by Nick Clausen
The problem is, it’ll be a while before Andy is fit to run.
And there’s also the bigger problem. The problem of Rebecca.
Andy can feel she’s reluctant to the idea of trying to flee again. It’s like she has spent all her courage on that last attempt, and now she has nothing left to try again.
Andy doesn’t care about the deal she made with the wendigo, not one bit. He knows Rebecca only did it to save his life, but he can also sense part of her has accepted the deal.
He can’t blame her, of course. She’s been very brave, living alone with the wendigo for all this time, constantly fighting to not give in.
Andy isn’t sure he could have done it. But Rebecca is very strong and stubborn—at least, she used to be—and if she hadn’t been, she would no doubt have succumbed to the wendigo already, losing herself completely and accepting her new life here. Or rather, her non-life. Andy can tell how dull her eyes look, how little of the old Rebecca is left.
It’s not too late, though. Rebecca still found the will to flee only days ago. She can still be saved. But it’ll be up to him. He needs to be the brave one now. He needs to be the one fighting the wendigo.
Andy is terrified at the thought of the monster. He only dimly remembers seeing its face with those tiny, black eyes; he glimpsed it in the forest right before he rammed it with the scooter, and then again when he briefly gained consciousness out in the garden, with Rebecca lying atop of him and the wendigo towering over them, its grey head silhouetted against the dark sky. He hasn’t seen it since. It doesn’t come in here. Which is both comforting and disturbing.
Why hasn’t it burned his feet or blinded him, like it did with Rebecca? Maybe it simply doesn’t care about him. Maybe it knows Andy is still too weak to do anything.
Yet he knows the wendigo wants him dead despite the agreement it made with Rebecca. And maybe it already plans on killing him. It could make it look like an accident, so Rebecca won’t realize it was murder. It could easily poison his food. Or Andy could wake up anytime in the middle of the night to see it standing over him …
Andy shivers at the thought.
How would it go about it? How would it kill him if it came in here? Probably with the shovel.
He doesn’t want to think about it, but he can’t help it. Somehow, he feels he needs to think it through, he needs the fear to motivate him. So he tries to imagine how it would feel to get bludgeoned to death with a shovel.
The pain will be intense—if he even had time to feel it. Maybe the first strike, then it’ll probably knock him out. But the wendigo will keep going until it hears his skull crunch …
The nausea comes back, and Andy swallows hard to keep it down.
Concentrate on something else. Figure out a way to get out of here.
The problem is, he has only seen a small part of the house outside of this room. He knows Rebecca’s room is next door, and he knows the bathroom is down the hallway. The last time Rebecca helped him to the bathroom, he tried to persuade her to take him downstairs, but she refused because the wendigo was down there.
Andy can’t go exploring on his own; he’s not strong enough yet. But as soon as he is, he’ll be able to check out the house while the wendigo is out, and he’s sure he can find a way to escape. He’s tired of lying around here, being in pain and feeling useless.
His hand goes to his pocket where he feels the boxcutter. It’s a small miracle he didn’t lose it when he was run over. The wendigo obviously didn’t check his pockets, because if it had, it would have no doubt confiscated the knife like it did his backpack. Now it’s Andy’s secret weapon. He’s not sure how effective a boxcutter is against a mythical creature, but he’s going to find out if he has to. If it comes to kill him, he won’t give in without at least trying to fight back.
The thought gives him the motivation to get up. He carefully swings his legs out and places both feet on the floor, pushing himself up with his elbow. He tries to lift his butt, and he actually manages to stand. He smiles. Just getting up on his own feels like progress. He feels dizzy, but there is no pain.
He walks back and forth a few times, then sits back down. The room spins for a couple of seconds, but still no headache.
Andy feels very uplifted. It won’t be that many days until he’s ready to act. But until then, the best he can do is rest. So, he lies back down and closes his eyes.
