallic and salty hot liquid in her mouth. Dreg stayed on his knees, his back to her. His hand was clamped over his throat, blood squeezing between the fingers. He rose to his feet slowly. He turned and faced Tammy, his eyes wide and horrified.
“Ta-Tammy?” he muttered, blood following her name, coursing down his chin and onto his tank top. Dreg stumbled out of the shed.
***
Dreg made his way into the woods, the world spinning around him. He lost his footing and he fell to the mud. He sucked in air shallowly. He arched up and looked to the sky. The clouds still hid the moon.
“Le Loup?” Dreg muttered, before his voice was reduced to a gurgle.
His blurry eyes trailed back down to the wet earth, and Dreg saw the wild dogs. There were many of them and they seemed to come from every angle. They made a circle around him. The animals snarled and slowly closed in. Dreg managed some more air through the strangling hot liquid in his throat. He stood, precariously. He flashed his red teeth and he tried to growl but it sent him into a coughing rack. The dogs continued to stalk him.
Ah unnerstan', he realized. He strengthened his dying body for the attack. Le Loup send 'em. It's time to run away with the moon.
Dreg began to suffocate more violently. His last bid for oxygen was rewarded with a burning, crimson flood. He sank back to his kn
ees, disheartened that he wouldn't be able to go out fighting.
He watched helplessly, his lungs pleading for air, as the dogs charged him.
***
“Luke, Luke,” Tammy said, cradling his head in her lap. He lay motionless, his eyes closed. She shook him. “Come on, Luke. Snap out of it.”
He opened his eyes and he looked at her. He smiled softly. “You did it,” he whispered. “You saved us.” A tremor shook his body. “I love you so much,” he added, his teeth chattering. “I’m so sorry.”
She shushed him.
“No,” he replied. “It was all my fault. All of it. I should have seen it coming. It's the only fucking thing I am good at.”
“You can’t see everything, Lucas Glover,” she said, stroking his cheek. “No one can. I have to get you to a hospital.”
He clasped her hand, and there was with very little strength in the hold. “Tammy, I can’t make it.”
“Yes, you can,” she replied, sternly. “You have too.”
“No, honey. I’m dying,” he said, the strength of his voice waning. "Go South. Harlson's car is on the road. There's a radio inside."
Luke's eyes shut as soon as he finished relaying the information. Tammy felt his body lighten.
“Listen to me,” Tammy said to him, her voice choked. “I’ve been through a hell of a lot and if you think I intend to lose you now, you’re insane. You’re going to hold on. You’re going to make it. You better not die on me, Luke."
He didn’t respond.
“Luke, you’re going to wake up. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, Mrs. Glover,” he mumbled, his head stirring. “After all, you’re the boss.”
“And don’t you forget it,” she replied, squeezing his hand.
CHAPTER 49
Agent Thomas Lubin stood on the front porch of the weathered cabin. Forensics hauled out black bags filled with the packed human remains that were found in the freezer. They brushed solemnly past Lubin. They spirited their grizzly burdens to the van parked in the clearing. Policemen and agents, dressed in thick rain gear, searched the area.
They hadn’t found his body yet. Dreg’s corpse was unaccounted for and Lubin was beginning to wonder how long the search could continue. The torrential rain was cleaning the forest of any trails they might be able to follow. The Glover woman had reported that Dreg was in a critical condition when he fled the scene. His throat had been ripped open.
Where could he have gone? Could he possibly have survived such a wound?
Agent Sally Lane stepped up on the porch. She closed an umbrella.
“Hello, Thomas,” she said, as good-naturedly as she could, considering the grim circumstances.
He was glad to see that her wound was healing nicely. He had to fight the urge to reach out to her, to embrace her and to beg for another chance.
“How goes it, Sally?” Lubin replied, his eyes going back to the procession of policeman going through the abandoned cars in the clearing.
“I spoke to Captain Fowler,” Sally informed Lubin. “It seems Harlson quit the force before coming here. Fowler has offered to decline Harlson’s resignation, so William will be decorated posthumously for his actions here tonight. Tammy and Lucas Glover are both recuperating and we can question them in more detail in a few days.”
“Excellent,” Lubin replied.
“They still haven’t found him, have they?” Sally asked, watching the men fight the elements.
“No,” Lubin replied, flatly. Concern was etched in his face. “I’m going to have to pull everybody back soon. Damn, I thought we had him this time.”
“He was mortally wounded. Maybe we should sweep any residence within a five mile radius to make sure he didn’t go to someone for medical attention,” Sally offered.
“I don’t know,” Lubin said, shaking his head slightly. “Tammy Glover tore his neck open with her bare teeth. How far can a man travel with a wound that harsh? We should have found him within a hundred feet. The press will have a field day with this.”
“We will find him, Thomas,” Sally said, gently grasping his shoulder. “Right now, you can barely see your hand in front of your face out there. When the sky clears, we’ll find him.”
“I hope so,” Lubin said.
He was glad that Sally was next to him- that she was still in his life. He honestly didn’t think he could function without her. He may have lost her as a lover, but she would always be his best agent.
Lubin looked at Sally for as long as he could before the pain rose in him again. It would take time before he was healed.
