Into the Hollow (Experiment in Terror #6)

by Karina Halle

  “Perry,” Dex cried pitifully. “Help.”

  My heart sank. He couldn’t do it. His strength was fading by the second and we didn’t have seconds. We would have nothing if the monster finally made it into the room with us.

  And it wasn’t a question of if, but when.

  I joined him at his side, getting into a low crouch and trying to push the bed up like I was in a weightlifting competition. The bed moved a bit and together we were able to move it up a foot.

  But it was too late.

  As we lifted, side-by-side, our arms underneath the bed, our chins on top of the mattress, we saw the rest of the glass shatter away. The monster was perched on the window ledge, perched like a snake with arms, like a raptor, ready to strike. There wasn’t any time to think or act, except that I saw in its tar-filled, alien eyes that it had us. It had us right where it wanted us.

  And it wanted revenge.

  There was a flash of movement, its fur-covered muscles tensing to pounce, claws extended, when a huge blast shook our ears and the room.

  We blinked hard at it, confused when it didn’t move. The creature looked down at its leg and that’s when we saw a stream of blood erupt from it.

  Then it fell backward, falling out of the window and into the winter outside.

  I was stunned. In my confusion I let go of the bed and it slammed hard into the floor. It didn’t matter. What the fuck had just happened?

  Dex and I walked cautiously over to the window and peered out of it, the night breeze whipping back my hair. There was nothing below us except a patch of blood and a corresponding trail that led off into the woods.

  And Rigby.

  He was running toward us with a rifle in hand, his flashlight bobbing up and down.

  “Are you all right!?” he yelled up at the window. “Stay there, I wanna see if I can kill this thing for good.”

  And then he was gone into the trees, following the bloody trail.

  Dex and I looked at each other. I was dizzy from holding my breath and leaned against the wall for support. He took me by the shoulders and pulled me into his chest, embracing me. He held me like that until I felt I could breathe again, until my heart stopped thudding in my ears. Until we heard two more gunshots ricocheting into the night.

  I pulled away and looked up. He was gazing down at me with an expression I couldn’t read, made all the more mysterious by the glow of the lamp.

  “What do we do?” I whispered.

  He cupped my face in his hands and for a second I thought he was going to kiss me. I wanted him to kiss me. I needed it.

  But he only lowered his eyes till they were at my level and said, “We’re going to try and flip this bed up again. And then we’re going to go out there and get those knifes. Then we’re going to wait.”

  We didn’t have to wait long. We managed to get the bed up. It took as much effort as before, but as least the window was blocked. Then we picked up the knives from where we left them and were about to test the couch for solidity when there was a knock at the door.

  I jumped, nearly dropping the knife.

  “Dex, Perry, it’s me,” Rigby yelled from the other side of the door.

  “Oh thank God,” Dex exclaimed and began to move the couch out of the way. We stood back as Rigby pushed the door in, gripping the rifle like an angry farmer with a rabbit problem.

  “I couldn’t find it,” he said, staggering into the cabin. “The trail ended. I think I got his leg pretty good though. He won’t be back for a while.”

  He looked back and forth between our relieved faces. “What happened to you guys? Where are the llamas? Where’s Mitch?”

  I exchanged a glance with Dex. He gave Rigby a grave smile.

  “It’s a long story and I don’t think we have a lot of time. How about we tell you on our way out of this hell hole?”

  Rigby nodded grimly, maybe knowing what was to come. Dex and I quickly gathered up our packs and we ran out into the night. It was starting to snow again but I was willing to put up with it for this last journey.

  Rigby had come on his horse and Dex insisted that I would ride the horse back to give myself a rest from walking. My protest was weak and being the gentleman that Rigby was deep down inside, I was thrust up into the saddle. I held tight to the saddle horn, my eyes scanning the dark forest for anything unusual. I could never fully believe that the beast was gone for good.

  While I rode, Dex and Rigby walked in front of me, leading the way. Dex explained everything from the moment that Rigby and Christina had left us. Rigby just kind of nodded, not saying much. I think he was in shock from the whole thing, not only finding out that at least one but possibly all of the llamas, his livelihood was gone, but that his hunting partner was gone too. I didn’t know how close Rigby was to Mitch or if he knew what kind of person Mitch truly was, but he didn’t show any emotion. Just a faint, “oh,” after Dex told him I found his severed arm.

  It was interesting though how Rigby almost had to argue with Dex over what the creature looked like. He was adamant that the beast had red eyes, though I knew for a fact they were eerie pools of black. He also thought the head would be rounder, that the fur would be darker. I guess that’s how urban legends got started in the first place. One person sees only what they want to see, not what’s really there. To Rigby, red eyes were the most frightening thing to see in the woods, but it wasn’t necessarily the reality.

  When we could see the lights of Rigby’s house through the trees, he stopped and pulled back at the horse. He eyed both of us seriously.

  “The reason I came out to the cabin…,” he said, his voice low. His eyes darted to the house lights and back. “I came because I found out what Christina had done.”

  Christina?

  He lowered his head a little, as if in shame, and continued, “This morning she had gone out for a ride. I was looking for a ledger in her room and I came across a bag. Inside were two transmitter circuits. From the walkie talkies she gave you.”

