Until... | Book 3 | Until The End

by Hamill, Ike

  “Renfield,” Ricky said. “She knew Renfield.”

  “What? How do you know?”

  “He stabbed her in the back. I think she knew him. He left through the back door but not before covering her face. He felt bad about doing this.”

  Ricky stared down at the body. He couldn’t stop imagining her fall, and how the killer must have finished her off before turning her over and then covering her face in shame.

  Amber returned and crouched next to the body before she reached out and touched the woman’s hand one more time.

  “I’m sorry Jan Libby,” she said. “I’m sorry if our presence brought this person here.”

  “Jan Libby?” Ricky asked.

  When Amber nodded, Ricky headed for the door.

  # # #

  “Wait, Ricky!” Amber said as they crossed the yard. “Where are you going?”

  “I think I know who Renfield is.”

  “Slow down. What are you going to do, walk? We can find her keys and take Jan’s car.”

  “That car?” Ricky asked, pointing. It was pulled up next to the house, parked in front of the garage. The car was sitting on flat tires.

  “Then tell me where we’re going.”

  “The maps are in your trunk, right?”

  “Yeah?”

  “A few miles that way,” Ricky said, pointing, “is the house of Romeo Libby. He’s the man who lost his whole commune back forty-some years ago. I should have figured it out before. He didn’t survive just because he managed to fight them off. They let him survive.”

  “And he came after us and found only George,” Amber said.

  Ricky reached the car first and tried to open the back. It was locked. Amber produced the key and let him in.

  “The question is—why didn’t he just wait for us and kill us too when we came out,” Ricky said. “He’s clearly not above murder.”

  Ricky unfolded the map, figured out their location, and then pointed another finger at where Romeo’s house on the hill was located. There was no direct way there. By road, they would have to go almost ten miles north and then they could come back south the same distance. It would take forever on foot. Ricky glanced back at the garage, wondering if it held any bicycles.

  Amber seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

  “Maybe we’ll see a car and we can flag them down. The cell service is so spotty around here—someone will stop for us, right?”

  “We can’t count on that,” Ricky said. “I want to catch up with Romeo before dark.”

  “How?”

  “Through the woods,” Ricky said. “I’ll follow this stream down to the train tracks and then head west until I get to Route 6. Romeo lives right off of this road.”

  “You? Alone?”

  “Yes. You head south until the next house, find a phone, and call the police.”

  “And tell them what?”

  “Whatever you have to in order to get them to descend on Romeo’s place. Tell them he’s a terrorist or child pornographer.”

  “No,” Amber said. “It doesn’t make sense for me to go for a phone. You’re the cop. You’re going for the phone. I’ll go through the woods and head towards Romeo’s.”

  Ricky stood up straight and thought about it. She had a point. Even without making something up, he would likely be able to get through to someone and convince them to pay a visit to Romeo. But then what?

  “You’re right,” he said. Ricky folded the map and dug through the other stuff packed into the vehicle. They had flashlights, bags of sunflower seeds, Borax powder, and stakes. They had everything to fight bloodsucking creatures that attacked at night. None of them had thought to pack much that would work on a living, breathing human.

  “Good. I’ll go through the woods and you’ll…”

  “No,” Ricky said. “I mean you’re right that it doesn’t make sense for you to head for a phone. I’m still going through the woods.”

  “Then we’re going together,” Amber said.

  “I guess so.”

  They packed fast.

  Before they left, Ricky studied the side of the road in front of Amber’s rental car. It took a full minute. Amber started to get antsy.

  “What are you looking for?” she asked.

  He spotted what he was searching for and pointed.

  “Just confirming,” he said. “Same knobby tire tracks.”

  “If we’re going, let’s go.”

  “Of course.”

