by Mark Lukens
It’s Gary. He woke up after I got out of bed. He’s come looking for me, wondering where I am.
She had an almost overwhelming urge to turn on some lights, but she fought against it. She wasn’t going to act like a scared little girl.
After marching through the house, she entered their bedroom. And then she stopped cold. Gary wasn’t in bed; he was standing beside it, staring at the open door to their massive walk-in closet across the room.
“Gary?”
He didn’t answer her. He didn’t turn her way. He didn’t even flinch. He never took his eyes off of the closet door as he stood there in the dark like a tall and lanky shadow.
“Gary, are you okay?”
Still no answer.
“Were you walking around in here? I was in the kitchen and I heard someone walking around in here.”
Gary still hadn’t turned her way. From where the bedroom door was, his back was turned slightly towards her. He was still staring at the open door to their walk-in closet. He was watching it.
Someone’s in there, her mind whispered. It’s the killer.
“Gary? Gary, answer me.”
Was he still asleep somehow? Was he sleepwalking? He’d never done that before.
“Gary, answer me.”
Her skin was buzzing with fear. She still had the cordless phone in her hand, gripping it tightly like it was a weapon. She had a gut instinct to run out of the room, to dial 911, to scream for help. But she couldn’t leave Gary.
Teresa walked to the foot of the bed, then around it, towards Gary. When she got closer to him, she saw his face. He looked ghostly pale. His eyes were wide and bulging from the sockets, his mouth hanging open, his body rigid, like he was paralyzed. He stared at the closet door with a horror-movie look of pure fright, almost an over-exaggerated expression.
A bumping sound came from inside the closet; something was moving around in there.
Her eyes darted to the black rectangle of the doorway in the darkness. She saw nothing beyond that wall of darkness.
“We have to go,” she told Gary, grabbing his arm. His muscles were tense, rock-hard, and she couldn’t make him move or turn her way.
Movement from the ceiling above them caught her eye. She couldn’t help looking up at the patterns of leaves and tree branches there. They were moving again like they had earlier, swirling, writhing in and out of each other like a mass of snakes. But some of those tendrils were dropping down from the ceiling like thick spider webs. The webbing fell down delicately on Gary, laying down on his head and shoulders like black lace.
She drew her hand back from Gary. She took a step back away from him. She still had the cordless phone in her hand. She dialed 911 with trembling fingers, ready to scream for help into the phone. It rang once in her ear and then someone picked up.
“Help us!” Teresa screamed into the phone.
All she heard was a heavy breathing on the phone and then someone whispering her name: “Teresa.”
The phone slipped from her hand, falling to the floor. She stared at Gary. He still hadn’t moved a muscle, but now he grunted through his open mouth, almost like he was choking. His mouth opened wider. At first she thought it was his tongue bulging out from his mouth, but then she realized that it was the black tendrils from the ceiling wriggling out from between his lips and teeth, pushing his mouth open even wider, the tendrils snaking down his face, one of them poking right into his eye.
“Teresa,” a man whispered from the closet.
She couldn’t help it, she turned towards the closet and saw a man standing in front of it—the killer. She tried to run, but she’d been a few seconds too late, something grabbed her hand, then it wrapped around her arm—the tendrils from Gary’s mouth. She tried to pull away from them, but they were too strong.
CHAPTER 15
Begay
Iron Springs, New Mexico
It was only an hour after sunup when Begay pulled into David’s driveway. He parked behind Awenita’s minivan and shut his truck off. His truck was a Ford F-250, only five years old now, a retirement present to himself.
He got out and walked to the front door. Awenita opened the door right after he knocked. She had a smile on her face. She was always up early.
“David told me you were coming by this morning to pick him up,” she said.
Begay nodded at her. “Is he ready to go?”
“Almost.” She opened the door wider. “You got time for a cup of coffee?”
“I never turn down coffee.”
Begay followed Awenita into the kitchen. She poured him a cup of coffee and set it down in front of him. “Cream or sugar?”
“No,” he said, putting a thick hand out to stop her. “I’m trying to cut back on the sugar.”
“I’ve got some Sweet-n-Low.”
Begay shrugged. “That would be great.”
She grabbed a box of the artificial sweetener from the cabinet and pulled a few packets out for Begay. She cleared a cereal bowl and juice glass off the table, bringing them to the kitchen sink.
David entered the kitchen.
“Morning, David,” Begay said.
He nodded at Begay. “Morning.” He looked at his aunt. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“I probably won’t be here when you get back. You got your house key?”
“Got it.”
Begay took another gulp of his coffee and then he and David went outside. It felt good to be outside again. He liked Awenita, but no matter how pleasant they were to each other, she reminded him of the past, of the horrors both of them had gone through.
They got into Begay’s pickup truck and Begay started it and drove away.
“I don’t know if Billy Nez is going to be able to help you,” Begay said when they were outside of Iron Springs.
“It won’t hurt to try, will it?”
Begay shook his head. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up. Billy is not like Joe Blackhorn. He’s not a true medicine man.”
