by Ron Ripley
“Ready?” Jacob asked.
Brian nodded. Jacob gently moved the driver towards Brian, and Brian eased the man out of the truck. The stranger was slim and short. He also stank of vodka. The blood fell quickly from several wounds, and Brian hoped the man didn’t have any blood-borne illnesses.
Suddenly, Shane was at his side, and the two of them got the driver out into the hall.
“The ambulance is on its way,” Shane said as Jacob came out of the room with a blanket and a throw pillow. He slapped the dust off of them before he tossed them onto the floor. “Got a first-aid kit?”
Brian nodded. “Bathroom. Above the cabinet.”
Shane helped Brian put the man on the pillow. As Shane left to get the first aid kit, Jacob looked at the driver.
“Doesn’t look too bad,” Jacob said. “Course, we can’t really tell what’s going on inside.”
“Yeah,” Brian agreed. “Hey, grab the blanket, will you?”
Jacob reached out, pulled it close and passed it over to Brian. Brian spread it out over the unconscious man. Shane was back a moment later, opening the kit while kneeling down.
Shane took out a steri-pad and tore the wrapper off.
And the man opened his eyes. He looked from Brian to Shane and then to Jacob, and the man smiled.
“Hey,” Shane said softly. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” the man replied, slurring his words slightly. “Very good now, actually. How are the three of you doing?”
Brian took the question to be the product of shock or a traumatic brain injury, so he tried to keep the conversation light. “We’re okay. Just worried about you. Can you tell me what your name is?”
“Oh yes,” the man grinned, “I’m Josephus Wahlen.”
Chapter 64: The Call, 9:17 AM, May 4th, 2016
Henry Martini got up and walked away from Neal Lars. The part-time cop, full-time pain had taken an undeserved beating. Neal may have gotten a little too rough at times, but he never lied, it wasn’t how the guy operated, and from what he had told Henry, Neal hadn’t even deserved the beat down.
And, as much as he found Neal annoying, Lars was still a cop.
Henry rubbed at his chin. The description Neal had given sounded like Dylan Mailer, an amateur runner who liked to run drunk. The man had been stopped and cited a few times for drunk and disorderly, but never for an assault.
Henry’s radio squawked as he approached the patrol car and he keyed the microphone. “Say again, dispatch?”
“We’ve got a report of a vehicle collision with a house,” dispatch replied.
“Where?” Henry asked, getting into his cruiser.
“One Eighty-Five Old Nashua Road,” dispatch answered. “It was a white pickup truck.”
Henry paused his hands on the keys in the ignition. “Say again?”
“White pickup. No tags given,” dispatch said.
“That’s Lars’ truck,” Henry said. “The driver’s got to be Dylan Mailer, I’m pretty sure he’s the one who beat Neal down.”
“Alright,” dispatch said. “Putting the all-call out now. Be safe and approach with caution.”
“Copy, dispatch, out.”
Henry started the engine, dropped the car into gear and tore off for Old Nashua Road.
No one beats up a cop.
No one.
Chapter 65: An Unwelcome Guest, 9:20 AM, May 4th, 2016
Josephus Wahlen sat up and smiled cheerfully at the three men, all of whom had backed away from him. They were confused, unsure of themselves and of what to do.
Perfect, Josephus thought. Dylan screamed from his little corner. Josephus’ borrowed body was beyond battered. It had sustained multiple broken bones, and he was certain it would collapse completely if his own will was not so powerful.
“How?” a bald man asked.
“How?” Josephus replied, laughing. “Revenge is a wonderful motivator. A force which has driven me forward for well over a century and a half.”
He pushed himself to his feet and looked at the men. Josephus saw their confusion, their hesitation. He watched them exchange glances. None of them wished to harm Dylan’s body. It was plain on their faces, and Josephus knew he had them.
Chapter 66: A Problem, 9:23 AM, May 4th, 2016
Brian swallowed dryly and looked at the man in front them.
No, Brian corrected himself. Josephus is in there.