  They crossed the road together and walked side by side until they found a place where they could descend into the gully and follow the stream. They had to stay a decent distance from the water so they could find firm ground. Slightly up the hill, the trees thinned out and they picked up their pace. His phone still didn’t have any signal, but Ricky had downloaded the maps, so he could use it to track their progress. He figured that if they got to the train tracks within the hour, they could easily reach Romeo’s before sunset.

  “We need to go faster,” Amber said.

  Ricky didn’t argue. When Amber started walking faster, he matched her.

  “I can’t believe we left her there,” Amber said.

  It took Ricky a second before he figured out who she was talking about. He surprised himself with his callousness towards the old woman that he had found dead. It simply didn’t matter all that much to him—there was nothing he could do to help.

  “I don’t know what else we would have done,” he said.

  “Yeah. I guess.”

  They walked fast through the woods, keeping the stream within sight when they could. Ricky slowed a bit so he could check his GPS and the map. They were still on course. As long as he focused completely on moving quickly and safely putting one foot in front of the other on the difficult terrain, he didn’t have to think about…

  “Hey, I’m sure your brother…” Amber started.

  It was like she had picked the thought right out of his brain.

  “He’s fine,” Ricky said. “Romeo grabbed him. I don’t know why, but he grabbed him.”

  “What would have made George follow him back to my car?” Amber asked.

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “He’s an older guy, right?”

  “Seventies, I would guess.”

  “So he didn’t overpower your brother, right? George isn’t weak.”

  “Sure.”

  “And the pack and everything were back at my car,” Amber said. “So I’m guessing that George took them there.”

  Ricky tried to picture it in his head. She had a good point. Why would Romeo bring George’s things out to the road? The only way it made sense to him was George walking out on his own.

  “Gunpoint, maybe?” Ricky suggested.

  “If he had a gun, why not use it on Jan?”

  “Because…” Ricky didn’t finish the thought. He was going to say something about the intimacy of using a knife, but that contradicted his impression of the murder. It seemed to him that Romeo hadn’t wanted to kill Jan and had felt guilty about it while he committed the act, so why wouldn’t he wanted to distance himself with a gun?

  “Yeah, I don’t know,” Ricky said.

  “I think maybe he said something to George and talked him back to the road.”

  “He still would have had to overpower him,” Ricky said. “We didn’t find any blood, but somehow Romeo got the pack away from George and took George away.”

  “True,” Amber said.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Ricky said. “However it happened, I know that George is fine, wherever he is.”

  Amber glanced at him and then nodded.

  “I’m just wondering if maybe Romeo has a way to hypnotize people, you know? However he persuaded George, couldn’t he try to do that to us?”

  Ricky didn’t answer.

  Twenty-Eight: Amber

  Amber climbed the gravel embankment with Ricky right on her heels. She stood in the middle of the train tracks and waited while Ricky checked his
maps again. The sun was descending fast towards the trees.

  “Maybe we should jog,” she said.

  He didn’t answer.

  She shifted her pack, thinking of everything stuffed in there.

  “He doesn’t know me. Maybe I should just go to the door and ask to use his phone.”

  Ricky didn’t look up from the map but gave a small laugh.

  “Seriously. It could work.”

  Ricky folded the map and they started to walk.

  “I think we can go all the way to Route 6 without the risk of being spotted,” Ricky said.

  “Just like at Jan’s,” Amber said. “I’ll go to the front door and knock to distract him while you loop around back. Maybe you can figure out where George is, or even sneak inside to jump him.”

  “He had ultraviolet lights wired up so that they blasted anyone who came through the door. I think he probably has some decent security systems all around the place.”

  “But it’s possible that he put it all in place anticipating only unwanted monsters, right? What was that you were saying before? All our weapons are only useful when fighting monsters. Maybe he made the same mistake.”

  “That’s a good point,” Ricky said. “If he’s our Renfield, then why is his house boobytrapped for the creatures that he serves?”

