“Steven is in training,” Roy said to the others. “I’ve only been working with him for a year or so. I don’t think he’s perfected the ability to enter a trance. Sounds to me like Steven was just a witness to what the rest of us were doing, that’s why he could see it. We couldn’t, because we were in the trance and concentrating on our individual part. But he saw it happen.”
“I didn’t realize Steven wasn’t capable of trancing,” Jonathan said to Eliza.
“Steven has skills, trust me,” Eliza replied.
“So you didn’t get tagged?” Russell said. “You saw all the rest of us get tagged, but you didn’t get tagged yourself?”
“I don’t think so,” he said. “I felt nothing when it ended, just saw you all knocked back in your seats. Did you feel it?”
“Yes,” Russell said, “I felt it. It didn’t just end, it felt like something hit me.”
“You’re exaggerating,” Marilyn said. “It was only a surprise because it ended so abruptly.”
“No, Steven is right,” Myrna said. “Something did hit me. I felt it.”
“Poppycock,” Marilyn said. “I don’t believe any of this. Now you’re all just convincing yourselves it was true. Just what he wants you to believe.”
“I don’t think I’m tagged,” Steven said. “I’ll go with Marilyn. We’ll find out.”
“Marilyn, you realize that if it is true,” Jonathan said, “you’re taking your life into your own hands.”
“We all take our lives into our own hands every day,” she replied. “And besides, I have Mister S here to protect me.” She wiggled the dog back and forth, then turned her face to it and blew it a kiss.
“I’ll be fine,” Steven said, turning to Eliza and Roy. “I’ll make sure she gets out OK. Then I’ll bring your meds back. If she gets out, I don’t see why the rest of you won’t be able to leave, too. Although Roy may be right, the rooms here might be better than that motel.”
“What I don’t like about staying here,” Myrna said, “assuming the story is true, is that the device is in this house. I’m guessing it isn’t draining every gifted person in the world, just us. That means proximity to the device is how it works – like radiation. The further we can get from this house, the better.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Russell said. “We should all get as far away from this house as possible, and as soon as possible.”
“Before he left,” Eliza said, “Percival said that the marchers were out because it was dusk. I’m guessing they’re only out at night. If that’s the case, we can all walk out of here safely tomorrow morning.”
“I’d wait, but Roy needs his medication tonight,” Steven said. “I honestly don’t think I was tagged.”
“He said they detect the gifted,” Eliza said. “That would include you, tagged or not.”
“I’m not staying,” Marilyn said. “I don’t believe a word of it, and I won’t be tricked into staying here overnight on false pretenses. Come, Mister S.” She turned and started walking to the hallway. The others followed her.
“I’m going to go with her,” Steven said to Eliza. “I think I can make it. For some reason I feel I’m not included in what’s going on here. I don’t think I was tagged, and I don’t think they’d attack me. I don’t think the house cares about me one way or the other.”
Eliza turned to look at Roy. “What do you think?”
“I don’t think you should go,” Roy said. “I can get by one night without the medication. I’m sure I’ve skipped a dose before by accident and I’m still kicking. At sunrise we can leave and I’ll be back on schedule.”
“If we can leave at sunrise,” Steven said. They were walking down the hallway that led back to the stairs. “What if there’s some new threat that keeps us here tomorrow, too?”
They heard a gasp from Marilyn, who was at the head of the group. She was ten feet from the head of the stairs when she came to a sudden stop. She held her free hand out to stop the others behind her.
In the hallway ahead of them was a dark figure. It floated slowly above the ground, coming towards them. Steven tried to see its face but it was looking down, not at them. As it approached, Steven could see its darkness was partly due to the clothing it was wearing – all black, with wisps of grey that trailed from the figure as it moved. It was tall and imposing, and something about it seemed more significant than many of the ghosts he’d seen in the past. It was the same feeling he’d had when someone important enters a room and everyone knows that person is special.
The group was frozen. None of them said anything. Steven realized they were all in the River, observing the figure. Late to the party once again, Steven thought, jumping in. It’s not an automatic reflex for me like it is with these people.
As the figure reached the junction of the hallway and the stairwell, it turned and approached the stairs. From within the River, Steven could see more details. He saw that it was an old woman, dressed in back. Her eyes were closed and her expression looked weary, almost as if she was sleeping. Steven felt instinctually that he didn’t want to know what would happen if she woke up. She made no sound. If she was aware of the group, she didn’t show it. She floated down the stairs.
The group moved en masse to the top of the stairs and observed the figure continuing its descent. When it reached the bottom of the stairs, it turned and floated towards the hallway they’d followed earlier.
They all exited the River. “Do we follow it?” Eliza asked.
“I’m not going to chase god knows how many ghosts around this house,” Marilyn said, starting to march down the stairs. The group followed her. “I said I’m leaving, and that’s what I intend to do.”
As they descended the stairs, Steven turned to keep an eye on the dark woman. She rounded the corner into the velvet wallpaper hallway, and disappeared from view.
“Now, how do I get out of here?” Marilyn asked once she reached the bottom of the stairs. “Does anyone remember?”
