by JG Faherty
As the unconscious orderly twitched and fell to the floor, Eddie switched hosts, taking over a gray-haired doctor who’d been watching the events unfold.
“Sorry, Chief, over here now. Did Carson forget to mention I can be anyone I fucking wanna be?” He picked up a scalpel and tilted it back and forth. “Gonna have to cut you up now, Chief.”
Jones stepped in front of the children and drew his gun. “One more step and I’ll shoot.”
Flipping the blade from hand to hand, Eddie shook his head. “No you won’t. You shoot me and you kill this person, while I simply move on to somebody else. Don’t believe me? Ask Ned Bowman or Mouse Bates when you see them in Hell.” He took another step, scalpel raised in the air.
The sound of the gun firing and the sudden eruption of pain in his leg happened simultaneously. His left leg collapsed and he fell to the floor.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Eddie glared at the Chief as he came closer.
“You fucking shot me? See how you like shooting your own daughter.”
Eddie flung himself out of the doctor and into Jones. The force of it, violent and fast, caused Jones to drop the gun. Quickly recovering his balance, Eddie picked up the pistol before Carson could grab it.
“Looks like you two are gonna take a trip to never-never land together. Who’s first?” Eddie swung the gun back and forth from Carson to Kellie and back again.
Before he could pull the trigger, the ER doors burst open and two EMTs wheeled a stretcher in. A nurse ran alongside, calling out vital signs.
“Thirty-eight-year-old female suffering from chronic emphysema aggravated by smoke inhalation. Oh-two sat eighty-one and dropping. BP one hundred over eighty-eight. Acuity level two.”
Eddie froze at the nurse’s words. Thirty-eight? Emphysema? No, it can’t be….
Ma?
He stopped the stretcher and looked down.
It was her.
“Ma!” He grabbed her hand and squeezed.
Her eyes opened. Although her voice was muffled by the oxygen mask covering it, he understood her words.
“Johnny Ray?” Her hand tightened against his. “Johnny, take…take care of Carson for me. He needs a dad.”
Before Eddie could respond, the EMTs wheeled her past and into a curtained room.
“This is all your fault!” Carson ran up and punched him. “You heard the nurse. Smoke inhalation. You lit the fires, Eddie.” Carson held his arms wide. “You wanna kill me? Go ahead! I don’t give a shit anymore. Me, Ma, all those people in the theater. Is this why you came back?”
From behind the blue curtain came a high-pitched whining sound.
“She’s coding!”
Chapter Forty-Two
Is this why you came back?
Something in those words broke loose a piece of sanity from the mountain of Eddie’s madness. A singular clarity of thought that cut through all the bug-fuck crazy like the sun boring a hole through dark thunderclouds.
I wanted to get revenge for my death. That’s all.
So finish it and leave Carson alone. He’s not responsible for you dying. Only the Hell Riders are.
“Carson, listen.” Eddie dropped the gun. “I’m…I’m not me anymore. My brain’s all fucked up. I…I’m changing into something, something dangerous. Take Kellie and Ma and get the hell away from here. As far away as you can. This is…. I think this is the last little piece of the real me left. Something big and black is eating the rest of it. I love you, Carson. I don’t think we’ll get the chance to talk again. Tell Ma I love her, too. Don’t try to stop me. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
He pulled Carson into a quick but strong hug, and then left Chief Jones’s body.
It was time to end things.
* * *
Carson gasped as Chief Jones let go of him and collapsed onto the floor. “Eddie….”
“Carson!” Kellie’s voice. He turned to look at her.
“Hurry! Hank’s room!”
He looked back at the curtained room hiding his mother. That’s where he should be. Not giving up his life to kill the demon that used to be his brother.
“Carson! Only you can stop him.”
Goddammit! His hatred of Eddie returned. Now he was even preventing Carson from his last chance to see his mother. But someone had to put an end to things.
“Let’s go.” He took Kellie’s hand and they raced for the stairs.
They arrived at Hank Bowman’s room just in time to see a nurse pass out next to the bed. Hank’s hands and feet were untied, and he was scooting himself into a sitting position before the nurse even hit the floor.
“Say the spell!” Kellie shouted.
“What? He’s not inside me yet! And Hank isn’t—”
“Just do it!”
Kellie launched into the spell they’d practiced. Trusting that she knew what she was doing, Carson joined in.
“Eddie Ryder, we bind you to this body with salt and holy water. Eddie Ryder, we bind you to this body with salt and holy water. Eddie Ryder—”
Eddie’s manic laughter rang out from Hank’s body and every fluorescent light on the entire wing exploded. He pointed at Carson, who ducked, expecting a bolt of lightning to the chest.
“You’re damn lucky there’s a part of me that still doesn’t want to kill you. But that part’s getting smaller, little brother. I think this is your last chance to grab your fuck-buddy and get the hell out of here before I get really pissed.”
His finger moved a couple of inches to the right and then lightning did fill the room, three neon-bright zig-zag lines that left blue and red after-images in Carson’s vision.
Behind them, the entire wall burst into flame.
