by Ian Dawson
Daniel made his way down the side of the house. Kyle’s bike was gone and the back gate was wide open. Daniel exited and closed the back gate and picked up his bike from Kyle’s driveway. He hopped on and pedaled down the driveway and into the street.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“I should have put on shoes!” Kyle said out loud as his black rubber flip-flops kept shifting on his feet, making pedaling fast almost impossible. He had to keep shaking his head to keep his hair out of his eyes.
He made it to the field and was scoping out ideal places to lie in wait as he coasted down one of the many dirt trails available.
Daniel arrived at the entrance to Clover Creek, the sun now hovering low to the west. He had never ventured out this late into the field and wasn’t very thrilled about the idea all of a sudden. He felt a strange knot grow in his stomach but did his best to shake the feeling away.
Daniel knew there were three places Kyle always hid: the hideout, the construction site, or under the old bridge. If Kyle hid in any of these places, this whole game would be over fast. But he knew that if he had figured that out, Kyle would have figured that out, too. Just to be sure, Daniel rode his bike toward the hideout. Weeds that had grown over the trail slapped his tires and ankles as he rode past.
“Damn,” Kyle said as he braked to a stop. His second-best hiding spot was gone. The tractor had been unlocked almost every time they had played this game last year. The lone tractor on the site this year was locked and impenetrable like a fortress. It was getting darker and Kyle was starting to get hungry. Should he just give up and let Daniel find him easily? There was a challenge issued, so would making it easy be like giving up? His stomach growled.
I’ll just let him find me under the bridge, Kyle decided to himself. He climbed on his bike, coasted past the construction site, and made his way toward the rickety bridge that once housed their magazines.
With no luck finding Kyle at the hideout, Daniel headed toward the construction site. He checked the tractor only to find it locked. The bike tire tracks on the ground went every which way, and it was impossible to tell what direction Kyle may or may not have gone.
He looked down the old road and saw that old ugly couch in the distance. The middle cushion looked like it had been moved. “I guess he did find a use for it after all,” Daniel said with a smile. He pedaled toward the couch, certain that this game would be over in a matter of minutes as soon as he tossed the cushions off and found Kyle inside the old piece of furniture.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Austin had been to the refrigerator and finished two more beers and tossed the cans onto the floor. If there was one thing James knew about Austin it was that he could drink beer like it was water and still function. James could drink one and feel the effects instantly. James sat silently, not knowing what to do or think. He knew that Austin’s temper was fueled by beer, so he did his best to remain as invisible as possible.
It felt as if they had been down in the tunnels for hours, and James was glad and relieved to be back up top in the garage again. James could still hear Colby’s muffled screams and cries of pain echoing in his head over and over again as he sat on the couch next to Austin.
The man was a monster, and he knew he was no better for doing nothing to stop it. But what could he do? He couldn’t risk his own life. He’d just have to play along and hope Austin let the kid go once he was finished with him. At least, that’s what he hoped Austin was planning to do, but he didn’t dare ask.
His friendship with Austin hadn’t always been like this. A year before, Austin had saved James from a merciless beating by Tyler Darden during lunch at Enterprise High School.
James had been minding his own business, walking to his history class to do a make up quiz when he was grabbed from behind and slammed against the wall of the gym by the lantern-jawed wrestling captain with the massive underbite.
Tyler accused James of hitting on his girlfriend, which James denied since it wasn’t true. As Tyler prepared to pummel James in the face, a streak of black swooped Tyler away and down to the ground. James watched as the boy in black, whom he had never seen around campus before, went on the attack until several other guys pulled him off the now bloodied Tyler.
As the boy in black stood, he spit on Tyler and walked back toward James.
“I didn’t look at his girlfriend,” James tried to explain.
“He doesn’t even have one,” the boy replied. “Austin.”
“What?”
“My name’s Austin. You got a name?”
“James. It’s James,” he said as he felt the growing bump on the side of his head.
Due to the school’s zero tolerance policy, all three boys were suspended for a week, despite Austin’s insistence that James hadn’t done anything to cause the attack. James was devastated. He’d had a perfect attendance record and no disciplinary action against him all through school up until that moment, and none of it was his fault.
On the third day of James’s suspension, there was a knock on his front door. It was Austin. “How did you find me?” James asked.
“It’s amazing how much information you can find out in the attendance office,” Austin said with a smug smile. “Including...” he held up a piece of paper, “Tyler’s address.”
“What are you going to do with that?”
“It’s not what I’m going to do,” Austin said. “It’s what you’re going to do.”
“Me?”
“Aren’t you mad at him for getting you suspended? Don’t you want to get even with him? Don’t you want him to suffer like you have?”
“I guess so, but he got suspended, too. That’s fine with me.”
Austin lowered his head. “And after all the trouble I went to to get this information for you. Some friend you are.” Austin turned to walk away.
Friend? “Wait,” James said taking a step out the front door. Austin turned around. “What should we do to him?”
