She took another sip and let it slide down her throat, enjoying the feeling beginning to radiate through her. Warren was at her side, holding her hand, and she could feel the heat of his palm, warming her.
“Lyman let you downstairs?” Deem asked him.
Warren smiled back.
“Your boyfriend has been helping us out ever since you were trapped,” Carma said, standing up. “He’s been invaluable. Lyman brought him inside the circle. He’s been routing information about Dayton to us for months, and feeding back to them false information about us. That’s how we knew about their little conference in Caliente tonight.”
“Really?” Deem asked, looking at Warren. She wasn’t sure, but he seemed to blush. “How did that happen?”
“He kept coming around after your incident in Paragonah,” Carma continued. “We didn’t want to tell him what happened, so the first few times he visited I made up a story.”
“I knew she was lying to me,” Warren said. “You’re a horrible liar, Carma.”
“So I’ve been told,” Carma replied. “On one of Warren’s visits, Lyman became alarmed. He detected a bug on Warren. It was an attempt to penetrate our little fort here.”
“A bug?” Deem asked.
“Almost invisible tracking nematodes,” Carma said. “Entirely River. We knew Warren wasn’t aware of them, so we scraped some from him and figured out they’d been planted on him by Dayton’s group.”
“When Dayton learned I was visiting here,” Warren said, “he decided to track me. I had no idea. I was pissed.”
“As we sorted it out,” Carma continued, “we decided to approach Warren. We asked if he’d be willing to act as a kind of double agent, working more and more with Dayton, passing information to us. Dayton loved that Warren was someone we’d actually allow on the property, so he thought he was using Warren to spy on us.”
“When Carma explained that your life was at stake,” Warren said, “I knew I had to help, any way I could.”
“Dayton would have killed you if he figured it out,” Deem said. “That was very risky.”
“I didn’t care,” he said, squeezing Deem’s hand gently.
“He’s the reason we knew about the big Caliente conference,” Carma said. “Without his intel, Lyman wouldn’t have known when it was happening.”
“And Winn?” Deem asked. “David?”
Carma turned to walk back into the kitchen. “Lyman’s plan isn’t done,” she called back over her shoulder. “They have more to do.”
Deem turned to Warren. She could see that he was trying to assess her strength, to figure out if she needed to rest.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I want to stand.”
“I’m not sure you can yet,” Warren replied. “Carma said it would take a little time for your strength to return.”
Deem reached out to Warren and used him to press up, trying to stand. She was wobbly, and Warren stood to steady her.
“There’s a place we need to go to,” she said. “In Caliente.”
“A place?” Warren asked, just as Carma returned with a fresh mug of tea.
“What place?” Carma asked. “You can’t go anywhere just yet!”
“A motel room in Caliente,” Deem said. “It’s important, and I didn’t get a chance to examine it.”
“The Jeffs motel?” Carma asked. “That’s the scene of the massacre, my dear. It’s best if you not return there, at least until Winn and David can finish up with Lyman.”
“I have to,” Deem said. “There’s something there. Something important.”
“What?” Warren asked.
“I’m not sure,” Deem said, hoping that strength would return to her legs. She took a step and quickly fell. Warren helped her back onto the sofa.
“Here,” Carma said. “Stop this walking and drink some more tea. Trust me, you need it!”
Deem took the mug from her, her arms cooperating to hold the tea without spilling. She raised it to her lips and drank.
“What’s at the motel?” Carma asked.
“There’s a room there,” Deem said. “When I was in it, Lorenzo could talk to me.”
“Lorenzo?” Warren asked.
“I was able to talk to Lorenzo the whole time I was in the soul cage,” she replied. “He’s the reason I got through it without losing my mind. He kept me sane. Once I found myself in the ghost at Mountain Meadows — her name was Katherine, by the way — I couldn’t talk to Lorenzo anymore. I couldn’t reach him. I could only talk with the other members of the wagon train as we walked to Caliente. But when I was at the motel, when I found this room, Lorenzo could speak to me again. He said I had to find something in the room. He said the room was special, and that was why he could talk to me. I tried, but I didn’t have time to search it. I got pulled away by my sister, and…”
“Your sister?” Warren asked.
“Katherine’s sister, Marion,” Deem replied. “After they finished attacking Dayton’s people, they turned on each other. Then they all disappeared; Marion too. That’s when I felt myself back here, downstairs on the table — with that thing on my face.”
“We’ll go there,” Warren said, grabbing her hand. “Just let more of Carma’s medicine work in you, OK? You won’t be able to travel anywhere until you can stand.”
She turned to Warren. To hear he’d been an ally in the effort to release her and the effort to destroy Dayton made her think she’d misjudged him. She had plenty of time to think about him after Blackham Mansion, stuck in the soul cage, and for most of that time she’d dismissed him, still angry that he’d sided with Dayton at their picnic. She had rehearsed many little speeches she was prepared to give him if she ever got out. Now, hearing how he risked his life to help release her, she began to realize that the picnic might have been just history, something not worth worrying about. He was here, beside her, helping her — and obviously with the trust and confidence of Lyman and Carma. She decided she’d talk with him about the picnic later, after they’d had more time together.
