Don't Read After Dark: Keep the lights on while reading these! (A McCray Horror Collection)

by McCray, Carolyn

  Jake began to think that he might just be able to pull this off when he slipped in a pool of blood and tripped over a body. When he looked up, the rapist was gone.

  He studied the young man at his feet. “Who’s that?”

  Evie stepped out from the center of the room and handed him the end of a string of razor wire. He had no idea what for, but what did he understand since he walked into this ice factory from hell?

  She nodded to the body. “That was Andrew. Too bad—he was a pretty nice kid, for a serial killer.”

  How many did that make now? Starvin’ Marvin, who supposedly was dead somewhere. A Darion who Jake didn’t know yet, and hoped to never know. The rapist, and now Andrew. That was four so far. What the hell was going on?

  Before he could asked, the rapist grabbed Evie by the neck and put a knife to her throat.

  * * *

  Evie gulped hard, scraping her skin against Back’s blade. How could she have let him get behind her?

  “You won’t be so quick,” Back whispered into her ear. “Maybe I’ll combine all of our techniques?”

  Evie watched as the cop groped around for a weapon. He was brave and loyal, that one, she had to give him that. But what could he do against Back? The guy was like the Energizer Bunny of serial killers. It was like the dungeon had hardened him into a diamond. A very violent diamond.

  Back licked up her cheek as he continued. “Starve you a little. Beat you a little. Eat you a little, then—”

  The cop finally picked the pike and grabbed it, ramming it toward Back. The rapist was startled enough to loosen his grip.

  “No!” Evie warned the cop. “The wire! Get the wire!”

  With a kick to the knee, Evie was able to get away from Back and grab her own end of the barbed wire. Instead of running for it, Evie ran around Back. The dungeon had forged her a little, too.

  She had a plan. A plan that one-eyed Back just didn’t see coming.

  She braced the handle of the wire, then screamed, “Up and pull!”

  Putting her back into it, Evie yanked on that wire and jerked up as hard as she could. The sound of the wire cutting into Back’s flesh was wet and slurpy.

  * * *

  Jake didn’t realize what he was doing until the wire had cut all the way through the rapist. Back’s good eye was wide with horror, yet he didn’t even cry out as the top half of his body fell off the bottom half. It took a full second for his legs to realize they weren’t connected to his brain anymore. His guts, though, sloshed to the floor immediately, and then his legs crumpled to the ground. The rapist’s top half rolled a few times, landing face up. The guy didn’t look dead, he looked surprised.

  Dear God, he’d just helped cut a man in half. Not exactly how he expected his day to go when he woke up in Evie’s apartment.

  Panting from exertion, Jake looked to Evie, who was doubled over.

  “Are you hurt?” he asked. She, too, was panting, and just shook her head.

  “Let me take a look.”

  There was a lot of blood on her, and Jake wanted to make sure that none of it was hers. She urged him away.

  “I’m okay,” she insisted.

  “Oh, you are more than okay,” Jake said, surprised that his feelings slipped out so easily, but under the rush of surviving he could barely contain himself. Evie tilted her head away, but she did blush. “However, I do need to make sure that you’re not injured.”

  She allowed him to course his hands over her. He had to remind himself that he was looking for injuries.

  Then a chime sounded. Evie stiffened, her eyes darting side to side. “Oh no,” she groaned. Evie tugged on his sleeve. “We’ve got to go.”

  A male voice came over the speakers. “Poor Back. He’s half the man he used to be.”

  They charged to the door, but a man stepped into the doorway. He was tall, dark, and handsome, but with a cruel look in his eyes. Evie squeezed Jake’s hand.

  “Who the hell are you?” Jake asked.

  “Your killer,” the man announced.

  “Watch out!” Evie screamed, but Jake wasn’t quite sure what he was supposed to be watching out for.

  That became abundantly clear in just a few seconds, as the weapons suddenly began spinning around the room. They were on some kind of mechanism. Evie and he scrambled to the edge of the room to stay out of range of all those sharp edges.