The body Josephus had hijacked was battered and bloodied, and part of the scalp hung down to the right. A section of the skull was revealed, and Brian was surprised Josephus was upright.
Then again, Brian was surprised Josephus was there.
When Brian looked at Shane and Jacob, he saw his own worry reflected in their faces.
How do we stop him without hurting the person he possessed?
Before he could voice the question, Josephus attacked.
It was quick, and it was brutal.
Josephus moved faster than Brian expected, and Josephus grabbed hold of Jacob’s throat. He lifted the man up, squeezing as he did so.
And Brian suddenly realized how strong Josephus was.
Shane leaped at Josephus, who swung Jacob and struck Shane with him. Brian jumped over Shane as the man slammed into the wall and collapsed. Josephus, grinning, lashed out with a leg and caught Brian in the stomach. Brian vomited his breakfast and choked as he staggered back, tripping over Shane and falling to the floor. As Shane struggled to get up, and Brian desperately tried to breathe, Josephus brought Jacob’s face close to his own.
Jacob was kicking and punching viciously, but regardless of how many blows he landed, Josephus was unmoved. He kept a firm grip on Jacob’s neck, not tight enough to kill the man, merely to hold him in place.
Jacob snarled at Josephus.
Josephus smiled, leaned forward, and bit off Jacob’s nose. Blood exploded out of the wound, pouring down Jacob’s face and spraying out across Josephus’. Josephus spat the nose out, and then he smashed Jacob’s head onto the floor. He managed to do it twice before Shane was on top of him.
Brian, finally able to breathe, staggered forward.
Shane, straddling Josephus’ back, was punching the man repeatedly in the back of the head. Brian kicked at Josephus’ arms, yet nothing worked.
It was then that Brian realized the man’s intention.
Josephus was strangling Jacob.
Brian lashed out with his foot, connecting solidly with Josephus’ bicep, but the man continued to hold on.
Suddenly, Josephus stood up, knocking Shane back. But Shane scrambled up and threw a wild punch.
Josephus, grinning, caught Shane’s fist. With a happy expression, Josephus squeezed and twisted.
The blood drained from Shane’s face as his shoulder popped audibly, and sharp cracks rang out from Josephus’ hand. Josephus chuckled and let go. Shane collapsed to the floor, unable to move, shock and horror on his face.
Josephus shook his head.
“I’m not seeing someone here, Brian,” Josephus said, looking around.
“You didn’t come for me?” Brian asked, wondering where Jenny was.
“Oh, I did,” Josephus replied, licking Jacob’s blood off his lips. “But more importantly, I have come to speak with your delectable wife. I must confess myself irritated with her behavior. I do not appreciate being shot. It was a most unpleasant experience. You will agree, I’m certain, that she must reap what she has sown.”
“No,” Brian said, “no, I don’t agree at all.”
His heart did a mad little dance in his chest, and stars exploded around the edges of his vision. He spat the last remnants of bile out of his mouth and prayed he wouldn’t die of a heart attack before Jenny got away.
“Now, now,” Josephus said soothingly, tucking the flap of scalp up behind his ear and smiling. “You are a good husband, so I can see, but she must be punished. Much like a child, a wife must be disciplined, kept in line. It is her duty, as told so righteously in the Good Book. And it is your d
uty, I might add, to ensure she is properly educated.”
A siren interrupted Brian’s response, and he looked out to the door.
It was then that Josephus attacked.
Chapter 67: Jenny Intervenes, 9:33 AM, May 4th, 2016
Jenny had gotten to the desk and opened the top left drawer. She had taken out the snail-mail envelopes, thrown them down and retrieved Brian’s Glock nine-millimeter semi-automatic. She had checked the magazine to make sure it was loaded, put a round into the chamber, and went and stood by the door.
She hadn’t known it would be Josephus. She had suspected, but she also didn’t want to run out with a loaded weapon if the driver had had a freak accident. Jenny had remained in the room as she heard Shane make the call for an ambulance. She had heard the men speak to the driver. And she had heard the man say who he was.
