Vanished

by Eden Darry

  “Here we are again, Terry. Not very good at this, are you?”

  Terry groaned. This was all he fucking needed. That creepy little devil was back.

  “Leave me alone,” Terry said.

  The devil thing stepped out from an aisle, eating a packet of crisps. Cheese and onion. Terry looked away before he saw its face.

  “You can look at me, Terry. You won’t turn to stone.” It sounded amused.

  “I’d rather not. What do you want?”

  “I believe it’s more about what you might want.”

  He listened as the thing sucked on a crisp. It made horrible slurping noises. Probably didn’t have teeth.

  “I don’t need anything from you.”

  “You’ve been tied up by two women, and it seems you can’t undo the knots they loosened for you.”

  Terry’s head shot up and at the last minute he averted his gaze so he wouldn’t have to look at its face.

  “How do you know about that? Were you here this whole time?”

  “In a manner of speaking.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I saw what happened.”

  “So why didn’t you stop them? Why didn’t you help me?”

  The thing slurped on another crisp. “Not in the rules, I’m afraid.”

  “What? What fucking rules? You know what, I don’t care. Just piss off. Leave me alone. Or kill me. I’ve had enough.”

  “Now, now, Terry. There’s no need to be dramatic. I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to untie you. And then you’re going to go after the girl and get her back.”

  “What if I don’t want to? What if I’m sick of all this?”

  “If you don’t, you’ll never see your son again.”

  Terry heard the thing get up, heard joints pop, and was surprised to discover it must have bones. Maybe blood and flesh and somewhere a beating heart.

  It came close to him, and Terry squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to look at it. He sucked in a breath as the thing touched him. It tugged at the rope around his wrists and he found its fingers were warm.

  “What are you?” he asked, afraid of the answer.

  “I’m the Bringer of Chaos. I’ve been around a long time, Terry. I’ll still be here after you’ve rotted away and your bones are nothing but dust. Find the girl. Head north.”

  Terry tugged his wrists apart and the rope fell away. He opened his eyes and got to work on his ankles. He tried not to feel the panic which had set in when the thing came back and was still not gone. He pushed it down somewhere and thought instead about his son. All he had to do was get the girl back. That, and teach Loveday a lesson. It wouldn’t be long before it was all over.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  It was full dark by the time they pitched their tents. Ellery wanted to get as much distance between them and the superstore as possible. Loveday agreed. She understood why Ellery hadn’t wanted to leave Terry there to rot, but Ellery didn’t feel what she did. It was the wrong decision.

  He was coming after them. She knew that like she knew other things. She couldn’t keep forcing Ellery to go against her morals, though. They would just have to be ready for him again.

  “You should come and eat,” Ellery said.

  Loveday looked over to where she sat with Dani. “We should keep watch tonight. In case he shows up.”

  “Okay.” Ellery nodded. “But still, you should eat.”

  Loveday wasn’t hungry. There was a churning in her gut which pushed out all need of food. She wanted to run, to get away from here. Where would she go? She couldn’t leave Ellery and Dani. Not this time, no matter how much her intuition told her to.

  “Ellery.” She sat down. “You know he’s coming for us?”

  Ellery reached over and squeezed her hand. She squeezed back. “Yes, I know. But not tonight.”

  “You don’t know that.” Loveday shook off her hand.

  “He’s slow. And unfit. And I don’t think he can see so well in the dark,” Dani said, then shoved a spoonful of food into her mouth.

  “All the same, we should take it in turns to keep watch. I wrote a book once where the baddie turned up unexpectedly. We can be caught unawares—we need to keep watch,” Loveday said.

  “Heartbeat. I read that. It’s one of my favourites. And we will. Please eat.” Ellery passed over a bowl of the nasty pasta concoction.

  Loveday took it. “Thanks.” She was somewhat mollified by the compliment. It was one of her favourites too.

  “Are we going to talk about the animals?” Dani slurped up the last of her food. “Is there any more?”