  Darion had disappeared through the door, which was now locked. There was another door on the other side of the room, but there was a whole room full of flying knives between them and the room.

  “And who was that, again?” Jake asked.

  * * *

  “Darion kidnapped a bunch of serial killers, then threw them together for fun and he’s got this whole place rigged with remote controls and hair-triggers,” Evie explained.

  The cop frowned. “Okay, information overload.”

  Evie watched the blades go ‘round and ‘round. There had to be a way out. Really, had to be, as the carousel began spinning faster and faster, causing the occasional weapon to fly off and embed in the wall. Pretty soon, there wouldn’t be anywhere to hide.

  “Do you have any C-4?”

  “No,” the cop answered. “Um, why would you think that I did?”

  She didn’t think he had any, she just hoped that he did. Then Evie realized that if this was the weapon’s room, there was another way out. She dropped to her knees and started searching the floor. The cop picked her up by the waist and moved her just as a large broadsword sailed past.

  “Watch out!”

  But she spotted it. A trap door. They must be directly over the dungeon. The cop tried to pull her toward the edge of the room, but she squirmed out of his grip. “No,” she explained. “There!” she shouted as she started kicking at the trap door, all the while trying to stay out of the weapons’ way.

  “Kick it!”

  She had to give the cop credit. He had absolutely no idea what was happening, yet he risked his life to kick at the floor for no apparent reason. But it was for a reason. Finally, with one final kick, the trap door cracked, revealing the passageway to the dungeon.

  “Get down there!” Jake urged, trying to get her down into the passage. The weapons overhead were practically a blur, but she grabbed his arm.

  “Do you trust me?”

  * * *

  Jake almost got clocked by a scimitar as he looked into her eyes. They were pools of perfect agate. “Yes,” he answered without hesitation.

  “Then get me that scythe,” Evie answered, pointing to a weapon flying overhead.

  He had no good idea why the hell Evie would need the scythe in particular, but there wasn’t a whole lot of time for twenty questions. So he waited until it came around again, then reached out to grab it. Unfortunately, he got nicked by an ice pick. The next time around he timed it better, jerked the scythe from its hook, and handed it to Evie.

  She turned it around and, instead of using the sharp end like he would expect, she shoved the handle down into the hole they had created.

  A loud whirring, louder than even the motor above them, sounded, and blades sliced through the passage. They hit the scythe handle, grinding into the wood. The mechanism complained loudly, grinding its gears. Finally, the motor blew, and the blades stayed buried in the scythe.

  “Okay, now we go down,” Evie said as she crawled down and between the blades. She kicked at another trap door, then disappeared through the opening. Jake, not quite as lean of hip, had to shimmy his way down, and therefore was not prepared when he fell through the air and landed hard on the ground. Actually, on debris. This lower level had been blown out. Bent bars were littered everywhere, along with serious carnage.

  Jake’s hand was wet and warm. Not a good combination. “Ugh, I think that’s lung,” he said to Evie, who didn’t seem fazed at all about what lay around them. He tried to move his hand, but found only more slime. “Oh, and that’s pancreas.”

  Evie, however, pulled on his elbow. “Come on. We�
��ve got to get out of here before he seals the exit.”

  Jake somehow got to his feet, but nearly ran into a man’s body on the ground. He had a huge hole in his chest. “Who’s that?”

  “Oh, just Door, the copycat Back Door Rapist.”

  Jake shook his head. He couldn’t have heard that correctly. “There was a copycat?’

  Evie didn’t answer as she picked her way through the debris. They came across another body. This one had his belly splayed open. “And that?”

  “Um…” Evie said, looking down. “That’s Buck the Fuck.” Her hand waved to the other side of the room. “And Esau the Sin Eater is in there somewhere.”

  “And the guy on my hand?”

  “Igor,” Evie answered flatly.

  “I really need to get a hold of the station.”

  * * *

  Evie watched as stew fell out of the pipes and gas leaked into the dungeon. “Hurry!” She encouraged the cop through the doorway and to the stairs. When they reached the top, she raced down the hallway, only stopping to get around the food cart with Papa attached to it.

