10:51
Lara and the gang trailed through the large oak front door of the lodge.
“Okay, shit! Now what!” Lara shot off at Dian.
“I got about as much of a plan as you got.” A roar reverberated through the room as a herd of motorcycles closed in on the building. “Okay, got a plan!” Dian crawled to a door opposite the fireplace. She opened it and hopped inside.
The five of them clumped together in a coat closet. A quivering orange light lit along the bottom of the door. “We wait till they are all gone.”
“Hold up,” Lara said in the darkness, “Denver, you’re friends with the bikers?”
“Well… Not anymore.”
“Anymore?” Michael asked. He grew insecure as he heard Denver’s voice a good foot above himself.
“I was with em. I was all for them and… then they started doin’ some shady shit I didn’t like. So I dipped out.”
“Alright!” Dian clapped her hands. “We ain’t gonna have a smoke break talkin’ bout’ who likes who. Michael, since you the one who tossed us in this mess then you come up with a plan.”
“Shoot.” A sound echoed in Michael’s head. “Hold up.” He said as he tried to find the noise.
Cassiel spoke. His voice started as an inaudible murmur that grew clearer. ‘I sense her upstairs in two fifteen’.
“Upstairs! Two fifteen.” Michael said, astonished.
“How do you-” A collection of footsteps and muffled talking reverberated from the front porch, hampering Lara’s question. The roar of the rainfall flushed in the lobby as the door swung open.
A biker uttered a feminine, devilish cackle as they strolled into the room.
“Well shit, how many do ya’ll think are in there,” Lara whispered.
“There’s four,” Denver said. No one could honestly tell. The clank of boots outside the door was like the beat of an angry tap dancer.
“YEE! YEE!” a man called from the back. He tossed what Lara and the group assumed was a can across the hardwood floor. The thing clunked and then blocked a chunk of the fire’s glow as it slid past the door.
“Leonard!” Lucy said, “We ain’t here to mess shit up.”
“UGH!… fine!” Leonard called. “We gettin’ any dough for this, my billfold is gettin’ slim.”
“Not yet, but this could be a big score,” Lucy said as she walked past the coat closet. “This could get us closer to the devil in town; think of all the recognition we would get.” The group felt Leonard’s hefty footsteps creak the floorboards as he walked towards them. Two thick lines obscured the fire’s glow as he stopped in front of the closet.
“Awe, c’mon Luce!” his voice dipped as he picked up the can and mashed it in his hands. “You believe in that dog shit?”
“I sure as hell do.” Lucy’s voice fell as walked towards the central staircase.
“Ya know, sometimes myths are good left in the brains of the idiots who wrote em.” Leonard called back.
“What’s goin’ on down there!” An elderly woman shouted from the balcony.
“Sorry, ma’am,” Lucy said. “We are just electricians comin’ to fix the power problem.”
“Well, mind shuttin’ ya’lls damn mouths, I’m tryina’ ta’ sleep.”
“I’m sorry mam, I’ll tell my co-workers to keep their volume down. You happen to know where room two fifteen is at? We think a circuit broke up in there.”
“Far-left room down that little hallway.” The old woman slammed her door.
The bikers were silent as they flocked upstairs.
Lara broke the silence between the four of them, “Ya’ll think there is any way we can sneak up there now?”
“We could make a run for it?” Dian said.
“Well, we can—hold on…” Michael paused, expecting Cassiel to call down some divine wisdom; instead, they heard the exact opposite.
“Ay! Luce, I uh… can hear some kids whisperin’ downstairs.” Leonard called.
“Well shit, make use of ya-self and scope it out,” a masculine voice called out from the top of the stairs. Leonard groaned. The stairs groaned with him as he trekked back down. His heavy footsteps grew as he dragged towards them. Their breaths grew uncontrollably louder. Lara clung onto the doorknob. The two slabs of feet were back in the doorway. Lara could feel the knob turn through her hand. She gripped it tighter, only for it to slip through her fingers.
The same electric pain she felt when driving snuck into her hands once more. Blue sparks shot through her palms and trailed from the doorknob. The air felt as though they were twelve feet deep in water.
