The Deadlock Trilogy Box Set

by P. T. Hylton

  Zed leaned forward and put his hands over Frank’s. They were ice cold.

  “Frank, this isn’t the end for you. There is still a chance. Regulation 19 or not, I can still save you. And I want to.”

  Frank waited. He took long slow breaths. Whatever Zed said, he wasn’t going to get his hopes up. He wasn’t going to take the bait.

  Zed said, “The knife with the broken clock. Where did you get it?”

  Frank stared at the table. He didn’t want to meet Zed’s eyes; he was afraid what the man might see.

  “It’s as simple as that. Tell me about the knife, and you can go back to prison. You’ll be wearing an orange jumper and playing cards for Twinkies in two hours. All you have to do is tell me what I want to know.”

  Frank waited, but this time Zed didn’t break the silence. He sat there with that creepy smile on his face. Eventually Frank said, “Sorry, Zed. Can’t help you.”

  Zed sighed and nodded. “Okay. That is understandable. You are protecting someone. Maybe it’s the good Doctor Christine. Maybe it’s Will. Maybe it’s those Hansen boys you were running with all week. Honestly? I don’t care. I respect your loyalty. I won’t make you betray that. So let me change my offer. I don’t care where you got the knife. I only care where it is now. Tell me where I can find it and you can go back to prison. The moment it’s in my hand, you get on a van back to NTCC.”

  Frank concentrated on his handcuffs.

  “Last chance, my friend. We’ve looked at Christine's house. We’ve searched those cabins where the Hansens live and everything on that property inside and out. I will find it eventually. Help us both out. I’ll save some time and you’ll save yourself a horrific death.”

  Frank kept his eyes on this handcuffs. If Zed had searched the cabins, why hadn’t he searched the shed? Why hadn’t he found the freezer?

  Zed sighed. “I wish I had the device ready. I’d send you into the hole for a few minutes. I’ll bet your lips would be a bit looser after that. If you think the Unfeathered sing, just you wait!”

  Frank kept his eyes on the table. “Anything else?”

  Zed reached into his pocket and pulled out the pocket watch. “You see this? You know what I’ve been able to do with this thing? I’ve stopped myself from aging. I’ve built devices that can stop the Unfeathered. I’ve poked holes in time itself, holes that every person in this town will carry around with them wherever they go for as long as they live. You get the knife and what do you do with it? You wave it in my face like it’s a prison shiv.”

  Frank said nothing.

  Zed chuckled. “In a way, I’m glad you didn’t tell me. That would be almost like cheating. It’d be like…like looking at the answers to a crossword puzzle before you’re finished with it. You don’t get it. Your brother didn’t either. I’ve got all the time in the world to find the knife and the other Tools. They attract one another, and they are gathering in this town. More slowly than I would like, but they are gathering. Sometime in the next few hundred years this town is going to burn out, mark my words. And when every last person in Rook Mountain is dead, I will crawl out of this little hole in time. I’ll have what I came here for and I’ll be infinitely stronger than when I went in. And to the rest of the world no time will have passed at all. So tell me or don’t tell me. I’m having fun either way.”

  Frank looked up, not into Zed’s eyes, but at his mouth. “Why don’t you poke a hole in my mind and see what I know?”

  Zed’s smile wavered for a moment. “When I looked into your brother’s head, it was murky. There were things there, lots of things, but it was difficult to make them out. It’s the same with your nephew. But you are different. You know what I see when I look in your head? I see locks and nothing else. How do you do that?”

  “Anything else?” Frank asked again.

  Zed stood up. “You’re a cold one.” He turned to go, and then turned back. “Let me tell you something. When I first came to Rook Mountain and knocked on all those doors, I looked into every eye in town. There was only one person who frightened me. You. You were the only one who even gave me pause. I knew that if you put your mind to it, you had a chance to stop me. You and your locks. Your locks were interesting, so I paid that neighbor of yours to steal them. And then you went ahead and took care of my problem for me. Got yourself locked up.”

  Zed leaned close to Frank. “You have great weakness in you, my friend. Trust doesn’t come easy to you. Maybe you could have been the hero once, but that time has long past. The best you can hope for now is to save yourself. I’ll give you one more chance. Tell me about the knife.”

  Frank said nothing.

  Zed sighed. “You know, you should really take the long view every once in a while. Reality gets weaker the deeper you go, and the hole I’m going to throw you in is mighty deep. When the Ones Who Sing come after you, you’ll wish you had swallowed your pride. Enjoy your evening.”

  3.

  Will opened the door leading to the attached garage and he saw Christine sitting on the ground with the knife, the lighter, the key, the cane, the mirror, and the frozen head of an Unfeathered spread out in front of her.

