by Amy Cross
“Just trying to be friendly,” Lizzie muttered, turning to Beth. “This is going to be -”
Hearing a noise over on the other side of the cabin, she turned just in time to see the door open, and she saw the black-haired girl with the Ramones t-shirt limping in on crutches, dragging a hold-all behind her.
“Hey,” Lizzie said, hurrying over and trying to take the bag for her, “I can get that.”
“I'm fine,” the black-haired girl replied, keeping hold of the bag and barely making eye contact as she limped over to the final bunk. “I'm not a total cripple.” She tossed the bag down. “Yet.”
“You're just in time for our little getting-to-know-you session,” Lizzie continued. “I'm Lizzie, I have... Well, to be honest, I have bowel cancer.”
“I'm Beth,” Beth added, a little nervously. “Hairy cell leukemia.”
“Do you have to call it that?” Kirsty asked.
“That's Kirsty,” Lizzie continued, nodding toward the blonde girl. “She won't say what's going on with her. She's the mysterious one.”
“Whatever,” Kirsty mouthed silently.
“Laura,” the black-haired girl replied, wincing as she eased herself down onto the bed and propped her crutches against the wall. “I have bone cancer. It's already spread, so don't bother telling me everything'll get better. I'm way past the denial stage.”
“Right. So -”
“And right now I need to unpack,” Laura added, still avoiding eye contact as she unzipped her bag. “Sorry. By the way, I hope none of you have gas problems at night.”
Beth smiled and began to blush, as if she was embarrassed, but Kirsty sighed.
“I guess that's a legitimate concern,” Lizzie replied. “If one person has gas, everyone in the -”
“Do we really need to discuss bodily functions?” Kirsty asked, turning to her. “Seriously? Can't we, like, each just look after ourselves and preserve the mystery of our bodies a little?”
“Prude,” Laura muttered, glancing over at the huge amount of make-up. “Jesus Christ, are you sure you have enough of that stuff? You could build, like, a dirty bomb with all that crap!”
“Oh lovely,” Kirsty replied with a fake smile, “a hater. How joyous! I'll have you know, I own a make-up vlog that gets more than one hundred views every single week.”
“One hundred a week?” Laura replied. “That's, like, nothing!”
“Lucy and Kate and Sophie and Ally,” Beth said suddenly.
Turning, Lizzie saw that she was leaning across one of the beds, examining something that had been carved into the wall.
“I guess they must have been here some time before us,” Beth continued.
Taking a seat next to her, Lizzie peered at the carving:
Lucy + Kate + Sophie + Ally forever.
“Cute,” she said with a faint smile, before turning to look over at Kirsty. “See? People do become friends here sometimes, so maybe there's hope for us yet. Maybe by the end of this holiday, we'll be carving our own names into the wall and we'll be friends forever.”
“Yeah,” Kirsty replied with a hint of sarcasm, “maybe.” Grabbing her phone, she frowned at the screen. “Coverage up here is, like, the worst. I'm trying to arrange to meet a few of the guys so we can go to that lake tonight. Are you interested?”
“I don't think we're allowed to do things like that,” Beth pointed out. “Mrs. Wallace said -”
“Mrs. Wallace will be tucked up in bed by midnight,” Kirsty continued matter-of-factly, “and we're going to go way after lights out, so it's really not an issue, and we'll be back before sunrise. You don't have to come, I was just being polite.”
Beth paused for a moment, before turning to Lizzie as if she didn't want to be the one to make a decision.
“You know what,” Lizzie said, “I don't think...” She stopped suddenly, realizing that maybe this was the perfect time to actually try being social. “Sure,” she said finally. “I mean, why not, right?” She turned to Laura. “Are you up for this?”
Laura shook her head.
“We can't just leave you alone in here,” Lizzie told her.
“Yeah you can,” Laura replied. “I actually like being by myself. No offense, but I'd rather just sit and listen to music anyway. The constant drone of other people can be a bit of a downer.”
