by Mark Lukens
“What the fuck’s going on?” Jose said, his voice getting louder and louder. “What are they doing out here?”
“I don’t know,” Cole finally answered. “David must’ve walked outside.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know,” Cole said.
“Something’s not right about this,” Jose grumbled.
Cole didn’t respond.
“You know he’s right,” Trevor said. “Why would that kid walk out here in the middle of the night?”
Cole watched as Stella and David walked up the steps onto the porch. They were both shivering, but Stella was shaking more than David even though he’d been outside longer than she had. Cole thought her trembling had more to do with fear than the cold – not only the fear of who was out here, but the fear of losing David. She had never admitted that David was not her son, but it was obvious that she loved him like a mother.
Stella stared at the four men. “You mind moving so I can get him inside?”
Trevor and Needles moved out of the way. Jose hesitated for a moment and then moved aside. Stella and David hurried inside the dark cabin.
Cole turned and followed them inside. Trevor and Needles entered next. Jose took a few more looks around out at the dark night, he didn’t see any movement anywhere, didn’t hear any sounds. He turned and entered the cabin.
Jose closed and locked the front door of the cabin, plunging the cabin into near pitch black darkness again.
“Trevor,” Cole called out. “We need to get some kind of light on in here.”
Trevor’s Zippo lighter flicked in the darkness. Trevor’s face came into view right behind the flickering flame of his lighter; his face was an eerie mask floating in the darkness. He turned to the kitchen and his mask drifted towards the counters. Cole could hear Trevor rummaging around in the drawers and cabinets.
“I can’t find a – ” Trevor’s words were cut off as he found something. “Wait. Here’s a candle. And another one.”
Trevor lit both of the candles and put them on small plates. They didn’t give off a tremendous amount of light, but they pushed the darkness back a little.
Trevor held one of the plates and gave the other one to Needles. Needles seemed a little more relaxed now that he was holding the light.
Jose went into the kitchen and tried a few of the light switches. “So what happened to the fucking power?” Jose finally said.
No one had any answers.
“Those psychos out there cut the power,” Jose said as he walked back into the living room.
“No power means no heat,” Trevor said. “That’s not good.”
“Let’s not panic yet,” Cole told them. “We have a fireplace if we get desperate.”
Jose looked at Stella and David who stood a little behind Cole, like he was protecting them. Stella wrapped her blanket around her and David. They had both stopped shivering now. “I want to know what that kid was doing outside,” Jose said.
“Leave them alone,” Cole said.
“No. I want to know. I’m sure everyone else here wants to know. There are some psychos outside cutting the power and that kid decides he wants to go outside and stand in the snow.”
“We don’t know that the power was cut,” Cole said as he sighed. “We just had a snowstorm. It could’ve caused a power outage.”
“Yeah, maybe, but I don’t think so.”
“He was just scared,” Stella said. “That’s all. He was just confused for a moment. He had a bad dream and forgot where he was.”
Jose laughed out loud, a sharp and insane sound in the darkness. “Oh, you’re trying to say he was sleepwalking? That’s bullshit, lady!”
“Jose,” Cole said in a warning voice.
“No, wait,” Trevor said. “Jose’s right for once in his life. There’s something weird about that kid being out there. You have to admit that, Cole.”
Jose took a step towards Stella and David, but he stared down at David. “What were you doing out there, kid?”
David just stared up at Jose.
Stella moved more in front of David, and their blanket slipped down to the floor. “Leave him alone,” she growled at Jose.
“He knows something about all of this,” Jose said in a low, menacing voice.
“He’s just a kid,” Stella said through gritted teeth.
“He knows something about all of this,” Jose continued. “And so do you.”
“Jose!” Cole snapped.
Jose turned on Cole. “Fuck you, Cole! I want to know what the fuck that kid was doing out there in the middle of the night!”
“He doesn’t want to talk,” Cole said.
“How come every time we want to question these two, you’re always protecting them?” Jose asked Cole.
Cole was about to answer Jose, but David’s voice silenced them all.
“He called me out there,” David said, his was voice low but clearly heard in the dark cabin.
Cole turned to David. “Who called you out there?” he asked in a gentle voice.
“He’s coming tomorrow morning,” David answered.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Jose went berserk. He rushed at Stella and David. “What the fuck kind of game is that kid playing?!”
Stella stepped in front of David and protected him with her body, ready to fight to the death to protect him.
Even though Jose was enraged, he stopped right in front of Stella.
“You back off right now,” she growled at Jose.
“You gonna make me?”
Cole stepped in and pushed Jose back. “Jose, back away.”
“Cole, they know something. They’re hiding something.”
“Just back up and we can talk about this.”
“I’m through talking. They know something about this. They know something about Frank. About whoever trashed the vehicles. About the electric being cut off. And I want some answers!”
“He’s right,” Needles jumped in. “I think those two are very much involved in all of this.”
“Everybody just calm down,” Cole said. He glanced at Trevor, making sure his younger brother had his back. Things were about to spiral out of control very soon, Cole thought, and he needed Trevor on his side.
