by Sara Clancy
“Death kept me on the outside. I don’t know how it pulled it off but I wasn’t contained to one body. That was the problem. I couldn’t settle into any one particular skin. There were too many.”
After helping Nicole, Benton rested his forearms on his knees, clasped his hands together until they ached, and told them the details of what he had seen. He spoke about the coming storm. The faces within. The manic laughter. Having never experienced his dreams like this before, there was a lingering doubt within his mind of how much of it was literal. Perhaps, if they were lucky, some of it might just be figments of his imagination.
Dorothy’s voice shifted into professional calm mode when she asked, “How many of these faces did you see?”
“Hundreds,” he shrugged. “Thousands. They’re a throng. It’s kind of impossible to tell.”
“And they hide in the storm?” Nicole asked.
He nodded, only looking up at her as she moved to her seat.
“Well, that’s good,” she stated optimistically. “When the storm ends, they’ll go away or die or something. So, we send out a storm warning, get everyone off the streets, and wait them out.”
“Would that work?” Dorothy asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Benton murmured.
“If you don’t know anything, how are you so sure that this swarm or throng is going to Fort Wayward?” Dorothy asked.
“Because a huge chunk of being a banshee is warning the people that are about to kick it,” Benton blurted, his fear fueling the rage that flared within him. “And all my instincts are screaming at me that Fort Wayward is in its path.”
“Okay, so,” Nicole nervously flicked her eyes between her mother and Benton, “storm warning is still our best bet? Mom can call into the station and tell them that a tornado or something is on the way. Everyone hunkers down and the swarm passes over. That would work, right?”
“Except that things like weather reports exist,” Benton said.
Nicole swept one hand up to indicate the storm barreling around them.
“Yeah, okay. But it’s possible to check the severity of a storm online. As soon as they know it’s just a thunderstorm, I don’t think they’re going to board up their doors.”
Nicole slumped a little, absently covering her wound with her hand as she thought. “But if mom says it, that will have more force, right?”
“They’ll trust a meteorologist over me,” Dorothy said. “Especially with all the Canada Day preparations.”
Nicole bounced on her seat. “Canada Day!” she declared with a smile.
“Yes,” Dorothy said slowly. “People will be trying to pack up what they can and–”
“No, but Canada Day!” Nicole cut in.
“We’re on the outside of your head,” Benton reminded her with a slight smile.
The glare she shot him had no heat behind it. “Oh, I’m sorry. Is it irritating when someone withholds information?”
“Exceedingly,” Dorothy cut in. “Get to the point.”
Nicole couldn’t stop moving as a restless energy filled her.
“The speaker system set up around the Fort. Like the actual Fort. Every year they use it to announce the activities and you can hear it clear across town. It should be set up by now,” Nicole explained.
“I guess if people hear me on a loud speaker, they’ll take it more seriously,” Dorothy mumbled. Benton only shrugged.
“Not you,” Nicole said. “Benton. You’ve heard his banshee wail, mom. We all saw what it did to the Dullahan. Imagine if we could amplify it.”
“His scream did kill that horseman thing,” Dorothy mumbled in contemplation.
“The Dullahan,” Nicole said quickly. “And that was a huge learning curve. The first time I heard it, he was only strong enough to scare the Leanan Sidhe. He’s getting stronger.”
Benton’s stomach lurched and a quake of panic flooded his words, “Or maybe they were just two different species that reacted in two different ways. There is no guarantee that my scream will do anything. It’s a stupid plan.”
“Hey,” Nicole crossed her arms defensively before remembering her wound. “So far, your plan has only been to get to town. I think we need to hash out a stage two.”
“How about one that doesn’t rely on me doing something that I can’t do on command?”
“You’ve done it before,” Nicole pointed out.
“Yeah. But only when something was trying to kill me.”
“I’m sure we can get one of them to try and kill you.”
Benton gaped at her for a moment before he buried his face into his palms.
“Your scream is really weird. Horrendous even,” Dorothy said, thoughtfully.
“Thank you,” Benton said without lifting his head. “I was wondering how I was going to get rid of that pesky self-esteem.”
Between his fingers, he caught sight of Dorothy rolling her eyes. “What I mean is it’s bloodcurdling and not easily identifiable. It’s not a sound that makes you want to rush out and see what it is. Even if it doesn’t stop the swarm, it will keep people indoors.”
“Okay, fine,” Benton huffed as he slapped his hands down against his thighs, the impact squishing out another trail of water. “Just to recap. Our plan is to get into town. Hope that we can break into the Fort. Cross our fingers that the speaker system is working and undamaged by the rain. Hand me the mic and pray for the best. That’s it. That’s our plan?”
“Plan B is to scare you,” Nicole reminded him.
Benton clicked his fingers and pointed at her. “Emotional scaring, let’s not forget that. Here’s an idea. Can we maybe have a backup plan that doesn’t rely solely on me?”
“Well, we do have your recording,” Nicole said. She glanced around the two and exhaled a long sigh. “Remember? When mom found us after the Dullahan attacked us?”
