by Val Tobin
***
Rachel opened her eyes. A sliver of daylight showed under the door. She’d been sure she wouldn’t sleep, but somehow, she’d passed out anyway. Rachel glanced at Jeff, who lay on the sleeping bag next to her, his head on a blow-up bath pillow. He stirred and opened his eyes.
The sound of a vehicle pulling into the parking lot cut through the silence. Rachel jumped up, threw open the door, and rushed to the main door. A delivery van pulled up next to the police cars.
She unlocked the main door, but kept it closed. Her gaze focused on the driver, who peered out the van’s front window. The man’s head swivelled from side to side, taking in the scene before him: the two police cars, door yawning open on one; Enza and Dan’s house, seemingly deserted, that door also open.
Rachel looked for the police officer’s body. A puddle of moist, rust-coloured dirt showed where he’d fallen, but that was all. She searched for any sign of the creatures. All was still and quiet. Her hand touched the doorknob. After one more glance around, she swung the door open and waved to the man in the van.
The man returned the wave and jumped out of the vehicle, making too much noise, Rachel thought. The slam of the van door closing made her cringe. She scoped out the area, terrified the racket might attract the creatures.
“Run!” she shouted. No sign of the grey things, but that didn’t matter. They could appear any moment. She scanned the trees. Still nothing. Her heart caught in her throat. The man stepped away from the van and walked towards her at a brisk pace. Rachel waved her arm, trying to spur him on. “Please, oh God, hurry!”
He escalated to a jog. A few more metres to go. Movement in her periphery made her snap her head to the right. A creature loped out of the trees, but when the bright sun caught its skin, it howled in pain and lunged back into the trees.
Rachel whimpered. The man hadn’t seen the creature leave the forest, but he’d heard the howl. He ran now, his expression grim, but unsurprised.
He’s seen them before. She moved aside when he reached the porch and held the door open for him. When he was in, she slammed shut and locked both doors.
Still huffing from his run, the man had no chance to glance around. Jeff threw himself at the stranger, gripping him around the waist. Tears streamed from the boy’s eyes. He gasped and wheezed, emitting choked sobs.
The man pried Jeff off and crouched down.
“Are you hurt?” The man’s grey eyes were calm, even though he’d just traversed hell’s corridor to reach them.
Jeff shook his head, but remained silent and continued to sob.
When the man stood, he didn’t tower over Rachel, who was tall for a girl her age, but muscles filled out his T-shirt. No paunch spilled over the belt on his jeans. He looked younger than their dad, but Rachel still thought he might help them. He was an adult, and he’d made it into the store without being torn apart. She decided that was criteria enough to accept him as their saviour.
“The monsters killed our mom,” Rachel said. “We’re stuck in here. I think they killed all the police who were here and Enza and Dan. A police officer showed up last night, and they killed him, too. I don’t know where his body went.” When she finished speaking, she burst into tears and sank to the floor, her back against the door.
The man sat on the floor next to her. Jeff sat on Rachel’s other side, and she put her arm around him.
“What’s your name?”
“Rachel.”
The man nodded at Jeff. “Your brother?”
Rachel nodded. “Jeff. This is Spike.” She indicated the dog.
Spike sniffed the newcomer’s hand and sat at his feet. The dog’s tail whapped the floor in a steady beat.
“I’m Peter. Sorry about your mom.”
“What are these things?” Rachel said.
“I don’t know. I saw them when I pulled off the highway onto Storm Lake Road, but they kept to the trees. The house up by the highway looked overrun.”
He looked grim. Rachel suspected he wasn’t telling her everything. The Ferguses lived in the house by the highway. She hoped they were all right, but if the creatures were in the house, then the family was likely dead. She looked at the floor, a knot in her gut.
Peter said, “We have to leave here. You know that, right?”
Rachel nodded, but her eyes grew wide, and her lips trembled. “I’m scared. If we go outside, they’ll catch us.”
“We can’t stay here.”
“My daddy’s coming.” She stuck her chin out, defiant. “Wait,” she said, as a thought struck her. “Do you have a cell phone?”
“In the van. When we leave, we can call anyone you want.”
Rachel hesitated. “We’re not supposed to go with strangers.”
