Crimson Falls (The Depravity Chronicles)

by Joshua Grove

“Do you see anything?” Trevor shouted. He jogged toward the rim of the perimeter, then pulled out and fired another flare. Simon followed his lead. In all, they fired five more flares.

  “Dude,” Simon whimpered. Trevor saw it at the same time. On the ground, not ten feet from them, was a body.

  “It looks like the shadow werewolf,” Trevor said.

  “Now it’s a shadow werewolf? What’s that?” Simon laughed.

  “A type of werewolf that casts a freaking shadow over all the lore that’s ever been written,” Trevor answered as they crept toward the shadow.

  “How do you figure?” Simon asked. “I mean, we shot it with silver, grazed it with a flare, and nailed him with at least one blast from the Winchester.”

  “I don’t know, dude,” Trevor said. “He just doesn’t seem to look like one, or act like one. Usually werewolves aren’t so quiet. They growl and shit.”

  “True,” Simon admitted.

  When they came close enough to see the shadow up close, Simon pointed the Beretta at the head and Trevor shot two flares onto the ground beside it. When he looked at the body, he dropped the Winchester in shock.

  “Good thing that wasn’t loaded, genius,” Simon snarled. Trevor wasn’t moving. A look of horror washed across his face. Once Simon looked at the face of the shadow he instantly understood. It was Trevor’s father.

  Both boys stood in silence. A voice startled them.

  “Trevor!”

  “Jesus Christ!” Trevor yelled, looking at Simon. “That’s my mom’s voice!” He looked frantically all around them.

  Simon grabbed the radio from the belt loop on his pants. “Shit, I’m sorry. I turned it on when I realized we had killed it. I figured we would need it so we could call your mom.”

  “Give me that!” Trevor snarled. He looked at his father, then at the radio, and back to his father again.

  “Trevor? Trevor can you hear me? It’s Mom.”

  Trevor closed his eyes. He lifted the radio closer to his mouth, his hands trembling. “Mom.”

  “Oh, Jesus. Thank God! Where are you? What were you thinking?”

  Trevor said nothing.

  “Honey, where are you? Are you safe?”

  Trevor tossed the radio to Simon. “I can’t deal with this right now.”

  He fell to his knees and stared at the body of his father.

  “Ms. Blackwood? This is Simon.”

  “Simon? Simon! What are you doing there?”

  “Trevor, well, he came and got me. You know, at the game.”

  “The game? Right. Are you safe?”

  “Well, that depends,” Simon said as he looked around him. He decided to shoot two more flares into the trees, and then two more onto the ground.

  “Depends on what? What are you doing?”

  “Shooting flares.”

  “Flares?” She sounded scared. “Why in the hell would you be shooting flares?”

  “We’re in the woods, maybe halfway between the Brickton house and the Laundromat,” Simon responded.

  “In the woods? Did Trevor tell you what’s been going on in those very woods?”

  “Yeah, Ms. Blackwood. That’s why we’re here.”

  “You went looking for the killer?”

  “Well, it’s more like we’re looking for the werewolf.”

  Trevor stood back up and grabbed the radio. “Jesus, Simon!”

  “Well, it’s not like it’s a mystery anymore!”

  “Simon? Are you there?” she asked.

  “Mom, it’s me. I think you need to come out here.” Trevor stood up and turned away from his father. He couldn’t stand to look at him anymore. His father had become a werewolf.

  “Stay where you are!” she ordered.

  “Trevor!” Simon cried. “He’s gone!”

  “Mom!” Trevor cried into the radio. “Dad’s gone! He’s gone!”

  “What?”

  Radio silence.

  “What do you mean, ‘Dad’s gone?’”

  “Don’t bother coming here,” Trevor said. “We’re coming to the Brickton house. We’ll be there soon.” He turned off the radio and handed it back to Simon.

  “I’m sorry, dude,” Simon said.

  Trevor lifted his hand. “Did you see where my dad went?”

  “No, I was watching you.” Both boys looked around as the flares began to fade again. Simon pulled another Beretta out of the bag and tried to hand it to Trevor.

  “I’m not shooting my father, Simon,” Trevor declared.