He has barely drifted off to sleep when he hears quick footsteps come down the hallway, and then the door opens. Andy sits up a little too fast, making his head spin.
Rebecca comes in, closes the door behind her and turns around. Her eyes are big and frightened, and for a terrible moment, Andy is sure the wendigo is coming to kill them both.
“What is—” he begins, but Rebecca cuts him off.
“A car. There’s a car coming,” she breathes.
Andy’s heart leaps, and he stands up, ignoring the dizziness. “You sure?”
Rebecca nods emphatically. “I saw it from my window. It’s coming up the gravel road right now.”
Andy goes to the window, grabs hold of the windowsill and presses his cheek against the glass in order to look down into the courtyard. He can only see part of the gate and the gravel road beyond. Up ahead, still far away, a car really is headed this way, making its way slowly down towards the house.
Andy squints, looking through the cracked lenses of his glasses. He can tell the car is turquoise. Not a police car, then, which is what he was hoping. But there is something familiar with the car, it occurs to Andy. It’s not his parents’ and it doesn’t belong to any of the neighbors, either. Still, he has seen it before; he’s almost sure of it. That color is very recognizable.
Rebecca says something, but Andy doesn’t hear her. He just stares at the tiny car coming slowly closer, his heart thumping in his chest, causing a slight headache to sprout behind his forehead, but Andy doesn’t even feel it; he just concentrates hard on the car.
Where have I seen it before?
And then it comes to him: Outside the library. Because the car belongs to …
“Regan,” Andy whispers, his breath fogging up the glass.
“What?” Rebecca asks.
“It’s Regan coming,” Andy says, his brain filling in several blanks in the brief moment it takes him to turn around and look at his sister, who is staring back at him. “She’s found us, Becca. She’s come to help!”
No trace of joy nor hope appears on Rebecca’s face, only fear. “It’s going to kill her,” she whispers. “As soon as it sees her …”
Andy feels a lump of hot coal appear in the pit of his stomach, as he recalls what Rebecca told him about the old British guy.
“Where is it?” he asks. “Do you know?”
“Downstairs, somewhere. In the living room, probably.”
“Did it hear Regan’s car yet, you think?”
“I don’t know.”
Andy looks out the window again, briefly. “We’ve got to warn her,” he says.
“We can’t,” Rebecca says, shaking her head. “If we talk to her, the creature will punish us. I promised I would be good.”
“Listen to me …”
“I promised, Andy! I promised, and if I break that promise, it’ll kill us both!”
Andy grabs Rebecca by the arms, hissing into her face: “We can’t just stay here and watch it kill Regan!”
Rebecca’s lips are quivering.
Andy can tell she’s fighting something internally. He eases off his grip slightly.
“You have to do it, Becca. I’m not fast enough. She’ll be by the gate in thirty seconds. You need to go down there and warn her.”
“No,” Rebecca croaks, trying to pull back, shaking her head wildly. “No, I can’t, Andy. I can’t!”
“Of course you can!” Andy almost shouts, but manages to keep his voice down. He shakes her firmly, once. “You are brave, Becca. All you need to do is run down to the gate and tell Regan to call the police—she’ll understand.”<
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“But … what if the creature comes?”
“Then you run away. Hide somewhere in the garden. As soon as Regan calls the cops, it’ll get something else entirely to worry about, and it won’t bother finding you.”
Rebecca looks like she just might throw up. “What … what about you, then?”
“Don’t worry about me,” Andy says, trying to sound assuring. “I’ll be fine. I can defend myself if it comes for me. Now go, Becca! There’s no more time!”
He shoves her towards the door, and Rebecca staggers along hesitantly. She looks back at him one last time, looking as though she’s about to say something.
“You can do it,” Andy tells her. “And if you get the chance, run and don’t look back.”
Rebecca blinks once. Then she turns and leaves the room. A moment later, Andy can hear her run downstairs.
