I kicked Thing Number One at the other two. It squealed as it hurled across the room like a wet blanket thrown from the spin cycle. Several jagged teeth were left impaled in my leg. I yanked them out of my leg meat and carried on.
Thing Number Two hopped out of its host and slinked toward me like a cat waiting to pounce. When it lunged, I turned backward and hunched over. The beast’s mouth buried into one of the chair legs.
I jumped up and crashed the chair to the cement. The chair pierced the monster’s esophagus. It whimpered as the leg pinned its throat to the cement beneath me.
The first beast was back on its feet, shaking off the beat-down I gave it. These creatures were determined, but not very bright. They were all animal instinct.
With one beast still under the leg chair, I pounded my heel into its gut several times until it stopped moving. When it finally lost its will to live and stopped squirming, I ran toward Thing Number Three.
Rather than lunge, that fucker hissed at me. I punted the asshole under the jaw, which stunned it good. I twirled around, using the chair to knock it into the other beast.
When they toppled over, I leaped high and landed the back of my chair on top of one.
Striking the cement, the chair shattered and broke over the monster. It shrieked something awful. Probably because several pieces of wood stabbed through its body. Black blood spilled to the floor.
The first beast was on its third wind. It roared and charged me. I snatched a broken chair leg and clobbered its skull. It crashed against the wall head-first.
As it tried to regain its senses, I beat the thing over the head with the chair leg until the leg splintered and snapped in two. But I kept beating it with the broken wood until its skull caved in. When black brains oozed to the floor, I was finally satisfied. The beast wasn’t moving, but its fingers twitched.
I glanced down at my calf muscle. My jeans were singed, burned with the acidic saliva from the first beast. Killing these fuckers got me in the zone. I didn’t even notice my leg was practically on fire.
I charged to the last beast and kicked it like a football. It spun 360 degrees in the air, bouncing off the wall and landing on top of me.
Son of a bitch.
It clawed at my neck and face like a maniac. I peeled it off and chucked it into the glass. It smacked the glass wall on all fours and shot straight at me. I dodged and grabbed its leg. Keeping the momentum, I flung it against the wall. And the floor. And the glass. When I stopped, it hissed and clawed my arm. This asshole couldn’t take a hint.
I drove my foot into its torso. As it shrieked, I held open its bottom jaw and grabbed its tongue. Gripping my fingers into it, I ripped the tongue out.
Black blood sprayed against the glass wall. The creature screeched in agony and flopped around like a chicken with its head cut off. Black bile singed my hand, which just pissed me off even more.
The guard on the other side of the glass was gone. I lost track of him in all the commotion. He may have gone to get help.
As the creature wailed, I pressed its bottom jaw open until it snapped. I jammed its mouth over the doorknob. The bile did its job and corroded the metal. I tossed the beast against the wall and kicked the doorknob off.
When I stepped outside, the oblivious guard mosied around the corner, buckling his belt and zipping up his pants. The dickhead just left the shitter.
The look on his face when he saw me was priceless. As he reached for his 45 Colt, his pants fell down around his ankles. I grabbed his Colt, stepped on his jeans, and gave him a healthy shove backward. His skull crashed into the corner of a metal table. When the blood flowed to the floor, I knew he wasn’t getting back up.
With the Colt in hand, I took his keys and dragged him to the back room. I glanced at my watch. That monster shit-storm only took three minutes.
It probably took Gary one minute to get Maya out to the truck and get going. If she regained her senses, she would have caused some trouble to delay him. I might have a shot of catching up. With any luck, he wasn’t already at the pit. Unlike what he told Muncher, it wasn’t quite a two-mile hike. He exaggerated for effect. It was more like one and a half.
But regardless of the details, I had a hard run ahead of me.
When I got outside of the bunker, three men were milling around outside, including the one I had tied to the tree. When the door smashed opened, they were caught off guard.
I nailed Soldier Boy One in the throat, drove the butt of my Colt between the eyes of Soldier Boy Two, and put several rounds in the third guy’s chest.