“But he has some kind of knowledge,” David said, staring at him. “Or you wouldn’t be taking me to see him.”
David was correct about that. Begay gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, not sure how to explain the rest. “Billy knows a lot of the old ways. And there are some who say he knows about the darker side of things.”
“You mean like witchcraft?” David asked.
Begay just shrugged. “I’m not saying that. Others have said that.”
David didn’t say anything; he just stared out the passenger window for a while.
Begay was sure that David knew how Billy Nez might feel, he was sure David knew what it was like to have people whisper behind his back. He was sure David knew what it was like for people to assume he was a witch. Or a curse.
They drove for a while, but they didn’t talk much more. David seemed nervous. Maybe he was nervous about meeting Billy Nez, and Begay was sure that he hadn’t helped things by telling him about the rumors that surrounded Billy, but he felt that it needed to be said, that David needed to go into this with his eyes wide open.
Begay thought of the phone call he’d gotten from Agent Palmer last night. Former Agent. Palmer seemed sure it was happening again, as sure as David was. Begay could try to counter both of their arguments; he could try to come up with rational reasons why it wasn’t true, why it couldn’t be true. But why bother? He could feel it, too. He could feel something sinister in the clear desert air, something dark on the horizon, a wave of death coming. And he felt helpless to stop it.
Begay had called Billy Nez’s phone last night and he’d gotten Billy’s daughter—Doli. He told her that he really needed to see her father. She was nervous, tense even though he wasn’t part of the Tribal Police anymore. She told him that she would let Billy know he wanted to see him. Begay wasn’t sure if Doli would actually relay his message to Billy, but he made sure that she understood that he would be coming by this morning; he wasn’t going away.
• • •
An hour later Begay drove down the dirt drive to Billy’s mobile home. Even though it had been seven years since he’d been here, it seemed like yesterday. Not much had changed; the three rusted trailers were still there, the old cars and trucks were still parked off the side of the road, tucked away in the mass of weeds and brush. The vehicles were a little rustier, the weeds a little taller, the brush a little thicker. The trailer home still looked the same, the weedy front lawn—half sand and half scrub brush—was littered with trash, toys, and other junk. The doghouse was still at the back end of the first trailer, but there was no dog in there now, just a chain attached to the doghouse, the chain snaked across the yard. Doli’s battered gray Chevy Impala was parked near the front of the first trailer and it seemed to be the only operable vehicle there.
It felt like Begay had slipped back into time for a moment, like he was back in his old Ford Bronco and Agent Palmer was in the passenger seat. But only for a moment.
He pulled up within fifteen feet of the first trailer with its weathered and petrified wooden deck. The front door flew open and two kids rushed out, obviously excited to see visitors to their home.
Begay got out and the kids rushed up to him, a boy and a girl; the boy was probably about nine or ten years old and the girl was maybe six or seven.
Doli stood in the doorway. She was pregnant and she still looked just like she had seven years ago. She had the same long dark hair and the same blank expression. “Leave them alone,” she told her kids in Navajo.
“Who are you?” the little girl asked Begay in English.
“My name’s Begay. What’s your name?”
“Kai,” the girl answered. “That’s my brother Yas.”
“Who’s that?” Yas asked, pointing at David.
“His name is David Bear.”
Doli told the kids again to leave them alone, but they ignored her. Begay had the feeling that they ignored her a lot. He saw a wild streak in the children, the same wild streak Billy had in him, the same wild streak that had gotten him into trouble so many times through the years.
“I need to see your grandfather,” Begay told the kids. He felt he might have a better chance getting answers out of the kids rather than Doli.
“He’s down by the river,” Yas blurted out.
“But he wants to be alone,” Kai warned.
“Well, this is very important,” Begay said. He looked at Doli in the doorway of the trailer.
“I can show you where he is,” Yas offered.
“You’ll stay here,” his mom snapped. It was the first time she’d shown any real emotion in her voice or on her face.
And this time her children listened, knowing when they had crossed the line.
Begay stared at Doli, waiting.
She gave a slight nod at the woods, giving her permission, but she said nothing else.
David followed Begay along the trail through the woods. The farther they went, the closer they got to the lazy river flowing by. Ten minutes later they came to Billy’s sweat lodge. Billy sat on a big rock not too far away from the mud hut. It looked like he’d been waiting there for them to show up. His eyes were glassy and Begay wondered what he’d been smoking all morning.
“Billy Nez,” Begay said.
Billy looked older, but somehow still the same. His dark face was lined with wrinkles, his black hat pulled down low, his shirt unbuttoned down to his belly button. He nodded but offered no greeting in return to Begay. He looked at David and seemed intrigued by the sight of him.
“You remember David Bear,” Begay said to Billy. “He was training with Joe Blackhorn until he died.”
Billy nodded again. “Yes, I remember.”
“David needs your help,” Begay said. “Those murders at the dig site, the things that happened at the ghost town, I believe all of it may be happening again. I believe the Darkwind may be back.”