“So it's settled,” Kirsty continued, typing a message on her phone. “We'll head down to the lake at midnight. Don't worry, I've got a map so I know the way. It's just a brisk walk through the forest -”
“Do we have torches?” Beth asked, clearly concerned.
“Why would we need torches?” Kirsty asked.
“Because it'll be dark,” Beth replied, “and... Well, it's a forest. Who knows what's out there?”
“Nothing's out there,” Kirsty continued with a smile, as if she was amused by the idea. “Like, are you scared of your own shadow?”
“I'm sure it's fine,” Lizzie said, hoping to reassure Beth. “Don't worry, we're in the middle of nowhere. I bet nothing interesting has happened on Mount Everbee since the dawn of time.”
Chapter Four
“You'll have to wait a moment,” Karen said as she drew some liquid into a syringe. “I'm right in the middle of something.”
“Sis, this is important,” Freeman replied, “I found -”
“This is important too,” she told him, turning to him with a look in her eyes that made him realize he shouldn't argue with her. “Just give me a moment.”
Glancing at the table, he saw a rabbit on a metal pan. After a moment, he realized that something was wrong: the rabbit was panting heavily, and blood was leaking through bandages that had been tied around several parts of its body.
“This is a wild one,” Karen explained, heading over to the rabbit. “Someone found her by the side of the road and brought her in to see if I could do anything for her. From what I can tell, it looks like she was mauled by a fox. All four of her legs were ripped off.”
“Are you sure that's all that's wrong with her?” Freeman asked.
“I'm sure,” she replied, reaching down and stroking the rabbit's ears for a moment.
“Yeah, but -”
“I'm sure,” she said firmly. “I spent all morning trying to avoid this, but she's in a massive amount of pain and there's no way she can have any kind of life. There's really only one humane thing I can do.” Leaning down, she kissed the top of the rabbit's head. “It's okay,” she whispered, “all the suffering is going to be over in a moment.”
“You won't believe what I found in the forest,” Freeman continued. “Fuck, there's a -”
“Can you just wait a moment?” she asked. “Seriously? Please?”
Sighing, Freeman stood and watched as Karen stroked the rabbit's ears for a moment longer, before finally she slipped the syringe into its neck and pushed the plunger down.
“There,” she said with a smile, while still stroking the rabbit's head. “Everything's going to be okay.”
“Just the way of the world,” Freeman muttered. “Circle of life.”
“That doesn't mean we have to like it,” Karen pointed out, “or jabber on and on while it's happening. Let's show her some respect, shall we?” She looked back down at the rabbit. “There,” she whispered. “Off you go. Away from the pain.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but at the last moment he held back. Counting the seconds, he watched as the rabbit's eyes closed, but Karen continued to run her fingers through its fur.
“It's just a rabbit,” Freeman said finally. “It doesn't understand. It's an animal.”
“But not necessarily the dumbest one in this room,” she replied, turning to him. “Okay, it's done, I'll find a box for him later. What's so important that you came bursting into my office without any warning?”
***
“Oh, how thoughtful,” she said a few minutes later as she lifted the dead squirrel out of the cloth bag, “you brought me more roadkill. I truly have the most caring brother
in the world.”
“It's not roadkill,” Freeman replied, watching as she examined the corpse. “I found it on the forest floor and it's the tenth one this week. Something's going on, I can feel it in my gut.”
“I'm surprised you can feel anything in that gut,” she said with a smile.
“The land talks to me,” he continued. “It whispers in the wind, it tells me when it's sick.”
“You still think something's out there?” Karen asked, carrying the squirrel across her lab until she reached the workbench. Placing the little body on a metal tray, she pinned it so that it was on its back.
“Feel its belly. There's something in there.”
“Possibly a tumor.”
“I don't like it,” he continued. “There's something not right in the forest, Karen. I know that land like the back of my hand, and something's different, it's like...” He paused for a moment. “You'll think I'm crazy.”