  “He won’t hesitate to kill you, Trevor,” Simon said. “He’s not your father anymore.”

  Trevor whirled around and was almost nose to nose with his best friend. “This isn’t a movie, Simon. And it isn’t a book. This is my father.”

  “Yeah, I know, Trevor. And I’m sorry. But there’s a reason those kinds of sappy lines are always in our novels. It’s because it’s true.”

  “Screw that,” Trevor said, throwing the gun onto the ground. He started walking briskly toward the Laundromat.

  “Well, I have us covered,” Simon said. “Let’s pray it doesn’t try to kill us.”

  “My dad won’t kill me.”

  “Well, he kinda sort of just tried to kill us a minute ago. Sometimes werewolves go after their families in case…” Simon began to explain, but Trevor shut him down.

  “Just stop talking, okay? Let’s just go back to the car in silence. Please.”

  “Whatever, dude,” Simon said.

  Trevor felt badly about yelling at his best friend, but Simon just couldn’t understand what he was feeling. It wasn’t his father that had been running around killing people. It wasn’t his father that had been trying to kill his own son. And it wasn’t his father that seemed dead and now had disappeared again. It was all a little more than Trevor had anticipated. A little more than he thought he could handle.

  Trevor noticed that Simon still had both weapons drawn, keeping a close eye on him and their surroundings. He was grateful for Simon. There was little doubt that if he had come out here alone he would have died. Worse, he would have died at the hands of his own father. Had his father been in the woods all this time? Had he been lurking around Crimson Falls, catching glimpses of his family while trying to fight the evil curse of the werewolf? He needed answers. Considering the fact that his mom was hiding silver bullets in the weapons closet, those answers were a half mile away at the Brickton house.

  “What now?” Simon asked as they cleared the woods and made it back to the car in one piece.

  “We go to see Mom and tell her that dear old Dad is back.”

  * * * * * *

  2

  What was he thinking? Anna thought to herself as she drove her cruiser to the Brickton estate. Matthew, Amy, Anish, and Sam were with her. She wanted nothing more than to go to the Laundromat and search for her son and his friend.

  “I’m sure he’s fine,” Sam said. “He’s a tough kid.”

  “Yeah, he’s tough, but he’s out there in those woods.”

  “With a stockpile of weapons,” Matthew pointed out. “Plus, I’ve known Simon since he was born. Next to Trevor, he is the smartest kid I’ve ever met – and I do mean ever.”

  “I know,” Anna said. “That’s what scares me.”

  “I understand that,” Sam said. “But at the same time, brains come in handy in times like these.”

  “Mom?” Trevor’s voice called. Anna pulled her radio with such force it almost broke its cradle.

  “Trevor! Are you okay?”

  “We’re back in the car now. We’re safe and are coming to the house.”

  “No, I want you to go right back to the station,” Anna ordered, but it was too late. Trevor had already turned his radio off. “Son of a bitch!” she cried.

  “Language,” Matthew chuckled. “Does he remind you of anyone, Anna?”

  “Stuff a sock in it, priest,” Anna joked.

  “What was that all about?” Amy asked.

  “Well, when we w
ere Trevor’s age, we went hunting for the killer who murdered my father,” Matthew relayed. “We broke into her father’s gun cabinet and searched the woods behind my house.”

  “Did you ever find anything?” Sam asked.

  “Not a damn thing,” Anna recalled. “In hindsight, I guess we should have hunted the Brickton Estate.”

  “True, true,” Matthew agreed. “But that experience did ignite a passion in you for law enforcement.”

  “That it did,” she said with a smile.

  Anna was grateful to be in the cruiser with people she liked. She was also pleased that Trevor was still in one piece. In the back of her mind she knew he would be okay, even in the midst of all the craziness of the evening. Perhaps all the gun toting and hunting her husband had done with him had actually paid off.

  She looked in the rearview mirror and could see the three cruisers following her. Anticipating that citizens would begin arriving shortly after they did, she got on the radio to help coordinate.

  “Dean, Tim, you’re in the van with the dogs, correct?”

  “Copy that, Sheriff,” Tim said.

  “Jake, Geraldine, your cruisers have the weapons.”

