by Mark Lukens
David didn’t answer. He stared down at the pit. Some of the walls of the pit were smooth and Palmer could see the blocks of adobe stacked up on each other. It looked like this pit used to be some kind of underground structure at some point. The floor of the pit was flat and smooth, and in the middle there was a collection of flat rocks stacked up on top of each other about four feet high, it looked like a cairn.
“What do we do now?” Palmer asked.
“I go down there in the burial ground. I summon the doorway to its world. I go into its world and bring Stella and Cole back. And then I’m going to kill the Ancient Enemy.”
“You can do that?” Palmer asked.
There was an anger growing on David’s face that made him look much older than fifteen years old. A power was radiating off of him like heat. “I’ll kill it for what it did to my mother and my father. For what it did to my aunt. For what it did to all of the others.”
In that moment Palmer believed him.
CHAPTER 46
Begay
Hospital – New Mexico
Awenita stood in the darkness of the hospital hallway, just visible in the shadows, her naked body wrapped in plastic, her long black hair spilling down past her shoulders, her throat a gory mess. Blood trickled down the front of plastic shroud, beading on it, dripping down onto the floor, puddling there. Her eyes seemed to be just two dark shadows under her brow. Her mouth was drawn down into a frown, but then her lips moved as she called Begay’s name again. The plastic that clothed her body crinkled again, like she was moving around under there . . . or like other things were moving around.
“It’s not real,” Angie whispered. She was right beside Begay, holding on to him, her fingers digging into his arm.
Awenita took another step forward, her bare feet stepping in the puddles of blood that had dripped down from her throat.
The plastic upside-down triangle above the elevator doors lit up and a bell dinged. Begay’s head snapped towards the doors—they slid open. The elevator car was empty. He looked back at Awenita. She was closer now. How had she gotten so much closer? The fluorescent lights above them were flickering now, about to go out.
“Come on,” Angie hissed. She pulled Begay into the elevator with her. He shuffled along with her, pain shooting through his knee. He used his cane to support him as much as he could. The pain was bad but it felt like something was loose inside of his knee, like he couldn’t trust putting his entire weight down on that knee or it might give out, spilling him down onto the floor.
They were inside the elevator, waiting for the doors to close, but it was taking the doors so long to slide shut.
“Begay,” Awenita whispered from the hallway. She was so close to the elevator doors now, only a few feet away. The plastic sheeting on her body crinkled as she moved and her wet footsteps sounded so loud in the darkness. The lights in the hall right outside the doors flickered again and then went out.
The lights inside the elevator flickered.
The lights are going to go out, Begay thought. It’s going to be dark and Awenita was going to slip inside the elevator with them and then the doors were going to close. And then the elevator wouldn’t work—they would be trapped inside this metal box. Or the cables would snap. This was a trap. They shouldn’t have gone in here.
The doors slid shut on the dark hallway. The lights inside the elevator flickered again, but they stayed on.
Angie punched the button for the first floor, jabbing it with her thumb, tears in her eyes. She was seconds away from a full-blown panic attack.
We’re only three floors up, Begay told himself. Twelve feet to a floor, thirty-six feet altogether. If the cables snapped they could survive a fall like that, couldn’t they?
But then worse thoughts came to Begay’s mind. What if the Ancient Enemy got inside the elevator with them? What if the lights in the elevator went out and then came back on again and Awenita was in the elevator with them, crammed in this little box with them, the wound in her throat opening with a wet, tearing sound as she moved, a second mouth opening up in her throat.
How long was it going to take before this elevator started moving? Was it broken already? Were they already stuck in here? A panic seized Begay, a claustrophobia like he’d never known before. He remembered entering that cave seven years ago, being so deep inside that cave with all of those dead bodies stacked up in front of the ancient city built inside the cavern, a city that stretched out forever into the darkness. He had felt claustrophobia then, but it wasn’t as bad as this. It was worse now because he knew what the Ancient Enemy could do.
