The Hollow Skull

by Christopher Pike

  “She’s in shock. Any girl her age would be in shock after going through what she has. She …”

  He cut her off. “She’s not in shock.”

  Cass wept. “These things mean nothing. God, she’s my little sister. She can’t be one of those things.”

  “She killed that man at the plant.”

  Cass suddenly pounded on his chest. “She cannot be one of them! You killed that man! You had blood all over you!”

  Fred grabbed her and held her tight. He glanced around, but Mary was still in the bathroom. The old couple inside the gas station was watching TV.

  “I have blood on me because I tried to save the man,” Fred whispered in her ear as he struggled to hold her. “But I couldn’t because someone had ripped his throat open with bare hands. Please listen to me, Cass, there were only four of us there. You knocked out your guy and Mary killed our guy.”

  Cass couldn’t bear it, anything but this. She shuddered helplessly in his arms. “It’s not proof,” she mumbled. “You’re not going to hurt my Mary. I’ll kill you first.”

  Fred stroked her hair. “I don’t want to hurt Mary any more than you do. And you’re right, we need proof before we do anything. But maybe we can get that. When we destroyed what was left of Tim, he bled black. If Mary has been changed, she should have black blood in her system. When she comes back out of the bathroom, I want to poke her in the back with a needle. I’ll do it right in front of you and you can then get in the car with her. But have her sit on your lap again, and when she’s relaxed, take a quick peek at her undershirt. It’s white and should clearly show a black or red stain.”

  Cass stared up at him and shook her head. “No.”

  “Yes,” he said firmly. “I know this is painful for you, but you know that if she’s already one of them then we’ve lost her already. It may even be a kindness to her if we just stop in the desert and kill her.”

  “You bastard!” Cass tried to slap him.

  He grabbed her hand. “I’d want you to kill me if I was one of those things. And we have to think of the world. The military screwed up tonight, but I have faith they’ll keep that town bottled up. They will stop this plague before it can spread. But if Mary is one of those creatures, God only knows what she might do once she gets free of here. But I can tell you one thing for sure, she’ll kill us or convert us before she does anything else.”

  Cass pushed him away. “You’re mad!”

  He pulled a sewing needle from his back pocket. “The old woman inside gave me this a minute ago. I told her that I needed to fix a shirt I had to wear to a party. Understand, Cass, that I’m going to do this all right in front of you so you don’t think I’m one of those creatures. Remember, I’ll brush against her and seem to accidentally poke her in the back. Once the three of us are back in the car and rolling down the highway, you then check under her shirt to see what color her blood is. If it is black, when I ask if this is a good place to stop to take a leak, you will say yes. I’ll do the rest, you can walk away, out into the desert. It will be painless for her, I promise.”

  Cass stared at him. “You’re not going to kill Mary.”

  He nodded. “If she’s still Mary there’ll be no reason to kill her.”

  The tank was full. Fred removed the pump and screwed on the tank cap. Mary came out of the bathroom. Giving Cass a hard glance, Fred moved swiftly past Mary and bumped her. He had the needle in his right hand and flashed it into Mary’s back. Mary jumped slightly in midstride but did not cry out. Instead she looked up at Fred as if she knew be was up to something. Cass observed the whole scene, and Fred did just what he promised and no more. Yet Mary’s shirt covered any evidence.

  They got in the car and drove down the highway.

  Fred glanced at Cass. Mary sat on her lap.

  The little girl had wanted to. Cass played with her hair.

  “Are you feeling OK?” Cass asked.

  “OK,” Mary said softly.

  “You were in the bathroom a long time. Is your tummy upset?”

  Mary squirmed back into her. “A little.”

  “Do you want to sleep?”

  Mary closed her eyes. “I don’t know.”

  “Do you want to talk about what happened today?”

  “No.”

  “Are you scared?”

  Mary shifted again in her lap. “I don’t want to talk.”