Benton lifted his hand to display the mass amount of scar tissue across his palm. He had tried hard to forget that day but didn’t think that was ever going to happen. Nicole flinched.
“Right. Sorry. My point was that mom had been driving a police cruiser that day. The scream was caught on the dash cam. If you can’t scream, maybe playing that in will work.”
Benton slowly turned to face Dorothy. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance you deleted that tape?”
“No. It was evidence. I found more than just the two of you that day,” Dorothy said.
Benton cringed. It seemed like his relationship with Dorothy was constantly swinging between gratitude and self-preservation. The Constable wasn’t the first person to ever stumble across him with a few unexplained dead bodies. And, by previous experience, things only ever got worse after the police became involved. It was kind of impossible not to look suspicious when you constantly knew a murder was about to happen. He wanted to trust Dorothy. But it was never clear how much she covered his back because he was useful, and how much had only happened because she was protecting her child.
“Oh, calm down,” Dorothy said. “It’s not like someone would hear it and leap to the conclusion that you’re a banshee. And even if they did, I’m pretty sure there is no law against being an Irish folktale.”
“I’m still not comfortable knowing that it’s in police files.”
“Right now, we should be excited that it is,” Nicole cut in. “I can get a copy of the tape and if Benton can’t scream, we’ll play it into the speaker.”
“Will that work?” Dorothy asked.
Nicole shrugged and turned to Benton. No matter how much she researched, she was really no wiser about Benton’s abilities than he was.
“I’m not ecstatic about this plan,” Benton admitted. “But if you are, let’s give it a go.”
“I am certain this will work. Generally speaking,” Nicole said with conviction.
Benton bit back his smile. “Well, that’s comforting. Generally speaking.”
“We can think up something else on the way.”
“You’re not going,” Dorothy cut in.
Both teens snapped around to face her and gasped a befuddled ‘what’ in unison.
“I’m not taking my daughter into a paranormal battlefield. Besides, you’re injured.”
Nicole looked about a second from launching out of her seat. “So is he.”
“Yes, but we need him,” Dorothy said.
While she did her best to hide it, Benton could clearly see the pain that burnt across Nicole’s feature’s at that comment. Not knowing what to say, Benton could only ball his hands into fists and watch as Nicole lifted her chin, the muscles around her mouth twitched as she fought to keep her expression calm.
“You need me, too,” she insisted. “You couldn’t even get Benton to close his eyes in there and he was a willing participant. How are you going to handle him when a demonic swarm is closing in? Not to mention just getting him through the trip back. He’ll get hypothermia before you get a mile from Peace Springs.”
“Hypothermia?”
“See? You don’t even know that about him! This is a three person job, minimum.”
Dorothy’s eyes flared with anger as she growled her daughter’s name.
“Do I get a say?” Benton cut in.
“Well?” Dorothy hissed.
“I don’t want Nicole to get hurt,” he said weakly, his words almost covered by the storm. “But I’m not sure I can do this without her.”
“There,” Nicole said triumphantly. “It’s settled.”
“Can’t do it without her?” Dorothy repeated. “How exactly could she help? All you have to do is scream.”
“See, right there, that is why I need her. I need someone who has my back. We’re a team. We started with just the two of us and we were doing pretty well.”
“People died,” Dorothy countered.
“To be fair, most of them were dead before we got there.”
The Constable’s eyes narrowed. “Impertinence isn’t your best option right now.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem like I have many good ones, so I’m just going to roll with it,” Benton shrugged as his hackles rose. “And for the record, just because I dream it, doesn’t mean I’m beholden to anyone. And it sure as hell doesn’t make me responsible.”
“She didn’t mean it like that,” Nicole soothed.
“Yeah, she did. They always do. But that’s not the point right now. The point is, when push comes to shove, I’d take Nicole with me over you.”
Dorothy held his eyes but the heat was leaving her glare, covered by a lingering silence of dread. “She’s my little girl.”
“And you raised me well,” Nicole said as she rushed over to her mother. Pulling her into a tight hug she added, “So let me show you what I can do.”
For a moment, it seemed like all they could do was hold each other tightly. Benton remained in his seat and stared only at the floor, feeling like he had encroached on something not meant for him. The fire in the back of his neck was getting worse. Slowly, but steadily. He honestly didn’t know how much time he had left before he would be rendered useless by the pain.
“So,” Dorothy said as the two finally parted, “we still have to decide what to do with the others.”
“Others?” Benton asked a heartbeat before he remembered everyone was waiting for them at the Walmart across town.
Chapter 8
A low rumble filled the Walmart as the constant rain struck the metal roof. On occasion, the roaring wind would still just for a moment, as if the storm was holding its breath, and the soft tune could be heard once again streaming out from the speakers. Standing by the wall, not too far away from the electronic doors, Nicole tried to arrange their items into something manageable. It had been crazy trying to snatch up the few extra blankets and self-heating pads they would need to get Benton across the highway in better condition. It had taken a chunk out of her savings, while she had also grabbed some salt and a few flashlights. She had seen enough horror movies to make her paranoid about their efficiency, so she had bought some that ran on battery as well as a camping one that was crack operated. In the end, it hadn’t mattered what she bought, she still felt woefully unprepared.