  “That’s easy,” Amber said. “There was a kid in my high school who kept pet snakes. He had a bite mark on his arm one day. He said that everyone who has a pet snake knows they’re going to get bitten eventually. Even if he serves those things, Romeo would be smart to not completely trust them.”

  “Yeah,” Ricky said. “What you suggested before—are you up for jogging?”

  Amber answered by taking off ahead.

  # # #

  They slowed as soon as they saw the road where it crossed the train tracks up ahead.

  Ricky paused to check the map one more time. Amber used the opportunity to pace slowly and catch her breath. She loosened the straps on her pack.

  “What?” she asked. “Did you come up with a plan?”

  Ricky shook his head.

  She looked towards the horizon. They didn’t have all that much time before the sun would be down. They had to find a safe place, or at least a place that they could defend.

  “Look for a building,” she said. “They’re little boxes on that paper map. We’re going to have to find somewhere to go if we can’t decide on how we’re going to take on that Libby guy.”

  Ricky folded the map under his arm and looked at his phone again. She didn’t have to look over his shoulder to know that he didn’t have any signal. If he did, he would have said something.

  “Ricky, unless you know for sure where this guy is precisely, we’re just going to have to approach the house and look. Either that, or…”

  His eyes went wide.

  “I don’t know where he’s at right this second, but I know where he’s going to be,” Ricky said.

  “How?”

  “Come on. We don’t have much time.”

  Ricky jogged towards the road and Amber followed. He darted off into the woods at the sound of a vehicle and they crouched down until it passed.

  “That was him,” Ricky said.

  “I couldn’t even see the truck,” she said.

  “Yeah, but the sound of the tires. I would bet anything. Plus, we heard him slow to turn on his road.”

  “You’re crazy. That person might have been able to help us. Why did I follow you?” Amber said.

  Ricky pushed out of the bushes and ran to the road. Amber paused in the middle, looking one way and the other. If she had seen a house—somewhere that might have a working telephone—she might have gone to it. There was nothing.

  Once they went down the side road, Ricky cut through the woods again. Before she could ask where they were heading, she caught a glimpse of the house up on the hill. They were circling it.

  “You mind letting me in on your plan?” she asked.

  Ricky went a little farther before he stopped and used some trees for cover. They snuck up even closer. She could see the back door of the house.

  “His dog,” Ricky said. “I think his name is Albert. Romeo is very protective. He’s going to take his dog out back to do his business before sunset. I’m sure of it.”

  “Let me see that map.”

  Ricky dug it out and handed it to her.

  “Okay,” she said. “If you see him, do what you have to do. I’m going to circle around this way.”

  Ricky followed her finger on the map and nodded.

  “Good idea.”

  Twenty-Nine: Ricky

  The sun was getting lower and lower. Ricky began to doubt his plan as it dropped below the trees and the light began to soften. There was no sign of activity from the house. Along the east edge of the lawn, the forest came to within twenty yards of the place. That’s where Ricky was hiding—crouched behind a rock and leaning out to watch the place. There was a light on in the living room. Ricky checked his phone—he had ten minutes until sunset. He couldn’t risk getting trapped outside after dark.

  Creeping towards the place, crunching through the last of the melting snow, he froze when he heard the sound of the groaning hinge on the screen door. Albert slipped out and ran to sniff at the bushes near the corner of the house. Ricky bolted from his hiding place and darted left so he wouldn’t be seen through any of the back windows.

  Albert spotted him. The dog’s ears perked up and he froze.

  “Albert!” Ricky whispered.

  As soon as Albert heard his name, the dog turned and sprinted for the back door. Ricky was a half-dozen paces behind as they ran along the size of the house. Albert ran up to the door, tail tucked between his legs, and scratched at the metal.

  When it opened, Ricky heard the old man’s soft voice.

  “That was quick. Did you do everything you…”

  That was all that Romeo Libby managed to say. Albert slipped through the widening gap of the screen door to press through Romeo’s legs.