  “Now, that is Starvin’ Marvin…”

  The cop got that look on his face again, like he was going to puke or something. She’d think, being a detective, he’d be little bit more hardened.

  “Yeah, um, I’m not sure if we really gained any ground.”

  “Help me,” Evie said, pushing the cart forward until they were at the door of the weapons room. Beneath them, gas rose, chasing them down.

  Fear drove her muscles.

  “What are we doing?” the cop asked.

  Evie decided not to tell him, fearful he would balk. Instead, she just pushed the cart as hard and as fast as she could. They rammed the cart, with Papa at the front, into the swirling weapons. Pikes, swords, and knives got lodged in Papa and the cart. The sound of metal hitting flesh filled the room.

  The cop sat on his heels at the back of the cart with his fist to his lips, clearly trying not to hurl. Finally, enough blades got stuck that the mechanism stopped spinning.

  “Now!” Evie yelled as she raced across the room. The cop, no matter how nauseated, was at her heels. Once to the other door, Evie pulled out her metal fragment and started working on the lock.

  “Get out of the way,” Jake said, swinging an ax above his head. He and the ax made quick work of the door.

  They were free. The warehouse glowed in the moonlight. The door was past several dozen stacked crates.

  Evie realized that she shouldn’t have jinxed herself as the chime sounded again. Darion was having way too much fun taunting them.

  “Impressive,” the chime voice said. As it went along, it changed into Darion ‘s voice. “You learned quickly, Evie,” Darion continued. “However, you really should have taken me up on that offer of protection…”

  The cop stepped between her and the darkness, hefting his ax.

  Darion seemed unimpressed, though. “Because, trust me, he isn’t going to last long.”

  And Evie couldn’t disagree. The cop’s heart was in the right place—however, he just wasn’t devious enough. He would try to take Darion on head on, while Darion probably had backup plans to his backup plans.

  The cop turned to her. “No matter what happens, you’ve got to run.”

  She laid her hand on his arm. “Braut.”

  * * *

  “Jake,” he corrected, nearly choking up.

  “Jake,” she responded, putting her hand on his cheek. Footsteps rang out from deeper in the warehouse.

  “Okay, this may not be the best time,” Jake said. He had to come clean, “but in case I die or, better yet, if I make it…”

  “I know,” Evie said, caressing his cheek

  “No, you don’t,” Jake insisted. “I lost Herbie.”

  “Who?” Evie asked, confused.

  “Your hamster,” Jake explained. “I lost him. I was—”

  Evie put a finger over his lips and chuckled. “Don’t worry. I can’t seem to keep one alive for more than three months, either.”

  Jake leaned in. Her lips were so beautiful, even if they were smeared with blood. But she tilted her head away. He could understand. She wasn’t ready. Instead, he kissed her on the forehead.

  “I’ll do everything I can,” he reassured her.

  Darion stepped from the darkness carrying a speargun and a spiked mace on a chain. Jake really should have checked the inventory before he settled on the ax.

  “I’ll give you the same offer I gave Papa,” Darion said, even though Jake had no idea what he was talking about. Evie, however, seemed to get it. “Don’t make me fight my way to her, and I’ll let you walk.”

  Well, Jake wasn’t Papa. He stepped away from Evie, ready to do battle. “I hate to disappoint you, but the good guy doesn’t walk away.”

  Darion’s lips turned up into cruel smile. He raised his speargun and fired. Jake turned to the side and used the flat of his ax blade to knock the spear out of the air. All those years in Little League weren’t for nothing.

  Jake tried to use the move to his advantage, charging toward Darion. The creep dropped the speargun and pulled a sai out of his belt and knocked Jake’s ax to the side. He followed that up with a wicked left hook. Jake stumbled back a step.

  “Evelyn is so far out of your league, detective,” Darion baited Jake.

  “You psychopaths with your delusions of grandeur.”

  Jake used the handle and shoved it into Darion’s crotch. Even serial killers had their vulnerable zones. Darion, though, spun away before Jake could press his advantage.