The fight had started only a few seconds later, and when she had quickly looked out of the study, she had seen the situation was too chaotic for her to shoot clearly. Instead of throwing herself into the mix, Jenny had stepped back into the study. She waited.
Her moment would come and she would shoot.
She would kill Josephus, and it didn’t matter to her whether she killed the man he possessed or not.
Josephus was going to hurt her. He would try to use Brian to do it as well, but she wouldn’t let him.
Every noise pained her, but she knew she needed to be patient.
And so she was. Jenny waited until she heard Josephus speak. It wasn’t the voice she had heard on the phone. The possessed man’s voice was thinner and higher. The tone, though, and the disdain which came through with each word, that was unmistakably Josephus.
He spoke to Brian about the need to correct her behavior. He said how she needed to be disciplined. The conversation continued briefly, but then it was cut short by the sound of a siren. And then she heard someone crash into the wall, and Josephus laughed.
Jenny stepped out into the doorway of the study and brought the semi-automatic pistol up. Both hands were on the grip, the index finger of her right hand curled firmly around the trigger. She lined the sight up with Josephus’ chest and waited for the man to notice her.
It only took a moment.
He stood in the center of the hallway. Jacob looked bloody and dead on the floor. Shane was near him, writhing in agony.
Brian was unconscious, Josephus holding him up by the collar.
“Jennifer!” Josephus said happily. “I’m so pleased you’re here.”
Chapter 68: The Cavalry Arrives, 9:33 AM, May 4th, 2016
Henry Martini blocked the end of the driveway at one eighty-five Old Nashua Road and jumped out of his cruiser. He saw Neal Lars’ truck, the back end of which was in the front yard while the nose and cab were firmly embedded in the old farmhouse.
Someone screamed, and Henry drew his weapon as he ran to the front steps. He raced up them and kicked open the door as he yelled, “State Police!”
The deadbolt ripped through the doorjamb and part of Henry recoiled in horror at what he saw. Two men were down, while a third dangled unconscious from the arm of a fourth. To the left was a woman, who had a Glock pointed at the fourth man.
And it was the fourth man who interested Henry the most; the man perfectly fit the description that Neal Lars had given.
Henry leveled his own pistol on Dylan, the assailant and said, “Sir, put the man down.”
Dylan didn’t even look at him. He was focused solely on the woman.
“Go away,” Dylan said. “None of this concerns you. Jennifer and I have some issues to discuss.”
Henry kept his eyes on Dylan, but he addressed the woman.
“Jennifer?” he said.
“Yes?” she asked. Her voice was calm, the gun steady in her hands.
“I’m going to ask you to lower your firearm and leave the building from another exit,” Henry said.
“Oh no,” Dylan said. “She can’t leave. I have her husband. Her beloved Brian. If she leaves, I’ll gut him like a fish and leave him screaming on the floor.”
“No,” Henry said. “You will not. You’re going to carefully lower Brian to the floor. Am I understood?”
Dylan dropped his free hand to Brian’s stomach and chuckled. “Have you ever seen a man’s intestines pulled out before?”
Henry didn’t answer. The situation was spiraling out of control. He needed to keep everything calm until other units arrived.
“No,” Dylan said. “I don’t believe you have. Very few people have actually had the pleasure of seeing it, let alone participating in the same. I find it to be one of life’s little gifts. There is something truly wondrous about seeing a person’s innards strung about like so much garland.”
“Dylan,” Henry said.
“Silence,” Dylan snapped. All of the playfulness had left his voice. “This harlot and I have unfinished business to which I must attend. My time here, I have no doubt, is abysmally short. You can either retreat to a position of safety, or you can watch me kill Brian first, and then Jennifer.
“And if you should ruin my revenge,” Dylan said, turning to look at Henry, “I shall have to appease myself with your sorry flesh.”
Dylan’s pupils seemed to flicker.