  “There’s a lot we need to talk about.” Loveday handed over her pasta. “Have this. I’m not hungry.”

  “Loveday—”

  “Ellery, you aren’t my mother, so give it a bloody rest.”

  Dani looked between the two of them, unsure. Hunger won out and she took Loveday’s mess tin.

  “The animals are obviously heading north too. I think that’s pretty clear. Maybe they had dreams. Do animals dream, Ellery?” Loveday asked.

  Ellery paused in her cleaning-up activities. “Yes. They do. We should be careful. Getting caught in a stampede would not be good.”

  “Dani, you should know, this woman Rosemary Decker has sent out a scouting party to find you. Ellery wants to stick to the back roads as much as possible.”

  Dani scraped the bottom of her tin and nodded. “Yeah, I know. Mr. Pratt was supposed to deliver me to her.”

  “How much do you know? About your purpose?” Loveday asked.

  Dani shrugged in that teenage way, and Loveday had trouble reconciling her with the girl from their dreams. “I’m supposed to head north. You two were meant to come and get me, or I’d be, like, stoned to death or something.”

  Loveday caught Ellery’s eye and they shared a smile. “Right, so you know about as much as us. Not why we had to get you away from him or anything.”

  “My dreams are hazy. I think I’m some big deal, but I don’t know why. Or what I’m supposed to do.” Dani shrugged again and stood. She brushed the leaves and dirt off her jeans. “I’m going to turn in. Wake me up when it’s my turn to keep watch.”

  With that, she headed into her tent and zipped it up. Loveday noticed Rocky rushed in with her. Little traitor.

  Loveday leaned close to Ellery, who was rinsing out their mess tins. “Do you believe her?”

  “That she doesn’t know any more than us? No.”

  Loveday glanced at Dani’s tent. “She’s lying through her bloody teeth.”

  “She doesn’t know us. Look who she’s been travelling with for the past week. Can’t blame her for being wary.” Ellery leaned the tins upside down against a log to dry off.

  “Well, she needs to tell us soon. Besides, her dreams must have told her we’re the good guys.”

  “Give her a chance, Loveday. Let her get her bearings before you bamboozle her.” Ellery laughed.

  “Fine. You’re right.” Loveday grinned. “And you’ve changed your tune. All you ever do is moan about how obscure the dreams are.”

  Ellery stood. “She’s a teenager. She’ll tell us in her own time. If it looks like it’s taking too long, we’ll hurry her along. Look, I’ll take the first watch. You get some sleep.”

  “No, I’ll go first,” Loveday said.

  “You almost had the life choked out of you today. Get a bit of rest.”

  Loveday was about to argue, but the shadow which passed over Ellery’s face stopped her. She looked haunted. Before she could think about what she was doing, Loveday kissed her gently on the lips. “I’m okay.” She kissed her again, longer this time.

  “I know you are. But before, I thought he was really going to kill you.” Ellery toed something on the ground.

  “I’m fine. But I’ll go and get some rest if it’ll make you feel better.”

  “It will.”

  Loveday rolled her eyes. “Night, then. Wake me in a few hours.”

  O
n her way to the tent, she turned back to see Ellery settling back down in front of the fire they made. She really needed to stop sending her such mixed messages. The truth was she liked Ellery, really liked her. It was ironic really. After a lifetime of bad decisions, she finally met a woman who would be good for her. Only she couldn’t risk it. If her past form was anything to go by, she’d fuck it all up anyway, and there was too much to lose.

  Loveday climbed into her sleeping bag and was immediately joined by Claude. “At least you didn’t abandon me for the new girl.” She pressed her face against his soft fur and let herself be lulled to sleep by his contented purring.

  * * *

  Ellery tried not to panic. Beyond the fire it was pitch black. She tried not to hear the sounds of the night and imagine the worst.

