by Lauren Algeo
‘How can we just let this man do god-knows-what to innocent people? We need to stop him!’
‘I don’t think he’ll hurt anyone else,’ Brewer said, feeling insulted at her accusing tone. It wasn’t as if he could kill the hiker with his bare hands and save the day. ‘This is just the ritual suicide.’
‘That doesn’t matter!’ Ellen’s voice was high and shrill with fear. ‘There’s still a man about to die.’
She took a bend at high speed, throwing them sideways in the car.
‘Take it easy!’ Brewer tried to reason with her. ‘We don’t want to die ourselves.’
She didn’t reply, although she eased off the accelerator slightly. They turned into the shopping mall car park and found an empty space. She killed the engine but kept staring straight ahead.
‘The hiker’s gone quiet,’ she observed.
Too quiet, Brewer thought. What was she playing at?
They waited nervously for her to continue her mental onslaught.
‘Should we go in?’ Mitch asked.
‘Not yet,’ Brewer replied. ‘We don’t know what she’s going to do yet.’
The minutes ticked by but there wasn’t a peep from the hiker.
‘Maybe this is the wrong mall?’ Ellen said. ‘She could have gone past us to a different one and that’s why we can’t hear her any more. There’s another mall nearby.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Brewer said. ‘It was pretty loud when we got near to here.’
The extended silence was making him nervous. The hiker had sounded close to acting on whatever her plan was, so why had she now stopped? Perhaps the man had already killed himself and taken the hiker with him? That couldn’t be right, surely they would have heard something?
‘Screw this,’ Mitch huffed. ‘I’m going in anyway.’
‘I don’t think that’s a good…’ Brewer started.
‘I need to pee,’ Mitch cut him off. ‘That’s allowed, isn’t it? Do you guys want anything while I’m in there?’
They both shook their heads.
‘Be careful,’ Brewer warned. ‘Come straight out if anything seems off.’
Mitch clambered out of the car and began to walk towards the entrance. Brewer watched until he disappeared through the doors.
‘I don’t like this.’ Ellen turned to face him. ‘I can still feel it strongly in my gut. I thought it might fade if we had the wrong place, but it hasn’t. The hiker is definitely here somewhere.’
‘If we do find them, we can only observe for now,’ he reminded her. ‘After whatever happens here, I think we should track her overnight. You and Mitch can go back to the motel for the delivery and I can keep following her.’
Ellen nodded. She started to say something else only her words were drowned out by a piercing scream.
Brewer’s head whipped towards the mall entrance. There were dozens of people pouring out of the doors. Some began to flee across the car park, while others seemed to be yelling and crying.
‘What the hell?’ Brewer reached for the door handle and heard a faint sound of smashing glass.
Ellen gasped beside him. ‘Look!’ she cried.
There was smoke beginning to drift out of the entrance behind the scurrying people. His eyes scoured the crowd but he couldn’t see Mitch anywhere.
‘We’ve got to find Mitch!’ He shoved open the door and scrambled out of the car.
‘Wait! I’m coming with you.’
He sprinted towards the mall, with Ellen on his heels. As they got closer, they had to weave around the panicked public. It was chaos. The fire alarms inside the building began to wail loudly and one hysterical woman had lost her child in the crowd.
‘He’s gone crazy!’ someone screamed.
‘Everyone run!’ another person shouted.
They pushed through the throng of people to get to the doors. Brewer grabbed Ellen’s hand to keep her close to him. They finally made it against the tide. The smoke was thicker inside and Ellen began to cough behind him.
‘Mitch!’ he called.
The smoke tickled his throat and he choked on it. He put a hand to his mouth and shouted again. Where was he?
There was another sound of smashing glass nearby. Brewer surveyed the scene rapidly. There were a dozen or so shop fronts in view, with some more round a bend. Several of the shops had shattered glass around their doors and two had small fires raging at the entrances.
The stream of people had tapered off and the last few were trickling their way out. There was no sign of Mitch among them.
‘What’s going on?’ Ellen was still gripping tightly onto his hand.