“It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not real.” Angie whispered her mantra over and over to herself, her way of dealing with what she had just seen. But it was going to get worse; Begay knew that—the Ancient Enemy wasn’t going to give up coming after them.
Why isn’t this elevator moving?
Begay held onto Angie, pulling her close to him. He whispered into her ear that it was going to be okay, it was the only comfort he could offer her.
The elevator’s motor came to life and the car dropped smoothly down. Begay stared up at the digital numbers on the display above the metal doors. Three. Two. It seemed to take forever to get from the third floor to the second.
This is it. This is where the elevator stops, where it breaks down.
The lights inside the elevator flickered again, and it felt like the car was moving even slower. Begay was sure that the elevator was going to stop at the second floor. He was sure that someone (or something) had pushed the button for the second floor. He was sure the doors would open to that floor and a horror beyond his imagination would be waiting out there.
But then the digital number changed from two to one, and he felt his stomach lurch a little as the elevator eased to a stop. The lights flickered again as they waited for the doors to open.
If they open.
A thump sounded from above them, like something had just landed on the top of the elevator car. They stared up at the ceiling of the elevator, which was a grid of panels. It sounded like something was up there now, trying to get in. Begay was sure he would see tentacles poking down through those panels in the ceiling any second now.
The elevator doors slid open.
Angie grabbed Begay’s arm, her fingernails digging into his flesh. She had forgotten about his sore knee and she dragged him out of the elevator. Begay did his best to hobble along, still using the cane. He wanted to tell her to wait, to look around, to make sure there wasn’t somebody or something down here waiting for them.
But she kept going, kept pulling at him; a noise was caught in her throat like a moan, like a scream was trapped in there.
He let her lead him down the hall, leaning on his cane for support, the plastic feet stomping onto the floor with each step he took. The pain seemed to go all the way from his knee up to his head now, fiery signals shooting up and down the network of nerves throughout his body. He pushed through the pain, trying to walk as fast as he could.
But he knew he was slowing them down.
They were down the hall now. No one was down here. The lights above them were flickering so Begay knew the Ancient Enemy was close. He let Angie lead the way to the exit doors down the dark hall.
“Go,” he told her. “I’m just slowing you down.”
“No,” she barked and then stopped. “There,” she said. She had spotted a wheelchair by the wall.
Begay hobbled along as Angie darted to the wheelchair, pushing it back to him. Begay sat down in the chair, laying his cane across his lap. Angie was behind him in a flash, pushing him towards the glass doors that led outside to the parking area on this side of the hospital.
He hoped the glass doors were going to slide open. But the lights in the ceiling were already out down here, the hallway lost in murky shadows, the last of the day’s light fading quickly outside.
The glass doors swished open and Begay breathed a sigh of relief as Angie pushed him outside.
They were under a covered area with a circular drive beyond it where patients could be dropped off. One of the wings of the hospital rose up into the night sky to the right, three stories high, most of the windows lit up in the evening gloom. He looked up at one of the windows on the third floor. The lights were flickering there and he saw the silhouette of a woman—Awenita.
Did that mean they were safe? Did that mean the Ancient Enemy was still inside the hospital? Did that mean they could get away now?
Angie pushed Begay out into the circular drive, pushing him faster and faster towards the parking lot.
They were going to get away, but Begay was sure that the Ancient Enemy would follow them.
CHAPTER 47
Stella
The Void
“Cole,” Trevor said from the mist.
Cole had stopped, frozen like a deer in the woods that had just sensed a predator.
Stella stood beside Cole, watching the swirling mist, trying to spot Trevor in the grayness. Something was moving around in there, she could see it now—a person taking shape, becoming a human form, walking closer to them but still twenty feet away.
And then Trevor emerged from the fog. He wasn’t cut up into pieces like he’d been at Tom Gordon’s cabin; he was whole again, alive again, wearing the same clothes he’d worn at the cabin, his glasses on, his blond hair slick and combed back.