For the first time since arriving at the house, Henry was afraid. His palms began to sweat and his grip on the pistol loosened. He wanted to run to his car, get the AR-15 rifle out of the trunk and come back with it.
Just to be sure, He told himself.
A small voice in his gut told him the rifle might not be nearly enough.
Chapter 69: A Decision is Made, 9:40 AM, May 4th, 2016
Jenny kept her pistol on target. Chills ran through her as she listened to Josephus speak about eviscerating Brian. It wasn’t from fear, though, but rage.
The more Josephus spoke, the deeper, more profound her anger became.
The world slowed down.
She couldn’t hear anything the State Trooper or Josephus said. She became hypersensitive, and it looked as though the world was a film being advanced one frame at a time.
Josephus’ hand moved with all of the speed of a sloth to hover above Brian’s stomach. She watched as Josephus turned his head, quarter inch by quarter inch, to face the trooper. She saw his lips part and form words. She saw the trooper’s eyes move casually from Josephus to Brian, and back to Josephus.
Jenny read the fear in the man’s face, and she understood it.
But it wasn’t the trooper’s loved one who was being threatened.
Her Brian was there.
Without rushing, Jenny lowered her pistol and took careful aim on Josephus right elbow. She breathed in slowly, made sure her hands were steady and pulled the trigger.
Her ears barely registered the sound of the gun, but she saw the bullet explode out of the barrel. She could see the vapor trail as it hurtled towards Josephus.
And her aim was true.
The bullet struck.
The body Josephus had taken control of was thin. The body of a long distance runner. When the round punched through the joint, it neatly severed the lower arm from the upper. Blood sprayed out, and the arm dropped, the fingers locked on Brian’s collar. Brian fell to the floor in slow motion and flopped slightly as he landed.
The condescending sneer on Josephus’ face was replaced by a comical expression of surprise. Jenny watched the ejector of the pistol throw the empty brass casing in a high arc away from the weapon. Josephus turned to look at his severed arm, and the world slammed back into full speed.
With a shriek, Josephus lunged towards her.
Jenny emptied the rest of the Glock’s clip into his chest, and the State Trooper did the same.
Chapter 70: In a Box
Josephus awoke to darkness.
Dylan, whom he had possessed, was dead.
But Josephus wasn’t back in the crypt.
In fact, he didn’t know where he was.
He tried to move but found he couldn’t. He coul
dn’t see or hear anything. Josephus gathered all of his strength and pushed himself as far as he could go. He was in a room lit by strange, long lights, and all of the surfaces seemed to be made of metal. He saw bodies on metal tables, all of them in the process of being cut into.
Josephus turned around and saw the pale, mangled form of Dylan. The severed forearm had been placed on the man’s thin chest, which had a score of bloodless wounds.
Why am I here? Josephus wondered.
And then he found the answer; his bone. The one he had made Dylan swallow. It was still in the man’s stomach. He was bound to the dead man’s flesh. He needed more of himself if he was to regain his strength.
But how? Josephus thought.
A steel door in the far wall opened, and a tall, thin man with plain, ordinary features walked in. He looked like every man and like none. He walked purposefully to the first body, checked some paperwork attached to it, and then he moved on to the next.
Josephus felt a wave of relief at the sight of the man. Josephus gathered his thoughts and threw himself at the man’s mind.
Yet nothing happened. The man was impervious. Unassailable. The man waved at his ear as though he shooed a fly away.
And then he moved on to the third body.
Josephus pushed again, yet in spite of his effort, the man did nothing.
The man stopped beside Dylan’s body, picked up the papers, nodded, and then moved the table. As the table moved, so too did Josephus.
With terrible dismay, Josephus realized he had bound himself to a corpse.
Chapter 71: A Bonfire, 9:30 PM, May 20th, 2016
For a price, anything could be purchased.
Brian had found a professional spelunker who didn’t ask questions, and who accepted cash payments. For a modest fee, the man had gone into the crypt, found the passage to the stream, and recovered every last bit of Josephus’ remains. Said remains were in a duffel bag at Brian’s feet.