Blood. Oh, no, I thought.
I hastily tilted at the waist and peered at the spot where Silas sat, wedged in the corner. The dinghy was slathered with red. It dripped down the side in rivulets, coming perilously close to the water gathering at the bottom. I swallowed hard and sat bolt upright in my seat, surprising Amanda enough that she jumped.
“Um, Kaiser,” I muttered.
“Yes, Mr. Ken,” he replied from behind me.
“You said if any flesh touched the water it would attract the larvae, right?”
“Uh-huh,” he said.
“Even if it’s blood?”
“Paul said they could smell just a drop of it from a mile away.”
“Oh, shit.”
“What is it?” asked Will.
I grunted and sat up. “How much longer until we reach the shore?”
“Um,” said Kaiser, “Maybe ten minutes.”
I looked at the side of the boat. The blood stream was inches from taking the plunge. “We don’t have that long,” I said.
I once more turned around and saw a dark shape appear in the fog. It was small and wide, so not a worm. A second later the nose of a skiff poked through, followed by Big Guy’s scowling face. It seemed I had two choices – death by worm, or death by mutant. The former seemed like the better gamble. I’d rather take my chances against things that acted on blind instinct than Big Guy and his cronies. In fact, I thought I might be able to use the Larvaes’ instinct to our advantage.
“Screw it,” I muttered.
I dropped my booted feet into the water that gathered in the boat and stood up. Kaiser screeched as the boat rocked. He and Will turned around, looking at me as if I’d gone insane. A loud groaning came from the other side of the lake, the sound of a thousand garden hoses rubbing together.
“What are you doing!” they screamed in unison.
“Put your feet down,” I ordered. “You’ll get more leverage that way. And row as fast as you can. Both of you. And Laura and Tina, you two get up here.”
Kaiser and Will did as they were told, thrusting their arms at breakneck speed, trying to keep even with each other while the two girls climbed over them. I knelt in the cold water and gathered all four girls around me, huddling with them like a rugby scrum.
“Okay, girls,” I said, “we have a job to do. We’re going to lean over the side and use our hands as paddles. We need to get to the other side as fast as possible. You understand?”
“Yes, Mr. Ken,” said Molly in her cherub voice. The rest simply nodded.
“Good. Now go over to the side, hang on, and get to work.”
They did so, and I told Silas to stay put while I made my way to the bow. I leaned over the front and plunged both my hands in, paddling like I was doing the butterfly stroke. I knew it wouldn’t do much good to have me and the girls help – Will and Kaiser would do the vast majority of the work – but I needed to have as much flesh as possible in the water if my plan had any chance of succeeding.
A roar came from the rear. I heard snapping boards and human screams. I propped myself up and peered between the madly rowing teenagers. From within the fog emerged the blood larvae – hundreds, if not thousands of them. Their massive bodies slammed into the advancing skiffs, knocking a couple over and smashing a couple more. Those that fell into the water were immediately descended upon, with rows of circular teeth grating into them from above and below. I saw Big Guy teeter and almost tip over, but he somehow kept his skiff upright.
“More!” I yelled at the girls. “More!”
They paddled faster, and soon the larvae came at us again. They formed a wall in front of Big Guy and the rest of his charges who’d remained upright, which was a relief, but now I had a different concern. The larvae were fast – much faster than I expected. We were still a good distance away from dry land. We wouldn’t make it.
I felt spikes dig into my back and a dark shape flew over me. I ducked my head, expecting one of those pterodactyl things I’d seen at the Dreadnaught’s compound to pick me up and carry me away. But when a splash sounded a moment later, I looked into the water and saw Silas, doggy paddling. He stared at me with his one good eye and managed to bark, even as water spattered into his open mouth.
“What’re you doing!” I screamed, reaching out my hand. “Get back in here!”
Silas barked again.
I went to stand up, my body shaking with terror, and my hand fell upon the rope that floated in the water below. It was tied to a loop at the front of the dinghy. I picked it up and stared at it dumbly. Silas barked again and I showed it to him.
