by Tim Wellman
"Had a fucked up way of showing it," Steve said. He grabbed the big wheel and turned it several times as the locking mechanism clanged and clicked and then suddenly popped and opened slightly. "Open." He tugged on the massive door and with some struggle managed to get it moving toward him. Once in motion, it seemed to open the rest of the way by itself. "Hey, it's gonna be dark in there and the electric is off, now."
"Our room works on batteries," Kimberly said.
"They didn't want us to be around regular electricity," Tamara said.
Steve narrowed his eyes and looked down at the girls who seemed to have cheered up and were looking at each other. They were smiling. He felt a shiver run down his spine. For one brief moment he thought he may have just made a massive mistake but quickly shook the thought from his mind. He had made the little girls happy and after what they had been through the last day and probably their entire lives, they deserved a little bit of happiness. "Why didn't they want you to have real electricity?"
They both shrugged. "They were afraid." Tamara pointed up. "That switch turns the power on."
Steve pushed it and the room inside the door lit up. "So the room must have batteries that were continuously recharged by house current. That means the batteries will run down, maybe pretty fast, so you have to hurry and get your stuff."
"Understood," Tamara said. She grabbed Kimberly's hand and they walked into the room and then looked back at Steve and motioned him to follow.
"Are you sure it's safe?" he said. Then he realized he was asking two little girls if he would be safe and laughed out loud.
The ceiling was low and he had to stoop to keep from bumping his head but it was exactly like any girl's room. Pink beds, stuffed animals and dolls lightened the mood. An open closet lined one wall and was full of clothes and shoes. There were mirrors and a dresser, books and games. It was a girl's room other than the massive door and low ceiling; he had expected a prison cell. The girls had moved directly to a basket and were pulling things out and putting them in a garbage bag. "We need our dirty clothes."
"Hey, just take the things you really like," Steve said. "I'll buy you new things you need."
"You buy stupid clothes," Tamara said.
"Sorry!" he said. "I thought you were three."
They both looked at him and then continued to stuff the bag. And once the basket was emptied, they moved to the closet and began filling another bag. "We like plain dresses," Kimberly said. "We are dressed like dolls, now."
Steve got a crick in his back and jerked up, banging his head on the ceiling. "Son of a bitch!" He rubbed his hair and then punched the ceiling softly with his fist. He hit it a little harder. "This is painted steel."
"Yes, the room is a solid steel box," Tamara said. She spoke as if it could have been made of nothing else.
"A question," he said. "Every time it seems like you two get upset, something happens," he said.
The two girls whirled around and looked at him. They stared without speaking until Tamara broke the silence. "Yes."
"I... I don't believe you are bad girls," he said. "After what's been done to you, locked up like animals, you have the right to be mad at the world."
Tamara smiled. "We're not responsible."
"It's him," Kimberly said. "Grampa."
"But he's dead, girls," Steve said. "I saw the old man's burnt body myself."
"He didn't live in the house," Tamara said. "He lives in the woods."
Steve sat down and for the first time in several minutes was able to stretch his neck. He was eye-level with the girls now and he could see they were noticeably shaking. He held out his hands to them and they both walked to him and leaned on his shoulders. "You're saying old man Perry is alive and lives in the woods?"
"He lives in the woods," Kimberly said.
He understood immediately that Kimberly had only affirmed part of his question. "I think you girls were told a lot of things that maybe weren't true," he said. "But, let's go for now, okay? The room in safe, so we can come back and get more of your stuff tomorrow."
The girls nodded and handed Steve the bags full of clothes. "You can carry these and we'll carry our drawing books." They walked past him as he was getting up to his feet, and then Kimberly stopped and went back to her bed and grabbed a stuffed pink bunny and ran back to catch up with Tamara and they all left the small, metal cage.
"Hold up," he said. "Let me shut the door to keep out any animals."