I drilled a bullet in Soldier Boy One’s temple and split Soldier Boy Two’s skull on the cement like Humpty Dumpty.
These asshats were down for the count.
When I first arrived at this bunker, I didn’t know the crew’s intentions. I was willing to show mercy. But after their treatment of Maya and feeding me to the Primitives, the kid gloves were off.
These mercenary dipshits were the enemy.
I glanced down the long dirt road and hauled ass as fast as I could muster.
I’m coming, Maya.
Chapter 18
Freefalling
With boiling breath and battery acid in my lungs, I sprinted down the dirt road to reach Maya. To prevent her from becoming host to a Primitive beast in her chest, I needed to reach her before Gary dropped her in the monster pit.
As I approached the bend, the engine idled down the path. When it came into view, the Jeep was parked by the pit. I was too late.
Gary was five yards from the hole, hauling Maya as she kicked and screamed.
I raced to her. I was only a few feet away, but Gary reached the pit—
And threw her in.
Passing Gary, I jumped into the pit after Maya. Speeding down the chasm, I reached out and grabbed her ankle. I pulled her into me and wrapped my arms around her, tucking her face into my chest as we plummeted straight down into darkness.
With my hand around the back of her head, I expected to receive the blunt force of the impact. But I needed to slow us down or we’d both be dead.
I kicked the wall to slow the fall. The side of the pit was rocky. We tumbled through the air, ramming into the other wall of stones, which ricocheted us to the other side.
I reached one hand out, trying to grab the side to stop the momentum. I grabbed a root that tore off and jerked me into the wall, driving a rock into the back of my skull. We spun like a broken shuttle crashing through the atmosphere.
I kept my body loose but gripped Maya tight.
As my cheekbone smashed into stone, my ribs collided with the ground as I crashed on my side. I bounced several yards before coming to a stop. I coughed blood. I rolled to my spine to rest Maya on my chest.
Holding her with a death grip, I unfurled her from my arms. She was passed out and bleeding—
But alive.
I set her beside me as ringing exploded in my ears. It was one hell of a migraine. I touched the wound on my head. Blood covered the side of my skull. Given the circumstances, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. At least I wasn’t bleeding brains out of my ears.
I grabbed the rocky wall of the pit and lifted myself to my feet.
Everything was hazy. I was seeing double as the image of the stone wall split and merged with itself. I cast my gaze at Maya. There were two of her on the ground. I may have had brain damage. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.
When I opened them again, there was only one Maya at my feet. My vision was clear.
I took a step and nearly tumbled over. I froze to catch my balance. When I regained control, I felt something small and sharp poking out of my hip. I grabbed onto it and yanked it out. Examining it closely, it looked like a sliver of bone, but it wasn’t a tooth from one of the Primitives.
I slid my eyes to the floor. A skeleton was melted into the stones, disintegrated into the wall. The rocks were charred black. It was some type of chemical burn. The poor son of bitch was torched alive. Through my b
lurry vision, I caught the glimmer of several bullets in the dirt. Someone wanted him dead real bad. What was left of him didn’t die easy.
I stretched to get mobility back in my muscles. After that fall, I felt ninety years old. When I was fairly certain nothing was broken, cracked, or out of place, I crouched down to Maya.
I checked her mouth to make sure there was no internal bleeding. Her mouth and nose were dry. No blood. I ran my fingers over her face, neck, skull, and collar bone to make sure there were no breaks. Her body was intact as well. Everything was in its place. Her cheeks were marred with dirt, but not so much as a scratch on her youthful face.
If she awoke screaming in torment, I’d do a second pass.
As I glanced around, she awoke, gasping for air. With my hand behind her back, I lifted her up.
“Relax,” I said. “You’re alive. Take a few deep breaths. In through your nose, out your mouth.”
She coughed a few times. “My chest hurts. It’s tight.”
I peered up to the top of the pit. It was a pinhole of light. “We dropped about a hundred yards. Be glad you can still feel anything at all.”