“Cole,” Trevor said. He stood there smiling, his arms down at his sides, relaxed. “I’m so glad you finally came.”
Cole shook his head no, his mouth a tight line, his dark eyes wide with shock. “No. You’re . . . you’re not Trevor. You’re not my brother. He’s dead. I saw him die. I saw his body on the front porch. I saw him burn up in the fire.”
“I’m not dead, Cole. I’m alive. We’re all alive here. No one dies here. You can be with me now.”
Cole didn’t say anything. He just stared at Trevor.
Stella looked at Cole. She saw him wanting to believe, wanting to rationalize how this could be real.
“There is so much more to this place,” Trevor said, still smiling. But his smile was beginning to falter just a bit. “There’s so much that you don’t understand yet. This is only a small part of this place. There’s so much more to see. So much beauty. So much wonder. You can see it all. We can see it together.”
Cole still didn’t say anything.
“Cole,” Stella said, touching his arm, trying to break the spell that Trevor was casting. “It’s not real. That’s not your brother.”
Cole looked at Stella, locking eyes with her. He seemed to be back for a moment, but she could tell that the spell hadn’t broken completely.
“Look at his smile,” Stella said to Cole, her voice louder now. “Look at the way he tilts his head to the side a little, like he’s listening to something we can’t hear.”
Trevor laughed, shaking his head, dismissing Stella with a wave of his hand. “Don’t listen to her, big brother.” His voice had gotten just a little deeper, and there was a harder edge to it. “You know me. You’ve always looked out for me. Well, I need you now. I need you here with me.”
Cole looked at Trevor again.
Stella still had her arm on Cole, her fingers digging in just a little. She could feel him leaning slightly towards Trevor, wanting to pull away from her and walk to him.
“Hey, remember when we were kids?” Trevor said. “Remember when I got in some trouble with Ronnie Moore and his brothers? They cornered me. Man, I thought I was going to get the shit beat out of me. I was ready to fight even though I knew I was going to lose. But then you showed up out of nowhere like some kind of superhero. And Ronnie backed down. All three of them backed down when they saw you. You remember that, Cole?”
Cole nodded.
“It’s like you knew I was in trouble, like you knew I needed help. And right now I need your help.”
Cole swallowed hard.
“I need your help, big brother.” Trevor reached a hand out towards Cole even though he was still in the same spot, twenty feet away. The mist had parted so Cole could see him clearly. “You still got my back, don’t you, big brother? You tried to help me out with Frank, I know you did. You were going to get me out of that jam with him.”
“It’s the Ancient Enemy,” Stella said. “It’s just spitting out memories it collected from Trevor’s mind when it killed him.” She pulled at his arm, trying to turn him to her, trying to make him face her again, make him see her eyes. “Cole, listen to me. You have to fight this. David will be here. I know it seems like a long time, but he will be here soon.”
Cole looked at Stella, his eyes clearing some. He was coming back to himself.
“Don’t leave me here all alone, Cole,” Trevor begged.
Cole looked at Trevor again.
“Listen to his voice,” Stella snapped. “Don’t look at him, but listen to his voice.”
Cole followed her instructions, looking at her again.
“You can hear it in his voice, can’t you?” she told him. “Remember what Frank sounded like at the cabin? And Jose? Remember what they all sounded like? The same deep voice. The same way they said things. It can’t keep up this charade too much longer.”
“Don’t leave me here, Cole,” Trevor said, and his voice was much deeper now, almost guttural and angry. “Don’t leave me like you left me at the cabin. You failed me. You were supposed to protect me. You were supposed to look out for me. You were supposed to have my back. But you didn’t. You let it take me out through the bathroom window. It hurt, Cole. It hurt so bad.”
Cole looked at Trevor again.
Trevor was still standing in the same spot, the mist still cleared away from him. His head was tilted to the side a little, the strange smile still on his face, his eyes blank behind his glasses.