The girls seemed happy as they climbed the steps and walked across the blackened floor and back into the yard. The sun was just setting and the sky had a pinkish glow causing the trees to take on the same color. They all three stopped for a moment and looked around. It was a scene that none of them had really seen before; the girls had never been allowed out and Steve had never been allowed up on the hill. It hit him that from the time he was in high school till yesterday, what seemed like most of his lifetime, the girls were locked up in that tiny room.
"Is it always like this?" Tamara said.
"No, not usually," he said. "It's extra pretty today."
"This is summer?" Kimberly said. "It's hot."
"Yeah, it gets hotter, it was just eighty today," Steve said.
Both girls turned and looked into the woods behind the house. "He's out there." They seemed very scared and both wrapped an arm around Steve's legs.
"You girls were afraid of the old man?" he said. "Didn't he just lock you up? He never hurt you, did he?"
"Our parents locked us up to protect us," Tamara said.
"Say what?" he said. He dropped down on his knees and put his hands on the girls' shoulders. "Your parents locked you up to protect you?"
"From him," Kimberly said.
"So, your parents..."
"Were good," Tamara said.
"I wondered why they seemed to give up their lives to try to get you to safety." He took a deep breath and smiled. "But they did good, right?"
The girls nodded. "They did the best they could."
He stood up and pointed down the hill. "Okay, let's get out of here for now," he said. "There's ice cream and cake waiting for us." They started walking down the hill, raising a trail of dust from the driveway as they struggled to take secure steps in the loose gravel and clay. "If he's out there, he has to come down sometime. He don't have a house to use as a base, now."
The girls didn't look up; they simply kept walking. "He doesn't need anything to keep going," Tamara said.
"Fire!" Kimberly said as she pointed toward the town.
"Holy fuck!" Steve yelled. "It's the bingo hall!" He started walking faster but kept it slow enough so the girls could keep up. "Fire!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled as loud as he could. "Fire!" He could see a few people running toward the fire, now, mostly the wives and children of the men who were attending the meeting.
"Grampa did it," Tamara said as they stepped back onto the sidewalk.
"Missy!" Steve yelled as a woman ran past. "What have you heard?"
"Sam called!" she yelled back but kept running. "Weren't nobody hurt! They all got out! Said it was them damned kids started it!"
"Stop!" There was something in his voice that was different and she seemed to sense it and stopped. "Take a look here!" He waved his arms at the girls.
"Oh," she said. "They're with you?"
"Not out of my sight the entire day!" he said. "Ya tell them that!"
She nodded and then took off toward the bingo hall. "I'll tell 'em."
"You think the old man did it?" he said.
The girls nodded. "He'll destroy everything," Tamara said.
"But why?" Steve said. "He seems to protect you girls, too, but you were locked up to keep him away from you. None of this makes sense."
Kimberly shrugged. "Our parents never told us much except he... our family... has always had some abilities," she said. "But something happened to him before we were born, made him crazy. Mom said he read bad books."
Steve shook his head. "B
ad as in evil? Like occult books or something?"
"Demon worship," Tamara said. "Dad said he wanted us to help him so they had to keep us away from him."
"So, he's protecting you now..."
"Because he still wants us to join him," she said. "But the fire last night must have made him mad at everyone."
"Girls, this is important," he said. He didn't look at them because he was afraid of the answer. "Everything that's happened... the ambulance wreck, Jake's death, the bingo fire... you had nothing to do with?"
"Nothing," Tamara said.
"Well..." Kimberly started to speak but Tamara punched her on the arm.
"You need to tell me the truth," he said. "I won't hate you."
"We have some power," Tamara said. "It's why he wants us. We can sense him, but we had nothing to do with the things that happened."
"Well..." Kimberly said.
"Okay, we made you trip and fall earlier," Tamara said. "But you said these stupid dresses made us look cute."
"Okay, come on, we have to tell everyone," he said. "And then we'll figure out how to stop old man Perry."
"No, it's not him," Tamara said.
"Say wha?"
"He died in the fire," Kimberly said. "Our other grampa is the bad guy! He lives in the woods."
"Okay, see this look on my face?" he said. He dropped to his knees again so he was eye-level with them and pointed to his face. "Completely fucking lost."
