Hellrider

by JG Faherty

  There were no guards by the door, but she knew there might be one inside. Without a window in the door, there was no way to tell.

  Only one way to find out.

  She pushed the door open just enough to peek inside. The ceiling lights were off but the usual assortment of tiny wall and floor lights, together with the sunset-orange glow of the fire illuminating the windows, allowed her to see well enough. Carson was in bed, asleep. An empty chair sat beneath the window. Unless a guard was standing or sitting to one side of the door or the other, the room was empty.

  Kellie said a prayer for good luck and stepped through.

  No one was there.

  “Carson!” She said it in a whisper-shout as she hurried to the bed. He woke up immediately.

  “Kellie? What are you doing here?”

  “Getting you out. We have to stop your brother. He’s out of control. He lit a big fire in town.”

  “I know, your father accused me of doing it.”

  “Not those little fires.” Kellie shook her head. “I’m talking a big fire. Really big. Right on Main Street. Look.” She pointed out the window, where flames and smoke were visible between the black shapes of buildings.

  Carson gasped. He tried to get out of bed but had to stop, thanks to his wrist being handcuffed to the railing.

  “Hang on a sec.” Kellie took a key from her pocket. “One of my dad’s spares. I had a feeling I might need it.” She opened the handcuff. Carson jumped out of bed and then had to grab her arm for support.

  “What’s the matter?” Kellie asked.

  “I think…I think they must have drugged me. I feel kinda messed up in the head. Dizzy.”

  “Maybe you should stay here.” She didn’t want him to; the last thing she felt like doing was fighting Eddie Ryder alone.

  “No, it’ll pass. I need to move around, that’s all. Can you find my shoes?”

  “Sure.”

  By the time she located them at the back of the closet, Carson was standing on his own. His face remained sickly pale, and his eyes had dark shadows underneath like he hadn’t slept in a week. But he walked to the door without wobbling or pausing.

  They took the stairs back down to the main floor, Carson following Kellie’s lead as she explained the situation in the ER and how they needed to use the front door in order to get away unnoticed. Everything was fine until they got to the main entrance.

  And found Kellie’s father standing there.

  * * *

  Eddie located Johnny Ray Jones just as the Chief entered the hospital.

  Guess what, motherfucker? Gonna pay for turning my family against me, and for all those times you busted my ass when I was alive.

  He was about to enter Jones’s body when he noticed the traitor and the bitch approaching the doors. He paused, hovering above their heads.

  Probably talking about me. Now I can find out what they’re up to.

  * * *

  “Kellie, what the hell is going on?”

  Kellie Jones froze at the sight of her father. What was he doing at the hospital? Why wasn’t he at the fire?

  Carson spoke up. “She came to get me, Chief Jones.”

  “I can see that. Like I don’t have enough problems without you running loose again. For all I know, you’re the one responsible for all this.” He waved his hands around, indicating nothing in particular and the whole town in general, but Kellie knew he meant the fire and the resulting injuries.

  “It wasn’t Carson, Dad.”

  “Sure. Just like it wasn’t him who lit that fire in my yard, or the ones on the street? I’ve got ten people dead and twice that many in the ER, so I’m through playing games, boy.”

  “It’s true, it wasn’t me.” Carson stepped forward, putting himself between Kellie and her father. “It was Eddie, and we have to stop him.”

  Kellie groaned. She knew her father wouldn’t believe a story like that. His next words confirmed it.

  “Eddie? Your brother? Now I know you’re guilty, and crazy as all hell on top of it.”

  “But Dad—”

  Jones cut his daughter off. “Don’t ‘Dad’ me. We found Eddie’s name burning outside another arson scene, down at the Hell Riders’ clubhouse. And someone shouted it in the movie theater just as the fire started there. It doesn’t take a genius to add two and two. Carson’s been lighting fires all over town in some twisted response to his brother’s death.”

  Just then Officer Delbert Beauchamps joined them.