“Down that hallway,” Roy said. “Follow the ghost.”
Marilyn shot him a disapproving glance and began walking briskly. Soon they were in the hallway, but the dark woman was gone. As they walked past the closed doors in the hallway, Steven wondered which one the dark woman had gone through. He was a little nervous that she might reappear out of one of them.
“This can’t be right,” Marilyn said after a few moments of walking. “I don’t remember this. We’ve made a wrong turn or something.”
“There were no turns,” Roy said. “Keep going until we hit the dining room. It’s still up ahead.”
“Are you sure?” Marilyn said. “I don’t remember going this way at all.”
“Maybe you weren’t paying attention when we came down it an hour ago,” Roy said. “I remember it.”
This does seem longer than I remember, Steven thought. He was just beginning to think he should voice his concern to the group when they finally emerged into the dining room.
“Great, thank you, Roy,” Marilyn said. “And there’s the way to the kitchen.”
She marched off to the archway. The group followed.
“Marilyn, I wish you’d reconsider,” Eliza said. “I can’t see where waiting until morning would make much difference.”
Marilyn continued her march, turning into the kitchen and making her way through it to the smaller kitchen with the butcher block. “You can stay if you want, but I’m not going to be part of this. I’ve dealt with con artists before, and believe me, the best thing you can do is refuse to play their game. If you stay and play on their terms, you’re just encouraging them.”
They came to the door that opened to the outside. Marilyn opened the door and walked through. The group followed her.
Lights from the house and a couple of exterior lights illuminated the area immediately in front of the house, but dusk had now ended and darkness had descended upon the estate. There was a light next to the door they had just exited, and it penetrated the darkness enough to show the
steps to the brick path.
“There, you see, there’s the path,” Marilyn said cheerily. “I’ll be out of here in no time, and back at the motel within the hour. If any of you decide to come along after, look me up and we’ll go out for a drink.”
“Marilyn,” Myrna said, “would you call my cell phone when you get out? Let us know you made it?”
“Of course I will,” Marilyn said. The two of them exchanged numbers. While they chatted, Steven turned to Eliza and Roy.
“I’ll be fine,” Steven said. “And I’ll call too.”
“I wish you wouldn’t,” Eliza said. “I don’t think it’s wise.”
“I’ll be fine,” Steven said again. “Something tells me I’ll be OK. I’m not worried.” He gave them both a hug. “If everything goes smoothly, I’ll bring the car up to the turn off at the main road, and take you all back into town. I don’t think it will take more than a half hour.”
“Call us before then, call as soon as you make it off the estate,” Eliza said.
“Will do,” Steven replied.
Jonathan had tried one last time to get Marilyn to stay, but she dismissed him quickly and said her goodbyes to the rest of the group. “I’m coming with you,” Steven said, joining her as she walked briskly towards the start of the brick path.
“Come along then,” Marilyn said. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
Chapter Three
“How very handy,” Marilyn said, referring to the keychain flashlight Steven turned on. “Not a bad light for being so small!”
Steven focused the light on the path in front of them. The lights from the house were not adequate to light the ground they were now treading. The moon wasn’t up, and dim shapes passed them on either side as they walked. Steven assumed they were the trees and rocks he’d noticed earlier.
“This has happened to me before, you know,” Marilyn said, continuing her brisk walk. “I’ve had people try to take advantage of me and my gift in the past. I don’t stand for it.”
“I guess not,” Steven said, trying to keep up with her. “It sounds like you don’t have a very high regard of Russell, either.”
“He takes advantage of his own gift,” she replied, “and in a bad way. Have you seen that show?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Well, don’t waste your time. It’s dreadful and embarrassing. He’s turned himself into a circus sideshow. Do you know he charges five hundred dollars an hour for a ‘private consultation’? I think that’s a little beyond the pale, don’t you?”
For a moment, their pacing was in sync with each other, and Steven felt an additional ‘thump’ with each step. After a few thumps, he began to suspect it wasn’t their walking that was causing the sound.
“Wait a moment,” he said, stopping. Marilyn took a few steps beyond him, then stopped and turned to look at him.
“What?” she said. “Let’s go.”
“No, wait,” Steven said, “listen.”
Once the silence settled around them, they both heard it. It sounded like someone thumping a heavy rock on the ground. Steven looked at Marilyn. She seemed ready to dismiss it.
“It’s coming from over there,” Steven said, shining his small flashlight to the right, into the dark. He couldn’t see anything in the ten feet his little light illuminated.
“Let’s keep going,” Marilyn said.
“No, wait,” Steven said. “It’s getting louder.”
They paused for another moment, and Marilyn turned to look in the direction of the sound, trying to peer into the darkness.
Suddenly her dog launched from her arms, barking in a high-pitched rapid fire stream of yapping. It hit the ground and bolted off towards the thumping sound.
“Mister S, you come back here!” Marilyn scolded, but the dog was gone, out of the limited range of light cast by Steven’s flashlight. It was barking continuously.
Marilyn took a couple of steps toward the darkness, where the dog had gone out of sight. Steven heard the thumping increase now, and was beginning to lose his nerve. He wanted to turn off the light and race back to the house, but he fought the impulse in order to deal with Marilyn. She took another couple of steps, calling for the dog.