"Grampa Perry's sons, our dads, married sisters, our moms. And their dad lived on the hill too, until he moved into the woods," Tamara said. "Simple."
"I might have got that," he said as he stood up. "Might not." They started walking and were soon on the sidewalk. "Another question. Do you girls really want everyone's property?"
"We don't want it," Kimberly said. "As long as we can be together and live normal lives. Or kinda normal?"
"Hey!" Steve yelled at the crowd watching the bingo hall burn down.
"There they are!" someone yelled, and everyone started coming down the street toward them.
"Now, hold up," he said. "Missy was supposed to tell you the girls had nothing to do with the fire."
She stepped through the crowd. "Oh yeah, I forgot. Them girls was a comin' off the hill with Steve when y'all was havin' the fire." she said. "I seen it and can avow to it."
"I don't believe you!" Charlie said.
"God, Charlie, don't you ever just shut the fuck up?" Steve said. "These girls have been in my sight since we left y'all this morning."
The other guys started mumbling to each other. Steve couldn't really make out what they were saying, but that was sometimes difficult even when they were talking loudly. They all suddenly turned back and pointed at the girls. "We ain't trustin' them devils," Tom said. He cleared his throat. "But I reckon we trust you. So, if'n you can say they didn't have nothin' ta do with the fire, we can b'lieve ya."
"Well, I can't say that," he said. "They're not to blame, but they are the cause."
"I told y'all!" Charlie yelled.
"Shut the fuck up, Charlie!" several men said at the same time.
"Ya best be explainin' whatcha mean, Steve," his dad said, "b'fore these hillbillies string ya all up." Everyone turned as the roof of the bingo hall collapsed with a loud boom like a clap of thunder.
"It's an old man," he said. "Someone we didn't know lived up there. The father of old man Perry's sons' wives." He looked down at the girls. "Did I get that right?" They nodded. "These girls were locked up their entire lives to protect them from him. They're seven years old for god's sake! They've suffered every day of their lives because of that old man!" He nodded and took a deep breath. "And they don't want the property. They're tearing up the newer will and honoring the old one that gives y'all everything. Y'all get your buildings and businesses."
"What?" at least ten men said at the same time. Then the entire crowd seemed to move as a whole toward Steve and the girls. "Really?"
"Really," he said. "On one condition. You all have to help protect them from that crazy old man. They're not evil; they're not devils... but the old man is. He's some kind of witch or devil worshipper or something. I know that sounds fucked up, but I believe it's true."
"Them girls said this morning that their grampa killed the paramedics," Jerry said. "I remember that."
"And Jake was yellin' 'bout seein' some old man when he got killed," Tom said.
"But ya's wantin' us ta believe this old dude has some sorta special powers or something," someone else said. "That's just some spook show bullshit ain't it?"
"I reckon we all jumped bigger'n shit right into a wrong conclusion," the chief said. "But I reckon if ya believe in God ya gotta believe in Satan, too, so they's gotta be some powers out there ain't normal human."
"Ya believin' this, chief?" Jerry said.
"I ain't not believin' it," he said. "Somethin' sure as hell weird happenin' 'round here."
"That old man out there ain't normal, never was according to the girls. He's been doing occult stuff and satanic stuff, I guess," Steve said. "He's got some powers regular people don't have so he's gonna be hard ta stop."
"Sounds like bullshit ta me," someone else said. "Bunch a horror movie stuff."
"Is he still human, Stevie?" Tom said.
"Yep, he's still flesh and blood far as I know," Steve said.
"Then a 30-06 'ill bring 'im down like a sack a shit."
"Now, y'all's talkin' about a human bein', here," the chief said. "I think ya's forgettin' that'd be murder ta go out huntin' 'im. This ain't no damned zombie movie where ya can just go around shootin' people."
Steve scratched the back of his head and sighed. "All I know is I believe the girls and they say there's a wicked old man out there. He's killed three of us and burned down the bingo hall and he's..." He looked down at the girls and they both looked up at him and nodded. "He's watching us right now."