— — —
An electric strand stung across the closest as she yanked her hand back, casting a dim blue glow for a fraction of a second. Lara clinched her hand, taking in gasping breaths as she cradled it.
“Hey, ya’ll-” Dian’s whisper was muffled as Lara covered her mouth. Dian yanked her hand off. “Look!” The feet disappeared from the doorway and were replaced by a honey yellow illumination. “Wait, what the hell was that, Lara?”
“I,” she hissed and clutched her hand once more, “I don’t quite know myself. Earlier tonight this shadow chased us down, and this pain shot up and… well, next thing I know it we’re somewhere else. So…” Lara cracked open the door. A lemon-yellow light from a rusted chandelier filled the once somber lobby.
“Lara, do you know what’s causin’ this?” Denver asked as he walked through the doorway. He tapped his foot on the ground, as if he were testing the temperature of a hot tub. The lights were back on, and the bikers were nowhere to be seen. The entire room looked about the same except for the staircase. The staircase, once draped in candy red carpet, was now covered in honey yellow shag.
“You think I know?” Lara said.
“It ain’t rainin’ anymore” Michael gestured towards the front of the lobby. The windows were crystal clear, and the streetlamps lit like boats out on dark shores. They tip-toed upstairs. Lara peered her head over the brim of the staircase.
“Y’all there ain’t anyone here… I can see the door!”
“Let’s get goin’.” Michael crept around Lara.
“Hold up!” Lara raised her hand, causing the group to knot into a pile-up accident up the staircase.
“What Lara!?” Dian called.
“We don’t know where we’re at. They could be in there waiting.”
“We made it this far, and we ain’t even in the same buildin’.” Lara nodded at Michael, then led the pack up the stairs, dipping into the left hall, and searching for room 215.
Lara tensed herself as she braced the door handle, half expecting some creature to come out on the other side, and half expecting her hand to be sent in a joy buzzer like shock again. She opened it. The bed was made, the TV was off, and the hardwood floor was clean.
“We have the right room?” Denver asked from the back. “It says 215, but this buildin’ could have an entirely different layout from where we were.”
“Hold up. Lara, take off your shoes.” Michael interrupted.
“What are you gonna do? Put bread and wine into my sneakers and pray us back?”
“That shock from your hand, maybe it can come back through static; you could rub your feet on the carpet and touch another door.”
Lara slid off her dirt-stained tennis shoes. “Here goes nothing.” She shimmied her feet on the hallway carpet like a psychotic tango dancer. The group heard a minute tick as she touched the doorknob. Nothing.
“We were stressed out when that truck almost hit us.” Denver shrugged as he spoke. “So, what if it’s with your emotions?”
“We could try,” Lara rested her hand on her chin. “Hold up, I wasn’t stressed when we got back.” She pressed her hands on her hips and sighed, “Goddamn it. We’re stuck here!” For a moment, the group studied the wooden hall as if some clue was burned in the yellow carpet. Lara's eyes widened. She shot a handout and open and closed the door in repeated sharp swings.
Dian trie
d to pull her away from the door. “Lara quit we could wake someone up!” Lara continued opening and closing. The door opened, and the door shut, the door opened-
— — —
-And ruptured Harvey’s silence. Lucy could make out where Harvey was from the rust orange glow of his shivering cigarette. She saw smoke billow around the moonlit outline of the window.
“Alright,” she rubbed her hands together. “Where is the body?” she heard the faint draw of a cigarette as he was just about to speak.
“The bathroom...”
“Me and my boys got ya covered ight’. Stay here and relax.”
“Ay, Cain! Get in here. I’ll grab the head you grab the legs.”
Harvey heard a hardy voice echoing from the doorway. Lucy closed-
— — —
-The door and swung it back open again, “Lara, stop!” the four of them grasped onto her arms and waist, tugging her back and forth. Lara pulled the door close to her with their tug and then open as they lost strength. The four of them stopped pulling for, as they heard-
— — —
-footsteps tapped up the stairs as Cain crept forward. “Collin! where you at?” his youngish voice rang at the top of the staircase.