  “Evelyn needs a firm hand. A confidence you just can’t bring to the table,” Darion explained as he swung the mace, barely missing Jake’s head.

  “You know that outside your little ‘weird world,’ chicks don’t dig arrogance?”

  Darion came at him with the sai. Jake turned and blocked with his ax just in time. He then lowered the handle, catching the sai’s handle. They were locked together.

  “You have no idea what Evelyn quickens to.”

  Jake snorted as he tried to get control of his ax again. “You stalked her, brutally kidnapped her, then threw her to the mercy of a bunch of serial killers.” Jake took an elbow to the nose, but didn’t lose his grip on the ax.

  “So, yeah,” Jake continued to bait Darion. “I’m not too worried about who she’s going home with.”

  Darion was a strong MFer though, twisting his sai, trying to disarm Jake. They seemed evenly matched until a shot rang out.

  For a moment, Jake didn’t even realize it was him who was shot. Not until red blood spread on his shirt. He twisted around to find Evie holding the gun. She must have missed and accidentally hit him.

  “Evie?”

  She leveled the weapon and shot again, this time square in his chest. Guess it was intentional. Not understanding what in the hell was going on, Jake slumped to the ground.

  * * *

  “I really liked that hamster,” Evie said as she watched the cop fall to the floor. She wasn’t safe. Not yet. Darion had picked back up his speargun. They circled each other, wary predators.

  “How many kills is that?” Darion asked her.

  “Two,” Evie answered, then corrected. “Counting Back? Two and a half.”

  “No,” Darion said. “I meant total.”

  “Oh, eleven,” Evie said, with not just a little bit of pride. “And a half.”

  Door and Back thought they were such hot stuff. They’d only killed ten between the two of them.

  “I underestimated you,” Darion said, circling her, aiming the speargun at her belly.

  “Obviously,” Evie said. That was the story of her life. Everyone thought she was such a sweetie. A wallflower. A pushover.

  “I just took you as another man-hating psycho bitch,” Darion said.

  “Why would you say that?” Evie said, more than a little surprised at his description.

  “Um, you did track down your fleeing fiancée, then garro
te him and put his body into a wood chipper, correct?”

  “Okay,” Evie said to be fair. “Him I was mad at.”

  The bastard had knocked her up, then tried to leave? The stress of trying to figure out how to pay the mortgage on the condo caused the miscarriage. And he expected to set up shop down in Michigan? The bastard already had another girlfriend by the time she’d caught up with him. The wood chipper was almost too kind.

  “And the rest?” Darion asked. “The other nine?”

  Evie shrugged. “For the challenge, just like you.”

  “I don’t think so,” Darion snorted.

  He fancied himself the ‘Zard, yet Darion was just such a guy.

  “Oh, so if a man wants to kill for the challenge, it’s almost noble, but a woman wants the same thing and she’s a man-hating psycho bitch?”

  Darion shrugged back, “That this society’s assumption.”

  Evie aimed the gun, but Darion fired a spear at her. Her shot went wide. “At least I’m not acting out some strange, self-loathing murderous/suicidal game.”

  “Oh, it was never about the death match. That just kind of evolved on its own. Killing those amateurs wasn’t gratifying. The dungeon was always meant to be a proving ground.”

  “To prove?” Evie asked.

  “Whether or not they were worthy of being my killing partner.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Evie snorted. That was the most ludicrous thing she’d ever heard. Serial killers were loners by nature. Sure, there were some partner teams. Usually brothers or lovers, but one serial killer looking for a partner? It was unheard of.

  * * *

  Darion hurled the sai at Evie. She ducked and fired. Darion danced out of the way and then took up circling again.

  “Think about it. After a kill, don’t you want to talk about? Share it with someone?” Darion queried.

  Evie frowned. Was her resolve wavering just a little bit?

  “Your hamster wasn’t exactly filling that need, now was he?” Darion challenged.

  Darion swept up an ice pick and threw it. Evie shot again. Missing. Again. The girl really needed to get out to a shooting range.