by Ray Garton
Her words dissolved into a ragged scream and Joan’s scream joined hers as the winged creature landed in front of them silently and spread its black and grey wings to block their path. It moved toward them slowly, backing them against the wall.
Jordan turned toward Hester and her followers and—
—he cried out in horror. One of the creatures stood directly in front of him, its wings opening, as if to embrace him. Close up, the creature’s skin and wings looked diseased; what appeared to be open sores drained thick dark yellow fluid while a clear, viscous substance clung to the creature’s wrinkled black-and-grey hide. Its eyes were almond-shaped and pure black, its snout running with snot from its flat round nostrils. Sharp yellowed fangs jutted from beneath its thin, grinning lips. And more thick, yellow fluid dribbled from the tip of the creature’s enormous erection.
It clutched his shoulders and pushed him against the wall. After that, it didn’t move, didn’t even blink. It just held him there and stared into his eyes.
Jordan looked to his left at Coogan, Lauren and Joan. The creature before them hadn’t moved, either.
And they’re not going to, Jordan thought. They’re just holding us for Hester until she’s done with her ceremony.
“Please, please,” Hester called, raising a hand, “pay no attention to them. The Guardians will see that we finish the ceremony uninterrupted.” She finally regained the attention of her followers. “Continue chanting as I perform the re-embodiment.”
They followed Hester’s lead and, once again, the chamber echoed with the sound of their voices, their eyes closed, heads lifted slightly.
Once they were well into the chant, Hester knelt at Nathan’s feet. His eyes were wide with fear and confusion.
“I’m very sorry about all of that,” she said softly, “but it’s taken care of now. Are you ready, Nathan?” She smiled.
He nodded as—
—Lizzie opened her eyes. Her head was in a vise and her jaw throbbed. She felt disoriented, the way she used to feel when waking up from a long drunk. Groaning, she lifted her head, sat up slowly, struggled to her feet and muttered, “Oh, dear god.”
Hester was kneeling beside Nathan on the alter. Her lips moved as she raised her arms slowly, her hands joined around the long crystal spike.
Lizzie opened her mouth to shout at Hester, to stop her, or at least stall her, but—
—a dark figure appeared before her from above, wings spread wide, lips quivering around its jagged, uneven fangs. It slapped its gnarled hands onto her shoulders and dug its curved, black claws into her back just enough to hurt her as it began to push her backward.
Speaking quickly, Lizzie growled, “In the name of Jesus Christ get your filthy claws off of me!”
The creature doubled over and shot backward, vomiting explosively on itself as it landed in a black heap on the ground.
“Thank you,” Lizzie breathed as she looked up at Hester and saw her arms stretched high above her head, the crystal spike sparkling in the blue light as—
Lauren screamed, “Naaathaaan! Naaathaaan!” and—
—Lizzie knew she was too late, too slow, she could never get to him in time, and she felt weak, too weak to stand, until she saw something that made her want to laugh with joy as—
—Hester chanted quietly, her arms still, ready to swing downward hard and drive the spike into Nathan, but—
—someone behind her screamed, then someone else, and the chant began to die out as other voices rose in horror and someone shouted, “Get back!” and another cried, “What is it?” and a little girl shrieked, “Get away get away!” and then—
—Hester smelled him as she brought the spike down with all her strength, but—
—strong hands gripped her wrists, jerked her to her feet and spun her around.
Hester looked up at her son. “What the hell are you doing?” she rasped. “Let go of me. Let go of me right now!”
He didn’t let go. He stared down at her with cold scrutiny. Tears rimmed his eyes.
Hester separated her hands, holding the spike in her right hand, and tried to jerk from his grasp, snapping, “Go back! Go back to your place right now or your punishment will be even wor—”
He let go of her left wrist but tightened his grip on her right. Then he tightened it even more.
“Let go. You’re hurting me. Do you hear, you’re—” Her voice rose quickly until it began to squeak, “—hurting me … hurting me, let go, you’re—” Her hand began to shake and her fingers loosened around the spike and—
—he plucked it away from her.
Hester’s wrist cracked like a stick in his grip and her head fell back as she screamed.
Holding the spike in his right fist, Benjamin punched it into her stomach hard, lifting her off the ground with the force of the blow until he held her above him, the spike buried deep in her abdomen, and—
—terrified screams filled the chamber as Hester’s followers backed away from the altar, some of them falling and tripping up others as—
—a man backed into Lizzie and knocked her to the ground and—
—the creature standing before Jordan suddenly broke into a wet, gurgling scream that made its entire body quake and it fell away from him, dropped to the ground and began to writhe and vomit, quickly spreading a puddle around itself, and when Jordan looked around, he saw that the others were doing the same as—
—Lauren broke away from Coogan and Joan and ran toward the altar screaming her son’s name.
Nathan was screaming, too. He was too terrified to get up or even move, so he closed his eyes and screamed as Hester’s blood spattered on his naked body.
Hester tried to scream but could only retch as blood dribbled from her mouth. Her arms and legs were limp and her head lolled forward.
Benjamin looked up at his mother and said, “Shtay in … the luh-liiight … long tuh-time.”