  “Chief, I got a doctor to take care of Wilbur. Says he’s got some pretty bad burns on his arm but he’ll be okay. Gonna be out of commission for a few weeks, though.”

  Jones turned to Carson. “Now one of my men is hurt, too, thanks to you. Del, take these two to my office—”

  “Chief Jones!” his radio interrupted. “We got a problem. The fire’s spreading. It’s almost here at the station. I’m evacuating everyone.”

  “God-fucking-dammit!” Jones glared at Carson and then looked back at Delbert. “Change of plans. Take them to the courthouse and then meet me at the station. We have to help Sharon.”

  He bolted out the door, leaving Kellie and Carson with Delbert. She looked at his heavily lined face and knew it was a lost cause to try and explain things to him, but she tried anyway.

  “Del, you have to let us go. None of this is Carson’s fault. It’s his brother, Eddie. He’s come back from the dead. I know that sounds crazy but it’s true. We think we can stop him, if it’s not too late.”

  Delbert stared at her for so long she thought he might be in shock from her story. She didn’t blame him. Anyone hearing her would think she was a candidate for the nuthouse.

  Then he surprised the hell out of her.

  “I believe you.”

  Carson let out a gasp that Delbert ignored as he kept speaking.

  “Too many strange things happening in town lately. Ain’t normal, and nobody in town’s responsible, no matter what your father says. I grew up with stories of ghosts and possession. My gram always told us the spirits were everywhere, all around us. Good ones and bad ones.”

  “Can you help us?” Carson asked.

  Delbert’s eyes narrowed. “The Chief ordered me to do something. I’m supposed to follow orders. But if something were to happen on the way to the courthouse, like say I see someone who needs my help, and you two happened to run off…well, I can always say the most important thing is to save lives.”

  “Thank you.” Kellie gave him a hug. She’d always been a little afraid of the tall, heavily muscled officer who rarely smiled or talked. Now she wished she’d gotten to know him better.

  “C’mon, Kellie, we have to get going before it’s too late.” Carson grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the doors. They’d only gone a few steps when she stopped.

  “Wait here. I have to tell Delbert something.”

  * * *

  Eddie felt a moment of indecision when Chief Jones left the hospital. Should he follow through with his original plan and put Jones through some nasty paces, or make sure Carson and Kellie didn’t have any more surprises in store for him? In the end, it was hearing how Jones didn’t believe Eddie was back that made up Eddie’s mind.

  Fucking dumbshit hick cop. The evidence is all over your goddamn town and you can’t see it! Guess they won’t be filming CSI: Hell Creek anytime soon. Well, if you need proof, then I’ll give you some.

  Eddie raced ahead to the police station, where Sharon Mays had BJ Flood and Price Bay, who ran the Army-Navy Store down the block, helping her move valuable files and evidence into the fireproof walk-in safe that had come with the building, which had been a bank back in the sixties. Eddie zeroed in on Sharon and was just getting a feel for her body when Jones came in.

  “Thanks, Sharon. What’s left to move?”

  Eddie droppe
d the box Sharon had been carrying. “What’s left? I’ll tell you what’s left, fuck-face. Burning this whole town to the goddamn ground!” Eddie bent down and put his hand against a wall socket, let some of his energy flow out.

  And then he found himself floating up to the ceiling as Sharon’s pacemaker turned into a lump of red-hot plastic and metal that burned a hole right through her heart before it cooled.

  Holy shit, that was fucking AWESOME!

  Before Jones or the other two men had time to react to Sharon’s sudden death, Eddie swooped into BJ Flood’s body and pointed at the body on the floor, just as Jones came out of his shock and knelt down to check Sharon for a pulse.

  “Goddamn! Did you see that? We shoulda taped it. Put it on the internet and make a million bucks.”

  Jones looked over at him. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “Not me, Chief Dumb Ass. You. How stupid can you be?”