  “Do you want to sing?” They used to sing together a lot.

  “No.”

  Cass’s voice quivered. “Can I sing to you?”

  Mary’s voice was soft, her face peaceful. “All right.”

  Cass whispered the song. “Mary had a little lamb, a little lamb, whose fleece was white as snow. And everywhere that Mary went, her lamb was sure to go. She followed her to school one day …”

  Stupid song. The only one that would come at such a time as this… . Cass’s voice trailed off into a hollow whisper. Mary appeared to have fallen asleep already. It was a small miracle. Cass glanced at Fred, feeling more helpless than she ever had in her life. She was no longer digging up a smelly grave. She was about to lie down in one. Fred reached up and turned on a small overhead light. He cleared his throat.

  “No,” she said.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “She’s fine. She’s resting.”

  “We’ll see.”

  “No,” she repeated.

  “Yes,” he said flatly.

  They drove another mile or so. Cass wanted to cry but she was afraid she’d wake Mary. Her little sister’s breathing was deep and rhythmic. She sounded fine; everything had to be fine. There was no reason to shift her hand around and lift up Mary’s shirt. Instead, Cass reached up to turn off the overhead light. Fred stopped her by gripping her wrist tightly.

  “Yes,” he said for the third time.

  Cass nodded and her eyes burned. “All right.”

  Careful not to wake her, Cass scooted Mary slightly forward on her lap. Mary’s shirt was in fact already pulled up slightly, and her white undershirt was partially sticking out. Just before Cass reached over and tugged the shirt up a little more, she suddenly thought of the day Mary had been born. How her mother had brought home the cute infant and placed her on the living room couch in a bundle of blankets so that everyone in town could see her. Cass remembered how she had sat all day in that living room and stared at the miracle that was her newborn sister. And she had never gotten tired of looking at her. Never.

  Cass pulled up Mary’s shirt.

  Her white undershirt was stained with black goo. Cass panted. “Pull over, I’m going to be sick.”

  Fred quickly pulled to the side of the road and stopped the car. Cass opened the door and eased out from under Mary so that her sister would not awaken. She then stumbled out of the car and off the asphalt shoulder and onto the desert sand. A convulsion hit her guts and she bent over and everything in her stomach went flying. But before she could finish vomiting, she stood up and raced like a madwoman into the desert. She didn’t get far, another convulsion caught her and forced her head down. She threw up until she was choking on black bile.

  When she was finally able to raise her head, she saw the stars shining down on her and on the silent desert. It was odd, but it was only then that she realized how cold their light was. Tears blurred her vision of the heavens, drops of ice tore at her eyes. She was in a far off galaxy being tossed about by the burnt-out husks of dead worlds. She hadn’t even the strength left to curse the stars. This wasn’t an invasion—it was a rape.

  She heard a single gunshot.

  18

  Cass sat in the backseat as they approached Las Vegas. They were ten minutes out from the city of sin and could see the colored lights simmering over the dark desert like rainbows cast from an unnatural storm. The stars were lost in the glare but not the moon. It hung almost straight overhead, its supposedly magical white light poor protection from what horrors lay beyond in the dark depths.

  Cass was in the backseat because s
he didn’t want to sit where her sister had been shot to death by her boyfriend. Something about that just didn’t feel right, but maybe it was just her, how picky she was getting. Of course she wasn’t sure he’d shot Mary in the car. Maybe he had awakened her first and taken her for a short walk. Maybe he’d told her sleepy little head that they were stopping to stretch and enjoy the fresh air. Cass saw no blood when she had finally been led back to the car by her boyfriend.

  Fred. He had done it. The boyfriend.

  He glanced over his shoulder at her.

  “I think we should stop for the night in Las Vegas and get a room,” he said. “I don’t think either of us is in any condition to drive to L.A.” He paused. “Would that be OK?”

  “That would be fine,” she said.

  “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Do you want to stop? I’m exhausted.”

