“And you!” Matt said, as he pointed at the one person in the room who would challenge him right now.
The look in Matt’s eyes did something to Toby. There was something about the fire there that caused Toby to feel a certain connection with Matt. It was a connection that would have to be consummated. It could only be consummated in a battle. Somehow, despite all logic, Toby thought he could win this battle. He took two steps in Matt’s direction.
When he lay in bed that night and thought about it, Toby was able to reason again. He would have surely lost the fight, had not the couches showed up before he and Matt could come together. But even looking back on it, he loved that moment. Never before had life felt so real, so alive. Dr. Porter had opened up more than an appetite for food in him. Tomorrow, they would open up more.
Chapter 13
Only one client showed today, and that client was misleading him. Toby said that he was now eating more meat, but that he thought he should still go further, because the meat still grossed him out a little. He was choppy in the way he described all of this. Dr. Porter had to drag it all out of him. The look on Toby’s face begged the question: Do you know I’m lying to you?
So now three clients had something to keep from him. But Dr. Porter didn’t let on that he knew about that. He had to stay focused on the barrier for now. He would find a way to view his results later, if there was a way. He would try to know what his new methods had caused, but later. First, he had to finish. Dr. Porter hypnotized Toby.
When Toby didn’t signal quickly that he was finished breaking away at the barrier, Dr. Porter knew the final barrier was coming down. Near the end of the hour, Toby signaled that he was done.
“Very good,” Dr. Porter said. “Now I want the subconscious to reveal what secrets Toby is keeping from me.” After several minutes, there was no response. Dr. Porter asked, “Will the subconscious reveal the secrets Toby is keeping from me?”
Dr. Porter gave his clients a “no” finger. Toby didn’t signal with a finger, though. He shook his head.
Dr. Porter gulped, and he could suddenly sense his heartbeat picking up. Toby’s subconscious was flat out denying a simple request, and it was doing it in a manner different than ever requested. But that couldn’t be.
He inspected the boy. Was it possible that he had come up? No. Toby’s expression and body were too relaxed. Besides, this kid didn’t have the faculties to pull off such a stunt. No one Dr. Porter had ever hypnotized could have pulled off such a stunt.
Dr. Porter gave the instruction for Toby to come up. He came out in a mild euphoria and announced that the barrier had fallen. Dr. Porter smiled and congratulated Toby, all the while wondering what he had awakened.
***
Three hunters moved in the valley below. James and the spirit came down from the tree.
The three men had been spaced out from each other. Each wore the appropriate orange vest, which had made them stand out more than the hunter from earlier this week. Each had a rifle.
James and the spirit took a curling path coming down the mountain, moving swiftly away and then toward the hunters from behind. They were not making an effort to slow down this time, and James felt an incredible rush of adrenaline, knowing they were not closing in under the guise of silence, the safer route they had used on the lone hunter. He heard the closest target, who now trekked in their direction, having obviously sensed them. It almost seemed like suicide. They hadn’t brought the gun or knife from the cavern today. Now they were coming upon a man who was armed with a gun and no doubt thought that they, as swiftly as they moved, had to be a deer or some other animal.
Within yards of the man, James could hear the other two up ahead had turned around and were also making their way toward them. James felt an urge to stop the spirit and then to turn and run in the other direction. He at least wanted to communicate with the spirit, to ask what it had in mind in this seemingly impossible situation. But two emotions kept James from stopping the spirit. He was too afraid to try it on his own. If he stopped the spirit and took over himself, he would be rendered a cold and tired human out of his element. The other emotion was pure exhilaration. He liked being afraid. He liked not knowing, facing death at the controls of another. He wanted to see how this played out.
The first hunter came into view straight ahead, half his body behind a tree. James realized that the hunter didn’t have the same view of him that he had of the hunter. James was low and moving quickly, unnaturally. As fast as he moved toward the hunter, the hunter was very likely to panic, not having time to register what he was shooting at before he pulled the trigger.
The hunter stopped and did raise his gun. James could actually make out the barrel pointed right at him. At that moment, he realized what it was like to be sure that he would die. Much of his life, in a condensed form, flashed through his head. It wasn’t hard to see it all, because his life had been much the same on most days. His mind seemed to skip over the redundancy and just show the gist of it: Him in his room looking at some object, whether that be a computer screen, a television or a book, taking in large amounts of information about a world he was certain he would never see in real time. He saw the session when he first broke through the barrier and then the one when it crumbled. He saw his hill. He saw his first set of victims, even heard the shotgun blasts. He saw the two bodies burning in the flames that had engulfed their bed. He saw the hunter from earlier this week.
At the last possible instant, he darted. There was a sequence of sounds. First the blast, then the high-pitched sound of a bullet ripping through the air, then the thump when that bullet entered a tree. The amount of sensation was incredible. James realized that he was processing at an inhuman rate. The spirit had given him all of this to experience. His body rushed at a sharp angle at the hunter whom had fired on him. The man came into view with amazing clarity. Thoughts continued to fire, assessing the man, scanning him for vulnerability, as the other two targets closed in.