Another sip of tea, and she began to feel even better. She reached to take another, and Carma pulled it away.
“Once you start to want it,” Carma said, “that’s when you stop. Now. Just let it sit for a couple of hours, and you’ll be cooking with gas.”
Warren turned to her. “Cooking with gas? What are you talking about?”
“You know, cooking with gas!” Carma said. “Haven’t you ever heard that expression before?”
“No,” Warren said.
“I haven’t either,” Deem replied.
“Millennials,” Carma mused, sitting in a large chair opposite them. “It means you’ll be in a good spot. You’ll be productive.”
“Oh,” Deem replied. “Good. Then, I’ll be cooking with gas.”
She gripped Warren’s hand and felt him squeeze back. The physicality of it felt good; she’d been disconnected from physical sensation for so long, his touch was more stimulating than she expected. She felt herself leaning, her body coming to rest on Warren’s shoulder. His arm went around her. He felt solid and warm. She decided to wait and follow Carma’s instructions, even though her mind was racing, wanting to explore the motel room in Caliente.
Chapter Fifteen
“I was expecting blood,” David said as they bounced along the small road, headed into the dense forest of the Pine Valley mountains, back across the Utah border.
“Didn’t you drop into the River?” Winn asked. “There was more blood in those rooms that I’ve ever seen in my life.”
“I meant for real,” David said. “You know, on their physical bodies.”
“The River is real, my friend,” Winn replied. “Just because they were attacked with weapons that only harmed them in the River doesn’t mean they weren’t torn apart.”
“But their physical bodies seem fine,” David said. “You could feel them breathing while we were moving them.”
Winn hit a bump in the road. They heard the sound of the bodies
thumping in the trailer.
“He wants them alive for some reason,” Winn said, feeling the impetus to trust Lyman this time. He’d misjudged him when he almost smashed the mechanism. As he thought about how things had played out, he decided to give Lyman the benefit of the doubt going forward, and not let suspicion or doubt creep in.
Might be the enemy creeping in, he thought.
“Do you think Deem has revived yet?” David asked.
“If what Carma and Lyman described has occurred, then yes, she should be up. I hope so, anyway.”
Winn pulled his Jeep off the road into a small spot hidden away in the dense forest. He’d last seen it years ago, when he and Deem had sought out the Blood River. He wasn’t excited about squeezing through the narrow passageway to get to it, and he wasn’t looking forward to carrying all of the bodies in the back of the trailer through that passageway, either. However, Lyman was inside, waiting. He’d have to get it done.
“You’ve been here before?” David asked as they removed the first body from the back of the trailer. The mesh made it impossible to see features, but it did offer the benefit of buoyancy, removing some of the weight.
“Deem and I came here when we needed to turn a spirit corporeal,” Winn replied. “The guy had been stung with bees, or wasps — something like that. His face was covered in swollen welts.”
As they maneuvered the body through the narrow passageway, Winn kept pausing the story, but David kept asking him to continue. Winn found that talking about the incident helped him divert his attention from the claustrophobia he felt every time they turned sideways to make it through the thin crevice. The story was complete by the time they’d moved half the bodies.
“How many more?” David asked as they approach the trailer.
“Six,” Winn replied, counting. “It’s always twelve with Mormons. They’re obsessed with twelve.” He pulled the next body from the trailer, and David assisted.
“It’s the apostle thing,” David replied.
“The apostle thing?”
“You know, the twelve apostles,” David replied. “They’ve got twelve apostles running the church, like Jesus did.”
“I thought the prophet ran the church?”
“They both do. The apostles are like Congress, and the prophet is like the president.”
“Oh, you mean the prophet can veto things?”
David considered Winn’s question. “I think I used a bad analogy. The prophet speaks for God, so no, it’s not really a veto. And the apostles have to vote in unison for anything to pass, so it’s not really like Congress.”
“How do you know so much about Mormons?” Winn asked. “Were you raised one?”
“I was raised in Utah,” David replied. “How can you not know about Mormons if you’re raised in Utah?”
“Guess it never interested me that much,” Winn said as they began to move the body through the tight passage and into the cave. “The whole thing reeks of a cult, if you ask me.”
David didn’t reply, and the conversation fell silent as they moved the rest of the bodies from the trailer and into the large, open cavern where water was moving rapidly in a bed, appearing at one end of the chamber and moving like a river through it, disappearing into the other end.
Once the last body was in place, Winn could see the faint, ghostly form of Lyman standing next to the bodies. Winn dropped into the River, and Lyman became clear. He was kneeling next to one of the incapacitated men, inspecting the mesh.
Good, good, Lyman muttered. You did it perfectly. I couldn’t have done it better myself.
What is this mesh, Lyman? Winn asked. It made them lighter, which, honestly, came in handy having to haul them all the way in here.
It’s a hybrid version of a rare tool found in The Dark River, Lyman replied, continuing to inspect the bodies. I’m going to take these men into The Dark River with me, and the mesh will force them to come along, although their bodies will stay here. We’ll be gone for about an hour. This access point is rarely used, but I would ask you and David to remain here and ensure that their bodies stay undisturbed while I take them. Will you do that?