Everyone started looking around. There were a hundred places he could hide: behind buildings, inside buildings, along the hedges of the yards, in the woods at the end of the block, up on the Perry hill or another hill overlooking the town. But everyone seemed to sense his presence, now.
"I just got the creeps," Jerry said. Several others nodded and rubbed their arms.
Tamara pointed toward a house. "He's there!"
"In the house?" the chief said. "That's Eddie Lynch's house." Everyone flinched and then out of instinct ran behind a nearby car and then started peeping from the relative safety of two tons of steel between them and the house. "Ain't no reason fer 'im to be in there."
"These girls are our secret weapon," Steve whispered. "They have some powers of their own." Everyone took a step away from them. "They're not evil!"
"Fire!" Kimberly yelled. She pointed at the house as a window blew out and a huge flame roared through the opening.
"Dang it!" Jerry said. "Eddie was just sayin' he was gonna kill them girls at the meetin'." He shook his head. "Ya think he's in there? He took off b'fore the bingo caught fire."
"Okay, forget what I said," the chief said. "Boys, go get your huntin' rifles."
"We can help," Tamara said.
"Shit, y'all is too small to hold a gun," Sam said. "Maybe a derringer er somethin'. Can ya throw a grenade?"
Steve shook his head and sighed. "No, she means they can sense where he's at."
They could only stand and watch the house burn. The town's one fire truck was already tending the other fire. The chief had already called in Kenoa and the county's departments again, but they were busy with the bingo hall, too.
"I think I seen this old man b'fore," Charlie said. He had everyone's attention. "He got long gray hair and a big beard? Little hunched-over runt of a man?"
The girls nodded. "That's what our parents used to say."
"Where you seen him, Charlie?" Jerry said. "Around town?"
"He come inta my store a while back an' I remembered 'cause he weren't no body I'd ever seen 'round here b'fore," he said. "Loo
ked like some damned old hippy." He pulled his own scraggly beard a few times. "Bought one a them red axes like you bought, Mark, an' never paid me fer, I might add. And some buildin' stuff, ropes and whatnot."
"Building stuff?" Steve said. "You mean like hammers and saws and stuff?"
"Yeah, that's right," Charlie said. "Stuff he'd need to build something outa wood."
"So he lives up on the hill someplace and built a shack 'er somethin' up there," the chief said.
Steve nodded. "But it's gonna be too dark soon to do much good tonight."
"We're gonna set up a perimeter right here in town for the night," the chief said. "Even if we ain't after 'im, we can protect what we got left." He looked around. "Y'all meet back here as soon as ya get your guns. And somebody find that Eddie Lynch b'fore he gets hisself killed."
"It's too late, chief!" someone yelled. Tom pointed toward the burning house as a person, completely engulfed in flames, came running out the front door before falling on the sidewalk. He was still holding a rifle, but he was a dead man before he hit the ground.
"Fuck!" the chief said. "Go get your guns, boys, and be careful! Bring your families back here with ya, we're all gonna be campin' out here tonight." He looked down at the girls and nodded. "Y'all feel like helpin' us get this bastard?"
They smiled and nodded. "Can you burn the stuff in the bags first?" Tamara said.
Steve held up the bags of their belongings. "These?"
They nodded. "And the other stuff we got from our room," Kimberly said.
"I reckon so, if ya think it needs doin'," the chief said.
****
"Hey Steve," his dad said. The entire town had gathered in the small park area by the courthouse and the men had set up a circle of defense with the women and children inside. "Just what kinda shit can this old man do? Are we talkin' like bible demons and stuff? Or like horror movies?"
"Not sure, dad," he said. "The girls say he has a lot of power. All I know for sure is he can be incredibly fast when he wants to be 'cause he made it down the hill almost instantly."
"Do you think he can be killed?"
Tamara and Kimberly were sitting on a small bench with Susie and a couple of older girls. Everyone was on edge, but Tamara seemed to be listening intently to anything going on outside the circle. "He can be killed, I think," she said.