“This what you want?” I asked.
He yipped, this time choking as water rushed down his throat.
I reared back and heaved the rope into the water. It splashed down in front of him and he grabbed it between his teeth. He then swiveled around and swam forward. Amazingly, the rope pulled taut and we seemed to pick up speed. It didn’t seem possible. Sure he was a strong dog, but strong enough to pull us through the water? I guess the answer was yes.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw the Blood Larvae still there, gaining fast. Then I faced forward, watching the approaching shoreline. Fifty feet to go. Thirty. Twenty. The girls were panting as their tiny hands worked as hard as they could, Kaiser and Will breathed like they were in the middle of a marathon, and Silas pulled us along, his sharp breaths creating clouds of mist before him. The seconds seemed to stretch on forever, but then Silas rose out of the water. He ran across the grassy inlet without slowing down, the rope still clenched between his teeth. We were only five feet away.
It was time.
“Everybody out!” I shrieked. I grabbed Molly by her waist and hurled her from the dinghy, followed by Laura and Amanda. Tina jumped off by herself. They landed in water up to their thighs and sloshed through the remaining distance. Kaiser and Will followed, leaping over the side like long-jumpers, scooping up the girls as they dashed onto dry land. I went last. My injured foot struck a rock when I landed and I bit back a scream. Suddenly, everything hurt – my chest, my mouth, my neck, my face, my hip, my foot. It took every effort I could muster to lift myself out of the water and limp up the side of the mountain.
The larvae crashed into the dinghy. I heard the screech of twisting metal as they pummeled the old boat, but I didn’t dare turn around to see. Seeing how long their tube-like bodies were, I didn’t want to take the chance of them plucking me from supposed safety. But then Silas was by my side, sprinting with a strange doggy smile on his ruined face. He leaned into me as if to tell me something. I slowed to a jog, then stopped, leaned over, put my hands on my knees, and gasped for air.
“Are we safe?” one of the girls asked. I couldn’t tell who.
“No,” I heard Will answer.
I lifted my head and looked to the lake below. Amazingly, I’d run a good fifty yards up the mount without realizing it. I watched as the larvae formed a living coat over the water, madly thrashing as they searched for food that wasn’t there. But then I saw the remaining four skiffs, maneuvering their way around the failed feeding frenzy. They’d land on shore in a matter of minutes.
Someone tapped my shoulder. “Where are we going, Mr. Ken?” asked Kaiser.
“You know of a tree around here? A tree that isn’t really a tree?”
He shook his head.
I rolled my eyes. “It’s right around where you found me. You remember where that was?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now lead the way. We don’t have a lot of time. We’ll worry about the tree once we get there.”
Without giving my heart a chance to slow down, we were off and running again, high-stepping it through the tall grasses as we ascended the slope.
From down below, I heard Big Guy bellow.
63
There were no more thoughts of imaginary monsters leaping out at me as I pounded my feet up the mountain – mainly because there were real-life ones one our tail. My heart raced and my mind went blank.
All I could think about was reaching the summit, which grew more substantial in my bouncing vision.
Kaiser and Will kept close watch on the girls, even going so far as to pick up little Molly when she fell a few steps behind. I couldn’t believe how fast their tiny legs moved, how easily they climbed the rise while my own legs ached and threatened to give out on me.
When we finally reached the top I turned and looked back down the mountain. The blood larvae had retreated back into the lake’s depths by then. The four skiffs were tossed haphazardly on the ground. Their riders now climbed after us, still a good distance behind yet closing in. Even from that distance I could make out Big Guy in all his naked and tattooed glory. The Mercedes hood ornament hanging from his lip reflected the light of the massive red sun high overhead. He scaled the incline with ease, zigzagging and never losing speed. His brethren had a hard time keeping up with him. Seeing that, I knew we’d have a hard time staying ahead of him.
“Let’s go,” I said. Everyone had been stooped over, catching their breath. They all gazed up at me with tired eyes before picking up the pace again.