The hunter, in his human slowness, still had the gun aimed where he had fired. Bulges in his vest revealed where he carried his ammo. But James’s attention, guided by the spirit, closed in on the back of the man’s pants, where a chain hung in a loop from his pocket. James’s right hand went high as if to swipe, but merely to distract the man’s attention, as his left hand went unnoticed to the chain. The man lifted his arms to absorb the blow, as the chain was ripped from his pants, taking the attached wallet and Swiss Army Knife. They turned in a circle, unfolding the blade from the knife, then in poetic fashion, thrust the man’s own weapon into his throat. Dropping his gun, the hunter put both hands to his throat, where the knife hung.
They moved to the side and behind a tree. The other two hunters came, but they came to the sight of their friend kicking and gurgling on the ground.
“What the hell?” one man said as they both leaned over their fallen comrad. That was when James and the spirit came up behind the men.
There had been a large stone in the ground as they approached. But they passed it without the spirit willing his body to pick it up. They could have easily struck before the men saw them, but instead the spirit willed the body to stop a few yards away.
“I stabbed your friend,” the spirit made James say. Then, when the two hunters turned around, James said, “Now I’m going to kill the two of you.”
One of the hunters, a younger man, merely stared in shock. The other, an older man, and by the resemblance, the other’s father, raised his gun. They stepped in so quickly on that gun and turned the barrel so fast, that the man didn’t have time to stop the momentum of his trigger finger. The gun, which they had aimed to the head of the man’s son, went off, producing a gaping hole all the way through the victim’s head.
There was now one man standing. From the looks of it, he would not fight, at least for a while. He only stared in disbelief at what he had done. They got the rifle of the man’s dead son off of his shoulder as the last standing hunter waited, like this was all a dre
am he hoped would soon end. They killed him next, with a merciful blast at point blank range to back of his head. They then reloaded the rifle and shot the first hunter, who was still gurgling and kicking on the ground.
***
“We’re leaving tonight, aren’t we?” James asked.
They were in the cavern, roasting a large rabbit over the fire.
“The three hunters will be missed. The police will come with dogs. They’ll eventually find us here.”
James realized that the spirit had not answered his question. “So, do we wait for that?”
“That is up to you. To wait for them and then escape will be a big challenge. There is some chance you will not survive it.”
James wasn’t sure what to say. There were too many variables, too many questions left unanswered.
“How long will you be with me?” James asked.
“That also is up to you.”
James thought of what he had experienced today. He had been through the better part of his own death, without actually experiencing dying. Though he had not asked, he was sure that was a lesson the spirit had taught him on purpose. The spirit derived something from teaching him such things.
“Will you teach me to be like you?” James asked. “I mean, can you teach me things I can use after my body dies?”
“Yes, I can teach you such things. But that will require that your body survives for many years.”
James thought a little more and then said, “And with you it will?”
The spirit nodded James’s head in agreement. “With my guidance, no man will ever be able to kill you.”
James knew what that meant. That meant he had to use the spirit’s guidance correctly. And the spirit had said staying here might get them killed.
“Then tonight we leave,” James said.
***
Dr. Porter stayed home Sunday. He’d called both James and Celeste after the session yesterday.
Normally, with clients, he instructed them to call him at his office or call his pager in case of emergency. But he had given both James and Celeste the number to his cell phone, and told them to call at any hour. Neither had returned his call yet.
Tabitha was talking about taking a trip. But he couldn’t go, and he couldn’t let her go. The second phase to the experiment involved her. He told her to wait just a few weeks and then she could travel anywhere she wanted, even overseas.
Dr. Porter didn’t know when he would begin the next phase. First, he wanted to close out this one. That involved getting information from his clients. He needed to know, at least to an extent, what happened to them when their barriers crumbled. Once he got that information, he needed them no more, and he could proceed to another level, to a level that would dwarf what he was doing now.
But he was beginning to wonder if he would be able to get anything from his clients. They had all evaded him so far. The more their barriers had come down, the more secretive they had become. Would any of them give him real information again? If not, would he be able to get that information in some other way, or at least part of it? Either way, he would proceed to the next phase. He would rather go into it more informed, but he would go into it regardless. It was now just a matter of time.
Late Sunday morning, he finally got a call.
***
James realized that he could now go about anywhere he wanted. That was why he decided to go home. He was curious. He and the spirits that possessed him had now committed many murders. He was interested to see the reaction around the area. Would the police have any idea? Would they even come close to him?
Finding this out would not be hard. He’d use the old methods, the television and the newspapers, to watch what was going on. But he would also use more efficient methods. He’d have the spirit scout around. If the police got close to him, he’d leave fast. Or if they didn’t get close to him and he got bored, he’d leave anyway.