  “Copy, Sheriff,” both Jake and Geraldine echoed.

  “When we get to the Brickton Estate we will not have a lot of time to prepare. I need Sam and Jake with me. Dean, I need you to coordinate with Tim to establish a perimeter around the house. The rest of you are to follow Tim. He is in charge.”

  “Copy, Sheriff,” everyone agreed.

  They turned the corner where Sam had run off the road, and the house came into view. Every light in the house was on, casting a foreboding shadow over the front yard and tree line. Anna shuddered at the sight of it.

  “Sheriff, we didn’t leave those lights on,” Tim radioed. “Someone’s been here since we left.”

  “Imagine that,” Anna said. She parked her cruiser at the base of the porch at the side of the house. The remaining cars parked close behind.

  “Get those dogs out!” Anna ordered as she climbed out of her cruiser. She looked around for Trevor, but didn’t see Simon’s Honda.

  “Our two other brothers are on their way,” Dean said as he nodded toward the end of the driveway, which was eclipsed by the trees.

  “Good to know,” Anna said.

  Dean and Tim walked into the backyard with the dogs, while Aaron, Ralph, and Geraldine followed them, their weapons drawn. A car was coming around the corner, its high beams blinding them.

  Must be Simon and Trevor, Anna thought to herself. She watched as they parked beside the van and got out of the car.

  “Mom!” Trevor called. She walked up and hugged him as tightly as she could, then held him in front of her with her hand on his shoulders.

  “Why would you do this?” she asked, trying to remain as quiet and calm as she could.

  “Because I was the only one who knew it wasn’t human,” he explained. “I thought it was a werewolf.”

  “But now we’re not so sure,” Simon added.

  “Oh, and what makes you so sure it’s not a werewolf?” Anna asked, trying to keep sarcasm from flowing into her tone.

  “Cute, Mom,” Trevor shot back. “We shot it and it didn’t die. But we did manage to get a good look at it. We recognized him.”

  “Who was it?” Anna asked, only half believing their story.

  “It was...” he tried to say. “It was…” Trevor said again, but couldn’t finish.

  “It was his dad,” Simon said.

  Anna’s heart began racing and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck slowly come to attention. She wasn’t sure how to answer what Simon had just announced. Trevor looked at her with a haunted expression.

  “It’s true,” Trevor said. “Then we lost him. He just vanished.”

  “That’s what you meant when you said that your dad was gone,” Sam interjected. Trevor just nodded.

  “Trevor, honey, your father isn’t the killer,” Anna said soothingly.

  “You didn’t see what we saw,” Trevor said. “He hid in the trees and moved faster than anyone could. I think he’s a shadow werewolf.”

  “You have quite the imagination, young man,” Jake said as he joined the group.

  “No one asked you, douche,” Trevor snapped. Jake looked at Anna, who shook her head.

  “Get into the house, Jake,” Anna ordered. “We’re right behind you.” She nodded toward Sam so he would follow Jake.

  “Trevor, Simon, I need you to stay with Tim and Geraldine,” Anna said. She wasn’t sure where the safest place would be for Trevor, but knew the least safest place would be with her.

  Trevor immediately shook his head. “We’re going with you, Mom. You’re best equipped to keep us safe.”

  “Nice try, Trevor,” Anna retorted. “But you’ve had enough excitement for one day. Believe it or not, I am trying to keep you and Simon alive. So please just do as I say.”

  Simon looked at Trevor, shrugged his shoulders, and was the first to speak. “Okay, Anna, we’ll stay here.”

  “Dude!” Trevor yelled as he smacked Simon on the arm.

  “Deal with it,” Simon growled.

  “Thanks, boys,” Anna said in relief. “And Trevor, please make sure you stay here. If you go on some cockamamie mission I swear to God I will make your life a living hell.”

  Trevor laughed and was about to speak, but the look on Anna’s face made him squirm. He shrugged in agreement.

  Anna took one last look around her, satisfied that the guys could handle the boys as well as the civilians who would soon be arriving. She turned to her small group, which included Matthew, Amy, Sam, Jake, and Anish. She gestured for them to follow Sam up the stairs. As they did, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her. It seemed to press against her, almost like it was trying to push her down the stairs.

