Unhallowed Ground

by Kristen Gupton

  “And then it makes him kill himself to get back out, just like with Grace.” Kelly continued to walk toward the truck, his pace slowing. “The people start going missing because the cult starts burying people alive, trying to trap whatever had gotten loose. They keep getting the wrong person, though, and it takes a while for them to bury the right one.”

  Ryan stopped walking and pulled his inhaler out of his pocket. He took a quick hit off of it. “Kel, you’re freaking me out.”

  “It’s not impossible given what we’ve seen, is it?” Kelly asked. “You okay?”

  “Yeah,” Ryan unlocked the truck and slid in, reaching across to open Kelly’s door. “Just cold as hell again.”

  Kelly kept his gaze on Ryan, trying to judge if he was being honest or not. “Didn’t overdo it carrying parts to the truck or anything, did you?”

  Ryan hitched his thumb over his shoulder as he got the truck fired up. “Naw, the guys at the shop had it all on a pallet and set it back there with the forklift. All I had to do was strap a tarp over it.”

  Kelly continued to stare at him.

  With a sigh, Ryan turned his head to look at him. “Kel, look, it’s impossible, but I’ll admit it makes as much sense as anything else that’s happened. We really need to just chill out today, though. You’ve been through absolute hell. You stress about things like crazy, and this is all pretty serious. I know what happened to the Suhrs hurts.”

  Kelly slumped into the seat. “I know. All right. Tell you what, why don’t we start this by going and getting a burger or something. I’m starving and I still have to go to the bathroom.”

  Ryan rolled his eyes again and backed out of the parking space. “Goddamnit, Kelly.”

  Chapter

  40

  Dani survived another day at work, doing her best to simply stay out of her grandmother’s way. The old woman had moved past the point in her anger where she yelled and carried on. She’d gone into full ignore mode.

  She picked up a few things from Ryan’s parents’ house before heading over to Kelly’s place to spend the night. While she knew he preferred to use the fireplace instead of the furnace, she wasn’t about to deal with that, so she turned up the heat. After finishing her online coursework for the day, she ordered a pizza and settled in to watch television for the rest of the night.

  A knock came to the door well after nightfall. She peeked out the curtain, spotting Deputy Bryant’s Expedition out front.

  “Shit, did someone hit my car?” she asked, sliding the pizza box off her lap and going to answer.

  The deputy looked confused when she opened the door. “Oh, hey Dani, I wasn’t expecting to see you here. Is Kelly home?”

  “No, he went to Hays with Ryan to pick up some parts to fix Henry’s stuff,” she said, offering her older cousin a smile. “What’s up?”

  “Well, I’m looking for Robert Pennick,” he said. “Thought there might be a chance Kelly or Ryan may have seen him today. I know they’d spot him since they both hate him. Besides, I kinda wanted to check up on Kelly, given all that’s happened.”

  “Well, if they saw him, it wasn’t here. They left pretty early this morning.” Dani stepped aside. “Come on in, it’s cold.”

  “Thanks.” Dennis pulled off his hat and followed her into the living room before dropping onto the couch. “How old is that pizza?”

  She landed on the other side of the box and lifted the lid. “Not that old, help yourself. I ordered a large, knowing good and well I’d never finish it.”

  He didn’t have to be asked twice and he pulled out a piece. “I’m starving. With all the action over the last few days, I haven’t had a lot of time to eat. Sleep schedule is all messed up. We’re going to need someone else brought on full time if things don’t start to calm down. The guy that relieves me on the weekends can’t come help, naturally. His wife had a baby Monday. I suppose I can’t blame him but what timing.”

  She watched him for a moment. “So, Robert’s missing? Ryan said he was really torn up and in the hospital. Robert’s mom told him about the fight.”

  “Yeah. He got up and walked out about two in the morning,” Deputy Bryant replied. “Given the fight he was in with Brian, we should have had someone watching him, but as I said, things are tight right now.”

  “...like you should have had someone on him because you think he might have killed Brian deliberately?” she asked.

