314 Book 3 (Widowsfield Trilogy)

by A. R. Wise

  “What the fuck?” asked Rachel as she continued to flip through the pages. “What is wrong with this bitch?” The last several pages depicted fires consuming corpses, and Rachel closed it in disgust.

  “She spent too much time in this place, that’s what,” said Jacker as he sat back. He’d had enough of the gory scenes.

  “That’s the hell we might be headed back into,” said Alma. “Tomorrow, when we write that number on the floor, we might get pulled right back into his world.”

  “Are you sure we ever got out?” asked Paul and everyone looked at him with quizzical, almost accusatory gazes. “Think about it. Maybe we never got out. I don’t understand how any of this works, or what the hell happened. How did you guys get pulled into that dream in the first place? And why was I kicked out of it? The whole damn thing’s a mystery to me.”

  “Well, trust me,” said Jacker, “sitting around here is a hell of a lot different than what it was like in those dreams. When we were jumping back and forth in time, and watching Aubrey come apart like that…” he shivered and crossed his arms. “We’re not in The Watcher’s world right now. I can promise you that.”

  “Sure, we’re not in the nightmare he created,” said Paul. “But who the fuck knows anymore? This whole ordeal’s got me questioning all sorts of shit. I don’t know, it screws with your head if you spend too much time thinking about it.”

  “That’s all we’ve got right now is time,” said Stephen.

  “Well, I for one am counting down the hours until I get to hop on my bike and get the fuck out of here,” said Paul. “I want to leave this town far behind me.”

  “Hear, hear,” said Jacker as he raised a two-liter of soda in agreement before taking a swig.

  “We should’ve picked up some beers,” said Stephen.

  “No, you shouldn’t have,” said Paul. Stephen cast a confounded glance in his direction and Paul explained, “Jacker and I are off the sauce. Right buddy?”

  “Doing my best, man. Of course, it’s times like these when getting wasted sounds like a damn good plan.”

  “What are you going to do when you get back, Jacker?” asked Rachel. “Are you planning on turning yourself in?”

  Jacker sighed, raised his brow, and then finally nodded. “I don’t think I’ve got any other choice. I’m not going to try and run from this forever.”

  “What about your priors?” asked Paul.

  Jacker shrugged and said, “They’ll toss me in the joint. But fuck it, after going through this shit, prison sounds like a luxury vacation.”

  The group chuckled and agreed, except for Stephen who shook his head. “I don’t think so man. I think in a few days, all of our lives are going to get a whole lot better.”

  “Why do you say that?” asked Alma.

  “Because this story’s going to get out there,” said Stephen. “People are going to find out what happened here, and everything’s going to change for us. This story’s going to be huge.”

  “Whoa,” said Paul. “We never signed off on shit. Don’t forget, you gave Alma the final say on all of the footage here.”

  “Well, yeah, sure…” Stephen was flustered. “Right, I know, but come on. Guys, this is different. None of us expected any of this to happen.”

  “Still though, Alma’s got the final say on everything,” said Paul.

  “Of course, of course,” said Stephen.

  Rachel looked at her husband, and then back at the others. She was clearly upset, and waited for Stephen to say something else, but he stayed silent. “Stephen,” she said his name as fair warning that he needed to be honest with them.

  “What?” he asked, perturbed.

  “If you’re not going to say something, then I will.”

  “Say something about what?” asked Alma.

  “No, Rachel,” said Stephen. “They don’t have any right to that. They weren’t in it.”

  “Weren’t in what?” asked Paul, his anger growing.

  “We filmed something when we were at the facility, while you guys were gone. The younger nurse took off to go find Oliver, and Helen went upstairs for something, so we took the camera into the room with all of the sleeping people and filmed them. Then we shot a bit of me explaining what had happened. We posted it on our site.”

  “You what?” asked Alma in shock at the betrayal.

  “It’s not live,” said Stephen. “It won’t post until around this time on the fifteenth. Chill out.”

  “When were you planning on telling us about this, you slimy fucker?” asked Paul.

  “We’re telling you now,” said Stephen.

  Jacker shook his head in disgust. “Dude, you’re really a slimeball. You know that?”

  “Me? Fuck you. You’re the one that bashed some kid’s head against a wall. What I did was smart. It was fucking smart, you guys. None of us know if we’re going to make it out of this alive, and if something happens to us then there’s a record of it.”

  “And if Rachel hadn’t forced you to say something, then you would’ve posted that video with or without our consent,” said Paul. “Right?”

  “There’s no point in arguing about hypotheticals,” said Stephen.

  “Well stop the video from posting,” said Alma. “At least until we get a chance to think over whether or not we want it to get out there.”

  “I can’t,” said Stephen. “Even if I wanted to, there’s no way to do it. We don’t have any electricity, and my laptop’s in the van. Plus, it’s not like this town is set up with Wi-Fi to get online. Right? Look, guys, chill out. The post isn’t set to go live for a couple of days. You’ll have plenty of time to decide if you want to let the story get out about what happened here or if you want to play right into the hands of the people responsible for all of this and bury the story. Okay?”

  “You’re such a weasel,” said Jacker.