He turned to her helplessly. ‘I don’t know!’
Then he caught a glimpse of the person behind it all. Through the smoke, he saw a man at the end of the building. He was striding purposefully past one of the glass-fronted shops and holding a red, plastic container in his hand. It was a petrol can.
‘Down there.’ Brewer pointed to the man. ‘He’s got petrol.’
The man splashed some on the shop floor mat and ignited it with a lighter. He disappeared inside the shop and emerged a few seconds later with a metal chair, which he proceeded to throw through the window. The sound of breaking glass was deafening.
What on earth was she doing? This was just supposed to be a routine suicide.
‘There you are!’ a familiar voice boomed from behind them. Mitch was jogging over from the mall entrance. ‘I went to the car but you weren’t there so I thought you must have come inside.’
‘We were looking for you.’ Ellen let go of Brewer’s hand to give Mitch a relieved hug. ‘I’m so glad you’re ok.’
‘What happened?’ Brewer asked him.
‘Oh, man. I was walking to the toilets when this guy went mental! He started smashing windows and waving a petrol can around. A security guard tried to intervene but he got beaten over the head and was helped away by some people. Then one fire started and everyone just ran!’
‘The man’s down there,’ Brewer said.
‘You want to go after that nutter?’ Mitch asked in disbelief. ‘We should get out and wait for the emergency services.’
Smoke was billowing everywhere now and Ellen had a small coughing fit.
‘Get her out of here,’ Brewer instructed. ‘I’ll track the guy.’
Mitch promptly tugged Ellen towards the exit. She glanced back at him and Brewer could see the fear in her eyes.
‘I’ll be ok!’ he called.
He turned his attention back to the man in the distance. He pressed the sleeve of his jumper over his mouth and nose to block out the smoke and moved closer to the shop fronts. He crept slowly along the sides so the man wouldn’t immediately see him coming.
He got a couple of clear glimpses through the smoky air. The man was fairly young, maybe mid-thirties. He had unkempt, blond hair and heavy stubble on his face. He was a tall man but fairly overweight, and his stomach strained against the tight, red t-shirt he was wearing. His dark jeans were baggy and hung low under his gut.
Through the noise of the alarms and distant sirens, Brewer heard the hiker again. She whispered seductively somewhere close by.
‘See, I told you it would be perfect,’ she purred. ‘All those scared people. I knew you’d go out with a bang.’
Brewer edged nearer. The man reached the end of this strip of shops and turned right towards the next portion of the mall. Another crash of glass followed a second later.
‘Are you ready for the next part?’ the hiker asked softly. ‘Your final blaze of glory.’
Brewer jogged to the corner where the man had disappeared. He poked his head round to check his position and flinched back in shock. He peeped round the wall again to confirm what he’d seen – the hiker was right there with him.
The man had stopped halfway along the section of shops and was standing there blankly. The hiker was hovering behind and to the right of him, swaying gently on her feet. She took a couple of light steps closer to him and Brewer
realised she was no longer murmuring in his mind, she was whispering directly to the man.
He’d never seen a hiker do that before and it threw him completely. He stared dumbly as she put her mouth close to the man’s ear. He could see her lips moving, as she no doubt spoke some more persuasive lies.
She was fairly young, with flowing dark hair and translucent skin. Her lips were red against her pale face and her eyes were dark and evil. She was wearing a knee-length, black dress with short sleeves and, bizarrely, seemed to be barefoot. She stepped assuredly away from him again, despite the broken glass littered on the floor.
She stared intently at the man, who obediently lifted the petrol can and began to pour the clear fluid over himself, soaking his clothes. Brewer’s heart sank at the sight – he now knew what she’d meant by ‘blaze of glory’.
‘It’s time.’ She spoke in his mind again, with unmistakeable excitement.
The man held a lighter out in front of him. There was nothing Brewer could do. If he tried to wrestle the lighter away, they were likely to both go up in flames. Failing death that way, the hiker would kill him herself for interrupting her fun.
