“None of us claim to be experts,” Bart confessed to Tim. “Hell, to be honest, this is only my third time in these caves, which makes it the third time I’ve ever done any sort of rock climbing or spelunking. Roughly the same goes for these two guys. How about you?”
“Well, I’ve done some hiking but no climbing.”
Bart shrugged. “Well, don’t let it worry you. I just wanted you to know what you were dealing with.” He walked over and killed the Jeep’s headlights, the switched on the flashlight clipped to his harness. Ed and Steve did the same, and Tim looked down to find one clipped to his harness as well. He fumbled with it for a moment before finding the switch, then lowered himself into the hole behind Ed and Bart. Steve, the youngest and strongest, anchored the rear.
From the surface, the slope into the cliff looked rather shallow. Down in the hole, Tim noticed that it stayed that way only for a few feet. It then declined sharply. When it came to Tim’s turn, he stepped over the edge, took a deep breath to brace himself, and started his descent. He felt as if he climbed into the gullet of some great underground beast.
* * *
Alexandra stormed out of Bart’s house, threw open the back door to the car, and hauled Jack out of the back seat. He wailed as his sprained ankle first hit the frame of the car door, then bounced off the asphalt of the driveway.
“You little bastard!” Alexandra shouted. Her nails drew blood from the boy’s wrist. “You warned him didn’t you?”
Genevieve came out the front door and started toward them.
“Let me go!” Jack screamed, bawling.
“Answer me!”
In response, Jack howled and swung his fist with all his might. The blow struck Alexandra at the base of her swollen belly. She screamed in pain and released him, stumbled, and fell backwards. Genevieve arrived just in time to catch her, nearly tumbling both of them.
Jack, seeing his opportunity, ran for the street. His ankle did not hold up, however, and he howled with pain. He hobbled for several steps before dropping to the ground and grabbing his ankle.
“Kill him!” Alexandra shouted.
“But—”
“I said kill him! Throw the body in the trunk until I decide what to do with it!” Genevieve set her down easily on the grass. She cradled her stomach and took deep breaths.
Genevieve pounced on the boy, her hands at his throat. She straddled his chest to pin his arms to his sides. The boy kicked and gasped to no avail. Alexandra looked on in satisfaction until it ended, then got to her feet as Genevieve lifted the body into the trunk of Tim’s Camaro.
“Now what?” Gretchen asked from the porch. She lit a cigarette and took a long drag.
“We go back to my place,” Alexandra replied, climbing into the passenger’s seat of the Camaro. Genevieve climbed in behind her as the other two women came down the walk.
“What for?” Cassandra asked.
“I just remembered something that will make this all a hell of a lot easier.”
Gretchen drove, leaving a number of skid marks on the streets. Alexandra normally would have told her to take it easy because of her pregnancy, but now she knew time would be of the essence. She did guessed Timothy and the sewer man would try to make it out over the ridge, but if they did, the guardians up there would tear them apart. She hoped Bart knew better than to it, as she still may need Timothy alive.
They made it to Alexandra’s house in just a few minutes, a testament to Gretchen’s skill in driving. Alexandra led them into the house, then waddled her way upstairs. Her stomach still hurt from Jack’s punch and her back ached from being on her feet all day. Fortunately, after she got the fetish, she would be able to take it easy and it would just be a matter of time until the girls found Tim and brought him back.
She passed her bedroom and went into the guest room, which she set up as a shrine of sorts. On one wall she painted a large mural depicting Mother Earth, an attractive nude woman holding a pair of children in her arms, one human and the other a satyr. They stood in a forested scene with a small pond in the corner. A scattering of runes representing various aspects and powers of Gaia, the spirit, and the elements adorned the remainder of the wall. In the center of the room she set a miniature version of the altar in the forest and a thin pad which she used for meditation and prayer.