  Jones’ mouth opened but no words came out. Eddie laughed, setting the lights to flickering, which only made him laugh harder, until the entire office resembled a dance club.

  “Hey, Jonesy, adouchebagsayswhat?” Eddie asked, speaking at doublespeed.

  “What?” The police chief still had the look of someone doing their best village idiot impression.

  “Exactly.” Eddie turned and grabbed Price Bay, who’d been standing there just as dumbfounded, and let his power surge through BJ’s fingers into his partner’s neck. Sparks flew and smoke filled the air as all the hair on Price’s body caught fire. Price screamed and Eddie did the same, his hands and arms burning like he’d stuck them in hot coals. But he didn’t let go, not even when his flesh melted right into Price’s and the other man’s eyes exploded like two miniature water balloons, spraying hot fluids across the room.

  Only when he felt BJ’s heart begin a stuttering dance step did Eddie turn the juice off, but by then it was too late. He had just enough time to smile at Jones and speak a final sentence before death forced him out of another body.

  “Hey, Jonesy. Now do you believe in ghosts?”

  Chapter Forty

  Carson took Kellie’s hand as they left the hospital grounds. “What was that all about back there?”

  “What?”

  “You and Beauchamps.”

  “I gave him a message. For my dad. In case something…you know, happens. To us.”

  Carson frowned. Something in Kellie’s answer was off. The words made sense but her tone….

  She’s lying. But why?

  Two immediate thoughts came to his mind: Is it really her or Eddie? followed by, If it isn’t Eddie, why the secret?

  And either way, could he still trust her?

  What choice did he have?

  “I need to go home,” he said. “My mom…I have to check on her. Make sure she took her medicine. Plus, with all the fires and everything, she’s gonna be worried.”

  “Okay.”

  It was a half-hour walk to the trailer. Carson kept a careful eye on Kellie the entire time, but everything she said seemed normal, and her actions seemed her own. From what he could tell, she wasn’t possessed.

  Maybe she was telling the truth. Or maybe it was something so personal she doesn’t want to tell you.

  Was that it? Had she delivered a goodbye message to her father, a final ‘I love you’?

  Does she think she’s going to die?

  It made sense. There was no telling what Eddie would do to them, or what might happen to them in town. No one was safe while Eddie remained on the loose.

  Which was why Carson had to stop him. He’d come up with a plan in the hospital but he hadn’t told Kellie yet because he knew how she’d react. She’d say no. He’d have to convince her, though. Without her help, it wouldn’t work.

  And Eddie would keep on killing.

  When they arrived at his house, the lights were all off except the one over the front door.

  “Wait here,” Carson whispered. “I’ll check on her and come right back.”

  A quick peek into his mother’s room revealed that she was asleep and her oxygen line in place under her nose. He checked her medicine case, saw that she’d taken everything for that night. He poured her a fresh glass of water and left by the bed, along with a blueberry muffin from the refrigerator and a note saying not to worry about him, he’d explain everything in the morning.

  Then he tiptoed back outside.

  “She’s fine,” he said, in answer to the question on Kellie’s face. “Let’s go. We have to get some things from your house.”

  “What things?”

  “The salt and holy water. We’re going to bind Eddie again.”

  Kellie shook her head. “Carson, that didn’t work the last time. What makes you think it will be different now?”

  “Because this time we’re going to bind him into a body and then kill him before he can escape.”

  “What? You can’t do that.” Kellie stopped walking, turned to face him. “You’d be killing whoever’s body he was in. That would be murder.”

  “I know.” Here came the part he dreaded telling her. “That’s why it has to be me.”

  “No! I won’t let you do that. There has to be another way to stop him.” She crossed her arms, her face angrier than he’d ever seen it. In a way, it made him feel good.

  It meant she cared.

  “Kellie, look.” He took her by the shoulders and turned her toward town. A hazy red glow occupied the entire horizon, as if a city from hell hid just out of sight. Instead of chirping insects and gentle bird calls, the night screamed with the frantic cries of sirens and alarms, and the blaring of car horns.