  “Honey, what are you doing?” he asked.

  She didn’t look up. She set the key on top of the knife. “We don’t have much time. They are sending Frank away in the morning. Whatever the hell that means.”

  Will stepped down into the garage and pulled the door shut behind him. “Yes, but what are you doing? What are these things doing here?”

  “You know what Jake always said. What we all said. These objects work together somehow. We need to find the right combination.”

  “Christine, these should be locked up. What if Becky Raymond stopped by? Or Zed himself?”

  Christine slapped her palm against the concrete floor. “What are we doing here, Will? What have we been doing all these years? He kills our people, he keeps us under his thumb, and we just drive around town at night with this damn cane hoping to find something useful.”

  “You know what we're doing. We're protecting the coin. We’ve been smart about it. That’s why we’re not dead. We’ve been beyond reproach. That day on Rook Mountain, I didn’t hesitate. I killed Jessie Cooper even though every part of me wanted to run out of town alongside her. Because that’s what I had to do. What’s one life compared to the lives of everyone in this town? Everyone in this world? We’ve built such solid reputations that no one even looked at us twice when your brother-in-law turned out to be a traitor. We are protecting the things we have to protect. Trevor is safe. And so is the coin.”

  Christine looked up at Will. Her eyes were filled with tears. “Everything we’ve ever tried has been a failure. Todd is dead. Jake is gone, probably forever. And now Frank. When is it enough? When do we finally stand up to him?”

  “Jake wanted to fight. Look how far it got him. We have to be strong even if it means losing Frank.”

  “They are brainwashing my son in that school. How much longer before we lose him too? Look around us, we have weapons. We have the knife. We have the head and the lighter.”

  “Honey, I don’t think—”

  “Shut up!” she yelled. “Shut up and come here.”

  He knelt down next to her and held her in his arms. They cried together.

  4.

  Frank lay on the cot in his jail cell, missing the good old days of prison. If he had to spend his last night in a cell, he wished it could have been his cell at NTCC.

  The heavy metal door swung open, and Frank resisted the urge to leap to his feet. Guards didn’t like jumpy prisoners. It wasn’t a guard who stepped into the cell—it was Wendy.

  Frank looked at her for a long moment, not sure how to react. It had been almost ten years since he had last seen her. She hadn’t come to the trial. But here she was now, in his jail cell.

  He stood up and stepped toward her. “How did you get in here?”

  Wendy shrugged. “I’m an instructor at the Beyond Academy. People kind of let us d
o what we want. I told the guard I was here on Academy business and he stepped out of my way.”

  Frank nodded absently. He didn’t know much about the Academy but he wasn’t about to start asking Wendy questions about her job. Not now.

  “How you been?” he asked. He didn’t realize how stupid the question sounded until it was out of his mouth.

  There were tears in Wendy’s eyes. “I’m so sorry this all happened.”

  Frank smiled and shrugged. “I am too.”

  She looked great standing there, as good as she had ten years ago. She glanced back at the door.

  “Did Christine and Will tell you what happened to Jake? How he went away?”

  Frank nodded. They had told him the story the day after Frank broke Zed’s box. “I’m not sure I fully understand it all, but they told me.”

  “Did they tell you where it happened?”

  Frank shook his head.

  “It was at my house. I was the last one to see him before he disappeared.”

  Frank didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know why Wendy had felt the need to come here, to tell him this.

  “Frank, I believe that you’re special. If anyone can survive what Zed’s got planned for tomorrow, it’s you. I’ve been trying to think of some way to help you. All I came up with was this.” She handed him an envelope. The name Trevor was written on the envelope in Jake’s distinctive handwriting.

  “Jake gave me that letter before he disappeared. He asked me to give it to Trevor when he was old enough to understand what’s happened to Rook Mountain.”

  Frank looked up at her. “The kid’s smart, Wendy. I’m sure he’d love a letter from his father. What are you waiting for?”

  “I agree. It’s time. I’m going to give it to him soon. I haven’t opened it. I don’t know what it says. But I thought maybe there was a chance it might be able to help you somehow.”

  “You want me to open my brother’s letter to his son?” Frank asked.

  “No,” Wendy said. “I want you to decide for yourself. What if there’s something in the letter that can help you survive?”

  “What if there isn’t?”

  Frank looked at the envelope for a long moment and then tore it open. He read it silently, and then folded it and slid it back into the envelope. “There’s nothing in there that can help me. Give it to Trevor.” He looked up at Wendy. “Thank you, though. Thank you for trying.”

  Wendy took the envelope. “I won’t be coming tomorrow. I can’t watch them do that to you.”

  Frank nodded. He understood. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course.”