  “I don’t care. We can stop.”

  He turned back to the road. “I think it’s for the best.”

  There was an accident up ahead. A blue Ford Explorer had smashed a black Lexus Sports Coupe. A nasty late-night encounter on the road but it didn’t appear there were any fatalities. A blond woman dressed in black pants and a black top was waving them down. Fred acted concerned.

  “I hate to do this but I think this woman needs help,” he said. “Would it be OK if I stopped for a second?”

  “That would be fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure.”

  Fred pulled over to the side of the road behind the accident. The woman approached on Fred’s side. On the thin side and close to thirty, she walked with a spunky self-assured step, not like someone who had just crashed. Her blond hair was long and silky. She wore an expensive diamond on her wedding finger. Fred rolled down his window to speak to her.

  “It’s look like you’re having bad night,” he said.

  She flashed a quick smile. “This didn’t just happen. The police have been out here already, and the other driver went back to the town with the cops to get a tow truck.”

  “They couldn’t call for one?” Fred asked.

  “We tried but there is a major pile-up on the strip and all the trucks are busy. The other driver thought we might have better luck prying a tow away if he talked to one in person. I think he was going to try to bribe a driver. But he has been gone over an hour and I’m getting sick and tired of standing out here.”

  “Do you want a ride to town?” Fred asked.

  “I’d appreciate it, if it’s no trouble.” She paused. “I’m not going to carjack you or anything.”

  Fred smiled. “Get in, it’s no problem.”

  The woman glanced back at Cass. “In the front?”

  The front seat is OK,” Fred said.

  The woman climbed in, and it was immediately obvious she had money. The Lexus must have be longed to her. Besides the diamond ring, she wore a thin gold necklace with a single glittering sapphire. Cass noticed it as the woman turned to say hi.

  “My name is Sally Kramer,” she said and offered her hand. “I hope I’m not kicking you out of the front seat?”

  “That’s OK,” Cass said softly as she feebly shook the woman’s hand.

  Cass likes to sit in the back,” Fred said quickly. “She was taking a nap.”

  Sally turned back around and watched the road as they rolled toward Vegas. “I hate to say this but I think it was my falling asleep at the wheel that caused the accident. I’d been driving straight through from Denver. I have to get to L.A. by early morning, but I guess I pushed too hard.”

  “Were either of you hurt in the accident?” Fred asked.

  “Fortunately, no,” Sally paused.

  “You were both lucky,” Fred said.

  “I think so.” Sally smiled. “So her name is Cass and you are … ?”

  “Fred. Fred Abel.”

  “Where are you guys going?”

  “To L.A.”

  She sounded hopeful. “Are you going tonight by any chance?”

  “No.” Fred said. “We need to stop and rest. We’ve had a bad day.”

  “If you change your minds in the night let me know.”

  “We will.”

  “Promise?”

  “Yes. You’re just going to leave your car there?”

  Sally chuckled. “I don’t think my car is going anywhere. I’m going to have to leave it. My boyfriend is simply going to have to buy me a new one.”

  “You think you’ll get a room then?” Fred asked.

  “Yes, I’ll have to.” Sally paused. “Do you know where you’re staying?”

  “We haven’t discussed it.”

  “The MGM is good. You can drop me there. You might as well stay there, too, if you can afford it. The rooms are nice.”

  “I think we can afford it,” Fred said doubtfully.

  They checked into the MGM. Sally thanked them for the ride and went off to her room that allowed smoking. She muttered something about playing blackjack and drinking all night if she couldn’t find a ride. Fred got them a non-smoking room on the tenth floor. Cass noticed that he’d taken the gun, and hidden it under his shirt. He probably didn’t want a loaded gun in the car.