  I breathed out slowly.

  “I questioned her about it. She broke down in tears…said that she took them out because she didn’t want you to reach us. She thought that it would make the whole thing scarier if you felt on your own. I couldn’t believe it, ya know?”

  He rubbed at his face and I could see the strain on his brow. I would have felt sorry for him but at that moment, all I could think about was how God damn angry I was that Christina had done that. We could have all been saved if it weren’t for that!

  “Why?” I asked, trying to keep my emotions under control. “Why would she do that?”

  “She thought that if you made a really scary show, then people would come here. That the business would get going again. Stupid, stupid girl…she even thought it would make for a better movie if the motion detector lights didn’t work. When we were in the woods that time, she went on the roof and covered up the solar panels. She didn’t think she put you into any danger, but she’s going to find out the hard way exactly what she did. She put…” he closed his eyes and struggled for words, “she’s going to have to live with what happened. And so will I.”

  I looked over at Dex. His hands had balled into fists and he was biting his lower lip hard. I wasn’t the only one who was livid.

  “We’re going to have to bring the police into this,” Dex said in a flinty voice. “She may have not meant for any of this to happen. But we almost died out there and we were the lucky ones. You don’t fuck with people’s lives like that.”

  Rigby looked up at him, tears glistening in his eyes. “I know. I’m so sorry for what she did. I know she will be too.”

  “Sorry doesn’t even do anything in this case,” I said to myself. He looked up at me and gave me a short nod.

  “I know Miss Perry. I know.”

  I sighed and Rigby began leading us back to the house, to the lights, to a nightmare that didn’t seem to end.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  The night stretched on in a blur. Once we got
back to Rigby’s, we discovered Christina was gone. She had taken Rigby’s car into town, I guess trying to avoid what she knew was coming. Luckily we had come up in the Highlander and within seconds, we had crammed ourselves into the car, its comfort and familiar smell easing my heart, and we rode it all the way into town. When you lived miles away from the cops, it was usually better for you to just go to them.

  It was in the car as we approached the lights of civilization that my phone sprang to life. I had numerous texts from Ada and my voice mail box was full. I texted her back quickly to let her know I was alive but I couldn’t respond to anything at the moment. All of that seemed inconsequential next to the severity of the case we were about to get involved with.

  Not surprisingly, the police station in Snow Crest consisted of a couple of officers and that was it. There was only one guy in the jail cell, and he was just the neighborhood drunk who started fights at the bar.

  We were prepared for the cops to laugh at us as we explained our story. Rigby went first and they knew about him and his zany ways. But when we started telling them what we saw, that’s when the cops thought we were really full of shit. The most we could do was pop the memory card into their television set and though there wasn’t much proof of the actual beast, there was proof that something terrible had happened out there.

  Dex and I even had to concede that the whole thing could have been caused by a “mangy bear”, that damn bear always being used as the scapegoat when people tried to debunk Sasquatch sightings.

  While we were talking – for hours and hours until our throats were sore – one of the officers had left with Rigby to go pick up Christina.

  When they brought her into the station, I couldn’t even look at her. I just couldn’t believe that someone as young and seemingly innocent as her could do something so dangerous and so irresponsible. It didn’t matter that she did it in order to help her dad’s business – her actions got Mitch killed and it nearly killed us as well.

  Thankfully, at that point we had explained all there was to explain. The cops wanted to keep the SD card as evidence and Dex only agreed to it if they promised to give it back. But I was beginning to wonder if it was even a good idea to air the show after all. A man died. He actually died during all of this and now that we were back in the real world, faced with real consequences, showing the scene of a murder for profit seemed downright wrong.

  I voiced this to Dex as we left the station, his arm wrapped firmly around my side, trying to prevent me from going after Christina in a flurry of hateful word vomit.

  “I’m thinking the same thing,” he admitted. We walked together down the darkened street to the Highlander. It sounds strange, but I wished I could have kept walking. I needed to clear my head. I was all messed up inside and I couldn’t seem to get a handle on anything. The creature, Mitch, what Christina had done. It was way too much for my tired brain to handle.

  “I really don’t want to go back there,” I told him, folding my arms across my chest. Because it was so dark out, the cops were getting some extra enforcement from the town of Cranbrook and initiating a full-on search in the morning. We were going to have to go back up to Rigby’s and maybe the cabin. I hoped Rigby and a map would be able to take the team the rest of the way because there was no way we were reenacting our journey for them.

  “We won’t,” he said. “This isn’t a murder investigation, this is an animal attack and if anything I’m sure we’re going to be suffering from PTSD soon. Anyway, I have a plan if they do try and make us.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We cross the border,” he answered and the streetlights gleamed in his cheeky eyes. He shot me a look. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?”

  I shook my head and got in the car. “The hospital here is probably administered by a vet. I’m fine. I’m just sore. I’m just tired. I just want to eat, then eat some more and pass out. I want to sleep in a warm bed and I want to sleep for days.”

  We turned the corner into the familiar glow of the motel.