He heard the soft click as the man ignited the lighter, and a bright burst of flame bloomed from his fingertips and raced up his arm. His body was engulfed in seconds, a ball of blinding light. The man made no sound under his fiery shroud.
Brewer stumbled backwards and fled for the exit. The horror of what he’d just witnessed burned in his mind. He had to get away before the hiker was finished enjoying the man’s painful death. He sprinted down the mall, feeling glass crunching under his boots, and tried not to fall over. The smoke was so thick he had to squint to see the glowing exit light. He coughed and spluttered as he ran.
There it was. He exploded out of the doors and raced for the car. A fire engine and two police cars had arrived and they were busy herding the crowd back and preparing to enter the building. Brewer ignored them and focussed on Ellen and Mitch, who were pacing around the car with concerned expressions.
Mitch saw him coming and half-ran to greet him. ‘Thank god! We thought you might have got trapped in there!’
Brewer leaned over with his hands on his knees. He was wheezing heavily and tried to get his breath back. There seemed to be a permanent tickle in the back of his throat that he couldn’t clear. He coughed loudly again.
Ellen put a gentle hand on his back and passed him a bottle of water, which he took gratefully. He moved closer to lean against the car and took a few sips. His head was thumping and his chest was tight.
‘What happened in there?’ Ellen asked.
Brewer shook his head. ‘I’ll explain in a minute. Right now, we have to get in the car and drive round to the other side. The hiker will be on the move.’
He made for the driver’s side but Ellen stopped him and steered him to the passenger door. ‘You can’t drive yet. Catch your breath.’
He complied readily and slumped into the passenger seat. He realised his body was trembling. It was all too confusing; the whole incident didn’t make sense.
Ellen drove slowly to the car park on the other side of the mall, passing another police car on the way.
‘We might be too late,’ Brewer rasped. He stared hard at the entrance doors, waiting for the hiker to emerge.
‘What does she…?’ Ellen began.
‘She’s over there!’ Mitch squeaked from behind them.
He pointed through the seats to a small fire escape at the corner of the building. The hiker had slipped swiftly out of the door and was gliding across the edge of the car park, towards the road. Ellen gasped at the sight of her. This was the second hiker she’d seen, and the first female.
‘That’s her!’ she breathed. ‘I can feel her power.’
‘Follow her,’ Brewer instructed.
Suddenly Ellen was all hands and she struggled to get the car in gear. She took a deep breath and calmed herself, then she drove steadily back to the road.
‘She looks so normal,’ Mitch said. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the hiker, who was walking across a small patch of grass to the pavement.
‘That’s the whole point,’ Brewer said. ‘You’d never notice one on the street.’
‘Apart from those eyes,’ Ellen shuddered. ‘They’re way too dark.’
‘And her bare feet.’ Mitch frowned through the window. ‘That’s just weird!’
‘Ok, now we’ve got her in sight, I’m going to try and make sense of what I just witnessed,’ Brewer said.
‘Wait a second,’ Ellen cut in. ‘She’s stopped.’
The hiker was standing on the pavement and gazing at the chaotic mall. There was still so much noise, and smoke, and panic, but the look on her face was serene. She watched for a full thirty seconds then resumed walking away from the scene.
‘Hang back a little but don’t lose sight of her,’ Brewer told Ellen. ‘As I was saying before, something odd happened in there. I followed the man down the mall then he went round a corner. When I got there, the hiker was standing with him. She was whispering straight to him instead of in his mind. I’ve never seen anything like it. Then she just stepped back and made him… umm, kill himself.’
‘Why would she need to get close if she can do it all with her mind?’ Ellen asked. ‘She could have stayed hidden.’
‘I don’t know,’ Brewer admitted. ‘To be honest, I’m not even sure the man knew she was there. He didn’t once turn to her or react to her presence. Maybe he thought it was all still in his head and she just wanted to get close for her own enjoyment. To smell his fear and desperation. Whichever way, it was bloody strange.’
The hiker was turning left onto a new road so Ellen drove slowly along and stopped in the next street. The hiker didn’t appear to be in any particular rush.