  “It’s looking a lot more likely since he ran,” Dennis said. “The doctor and everyone else in the hospital can’t believe he was able to walk off, but he did. Security footage shows him heading out in just his hospital gown and vanishing. Thought he would have froze to death, but looks like he managed to get all the way to his apartment. Door was unlocked and some stuff had been moved around. There were bloody footprints on the floor. The fool walked right on in with the broken glass all over the place. His car is still in the carport and his work truck was out front, but there’s no trace of him anywhere. You’d think he’d have taken the car, but maybe the pain meds had him really whacked out. I know he’s had problems with prescription meds in the past. Hell, he’d said the reason Brian came over in the first place was to try and score some Oxy.”

  Dani bit the inside of her cheek. “Damn. Well, with Brian dead, I can’t imagine he’d have a whole lot of places to hide in town.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Dennis sighed. “He’s probably long gone. Someone may have picked him up, or he stole a car that just hasn’t been reported missing yet. I don’t feel too bad for him, but his poor mom is really freaked out. There’s a good chance he won’t make it too long just running off with the wounds he sustained, and she knows it. He still had a chest tube in for God’s sake.”

  “No doubt. You want something to drink?” she asked, already getting up from the couch.

  “Don’t mind if I do.”

  Chapter

  41

  Without her car working and unwilling to speak to Dani, Madgie had gotten a ride back home from the bakery with one of the other women from her knitting group. Once she got home, she locked herself inside.

  Despite leaving the thermostat down, it felt uncomfortably warm in the house. She went over and checked, seeing it turned up to eighty-four degrees.

  “Very funny, Dani,” she grumbled, assuming her granddaughter had probably run by to grab some clothes before heading off to where ever she was staying. “Passive-aggressive little snot!”

  She turned the heat back down to where she usually kept it before making her way into the kitchen. Madgie headed for the back door to ensure that it was locked, but she stopped after turning on the kitchen light.

  There was glass on the floor in front of the door, the curtain over the divided light window in it fluttering.

  Madgie’s heart raced, and she drew in a jagged breath, the back of her neck tingling. She heard something from the breakfast nook and slowly turned.

  Robert sat there, his hospital gown shoved down around his waist. There were a pair of wire snips in his right hand, a pile of the surgical staples he’d pulled from his stomach on the table beside him.

  Madgie backed up and hit the wall. Her eyes fixed on the growing puddle of blood beneath his chair.

  Robert let the snips fall from his hand, and he reached over to pick up a carving knife he’d placed on the table earlier.

  As he stood, the wound to his abdomen opened, and his gown fell to the floor. He’d not only taken out the staples from his skin, but he’d cut the stainless steel sutures holding his abdominal wall closed, too. His intestines immediately herniated through the opening, unraveling and hanging down to his knees.

  Madgie screamed and bolted for the back door.

  Robert remained there with the knife in hand for a moment, unfazed with his entrails hanging loose, his expression blank.

  Madgie rushed forward and fumbled with the doorknob. Just as she started to pull the door open, a cutting pain in her right side stopped her. She looked down, seein
g the long knife buried into her side up to the handle below her ribs. She tried to scream, but her lungs refused to draw in air.

  She stumbled forward, crashing down the three brick stairs leading into the backyard. She finally came to a stop in the snow on her stomach.

  Robert followed down the stairs before stooping and twisting his hands up into the back of her shirt. He gave a solid yank, and, though Madgie weigh twice what he did, he easily rolled her onto her back.

  With the breath knocked out of her and with the knife still in her side, Madgie lay stunned and did nothing. A blood-soaked mass hit the ground between Robert’s feet beside her.

  Madgie wondered which of his organs had come out with the rest of his guts. The mass started to unfurl, however. The small, blood-stained tentacles covering its surface writhed, and it began to drag itself through the snow toward her.

  Chapter

  42

  “You take me to all the best places!”

  Ryan stared across the table, deadpan. “What? I like Chicken Palace, all right?”

  “I know, but we have this at home,” Kelly said, shoving another chicken finger into his mouth.