“Don’t,” Steven said, fearful she was drawing attention to them.
“Come on, we have to find him!” Marilyn said, walking further into the darkness.
“Don’t you hear that?” Steven said. “There’s something out there. Percival was right. We need to get back to the house.”
“Not without Mister S,” Marilyn said. “I can’t leave him out here!” She took a couple more steps towards the sound of the yapping dog, and she was now at the edge of the light cast by Steven’s flashlight.
“Mister S!” she called into the darkness. The dog’s barking was like a toy machine gun, nonstop bursts of noise.
Then, another thump, this one very close.
Marilyn called again for the dog, but was met only with the sound of another thump.
Marilyn turned to look at Steven. “Aren’t you going to help me find him?” she said. “Come on!” She turned to look back into the darkness.
“No, I’m not,” Steven said, but before the last words could leave his mouth, he saw the eyes appear in the darkness ten feet above Marilyn. She was pulled up and out of the light – and was gone without another sound. The thumping stopped.
Steven fell to the ground and lay down on his stomach as flat to the earth as he possibly could. He fumbled with the flashlight, trying to find the switch to turn it off. He desperately wanted to hide from whatever had just yanked Marilyn from his vision. He moved slowly on the ground, trying to change his location in case the marcher had noticed where he’d been before he hid. It seemed like forever, but he drug himself inch by inch away from where he saw Marilyn disappear. He made it several feet when he heard Marilyn scream above him. The scream was cut short by the sounds of tearing. Steven couldn’t imagine what was happening up there in the dark. He was focused only on hiding and moving as slowly and silently as he could.
He heard another thump as the marcher took another step towards him. It landed close to where he’d been only a moment ago. Above him, more tearing and cracking sounds. He felt liquid hit him from above, like rain. Only he knew it wasn’t rain. The liquid was warm.
He froze, afraid that even the sound of moving might attract the marcher. The sounds above him continued – tearing, crunching, more warm rain. The dog had started barking again, peppering the horrific sounds with high-pitched yelps. Steven waited motionless, afraid to exhale. He forced air in and out of his lungs slowly, silently.
Then he jumped as something hit the ground right next to him. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and while he couldn’t see details, he could make out the shape of it: a corpse. He could see wisps of heat rising from it and he could smell the odor of bile and excrement.
He knew something was above him. He slowly rolled over onto his back. The stars came into view. Can’t see stars like this in Seattle, he thought involuntarily. Blocking part of the stars was a huge figure. He couldn’t make out the details of the figure other than the eyes, which closed and opened. The eyes were not looking at him.
From somewhere around him, the dog continued yapping. Thank god for the dog, Steven thought. The marcher took a step, and the thump shook the ground below him. Then another thump, and another. The marcher was walking off. The sound of the dog barking began to fade. Either the marcher was chasing the dog, or the dog was chasing it.
Steven turned on his flashlight for only a second to orient himself. He needed to find the brick path and make his way back to the house. While the thumping seemed to be receding, he heard a new set of thumps coming from the same direction as the first. He needed to move.
The light from the flashlight illuminated briefly what was left of Marilyn. Percival hadn’t been exaggerating. She’d been peeled – flesh stripped from her body. The corpse was a bloody mess of twisted bones, cartilage, and or
gans.
Steven had never seen such gore. He stifled the urge to vomit. He’d seen some pretty horrific things since hooking up with Roy, but Marilyn’s corpse was an image that was not going to leave his mind for some time.
The thumping around him increased in loudness and intensity. He saw that he was off the brick path by about ten feet. He switched off the light and quickly ran in the direction of the path, feeling the brick under his feet and turning on the path in the direction he believed the house to be. He ran, stopping only when he felt his feet leave the bricks, and righted himself back onto the path. I’m running uphill, that has to be the right direction, he thought. Within a few moments he saw the lights of the house in the distance.
The thumping was all around him now. He wasn’t sure if a marcher was right behind him or waiting ahead of him. He sprinted the rest of the way to the house, his heart beating out of his chest. As he reached the door, he turned to look behind him. He saw nothing. Perhaps they don’t like the light, he thought. He grabbed the door handle. It was locked.
He banged on the door. Within a few seconds it flew open.
Steven stumbled into the entryway and fell on the floor, gasping for breath. Then he turned over, looking up at the faces of Eliza and Roy. Only then, in the light of the room, did he realize how he must look. He was covered in Marilyn’s blood.
◊
Steven walked into the dining room where the others were gathered. He was wearing a robe and had just emerged from a bath. Eliza had located a tub in the largest bathroom Steven had ever seen, and once they were sure Steven wasn’t injured, they’d left him to clean himself up.
“You OK?” Russell asked.
“Yeah, I’m better,” he said, joining them at the table where they’d eaten dinner.
“I washed your clothes in the kitchen,” Eliza said. “They’re drying. Should be good by morning.”
“Thank you,” Steven said. Roy passed him a cup of coffee.
Eximere (The River Book 4) Page 4
