He wants to touch her. He wants to rub his fingers up her blood-covered skin. He wants to feel between her splayed legs. He wants to feel her die.
Jacob moves in, feeling the wicked fire absorb his mind. He reaches down and watches his hand flow through her. He steps back and tries to make himself satisfied with just seeing.
The woman quivers and Jacob laughs like a monster. She moves her head a little to the side, and Jacob can almost see her face. For a moment, he wants to know her, to see who she is, but this desire fades with the blood rushing through him.
Jacob notices that the part of him sensing his own touch, the part of him feeling the contracting muscles, the part that senses the blood flowing through his veins like electricity, is somewhere else. Only his vision and an ethereal sense of his own being are there with him now.
When Jacob speaks, he hears his voice off in the distance, like a radio announcer on a stormy day. “I’m a monster! I love it! I want it! I want to see you bleed! I want it! I want it!”
Jacob feels himself start to flow back into the person who is standing in the bathroom. There is a blur that comes with the street fading away. He allows himself to flow back, the throb and the fire down low telling him that he will soon be done anyway. The vision is most of the way out. It becomes a mixture of the bathroom and the street.
There is a mirror and a transparent wall with the street on the other side. The street is pulling away. Jacob is nearly satisfied, ready to explode, when he sees the white figure standing in the street.
He is in the bathroom now. He feels whole again, like one thing. But now the street is in the mirror in front of him. Jacob stands, eyes glued to that mirror, as the man in white approaches. Jacob is pulled back in, body and all. He is standing with the man in white, who looks back at him, his lips pulled tight. His arrogance is not there.
The man in white turns to the woman whom, earlier, Jacob stood over. In a quick motion, he waves a hand in the woman’s direction. Her body flips with it. Her arms make a T with the rest of her body. Her face is still recognizable through the bloody mess of hair and ripped skin.
Jacob drops to his knees. “Oh my God. She didn’t see me doing that. Dr. Ross didn’t see me doing that.” He turns to the man in white. “You killed, Dr. Ross. Why would you do that? She’s not even a part of Nescata.”
The man in white still won’t speak. His eyes look tired as they stare at Jacob. He moves his hand again. This time the movement causes the woman to open her eyes. Her lips move, but they move unnaturally, like they are unconnected to the muscles of her face.
“I’m going to be gone on vacation for the next couple of weeks. Actually, I was standing at the door with my bags in hand when you called.”
“I’m sorry,” Jacob says.
Jacob catches the man in white’s movement in his peripheral vision. Dr. Ross closes her eyes again and then she flips back over. Seeing her this way again, Jacob’s stomach begins to turn. He looks up at the man in white.
“I killed her.”
The man in white stands tall above him, a blank expression on his face. Suddenly, he turns his head. Then, seconds later, there is the sound. Jacob reflexively turns his head, then he moves in a circle. He finally looks back at the man in white.
“You hear it too.”
The man in white fades away. Jacob is aware of being taken back.
#
Jacob ran out of the bathroom to answer the phone. Again, the ringing came from his parents’ room. He darted through the door and jumped across the bed.
Nothing.
“Hello. Come on. Say something.”
Still, there was nothing. Jacob hung up the line and got off the bed. He was turned around, ready to leave, when the ringing came back. This time he walked slowly around the bed, but the phone stopped ringing when he stuck a hand out to pick it up.
He took a couple of steps backwards and then turned around. Again, the ringing started.
He threw his hands up to his ears. “Stop! Please, stop!”
The phone continued to ring. Stepping forward was enough to make it stop this time. Jacob grabbed the phone and ripped it from the wall. He threw it to a chair in the corner of the room.
He stood there, panting in frustration. “Come on! Fuck with me!”
He turned again. This time when the phone rang, he continued to move. It didn't go away, but it grew fainter. He continued to move and it grew quieter with each step. Less frustrated and more intrigued, Jacob turned back toward the ringing. With each step, it became louder, as he moved very slowly to it. By the time he was halfway there, the phone was more than ringing. It was screaming to him. He moved closer to it. The ringing went down. By the time he was standing within reaching distance, the ringing was barely noticeable.
“All right then.”
He backed away as slowly as he had come. Again, the ringing seemed to respond. With each creeping step, it became a little louder. Again, it peaked in the middle of the room. That was where Jacob stopped.
Just as it did with his steps, the intensity of the ringing ebbed and flowed inside the circle he made. It was loudest when he turned to the foot of the bed. He dropped down to the floor. He reached under the bed and began pulling things out at random, the loudness telling him he was going in the right direction. Soon there were many things on the floor: his mom’s shoes, an old pair of nylons, a pair of gloves. He stretched out as far as he could, until he felt leather. He pulled out a photo album. It was a faded brown thing with scratches all over the cover. He flipped through the pages, not even noticing the old pictures inside. He only attended to the ever-increasing ringing. Finally, when it seemed as if it could get no louder, it stopped. Jacob looked down at the page in front of him.
For a little while, Jacob thought about the content of that picture. Then he thought about Dr. Ross.
“Oh my God! Sonnie!”
When the phone started up again, Jacob knew who it was. He went over to the chair and picked it up.