  Ricky was right behind him, throwing the door open the rest of the way and rushing into Romeo, shoving him backwards into the kitchen. The old man hit the counter and twisted. Ricky had to catch him so he didn’t fall to the floor. Their momentum carried them down anyway and Ricky pushed Romeo so he wouldn’t fall on him.

  When they landed, Romeo tried to twist away. Ricky grabbed his wrists and saw the thing in Romeo’s hand as it emerged from his pocket. There was just enough time to see the blue light and hear the crackle before Ricky’s body was electrified and stiffened by the jolt from the stun gun.

  It zapped through him, making his jaw clench and his legs go rigid.

  Ricky spasmed on the floor for a moment and then the electricity was gone. He felt his body frozen in tension as Romeo wriggled free.

  Thirty: Amber

  To work her way around the north side of the house, Amber had to plunge deeper into the woods than she expected. The trees were thin and scrubby. They didn’t provide much cover at all until she ventured into the half-frozen terrain of the marsh. It was slow going until she started to climb into the pine trees. Then she was able to sprint between the well-spaced trunks and duck under the low branches. When she worked her way to the edge of the yard, she was in the perfect position.

  The garage was between her and the house. It allowed her to creep up without being in view of any of the windows.

  There was still a pile of melting snow in the shadow of the building. Amber’s feet squished in the saturated grass before she reached the garage and pressed herself against the wall so she could creep towards the front. The long shadows of the trees were just reaching the driveway when she rounded the corner.

  The garage door was open—just around fifteen inches or so. Amber glanced towards the front of the house. The way the two buildings were situated, the windows of the house didn’t have much of a view of the garage. She hoped that nobody inside could see her where she was standing.

  Sl
owly, she removed her pack and lowered herself to the pavement so she could peek under the door.

  Soft light was filtering into the garage through the side window. It projected a bright rectangle on the truck and for a moment that’s all she could see. Then, as her eyes adjusted, she saw the legs of a table that was set up next to the truck. It looked like a massage table. Someone was strapped to it. She didn’t need to see anything else to guess who the captive was.

  Amber debated for a moment—wondering if she should try to somehow communicate with Ricky. There was no time. She crawled under the door, dragging her pack behind her, and pressed up to her feet.

  She was right—it was George strapped to the table. Amber rushed to him. His arms and legs were securely bound. A strap across his ear was forcing his head to the side, leaving his neck exposed. Amber could see the strain in his muscles as he tried to turn to see who was approaching. The vein on his neck throbbed with his pulse.

  “George,” she whispered. “It’s me.”

  “No! Get out!” he shouted. His voice was ragged and hoarse.

  Amber’s hands were halfway to the straps on his hand when she froze. Before she could even process what he was saying, she heard the garage door descend. Purple light flooded the garage from above. Amber spun and saw a shape emerge from behind the truck. The lights were so bright that they made fuzzy edges around everything. Amber backed away from the approaching form and her hand reached inside the pack. The only real weapon she had was the stake. She closer her fingers around it and pulled it out. When he stepped beyond the truck, Amber saw the old man and the creaky way that he moved. Her eyes went to his hands—they were empty.

  “We’ve called the police,” she said. “They’ll be here any second.”

  He took another step towards her.

  “Get in your truck now and you’ll have a head start.”

  He didn’t respond. He was almost within her reach. Amber feinted a jab forward with the stake. It slowed him for only a moment and then he was pressing forward.

  “Stay away from me.”

  No response.

  “I mean it—I’ll hurt you.”

  She intended to make contact. Not a lot, but she wanted him to know that she was serious. Her stake pushed into his flannel shirt, dimpling his soft torso and he twisted away from her. His hand was faster than she would have guessed. It disappeared behind him and then came back out holding a black object. Until it sparked, Amber didn’t have any idea what it was. The thing gave her arm a minor shock before Amber was able to pull away. She darted left, away from the zap, and kicked over a paint can as she fled for the back of the garage.