None of it stopped Kellie’s chanting and Carson hurriedly started reciting the spell again, embarrassed into action by her bravery.
Eddie’s finger swung in her direction, thumb and forefinger cocked in the time-honored caricature of a gun. “You’re starting to annoy me, bitch.”
A loud explosion caused Carson to cry out, and he ran to Kellie, afraid Eddie had blown her guts out.
Then he noticed she was not only still standing, but still speaking the binding spell. Movement by the door caught his attention, and he saw Chief Jones with a gun in his hand.
Across the room, Hank went down to one knee.
Carson turned as Eddie shouted at them in Hank’s voice.
“You fucking cock-sucking sonovawhore! You shot me again! Goddamn, that fucking hurts!” He had his hands pressed against one leg, blood already dripping from between his fingers.
Without skipping a word, Kellie kicked Carson in the leg and motioned for him to keep reciting the spell. He started up again, wondering why she was so intent on finishing it. Did she think they had a chance of trapping Eddie in Hank’s body without salt or holy water?
“Eat shit and die, Eddie Ryder.” Chief Jones aimed the gun at Hank’s chest.
“Not today, dickbag.” Eddie lifted his hands and incandescent darts of energy sprayed out from every finger, blasting fist-sized holes in the walls, ceiling, and floor. A ceiling tile fell on Kellie’s head and she cried out. Carson threw up his arms to protect his face from tile and wood shrapnel that bit and stung like a thousand wasps. Jones fired his gun, but the bullets exploded in mid-flight, never reaching their target.
Then Eddie stood up and ran, using Hank’s body like a battering ram to bowl over Chief Jones before speeding out the door.
* * *
Eddie’s thoughts were in turmoil as he slammed open an emergency door at the back of the hospital and ran across the parking lot. His leg screamed with every step, which only added to his confusion as he limped toward Main Street.
Should have killed them all—
No! Carson’s family! Can’t hurt family—
“Speed
ing through night, hell’s fire eyes alite!”
Fuck them. They tried to hurt you—
“You got another thing coming!”
Doesn’t matter—
Does matter—
“Dark walls that surround my mind—”
“Hell Rider, gonna drive right over you!”
The bitch made him do it, can’t blame—
Shot me! Motherfucker shot me!
Through it all, one thought stood out clear, a single star in the endless dark insanity of Eddie Ryder’s mind.
It was time for Hank Bowman to die.
And he needed to die the same way Eddie had, roasting like a pig on a flaming spit.
On Main Street, smoke still rose from the smoldering ruins of the movie theater and surrounding buildings. Eddie aimed Hank’s body for them and ran faster.
* * *
“Are you okay?” Carson knelt next to Kellie as she brushed chunks of fiberboard from her hair.
“Yeah.” She gave him a weak smile. “Good thing those ceiling tiles aren’t hard.”
You’re lucky, Eddie. I’d have killed you with my bare hands if you’d hurt her.
He helped her up and they went to Chief Jones, who sat on the floor, trying to catch his breath.
“Dad! Are you—”
He waved them off. “I’m fine. Just had the…wind…knocked out of me. Where’d he go?”
“I don’t know.” Kellie looked at Carson, who shook his head.
“I have no idea where he’s going. But he left a trail.” He pointed to the drops of blood on the floor. They led out the door and down to the stairwell. “We can follow him.”
“Only for as long as he stays in Hank’s body,” the Chief said. Seeing the surprised looks on Carson and Kellie’s faces, he nodded.
“Yeah, I believe you now. After what I’ve seen today, I’d probably believe you if you told me Bigfoot was robbing stores on Main Street.”
“So what do we do?” Kellie asked.
Carson bit his lip and tried to think. Where would Eddie go next? And why hadn’t he just left Hank’s body behind, instead of….
“I know what Eddie’s doing,” he told them, as it all became clear in his mind.
“What?” Kellie and her father asked in unison.
“He stayed in Hank because it’s Hank’s time to die. That’s why he came up here in the first place. First Hank, and then…then the rest of the town.”
Chief Jones groaned and pushed himself to his feet, a worried look on his face. Carson knew how he felt. Once Eddie finished with Hank, there’d be no stopping him.
Kellie, however, surprised the hell out of him by laughing.
“That’s perfect.”
* * *
Eddie stood in front of Earl’s Chevron on the corner of Main and Pahayokee and smiled.
This is it. Say good-fucking-bye, Hanky-wanky.
There’d been nothing left of the movie theater and adjoining buildings when Eddie reached them, but it didn’t matter. He’d remembered the gas station only two blocks away, the perfect place for Hank to go up in flames.
A calmness had come over him as he limped-jogged down the soot-covered sidewalk, dragging his blood-soaked leg like a stubborn child. The arguing thoughts in his head had given way to two simple, repeating sentences.
Hank’s gonna die.
I’m a fucking god.
Hank’s gonna die.
I’m a fucking god.
Now even they had disappeared, overtaken by the sheer joy of knowing that in a few moments he’d be sitting on Diablo, watching Hank Bowman scream and cry in agony as his body melted away.
See how you like it, fuck face. Now you’re gonna know what I felt.