‘It seems to operate differently here,’ Brewer added. ‘The structure seems less rigid, like the Grand hasn’t imposed as many rules. How else could a ritual suicide turn into the crazy scene we just saw? It was so public and messy, anything could have happened.’
‘Why?’ Mitch asked.
‘I haven’t got a clue. Maybe they think they can get away with more as America’s so much bigger.’ He rubbed tiredly at his temples.
All this speculating was making his head hurt. They needed concrete answers, and they needed them from that hiker up ahead.
Chapter 17
The hiker had no new job so she wasn’t in a hurry. She meandered along the pavements for nearly an hour and they struggled to stay far enough back to remain unseen. Ellen could still sense her however Brewer didn’t want to rely solely on that; it was too unpredictable. He preferred to be able to see her in the distance too. They took to kerb crawling and tried not to look too suspicious to the residents of the numerous roads.
Eventually the hiker found a diner she wanted to stop in and disappeared inside. Ellen parked the car in a space opposite and turned off the engine.
‘Do you think she’s eating in there?’ Mitch asked wistfully. His lunchtime sandwich seemed like a long time ago.
‘Yes, she’s probably refuelling,’ Brewer replied. His stomach was empty too and he longed for a strong cup of coffee. It was early evening now, close to dinnertime.
‘It feels odd to think of her sitting in there and tucking into a meal after what she just did,’ Ellen said.
‘If it’s any consolation, I don’t think they get much pleasure from eating,’ Brewer said.
‘No, it all comes from murder,’ Mitch grumbled.
Brewer had come to learn that Mitch got irritable when he was hungry, and tired, and when he didn’t get his own way. Rather like a child. He scanned the street and spied another diner a little further down the road.
‘Why don’t you go and get us some takeaway food and drinks?’ he suggested.
‘Yes, you need to make sure you’re eating regularly,’ Ellen added.
Mitch perked up dramatically at the idea. ‘Cool! I’ll get us some stuff. Any requests?
’
‘Whatever’s fine,’ Brewer said.
Mitch shifted across the back seat to the door. ‘I still need that pee from back at the mall too,’ he laughed as he got out.
They watched him trot down the road to the other diner. Brewer couldn’t make out the name from this distance, but he didn’t recognise the sign so it couldn’t have been a big chain one.
‘Do you need anything else?’ he asked Ellen.
‘No,’ she murmured distractedly. She was gazing at the diner windows over the road. ‘I can’t see her. She must be at one of the tables in the back.’
‘Probably.’ Brewer was less interested in keeping watch.
He got the maps out of the glove box and tried to work out where they were. He found the street with the mall but then he was at a loss, they’d taken so many twists and turns since. He squinted out of the window to find a road name.
‘Do you think she knows we’re following her?’ Ellen said suddenly.
‘What makes you say that?’ Brewer felt a sharp stab of fear at her question.
At the Grand’s house, Celiah had been able to pick up their thoughts without them ever knowing she was in their minds. He hadn’t encountered another hiker yet who could do that. There was always an uncomfortable rustling sensation to accompany their presence. Could this hiker be like Celiah?
‘No real reason,’ Ellen sighed. ‘Just the way she led us on such a random route. Like she was making it hard for us to follow.’
Brewer relaxed again. ‘I don’t think that was the case. She doesn’t have a destination yet so it was just aimless roaming.’
‘If she did know, she could always slip out the back of the diner while we’re sitting here and get away.’
‘You’ll sense it if she gets too far.’ He looked back down at the map. ‘I think this is White Street,’ he said. ‘And we’re at the edge of Springfield. Still closer to East Longmeadow, I guess. It’s hard to tell.’
‘As long as we’re not too far from the motel yet,’ Ellen said.
Mitch came back ten minutes later holding a large pizza box carefully in both hands. ‘It was a pizza place,’ he stated the obvious as he got back in the car. ‘I didn’t know what you wanted so I got half pepperoni, like back at Mrs Mac’s, and half BBQ chicken. That’s ok, right?’