“I’m sorry,” Cole whispered. Tears slipped out of his eyes. “You’re right. It’s my fault. All my fault. You always followed me around and did what I did. I got into trouble and you did too. I became a criminal and you were right there with me. But I tried to change. I tried to take you back with me. But then you got involved with Frank and his crew when I told you not to. I tried to help you, but it was too late. If I had changed earlier, if I had gotten through to you earlier, you never would have hooked up with Frank and Jose. You never would have been at that bank in Colorado or at that cabin. We never would’ve been there and none of this would have ever happened to us.” He wiped at his tears. “It’s all my fault.”
“Don’t cry, big brother,” Trevor said, but there was no emotion in his voice now. “Come with me and we can be together forever.”
“I lost him,” Cole said to Stella, looking at her now. “I lost him and I’ve had to live with that.” He looked back at Trevor. “But you’re not him. You’re not my brother. You’re not Trevor. I saw him die. I saw him torn to pieces. I saw him put back together again. And then I saw his body burn up in the fire. He’s dead. Gone. His soul is in another place, but it’s not here.”
Trevor was quiet for a moment. He stood motionless as the mist moved back in, swirling around his legs. His expression was still blank, the smile gone now, his head tilted just slightly. His posture reminded Stella of how Frank stood in the snow, his body hollowed out, waiting there like he was listening for instructions from a voice they couldn’t hear, the Ancient Enemy’s voice.
A smile suddenly appeared on Trevor’s face. “You’re wrong, Cole,” he said. “His soul is here. It’s trapped here. And you’ll be trapped here too.” A line appeared on Trevor’s neck, right across his throat, like a crack in an egg. Another crack moved up the side of his face, another one down into the collar of his shirt, another one appeared on each of his hands. A crackling sound came from him as the cracks grew longer and wider, deeper, bloodless red flesh exposed underneath as his skin began to pull apart.
“Run!” Stella yelled at Cole, grabbing him.
The mist flowed over Trevor again as he broke apart into pieces, his body coming apart insi
de of his clothes. He collapsed down to the ground like an imploded tower.
Stella and Cole ran away, but then they came to a stop when they saw someone else in front of them. The person limped forward out of the mist. It was Jose. He looked just like he had at the cabin, so much of the flesh of his neck missing, only a thin line of vertebrae somehow holding his head up like a balloon, pieces of his face gone. He had an ax in his hands, the same ax from the cabin.
They turned and ran, but Needles’ voice rang out from somewhere in the swirling fog. “You took my eyes, Cole! It hurts! It hurts so fucking bad!”
The voices were coming from all around them now: Trevor, Jose, Needles, and Frank. And there were others that Stella recognized—the man from the Mountainside Inn and Travis who had come to kill them with the gun. She saw Jim Whitefeather standing in the mist when they tried to run in a different direction. She heard Jake’s voice calling to her from the mist. She heard some of the other dead archaeologists. And there were others she didn’t recognize. Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds. She and Cole were surrounded now with nowhere to run, a circle of the dead in the mist, shadows moving around and getting closer.
CHAPTER 48
David
Bone Canyon
David stood inside the medicine wheel at the edge of the burial pit. The sun was down behind the mountains now, but much of the sky was still a light purplish color, those magic minutes of twilight, the barrier between day and true night.
Palmer had parked Begay’s pickup truck thirty yards away from the edge of the medicine wheel right near a rock wall that rose up twenty feet from the valley floor. He had built a campfire in front of that rock wall. David knew Palmer was scared, but the man wasn’t leaving. He had Captain Begay’s gun and now he had Cole’s gun with him. Would it be enough if the Ancient Enemy came? David didn’t know.
David had the letter from Joe Blackhorn folded up in his pocket along with the map. It was a goodbye letter from his teacher, but it was more than that—there were final instructions inside. It was like Joe Blackhorn knew this moment was going to come, like he had seen it.