Sure, Winn replied. Whatever you say.
What are you going to do to them? David asked.
It’s important that I do this quickly, Lyman replied, inspecting the last body, so forgive me if I explain after it’s done.
Winn saw Lyman offer David a quick smile, and David nodded his head in agreement.
Lyman turned and was gone. Winn and David walked to where the small camping lantern sat on the floor, casting just enough light to see the line of bodies and the moving water behind them. They sat on the ground.
“An hour,” David said. “Wonder what he’s doing with them.”
“The Dark River,” Winn replied. “Lyman mentioned it before. Or was it Carma? It’s a place Lyman goes to, to cook up all this weird shit like the soul cage.”
“Is it just for for the dead?” David asked, rubbing his hands together to take off the chill.
“No, I think any gifted can go to it,” Winn replied.
“You ever been?”
“No.”
“Wanted to go?”
“Didn’t know much about it until now. And I still don’t.”
“The name sounds ominous.”
“It’s not like we don’t have enough threats to deal with here in the real world.”
“It makes me wonder,” David said, rubbing his hands against his arms.
“You cold?”
“I should have brought a jacket. It’s cold up at this elevation.”
Winn stood and peeled off the light windbreaker he was wearing and handed it to David.
“Now you’re loaning me clothes,” David said, smiling. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“You’re not cold?”
“Nope,” Winn replied, watching as David pulled on the jacket. It fit him well, and Winn was silently pleased he’d been able to do something for David in light of all the favors David had recently done for him.
David turned to look at the bodies lying motionless a few feet away. “If he’s not taking their physical bodies to the Dark River, why did we have to move them here? Why not take them from the motel?”
“There’s something about having to be within a certain physical distance of the access point.”
“To The Dark River?”
“Yes. Your body stays outside, the River part of you enters.”
“And Lyman has no body, so he comes and goes without worrying about that.”
“Something tells me Lyman’s use of The Dark River isn’t normal, or the way you and I might go.”
“Nothing about Lyman is normal,” David mused.
They passed the time chatting, turning occasionally to check that the bodies were still lying next to the river. Eventually they stopped talking and just waited. Winn checked his watch; it was close to 3 AM. He felt David’s body slump up against him, David’s head landing gently on his shoulder. He had fallen asleep.
He decided to let him sleep, not minding the weight.
▪ ▪ ▪
Winn wasn’t sure if he’d fallen asleep, too, and when he opened his eyes, the faint image in front of him seemed like it might be the fogginess you have upon waking. After a few seconds of consciousness, he realized it was Lyman. He reached over to shake David gently, and felt the kid straighten up.
Winn dropped into the River, bringing Lyman’s features into view. Done? he asked.
Done, Lyman replied.
Winn stood and looked at the bodies. The mesh was gone. Their chests rose and fell slowly.
What did you do? Winn asked.
They’re infected, Lyman replied. Look.
Lyman led Winn to the closest body, pointing to the man’s arm. Winn moved the lantern so he could inspect where Lyman was indicating. There, on the man’s triceps, a bulge appeared; a one-inch long rise in the flesh, sticking up like a welt. As Winn examined it he coul
d see movement under the skin.
Something’s in there, Winn replied. It’s like the welt that Deem got from the skinrunner. But what’s inside isn’t bone…it’s alive. It’s moving.
Indeed, Lyman answered. It’s a hybrid form of a common insect found in The Dark River. Larva stage. Hundreds of tiny maggots looking for a way through a barrier that surrounds them, like the membrane of a cyst. If they find a way through, they’ll kill the host.
You’re delaying their deaths? Winn asked. Here they are, all laid out. Why don’t you just kill them now?
And set off red flags when a dozen high-level church leaders suddenly disappear all at the same time? Lyman asked. No, that’s not the smart move. This achieves my ends. They’ll wake up in a while and make their way out of here and back to their lives.
You’re letting them go? David asked. After all this work?
I am letting them go, Lyman answered, but with two big differences. You see the first, there on their arm. Each of their membranes are timed to dissolve at different rates over the next year. It won’t be long, and they’ll be all dead.
Can’t they just cut them out? David asked.
They would be committing suicide, Lyman replied. If they expose the membrane to air or pierce it in any way, the rest of it will dissolve, and the larva will enter their flesh. Highly risky. This way, they go back to their lives and everything seems normal. When their time comes, it will look like an accident, or a heart attack, or cancer, or whatever else I can dream up. Nothing for Salt Lake to become concerned about. No reason to mount some counter offensive.
And the second thing? Winn asked. You said there were two differences.
They’re now inert, Lyman answered. While we were in The Dark River, I had their gift removed. In the time they have left, they won’t be able to threaten me or my work.
Wow, David replied. You really thought this out.
The benefit of years, the sixteen-year-old Lyman replied. I’ve taken out groups of them before, only to suffer retaliation that was worse than the original problem. This seems a better option.
They’ll hate you for removing their gift, Winn said. I know I would.
The Massacre Mechanism (The Downwinders Book 5) Page 16