He shoved her into the crevice, then backed away.
The screaming died out. Even the four Guardians had fallen silent as they lay quivering on the ground. For a long time, no one moved.
Something was wrong.
The air changed, became thick, stifling.
The blue light ceased to pulsate; it simply glowed for a while, until—
—a flash of white light from the crevice made everyone shield their eyes. It was painfully bright, blinding, and—
—it happened again, but this time, thin veins of the blinding light stretched out into the cave and—
—Jordan felt his hair shifting on his head, heard it crackle with electricity, and then—
—he felt the wind.
It was hot and dry and began gently at first, swirling through the cave. The blue light actually swirled with it, beginning to form a glowing tornado.
Lizzie clambered to her feet and hurried toward the altar, dodging the white-robed people who staggered as they looked around the cave, perhaps for friends or spouses.
Benjamin met her halfway. Nathan was in his arms, his eyes wide and staring at nothing, his mouth open, tongue working frantically.
“Give t-to … muh … maw-meeee,” he said.
With a tremendous, gut-wrenching crack, the crevice opened, lengthening itself up the wall of the chamber. Pieces of the cavern began to fall away from the walls and ceiling. A large stalactite dropped to the ground with an impact everyone felt beneath their feet; a chunk of the stalactite broke off and it fell on its side with another clunk.
Several women screamed. Men began to shout.
The wind suddenly doubled in force, but it was no longer swirling.
It was blowing into the crevice.
Lizzie thought it felt like the earth was inhaling as the force of it threw her into Benjamin. He began walking, pushing her away from the crevice and placing Nathan in her arms. He turned her around and
began pushing her, crying, “Go! Gooo! Guh-goooo!”
Jordan was at her side suddenly, his arm around her, pulling her with him toward the others who waited by the alcove.
“Benjamin!” Lizzie screamed, but her voice was a distant whisper. “Where’s Benjamin?” She turned, pulling one shoulder away from Jordan and—
—she saw Benjamin just a few feet behind them, stumbling against the force of the wind until—
—a hysterical man who was tearing away his white robe ran in front of him, fell, and—
—Benjamin tripped over him, started to get up quickly, but—
—an enormous stalactite with a base the size of a tree trunk broke away from the ceiling. For a moment, it seemed to Lizzie that it was falling in slow motion and she opened her mouth to scream at Benjamin, thinking that she might have enough time to warn him, but—
—the hulking, slow-moving boy disappeared beneath the piece of stone as if he had never been there.
“No!” Lizzie screamed, letting go of Nathan’s legs. “Please, god, no!”
Jordan took Nathan from Lizzie and pulled her to him roughly, shouting, “Come on Lizzie come on!”
Lauren ran to meet them, her arms outstretched, crying.
Pieces of stone were flying around the chamber like sand in a windstorm. They stung Lauren’s skin, made Lizzie hunch forward to protect the boy. The wind became deafening. Screams were swallowed by the powerful current of hot, sucking air. A chunk of the ceiling dropped to the ground and a section of the chamber wall collapsed on several of Hester’s terrified followers. The earth beneath them reacted to each piece of stone that fell on it as the cavern chamber collapsed.
The bodies of the fallen Guardians slid across the ground, then flew through the air across the chamber and disappeared into the crevice.
Jordan leaned forward heavily as he hurried Lizzie out of the chamber, but he still felt himself being pulled backward. And it was getting worse.
“Hurry!” he shouted, pushing them, pulling them. “Go! Go!”
A few of the white-robed believers were struggling out with them, but only a few. The screams behind them combined to become a single agonized wail.
Coogan still had the lantern and turned it on as they left the deadly light behind them.
The wind began to lose its strength as they neared the mouth of the cave. They could hear again, although their ears were ringing. The cave echoed with cries, and they could still hear the scream of the deadly wind behind them.
Outside the cave, they stopped running. Coogan and Lizzie fell to the ground. Lauren took Nathan in her arms, crying hysterically. Joan leaned against a tree trunk, hugging herself and taking slow, deep breaths. Jordan paced.
Perhaps a dozen of Hester’s followers came out of the cave and ran screaming into the woods. Jordan waited, watching the mouth of the cave, but no one else came out.
“We’d better get back to the car,” he sighed. “Pretty soon, this place is going to be a madhouse.”
42.
Jordan drove. Lauren sat beside him with Nathan lying in her lap wrapped in Jordan’s sport coat. She spoke to him soothingly, stroking his hair and telling him how much she loved him. He had not yet stopped shaking.
Lizzie, Coogan and Joan were silent in the backseat.
“We’re gonna have to get out of this town right away,” Jordan said. His voice was unsteady. “We’ll go to the motel and get our stuff, then—” He glanced in the rearview mirror at Coogan and Joan, “—if you two have things you want to pick up, we can—”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Coogan said softly.
“What? You have to come. You know what this town is gonna be like in a few hours?”
“I can’t.” He shook his head slowly. His voice was hoarse and flat. “I don’t know if P-Paula or Jake were … in there. I need to find out.”
“I’m going to stay, too,” Joan said, taking Coogan’s hand. “Nobody’s going to connect us to that. Why would they?”