“I already think you're crazy,” she said with a smile, as she took a scalpel and began to cut the squirrel's belly open. “I've thought you were crazy since you were five years old and you went through that phase of eating snails from the garden. Come on, out with it. What's bothering you this time?”
“It's almost like there's a new predator out there,” he told her.
She raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“I mean it,” he continued. “Not just any predator, either, but an apex predator, something right at the top of the food chain. It kills indiscriminately, but it doesn't seem to target one particular species. I haven't caught sight of anything yet, but I swear I keep seeing signs of it. Dead animals, mostly. Foxes, squirrels, badgers, birds. It's completely indiscriminate.”
“How could a new apex predator be introduced to the area without you knowing?” she asked. “You're the landsman, for God's sake. I know I make fun of you sometimes, Chris, but you really do know this area. I doubt anything could get past you.”
“I know, but -”
“Are you sure you're not just being paranoid?”
“No, I -”
“Or you read something on one of those websites? I saw the browser history after you borrowed my laptop the other day. You're still logging onto all those conspiracy forums, aren't you?”
“They're not conspiracy forums,” he said firmly, “they're information exchange nodes for people who've seen through the lies of the mainstream media.”
She rolled her eyes.
“There's something out there,” he continued. “It's just a matter of time before I find it, but so far I can't even work out what it might be. I found a deer last week with its neck ripped open and all the blood drained from its body. That's the biggest victim so far. Most of the time it seems to go after smaller animals, but I'm telling you, the forest is almost completely silent these days. It's like most of the wildlife has run away, like maybe they sense something.”
“Well,” she replied, “this squirrel certainly wasn't killed by an apex predator.” She slipped its fur aside to reveal something black and shiny in its gut. “Cancer.”
Making his way over to join her, he peered at the tumor.
“Pretty big,” he muttered.
“It's definitely not like anything I've seen before,” she continued, using the tip of the scalpel to cut away some of the internal organs, revealing a couple of thin black tubes that seemed to run out of the tumor and up into the rest of the animal. “This is freaky as hell.”
“What are those tentacle-like things?”
“I have no idea.” She nudged the side of the tumor with her scalpel. “My best bet is that it's an abdominal tumor that somehow took on a substantial amount of blood and ended up expanding rapidly. The tentacle-like things, as you call them, don't make much sense, though.” She leaned closer and peered at one of the tubes. “It seems to have grown around the spinal column and then fused with the bone somehow, maybe even...” With the tip of the scalpel, she scraped some muscle away. “Maybe it even grew into the column, but that definitely shouldn't be possible.”
“And the other tubes?”
She cut the squirrel's upper chest and pulled it apart, exposing the second tube, which ran past the heart and up into the neck.
“Looks like it headed for the brain,” Freeman muttered.
“This isn't like any tumor I've ever seen before,” Karen replied. “Sorry, Chris, but I need to do some serious research before I can tell you what's going on here, maybe I'll call someone in London and get a second opinion. In all my years as a vet, I've never seen a tumor that spreads in such a specific and targeted manner, it's almost as if...”
He waited for her to finish the sentence.
“Almost as if what?” he asked finally.
“Let's not get carried away,” she told him. “Can you swing by in a day or two? Maybe I'll have something for you. Oh, and -” She headed through to the main office. “I got a birthday card for mum. Can you at least sign it this year? I'll put it in the mail and I'll organize the gift, all you have to do is sign the damn card.”
Muttering something under his breath, Freeman followed her through to the office.
On the workbench, the dead squirrel lay with its chest open and its internal organs fully exposed. After a moment, as Freeman and his sister continued to talk in the next room, the squirrel's shiny black tumor started to twitch, while one of the thin tendrils flexed as it burrowed deeper into the flesh, almost as if it was trying not to be seen.
***
“Five-one-nine, do you copy?” a voice crackled over the radio. “Five-one-nine, respond please.”
Stopping next to the counter in the empty cafe, Sergeant Pierson grabbed his radio and hit the button on the front.