  “Go fuck yourself, man,” said Stephen.

  “Don’t have to,” said Jacker. “You paid one of your old hookers to do it for me.”

  Stephen cursed back at Jacker, but Rachel didn’t let the remark pass without focusing on it. “What do you mean by that?” she asked of Jacker.

  “Nothing, forget it,” said Jacker as he started to stand up.

  “No, I’m not going to forget it,” said Rachel as she stood up with him.

  “Babe, just sit down,” said Stephen as he reached up and took his wife’s hand.

  She jerked her hand away from Stephen’s grip. “No, I want to know the truth. I want to know who Aubrey really was.”

  “I’m staying out of it,” said Jacker as he started to walk towards the front door. “I’m getting some fresh air.”

  “No you’re not,” said Rachel as she grabbed his arm and held him back. Her hysteria was becoming apparent as she screamed, “Tell me the truth!”

  “Okay,” said Stephen. He waited for a long moment before continuing. He stood up, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Finally, he admitted the truth, “Aubrey and I slept together about a year ago.”

  “You piece of shit,” said Rachel. “You miserable fucking piece of shit.” She went to grab at her ring to take it off and throw it at him, but she remembered that she’d already taken it off to give to Rosemary.

  “Rachel, honey, let’s not do this…”

  Rachel screeched a curse at him and then headed for the door. She pushed past Jacker, flung the door open, and went outside. Before anyone had a chance to react, Rachel was coming back in. She quickly shut the door and shushed the group.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Alma.

  “There’re people out there.”

  CHAPTER 28 – Cogs in the Machine

  Terry’s cabin

  March 13th, 2012

  “People?” asked Alma as she approached the door.

  “Man, this is just like last time,” said Jacker as he shook his head.

  “I saw headlights up the road,” said Rachel. “A lot of them.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding m
e,” said Stephen as he went to the window to peer out. It was late, and the sun had gone down several hours earlier, making seeing the approaching headlights easier. “She’s right,” he said as he ducked down.

  “Of course I’m right,” said Rachel. “I might be blind to how big of a piece of shit you are, but I’m not actually fucking blind.”

  Paul hushed them both as they all got down on the ground to avoid being spotted as the vehicles passed. The living room lit up as the vehicles drove down the street, and the group sighed in collective relief as the intruders kept driving. After being certain they were safe, they got back up and looked out the window to see where the cars were headed.

  “Do you think they’re going to Cada E.I.B.?” asked Paul.

  “I think that’s a safe bet,” said Stephen in a mocking tone.

  “This is happening just like it did before,” said Jacker. “Next thing you know, we’re going to get shot with salt pellets or something.”

  “Not me,” said Rachel. “I’m getting the fuck out of here.”

  “No,” said Jacker as he grabbed her arm. “Don’t you remember what happened last time? I left and I got caught.”

  “That was different,” said Rachel. “You were with my husband’s whore at the time.”

  “It’s not different,” said Jacker. “Look, I don’t know if this is just a coincidence or what, but this whole thing feels like we’ve done it before, just like how everything felt in that dream, or whatever the hell it was. Here we all are, and we’re fighting, and there are people out there driving around, and Alma’s going to do her weird ritual again. It’s all the same. It’s like what Paul said earlier, like how maybe we’re all just still stuck in that creature’s web.”

  “That’s bullshit,” said Rachel.

  “Is it?” asked Jacker. “Are you sure? Because if you are, then convince me, because I’m losing my damn mind here.”

  “What are you trying to say?” asked Rachel. “What do you propose we do? Because I think we should all just pack our shit, count our losses, and get the hell out of here.”

  “How much longer do we have to wait?” asked Jacker.

  “Just over three hours,” said Stephen as he looked at the watch they’d found in Rosemary’s bag. He’d decided to wear the watch in preparation of the coming ritual. “It’s just about to be midnight.”

  “Okay then,” said Jacker. “Here’s what I think, and bear with me because I’m still trying to figure all this out myself. I think we need to wait here, and give Alma a chance to use her Chaos Magick shit to fix this, otherwise we’re all going to be stuck going around in circles like this. I can’t be the only one that thinks that us ending up back here, in this same damn situation, is eerie.”

  Alma was quick to agree. “No, you’re right. My whole life I’ve felt like I’ve been getting pulled back here. If we don’t fix this now, then I think we’re going to find ourselves getting dragged back again at some point in the future. We’re just a few hours away from getting it over with. I don’t want to risk screwing it up now.”

  “I agree,” said Stephen. “Let’s see this to the end.”

  “Well, I don’t agree,” said Rachel. “I just want to get away from here.”

  “And go where?” asked Jacker. “Out there where you’re going to get spotted and hauled back to that facility?”

  “It’s better than being here, where they’re probably going to come looking for us because this is where they found us last time,” said Rachel.

  “Then let’s go across the street,” said Paul. “We can wait there, and once it gets close to 3:14, we’ll come back over. That sounds like a smart plan to me. And I’m all for getting out of this creepy house for a little while.”

  “Are you sure the other house will be unlocked?” asked Stephen.

