by Ike Hamill
“I should have let him kill you,” Chloe shouted at James. Her tear-streaked face was defiant as she looked up at him.
James rolled his eyes. “The shot could bring unwanted attention,” James said. “We better prepare ourselves for more company.”
“More?” Danielle asked. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. You think there are more people out there?”
“I’ve seen them,” James said. “There’s a hunting party in the woods. Most of them think that they’re here to get some deer so they can feed their families. One of the hunters is insane and will kill the others.”
“Wait, what’s this?” Bo asked. “Where did these people come from, and how do you know them?”
“I don’t,” James said. “They’re from another story. The wild kids were from one, and the hunters were from another. This is what happens when a whole bunch of stories get turned loose on the population. That’s why I didn’t want the apartment to burn.”
“Wait,” Chloe said, scrubbing the tears from her face, “maybe he’s not dead. Maybe I made a mistake.” She pushed Danielle away as she got to her feet. “I probably made a mistake.” She began to stumble towards the door. She stopped when James spoke.
“I’m sorry, Chloe, but he’s dead,” James said. “We don’t have time for this. The hunters are out there somewhere, and they’re probably headed this direction.”
“Who are they?” Bo asked. “You still haven’t told us who they are.”
“I don’t know!” James shouted. “But they’re out there in the damn woods, they’re armed, and one of them is very, very dangerous.”
“This is crazy,” Danielle said. She walked to the door. She glanced out towards the woods and closed the door.
“We’ll head for the car. Let’s just run to the car and get the hell out of here,” Bo said.
“And go where?” Danielle asked.
“It’s likely to be even more dangerous if we go anywhere populated,” James said. “Even out here, there are two groups infected by stories. The closer we get to town, the higher the density.”
“Then we go the other direction. We get as far away from where the stories burned up, and things will be safer, right?” Bo asked.
“I suppose,” James said.
“Listen,” Danielle said. “Nobody is in a better position to put a stop to this than we are. I think it’s incumbent on us to at least try.”
“You say that,” Bo said, “but what’s the goddamn plan? Last night you said you were working on something. If you’ve got something in mind, why don’t you just say so?”
“Fine. I will,” Danielle said. She turned to James. “I’ve got a new story for you to write. We’re going to turn this whole thing around.”
Someone knocked three times on the door. They all froze.
Before anyone could move towards it, Chloe screamed.
“Get her in back,” James whispered. He motioned to Danielle.
James rushed over and picked up the shotgun. It was heavy. When he lifted it, the smell of gunpowder hit his nose. He carried it to the door as Danielle ushered Chloe towards the family room. Bo stayed put. James glanced back and saw Bo kneeling to pick up the hunting knives that the kid had dropped.
The door didn’t have a peephole. James looked through the thin windows that flanked the door so he could see out to the porch. He saw a man standing next to the body of the kid. The man wore camo pants and a tan shirt. The man’s gun was resting next to his side.
“What do you want?” James called.
The man glanced around. He spotted James through the window and directed his words at him.
“It looks like you’ve had some trouble. Is everyone okay in there?”
“Yes,” James said. “We’re okay. The boy attacked us and was shot. It was an accident.”
“Can I come in?” the man asked. “I’m setting down my gun.” The man lifted his gun, held it out towards the window, and then set it down on the porch floor. He held up his arms and spun around, so James could see that there more no more obvious weapons on him.
James glanced back and saw Bo moving to the side of the door. He held the knives out.
“What do you want?” James asked.
“Honestly? I heard the gunshot and I came to see what was going on. Then, I saw this boy here on your porch. I figured I better see what was happening.”
James looked to Bo.
Bo shrugged.
“Where are your friends?” James asked.
“My friends?”
James took a chance. “I saw you with other people earlier. Where are they?”
“Oh,” the man said. Through the window, James saw the man shoot a glance towards the woods. “We split up to look for deer. We need meat, so we’re going to divvy up whatever we find.”
James put the barrel of the shotgun to the window pane. “I’ve got a shotgun aimed at you. You’re going to leave your rifle on the porch and back away from the house slowly, with your hands up. Otherwise, I’m going to shoot.”
“Hey, man, there’s no need for that,” the man said. He took a hesitant step backwards and he did raise his hands. But he stopped close enough that he could still bend over and grab his gun. “I came here to see if you needed any help. I know those kids were up to no good, and I’m not surprised that there was an accident.”
“I’m not worried about the kids,” James said. “I’m worried about you.”
“Yeah, okay, dude. I get that. Don’t do anything rash, okay.” The man took a step to the side. James had to angle himself to keep the shotgun trained on him. He glanced down at the shotgun and the man saw through the window that James’s attention had faltered. He dropped, snatched his gun, and ran down the side of the building.
“Shit!” James said.
“What happened?” Bo asked.
“He got away. Lock this door, I think he’s headed for the back.”
James retreated through the living room and turned the corner to the kitchen. The back door was shut and locked, but one of the panes of glass in the upper half had an arrow hole in it. James angled himself to see down the sides of the house, looking for the man.