CHAPTER 16
David
New Mexico
David stared at Billy Nez. It was like seeing someone he knew, but also someone he couldn’t remember entirely. He felt like he’d seen this person before, and he saw the slight resemblance to the Billy Nez he remembered in Hope’s End, only this man in front of him was taller and a little younger. But there was something recognizable in his face.
And then David’s eyes were drawn to the necklace Billy wore, the silver charm hanging from it. He knew what was inside that silver sphere: a lock of hair from the other David, the one in Hope’s End, but also himself. He felt slightly nauseous as both memories competed for space in his mind: the memory of Hope’s End, of Billy Nez sawing off a hunk of his hair with the knife, and the ghost town seven years ago. And now David remembered that Begay had worn that same necklace when they were in the ghost town, and that necklace had helped keep the snakes and spiders away from him inside that church.
“I remember you, David,” Billy said. His eyeballs were as black as onyx stones and set deep in his face under a prominent brow.
David nodded at him.
“Is this true?” Billy asked. “Is it back?”
David found himself nodding before he even answered. “I can feel it. I know my friends, Cole and Stella, are in trouble.”
Billy seemed to remember them or the rumors about them. “Where are they now?”
David looked at Begay.
Begay nodded that it was okay.
David turned back to Billy. “In Costa Rica.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pants pocket, pulled up the news article, and then handed it to Billy.
Billy took his time reading the article, thumbing the screen slowly, studying it. After a few minutes he gave the phone back to David. “Did you warn them?”
“No. Not yet. I wasn’t sure at first.”
“Have you been having dreams?” Billy asked.
“How did you know?” David asked.
“What have you been dreaming?”
“They’re like memories. Of the ghost town. Back when it was Hope’s End. It feels like I was there back then, back when everyone in the town was killed. “He paused for a moment. “I was there in that town before. Back then. I fought the Ancient Enemy then, but it took me into the Void.”
“What do you remember about the Void?” Billy asked. “What do you remember about its world?”
David shrugged and shook his head a little. “Nothing. It was like I was there, then I was here. Like the blink of an eye.”
Billy exhaled a long, slow sigh. For some reason David felt that Billy suspected him of lying about his memories of the Void, but he didn’t say anything about it.
“What other dreams have you had?” Billy asked.
Again, David was shocked. It felt like Billy was reading his mind somehow, probing it a little, but it was like Billy couldn’t see everything he wanted. “I’ve been dreaming about a serial killer. He’s killed some people in Colorado.”
“You see the murders through the killer’s eyes?”
“Not really, but I’ve seen the things he’s done.”
“Have you seen the killer’s face?”
David shook his head no. “He’s like a shadow. Just a blurry image.”
“What did Joe Blackhorn say about the Ancient Enemy when you were training with him?”
“He told me that I might have only driven the Ancient Enemy back into its own world. He said I might have hurt it, or even damaged it, but I might not have actually killed it.” He glanced at Begay. “And now I think it’s back.”
“How am I supposed to help?” Billy asked.
“I never finished my training with Joe Blackhorn,” David admitted. He hoped Billy wasn’t going to ask him why—he didn’t want to go into the real reasons he had turned his back on Blackhorn.
“I am not a shaman,” Billy said. “I cannot show you what to do. Only you can know what to do.”
“But some say you know about witchcraft,” David blurted out.
Billy’s eyes cut to Begay.
David didn’t look at Bega
y; he kept his eyes on Billy. “Some say you have strong powers.”
Billy sighed. “I do not have the powers you do, David.” He pulled off his necklace and stood up from the rock. He walked the few steps over to David and gave the necklace to him. “I can give this to you. I can perform a few ceremonies. But I cannot do much more than that.”
David nodded. It wasn’t the answer he’d been hoping for, but he took the necklace.
“It’s kind of your necklace anyway. It was meant for you.”
David didn’t say anything.
“You are going to have to face this ancient evil again.”
David nodded—he already knew that.
“It will never stop looking for you,” Billy continued. “It will not stop looking for everyone around you. But this time you will have to go on a spirit walk, you will have to enter its world. You will have to enter the Void.”
“I don’t know how to enter its world,” David said. “I don’t know how to go on a spirit walk. Joe Blackhorn never showed me how.”
Billy frowned. “I am sorry. I cannot help you with that.”
David couldn’t help believing that Billy Nez was lying to him, but he didn’t say anything about it.
• • •
A few minutes later David walked beside Begay on the trail through the woods, heading back to Begay’s pickup truck. Moments later they passed the trailers where Billy’s daughter and grandchildren lived. David looked at the rotting deck of the last trailer. He thought he would see Billy’s daughter standing there, but the front door was closed. The children were inside. Everything was quiet.
They got to Begay’s truck and David got in the passenger side and closed the door. He slipped his seatbelt on.
Begay started the truck, but he didn’t shift into reverse yet. He looked at David.
David met his stare. “Sorry about calling Billy a witch. I . . . I just . . . I didn’t know what else to do. I just need some help.”
Begay shook his head like he was already forgiving David and accepting his apology. “That’s okay. I’m sure Billy’s heard that many times. The dream you’ve been having about the serial killer. Tell me more about that.”