All but Silas, that is. Despite his wounds, blood loss, and the amount of effort he’d already exerted, he was a whirlwind of motion. He looped ahead and behind, barked at our pursuers, and made sure everyone moved forward in a tight bunch. We were his pack, his family, and there was no way he’d leave any of us behind. When we crested the slope and entered the forest, he steered Kaiser, who remained in the lead, away from the darker, more formidable areas. The trees rose up around us, wide as skyscrapers and just as tall. The canopy blocked out the sun, making us run ahead in near-darkness.
The earth sloped and we started slip-sliding our way down. The leaves under our feet were slick with moisture. Somehow I stayed on my feet, despite the extra weight of my pack and my sweat-soaked clothes. My mouth was dry. I felt close to passing out. If we didn’t reach our destination soon, I would.
Finally Kaiser took a sharp right. I saw sunlight streaming in through the trees and dashed into the open air with reckless abandon. If not for Silas, who cut in front of me and rammed my thigh with his side, I would’ve gone careening over the edge of the cliff and plummet to an instant death on the jagged rocks below. I heard Kaiser chuckle as I hopped on one foot, trying to regain my balance. It was good to see that even with our lives on the line I could still make people laugh – even if it was because of my ineptitude.
I looked around in wonder as we hastened across the path that bordered the cliff. Here I was again, back where I’d first arrived. The ocean spread out wide to my right, violent and angry. Warm mist filled the air as one colossal wave after another slammed into the side of the cliff. The rocky slope was wet, causing everyone to perform a slip-slide routine as they ran. The distinct feeling came over me that the land itself saw us leaving and wanted to keep us trapped.
I don’t know how long we ran. It might’ve been minutes, or even an hour. We passed the spot where Nick Goodman revealed himself to me, the same place I met Kaiser. The rocky coastline was replaced by the sandy beach with black-rock jetties, the first sights I saw when I opened my eyes to this strange new world. Kaiser stopped running. He twirled in place, spinning around like a ballerina. So did Will and the girls. Only Silas kept going, sprinting further down the path only to change direction and come back again.
“Where do we go?” pleaded Kaiser.
I heard shouts coming from around the bend. Big Guy was close. I could even hear the rocks scatter as his feet slammed against the ground. I closed my eyes and tried to think, attempting to force it open to the secrets of this place, but I received nothing in response.
“Where?” Will shouted.
“I don’t know!” I shot back.
The girls started to cry. They clustered together and held one another as if they could block out the world. I slammed my fist against my thigh in frustration and felt something hard whack my knuckle. My eyes shot open and I jabbed my hand into my front pocket, feeling like an idiot. When my fingers found the six-inch golden bullet Ben had given me I tore it out and held it in front of my face. The symbols adorning its side – and the grooved bands – were glowing so brightly, I could see that even in the blinding sunlight. I rapidly paced around, waiting for it to tell me where to go. I even put it up to my ear, seeing if it gave off a vibration. The damn thing wouldn’t give me any signs.
“It’s around here somewhere,” I muttered. I pointed up the rise, into the forest of monster trees. “Everyone, back into the trees. If this thing is anywhere, it’ll be up there.”
The others went on ahead, disappearing into the woods. I lagged behind, even as Big Guy’s footfalls grew closer. I knelt down and called Silas over. He looked exhausted, his good eye bloodshot and droopy. But when I held out the key to him, he arched his eyebrows and raised his ears.
“You know what this is, boy?” I asked.
He licked my face and sniffed the key.
“Lead the way, Silas. I know you can.”
Without another word from me he spun around and bolted between the trees. I ran after him, just in time to miss Big Guy rounding the bend.
64
Silas swiftly gathered his posse and led us on another trek through the woods. We ascended the mountain once more, this time following a much rockier path. Big Guy and his gang, angry and shrieking to our rear, followed us in. I could hear the sounds of their large bodies snapping limbs and trampling roots.