She immediately went to an antique armoire along the wall to her right. She opened the upper cabinet, trying to remember what she did with the fetish. She looked through the silver and pottery bowls, the various oils and candles, the small selection of bone and ivory knives and did not find it. She opened the next drawer, where she kept her few other fetishes, but to no avail. She cursed her memory. All she could remember was she put it in a special place.
A place where she should not have forgotten it.
Tim had, for the most part, been very little trouble, and she took it for granted she would not need the fetish until after she had the baby, if even then. As a result she did not think of it until now, and because of it they wasted valuable time.
She rummaged swiftly through the remaining drawers, then rushed into the bedroom. She threw open the closet doors and looked up at the top shelf. None of the boxes looked right. She glanced at her dresser, then remembered the nightstand beside her bed. Of course! She kept it close by in the event she needed it quickly, such as if Tim tried to attack her while she slept.
As usual, various bits of this and that cluttered the drawer, and the fetish sank to the bottom. It looked fairly simple, especially considering the power it held. She made the core of the fetish with nightsoil and the semen Cassandra collected from Timothy his first night in town. She wrapped that core in a shell of clay and inscribed it with glyphs that represented Man, the Mind, and Control.
She rolled it between her thumb and index finger for a moment before taking it downstairs. With the fetish she could have total control over Timothy and his actions, but only if he stayed close by. She could, however, make him feel certain sensations over a great distance, such as a small amount of pleasure or pain. She chose to inflict the latter.
“Here it is, girls,” she said, presenting the fetish. “The answer to all of our problems.”
Cassandra smiled. “Oh yeah. I should have remembered that.” She flashed a smile at her sister. “Tasty.” The twins giggled, and Gretchen rolled her eyes at them. She played with her next cigarette, but knew better than to light it up in Alexandra’s house.
“Enough,” Alexandra said, suddenly all business again. “Get out there and find that son-of-a-bitch and bring him to me alive. Mostly unharmed.”
“And the sewer man?”
“If he survives the encounter, fine. If he dies, so be it. And get rid of the kid. Be creative.”
“Let’s go girls,” Gretchen said to the twins. She fished her keys and lighter out of her pocket as they headed for the door.
* * *
Tim expected the going to be rougher, especially considering the way Bart and the others talked about it. Rings and rope left behind from previous visits made life much easier, and most of the water that would have collected in some areas drained off into deeper portions of the cave.
Tim enjoyed the subtle beauty of the cave. It must have been around for centuries before the flow of Rapture’s rainwater uncovered the entrance and started to erode them further. The passage of the water carved made interesting rock formations, and the various layers of rock strata blended together to make some beautiful color combinations. Between the sights and the effort of climbing and care in hand- and footholds, he forgot all about Rapture and the threat looming behind them.
Until somebody kicked him in the groin.
He cried out and collapsed from the pain, curling into a fetal position and clutching his crotch. Through tear-filled eyes he saw Steve followed too far back to have been the culprit, and Ed and Bart just now turned back to him.
“What’s the matter?” Ed asked.
“My balls! Feels like I got kicked!” Tim mana
ged through clenched teeth. The pain subsided to a steady ache, but still felt almost unbearable.
“What happened to him?” Bart asked Steve.
“Hey man, I didn’t see nothin’. One minute I was watching him come down the path, the next he screamed and fell over.”
“You get tangled in the rope?” Ed asked.
“No,” Tim gasped, struggling to a sitting position. “The rope was through my belt the whole time. I was holding it alongside me.”
“It’s the witches, man!” Steve said suddenly. “They’ve gotten to him somehow!”
“That’s ridiculous!” Ed snapped. “They don’t even know.”
“Hold on, he may have a point!” Bart broke in. “First of all, they may know he and I are on the run. Jack called and warned me that Alexandra knew Tim helped him out. They may have gotten Jack to confess that he sent Tim to me.”
“But what could they do from town?” Ed demanded. He turned on Tim. “You probably just got your nuts caught in a fold in your jeans or something.”