  “I can promise you food and a warm bed,” he told me. He eyed the hot tub as we pulled the car up beside it. “And it’s never too late for a dip in the hot tub.”

  That was probably the best idea I had heard in days.

  We checked back in, the front desk lady eyeing Dex down like a criminal. She hadn’t forgotten about the incident with the mirror and he had to promise – swearing on a random bible that she plunked out on the counter – that we weren’t going to cause any more trouble. He swore with utmost sincerity but I knew that look in his eyes all too well. He was enjoying the fuss.

  Once again we got two separate rooms. And once again, my heart dipped a bit. It was the right thing to do, for both of us, but I knew it was going to be harder sleeping away from him. It had to be done, though. It’s not like we’d go back to sleeping together once we got back to Seattle. It would be me in my room and he in his. The room next door.

  I plunked my bag on the springy motel bed, so tempted to just pass out on it, face down. But Dex was knocking at the adjoining door before I could. I got up and answered it.

  He grinned at me and I was struck by how much I loved it when he smiled. I mean really smiled. White teeth, tanned face, black hair. It was perfect.

  “Pizza is on the way,” he announced, not coming in.

  “That was fast.”

  “I have fast fingers.” Another grin.

  My eyes shot up to the ceiling and I hoped the heat creeping up my neck wasn’t noticeable.

  “It’s handy when you’re dialing for takeout,” he continued, in mock earnestness. “Should we go in the hot tub now, or wait until after we eat?”

  “Can we eat the pizza in the hot tub?” I asked.

  He winked at me. “That’s my girl.”

  He closed the door, leaving me alone in my room. Which, at that moment, was actually a good thing. I had the vision of him saying a very similar phrase the day before, our naked bodies on the silver space blankets, him coaxing me to another orgasm.

  Holy shit. That was an image that wasn’t leaving my head anytime soon. It felt wrong to be mildly turned on after everything we had been through. I began to think maybe I needed a cold shower instead of a dip in the hot tub.

  I didn’t have much time to contemplate it. I got into my black Slayer t-shirt and black booty shorts and was covering myself up with the thin motel robe when Dex knocked at my door again.

  “Pizza,” he called out and opened the door, walking right in. He was dressed in the same robe, the box of pizza balancing on one hand, a 2 liter of Coke in the other.

  “Hey, I could have been changing,” I warned him, wrapping the robe tighter.

  “That was the idea.”

  “You’re the worst pizza delivery boy ever,” I said, pushing past him through the door into his room.

  “I’ve heard I’m the best.”

  I shot him a wry look as he shut the door behind him and followed me back. “Don’t tell me you worked as a delivery boy once.”

  “Only for a day,” he said, handing the box to me and picking up two glasses from the counter by the coffee machine.

  “Let me guess, you were fired.”

  He nodded at the door, for me to get going. “No, I wasn’t. I was just trying to pick up a girl who lived down the street.”

  I opened the door and stepped into the cold mountain air. It was almost beautiful when you knew you had a warm place to protect you from it

  “Did it work?”

  He smiled at me and locked the door. “I told you. Best pizza delivery boy ever.”

  We walked side by side toward the hot tub, the icy breeze blowing back our robes. Our pace quickened when we saw the steam rising from the metallic gate, the low green light of the tub.

  “Is there anything you won’t do to get laid?” I asked.

  A wash of sadness came across his eyes as he looked down, trying to open the gate. He cleared his throat and the melancholy was gon
e.

  “I guess not. I’m a pig, as you say Perry.”

  I smarted a bit at that comment. I felt a tad bit ashamed. I locked the gate behind us and laid the pizza at the edge of the tub, conscious that he was watching me.

  “You’re not a pig, Dex,” I reassured him. “You’re just…”

  “Me?”

  “You’re definitely you.” And you can be wonderful.

  We stood a few feet apart, both of our robes still on, waiting for the other one to undress first. So silly when you thought about it.

  So I disrobed first. And Dex gasped at the sight of me. Not in lust, but in balls to the wall concern.

  “Jesus, Perry. You’re hurt.” He sounded hurt as he said it.

  I looked down. In the pool’s wavering glow I could see a multitude of bruises and scratches covering my legs and arms.

  “I’m not hurt,” I told him quickly. “I’m cold.”

  I reached for the metal railing and eased myself into the hot pool, the scalding water burning my skin wonderfully, stinging at any wounds I had until the pain was gone. A trail of shivers and sparking nerves followed in its wake, rushing up as the water rose around me.

  I looked up. He was still staring down at me, like he was caught in something I couldn’t see.

  “Get your ass in this hot tub right now,” I told him. “I’m fine and getting better with every second.”

  It was true. Now that I was leaning back in the water up to my neck, I was overcome by extreme pleasure and a rare feeling of relaxation.

  Dex continued to hesitate, then he finally dropped the robe. I swear, he had to make everything so dramatic, including getting into a hot tub. Not that I blamed him with that body. I tried not to stare at him in his grey boxer briefs. It was hard not to. It was damn hard.

  He came in the water beside me, gasping at the heat as he went. Eventually he settled on the other side of the tub and leaned his head back against the edge. “Oh my God, please just leave me here.”