  She didn’t have Loveday’s intuition, but she knew Terry Pratt was coming for them. She was banking on them being able to put too much distance between them for him to ever be able to catch them up. Maybe it was foolish, and maybe she was too soft, too weak, but she could never have left him to die. Loveday had something inside her that Ellery lacked. A streak of something cold and totally geared towards self-preservation.

  Something crunched, rustled behind her. Ellery swung her torch in the direction but saw nothing. Probably just an animal.

  She held the torch in place for a moment longer, the light trained on the scraggly bushes. Not big enough for a man to hide in.

  Ellery knew she should get up and check, make sure, but she couldn’t. It was too dark. She wiped a trembling hand across her mouth. Sweat had gathered on her top lip. She was too warm. Get a grip. Grow up. It was probably a rat or a mouse. It wasn’t a monster, a bogeyman, or Terry Pratt.

  She clicked off the torch, turned back to the fire. It started to rain. Spitting at first and then harder. Ellery drew her coat around her and pushed up her hood. She waited and watched and tried not to panic.

  * * *

  Terry tripped over something in the dark and came down heavy on his knees. Loose gravel tore into his palms.

  His night vision was shit, and he was exhausted, but he kept moving. He had to close the distance. They would walk faster than him, so he had to use the night to make up the difference.

  Terry picked himself up off the ground, and he stumbled, his legs nearly gave out. An image of his son flashed across his mind’s eye, and his legs straightened, strengthened, and he moved on.

  * * *

  Ellery jerked awake. Something clamped on to her shoulder and she screamed.

  “It’s only me,” Loveday said from behind her.

  “Fuck. You scared me.” Ellery’s heart started to beat at a more normal rhythm. “What’s up? It’s still the middle of the night.”

  “We need to leave. Now,” Loveday said.

  “Why?”

  “He’s coming. He’s close.”

  Ellery’s skin prickled and her scalp went tight. “Are you sure?”

  Loveday nodded. She picked up mess tins and mugs. “Yes. Come on.”

  “Can you tell how far away he is?” Ellery stayed sitting.

  Loveday sighed, dropped the mess tins and mugs, and turned to her, hands on hips. “No. But he’s close enough. I can feel him getting nearer.”

  Ellery nodded. “I’ll wake Dani.”

  * * *

  Fuck. Terry looked around the hastily vacated campsite. Boot prints in the spongy damp earth, grass still flattened from their tents. He must have just missed them. He couldn’t walk any more tonight. In the dark, he doubted they’d get too much further. Terry hadn’t bothered with a tent or much besides beer. He laid out a sleeping bag and got inside it. It would be damp in a few minutes, but he didn’t care. He opened a beer, drank half in one go, and ran the back of his hand over his mouth.

  The torch wound down, and he couldn’t be bothered to wind it back up again. Terry downed the rest of his beer, threw the empty bottle in the bushes, and opened another.

  His stomach rumbled. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten. He didn’t care. He downed the beer and opened another.

  * * *

  Rosemary sat in a leather swivel chair. She was on the Ark 2. It was beautiful. Out of the windows she could see only water. It was flat and delicate and looked like glass.

  “Things aren’t going to plan, Rosemary.”

  There it was, that voice again. She hadn’t heard it in weeks. It wasn’t how she expected the voice of God to sound. Wet, spongy, foreign.

  He was behind her and she didn’t dare turn around. “There have been some hiccups, I agree.”

  “Hiccups? They’re saying you’ve lost your mind. They’re planning to move against you.”

  Rosemary almost turned around. “Who?”

  “The instigators are the two investors. They’ve gathered some willing people to them.”

  “How dare they?” Rage burned in Rosemary’s chest, her palms itched. “I’ll stop them.”

  “How many are still loyal to you? Do you know?”

  Rosemary thought. She was preparing another group to go in search of the girl and her protectors. Perhaps she could hold them back for a time. “About six I trust to carry out anything serious.” God moved closer to her, and Rosemary closed her eyes. She daren’t look at Him.

  “Good. You need to mobilize them. Remove the threat. Kill them all.”

  “The investors, you mean?”