“You’re denying an important fact,” Steve said. “They’re witches! You know, magic and all that other shit?”
Bart extended a hand and helped Tim to his feet. “You going to be okay?”
“Yeah,” he replied.
“I think they’re using a fetish on you.”
“A what?” Tim asked. He pictured Alexandra kissing his toes and spanking him.
“A fetish. A magical charm or spiritual token. Mike Tierney did a lot of research on paganism and witchcraft way back when, and he taught me some of it. They have various powers, but sometimes they can work somewhat like a voodoo doll.”
“Peachy.”
“Did they ever take blood from you?”
“No. Not that I can think of.”
“You probably gave the bitch enough semen to make a zillion of them,” Ed said.
“Fuck you.”
“No, he has a point,” Bart stepped in. “As crude as it sounded, that’s probably how they did it.”
Tim remembered his first night in town, and the experience with one of the twins that may or may not have been a dream. “They had me from day one,” he whispered to himself.
“What was that?”
“Never mind.”
“Can you climb?” Steve asked him.
“Not if they keep up the pressure,” Bart answered for him. “There’s some nasty falls deeper in. If she hits him at just the wrong time and he takes a tumble, he’s done for. Not to mention the rest of us if we get dragged with him.”
“So what are we supposed to do? Just turn back?”
“Out of the question,” Ed said. “We have to get him out of here one way or the other. Then maybe things will settle down.”
“And if he dies in the process?”
“Not my problem,” Ed mumbled, turning his back on them.
“I’m not saying he should die,” Steve stepped in, “but we’ve decided that a lot of the strange things going on around here have stemmed from his arrival. The midnight rituals, the secrecy, the sacrifices and murders…We told ourselves we would get him out of here as soon as possible, and that’s now! Ready or not, we’ve got to get it done!”
“Let’s not forget the other theory.” Ed looked back over his shoulder, still unwilling to face the others.
Tim looked to Bart and Steve, but they offered no explanation. They fidgeted uncomfortably. Bart looked away when Tim met his gaze. “What’s he talking about?”
“We had another theory about you,” Ed said, facing Tim at last. “A theory that you were with them. That you were some kind of priest or wizard or something. Some thought you were the Devil himself.”
“You can’t be serious! That house was a prison! I almost got killed twice!”
“Hey, we had no way of knowing the truth,” Bart said.
“Well surely you don’t think so now?”
“You tell us,” Ed said, his tone heavy with accusation.
“Shut up, Ed,” Bart said, stepping between the two men. He turned to Tim. “Look, we had to consider all the options. There’s no turning back now, and, one way or another, we do need to get you out of here. But we’re not going to kill you. Now, are you ready to go or not?”
Tim believed Bart, but his eyes fell to the pistol still tucked in the man’s waistband. He wondered if Bart had him in mind when he loaded the weapon. He accepted Bart’s hand as aid in getting to his feet.
“Let’s get on with it,” Bart said. The men began to secure their ropes again and test their pull.
Tim took a few steps. The pain lingered, but he felt he could make it.
And then what? he wondered for the hundredth time since he came into Rapture. He looked over at Bart, who began to climb a short rock face to the next level surface.
What of Bart? he wondered. He would be a dead man if he returned to town. Tim doubted he could be the only handyman in town, and anybody could learn to run the sewer and water pumps. The guy effectively gave up everything he owned, including his life, to see Tim out of Rapture. He could not repay that.
Unless…
“Wait,” Tim said suddenly.
“What is it?” Bart asked.
“We’re not going,” Tim told them. “I have a better idea.”
* * *
Gretchen flicked away the stub of her last cigarette as Cassandra and Genevieve came out of the church. The corpse of the boy, Jack, dangled limp from a belfry window.
“We should do the same with all the men,” Cassandra said after the three women got back into the car.
“They have their uses,” Gretchen said. She glanced at the two of them in the rear view mirror.