He had another reason to come home. He knew that after he left, there was a good chance he’d never see his parents again. He wanted to spend at least a few more days with them.
James and the spirit had arrived home in the early morning hours. Then James had slept, mainly to let the spirit have that pleasure. It was a comfortable sleep, perfect relaxation with the spirit.
James woke up a little before noon, realizing the spirit was gone. No doubt off scouting for information. Though James didn’t like being without the spirit, it comforted him to know that it was out checking out the situation, making sure there was no danger for James.
What if he did get caught? With the spirits help, could he escape? Without a doubt. The spirit would be able to look around, find kinks in the system of the guards. Maybe James would allow himself to be caught sometime, just to experience escaping. But not now and not for a while. First, he wanted to experience more of the pattern of hiding and coming out to kill. New games could come later.
James had been neglectful of his voice mail the last couple of days. But he had checked it when the arrived home this morning. His parents had called on Friday saying they were having a great time and would be home Sunday afternoon. The only other person who had called was Dr. Porter. James had no desire to talk to the doctor. But he knew if he was to stick around here for a while, he would have to keep Dr. Porter’s suspicion at bay.
He got some coffee after he got out of bed. With the spirit, caffeine wasn’t a requirement. No outside chemicals were necessary. The spirit seemed to have control over the pain and tiredness James experienced. But with the spirit gone, his body and mind were tired. The coffee sounded good. After his first cup, James got another and then dialed the number Dr. Porter had left. It rang twice.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Dr. Porter. This is James Kisner, returning your call.”
“Oh, good, James. I’m dying to know how you’re doing.”
“I’m doing very well, Dr. Porter. My parents left town for the week, and I think I’ve functioned well enough without them. I’ve done all the shopping myself. I’ve even managed to keep entertained. Yesterday, I went to see a series of movies at the theater. I didn’t arrive home until late, and didn’t get your message until this morning.”
James realized immediately that he’d made a mistake. All Dr. Porter would have to do is ask what movies he had seen, and James would not be able to tell him, no clue what was showing.
“That’s wonderful, James.”
James didn’t give Dr. Porter a chance to speak further on that, to question James for details. Instead, he offered up what he knew Dr. Porter wanted. “I think we should meet again, Doctor. I want to discuss everything I’ve been through, but I don’t want to discuss it over the phone.”
James wasn’t sure when Dr. Porter would want to meet. But he had to dictate that. Of course, he’d never actually meet with the doctor. It was just a matter of how long he wanted to stick around here. He’d leave, at latest, the night of the scheduled appointment. “My parents come home today, and I’d like to be free to visit with them the next few days. So could we meet later this week?”
“Let’s see,” Dr. Porter responded. “Can you meet with me Wednesday night at six, just the two of us, at my office?”
James thought for a second. That gave him three days. “Sounds good,” he said.
Afterward, James went outside to get the paper. He read about the two murder cases that didn’t seem to be going anywhere, as he waited for the arrivals of his day. The spirit came first. His parents came home a little later.
***
When he was sure that they were all asleep, Toby got out of bed and crept through the house. He stopped at the refrigerator and looked inside. There he saw foods similar to what he had been eating last week. There was raw bacon, eggs, and even a little bit of raw chicken breast that his mom was probably saving to cook up for a sandwich.
Of course, Toby had stopped eating raw food from the refrigerator. He had food in the system of coolers he had made. He hadn’t come here to feed. He h
ad come here to find out. When he had woken up earlier today, his craving had felt different. Suddenly, it wasn’t images of raw food that came with the rising heat. New images had arrived. Right now, with the raw meat in front of him, he still couldn’t want it. He didn’t think it would be gross to eat it. He thought it would fill up his stomach. But it wasn’t what he craved.
Toby went out into the night.
***
Celeste sat at a table at the side of the bar. She was next to a window that gave a perfect view of a sandy beach leading to the Gulf of Mexico.
Celeste had been raised by her aunt, who had been poor and never traveled much further than a hundred miles from Green Pastures, at least up until she met a man who took her to Pennsylvania, shortly after Celeste had become an adult and moved out on her own.
Celeste had traveled a little more as an adult and she’d seen the ocean, but only for brief periods of time. Now she felt as if the ocean was hers, because that was the path she traveled. She took her victims at various places, men with at least some money. She made them take her down the road during the day and then to hotel rooms with a view of the ocean at night, first the Atlantic and now the Gulf. There she fed on them, only to leave them dead in the room the next morning.
She knew she would have to stop this pattern eventually. Patterns, she suspected, were the most dangerous thing to those of her kind, if there were others of her kind. She would eventually move north, into the country, and from there establish a random pattern. But for now, she relished in her love for the ocean, of taking her victims as she listened to the waves.
Scribner Horror Bundle: Four Horror Novels by Joshua Scribner Page 42