“Danielle? Chloe? We need some help,” James said.
Bo appeared in the doorway from the hall. He had a knife in each hand. “Front door is locked. Where is he?”
James didn’t have a chance to answer. They heard a gunshot outside. James crept away from the back door. He moved towards Bo.
“Christ. Now what?” Bo asked. “What do we do?”
“I don’t know,” James said, shaking his head.
# # # # #
The four of them huddled next to the staircase. It was the most central part of the house—away from the doors and windows.
Chloe had stopped crying. Her eyes were distant.
“If he hadn’t come at me,” Chloe said. “I didn’t want to shoot. If he hadn’t come at me, I wouldn’t have shot.”
“It’s okay,” Danielle said, rubbing her back. “It’s okay. We know.”
“How many of them are there?” Bo asked.
“I’m not sure,” James said. “In the story, it was a group of six. They don’t have to match the story exactly though. It’s more like a template. And there was no young girl in the story. They have a young girl.”
“A girl?” Bo asked.
“Beck is her name. Maybe it’s short for Becky, or maybe it’s just Beck. She’s the only one I saw. One of the guys is named something funny. Storm, maybe? I don’t remember,” James said.
“And one is a murderer?”
“Yes. In the story, they go out to hunt and one of them starts killing the others. He gets them alone and dispatches them, one by one,” James said. “It might have already started. The guy from the porch might have been the murderer.”
“Why does he do it?” Danielle asked.
James shook his head. “It’s never precisely clear. If I remember correctly, his wife might have been having an affair? No, t
hat’s not it. Whatever it was, he saves one guy for last. That one guy is the one he really wants to kill all along, but he saves him for last.”
“So how do we stop him?” Bo asked.
“I don’t have any answer for that either. All I can say is, we had better defend ourselves,” James said.
Bo thought for a minute. He poked his head around the corner and glanced at the back door.
“He has to make a pretty good racket to get in here, and it’s been a while since he knocked. I wouldn’t be surprised if he went back to the woods,” Bo said.
“Maybe they’re forming a plan of attack,” Danielle said. “Or maybe they’re just waiting us out. They know we have a gun, right? So maybe they’re just going to surround the house and wait for us to leave to get water or whatever. Then they could pick us off from the woods.”
“But that doesn’t fit James’s story,” Bo said. “One of them is supposed to be hunting the others.”
“The stories are templates,” James said. “They don’t have to come out exactly as my father wrote them. Remember the Torture-cise? Those people eventually started killing even though it wasn’t in Danielle’s story.”
“Okay, fine. We only have one gun, but we have four people. I say we each take a direction and we watch. If anyone comes at the house, then we get the shotgun to that side and start shooting. How many shells does that thing hold?”
“What if they come from two directions at once?” James asked.
“I don’t know,” Bo said. “We’ll deal with that if it happens. They’re probably going to try to get through one of the doors. These windows are too high to get through easily.”
“What happens when it starts to get dark?” Danielle asked. “We lose James at sundown.”
“Can we focus on one problem at a time please?” Bo asked. “Let’s deal with that when it happens. We might not even make it that long before they come at us. Or maybe they will all kill each other and solve the problem for us.”
“How would we know?” Chloe asked.
Bo made an exasperated noise and tossed his head back.
“Okay, Bo, that’s a good plan,” Danielle said. “But when sunset comes, I want James to write my story.”
“What story?” James asked.
“I wrote the outline of a story last night,” she said. “I want you to transcribe it instead of writing a story of your own.”
“That’s not how it works,” James said. “It can’t just be any story, it has to come from… I don’t know where they come from, but it can’t just be any old story.”
“I want you to try it,” she said. “If it works, it might solve our problems.”
“The stakes are too high,” James said. “If I don’t write what comes to me, then I’m going to act it out. You will all be in danger.”
Chloe shook her arms, like she was trying to free herself from a spiderweb. “Do you all see? He’s dangerous and he’s basically holding us all hostage here with his damn curse. We’re never going to be safe until we address the real problem here.”
“Chloe, can you shut up for one minute?” Danielle yelled. She turned back to James. “I’m going to be completely honest here. You’re going to sit down and write my story. If you twitch, or turn, or even blink at one of us funny, we’re going to unload that shotgun into you. Like you said, we’re all in danger, and we’re going to take that danger very seriously. If we make it until dawn, and the story works, then we’ll have something. Maybe it will be a solution.”
“When this thing takes over a person, it’s sly, Danielle,” James said. “It could trick you. It could pretend that everything is okay and then wait for you to lower your guard. I won’t be able to stop it.”
“I’ll know if the plan is working,” Danielle said.
CHAPTER 26: NIGHT
DANIELLE SLID A BAG of cookies across the wood floor. Bo stopped it with his foot. He reached down, took one out, and chewed on it slowly as he stared out the window. A fat moon rose through the trees. It cast stark shadows on the dry leaves. Bo had his eyes on a dark spot over near where the driveway cut through the forest. He wasn’t completely sure—had that spot shifted? His eyes burned, but Bo was unwilling to blink.