  “You could have picked somewhere else.” Ryan glanced down at his phone lying on the table for the twelfth time in half as many minutes.

  “Go on. I know you want to call her,” Kelly said, pointing at him with the half-eaten chicken strip. “I won’t even listen in. You two are gross, anyway.”

  “You’re such a child.” Ryan snorted but immediately grabbed his phone. He waited for three rings before Dani picked up. “Just checking on you. Did you get to Kel’s house all right?”

  Kelly turned his eyes out the window, watching as a few cars rolled down the street. He did his best to tune out of the conversation, but it was short-lived.

  “Why was Dennis there? Official business or just family crap because of Madgie?” Ryan asked.

  Kelly’s attention snapped back to Ryan, and he immediately thought about the footprints he’d seen that morning.

  Ryan met his gaze for a moment, raising his brows as Dani gave him the rundown. “Wow, damn. Well, at least you know he’ll keep an eye out for you now that he knows you’re there. Okay. Love you. See you tomorrow.”

  “What the hell was that?” Kelly asked the second Ryan set his phone back down. “Deputy Bryant was at my house?”

  “Yeah, get this, Robert walked out of the hospital last night in nothing more than his gown.” Ryan shook his head. “Guess Dennis has been looking for him all day. With Robert bailing like that, it makes him think Brian’s fall out of the window might not have exactly been an accident.”

  “It was crazy cold last night,” Kelly said. “How could he have gotten very far in just his gown?”

  “I don’t know.” He pushed around the fries left on his plate, his appetite fading. “No shoes or nothing.”

  A jolt of electric fear raced down Kelly’s spine. “Ryan?”

  He brought his gaze up from his plate again, waiting for him to go on.

  “Remember those footprints in the snow this morning?” Kelly asked, sweat appearing on his brow.

  Ryan leaned back in his chair, gripping the edge of the table. “Jesus, Kel! You live on the other side of town from the hospital and the apartments Robert lives in! You don’t honestly think he made it all the way to our side of town? I mean, it isn’t big in a car, but he was freaking walking! His car’s still at his apartment building.”

  “Do you have a better explanation?” Kelly asked, dropping the remains of his last chicken strip back onto his paper plate.

  Ryan’s cheeks started to go hot. “Kel, you’re freaking me the fuck out.”

  “You know what?” Kelly shoved his plate back. “I think we need to go home right now. I know it’s already getting late, but...”

  “Yeah, screw it. Let’s go.” Ryan got up immediately and snapped up his phone. “You drive. I wanna call her and tell her to make sure the damned doors are all locked.”

  They ran out to the truck, Ryan already on the phone as Kelly turned the key in the ignition.

  “Hey,” Ryan said, doing his best to keep his cool. “So, are the doors locked?”

  Kelly pulled them onto the road, reaching out and turning off the radio.

  “No, no, just with things being weird lately and all.” Ryan looked out the windshield. “Kelly and I are on our way home. Turns out there’s no vacancy anywhere in town. Go figure, right?”

  “She’s going to know that’s bullshit,” Kelly whispered.

  He cast his friend a sidelong glance, as Dani was doing just that on the other end. “Uh...well, I guess there’s some sort of farming convention in town. Anyway, we’ll be there in a few. Just keep the doors locked unless it’s your cousin again or something, okay? No, no, it’s cool to stay. I’m staying there tonight, too. Just don’t get scared if you’re asleep when we come in. I’ll shove Kel inside first, though, if you think you might shoot one of us. You know where he keeps that crappy rifle, right? See you soon.”

  Kelly glanced over as Ryan lowered his phone. “All locked in?”

  “Yeah.” Ryan waved a hand toward the windshield. “Hit it fast. I’m worried.”

  “Speed? On I-70 across Kansas this late at night?” he asked. “I’d be guaranteed to get pulled over. That would easily add another thirty minutes to our drive and jack up my insurance rates.”

  “You’re not even paying insurance with that car broke down for the last year in your driveway.” Ryan sighed and slouched into the seat. “But, I know. And honestly? This all has to be a bunch of bullshit, right? I mean, the stuff we’ve been talking about has to be something we’re just like...I dunno.”