“Everybody just calm down,” Cole said again. “We’ve got some things to – ” Cole’s words were halted as the electricity suddenly came back on.
Every light and appliance was on at the same time. The TV and radio blared static. The microwave oven was on. The coffee maker on the counter sizzled.
They all looked around the cabin, and then they looked at each other.
“Cole,” Trevor whispered to him, his voice barely heard above the blaring TV. “We didn’t leave all of these lights on. Or the TV.”
Cole rushed over to the TV and turned it off. He shut off the small radio. He headed over to the kitchen and shut off the microwave, the blender, and the coffee maker. It was quiet in the cabin now that the noises were shut off. He turned back to the others who were still huddled together in the living room.
“We didn’t leave all of this stuff on,” Trevor said again to Cole.
Jose looked at David. “He did it. He went outside in the middle of the night. He must’ve turned all of this shit on before he left.”
Stella snorted sarcastically.
“And then what, Jose?” Cole asked. “Then he went outside and cut the power off?”
“Maybe,” Jose said. “Who knows what the hell those two are doing?”
“He’s a busy kid,” Trevor said.
“Fuck you,” Jose looked at Trevor. “I know you don’t want to believe that the poor innocent kid is involved in all of this, but he is. He just admitted it to you. He just told you that someone called him out there. And that someone is coming tomorrow morning. There are people out there, people either they were running from or people they are helping. And they’re doing this to us.” Jose looked at Stella. “What kind of game are you guys playing?”
No answer from Stella.
“Because you’re not going to win,” Jose growled at her, and lifted his gun a little to let her know he meant business.
Jose took another step towards them. Stella took a step back, still standing in front of David. “Who’s coming tomorrow, kid?” Jose growled.
David looked frightened of Jose.
“Answer me, you little freak!”
“That’s enough!” Cole stepped in front of Jose and pushed him back a step. “I’m not interrogating a fucking kid. Who knows if he’s even telling the truth?”
“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow morning,” Trevor said.
“Yeah, I guess,” Cole said.
“Protecting them again,” Jose said as he stared at Cole, then he looked at Trevor.
Cole ignored Jose. “If we’re going to walk out of here tomorrow, then we need to get some rest. We’ll sleep in watches again. I’ll take the first watch.”
“It doesn’t matter who’s on watch,” Trevor said, “because I’m not sleeping anymore tonight.”
“Me either,” Jose said. “I’ll be up the rest of the night and on watch. I guaran-fucking-tee that.”
* * *
As the murky light of early morning invaded the cabin, Jose and Trevor slept like babies on their bedrolls. Trevor was wrapped up in the blue sleeping bag that he had called dibs on.
Cole sat at the dining room table. He glanced at Jose and Trevor as their words echoed in his mind. I’ll be up the rest of the night and on watch. I guaran-fucking-tee that. Cole smirked and sipped his cup of coffee.
A stirring noise from the living room grabbed Cole’s attention. He turned and saw Stella walking towards him out of the gloom from the living room. “Is there some more coffee?” she asked as she reached the dining room table.
“In the pot,” he told her. “Help yourself.”
Stella made a cup of coffee. She was slow about preparing the coffee. She sat down at the dining room table, close to Cole.
Cole looked at Stella with tired eyes. “Who’s out there? Who’s chasing you?”
Stella didn’t answer right away. She took a sip of her coffee. She glanced into the living room to make sure everyone else was still sleeping, and then she looked at Cole. “You wouldn’t believe me.”
Cole stared at her for a moment. He wasn’t angry, his face was expressionless. “You know who’s coming this morning, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Are they after the money?”
“No.”
“Are they after you and David?”
Stella was about to answer but a noise from the living room startled both of them – the sound of someone unlocking the deadbolt on the front door. Cole was up in a flash, his gun in his hand, ready to shoot.
But they saw David at the front door. David froze when he saw Cole with the gun pointed at him; he stared at Cole. “He’s outside waiting for you,” David said in a soft voice. “Can’t you hear him calling you?”
Cole glanced at Stella. “Get David away from the door.”
Stella rushed over to David and pulled him gently away from the door and ushered him back to the couch.
Cole jolted Trevor and Jose awake. They both jumped up, a grunt escaping Jose as his hands searched for his gun. “Whadisit?” Trevor grunted as he tried to shake off the cobwebs of sleep. “I was awake,” he lied.
“He’s out there,” Cole said to them, and then he looked at Jose. “Get Needles up.”
Jose kicked the side of the recliner and Needles sat straight up, his eyes suddenly wide open.
“Who’s out there?” Jose said as he turned back to Cole.
“The one coming to see us this morning,” Cole reminded him. “The one David was talking about.”
Cole pulled his thin leather gloves out of his coat pockets and wriggled his hands into them. He put his coat and hat on and checked his gun and racked a bullet into the chamber, ready to fire. He clicked the safety off. “Everyone get your weapons ready.”
Trevor and Jose got their coats on and already had their weapons in hand. Needles shrugged slowly into his coat. Stella and David waited on the couch, huddled together. David stared at the front door of the cabin almost like he could see through it.