He turns back to the window and sees Regan’s tiny, blue car reach the gate and stop. Then the door opens, and Regan steps out.
The sight of her makes Andy catch his breath, and he realizes faintly that this is probably the first time he sees Regan outside of the library. She looks up at the house, shielding her eyes with her hand.
“You found us,” he whispers.
Then a smaller figure comes into view. It’s Rebecca, running across the courtyard while looking back at the house. And because she’s so busy looking back at the house, she doesn’t see the garage door opening.
But Andy does.
And he sees the wendigo, too, as it comes striding out on the courtyard, headed for the gate.
In one, boney hand it’s clutching the shovel.
* * *
Rebecca has never been this scared in her life, and the fear drowns out everything else; she doesn’t even feel the painful stabs from running on the gravel.
This situation is somehow much worse than when she ran away. Because this time, it’s not only her life at stake, but Andy’s too.
Andy who never gave up on her.
Andy who kept looking when the police didn’t.
Andy who found her.
The thought of the creature killing Andy scares Rebecca more than anything. But it’s too late now: she’s already made a run for the gate.
The creature can appear any moment. And this time, it won’t forgive her. This time, she has promised to be good, to be Alice, and it will realize it can never trust her again.
She’s almost at the gate now, and she darts one last look back at the house; still no sign of the creature.
“Rebecca? Is that really you?”
Regan has come out of the car and is now staring at her through the metal bars.
“Yes,” Rebecca says, stopping in front of the gate. “It’s me. Andy is here too. But you need to get away, Regan. Right now. Drive off. Or the creature will come and kill you.”
“The creature?” Regan says, frowning and looking from Rebecca to the house. “Who are you talking about, Rebecca? Where is Andy?”
“Just call the—”
Andy’s voice screams from the house: “Becca! Watch out! It’s coming!”
Rebecca spins around, just as she hears the footsteps coming across the gravel from her right.
Rebecca can’t run.
She can’t do anything at all.
She just stands there, frozen in place, staring at the creature coming at her with long strides, holding the shovel. Behind her, Regan says something, her voice shrill.
The creature reaches out its hand and shoves Rebecca aside hard enough to almost knock her to the ground. It pulls out the key and unlocks the chain.
Andy is still screaming from the house: “Run, Regan! Get out of here!”
Rebecca looks at everything like in a trance, and she sees it all play out.
Regan, who has already caught on to the danger of the situation, is getting back into her car. The creature swings open the gate. Regan slams the door, and Rebecca hears the lock clicking. She sees Regan find her phone and put it to her ear. The creature walks to the car, pulls back the shovel and swings it full force at the side window. The glass explodes with a bang. And then, suddenly, events speed up. Regan screams. The creature reaches in and grabs her by the shirt, pulls her out through the window. Regan falls to the ground, tries to get up, but the creature is faster. It raises the shovel. Regan screams again, covering her face at the last second. The blade connects with her arm, giving off a loud crack. Regan’s scream turns into pain. The creature raises the shovel again. Regan’s arm is obviously broken, and she can no longer protect her head.
Rebecca knows then, that it’s all over.
That she will now get to see Regan die the same way the old guy did. And as soon as it’s over, the creature will go upstairs and kill Andy. Then it’ll bury them both in the garden. And if it’s merciful, it will kill her too. All she can do is hope that she will pass out soon.
Then something completely unexpected happens.
Something tiny and brown comes shooting past her leg. Rebecca blinks dazedly and looks down to see Doris, as the dog sprints for the creature and clamps down hard on its bare ankle.
The creature gives off a grunt, lowers the shovel and shakes the leg to get the dog off. But Doris is not intent on letting go; she growls and bites down harder.
The creature bends down to grab the dog, but Doris sees the hand coming and lets go, only to attack the other ankle. Rebecca can see tiny, bloody marks from the dog’s teeth. And she sees Regan reach up and climb into the car, her broken arm all crooked and useless, her glasses gone, but she still fights her way up into the seat.
