Dark Justice: A Supernatural Thriller

by Donnie Light

  “I have to go… bad,” she said. “It’s been a long drive.”

  “Oh, yeah, sure,” he muttered, reaching for a hand towel.

  Galen wrapped the hand in the towel and exited the bathroom. Audra stepped in and closed the door. Galen walked over and sat on the corner of the king-sized bed. He could hear the faint “tinkling” through the door and the sound of toilet paper rolling off the reel, punctuated by a roaring flush.

  They both took a seat at the small round table and flipped on the hanging lamp above it. Audra pushed their supplies to one side and covered the table with a bath towel.

  “Not exactly an operating room,” she claimed.

  “Just as long as you can see what you’re doing,” Galen replied.

  Eyes widening, Audra’s face flushed white.

  “What do you mean, ‘as long as I can see’? I’m not going to stitch you up!”

  “Well, I sure can’t do it!” Galen exclaimed. “I’d need both hands to tie a knot.”

  “Yeah, but you’re the Paramedic and I’m just an EMT,” Audra pleaded. “They didn’t teach us how to stitch people up. We only got to watch.”

  Then you got as much training as I did on this subject,” Galen responded. He paused a moment. He looked Audra sternly in the eyes. “But now you’re going to play doctor and I’ll be your patient.”

  Audra shook her head, sending her ponytail swinging from side to side. “I can’t, Galen. I told you. I’ve never done this before.”

  “It was your idea, Audra. You’ve got to do it!”

  Audra stood up and placed her hands behind her head. “Okay, hang on a minute,” she said. “It’s got to be done, and we don’t have time to argue.”

  Galen looked up at her and saw how nervous she was. “Listen,” he said, “what if I do the needle work and you tie the knots?”

  Audra cut her eyes toward Galen, nodding her head. “I think I could handle that,” she said as she resumed her seat.

  Audra got the supplies together and set to work cleaning and disinfecting the wound.

  The cleaning was clearly painful. Galen flinched each time Audra touched a tender spot.

  After Audra finished cleaning the wound, she opened a packet of the topical anesthetic. “This should help a little,” she said, gently wiping the area.

  The stitch kit came in a small cellophane bag and consisted of a small curved needle that was pre-tied to suturing thread. It resembled a tiny fishing hook with black line attached to it. Audra dug through her med-kit and retrieved a pair of forceps. She handed them to Galen.

  They hesitated for a few moments, waiting for the anesthetic to begin working. Galen picked up the needle with the forceps. He poked the skin with the tip of the needle to test the anesthetic. His skin only felt slightly numb, but that is what he expected.

  “Here goes nothing,” he said as he poked the needle slowly into a loose flap of skin. He felt a pinch, and then the point of the needle was through. He repositioned the forceps, gripping the needle near the point. He pulled the needle the rest of the way through the skin. He was surprised that the smooth thread tickled more than hurt as he pulled it through the tiny hole the needle had made. He then poked the needle into the firm skin surrounding the wound, which hurt considerably more, but again pulled the thread through. He carefully handed the forceps, with the needle, to Audra. She nervously accepted the tools and grimaced in anticipation of the pain she would cause Galen.

  “Pull it tight,” he instructed, “and leave a little slack to tie the knot with.”

  Audra worked slow and did as Galen asked.

  “Okay, now take the long end and wrap it around the needle to make the knot.” Audra had a little difficulty with this but managed. “Now tighten the knot by pulling both ends of the thread.”

  Again, Audra did as she was instructed and watched as the knot slid down the thread, cinching the flap of skin to the firmer skin at the point of the stitch.

  “Good,” Galen said, “now, again, tie another knot on top of that one, then snip the thread above the knot.”

  Audra seemed pleased with her work and they both gained confidence and speed as they continued the process. They finished almost an hour later, having lost count of how many stitches they had put in.

