by Ike Hamill
Nicky shuffled forward, sweat breaking out under her arms and in the small of her back. When the door swung shut and the bell rang again, she had to force herself to keep moving forward.
Around the corner, she flipped on the lights before she went for the phone. Even the buzzing fluorescents didn’t seem to chase the spookiness away.
Eyes darting around, she lifted the receiver and pulled out her notepad for Frank Libby’s number. She knew before she tried to dial that it would be unsuccessful. Instead of a dial tone, she only heard a crackling hiss from the receiver. The phone lines were down, or the phone itself was broken. Still, she tried. She clicked the line several times to try to establish a connection, tried dialing, and then gave up.
“I need to get across the river,” she whispered, and then she regretted saying it aloud. Hanging up the receiver, she wondered if anything had heard her through the crackling static.
Nicky left the lights on and ran for the door.
Outside, she panicked when she couldn’t find her keys in her pocket. They were still in the door. She locked Dottie’s and then sprinted for her car. This time, she wasn’t thinking about fleeing across the country. Frank Libby lived across the river, on Columbus Drive. That’s where she had to go.
The tires tore at the pavement and the engine roared. Nicky sailed down the hill, realizing when she saw the bridge that she could have just as easily gone the other way. If she had, she would already be in the police station. Shaking her head, she dismissed the idea of turning around.
“They won’t believe me,” she said to herself. “It will take me just as long to…”
Nicky stood on the brakes. The wheels locked and the rear of the vehicle skidded sideways as it rocked to a stop.
There was a fog covering the bridge. She couldn’t even see the green trusses. They disappeared into white mist halfway across the span. Eric had mentioned a similar sight. They had been through so much that every hour felt like a million years. Nicky struggled to remember. The Trader was in league with the Lady—was that what Eric had suggested?
It didn’t really matter. She had a burning ball of dread in her stomach. There was no way she was going to drive across the bridge.
“Damn it,” Nicky hissed. Frank Libby was on the other side and time was short. Whatever was happening back at the Carroll house, it was racing out of control and she couldn’t waste a single moment. Nicky straightened the wheel and let the car roll forward until it was pointed across the bridge again. Closing her eyes, she said a silent prayer.
When she opened them, she hit the gas.
As the car streaked towards the fog, she saw a figure standing there. The headlights reflected off the droplets of water rolling by on the river’s wind. The figure’s face was obscured by a finger of creeping mist.
“No,” Nicky said.
She couldn’t veer—the car would crash into the railings. It might even bust through.
She wouldn’t stop. If she stopped, that thing might reach her before she could get away.
Instead, Nicky closed her eyes again and clamped her hands to the wheel, waiting for the sound of impact. It was too much. She couldn’t keep her eyes shut. When they flew open again, she found the car enveloped in the gray fog. It was illuminated by her headlights and surrounded her like a cold tomb. A second later, she punched through the other side. Her eyes went to the mirror, looking to see if the figure was following her out of the fog. All she saw was the symmetrical swirls as the mist trailed after her and collapsed on the tunnel her car had made.
A horn blared and Nicky stood on the brakes again.
Red and blue lights cut though the dark from directly in front of her vehicle. A white spotlight blasted into her eyes.
Nicky screamed.
Her numb fingers fumbled at the keys and she shut the car off. Pulling at the handle, she pushed out into the night, prepared to run until her heart burst in her chest.
“Nicky!” a voice called.
He yelled her name again before she recognized the voice.
“Officer Libby?”
She ran to the passenger’s door of his police car. He was pushing it open by the time she got in.
“I was called to check out a potential jumper on the bridge. So far, I haven’t been able…”
“Drive,” Nicky said. “We have to get back to Lily and Eric.”
He put it in gear and began to move forward even as he objected.
“You should really get your car out of the road there. That fog could obscure it from…”
“Just go. There’s no time. I’ve already wasted too much.”