“Up at the left!” Collin called. Cain could almost make out his muscular frame in the crow black shadows. “Here through the-
— — —
-Door swung open once more. As Lara slung it shut, she could feel the sparks forming along with her hand. The others roped their arms around her. “Lara, you gotta-” Dian was cut short as she could feel her entire body being tugged into the ground and saw lights flickering out. The carpet flicked from red to yellow with the lights. Lara swung the door open again. This time she heard a sizable thunk. and,
“Aughhh! shit!” A deep voice shot off behind the door.
“Collin, you alright!” Cain dashed, with light footfalls, towards Collin.
“Naw, Lucy! Why did you open the fuckin’ door like that!”
“Me?! I’ve been waitin’ for you two snail asses to get up here, the thing swung by itself. Harvey, you get all energetic in there?”
“Nope.” Harvey sniffed, “J… Just waiting.”
“Well… shit, what was that?”
Lara’s group froze as the clank of Lucy’s boots drew closer. The toe end of one boot was close to scuffing Michael’s shins.
“It was too you!” Collin groaned. “Look, I ain’t mad; just watch it next time.” Lara crept forward. The rest followed suit.
“I ain’t lyin’.” Lucy snapped back. Lara observed Harvey’s silhouette glancing out the window. She felt her way around the room, grasping for anywhere to hide, then found the bathroom doorway. Denver and the others slipped through the opening of the door like a herd of rats.
A strange aroma invaded Lara’s senses. Lara sniffed the air. Is it rust? Her hand fidgeted as she felt the ground in front of her, feeling for places to hide in the dark. At first, she felt the wood grain of the side cabinets, then the toilet’s hard chill, and finally—something soft. Something still lukewarm.
Is… is that?!
Denver’s zipper scrapped the bathroom wall, producing an audible scratch.
“Harvey, you sure she still dead?” Lucy said as she entered the room. Debbie’s foot pressed into Dian’s leg. Dian assumed it was only her cramped against Lara. Until she heard Lara’s breath behind her.
“I’m sure she’s dead.” Harvey sunk another draw of his cigarette “I saw her blood across the shower.”
The entire group caught onto that peculiar scent. Michael heard nothing but the race of his heart. He struggled not to throw up.
Dian brushed the foot aside and was filled with horror as it bounced back. Lara felt for something less sickening to balance on. As she blindly patted the floor behind her, something cold and familiar was just in her reach—a pistol. She gripped its handle and felt its barrel.
“Ay, it’s in here right?” Collin called. The soles of his boots echoed ominous taps towards the bathroom door. Lara crab crawled between Michael and Dian and kicked the door shut. She sprung up to lock it, but the lock was kicked out of shape.
“The fuck!” Collin tried to open the door, but Lara pressed on the other side. Michael began to sniffle. Dian tried to hamper his mumbled cries, but it only made it worse. “Jesus, Lucy!” Collin stumbled back, “She’s alive!” Denver leaped forward and blindly patted for the lock.
“What?!” Harvey said, his cigarette shook in his hand. “She can’t be, she shot herself, I saw it with my own eyes. I saw her, I-.” Michaels sniffles turned to audible weeping. A soft scratching trailed up and down the closed bathroom door as Denver tried to expand the illusion.
Collin dipped behind the front door. “Jesus fuckin’ christ, she’s still alive!”
“Just rush in!” Lucy said. “They could be gettin’ hungry soon.” Denver braced all his weight against the door, Lara joined alongside him. Her feet slid out as Collin’s sturdy arm heaved the door.
Chips of wood rained as Lara shot the top of the door frame.
“Shit!” Collin bounced back. “Lucy a little-” his words were cut short as glass shattered downstairs, followed by a guttural, echoing scream. Lucy, Cain, and Collin fled to the top of the stairwell.
The old lady and two others stood on the second floor and peering down the railing, unsure how to react.