“Bo,” Chloe whispered. “You have to cover my direction for a minute. I need to use the bathroom.”
“I can’t,” Bo said through a mouthful of cookie. “I’m watching something.”
He heard a rustling and then Chloe was at his back.
“What is it?”
He pointed. “You see that dark spot between that huge tree and the driveway? I thought I saw it move.”
“That’s a bush. You see?”
“No.”
“That’s a bush. It has always been there. Keep an eye on my direction for a second. I’ll be right back.”
Bo didn’t answer. He squinted to try to make out what Chloe had been so confident about. He had to shift forward so he could turn his head and also look out the direction that Chloe was supposed to be covering. There was one corner he couldn’t spot, but the attackers wouldn’t know that.
He practically held his breath until he heard the flush. Then, just as he was expecting relief from his double duty, Chloe went to check on Danielle. Bo listened as the women whispered in the other room.
“How’s he doing?” Chloe asked.
“Not a peep,” Danielle said. “The candle is still burning.”
“I guess he hasn’t run out of oxygen yet then.”
It had sounded cruel and unusual to Bo, but he was the only one who had objected. Even James didn’t seem to mind that much. They had cleared out a coat closet and then refilled it with an end table and chair. James had several candles, his paper, and his pens. The closet was the only place they could put him where he was close enough to keep an eye on, but his light could be contained so the others could keep watch.
“If you hear anything unusual,” Chloe said, “you yell, okay? Don’t worry about who can hear, just yell.”
“I know,” Danielle said. “Don’t worry.”
“Don’t worry,” Chloe said with a sad laugh. She finally moved back to her position, so Bo could settle back again.
It was an impossible job. There was no way to stare out at a dim, unchanging landscape for hours without his attention wandering and his eyes wanting to close. Even knowing there was at least one man out there with a gun, his eyes begged to close. His whole body demanded rest.
Bo shook his head and took a sip of cold coffee.
“Let’s switch,” Danielle called out.
“Great,” Chloe said. He heard her getting up. “You could have said that before I sat back down.”
Bo stifled a yawn and waited. When Chloe arrived to take his post, he went to relieve Danielle. Her watch was even worse. The woods were farther away and the low branches hung over the spots where trails headed off from the yard. He had to keep moving his eyes from spot to spot, always sure that something was creeping out of the darkness.
Bo set a pace and turned his head to match it. He looked left, middle, and then right. Repeat. Every four times, he glanced back to make sure the candlelight was still flickering in the gap under the closet door. Somewhere in there, James was writing, hopefully composing a solution to this craziness.
Left. Middle. Right.
Left. Middle. Right.
“Bo?”
“What?” he asked. There was aggravation in his voice, and it was there because he wasn’t sure how many times his name had been called. He was pretty sure that it was more than once. He was pretty sure he’d been asleep the first time.
“Just checking,” Chloe said.
“Watch your side. I’ll watch mine,” Bo said. It wouldn’t do any good to admit that he couldn’t stay awake. What could they do about it?
“Bo?”
“Yes?” He asked. This time he was sure he hadn’t fallen asleep.
“Come here,” Danielle said.
Bo backed away from his post, keeping a
n eye on the woods for as long as he could. When he reached Danielle, Chloe was already there.
“Right there, see?” she asked.
Bo didn’t see. He saw the cabin’s side yard, the car, the woodpile, and then forest at the edge of the lawn. There was nothing to see.
“Yeah,” Chloe said. “It’s coming this way.”
“What is?” Bo asked.
“There’s a figure in the woods,” Danielle explained. “It’s moving very slowly this direction.”
“Shit,” Bo said. “Well get the damn gun and we have to get back to our sides. That could be a decoy so we don’t see the real attack.”
“He’s right,” Chloe said.
Chloe went for the shotgun. They had it propped up on a chair in the middle of the house, so they could quickly mobilize it in any direction. She came back towards them with it held tight against her chest.
“I won’t shoot anyone,” Danielle said. “I told you that.”
“This isn’t a damn game, Danny,” Chloe said. “You don’t get to hold onto your core values and stay alive. You have to choose. And, if you don’t choose correctly, you’re going to put us all at risk. It’s not fair.”
“Relax,” Bo said. He reached out for the gun. “You take my watch and I’ll cover that figure.”
“Bullshit,” Chloe said. “You’re blind as a bat out here. You wouldn’t see the guy if he was pressed up against the window. I’ll take this side. You go cover my spot.”
“Yeah, okay,” Danielle said. She gave up her post and Chloe unlocked the window. She stuck the barrel of the shotgun out into the night and settled down to the floor so she could sight it.
“I can see,” Bo said.
“Great, then go back to your post,” Chloe said.
Bo did.
# # # # #
“What’s happening?” Danielle asked.
Bo wasn’t tired anymore. His feet bounced on the floor as he stole glances over his shoulder. He could barely see Chloe, but it seemed like she was intent on whatever was out there in the woods.
“He’s staggering,” Chloe said. “It looks like he’s hurt.”