# # #
Nicky’s heart beat faster and faster as they pulled towards the Carroll house. The building had always been somewhat of a curiosity in the neighborhood. It had been an old, falling down church, slowly rehabilitated by the family. As the children had grown up, the house had come back to life, bit by bit. Now, the place was enormous and beautiful, but most of the people in town still saw it the way it used to be. They referred to it as an eyesore, out of place in the neighborhood. In truth, it was the oldest building around. Restored, it was really the only house that truly belonged there.
Officer Libby turned off the cruiser.
“The parents? You’re sure?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve known Zinnia Hoffer since we were five years old. I watched them pull her body out of the river, Nicky. She was dead.”
Nicky stared at him, frowning. “You know as well as I do that the rules around here are different.”
“I thought we were done with that. I was counting on it.”
They opened their doors at the same time, got out, and then shut them. Side by side, they walked across the lawn towards the house.
“You don’t want to call for backup?” Nicky asked. He wasn’t in uniform, but he was walking like a cop. Whenever the officers came in to Dottie’s to order lunch, they always seemed to have the same stride, like they were trained to walk in a particular way.
“I took the whole day off, so I’m not officially working until tomorrow. I just went to look for that jumper because I was still up. Besides, they might start asking questions.”
It looked like every light in the house was on. The front door was still open. Officer Libby led the way up the stairs and then waved for Nicky to follow. He paused on the landing, looking down at the muddy footprints that went through the living room and towards the kitchen.
Nicky felt cold. Despite the open door, the living room was warm. The chill was down under her skin. Officer Libby reached around her and gently swung the door shut, closing them in. Then, he began to creep through the living room, following the footprints.
She saw his hand go to his belt, where a holster would be. Coming back empty, he raised his hands in front of himself, ready for whatever awaited them.
The scream that echoed was deep and thick. Tearing through the air and rattling Nicky’s nerves. For a moment, Officer Libby froze. Then, he was off, silent and fast. Nicky shuffled after, appalled by how much noise she made in comparison. She followed through the kitchen, down the hall and through a laundry room and then almost ran into him around a corner.
He was stopped in the doorway of a big room that Nicky had never been in. From the top of the cellar stairs, she had caught a glimpse of it, but it had changed. Transformed from a simple family room, it was now an evil tableau of witnesses to a sacrifice. Zinnia, dress ripped from her lower half, was lying on the raised platform while Reynold hovered over her with bloody hands. A knife had been stabbed into the floor. The rest of the family looked on from improvised pews.
“Stop right there, Reynold. I want you face down right now,” Officer Libby commanded.
His voice carried such authority that it looked like Jessie was about to comply.
Reynold was unmoved.
“You’re too late.”
Zinnia screamed, “No!” as Reynold’s hands plunged between her legs. He pulled forth someth
ing so red-black and gelatinous that it appeared to be an enormous blood clot. Reynold held it aloft as Zinnia tried to rise up, clawing for the thing as he pulled it away.
Nicky saw that the dripping mass was still connected to Zinnia by a pulsing cord.
Officer Libby’s voice was still strong, but his slow pace betrayed his fear.
“Get down, now, Reynold. That’s an order.”
Zinnia tried to stop her husband from escape by clamping both of her hands around the stretching umbilical cord. As Reynold pulled back, it snapped and the sack of dark blood exploded. Zinnia fell back to the floor.
Officer Libby broke in to a run and then stopped suddenly, as if he had hit an invisible wall.
Nicky wanted to look away, but her eyes didn’t belong to her anymore. Some undeniable instinct told her that she needed to see all of it. Without knowing what she was up against, she would never survive.
The evidence of the danger was right in front of her.
With the bloody sack burst, Reynold was holding a savage creature made of teeth and claws. It was only the size of an infant, but it twisted and squirmed, biting every time its powerful jaws found his flesh. Reynold screamed and tried to throw the thing. Its talons gripped too tight—it couldn’t be shaken loose. More blood exploded, this time red and thick and Reynold screamed again.
“Help me!” he yelled.