  Galen’s hand looked like something you might have expected on Frankenstein’s monster. A series of ragged-shaped lacerations radiated from the center of his palm, looking somewhat like a gruesome asterisk. They spent a few more minutes wrapping the hand with bandages before calling the job complete. It was now a little after two a.m., Saturday morning.

  “How long do you think it will be until that thing gets here?” Audra asked.

  “Another couple of hours,” Galen responded amidst a yawn.

  “Do you think we should get going?” she asked.

  Galen shook his head. “Not yet,” he said. “We can’t go back the way we came or we’ll be headed toward it.”

  Audra nodded. “What’s your plan?”

  Galen got up from the table and inspected the new bandages on his hand. He moved over to the bed and stretched his tall frame out to its full length.

  “We still don’t know if its speed is consistent. It could show up here at any time.” He began to rub his tired eyes with his good right hand. “If its speed does remain consistent, we should go east or west from Madison. That should cause it to follow us. After we lead it east or west for a while we could cut to the south, toward Willow River. That would give us more time to find out where this Paxon guy is.”

  Audra looked at him and knew he was very tired. She was tired herself but far too nervous to sleep.

  Galen looked at his watch again. “Let’s hang out here for another hour and hope like Hell it doesn’t show up before then.

  Audra thought for a moment, and then said, “What do you think that thing is?” I mean, I know that you don’t know what it is, but what do you think it is?”

  Galen stared at the wall twirling one side of his moustache between his thumb and index finger.

  “You know,” he said, shaking his head, “I have no idea. I can’t even begin to imagine what it is, but I think Al must have been studying it. Somebody probably dug it up somewhere then sent it to him, asking the same thing. What is it?”

  Galen stopped twirling his moustache and began unconsciously tugging at his earlobe. “That means it could be anything, from anywhere.”

  Audra looked at him with the appearance of someone who has lost her last bit of faith. Her bottom lip began to tremble and tears slowly spilled from her eyes. She dropped her face into her hands and began to sob. Audra was good at handling a crisis. As a member of the fire department, she was trained to do so. In those moments, Audra could call upon her many hours of training and experience to deal with whatever the circumstances might throw at her. However, this was something different. This situation was one she had no control over. It scared her badly.

  Galen got up and knelt beside her chair. “It’s going to be alright,” he said. “We’ll figure out a way to get away from it.” He put his hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. “I should have never asked you to go with me,” he said. “I’m sorry that I got you mixed up in this.”

  She looked up, her eyes meeting his. “It’s not your fault,” she said. “How could you have known?” She took his hand into hers. “I was glad you asked me to go with you and I’m still glad.” She was silent for a moment, then added, “Whatever it is, we’ll come through it alright.” She made a little smile, tears running around the corners of her mouth. “Maybe it’ll just ‘poof’, disappear and leave us alone.”

  Galen laughed with her, hoping she was right. Maybe they would never see the thing again.

  “Let’s get our stuff into the car,” he said. “We don’t want to have to grab all this stuff if that thing comes chewing on the door.”

  Audra nodded then helped Galen gather all the things they had used during the ‘operation.’ As they carried it to the car, Gal
en had a thought. “Maybe we should just wait in the car until time to leave,” he said. “Then we can make a quicker getaway if it does show up.”

  “Okay,” she said, “I’ll go lock the key in the room.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Galen said. “I don’t want to be split up if the ball shows up early.”

  In a few moments, they were back in the car, Audra behind the wheel. She reached over to turn on the radio but Galen stopped her. “I want to be able to hear,” he said. She nodded and leaned back in the seat.

  After a few long, silent moments passed, Audra said, “Being chased by magic balls can be boring.” She sighed, then looked at Galen. “But after a night like this, I can use a little boredom.”

  Audra then asked, “What was Al like? It’s obvious you two were close, so what was he like?”

  Galen let out a long breath. “He was just one of the coolest guys I’ve ever known. I’ve always said I hope I have half the energy he did when I get to be his age. You know, he had that big house but he spend most of his time in his study and his bedroom. He had a housekeeper come in twice a week to dust and vacuum and stuff. He was very wrapped up in his work and that’s what he loved.”