Cole looked at Trevor and gestured at him to check the front window. Cole crept towards the front door, ready to open it and charge out onto the front porch.
Trevor stood beside the front window and pulled the curtain back a little so he could peek outside, his gun up beside his head, his finger on the trigger.
“What is it?” Jose hissed. He stood on the other side of the door, ready to run out right after Cole to back him up. “How many are out there?”
Trevor stared out the window for a long moment. He didn’t seem afraid, more like he was confused about what he was looking at.
“Only one,” Trevor answered Jose.
“One?” Cole asked.
Trevor backed away from the window and looked at Cole, shock on his face. “It’s Frank,” he said.
“Frank?”
“I told you I saw him,” Jose said. “You guys didn’t fucking believe me. I told you I saw him out in the woods.”
“What’s he doing out there?” Cole asked Trevor, ignoring Jose.
Trevor shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing. He’s just standing in the snow and staring at the cabin. Like he’s waiting for us to come outside.”
“Does he have a gun?”
“I didn’t see one.”
They could hear something from outside. A voice. Someone calling their names. Calling them to come outside.
“This could be a trap. They could be using Frank as some kind of bait. We all have to be ready for that.” Cole looked at Stella, hoping for some kind of help, some kind of acknowledgment, but he didn’t get any.
Cole took a deep breath and opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. Jose followed, and Trevor was right behind him.
Needles hesitated before going outside. He looked at Stella and David like he knew something about them, like he knew about the secrets they were keeping. “You coming out there?” he asked Stella.
Stella nodded. “Yeah. We need to get our coats.”
Needles was willing to wait for them.
Stella and David grabbed their coats from the end of the couch. Stella helped David get his shoes on.
Needles still waited for them.
Stella and David glanced at each other, they were ready. Needles gestured at the door with his pistol. “Let’s go,” he told them, and he waited for them to go outside first.
They walked to the doorway with Needles right behind them. Stella had a feeling that Needles was going to aim his gun at the back of their heads and pull the trigger and end their lives in an instant. But he didn’t. The three of them stepped out onto the front porch, out into the bitter cold air. The floorboards of the front porch creaked and popped under the weight of all of them standing in a tight group on the porch staring out at the front field.
Frank stood in the snow thirty yards away from the cabin. He wore the same clothes that he’d walked away in, the blue flannel shirt and dark pants. He wore no coat, no hat, no gloves. But he seemed unaffected by the cold. He just stood there, the snow up to his calves. He was statue-still and his head was cocked to the side just a bit.
“Frank,” Cole called out as his breath misted in front of his face in the freezing air. He clenched his gun in his gloved hand. “Where have you been all this time?”
Frank just stared at them, his body motionless, his eyes lifeless, his face slack, his head still cocked at that strange angle. For a moment Cole didn’t even think Frank was going to answer him, but then Frank’s face twitched and he smiled. But it was a fake smile, a wide grin that didn’t even touch his dark eyes. This person looked exactly like Frank, but he didn’t seem like Frank. Frank would’ve never had this goofy grin on his face, and it made Cole’s skin crawl. This wasn’t Frank. It couldn’t be.
“Frank!�
� Cole called out again. “Where did you go? Why did you leave in the middle of the night?”
“He called me out here,” Frank finally answered, his voice was guttural and deep and not like his own voice. And when he spoke, that strange smile never left his face. “I don’t expect any of you to understand.”
“Understand what?” Cole yelled out to Frank.
“He wants things, and you have to give him what he wants!”
CHAPTER TWENTY
“You have to give him what he wants!” Frank said again through that strange smile on his face, his head cocked to the side, his body motionless in the snow.
“Or what?” Trevor yelled. Trevor was jumpy, ready to charge out into the snow. His gun hand twitched just a bit. Cole hoped his little brother would hold his cool for a few moments longer. Trevor had always been the more hotheaded of the two brothers, more impulsive.
Frank’s lifeless eyes and plastic smile focused on Trevor. “Or bad things will happen, Trevor.”
“What kind of bad things?” Trevor asked.
Frank’s smile dropped suddenly and his face went slack. Somehow this expression was even scarier than the creepy fake smile. “Things you won’t even believe.”
“Frank!” Cole yelled. “Who called you out here? Who are you working with?”
Frank didn’t answer.
“This is bullshit,” Trevor whispered to Cole through clenched teeth. “Let’s just rush out there and get him. It doesn’t look like he has his gun.”
“Wait a minute,” Cole whispered back, never taking his eyes off of Frank. “Something’s not right here.” Couldn’t Trevor see that? Couldn’t he see that this person out in the snow wasn’t the Frank that they all knew?
Cole waited for an answer from Frank, but Frank still didn’t speak; he just stood in the snow with his head cocked to the side just a bit, his face slack, his expression blank.
Cole tried a different approach. “Frank, are you hurt?”
No answer again from Frank. It was like Frank was thinking this over, his expression and eyes still blank.