Austin smiled. “Not him,” Austin said. “His nice new truck.”
James wasn’t sure what he meant. He could feel a sinking feeling in his gut, his knees felt a little wobbly. “We’re going to steal his truck?”
“No,” Austin said as he removed a clear plastic bag from his backpack. A dead fish was inside of it. “We’re just gonna place this baby in his truck where the Redding heat can cook it and leave a nice smell for a very long time.” He handed the bag to James.
James looked at the contents. It was a large rainbow trout, probably between four and five pounds. “I guess that’s okay,” he said. “As long as no one gets hurt.”
“Trust me, James,” Austin said. “No one will get hurt.”
As the heat rose in Redding, James overheard Tyler in the school hallway complain about the awful smell coming from his truck. It made James smile knowing that he and Austin were the only ones who knew the truth behind the smell, and their shared secret brought them closer as friends.
“I owe you one,” James told Austin one day after school.
“I know,” Austin replied with a smile.
James stood and walked toward the fridge, hoping a beer would take the edge off and relax him after what he had just experienced down in the tunnel. Austin had gone inside and James was tempted to sneak in and call the police. What Austin had done to Colby was unthinkable, and now James was a part of it.
He took a step toward the door that led into the house. Then another. He was just about to step up and inside when the door opened and Austin’s imposing figure blocked the doorway. Over Austin’s shoulder James could see the phone on the wall.
“What?” Austin asked as he stepped down into the garage. James moved backward toward the couch.
“Nothing,” James replied taking a drink. Just want to get as far away from here as possible, he thought.
Austin lit a cigarette and blew the first plume o
f smoke toward James. They never lost eye contact.
A chill ran up James’s spine, he felt light-headed. He put the beer down on the floor and looked out the open garage door toward the street that called to him, but he knew he couldn’t answer.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Daniel arrived at the front of the couch and dismounted from his bike. He found a branch and used it to flip the couch cushion all the way up. He bent down to look inside. Nothing. He flipped the left one. No Kyle. Then the right. No Kyle.
Daniel circled the couch, whacking it with the branch in an attempt to get Kyle to come out. He heard a noise from inside the couch and raced to the other side. A black and white cat leapt from the insides of the couch, which caused Daniel to throw the branch at the couch out of surprise.
The cat scampered off up the road. Daniel followed the cat with his eyes until his vision landed on a refrigerator box. Had Kyle decided to hide there?
“Okay, Kyle.” He said aloud. “If you want to change the rules, I’ll play along.” He got on his bike once more and made his way up the chewed-up road lined with old trees that eventually turned onto Rancho Road.
Kyle was proud of himself. He had evaded discovery. The rickety bridge seemed like an impossible location to hide a person and a bike from view – it had been in the past - but he had succeeded. He was shocked that he hadn’t been bitten by anything while scrunched behind some perfectly placed pieces of plywood.
Kyle suddenly felt what seemed like tiny fingertips move across the back of his neck. Then up his leg. Then his arm.
He shot out from his hiding place scraping his right arm on a rusty nail. It didn’t break the skin but left an ugly mark; but that was the least of his problems. Kyle slapped at his arms, legs and head with his hands as he nearly lost his balance moving around in circles on the loose gravel of the creek bed while wearing his flip-flops. His fingers became sticky with spider webs as he brushed off his clothes.
Kyle ripped off his shirt and pulled off his shorts. First frogs, now spiders, he thought as he tried to calm himself down. He looked over at his shirt now a crumpled heap on the gravel; a black spider emerged from the fabric’s folds. How close had he come to being bitten? He felt dizzy.
Kyle looked around for Daniel. At this point he wished Daniel had found him and the spiders hadn’t.
He carefully picked up his shirt and examined it: spider free. He put it back on, then proceeded with the same examination of his cargo shorts. He knew he had one last check to make. As he finished getting dressed, he slid on his flip-flops and pulled his bike out from under the other side of the bridge. He inspected his bike closely, making sure no spiders or other bugs had decided to stow away.
He pushed his bike up the small rise that led back to the trail. His left foot slipped out of its flip-flop and he nearly slammed his face into his handlebars. He regrouped, got his bike onto the trail, and went back for the troublesome flip-flop. “Never again,” he declared out to the field as he raised the left flip-flop in the air and tossed it up by his bike. He then climbed up the slope, put on the flip-flop, and started for home figuring Daniel would be waiting for him there.
As Daniel rode down the pothole-covered street, he saw the remains of several abandoned homes, barbed-wire fences, and a bloated, fly-infested deer carcass on the side of the road.
A single street lamp was attempting to flicker to life as he rode beneath it. An abandoned washing machine lay in a ditch.
He arrived at the refrigerator box. The bottom half was shredded and caked with dirt. He nudged it with his foot and it tipped over with ease. The bottom of the box was gone. There was no sign of Kyle.