“Help! Help! Dear god, LUCY! COLLIN! ANYONE! PLEEEAAASE!” Leonard wailed. Something out the window yanked him. Black tendrils covered his thick arm like fishnet leggings. A pair of pearl eyes gleamed on the other side of the shattered window. “COLLIN GET THE FU- augh!” Leonard’s head smacked against the window frame. The shadow was playing tug of war with Leonard’s fist tucked where a mouth should have been.
“Hey! Hey! Hey! back!” Lucy commanded the creature as if it were a dog. She then produced a clear vial of liquid from her front pocket. The being shouted a slurred scream as she sprayed the liquid on it. Leonard tumbled on the ground, producing a floor-trembling thud. The being skimmed Leonard’s arm with light burns. The critical damage came from the shard of glass which inscribed wood grain-like lacerations into his arm. His stomach heaved as he lay on his back. The shadowy being screeched as it scurried out into the darkness. Collin knelt down and lifted Leonard’s head.
“I can grab the body,” Denver whispered. “We need to hide her in a safe location. Lara lead the way.” Denver heaved Debbie over his shoulder. His legs shivered as he lifted himself up.
Lara eyed out the door, then surveyed the hallway, “The coast is clear.”
“Go grab the body bag,” Collin rummaged through Leonard’s pockets. “Cain, take his keys and drive; we can hopefully get him into your side cart.”
“We have a job to do.” Lucy said.
“A job?!” Collin mocked. “Fuck the job, Lucy! Leonard is one of us. We ain’t leavin’ him behind.”
Lucy stepped back, then sunk into herself, “Right fine.” She huffed and pointed at Leonard's passed out body with a furious hand. “But next time we won’t save his ass!”
Harvey looked outside his window and watched Lucy and company scramble and drive off like a couple of ants out in the distance.
Lara and her crew retreated soon after. Harvey peeled himself off the chair and blindly scooped all of his belongings into his backpack. A chunk of him died with Debbie. He stood at the brim of the stairs as a shell of his former self. Memories flickered like a poor TV signal as he trudged downstairs. How lively they were. He glanced at the mess of blood and glass that pooled near the front door.
Harvey knew he should have been fazed by it, but he had seen worse today—much worse.
Harvey observed his assignment papers in the car. He peeled an orange sticky note that had a synopsis of everything he already knew. He tossed the note aside and scrutinized each page, desperate for a clue as to where that devil resided in Joselean Springs.
Then it struck him.
A photo was t
ucked away in the back corner of one pocket. Harvey lifted it to the light and soaked in every detail. In the bottom corner, written in ink, was ‘RED.A.’ He looked through the list of places and found matched them with the photos. On top was an old black-and-white photo of Brookside Garden. The caption read ‘Seal2: gate’. On bottom was an enormous field with a disk of concrete in the center with ‘Seal1: ring’ was written on below.
He studied the town’s statistics and noticed a leap in town deaths. All a little after 1972. The death toll went from eight to nine people a year, followed by a steady jump of sixteen to seventeen deaths each year. Then he went back to the profile page.
I bet Donald knew the entire time. This person has got to be that demon. Shit, no wonder people kept on dying. I bet they walked in like pigs to some run-down slaughterhouse. I got my roots dug nicely into this town. Unlike the others, I know. I’m not leaving till I face this devil. This target isn’t an ordinary suspect, they are a full-blown killer.
Chapter 7
Side D Track 7
I Heard That
Michael tossed and turned in his sleep. The image of the back of her head bobbing as Denver carried her repeated through his head. God dang it… okay just don’t think, don’t think and you can sleep it’s that easy, just breathe… She’s gone. You could have warned her. Why did you not listen and warn her?
— — —
Cassiel’s white glare formed into view. Michael shuffled forward; icy dampness pooled at his feet. Cassiel dimmed from a blinding boulder of light to a baseball-sized ivory orb.
“Are you an angel?” Michael asked. He gazed at Cassiel with an empty, bitter expression. He could have been angry, but he didn’t have enough space in his heart for that.
“I am named to your need.”
“Why couldn’t you go off and warn her? You could have done somethin’, but you sent me off to it. If you’re an angel, then start actin’ like one.”
Out There: A Rural Horror Story Page 10