  “No, I get you, but I know what I’ve already seen, and so do you,” Kelly said, cruising down the onramp and merging behind a semi.

  They fell silent, both becoming mired in their thoughts. Kelly anxiously counted each mile marker as they went, his mind repeatedly reworking the exact amount of time the drive would take. The closer they got to Brayton, the more his anxiety mounted.

  Kelly pulled the pickup into the driveway of his house. They both got out and went to the front door. Kelly pulled his keys from his pocket to go in, but it was quickly tugged open, Dani on the other side.

  “Why are you still up?” Ryan asked. “You have to be at work in four hours.”

  “I couldn’t sleep,” she admitted. “After Dennis came by, I wasn’t all that tired anymore. I started watching TV, and I made the mistake of ending up on that ghost show. They were rerunning the stupid episode about Brayton again, and I freaked myself out.”

  “That’s what you get for watching it just because you think the dude’s cute,” Ryan grumbled.

  “Jealous, much?” Dani said with a laugh.

  “Well, maybe you can get a little rest with Ryan here. I know he’s not your Ghostbuster, but he’s got his charms,” Kelly said, shrugging off his coat and hanging it by the door. “I’m wiped out, guys. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Ryan and Dani watched him slog down the hall, closing his bedroom door behind him.

  “Is he okay?” she asked.

  Ryan put his arm around her shoulders and shook his head. “It’s been a long day, and he’s been through a lot.”

  “Why did you really come home tonight?” Dani stepped away from him, quirking a brow. “We may be a little back-woodsy here, but we do have the internet. I didn’t see anything about any conventions in Hays this week or next. You two didn’t get into another one of your fights, did you?”

  “Not at all,” Ryan replied before turning around and starting to drag the cushions off the couch, so he could pull out the fold-out bed. “We honestly just got a little freaked out hearing about Robert wandering off and whatnot. Besides, we’ll be able to help dad get an early start on putting the equipment back together. I think the sooner we get this job done, the sooner everyone can relax.”

  She waited for a moment, but once the bed was pulled op
en, she flopped down onto it. “Maybe Grandma will quit being such a bitch.”

  Ryan snorted. “Was she hard on you at work today?”

  “Not really,” she admitted. “She stayed in the back and ignored me, to be honest. When closing time rolled around, she came out, flipped the sign around and walked out the door. Hazel was out front, and she got into her car and darted off.”

  “I’m sorry for all this mess. I kinda wish dad hadn’t taken this job right about now.” Ryan sat and scooted to sit with his back against the couch.

  Sheets and a blanket were already on the bed as Kelly didn’t bother to change them. Ryan was the only one who slept there, anyway.

  She wriggled around and got beneath the covers, waving at the TV where their town’s past visitor was currently talking into the camera. “Remember how simple shit used to be before all this started?”

  Ryan snagged the remote from the nearby coffee table and turned the show off. “Yeah, well, he’s welcome to come right back here and fix it.”

  “Like there’s really anything paranormal going on,” she replied with a snort.

  “Yeah.” He glanced over at the glowing light coming from his phone, wishing he had the ghost hunter’s number at his disposal. Though, he was pretty sure they were dealing with something a lot more tangible and dangerous than ghosts.

  Chapter

  43

  Kelly was more tired than he’d ever been in all his life, and yet, he had a hard time falling asleep. He stared up at the ceiling, doing his best to keep from looking over at the clock, but he eventually lost the battle.

  4:37 a.m.

  While he wasn’t scheduled to do anything in particular, it still made him groan. Eating their way through Hays the afternoon before hadn’t helped, and a sharp burn set in under his ribs.

  He pulled himself out of bed and tugged on some sweatpants before exiting his room. Dani and Ryan were asleep, and he went past them silently into the kitchen. There was a bottle of antacids in a cabinet, and three of them were quickly shoved in his mouth. They were immediately followed up by a glass of water to get rid of the chalky residue left in their wake.