"I am going to speak with Ricky Lee at the hospital," Sally informed him. "He keeps insisting that he has valuable news for the bureau that he will only share with me."
"I am pretty sure he is just playing with you," Lubin said. "He seems to have an attachment."
"I acknowledge that," Sally replied. "But if he has any info that could help us, I have to humor him and try to get it from him. I guess you'll insist on accompanying me?"
"No," Lubin said, trying to pull it off with a neutral vibe. "I am not going anywhere until we find something. You are a capable agent. You don't need a babysitter anymore."
"Okay," Sally said, and she looked a little surprised.
"Still, you need to take a body with you," Harlson insisted, betraying his faux indifference. "I know Rickey Lee got the worst of it the last time you two danced together. But he's dangerous and resourceful."
"I know the protocol, Thomas," Sally said.
She hiked her umbrella back into the air and she stepped off of the porch.
Thomas watched her until she marched out of sight. Then his eyes went back to the dark woods.
“Where are you, Dreg?” he whispered, praying that the nightmare was over.
CHAPTER 50
Tammy struck at the water, trying not to succumb to its murky depths. Her father stood on the pier, watching her with a thin smile stretched across his gray face.
“Who’s going to save my poor Sassy?” he said softly.
Her strength began to fade and her struggle ceased. As her weight dropped, her feet immediately made contact with the sludge at the bottom of Eagle Mountain Lake. She glanced at her father, who threw his head back and laughed heartily.
Water suddenly erupted in front of her. Dreg rose to the surface. Half of his face had decayed to the bone. The wound on his neck was blackened and festering with algae.
“Too late for Tammy!” he gurgled, grabbing her with skeletal hands and tugging her down. Suddenly, the bottom of the lake disintegrated and a cold abyss lapped at her legs.
“Gonna deal wit’ you good and proper, Tammy!” Dreg shrieked, laughing maniacally.
He pulled her under the water.
Tammy burst awake, jumping in her seat. She was in the hospital waiting room. A dozen people on their own sad vigils stared at her.
Tammy hugged herself with trembling arms. Outside, the storm still raged. Lightning flashed in the waiting room window. She had no idea how long it had been since the first responders had loaded her and Lucas into an ambulance, but it felt like she had spent forever there.
The doctors had conferred with her earlier. They discussed reconstructive surgery on Luke’s shoulder and the possibility of amputating his arm. That notion was dismissed, much to Tammy’s relief after a specialist had been summoned.
Dr. Spencer had come by and he ordered her to have the abrasions on her face cleaned and he also suggested a complete check-up. But she had made it quite clear to him that her place was in the waiting room until Luke was out of surgery and danger.
The FBI had sat with her earlier, taking all the information that Tammy could avail. The feds had even sent a car to her house and they had brought her fresh clothes from her closet.
A news broadcaster on the waiting room television made an announcement about a police entourage that had descended on the Keepsake Killer’s lair. The details were sketchy and the immaculately polished female broadcaster had
promised further updates throughout the night.
It’s over, she thought, rocking herself softly in her chair. He’s dead. So everything’s okay. Luke will pull through and everything will be fine.
But she still felt nervous. Edgy. She had drifted off three times in the waiting room only to be shaken back awake by nightmares of Dreg. She didn’t think she could ever sleep again. If this condition persisted, she decided she would try to get a prescription drug to help her sleep.
Tammy kept thinking of how close death had gotten to her. She wondered if she would ever feel safe again- if the world would ever seem more than a maze of lethal traps that she would spend the rest of her life trying to avoid.
Dreg was dead. But evil wasn’t. Insanity still thrived out there. Innocent lives would always be fodder for the many Dregs still roaming the Interstates and lurking in the dark woods.
The world had scared her before. Now it horrified her. How many killers had she passed on crowded sidewalks? Sat in darkened theaters with? Spoken to at social gatherings? Slept with, even?
A nurse stepped into the waiting room, interrupting her misery. “Mrs. Glover?” the young woman said softly. “You can see your husband now.”
***
Tammy stepped into the room. Luke lay in the hospital bed, smiling at her meekly. His shoulder was bandaged, as well as his forearm. His injured leg was in traction.
“How are you feeling, baby?” Tammy said, walking to him.
“I’ll live,” he said, and he looked pretty high on morphine. “I just thank God you’re okay. I couldn’t have made it alone.” His eyes trailed away suddenly, staring at the foot of his bed. Something troubled him. She lightly took his hand.
“Tell me about it,” she said.
He stared back at her, his eyes big with pain and fright. “All of the years I worked with the force took a big toll on me. All of the depravity and cruelty I was exposed to. The only thing that helped me put it into perspective was you. I could always say, ‘I’m going home to Tammy. I’ll hold her in my arms and it will all go away.’ And then you were taken by the terrible things- sucked up by the darkness and there was nothing there holding me back from the pit. I fell in this time. I was completely vulnerable and I touched something in the process that was worse than Dreg. I saw a devil in a vision and I made a deal with it to get you back. I pray it was just a hallucination- just a dream that Dreg had conjured or I had invented or we both made up together. But if it’s not, then evil is as strong as ever. Hell is real and it helped me get you back for some sinister reason I don't comprehend. You're safe, but my soul feels dirty. Am I making any sense right now?"
Texas Strange Page 23