Jessie got to his feet. Officer Libby took a tiny step forward.
It seemed clear that any attempt to help him would lead to more casualties.
Reynold made one more attempt to free himself from the thing. Dropping to his knees, he slammed the monster to the wood floor. A compressed grunt came between the sounds of gnashing teeth. Raising his hands a second time, Reynold went to smash it again. The thing was too fast. It scrambled up his arms and then teeth sank into Reynold’s neck.
The smell of it hit Nicky and she nearly folded. Her legs barely had the strength to keep her upright.
Reynold was reaching for the knife. His hand fell short as he collapsed to the platform.
The little monster, still gripping Reynold’s scalp with its claws, rose from the bleeding man as he trembled and then became still. Through the thick blood and slime, Nicky got her first good look at it. The thing was finally still enough for her to make sense of what she was seeing. The bulbous skull and sharp teeth were the most human things about it. The body tapered down to narrow hips and ill-defined legs. The little arms, corded with muscle, ended in talons as sharp and strong as an owl’s.
Lily had been sitting perfectly still, only moving her head to see the horror. Suddenly, she broke from the bench where she sat. She lunged forward, both hands stretched out towards the knife that was stuck in the floor.
The thing reacted immediately. It turned its silver eyes to her and hissed through clenched teeth. It flew across the floor, pulling with its talons and slithering with its hind end. Jessie dove out of its path. Officer Libby raised his foot out of the way and the creature shot right under it.
The monster was coming directly for Nicky.
She was frozen until the last moment and then threw herself to the side to avoid it. When it slithered past her, darting down the hall, her breath came back in gasps. Her heart fluttered and then pounded, like it had restarted from a stop.
“Dad?” someone yelled. “Dad!”
She looked up and saw Jessie rolling over his dead father. His frantic voice was constricting with sorrow. He kept calling for his father, sobbing between each plea.
Nicky got up and slipped through the doorway, closing the door behind herself. The scene on the raised platform was horrible, but nothing compared to the nightmare that she was closing out of the room.
Lily went to her mother. Eric stood up and rubbed his hands on his sides.
Officer Libby finally seemed to get his wits about him and he strode towards the platform to take control. With a quick check for a pulse, he dismissed any urgency of dealing with Reynold. He went to Zinnia next.
Nicky came up alongside Eric.
“Nicky! What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I brought Officer Libby.”
“Is she…” he raised his finger to point at his aunt. “Is that really her do you think?”
“I don’t know,” Nicky said.
They moved closer together. Nicky turned and saw Wendell’s wide eyes taking everything in. He sat as still as a statue.
“Mom, let’s get you help,” Lily said.
“No,” Zinnia whispered.
Officer Libby crouched down next to Zinnia, taking in her condition with roving eyes. Her legs were splashed and stained with a horrible black fluid. The smell was a mixture of sewage and rotting fish. Officer Libby took Zinnia’s hand and checked her pulse as he looked at her slashed face.
“Zinnia?” Frank Libby asked.
“Frank,” she said as her good eye found him. “Wendell came.”
“I see. Lily is right. We have to get you to medical help.”
“No. You have to kill it,” Zinnia said.
He had been holding her hand, but when she said this she twisted her hand around to grab his wrist. Frank jerked back, nearly losing his balance.
“Kill that thing, Eric,” Zinnia said. Her eye turned to Lily. “Promise me.”
“Of course,” Lily said.
“Don’t be stupid,” Jessie said. He stood up, wiping the tears from his eyes with the back of his forearm. “It killed Dad. We have to get away from that thing.”
“He has a point,” Officer Libby said.
“Hold on!” Nicky said. She realized that she had shouted, but she was helpless to control the volume of her own voice. “Have you all gone crazy here? I came back to save you from her. Now you’re taking orders from her?”
“She tried to help us, Nicky,” Lily said. “She wanted to save us from what was inside of her. She couldn’t help it.”
Nicky shook her head.