  “If it’s not, then we’ve got the doorbuster himself to break it down,” said Alma as she pat Jacker on the back. “I swear, this guy’s always busting down doors everywhere he goes.” Paul and Jacker appreciated Alma’s joke, but neither Stephen nor Rachel offered even a hint of a smile.

  “Fine,” said Rachel as she shook her head. “God damn it. Fucking fine. Let’s go over there and hide, but as soon as we’re done I’m out of here. Stephen, I never want to see you again. We’re done.”

  She opened the door, looked to make sure it was safe, and then started to walk across the street. Stephen stood at the threshold and watched her go as the others began to gather their things. Paul went over to the couch, past the mannequins that they’d set on the floor, and prodded Michael. Alma’s father jostled, but didn’t wake up.

  “Christ,” said Paul as he poked at the man a second time. He was familiar with how meth users often slept for long stretches after a binge. Michael’s face was facing the couch, and the belt was still strapped around his face, holding the t-shirt in his mouth. When Paul rolled Michael onto his back, he saw why the man hadn’t responded.

  Michael wasn’t dead, which they all knew because of the constant, sharp breaths he’d been taking, but he was staring straight up, with shrunken pupils that didn’t move. At some point during the day, Michael Harper had become a sleeper.

  Inside Cada E.I.B.’s facility

  March 14th, 2012

  12:01 AM

  Vess was confined to an electric wheelchair, and he had to be helped through the debris at the entrance of the facility. The guards that accompanied him performed a search of the building, and reported back to Vess about the bodies they’d discovered. Tom had been shot dead in the mess hall, and Helen was found adjacent to the sleepers’ room. Unsurprisingly, all of the sleepers were dead as well, victims of lethal injection administered by the nurse before she’d committed suicide.

  Vess had expected this to happen.

  The guards wanted permission to access the lowest floor, but Vess denied them. He insisted on going down first. They tried to explain that the building hadn’t been cleared, and that whoever had shot Tom might still be in the building. Vess told them that he hoped the murderer was, which was why Vess needed to go alone.

  No one argued with him, and he was allowed to go by himself to the elevator. Over the past sixteen years, the telomerase levels in Vess’s bloodstream had all but vanished. His former immortality had faded, and his desire to successfully activate the CORD had become more than just a passion of his. He firmly believed that his life depended on it.

  He used the key that would allow access to the bottom floor of the facility. His trusted guards watched helplessly as the doors closed, leaving them separated from their boss for the first time in several months.

  Many members of The Accord would be happy to learn of Vess’s death. It was no secret that they’d been hoping to get their hands on Vess’s notes about his successes with the CORD, but he’d been careful to avoid their grasp after the event in Widowsfield, sixteen years earlier. Unlike Tesla, who fell victim to the government thugs that stole his research, Vess had hidden himself from the prying eyes and hands of the greediest members of The Accord. He knew that his research was valuable, and he’d been able to win the support of a few of the more prominent members of The Accord by releasing bits and pieces of what he’d discovered.

  This would be his last chance to successfully activate the CORD, and he’d been forced to make several concessions to get everything to work out exactly as needed. The Accord allowed him this one, final opportunity to be the man that opened the door to Heaven.

  Vess wheeled through the basement of the facility, and he paused to look at the mess left behind where someone had been attacked with a fire extinguisher. He’d hoped to avoid this sort of violence, but the entire CORD project had been mired by such horrors. The sacrificial altar craved blood.

  The trail of blood led to the lab, as Vess had expected. The assassin would be inside, waiting for Vess to arrive.

  He saw Oliver’s body and cringed at the sight. He’d hoped his former assistant would survive, although he’d been prepared to find him
dead. The message that he’d been sent earlier had clearly not been sent by Oliver. It had been the coded message that Vess had been told by The Accord that he should expect to receive.

  Vess studied the body of the dead nurse that had been dragged here, and he realized that Oliver had been foolishly trying to activate the CORD on his own, clinging to the belief that sacrificing any human might be the key to activating the machine as opposed to using a psychic. Oliver also didn’t realize that the CORD’s stopgap mechanism was programmed to refuse delivery of radioactive material into the machine except at exactly 3:14 on March 14th. The Accord was still set upon using that date and time specifically.

  “You can open the door,” said Vess loudly as he stared at the partially closed door of the CORD. “I know you’re in there.”

  The assassin didn’t obey immediately. But after a few moments of silence, the metal door finally creaked open slowly to reveal Rosemary Arborton sitting inside. She was clutching her belly, and Vess saw that she’d been hurt.

  “You were shot?” asked Vess, surprised.

  “Stabbed,” said Rosemary weakly.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” said Vess. “I hope it’s not fatal.”

  “What do you care?” asked Rosemary. She was weak, and Vess knew that she was having trouble using her limbs. This was the state he’d been told he should expect to find her in, after her mission was complete.

  “I care a great deal, my dear,” said Vess. “I’m counting on you living another few hours at least.”

  “How did you know I’d be here?” asked Rosemary.

  “The same way I knew you couldn’t kill me once I got here, even though you’ve been planning on my death for ages already.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Rosemary.