She gained steady footing as I helped her to her feet. The ground wasn’t rock, it was dirt. We were lucky. If the floor was stone, or jagged rocks, we’d be dead.
I took out my flashlight. Surprisingly, it was still in one piece. I shined it down the cavern. Through the dust and darkness lay only quiet and stillness.
I felt in her back pocket and snatched the butterfly knife. I was glad it was still there but disappointed she never used it.
“What’re you gonna do with that?” she asked.
“Kill a monster.” We walked into the cavern, only the little flashlight to guide our way. Something down here was infesting those people with the Primitives. I didn’t know how, or what, but I didn’t want to stick around to find out.
Stumbling beside me, Maya was limping.
I grumbled. “What’s wrong with your leg?”
“It’s my knee,” she said. “It hurts.”
“Suck it up, buttercup,” I said, looking forward. “We have a long road ahead.”
We moved further into the cavern. It was a massive space filled with catacombs, an entire system of tunnels. There was no movement inside. No tentacled creatures squirming around us. Thank God for small favors.
Maya scanned the area. “How do we get out of here, boss?”
“By living long enough to find a way,” I said, glimpsing another cave to the left. I headed toward it. “You need to stay close, like we’re attached at the hip. I can’t have you wandering off—” When I glanced at her, she was gone.
Maya stood almost ten yards away, staring off into the distance. I approached her from behind.
She spoke to the stale, empty air in front of her. “Mom? Is that you?”
I shined the flashlight into the spot she was fixated on. There was nothing there. No person, no creature, and certainly not her mother.
“What are you seeing, Maya?”
Her voice quivered. “Mom, can I come home now?”
“Maya, your mother isn’t here.” I snapped my fingers in front of her eyes. “Wake up. You’re hallucinating.”
Sometimes, when the mind is deprived of senses, the brain doesn’t know what to do with the lack of sensory input. People in deep caverns have been known to hallucinate. Their brains need some kind of output, so they create an artificial input. We hadn’t been down in here that long, but maybe Maya was sensitive to the deprivation.
Maya whimpered. Her face was contorted. Tears flowed down her cheeks. She backed into the rocky wall behind her and slid to the ground. She scrunched up and pulled her knees in tight to her chest. And sobbed.
“I’m-I’m sorry, Mom,” she said. “I’m so s-sorry.”
Whatever she was saying, it wasn’t because of the caves. Something was attacking her. Not physically…
Psychically.
A voice echoed behind me. I spun around. It was Augie.
He looked at me with his dopey face. “Dude, how the hell did you get down here?” he asked. “Are you lost, bro?”
I shined my light on him. It looked like Augie. It sounded like Augie. It dressed like Augie. But it was definitely not Augie.
Chapter 19
Adrift on Memory Bliss
Wandering the underground system of endless dark tunnels, my mind raced with possibilities of what the figure was that stood before me claiming to be August Mckenzie. Maybe Augie got trapped down here, having come from another direction. That was entirely possible. But unlikely. And there wasn’t so much as a smudge of dirt or soot on his face or hands. He was as clean as a baby’s bottom after a major wipe down.
“August,” I said. “Is that you?” I suspected I knew the answer, but I needed to see how he reacted. How IT reacted.
“Of course it’s me, bro. Hey, you think Maya wants to fucky fuck now?”
Even August wasn’t stupid enough to say something like that while lost in a darkened underground cave. But that’s who he was to me: a moron. It’s something stupid I’d imagine him saying.
Which is why the beast said it.
To mimic my perception of August.
“You’re not August,” I said.
“I’m whatever you want me to be,” he said with a smile. I peered back at Maya, still crumpled on the ground. She was protecting her face as if getting hit by somebody. I returned to the impostor in front of me.
A guttural growl formed in the back of my throat. “What are you?”
“I am that I am.” Something brushed up against me. I whipped the flashlight around. Nothing was there. Just like in the basement. It rubbed up against my back leg. I reached my hand behind me. It felt like—
Tentacles.