“Nicky is right,” Zinnia whispered. When she tried to cough, black liquid bubbled up between her lips. She struggled to get words out through the fluid. “Forget me—I’m already dead. Eric, you have to kill that thing. It belonged to your mother. Don’t let him take it.”
Nicky looked up to Eric. All their eyes turned to him as he regarded his aunt.
“You were more of a mother to me than she was,” Eric said.
“Then do it for me.”
ERIC
IT WAS OBVIOUS, ONCE Lily had stated it aloud. His aunt had been possessed by the thing that she carried inside of her. Now that it was out, she was back to herself. She took in one more breath. Instead of exhaling, the air and more black oil leaked from her mouth. Her one good eye went glassy.
Lily hunched over. Officer Libby put a hand on her back.
“Great,” Jessie sighed. “Just great.”
Eric cleared his throat and tried to sound confident in what he had to say.
“Okay—you guys should get out of here. I’m going to do what Aunt Zinnia asked,” Eric said.
“That’s ridiculous,” Nicky said. “We’re all going to get out of here, once and for all. We’ll go to California. If that’s not far enough, we’ll catch a boat to Japan.”
Eric shook his head.
“I set out to finish this thing,” Officer Libby said. “If there’s one more box to check, then I’m going to do it. Where’s that knife?”
“What makes you think that this will be the end?” Nicky asked. “What makes you think we’re the first to try to put an end to the Trader? You don’t survive for centuries without some pretty damn good tricks up your sleeve.”
“Nicky,” Eric said, “Aunt Zinnia told us that my mom traded something that she wouldn’t talk about, right? That would have been her firstborn. The Trader found a way to keep that embryo alive all these years and then he put it inside Aunt Zinnia. It was a last ditch effort. I have to take care of it. Just me.”
“I’m with you until that last part,” Officer Libby said.
>
Eric put up his hands. “I know this house inside and out. I’ll find the thing and kill it.”
“What makes you think it can be killed?” Nicky asked.
Wendell’s voice surprised them. It was almost like he had learned to be invisible when he wanted to. When he spoke, they all jerked and turned towards him.
“It can,” Wendell said. “It ran away because it’s vulnerable. It won’t be for long.”
“Yeah,” Officer Libby said. “I believe that. Eric, regardless of how well you know this house, you can’t search and corner it alone. We’ll break into teams of two. Wendell, you’re with me. Eric is with Nicky and Jessie goes with Lily. You see anything—even the shadow of anything—you yell, okay? We’re searching and closing doors behind us, got it? Do not try to grab it. Just yell.”
Wendell turned to Eric. “Who is this guy?”
“He’s a cop,” Eric said. “Stay behind him.”
Wendell nodded.
“This is dumb,” Nicky said.
“You don’t have to do this. None of you have to do this,” Eric said.
“Don’t be stupid,” Lily said. “We’re in this together.”
# # #
They found a sheet to put over his Uncle Reynold and a blanket to put over his aunt. Eric didn’t like to be close to the body of his uncle. The black pool was spreading and he nearly stepped on a severed finger.
With that done, Officer Libby led the way into the hall and closed the door tight.
“I’ll take upstairs,” Eric said. “I know where to step in the attic.”
“We’ll do cellar,” Jessie said.
Lily glanced at him and then nodded. She didn’t like the cellar, but she wouldn’t want to force Wendell down there either. To his shame, Eric realized that his motivation hadn’t really been about his knowledge of the attic. Anyone could get around up there if they were careful. It was really about his certainty that the monster would have gone downstairs. The cellar was where the house kept its secrets. That’s where evil would gravitate.
“Good,” Officer Libby said. “Wendell and I will clear this floor and that will mean I’ll be able to respond quickly if anyone sees something. Grab a weapon, but make it something long and blunt. You’re trying to keep this thing from hurting you. Remember, it could have attacked us all before, but it ran. Wendell’s right, the thing is vulnerable and it’s probably not going to come at you unless it’s cornered. So clear the rooms and close the doors.”