  “Kill them all. Kill them all. Kill them all.”

  * * *

  Rosemary closed her door when the screaming started. She gave the order in the early morning, her breath visible in the frigid air as they clustered outside. It seemed to take her words and carry them away. There wasn’t much privacy in the hangar, and when she gave the order, it would need to be carried out quickly. The others nodded, said little. They understood what was at stake. They were glad to do God’s work.

  She ordered them to split into two groups. Each would neutralize one of the investors. At the same time, so one could not warn the other. She had the names of the people who had colluded with them. They would be next, and it would be done publicly. That was the screaming she heard now. She’d opened her door briefly to watch one man being chased down. He tripped, dropped to the ground. She watched as one of her disciples fell on him and stuck the knife in, arm moving in an arc, over and over again. It was mesmerizing.

  She told herself she didn’t enjoy it, that it was necessary to pave the way for a new world. Civilizations throughout history were built on the spilt blood of traitors. This one would be no different.

  Soon the screaming stopped. It was done. Rosemary got on her knees and began to pray.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Loveday was exhausted. She stumbled again and would have fallen if Dani hadn’t grabbed her arm. They walked through the rest of the night and into the morning. The feeling of dread had receded, and she thought it would be safe to stop for a few hours. They had to. She was about to fall down.

  “Let’s stop.”

  Dani sighed next to her. “Thank God. I’m knackered.”

  “I think we all are.” Ellery maneuvered the pram off the road and onto a patch of scraggly grass. “If we rest for a bit, then walk another five miles or so, there’s a motorway services with a hotel.”

  “Are you serious?” Loveday thought about sleeping in a proper bed and almost wanted to keep walking. Her legs had other ideas, though.

  “Yes.” Ellery laughed.

  Loveday sat beside her. “You look exhausted too. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m glad.”

  “Thanks a lot.”

  “I just mean, I’m about ready to fall down. I feel better knowing you feel the same.”

  Ellery rolled her eyes and bumped Loveday’s shoulder. “It’s not a competition. How are you doing, Dani?”

  Dani was lying flat on her back despite the damp, dewy ground. “I want to run the next few miles to get to that bed, but my legs are jelly.”

  Loveday laughed and poke
d Dani’s leg with her boot. “You’re a million years younger than us. No excuse not to charge ahead and make up the beds for us.”

  Dani grunted. The walk through the night had the benefit of bringing them closer together. Dani didn’t seem so guarded and actually had a pretty good sense of humour. Loveday liked her.

  “If I’d realized I’d have to look out for you two old dears, I would have gone it alone,” Dani joked. She sat up and pulled Rocky to her. He submitted graciously to ear and back scratches.

  “Shut up and make this old dear some coffee.” Loveday poked her again and Dani laughed.

  “Fine. But only because your arthritis is probably playing up with the damp weather.”

  “Cheeky little shit.”

  Loveday sneezed. Dani probably wasn’t far off with her assessment. All the walking had made Loveday’s bones ache.

  Ellery looked up from her map and smiled. “This is nice.” Her brow creased. “I mean, even though we’re running from one psychopath. Possibly straight to another. And, you know, the world is about to have the fuck flooded out of it. Possibly.”

  Dani looked at Loveday who shook her head.

  “Yeah. Wonderful,” Dani said.

  “Shit. Sorry. That was insensitive. And weird,” Ellery said. She rubbed the back of her neck.

  Loveday burst out laughing. She wanted to hug poor Ellery, so she did. “We know what you meant.”

  “Yeah. Even if it was totally weird.” Dani nudged her shoulder.

  “How long can we rest here, do you think?” Ellery asked Loveday, obviously wanting to change the subject.

  Dani went back to the coffee.

  “I don’t feel him as strongly as last night. It’s hard to say. I don’t see things, only feel them. I feel like he’s a good day’s walk away from us.”

  “So we can rest tonight?” Ellery asked.

  “Yes. I think so.” Loveday took a crumpled tissue from her pocket and blew her nose.