We scaled one more boulder-covered gradient. When I raised my eyes I saw sunlight and something I didn’t expect – a stone wall that stretched from one end of the crest to the other. Silas bolted up the hill, nipping at my heels to make them move faster. In the blink of an eye Kaiser and Will had climbed over the wall, followed soon after by the girls. I heard them cry out when they disappeared, and I quickly followed suit.
Slick ground greeted me when my feet touched down on the other side. I slid to my rump and skidded across a glassy surface. I tried to hold onto something, to brace my fall, but the ground was too smooth, too slick. Silas pounced on my chest and rode me like a sled. In a panic I opened my eyes wide to see we’d ended up in a gigantic bowl of some kind. All around us was glossy silver, like crystal, curving downward until it ended at a small patch of grass. In the middle of that patch of grass was a tree.
Only it wasn’t really a tree, at least not one I’d ever seen before. Its bark was shiny, like silver. The branches looked crystallized, as if they were fingers ending in knifes. On the center of the trunk was that symbol, the one from my dreams – the squiggly lines intersected by a pair of dashes with a dot on either end. I saw it each time I spun around the tree, which we all were doing, as if we’d just been flushed down the world’s largest toilet bowl.
The surface of the bowl became rougher, covered with tiny bumps, as we neared the bottom. My frenzied slide became more rutted and I slowed, bouncing this way and that and bringing new meaning to the pain in my chest and head. I heard the others yelp as they experienced the same thing I did. Only Silas, seated on my lap, was immune. He simply stared ahead with his ears blown back, waiting for his moment to spring into action.
When my slide ended he leapt off my lap and I stood up on shaky knees. The girls rubbed their sore behinds, but there were strange grins on their faces, as if a carnival ride would force that expression even in the direst of times. They all looked to me, Kaiser and Will included, and Silas approached the tree, sniffing. I walked up behind him, all the while hearing Big Guy’s heavy steps above. He was close to the basin. He’d get there any moment. I had to hurry.
I took the key – which luckily I hadn’t dropped – and held it in front of the tree. The glowing symbols intensified until they were almost blinding. I walked around the trunk, looking for anything in its grooved surface that would tell me what to do. I ran my hand over it. The shell was smooth and glassy, just like the basin. Finally a spark shot out from the end of the bullet and struck the side of the tree. My arm went
numb.
Luminosity shone from a small square that appeared on its hide, eye-level with me. I was momentarily blinded by the golden light, but when my sight came back I noticed there were now numbers etched into the tree. The markings above the numbers read, Q-9. They’d appeared out of nowhere.
Art Lonnigan’s song repeated in my head. The numbers of my soul rattle through the cages of time, he sang. 9, 6, 8, 2, 4, in my head without a rhyme. I touched the corresponding numbers, which lit up as I did so. The numbers disappeared with another flash of light, replaced by a single small hole.
I looked at the key. It appeared to be just the right size, so I slid it in. Nothing happened. Big Guy’s ranting was even closer. I tapped my foot impatiently and noticed there were numbers around the hole, and on the bottom of the bullet-key was a single groove pointing up. It looked like a futuristic padlock, and remembering the chorus from Blood Red Morning, I twisted the dial to first five, then seven, then two, and finally one.
The tree lit up. Electricity ejected from its crystal branches and circled around the bowl. I looked around at the others and watched everyone’s hair stand up straight. The tree became so bright I couldn’t look at it. Its golden radiance was beautiful in my periphery, however, like the light on the edge of heaven.
With a giant sigh, the waves of electricity focused on a single spot, right in front of us. A shimmering blue circle appeared, starting small as a quarter and then expanding until it stood seven feet high. On the other side I could see a smatter of trees lit by a yellow sun. Leaves covered the ground. Home was over there, just beyond the threshold. For the first time in what felt like forever, an earnest smile stretched across my face.
“Wendy,” I whispered, “we’re coming home.”
An ear-splitting howl erupted all around us. I peered around the iridescent gateway and spotted Big Guy and his brothers standing atop the wall. They leapt off it and started their descent into the bowl.
Silas: A Supernatural Thriller Page 27
