Darkbound 2014.06.12
Page 20
Their legs were short, and ended in hooves.
Then the moment ended, and Jim saw his girls again. But he knew it as a lie. It wasn't Maddie, it wasn't Carolyn. It wasn't his mother coming toward him. Just as it hadn't been Olik's children being savaged in the car, hadn't been the girls and boys whom Olik sold that came to wreak vengeance upon him. It wasn't Adolfa's family in the car with her, waiting forever for her to die; and it wasn't really the children that Freddy had molested who were now cavorting forever on his sentient, pain-ridden remains.
The only things here were beings that had been born here, and would exist forever in a place meant only to bring pain and shame.
As if to give lie to Jim's thoughts, Maddie spoke. "Hello, Daddy," she said. She licked her lips, and her tongue was black and subtly forked.
"Hello, my love," said his mother. She was holding something. It was a knife. A kitchen knife from the block near the stove. The stove she kept so clean, so spotless.
The driver stepped back to give room to the newcomers. They crowded around Jim.
His mother reached out for him with fingers that had grown nails ragged and deadly and sharp. They raked over Jim's face, clawed out his eyes. But he could still see. Could see clearly for the first time.
And what he saw terrified him.
He began to scream.
And screamed still louder as the knife began to dance across his skin, as his blood painted the inside of the subway car.
After a long time the driver moved to the front of the car.
Jim could see it move. Could see the skull-thing. It threw one last smile over its shoulder as little Maddie pulled each of Jim's fingers off with delicate joy.
Jim shrieked.
The door at the front of the car opened.
The driver left.
The door closed.
And Jim knew the subway would continue, as his screams and suffering would continue. As justice would continue.
Forever.
Epilogue:
NEW FARES
ONE…
================
================
Kayla tried to calm down. One last look over her shoulder to make sure.
No cops. Looked like she'd gotten away.
She didn't know about Frank or Killian, though. The alarm went off at the bank, the cops showed up and started shooting, things went a bit haywire.
Screw 'em.
A moment later she felt a familiar push-pull as the subway drove into the station. The train creaked forward. Stopped.
She walked to the nearest car, the second from the back. Waited for the doors to open.
They didn't.
Weird.
Kayla looked in the car. She could see people in there. A white-bread looking dude, a gangster with some kill-tats on his face. A huge white guy, a little old latina lady, a beautiful woman who looked like she was on her way home from her brokerage job, and some pervy type in a stained brown trench coat.
Kayla waved and motioned that the doors weren't opening. None of the half dozen passengers took notice of her. They didn't seem to be ignoring her, but almost seemed like they weren't even seeing her. Like they were existing in some other dimension. It was weird, and it gave her the heebie-jeebies.
Someone bustled past her. It was a squirrely guy with a bad combover. "I think the back door is the only one that works," he said in a voice that matched his body: all high and desperate.
"Thanks," she said.
For a moment she considered skipping this train. If the doors didn't open, what else might not be working? She looked at the people in the car in front of her. Shivered.
Then she remembered the cops. They were still on her. They had to be. She had to get moving. The subway was the best way to get going.
She'd just take it to the next stop.
She got on.
A moment later, the doors closed.
And the subway continued on.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michaelbrent Collings is a full-time screenwriter and novelist. He has written numerous bestselling horror, thriller, sci-fi, and fantasy novels, including The Colony Saga, Strangers, Darkbound, Apparition, The Haunted, Hooked: A True Faerie Tale, and the bestselling YA series The Billy Saga.
Follow him through Twitter @mbcollings or on Facebook at facebook.com/MichaelbrentCollings.
NOVELS BY MICHAELBRENT COLLINGS
THE COLONY SAGA:
THE COLONY: GENESIS (The Colony, Vol. 1)
THE COLONY: RENEGADES (The Colony, Vol. 2)
THE COLONY: DESCENT (The Colony, Vol. 3)
THE COLONY: VELOCITY (The Colony, Vol. 4)
THE COLONY: SHIFT (The Colony, Vol. 5)
THE COLONY OMNIBUS
CRIME SEEN
STRANGERS
DARKBOUND
BLOOD RELATIONS:
A GOOD MORMON GIRL MYSTERY
THE HAUNTED
APPARITION
THE LOON
MR. GRAY (aka THE MERIDIANS)
RUN
RISING FEARS
YOUNG ADULT AND
MIDDLE GRADE FICTION:
THE BILLY SAGA
BILLY: MESSENGER OF POWERS (BOOK 1)
BILLY: SEEKER OF POWERS (BOOK 2)
BILLY: DESTROYER OF POWERS (BOOK 3)
HOOKED: A TRUE FAERIE TALE
KILLING TIME