  “All that death and destruction, it’s because of Eddie. My brother. He’ll keep on doing it, too. You know that. He’ll kill everyone in town. My mother. Your father. I have to stop him, and I can’t do it without you.”

  She stared at him for several moments, her lips tight, a single tear tracking down one cheek. Finally, she nodded.

  “Okay. I’ll help you.”

  She took his hand and they started walking again. Carson wanted to thank her, to tell her that he didn’t want to die, that if there was any other way he’d choose it.

  He stayed quiet, though.

  Because he was pretty sure she was lying again.

  And if she was, they were all in big trouble.

  * * *

  Eddie Ryder had no idea he’d gone completely insane. He couldn’t remember feeling any other way, couldn’t conceive of a time when he didn’t burn with the twin desires of revenge and domination. In the tattered remnants of his mind, the town trembled at his feet and he planned to keep playing with his new toys until the game was over.

  Then he’d move on to the big leagues.

  Since leaving Johnny Ray Jones in a state of total confusion, he’d spent the next three hours picking people at random and forcing them to do his own version of the funky chicken. First, he’d made a volunteer fireman drive a fire truck right into the bank. Then, while people scrambled around, trying to free the truck and still keep fighting the fires that raged up and down Main Street, he switched bodies and had the fire chief from Homestead walk down the road to Rosie’s Diner, break into the back, and start up the deep fryer. Once it came up to temp, he cooked a big batch of gator bites and ate them while watching the reports of the fires on the news. After he finished, he plunged the fire chief’s hands into the hot oil.

  Bored with the fires, he’d possessed every housewife on Cypress Street, one after another, and had them leave their houses buck naked and stand at the end of their driveways. Since each one passed out after he left their body, the street was soon littered with rows of naked women and angry, frantic husbands trying to cover them with coats and blankets. He only stopped when he took over a woman who’d been in her kitchen getting a glass of water. As he pulled her
nightgown over her head, he caught sight of a calendar on the refrigerator.

  And saw it was September 19th. In a moment of clarity, a memory came to him.

  I joined the Hell Riders on September 20th. That’s tomorrow.

  Thinking of the Hell Riders reminded him of Hank Bowman.

  That’s perfect! I’ll kill him tomorrow. It’ll be my anniversary present to me – the end of the old Hell Riders and the beginning of the one true Hell Rider.

  Eddie broke the glass and cut open the woman’s palm, savoring the sharp pain as blood welled up. Dabbing a finger in the blood, he left a message on the white door of the refrigerator.

  Hell Rider. Comin’ for you!

  Chapter Forty-One

  Carson’s first thought when he opened his eyes was that Eddie had possessed him again. An unfamiliar ceiling looked down at him and the couch he lay on was too soft and fresh-smelling to be his own.

  Oh, God. What did he make me do this time?

  “Carson?”

  Kellie’s voice. Why…? Then he remembered. They’d gone back to Kellie’s house and gathered the remaining holy water and salt from the lawn. The paper with the spell on it was gone, burned in the fire Eddie had caused, but it was a simple matter to print another copy and then practice it until they had it memorized. The candles were gone, melted into blobs of wax, and Carson hoped they weren’t a vital part of the spell because from what he’d seen on the news nothing in town would be open in the morning.

  By then it’d been well after midnight, and they decided the best thing to do was catch a few hours of sleep and then try to find Eddie.

  The last thing he remembered before dropping into an exhausted slumber was Kellie giving him a long, tender kiss good night.

  A goodbye kiss. If my plan works, I’ll be dead before the day is over.

  The thought of it made him want to cry, and only Kellie’s sad smile as she came into the Joneses’ TV room the next morning enabled him to keep his tears inside. He could see she was trying to maintain a brave front for him, but she couldn’t hide the fact that his impending death weighed just as heavily on her.