“This is five-one-nine. I'm at the Easy J Bar and Diner. Chris Freeman called in earlier and said the place seemed abandoned, I thought I'd check it out.”
“Understood. Any sign of Ed or Elaine?”
“Not so far,” Pierson replied, making his way around the counter. “For once, Freeman wasn't full of shit. It's like the whole place was abandoned all of a sudden.”
“That doesn't sound like Ed and Elaine,” the voice continued. “Do you want me to see if I can get in touch with their son in Birmingham? He might know if they suddenly had to shoot off somewhere.”
“Sure,” Pierson muttered, glancing back across the empty seating area. “I'll finish poking about here, and then I'm going to knock off for the evening. Can you sign me off the terminal in the main office? I don't wanna drive all the way back to the station just to do that. I've got a few days off so I just wanna get home and chill.”
“Whatever,” the voice replied. “Good luck out there.”
“Thanks,” he muttered as the radio fell silent.
Heading through to the kitchen, he made his way past the various counters until he reached the back door, at which point he peered out at the yard. In the distance, beyond the rolling green fields and the far-off forest, the sun was already starting to dip in the sky, casting long shadows. The Coopers' truck sat over by the gate, and Pierson couldn't help feeling that the couple must have left in a hurry, especially if -
Hearing a noise behind him, he turned and looked back across the kitchen. A moment later he heard the noise again: a faint clanking sound, like metal on metal, coming from the storage room.
“Ed?” he called out. “Elaine? Is someone there?”
He waited, but all he heard now was silence.
“Ed, it's Dan Pierson,” he continued, making his way to the door and peering into the dark storage room. He hit the light switch, but to no avail: he flicked it a few more times, but the bulb seemed to be out. Spotting another switch, he gave it a try and watched as a couple of bright wall-mounted lights flickered into life. “Is anyone in there?” he asked, his voice betraying a hint of nerves. Taking a small torch from his belt, he switched it on and shone a beam of light across the room, picking out various sets of shelves all piled high with supplies.
He waited,
and after a moment he heard a faint scratching sound from the far end of the room.
“Hello?”
The scratching sound continued for a moment before stopping abruptly.
“Rats,” he muttered, taking a step forward. “If there's anyone in here, I'd like you to make yourself known to me at once. I'm an office of the law and I'm investigating the possible disappearance of two people from this establishment.” Making his way between the shelves, he shone the torch at the far wall, but there was still no sign of anyone. “This is a police matter,” he continued, “and I should warn you that -”
He stopped suddenly as the light from his torch picked out a shoe and the lower part of a leg, sticking out from behind the far shelf.
“Ed?” he said after a moment, “is that you?”
He waited, but the leg didn't move.
Spotting something nearby, Pierson saw that various sticks and branches appeared to have been propped up against the wall, forming a rough triangle shape topped by what looked like pieces of long grass that hung down over the sticks. Whatever the construction was designed to represent, it had clearly been put together intentionally, but after a moment he realized that several strange, calcified blobs were rotting at the foot of the sticks.
Stepping forward cautiously, he made his way past the makeshift shrine until finally he saw that Ed Cooper's body was on the ground, flat on its back with a thick patch of blood soaked into the torn shirt and trousers that were still just about in place.
“What the hell?” Pierson whispered, taking another step forward and shining the light at the body's head, only to see that Ed's jaw seemed to have been partially torn off, exposing his teeth and leaving his tongue flopping out to one side. A pool of blood had begun to collect beneath the body, and Ed's dead eyes were staring up at the ceiling.
Taking a step back, Pierson reached for his radio.
And then he saw Elaine.
A little further back from Ed, Elaine's body was on its side. Unlike her husband, however, she was twitching, as if she was still clinging to life. As Pierson made his way around Ed and headed over to Elaine, he realized that most of the twitching was in fact coming from her head, which was turned away from him, while a faint slurping sound could be heard coming from the shadows. As the torchlight crossed Elaine's shoulders, something seemed to move under her shirt.