“I understand. I can’t leave you here, though. You’ll be trapped. You won’t last through the night.”
“We just did.” Her voice rose.
He sighed. “We’d be better off at the police station in Ridley.”
Beside her, Jeff’s sobs tapered off, and he fell silent. His gaze bounced back and forth between Rachel and Peter.
“Do you think they’re everywhere?” Rachel’s fear escalated. What if they were in all the towns? What if they’d caught her dad, too? Her lips trembled again, and she struggled to hold back the tears.
Peter stood and went to the window. She waited, breath held, wanting him to tell her it was okay—that if they left here, they’d be safe. He turned away from the window and looked at her. “I hope they’re just here. But I don’t know how they got here, so we can’t assume it’s an isolated thing. I can’t imagine they’d be in the cities, though.”
“Have you listened to the radio?”
He frowned. “I heard on the news yesterday a girl disappeared from one of the cottages. They didn’t mention these things.”
That gave her hope.
“We have to leave, Rachel. If no one else has reported this, we have to do it.”
“You go. Send someone back for us.”
“I’m not leaving you here. I can’t do it. If you were my kid sister, I’d want someone to take you away from here. I won’t hurt you.”
Rachel hesitated. Isn’t that what a psycho would say? “Do you have a wife?”
He smiled. “No. A girlfriend. I’m only twenty.”
Her face warmed, and she averted her eyes. She’d thought he was old—maybe even thirty. She put her hands on her hips. “Do you have a picture of her?”
“Not on me. Do you want me to show you my identification?”
Rachel glanced at the floor and looked up again. “Yes. I do.”
She was responsible for Jeff. She’d keep him safe. They needed to leave—Peter was right. But she had to make sure they weren’t leaving with a pervert.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet. Rachel kept her gaze on his hands while he riffled through the wallet and pulled out a card. She accepted the card and examined it. His driver’s licence. Peter Sanderson. He lived in Ridley, Ontario, the town closest to Storm Lake.
“You drive a delivery van?”
Peter nodded. “I do this for the summer. I’m studying business at Trent University.” He looked out the window and frowned. Rachel followed his gaze. Clouds were rolling in. He plucked his card from her hand.
“Rachel, enough. We have to get moving. I think they’ll get bolder if the sun goes behind the clouds. They don’t seem to be afraid of daylight—just direct sunlight.”
“Okay. But I’m leaving a note with your information on it and letting people know we’re together.”
He agreed, and they found pen and paper. Rachel wrote a detailed note and stuck it by the cash register. She set a box of candy on top as a paperweight.
Peter stood sentinel by the door, watching over the parking lot and the forest beyond, while the kids washed up in the bathroom and prepared to leave. When they were ready, Rachel showed him the knives she’d found. “I think we should bring these.”
“Do you h
ave any more?”
Rachel showed him the box, and he selected a large knife.
The room grew dim. Outside, grey clouds scudded over the water, and on the other side of the lake, sheets of rain covered the forest. It rolled in fast, headed their way.
Rachel’s stomach clenched. She’d held them up arguing with Peter. If they died, it would be her fault. She’d wanted to keep Jeff safe and now they would all die.
The same fear reflected in Peter’s eyes. He met her gaze. “It’ll be okay. Run for the van. I’ll be right behind you.”
Peter pulled out his car keys and went to the main door. He opened it, leaving the screen door closed. The headlights on the van flickered when he pressed the key fob.
“It’s unlocked now,” Peter said. “Run for the passenger door and jump in. I’m heading for the driver’s side.”
Jeff moaned and pointed towards the forest. Rachel gave a small scream when dark shadows detached from the trees and advanced on the van. Rain spattered down as the storm reached them. Thunder cannoned in the distance.
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have taken so long.”
Peter touched her shoulder. “Stop it, Rachel. We’ll figure it out. The flickering lights on the van must have caught their attention.”
“I want my Daddy.” She broke down.
Jeff put his arms around her. Peter reached out a timid hand and stroked her head.
“We’ll wait it out,” he said. “These storms come and go up here. You know what they say: if you don’t like the weather here, wait fifteen minutes.”
He sounded more optimistic than he looked.
Peter glared at the creatures. When the beasts