“Ya . . . Ya . . . Ya . . . Yaaahob.”
#
Jacob walked into the room and found both old women sleeping. He went slowly past Sara and around the curtain to his grandmother. He shook her shoulder until he saw her eyes creep open.
“Ya.”
“Yes, Grandma. I’m here. I heard you.” Jacob laid the picture on top of her covers. “It’s you. You’re standing beside a horse. There’s a mountain in the background. It’s New Mexico isn’t it?”
Oletta Putman whispered something.
“What?” Jacob lowered his ear to her mouth.
“Yes.”
Jacob looked into her half-open eyes.
“You wanted me to find this?”
Her response was even more labored this time. He put his ear to her mouth again and heard, “Yes.”
“They’re race horses, aren’t they?”
He put his ear to her mouth but couldn’t hear her this time. He backed away. “Just a second. I’ll be right back.”
Jacob went out into the hall. He looked over to the nurses’ station. One of the aids was sitting there. She looked at him and smiled, then went back to the magazine in front of her. Jacob stood outside the door and waited, hoping she wouldn’t notice anything out of place.
One of the lights above the doors came on down the hall. Then there was the beeping sound. The aide at the station looked up at him again. She sighed and got up. Jacob waited until she was inside the room. He walked down the hall until he was even with the station. Checking over his shoulder to make sure the aide had not come out yet, he reached over the desk and took a stethoscope. He walked quickly back to his grandmother’s room.
She was asleep again. Jacob nudged her shoulder and she came right to. He put the earpieces in and put the end up to her mouth.
“Now, all I need is a small whisper. Tell me. Did you love those horses?”
“Yes.” It was a whispery voice, but it was loud and clear.
“Did grandpa know that
?”
“Yes.”
“Is that why he was out in the panhandle? Do you think he was going to New Mexico to get you one of those horses? Is that why he got caught up in the storm?”
There was a short pause this time, and though her voice was still loud and clear coming through the earpieces, he could tell it was quieter.
“Yes.”
Jacob stood up straight and looked away. “Nobody knew that. All my life I’ve heard this story about how he mysteriously took off one day. But I suppose he didn’t tell anybody where he was going because he wanted it to be a surprise.” Jacob looked down and saw the tear coming out of her eye. “And you never told anybody, because you knew what would happen if you did.”
Jacob didn’t want to ask any more questions. He didn’t want to know. But he knew he had to, on the slight chance that there was something he could do. “Did grandpa die because he knew what was going on with you?”
Again there was a pause, and this time there was a clear break in her voice when she whispered back to him. “Yes, Yahob.”
“Oh my God, Sonnie! I have to get to her!”
Jacob turned right on time to see the aide walk in the door. She looked at him and smiled.
“Old stethoscope trick, huh? How’d you know to do that?”
“I think I saw you do it once. But listen—”
“You couldn’t have seen me do it. At least, not recently. Your grandma has not spoken for months, until today.”
“Maybe I saw you use it with someone else.”
“Yeah. I guess that’s possible.”
“You said she talked today.”
“Yeah, she was making a pretty big fuss. Kept saying Ya, and she was shaking and breathing heavy. Finally, I put one of those things up to her mouth.”
“What did she say?”
“She said a bunch of things, but I could only make out a few words. She said dresser drawer and picture book.”
The aide laughed. Jacob half-smiled, reminding himself that this gleeful young girl in front of him had no way of knowing the seriousness of his situation.
“I went through her dresser and found several old photo albums. I flipped through each one, a picture at a time. Each time she would say no. Then when I came to this one she said yes.” The aide held out a black and white photograph as old as the one Jacob had found earlier. “I asked her what she wanted to do with it, and she just said, Yahob. I think that’s you.”
Jacob took the picture. “Yeah, I’m Yahob. Thanks.”
The picture was of his grandmother. In this one, she was next to a boy who looked about the same age as her. His arm was around her shoulder.
The aide whistled. “You go, Oletta.”
Jacob looked at his grandmother who was fast asleep again. He looked back at the aide. “Tell me . . .”
“Lacey.”
“Lacey, are you always so nice to the residents? I mean, do you always give them such special attention.”
Lacey looked at him a little smugly. “Truth be known, not really. We don’t have that kind of time.”
“So why did you do that for her?”
Lacey looked over at his grandmother and smiled affectionately. “I don’t know why we’re all so nice to her. There’s just something about her.”
Jacob looked back at the sleeping old woman one last time. “I guess so.”
He handed the stethoscope to the aide and went to be with Sonnie.
#
Jacob pulled off Main Street and parked amongst the several dirt encrusted farm vehicles that lined the lot outside of Ledbetter Bar. He got out and walked quickly to the entrance, but he stopped right in front of the door.
“Not right now.”
He looked around. Something had changed, but he didn’t know what. On the inside, it had been just a twinge of anticipation.
“Not right now.”
He walked into the bar, seemingly without drawing too much attention. At the bar, several old men continued with their beer and conversation. Off to the side, another group was engaged in a game of dominos.
Sonnie came running from behind the bar. She jumped into him, and he caught her. Almost reflexively, he stroked her hair. Then he stopped. It hurt too badly when he thought of the danger she was in.