“Doubtful,” Genevieve said suggestively. Both twins giggled.
Gretchen shook her head. It sometimes sickened her the way those two fawned over one another. It sickened her even more to think of what they did behind closed doors. She suspected Alexandra invited them into her bedroom, but never saw any solid proof. They once had the gall to ask Gretchen to join them, and she refused. Her late husband had been more than adequate in considerations of sexuality, and it for that reason alone she sometimes missed him. Unfortunately, he lacked the vision to see the true nature of things behind man’s greatest lie, religion.
“Don’t forget,” she told them, “you wouldn’t be here without them.”
“Spoilsport,” Cassandra murmured.
“Let’s just get on with it.”
Gretchen drove them to the east side of town, all three women keeping an eye out for their quarry. It neared four in the morning, and they started getting tired. By now the sentries will have been set up to watch the maintenance man’s home. If the men tried to leave the city, Sebastian’s nightmarish sentries would put a stop to that real quick. Alexandra reasoned the men had to be creeping around town someplace, it would just be a matter of finding them. They did not have a whole lot of places to hide in the valley. Before long, they passed by the water and power building.
“Stop for a second,” Cassandra said suddenly.
“What for?”
“Bart has the keys to this place. Maybe they’re hiding out here.”
“It’s worth a look,” Gretchen replied. She pulled up to the gate and let Genevieve out.
Genevieve pulled the chain free of the gate and held it up, allowing the padlock to fall to the ground to demonstrate someone came through and left it open. Gretchen killed the lights and the engine, and Genevieve tossed the chain into the grass.
“Careful,” Gretchen said. “They won’t be happy to see us.”
The twins nodded as the three moved across the gravel parking lot. They first circled the building, making sure the two main utility vehicles were still present. They then checked the front door. With the inside locks open, the doors swung open easily. The women waited for a moment on the threshold, watching and listening for any signs of movement.
Cassandra moved to the wall and found a light switch. The rows of fluorescent fixtu
res flickered on, bathing the interior of the building in a soft white light. They moved cautiously between the pumps and pipes, though few of the shadows or nooks would hide their quarry.
“Didn’t this place have a Jeep?” Cassandra asked, her voice echoing off the metal walls.
“Yeah, why?” Gretchen asked.
Cassandra threw her arms wide, gesturing to an empty section of floor near one wall. A large tarpaulin lay thrown to one side, just beyond a large patch of oil stains.
“No Jeep,” Genevieve answered for her sister. The three women hurried back to the car.
“Now we know what we’re looking for,” Gretchen said. “Either of you see a Jeep while we were driving around?”
The twins shook their heads. “Where to now?” one of them asked.
“We’re going back to see Alexandra again. If those boys took the Jeep, they’re either out in the countryside somewhere, or they’re heading out of here. We need to broaden our search, and the best way to do it is to use the birds and the cats.”
* * *
Half an hour later, a murder of crows burst from their nests and began circling over the trees and fields surrounding the town. Packs of cats prowled the streets and alleyways. Each animal now knew what to look for, as if by natural instinct. At first sighting of the Jeep or of Timothy Wilder, Alexandra would know.
Chapter Fifteen
“Are you fucking nuts?” Ed shouted, his voice echoing up and down the cave tunnels. “No way! No fucking way!”
“Hey, relax,” Bart said. He stood in front of the taller man, holding up his hands in a placating gesture, Steve stood off to one side, determined to stay out of trouble. Tim sit on the floor, leaning back against a rock pillar and hoping his testes would stop aching.
“You relax! What the fuck does he think we’ve been doing for the last ten years? Organizing Boy Scout troops?” Ed leaned past Bart and jabbed his finger at Tim for emphasis. “We lost friends in this shithole you son of a bitch!”
“Then why lose more?” Tim demanded angrily. “If you don’t do anything about it, it’s going to keep happening!”
“And if you go back in there, we’re all dead!”
Deadliest of the Species Page 20
