Michael saw a flash of pink, followed by more movement. He rested his finger on the trigger, watching the woman come closer, only she wasn't alone. He stared in horror at the sight of a little boy struggling in her tight grip.
“Go ahead, pretty man,” she gurgled. “Shoot me dead and the boy dies too.” The woman giggled. “That's fucked you up. Now what are you going to do, pretty man? She walked closer before stopped beside a banks of microwaves. “What you're going to do is move out of my fucking way!” screamed the woman.
He saw the blade digging into the side of his neck. He didn't doubt her resolve to murder the kid, yet he couldn't let her go, he just couldn't. Michael sighed and started to lower his gun. The woman laughed. As soon as that blade was safely away from the boy's throat, he dropped to the floor and fired once. The round smacked into the woman's ankle. She dropped, shrieking. Michael ran forward, pulled the boy away. He turned around to see his friend limping into the kitchen.
“Turn him around Trevor!” he ordered, I don't want him to see this.” Michael pushed the muzzle of his gun against the side of her head. “Die, you bitch,” he said before he squeezed the trigger.
His friend hadn't turned the boy around. He held him at arm's length, while trying not to sob.
“What are you doing, man. It's over. It's finished.”
Trevor shook his head. “No it isn't,” he replied. “They're in him, hiding away, waiting for us to leave. It's what the ghost tried to tell you, it's why I'm here.” The man produced a knife from his belt. “Forgive me.”
“No!” cried Michael. He ran toward them but he couldn't stop Trevor sliding the blade across the boy's tender throat.
Both men dropped to the floor, their hands clamped against their ears as the boy's mouth dropped open and a thousand angry and distraught screams erupted from him. Michael blinked as bright blue sky appeared overhead., spears of sunlight illuminated the floor as the hotel walls crumbled around them. The screams softened and finally vanished along with every trace of the hotel. He slowly got to his feet, finding himself in a blood-soaked field along with over a dozen corpses and two other living human beings. He picked Trevor off the floor and helped him over to his beautiful Jodie.
“Is it finally over?” she asked.
He watched a couple of crows landing on the head of the girl who's once served him in that cafe. “It is now.”
Epilogue
Katie snapped open her eyes and found herself in a field. She had no idea how she had got here. The girl sat up and saw the tiny shapes of three figures on the horizon. This was most strange. Katie turned her head and found she wasn't alone. Two little boys were sitting beside her, they were playing with what looked like eyeballs.
“Hello Katie,” said the left boy, dropping the eyeballs onto the grass. “So glad you're back with us.”
The other boy sniggered.
“Okay, okay,” snapped the left boy. “Katie, you're not really with us. Thing is, you're still dead.”
“Am I? That's weird. I mean, I don't feel dead.”
“Not every part of you is in that state, Katie. The baby inside you is alive and well.”
Katie smiled. “That's nice,” she replied. “I like babies.”
The boy on the right took a deep breath. He stood up, lifted his foot and stamped on the eyeballs. “This is all your fault, you know. If you'd have listened to me in the first place, none of this one have happened.”
The boy on the left shrugged. “Stop fretting. Look, if it hadn't been for me ensuring we had a back-up, you wouldn't be here to say that to me.” He too got to his feet. “Come on, you. Let's get you to the farmhouse,” he said, taking hold of Katie's hand. There's a lot of work ahead of us.”
The End
Depravity Page 24