“Jacob, where have you been? I called all over looking for you.”
Jacob only shook his head.
“I called out to your house several times. I called your dad’s shop. I even called your sister’s work.”
Jacob pushed her out in front of him so she was standing at the end of his extended arms. He held her tight there.
“What did you tell them?” he asked loudly. Then he saw the stunned, hurt look on her face. He looked around the bar. Amazingly, not a head had turned toward them.
“Sonnie, I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. I understand. I didn’t tell them anything.”
Jacob let her go. He noticed her eyes move to his hand, where he held the picture.
“What is that?”
He handed it to her. “It’s my grandma. I don’t know who the boy is.”
Sonnie looked it over.
“I don’t know either, but I can find out.”
Just then, what had happened outside, happened again.
“Sonnie, did it just get a little darker in here?”
She looked sideways and then back at Jacob. “I don’t think so.”
Jacob looked around, but could not find a window. He turned to the entrance, where the daylight shined in through the corridor.
“There’s less of it.”
“Less what?”
“Less light.”
Sonnie stepped beside him and stared at what he was staring at. “I don’t think so, Jacob.”
“Okay, maybe there isn’t.”
Jacob turned his attention back to Sonnie.
“What?”
He tried to speak but couldn’t.
“What is it Jacob?” Her eyes begged him to tell her.
“I don’t know, Sonnie. I don’t know what to say to you right now. I rushed to get here without even knowing what I wanted to say.”
She took one of his hands. “Then just say what’s on your mind.”
He thought of it. It seemed like there should be something to say to her. There should be some way to say, “You’re in trouble, but if you do this and that, you’ll be okay.”
“Why did my grandma tell me now? What good does it do me now?”
“What? What did your grandma tell you? What does she have to do with anything?”
Jacob dropped his head. “My grandma was like me, I think. She went through some of the same bullshit.”
Sonnie looked at him for a moment longer. Then she looked down at the picture in her hand. “Jacob, what did your grandma tell you? Please tell me what’s going on.”
Again, there was the change. Jacob looked at the entryway and saw that the last of the light had left. “Sonnie, I have to go.”
“Jacob! No! Wait!”
He walked through her hands. “I’ll be back later.”
“Jacob, stay here.”
He turned at the entrance. “I can’t resist it. I have to go.”
Sonnie said something else, but her voice faded too much for him to hear. Jacob walked out.
#
Jacob walks in the night. At first, it’s the shadows of downtown Nescata that surround him, and he can still feel the concrete sidewalk under his feet. After a few steps, new shadows arise in place of the old ones. These are shadows of trees.
Jacob continues to walk, but now it’s sand he feels under him. Then, after a few more steps, he feels nothing under his feet at all.
But he continues to move in the same direction as before. There are two sounds in the air now. One is water flowing into water. This sound seems to surround him. The other comes from one direction and guides him. It’s the sound of a muffled voice, pleading for something, but Jacob can’t make out the words.
<
br /> Jacob moves into trees and walks through them. In a matter of seconds, he's on the other side. Now the starlight shines down and reflects off the marshy ground in front of him. Up ahead is another group of trees.
Without disturbing what he passes through, Jacob continues ahead. He crosses the marshy soil and the group of trees, all the while hearing the voice grow louder and more frantic.
At the end of the trees is an opening. Forest surrounds this opening. Behind him is what he just passed through. In front of him, it is thinner, and he thinks he can see the lake on the other side. To the left, it’s very thick. To the right it’s thick, except for where a narrow road runs in. Near the center of the road is the dark shape of a car. This is where the voice comes from.
The voice fades out as Jacob approaches the car. He looks in the cab. After he sees nothing in the front, he looks in the back, only to find it empty too. Jacob decides to enter for a closer look.
With the surety of someone who has done this before, Jacob throws his body at the door. But to his surprise, he hits hard, head first, and bounces back. Through a daze, Jacob can hear the man pleading again. In his last few seconds of consciousness, Jacob has an uncanny sense of reason. He remembers the cave and the future Nescata. There, he could feel pain, and he affected what he touched.
Is this the future?
There is a breeze that seems to react to his voice. It rolls over him, and Jacob can smell the decaying scent of an Oklahoma lake.
He smiles.
No. The future has no scent. Moments later, he passes out.
#
Jacob awakes in closed quarters. The light from the moon and stars is gone. There is neither the fresh smell of the trees, nor the rotten smell of the lake. In their place is the smell of dust and oil.
In his ribs is a sharp pain coming from a piece of metal. Against his neck, rising into his cheek, is more pressure. But this pressure is not hard like the metal. It’s cold and flexible. When Jacob moves his face into it, it inflects with him. Then it withdraws. Jacob realizes that it’s alive.
Jacob is suddenly hit with an onslaught of blows. The first hits across his face, and Jacob tastes the dry skin. The second hits his shoulder. Jacob tries to move away, only to find there is nowhere to move to. He hits the top of the metal compartment and falls back down. He moves back, only to find more metal. All the while, feet are hitting the top of his body.
Scribner Horror Bundle: Four Horror Novels by Joshua Scribner Page 60