  “I’m never coming back to this place again,” she said to herself.

  “What did you say, Anna?” Matthew asked as she entered the mudroom.

  “It wasn’t important,” she mumbled. “So where exactly is this secret passage?”

  “Don’t you think we should go down where Tim and them just were?” Jake said. It was more a statement than a question.

  “If I thought that then we would do that,” Anna barked. “I have a feeling that whatever room Michael was being held in is going to lead us to where Lionel may have been taken. I’m sure they are connected in some way.”

  “That makes sense,” Sam said. Jake’s face got red and he began walking swiftly toward the library.

  “Asshole,” Amy coughed through her hands. Everyone smiled.

  “This is quite a house,” Sam said as they entered the living room. Anna could see through the large windows and was happy to see that Dean, Dylan, and Tim were creating the perimeter with the dogs as well as other officers. Trevor and Simon were talking with Geraldine. For the first time she felt like they weren’t ten steps behind the killer.

  This might work in our favor, she thought to herself as she followed everyone into the hallway. When she entered the library, Anna was overwhelmed by the enormity of the room. Amy noticed her fascination.

  “I know,” Amy said as she walked up to Anna. “Believe it or not, he’s read all of them.”

  “I’m not sure how I feel about that,” Anna admitted. “Looks like Trevor and Simon aren’t the only geniuses in this town.”

  “And what am I? Chopped liver?” Matthew said with a wide grin. “After all, I found this.” He gestured to the large table.

  “So this is where you found the secret door?” Anna asked.

  “See for yourself,” Matthew said as he disappeared under the table.

  Anna felt like she was a teenager again, searching in the woods for Matthew’s father. She also remembered being at St. Mark’s with Matthew when they were seventeen, exploring the old church’s many small cupboards and strange passageways. When she knelt down to crawl under the table, she shook her head and h
er nostalgia for earlier days grew as she faced the blackness of the passage in front of her.

  * * * * * *

  3

  Dean and Dylan Lofton stood side by side as they scanned the woods for any sign of movement. Both men were almost 6’3, both had dirty blonde hair, and both men were proud. Dean took a moment to take stock of what had happened today, then just shook his head.

  “I say we just jump into those trees and find this guy,” Dylan said, the younger brother by more than a decade. At thirty years old, he had yet to grow out of what Dean called ‘extended adolescence.’

  “That’s a smart idea,” Tim said. “You’ll get yourself killed.”

  “I could handle it,” Dylan protested.

  “That’s fine, Dylan,” Tim laughed. “You keep telling yourself that.”

  “Yeah,” Geraldine added. “And when you see the shit that we did under the house, then maybe you can tell me how excited you are to run into the woods like a madman.”

  Dean often grew sick of how people seemed to pick on his little brother. Sure, there were times when Dylan deserved it. But most of the time people just didn’t understand him. Didn’t know how to take his jokes.

  “I hear some dogs up in the driveway,” Tim said. “I’ll take care of them.”

  “Thanks,” Dean said. “We’ll hold the line.” When Tim was halfway up the yard, a large shadow zigzagged through the trees at the edge of the yard. The dogs began barking and howling, pulling at Dean and Dylan.

  “Let’s get ‘em!” Dylan yelled. The dogs sprinted forward and Dylan followed them, almost tripping several times until he disappeared into the woods.

  “Dylan!” Dean screamed. He turned around frantically, wondering how to save his little brother. His other two brothers were making their way down the hill. When they saw Dean panicking, they picked up their pace.

  “What’s going on, Dean?” his second youngest brother asked.

  “Dylan just ran into the woods!” Dean cried.

  “Then let’s go get him!” his brothers cried. Without hesitation they too darted into the woods after their little brother.

  “Son of a bitch!” Dean said. He followed his brothers into the woods, even though he could hear Tim screaming at him to stay behind.

  Dean stopped running, coming to a halt down by the river. The only sound around him was water, with occasional shouts from up toward the house. Suddenly a dog yelped wildly, followed by several more dogs howling in fear. He could hear them running through the woods, along with small whimpers. One dog ran up to him, its tail between its legs.