  The room was nice and cool. They both needed showers and Fred offered to let her go first. She stripped down before entering the bathroom, and once under the shower she let the cold water run on top of her head for twenty minutes straight. She wasn’t only in shock; she was cut off from all things in the world, from herself even. A blob of living tissue moving through random events, unable to feel pain directly. She couldn’t even cry. Time just passed, and the future was best not thought about. The cold water didn’t even feel good, it just felt cold.

  Cass briefly dried off with a giant towel. Wrapping it around herself, she went out and sat on the king size bed. Fred spoke to her, but she wasn’t sure if she responded. Fred took off his clothes and went in to shower.

  It was then she began to wonder.

  Cass removed the gun from the bag and checked the clip. Fourteen shots left, .45 caliber, real powerful load. She snapped the clip back in place and hid the gun under a pillow. Yeah, there were certain things that really made her wonder.

  Ten minutes later Fred came out of the shower. He sat across the bed from her and looked worried.

  “You need to sleep,” he said gently.

  “Yeah.”

  ”Why don’t you get under the covers? I’ll turn out the lights.”

  “You want to sleep now?” she asked.

  “Yeah. I think I can fall asleep.”

  Cass shook her head. “I don’t think I can.”

  “You have to try.”

  “Can we talk first?” she asked.

  “What do you want to talk about?”

  Cass considered. “It’s amazing that we escaped from them.”

  “We were lucky. Or else, as you said down in the Shaft, they were stupid.”

  She looked at him. “Yeah, but we really did get away pretty easily. Think how we were trapped in that gym basement. We were able to overpower Tim and then no one stopped us on the way out. Don’t you think that was weird?”

  “Yeah, but they were all busy.” He snorted. “They had to ‘focus upon the nature of subatomic singularity to open an interdimensional portal back to the original will.’”

  “You remember his words well,” she said.

  He studied her. “You must hate me for what I did.”

  “I don’t know.”

  He nodded. “How could you not hate me? But it had to be done, you know we couldn’t bring her to L.A.”

  “I guess.” Cass paused. “But it still strikes me as odd how they had no guards posted to stop us in case we did get free. Another thing that bothers me is how Tim explained stuff to me. I mean, he was a zombie and yet I was able to make a deal with him for information. Don’t you think that’s odd?”

  “But he wanted something from you. Information.”

 
; “Still, it seems out of character that he’d keep talking like that.”

  “Good thing he did. It gave me a chance to get free.”

  Cass lowered her head. “Yeah.”

  “You’re not doing so good, are you?”

  “I’m fine.” She sat up and shrugged. “But I keep having these thoughts. Like how Tim stole your car during the night and went off and killed Jill. I can see why he thought he had to kill her—she had seen him acting suspiciously. But it’s weird how he had your keys.”

  “Tim always had my keys.”

  “That’s what you said, but I never knew that. You weren’t that close. I didn’t know you watched after each other that way.”

  Fred frowned. “What are you getting at?”

  “Nothing. Just talking.” She had more interesting thoughts. “But you know when you came to the hospital after he almost died your shirt was covered with blood. You told me that it was because you’d been to see him before I saw you. But I didn’t even see you come in until I saw you with the bloody shirt.”

  “I told you that I came in the back way.”

  She stared at him. “Yes, that’s what you told me.”

  “Cass?”

  “You told me a lot of things these past three days. In fact, it was you and you alone who said Mary was out walking in the night when she said she’d never gone out.”

  “She lied to you. She was already one of them.”

  “That might be true. It certainly sounds logical if you look at it from your angle, but if you change the angle slightly it doesn’t seem logical at all. One thing that definitely makes no sense is why when we were down in the mine the second time—Tim and Sheriff Sam and Mr. Chavez didn’t think to search for us. I mean, all the lifts were down, they had to know someone was down there.”

  Fred waved his hand. “Like you said, they weren’t very smart.”

  Cass continued to stare. “The truth is that I never said that, Fred. You did. I thought it but never said it out loud.” She paused. “Did you happen to read my mind?”

  Fred stopped. “What are you getting at?”