The creature catches Doris by the neck. The dog whimpers briefly before the creature flings it aside. Then it turns its attention back to the car, which Regan is trying to get into reverse.
She won’t make it.
The thought does something to Rebecca. Or maybe it was seeing Doris attack the creature which did it. Whatever the cause, she’s suddenly able to move again. And before she knows what she’s doing, she jumps forward and kicks the creature on the calf, just as it’s about to reach in and grab Regan for the second time. The kick is hard enough to make the creature spin around, and the black pin-drop eyes fix on Rebecca.
For a long moment, they stare at each other, as the creature’s face slowly contorts into rage.
Then the car revs up its engine.
The creature snaps its head around just as Regan guns it and the car lunges backwards, gravel spurting from the tires. Both Rebecca and the creature stare after it as it heads back out of the driveway.
“if you get the chance, run and don’t look back.”
Andy’s voice jolts her into motion, and she begins running.
The creature notices her at the last second and grabs for her just as she passes it, its thin fingers missing her hair by less than an inch, and then she’s past it.
She runs as fast as she has ever run, pumping her hands up and down, her feet barely touching the gravel road. The car in front of her sways back and forth as Regan backs away from the house as fast as she can without losing control.
“Regan!” Rebecca shouts and waves. “Wait for me!”
Whether Regan hears her or sees her, Rebecca can’t tell, but the car slows down enough for Rebecca to catch up with it. She runs to the passenger side, opens the door and jumps in.
Regan speeds up again, turning in the seat to look back, clutching the broken arm to her chest.
“The road is too narrow,” she gasps, sweat running down her cheeks like tears—or maybe it really is tears. “I can’t turn the car around.”
Rebecca looks out the front window and sees the gate grow smaller as they quickly move away from the house. The creature is still standing there, in the middle of the open gate, staring after them. Rebecca feels like it’s looking straight at her. Then it turns around and marches back inside the courtyard.
“Andy,” Rebecca breathes. “Regan, it’s going to kill Andy!”
Regan gives a moan of pain. “We can�
�t go back, Rebecca.”
“But it’s going to kill him! We need to help him!”
“If we go back, it’ll kill all of us!” Regan shouts, her voice breaking. “We need to get away, we need to call for help.”
“But … but …” Rebecca is on the verge of tears.
“Find my phone,” Regan says, wincing from pain and breathing fast. “I dropped it somewhere in the car.”
Rebecca looks for the phone on the floor as her eyes fill with tears. She knows Regan is right. And she remembers Andy telling her to not worry about him. And part of her feels immense relief that she has actually made it, that she managed to escape. But the thought of leaving Andy behind like this, with the creature probably already headed up the stairs to kill him, is just too—
Rebecca’s train of thoughts get interrupted as something causes her to look up. She stares out the front window, her mouth opening.
“Regan,” she hears herself whisper.
“What? Did you find it?”
“No,” Rebecca croaks. “It’s coming for us.”
Regan turns her head to look for a brief second and gives off a tiny scream just as the yellow van comes bolting out the gate like a big, old, hungry predator.
Rebecca’s stomach turns to stone.
She thought for a second she had made it. She was naïve enough to think she could escape this easily; that the creature would simply let her go. She thought the only one still in danger was Andy.
She turns her head and looks back. The gravel road goes on for as long as she can see. The highway is still way too far away.
* * *
Andy sees it all from his window; it feels like being a spectator to the scariest horror movie.
He tried to shout to warn them, but it was too late. If it hadn’t been for the dog, the wendigo would have killed Regan.
But now he sees her climbing back up into the car, even though she’s obviously hurt badly.
I can’t just stand here—I’ve got to do something.
Andy goes to the door, opens it and heads for the stairs. Looking down the steps, everything grows hazy for a moment, as a wave of dizziness floods him, but he bites down hard, forces his eyes to focus, then descends the stairs.