  “But I thought he was retired,” Audra said.

  “Oh, he was officially retired, but he never stopped working. He told me one night he had spent many years traveling and studying people all over the world. He wrote many books on his studies, but they were all academic stuff. He told me that after he retired, he started writing novels, telling stories. He said he had an endless supply of novel ideas, many of them based on stories he had heard from all over the world. He told me lots of stories and said most of them were based in truth, but could never be proven or documented. Those are the stories he turned into novels.

  “I see his books all the time in the stores,” Audra said.

  Galen nodded, “I’m not much of a reader, but I guess his books were pretty popular. You know, that’s one of the funny things about Al. Once he was finished writing a book, he couldn’t wait to start on the next one. In fact, sometimes he had a couple of books in progress at the same time and worked on whichever one struck his fancy that day.” Galen was silent for a moment, then said, “I think he knew his time was short and wanted to tell the world as many of his favorite stories as he could before he died.”

  Galen checked the time. It was only a half-hour before he expected the thing to arrive, if it arrived as predicted. He decided it was time to head back to The Willows.

  “Let’s go west,” Galen said. “Over to route 51 and take that south.”

  Audra nodded and started the Mustang.

  “Are you okay to drive?” he asked. “Not too tired?”

  “I’m okay,” Audra said. “I’m tired, but not sleepy.”

  The Mustang left the hotel’s parking lot and turned left. Route 51 was about twelve miles to the west and ran parallel to the highway they had traveled north on. This route was a two-lane highway with stoplights and stop signs at every small town along the way. Galen knew it would be slower trip back to the Willows. He felt they would still have ample time to find Paxon’s phone number or address once they reached Gaston’s house again.

  Audra drove in silence, the heavy thoughts of their predicament weighing on her mind. They reached the junction of route 51 and Audra pointed the car to the south. The traffic was almost non-existent at this time of the morning, but a few cars did share the road.

  The Mustang was traveling just a little over the 55 mph speed limit. Audra noticed a pair of headlights coming up fast from behind her. She lightly tapped the brakes to flash her brake lights and warn the driver to slow down. The road was curvy here, winding its way through the rolling hills of southern Wisconsin. Just as the headlights bore down on her rear bumper, a second set emerged from behind the first. The second set swung crazily into the other lane and passed the other car and Audra. It then swung back into the right lane as the first car also began to pass Audra.

  “Kids,” Galen said, “out partying at this time of the morning.”

  Audra slowed a bit and gave the kids some room. The car in the rear swung back into the left lane and attempted to pass the first car. Both cars rocked back and forth and Galen and Audra could see that both cars had multiple passengers.

  “They’re going to kill themselves,” Audra said. As if on cue, the cars touched sides.

  The two speeding vehicles swerved together in the middle of the road. One of the drivers hit his brakes. The braking car swerved hard to the right, colliding into the rear of the other in a shower of sparks. Both vehicles went out of control. The car on the right swerved to the right, onto the gravel shoulder. The driver over-corrected and swerved back to the left, clipping the front end of the other car. One of them rolled over after it hit a concrete embankment along the side of a small bridge. The car leaped into the air, and at the same time began a slow spin. It landed on its top, a trail of sparks following it into the ditch. The other car hit the guardrail leading into a curve then went out of sight.

  Audra shrieked as she slammed on her own brakes. The Mustang quickly skidded to a stop. “We’ve got to help them, Galen!” she said as she spotted small flames escaping from under the hood of the first car.

  “We can’t!” Galen shouted. “The thing’s not too far behind us. We may have all of twenty or thirty minutes before it’ll be here!”

  Audra bit her bottom lip, and then spoke. “Galen, we’ve got to, we’re obligated to help them. We can’t just ignore this!”