“He must have hidden at the bridge after all,” Daniel said to himself. He decided that it was almost time for dinner and Kyle probably had gotten impatient waiting and had headed back home. Daniel decided to do the same.
He decided to take Rancho to Shasta View in order to get back in time for dinner. It would be a lot quicker than going back through the field, he figured.
Daniel continued to pedal his way down the pothole-riddled terrain. The road seemed to stretch longer and longer in front of him.
He couldn’t wait to get back to Kyle’s for dinner.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
James had seen the skinny kid in the black shirt and tan shorts ride past on his bike but was hoping that Austin hadn’t. His hope was killed outright as he looked over and saw Austin staring out the garage door, a devious look on his face as he leaned forward.
“This is just getting easier.” Austin stood as he threw his latest empty beer can on the garage floor.
James put the beer back, closed the fridge door. “What? You’re gonna take another kid?”
“He’s fair game,” Austin said as he grabbed his bike.
James stood by the fridge, unsure what to think of Austin’s cryptic comment. “What are you going to do with him? What about Colby?”
“What about him? He’s not going anywhere. But that kid on the bike is if we don’t get out there. Move!”
Austin hopped on his bike and coasted into the street, pointing himself in the direction the kid had just gone.
James followed, his bike lying near a large oil stain on the right side of the driveway. He walked his bike out to where Austin was and stood looking down the street. He could still see the kid. He was nearing Rancho Road.
“Come on,” Austin said as he started to ride toward the kid on the bike.
James hurried after him, hoping the kid would get away before it was too late.
It was getting darker and Rancho Road wasn’t coming fast enough. Daniel decided to turn around and head back the way he had come. As he did, he spotted two boys riding toward him. One had red hair and wore sunglasses; the other was dressed in black, his baseball cap on backwards. He had never seen them before. The closer they got, the more he realized how much bigger they were than he was. They started to pedal faster. The boy in black pointed directly at him and yelled, “Get him!”
They’re after me! Daniel’s heart began to race. He had to act fast. Quickly, he made a U-turn and pedaled as hard as he could away from the two boys.
Faster and faster he pumped his legs. He could feel the sweat spreading on his back, causing his shirt to stick to his damp skin. The hair stood up on the back of his neck.
He could hear the two boys gaining on him, their bike chains rattled across the rough terrain. Daniel’s legs were getting tired, but he knew he had no choice but to keep going. He stood up, leaned forward and continued to pedal as furiously as he could. There was no need to look back; he knew they were there.
He hit loose gravel, which caused his momentum to slow considerably. His bike tires caught pieces of gravel and shot them at his bare legs. He kept going, sweat stinging his eyes. He was breathing hard as he lifted himself off his bike seat and pedaled standing up. He could hear the tires of the other bikes crunching on the loose gravel behind him as the two boys started closing in.
What did they want? Who were they? Fear took over. Panic crept in.
He could see cars buzzing past up ahead on Rancho Road. Daniel knew that if he could make it to the busy street, he would be safe. He kept pumping the pedals harder and harder, his freedom and safety getting closer with every rotation of his bike’s tires.
Daniel felt his tires hit asphalt, looked both ways quickly, then pedaled across the two-lanes to the opposite side. He was on the sloped shoulder now.
He looked up the road and behind him. Where were all the cars?
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something moving alongside him on the opposite side of the street. Daniel turned his head and saw the boy in black keeping pace with him. The other boy had crossed the street and was behind Daniel. He couldn’t turn around.
Running out of options, Daniel continued to speed down the shoulder. He was trapped on one side by the boy
in black, on the other by a barbed-wire fence, and from behind by the boy in the sunglasses. He had nowhere to go but forward.
Daniel knew he had to get away. If he just kept moving maybe they would get bored and leave him alone. It was a chance he had to take.
He had no other choice.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Austin had the kid right where he wanted him. The spiky-haired kid was panicked, and Austin knew it was only a matter of time before the kid made a mistake and ended up having to stop suddenly or crash.
He was impressed that the kid had the guts to try and escape from he and James. Austin hadn’t expected that. But it just made the game more interesting to have a target that was a fighter.
“Stay close to him!” Austin ordered from across the street. He liked this point of view. It gave him the ability to watch what was taking place. Soon he would have to pounce. The prey would not outrun him.
James kept pace with the kid as close as he dared. He had no clue why Austin was so adamant about chasing this boy down, but he felt it best to follow his friend’s commands.
He wished the kid would just stop. James was getting tired and having a difficult time breathing. He should have taken a hit off his inhaler before he and Austin took off. His new smoking habit wasn’t helping his asthma, either.
He had to keep going, had to keep following this kid as long as Austin was watching. Suddenly, he saw Austin make his move, cutting across the street in one quick fluid motion.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Daniel squeezed his hand brakes and skidded to a stop as the boy in the black baseball cap cut in front of him. He heard the squeaking of brakes behind him as well.