Jordan couldn’t answer. She was right.
“And don’t worry,” Coogan said. “If we do get dragged into it, we won’t bring you up.”
“You’re both sure?” Jordan asked.
They said yes.
At the motel, Jordan gathered his and Lauren’s things together quickly. He checked out and drove to Coogan’s. The car idled as they said their good-byes.
“Will you keep in touch?” Lizzie said to both Coogan and Joan.
“Sure will,” Coogan said. He looked much older; his shoulders hunched forward as if carrying a great weight.
Joan was sturdier. She smiled as she stepped forward and hugged Lizzie, then Jordan. Lauren was still in the car with Nathan.
“Thanks for your help,” Jordan said, shaking Coogan’s hand.
When Lizzie hugged him, Coogan broke down. His shoulders quaked, although he fought to hold back his sobs.
“They’re dead,” he whispered, his head hanging over Lizzie’s shoulder. “I just know they’re dead. My family … my whole family …”
Lizzie held him and said nothing; there was nothing to say. When he’d finally calmed and pulled away from her, she held his hand and said, “We’re going to see each other again, Coogan. Okay?”
He nodded.
“We’ll see each other again either here or there.” He smiled then and nodded again.
Jordan and Lizzie got back in the car. Lauren waved at them as Jordan backed out and drove away.
Joan put her arm around Coogan and squeezed and said, “Whatta you say we go inside and get drunk.”
He chuckled, sniffling and wiping his tears on his sleeve. “It won’t help,” he said. “But it won’t hurt. …”
43.
The sky was grey with the first sign of dawn when they heard the news.
They’d spoken little since leaving Grover and, tired of the silence, Lizzie had turned on the radio and found a San Francisco news station several miles back. The Grover story was out already. According to the newscaster, a cave behind the Sleeping Woman Inn had collapsed with an unspecified number of Alliance members inside. The newscaster promised to report any further details as the story unfolded.
But there was another story. …
“A bizarre story has come out of the Silicon Valley,” the newscaster said. “At about three o’clock this morning, three men were killed in a senseless shooting at the Diego Nuclear Power Plant.”
Jordan sat up behind the wheel and listened.
“A few hours earlier, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department received a tip that an armed man would be arriving at the plant soon. No reason was given, but it was made clear that the man intended to kill someone. Five deputies, a security guard and a former worker at the plant, Mark Schroeder, were standing at the gate when the gunman, Marvin Ackroyd, arrived and began shooting wildly. The deputies drew their weapons—and so did Schroeder. Deputy Michael Watson was shot in the head and died instantly. Schroeder, also dead, was shot three times. Ackroyd was shot in the chest and died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. No further details are available. An investigation is under way.”
Jordan’s entire body weakened. His foot let up on the accelerator and the car slowed on the freeway. He eased the car onto the shoulder and put it in park. He stared out the windshield for a while, not moving. Then he pounded his fist on the steering wheel three times. Then on the dashboard, again and again and again. He threw the door open, got out and kicked the tire, pounded his fists on the hood, kicked at the ground several times and spread dirt and gravel. Then he leaned on the hood, let his head hang down and breathed slowly for a long time.
Lizzie got out of the car, walked around to the driver’s side, got behind the wheel and closed the door. She waited patiently until Jordan got back in, then she pulled back onto the freeway. They drove to Redding in si
lence.
44.
Morning sunlight glared harshly through the filthy windows.
“You earthlings taste good … but you play lousy pinball,” the pinball machine said to no one in particular. Several explosions sounded over the tinny speaker, then the machine’s lights flashed off and on. After that, it was silent for a while, then: “You earthlings taste good …”
A teenage girl was slumped on a bench a few feet away from the pinball machine. She had stringy dirty-blond hair and was wearing clothes that looked like they’d been worn too long without a wash. She was crying quietly and she was very pregnant. Every three or four minutes, she looked up at the clock over the ticket counter.
Behind the counter, an enormously fat man with greasy hair, a thin, patchy beard and a small, almost Hitler-like mustache read a paperback book called Love’s Angry Passion. The bus that was getting ready to leave rumbled and coughed behind the building, but the man seemed not to notice. He looked up from his book when the door opened, looked for a moment at the man and woman who walked in, then returned to his story. He put the book down when she came to the counter with her suitcase and purse and said, “I’d like a round trip ticket to Irving, please.”
Jordan went to a bench and sat down heavily, wearily. A few minutes later, Lizzie joined him.
Lauren was in the car with Nathan. She was afraid to leave him alone. Besides, he had no clothes.
“So,” she said, “this is your hometown.”
“Yeah.” He wasn’t paying her much attention because he really didn’t feel like talking.
“Did you enjoy growing up in Redding?”
He chuckled and said distractedly, “I didn’t much enjoy growing up.”
“Ah. Um, about that, Jordan …”
He turned to her. “What about it?”
“Well, you were very upset when you learned Marvin had told me about your childhood. Well … he was just trying to prepare me for the way you might react to me … to my beliefs.”
“Yeah, I know what he was doing. He was always doing things like that.”