  Galen tried to decide what to do. If they stayed, the thing would surely show up. They would be a long time at the scene with this many victims to care for. He wondered how long it would take the local authorities to arrive. His mind seemed to process a dozen thoughts at the same time. The “wall” loomed again before him, creating a hard knot in his stomach. He tried to ignore it and acted on one of his favorite sayings; indecision gets you nowhere. In the final analysis, the duty to act overrode his fear of the ball-thing, and the wall.

  “Okay,” Galen said, “you get to the nearest phone and call an ambulance, but I can’t guarantee what the Hell’s gonna happen!” He reached into the back seat and withdrew Audra’s med kit. It had seen more action in the last few hours than it had since she had put it together.

  Galen jumped out of the car. “Go!” he shouted. “And hurry!”

  – Chapter 8 –

  Tobias awoke from the dream with a start. His breaths came to him in short, dog-like pants. He looked around, trying to discover if he had attracted any attention upon waking. Seeing no apparent onlookers, he tried to calm himself, to slow the pounding pace of his heart.

  This had not been the first time since the night of Martha’s death that he had replayed the scene in his mind. Each time the pain of the memories tortured him worse than the most severe beatings of the whip. The pain seemed to reach up from within his soul, wrapping its icy fingers around his heart and pulling it unmercifully into the dark realm of suffering.

  He tried to fight the rush of horrible memories and concentrate on the mission that would avenge the senseless death of his beloved Martha. The gods had sent him on a quest and Tobias had set his mind to its accomplishment.

  He was reminded of his hunger by the clutching pangs in his abdomen. He had not eaten anything since the sour apples of the night before. Finding food would have to be his first objective for the night.

  The day was almost to an end. The sun cast the golden light of evening upon the surrounding fields. Tobias hoped to make his way back to the road leading north, back to the plantation where he would once again face the man who had caused him such agony.

  He dreaded the confrontation with Richards, but at the same time relished the thought of unleashing the power of the gods upon such an evil man. This ember of revenge within his heart would keep the memories warm until he returned.

  Tobias began examining his many wounds. Although most of the wounds were superficial, the sweat cau
sed them to burn like the flames of Hell. He touched the deeper cuts across his forehead, discovering them to be the most painful. His right arm still throbbed. The pain seemed more subdued now and parts of his arm felt numb.

  Tobias lay quietly for a while longer, awaiting the approach of twilight. Then, like some nocturnal animal, he left the safety of the trees to begin another night of running.

  He first went to the stream where he drank of the cool water. The moon reflected brightly upon it, broken into shimmering shards of light by the rippling surface. He could see no detail of his own reflection, only the silhouette of his shape like a quivering dark shadow on the fluid surface of the stream. He recognized the sight as a reflection of how he felt, like a shadow, his spirit dark and formless. Tobias realized he was living his last few days upon the earth. He would soon join the spirits of his ancestors and his wife in the land of the dead. He had no fear of this knowledge. When he finished his duty here, he would reap the rewards of the life beyond this world. Tobias placed his fingertips into the cool mud at the edge of the stream. He wiped the mud into a pattern of shapes on his face, something he had not done since he left Africa. These mud lines on his face were the markings of a warrior from his tribe. If he were to die in this awful land, he would die as a warrior of his people. He would die as Karmanna, not Tobias.

  Darkness fell swiftly upon the land of the white man. Tobias made his way north. He crossed open fields where he made good time. By the time the moon was high overhead, Tobias had spotted a long row of trees. He cautiously approached them, listening for any sounds. The road was there and it appeared to be free of travelers. He walked silently along, the moon casting a blue glow upon the landscape around him. He held the pouch, still at his side, now like a part of his anatomy.

  He walked the road for hours. The sounds of his feet on the road were as steady as the beating of his heart. It became a tolerable rhythm.

  The faint glow of a distant fire caught his eye. He stopped for a moment, the rhythm broken, and trained his eyes on the tiny flicker. It was only a pinpoint of light, slightly off the road to the right. Tobias knew the fire meant men—white men. He decided to go west from the road and to skirt the fire at a safe distance.