Water still dripped from her as she zipped her bag back up and propped it up against the wall, careful that her shirt didn’t roll up to expose the gun tucked into the back of her waistband. All the while, she could feel Benton’s parents watching her from where they tried to wrangle the small cluster of teenagers. Arriving soaked had made it obvious she had lied about them being in the store the whole time. Still, no matter how long she waited, they never came over to speak to her. After a short conversation with Dorothy, and an extremely tense moment with Benton, they had simply gone back to the group, intent on keeping an eye on her, but never actually asking her questions. Benton had pointed out that behavioral quirk more than once and explained it away by insisting that it was because they were preserving their ignorance. They could believe Benton was normal if they just didn’t ask any questions. Personally, Nicole thought they knew a lot more than they allowed Benton to believe. They knew something. And they were scared.
Benton rushed up to her, bags of new clothes swaying in his hands, and held out a few dollars. A contribution to the coffees she had still yet to buy in the annexed McDonald’s.
“I still don’t like this,” Nicole admitted, pushing the bags aside with her foot.
“I know,” he whispered back. “But it’s the best plan we’ve got.”
“It’s a sucky plan,” she replied instantly.
They had been over it a dozen times already but the repetition helped her to believe it wouldn’t be a complete disaster.
“They’ll be safer at the Lost Woods Motel than here,” Benton said. His voice didn’t carry a hint of frustration to, once again, be tracing over the same ground. Maybe he needed the reassurance too. “We were supposed to stay there tonight. No point in raising suspicions before we have to.”
She nodded, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip. “But those woods, Benton.”
“None of them seemed to be affected like me.”
“You know that’s not the only danger,” she said.
He held her eyes as he spoke again. “I do. And so do they.”
And that was what they were counting on. If the swarm came across the forest too, it was better for everyone to be somewhere that they were already paranoid about. In groups. Behind locked doors.
“It’s the best we can do,” Benton said. “Best case scenario; they won’t even notice we’re gone until it’s all over. At most, they’ll be alone for a few hours.”
“They won’t be alone. Your parents will be with them.”
Benton shrugged at her comment, his eyes sneaking a glance to his parents. She followed his gaze and found that neither of them looked very happy to see their son talking to her right now.
“It’ll be okay.” She put every ounce of conviction she had into those words. For a moment, it actually sounded like the truth.
“It will be,” Benton promised.
Flipping her hair over one shoulder, she pulled on her new raincoat. The change of clothes and her backpack that she had tried to protect from the rain, were already slightly damp from her skin.
“Go get changed. I’ll get someone to mind these and grab the coffee,” she said.
They had formed their plan and they would see it through. There was nothing to be gained by wallowing on it. He nodded, squeezed her shoulder, and hurried off to get changed, with his waterlogged socks squishing loudly. Already his fingers were like ice. It was easy enough to find someone to take care of the bags in exchange for some fries and she rushed off to join the lines.
At first, she didn’t notice that things hadn’t changed. But when she did, she started to glance around. By entering McDonald’s, she had removed herself from Benton’s parent’s line of sight, but she could still feel someone watching her. It was an intense sensation that made her skin prickle and her insides chill. She spun around, looking towards the back of the restaura
nt, and almost yelped when she found a man right behind her.
“Sorry,” he said with a hint of amusement. “Are you okay?”
The man was a bit taller than she was, with broad shoulders covered in a fur lined denim coat. He gave her a bright smile that made his eyes sparkle. It was kind of hard to judge his proper age, but he definitely had at least seven years on her.
She offered an apology and refocused on the front of the line. The man didn’t stop looking at her. At first, it was slightly flattering to have the handsome man’s attention, but the novelty very quickly wore off. The sensation of being watched continued to smolder against her back and she found herself looking around again.
“Do I know you from somewhere?” the man asked abruptly.
She turned back to him and shook her head. He continued to trail his eyes over the side of her face and she squirmed under his appraisal.
“That’s it,” he said with a gentle laugh. “I think you went to the same high school as my girlfriend.”
Nicole glanced to him. “Really? What’s her name?”
His response was immediate. “You wouldn’t know her. She would have been a few grades above you. But I remember seeing you when I was picking her up a few times. Man, that was bothering me.”
With his broad smile and his gentle ease, Nicole could feel her tension slowly ease off her shoulders. But then his girlfriend came up beside her, and her insides froze within a second. Nicole didn’t know the woman’s face. She prided herself on knowing everyone in her little hometown, and that woman’s face didn’t ring a single bell. The arctic blaze within her ribcage didn’t dull when the woman didn’t move to her boyfriend’s side. They were within arm’s reach of each other but kept enough distance between them that they were effectively on either side of her, lingering just outside of her peripheral vision. She couldn’t keep an eye on both of them at the same time.
The room was full of people and still she felt trapped, caged in by walls of flesh and bone. A voice in the back of her mind told her that she was just being paranoid, and that her nerves were shot and she was just reading too much into the couple’s actions. But that little voice wouldn’t stop reminding her of the one simple fact that she was barely a mile away from the Highway of The Lost.