Like everything else on Main Street, Earl’s was closed, thanks to the fires. Eddie neither noticed nor cared. He hobbled to the nearest pump and placed his hands on it.
Ooh, Hank, this is gonna hurt so bad!
Summoning up as much of his power as he could, Eddie started counting.
Five…
Four…
Three…
Two…
One….
Die, you cocksuckingfatassfuckingpieceofshit!
With a triumphant shout that shattered the windows of every building on the block, he let it all out in a single blast.
A second later, his war cry turned into agonizing screams.
* * *
Carson didn’t know whether to hug Kellie or be mad at her as she explained what she’d done.
“Yesterday, outside the hospital, when I told you I had to give Delbert a message for my dad? I kinda lied. What I told him was to get salt and holy water and sprinkle them on Hank’s body.”
“What? You mean…?”
She nodded. “That’s why we had to say the spell. We trapped Eddie inside Hank, and he didn’t know it.”
Chief Jones looked confused. “But how did you know Eddie would be inside Hank?”
Kellie shrugged. “We figured that sooner or later he’d want to kill Hank. I just hoped he’d go after him before he came after me and Carson. That almost backfired.”
“But why?” Carson couldn’t understand it. “We had a plan. He would take over my body, and then—”
“Then what?” Kellie glared at him. “I’d kill you? No way I was gonna let that happen. I love you, and I—”
“You love me? You mean—”
Sudden bright light from the windows interrupted him. Before they had time to even move, the floor shook and a sound louder than anything Carson had ever heard battered his ears.
* * *
The pain was at once unimaginable and all too familiar as the intense heat seared Eddie’s lungs and the flames turned his flesh into boiling liquids. He kept waiting for his escape, to rise out of Hank’s body and end the nightmarish torture, but it didn’t happen.
In the end, his mind finally crumbled and he was back in his garage again, blindly struggling to find Diablo and cursing the Hell Riders for their murderous deed.
Chapter Forty-Three
“Good night, Ma. We’ll see you tomorrow.” Carson gave his mother a kiss and stepped away from the hospital bed.
In the hallway, Kellie and Chief Jones waited while he shut the door.
Three days had passed since Eddie’s death in the fire, during which time Carson had gradually accepted that they’d really killed him, that his brother’s vengeful spirit was finally gone. He’d been staying at Kellie’s house while his mother recovered, but the doctors had said she’d be released in a day or two, which meant things would finally be getting back to normal.
In the aftermath of the gas station explosion, after emergency helicopters from Miami doused the fire with flame-retardant chemicals so the firefighters could get in, a few charred bones, partially fused to pieces of metal and plastic, had been found. Chief Jones had told a small lie to the coroner, saying he’d seen Hank Bowman running toward the gas station with some kind of homemade explosive in a box. As a favor to Carson and Sally – and to keep his paperwork from sounding insane – he’d also made sure to put into the official record that Hank and the Hell Riders were the source of all the fires and explosions in town over the last few days.
The Bowman family buried Hank’s few remains in Homestead the day after the fire, their second funeral in less than a week, in a plot right next to his brother. Just like Ned’s burial, it was attended by a handful of relatives and no one from Hell Creek.
Since Hank’s death, there’d been no thunder or lightning in Hell Creek, and no violence or vandalism of any kind.
Holding Kellie’s hand as they walked to the elevator, Carson allowed himself his first real smile in what seemed like weeks. His mother was alive, the prettiest girl in school was in love with him, and the town was safe again.
>
Maybe Kellie is right. It’s time to stop worrying. Time to move on.
Time to live.
Epilogue
Eddie woke to the sound of voices.
Help! Help me!
Who the fuck—
Where the hell—
Who is that?
Ned? Ned, I can’t see—
Hank? Fuckin’ A, are you dead too?
Dead? No, I….
Shut the FUCK UP, both of you!
Ryder? What the fuck are you doing—
His laughter rumbled out. Weak, but that would change.
Boys, I’ve got good news and bad news….
* * *
Arvis Keel nearly jumped out of his skin as violent thunder boomed in the cloudless twilight descending on Homestead Cemetery. Before he had more than a moment to wonder at the unexpected disturbance, a second rumbling took over, a sound much more familiar to him.
A motorcycle? And a loud one at that, one of them custom choppers I’ll bet. Sounds pretty close.
But the gates are closed. Locked ’em myself.
He took a flask from his pocket and sipped at the sweet bourbon while he pondered what to do. Call the police? Check for trespassers himself?
Then a second engine revved, this one deeper, more powerful. Almost angry.
A third joined in.
Arvis shut the door to the utility shed and hurried for the caretaker’s office. Three bikes meant trouble. He’d seen motorcycle gangs plenty of times before, in Homestead and on the nearby highways. You couldn’t live in the area and not see them. And he knew one thing for sure: you didn’t mess with them.
He was halfway to the office when the lights blew out and music blared from the evening sky.
“Hell Rider
Never ending, life eternal
Judgment day approaching
World left black and smoking
Wheels of death descending
Destruction never ending!
Hell Rider!”
Afterthoughts
So Admire the heroes, the endangered ones