When I swirled the light around, it disappeared. Whatever this creature was, it could only appear in darkness.
“You can change form,” I said. “You’re a shape-shifter.” When I turned to the mimic, it was no longer August. It was my mother.
“My dear boy, won’t you give your mother a hug?” She came toward me with open arms. I shined the light in her eyes. She covered her face, and backed away.
I stepped toward the mimic. “You are not my mother.”
When the creature uncovered her face in the light, it was Serena. “Maybe I’m better suited for you, Solomon.”
She wore a sexy black dress that teased her breasts. The kind of dress a woman wore to get noticed. And touched.
I scowled. “You’re in my head… reading my thoughts.”
She ran her hands down her body. “I know you want me. Come and get it, big guy. Take what you want. Fuck my brains out.” She moaned a sexy moan. “I just want you to make me scream, daddy.”
I seized her throat and squeezed. “I’ll make you scream alright.” I tightened my fingers around her throat until —
CRUNCH!
Her neck snapped. Her face tilted away from me into the dark.
“Oh, Solomon,” she said, her voice full of gravel. “You’re no fun.” When her face returned to the light, it was my father’s. He grabbed my wrist and twisted it back. I dropped the flashlight. I tried to break his grip, but couldn’t.
“How many times do I need to whoop you, boy?” he said. “Do you think you’re a big shot now? Do you think you can take your old man? You think your shit don’t stink, don’t ya? You’re still the same little asshole who needs to learn respect.”
The creature was invading my memories. Somehow, it was in my mind, harvesting random thoughts and memories about the people in my life, taking emotional moments from the past and mimicking them.
I reminded myself it wasn’t them. I needed to keep my mind clear and not get lost in the illusion.
My father cracked his fist across my skull. It jarred me, pushing me back several feet.
I grabbed the butterfly knife. Twirling the blade through the air, I sliced his throat wide open. With wide eyes, he choked on his own blood.
“You are not my father,” I said. His face went from terror to laughter, which echoed through the catacombs.
Darkness overcame his face. When I shined the light on him, it was Karen Bell.
“You left me, Solomon,” she said. “Just when I needed you most…”
“Stop it,” I said. “You’re not Karen—”
“But I am, sweetheart.” She moved close to me and put her arms around me in a loving way. “You left me to rot. After everything I did for you.”
“I did what I had to,” I said.
“I killed my father for you. You made me a killer.”
“Your father was a demon. His soul was already gone.”
“It drove me insane, you know? Doing that to my father. And when I needed you most, you were gone. You left The Foundation. Leaving me to rot in that hellhole with Wilcox. I trusted him as far as I could throw him. But you, I would have given you the world.”
“It couldn’t be helped,” I said. “I needed to leave. To find Jason.”
“What does your son have that I don’t?” Her hands grabbed my face. I tried to pull away, but she turned my face to hers.
And kissed me.
“You are not Karen Bell.” I slid the blade up her belly. When I pulled it out this time, there was no blood. Only blackness.
I pulled out the 45 Colt I took from the mercenary and pumped lead into her chest until the clip was empty.
She glanced at her wounds. “Oh, Solomon, you’re such a damn square. It really takes the fun out of it all.”
“What are you?” I asked, dropping the Colt. “Why do you only appear in the dark?”
Karen sighed. “This thing you call ‘the dark,’” she said with air quotes. “I don’t know what it is. It’s in your world, not mine. But when it arrives, I can feel our worlds intersecting.” Her hand slid down to my hip like we were old lovers. “This thing called ‘dark’ is familiar to me. I can breathe in darkness. It allows me to reach out and touch someone.”
“That’s why they call you The Presence,” I said. “You can’t form in our physical world while in the light. Instead, you hijack our thoughts.” I shot the light to her face. It disappeared. “You’re there, but not really.”
Faith of a Monster Killer: Killing Forever Book 3 Page 10