  “You used to run around with Will and Christine and Jake, right? Looking for the Tools?”

  “I did.”

  “Then I guess you know Will and Christine have some of them.”

  Wendy glanced back at the door and then nodded. “We believed that the Tools were stronger together than apart. If we could find enough of them, we thought maybe we could take down Zed.”

  “Zed said they’ve searched the cabins and that whole property,” Frank said. “Why didn’t they find the Tools?”

  A slow smile appeared on Wendy’s face. “You don’t know? I thought Will and Christine would have told you.”

  “It’s been a little hectic.”

  “They put everything in that freezer in the shed and locked it with one of your locks. Becky Raymond came out and personally oversaw the search of the place. When she went into the shed, she didn’t even try to open the freezer. It was like she didn’t even know it was there.”

  “How could that be?” Frank asked.

  Wendy’s smile widened. “It was because of your lock.” She tilted her head. “Wait. I have something else for you.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small lock. It was a Fox, the first original model Frank had designed. It opened without a key if you knew the right place to twist it.

  Now it was Frank’s turn to smile. “You kept it?”

  “It was always my lucky charm, remember?” She put it into his hand.

  “Wendy, no. They are going to take it away from me. I’d rather you keep it.”

  Wendy shook her head. “Keep it locked and they won’t find it. Not if you don’t want them to. It’ll be like the lock on the freezer out at the cabins. They won’t even see it.”

  “You can’t know that.”

  “Yes, I can. Hold on to the lock, and remember that no matter what they do to you, they can’t take away who you are. Like I said, Frank, you're special.”

  5.

  Frank waited on a raised platform in front of City Hall. Two people stood next to him. He recognized one as Anita Lawrence. The other was a man he had never seen before. He had no idea what either of them had done or why they were standing there. The crowd was rolling in at a steady pace. There were eight police officers around Frank and his fellow convicts, presumably in case the prisoners started making trouble. He spotted Christine standing near the edge of the stage, her roller bag of medical gear by her side.

  One of the police officers stepped forward and held up a gold necklace. A golden loop roughly the size of a peach pit hung from the chain. He addressed the prisoners.

  He said, “At the time your sentence is carried out, this marker will be placed around your neck. Do not remove it at any time. This marker will protect you from the Unfeathered. It will also let you know when your sentence is over. When it begins to flash red, that means you have one hour remaining in your sentence. Return to this exact spot immediately. Failure to return to the same spot you left will result in further discipline.” He glanced at Frank. “Except you of course. You ain’t coming back. Any questions?”

  It seemed impossible to Frank but the two people to his left didn’t have any questions. Frank had about a million, but he didn’t think the officer would have the answers, so he too kept quiet.

  Frank looked into the crowd and saw Will, his arm around Trevor. Will gave him a little smile. Trevor looked sad, terrified, and much younger than twelve. Frank decided not to look at the kid anymore. Frank was afraid he might start crying. It wasn’t that he was too manly to shed a couple tears; he just didn’t want to give Zed and the Zed Heads the satisfaction. So Frank turned his attention to the people filling the street in front of the platform.

  It was amazing to see how many people had turned out to see him punished. Way more than had come to Jake’s wedding. At least Frank had that to comfort him.

  He took a deep breath and tried to take stock of his feelings. All morning he had been waiting for the terror to hit him. There was fear, but it wasn’t the crippling kind he had expected. He only felt the emotion that had been his constant companion for as long as he could remember: anger. The way this was playing out wasn’t fair. Zed and his cult of freaks were going to win.

  Frank heard the roar of the crowd before he saw Zed. The tall man stepped onto the stage and waved to his adoring public. There was nothing somber about his demeanor—he wore the broad easy smile that was as much a part of his uniform as the khakis and solid colored t-shirts.

  Zed walked to Frank and put a hand on his shoulder. “Nice turnout. It’s a shame you won’t be around to see how this ends.” Zed gave him a wink and turned to the crowd.

  When he spoke again, his voice carried as if projected over a PA. “Good morning, Rook Mountain.” The people answered with a roar, like it was a Strange Brood concert or something.

  Zed waited for them to quiet, then said, “I’m so glad you are all here to bear witness today. This is a historic occasion for our great town. Regulation 19 goes into law today and with it comes the first three punishments. ‘Any person found guilty of an act against the people of Rook Mountain will serve an immediate sentence, the length of which will be determined by the board of selectmen.’ Simple enough in theory, but I think you will find its impact will be incredible. Crime will drop. Civic pride will rise. Rook Mountain will grow even stronger in our unity and our goal of building a better fut
ure for our children. And that all begins today.”

  The crowd cheered again. Frank was finding it hard to concentrate on Zed’s words. That little pit of fear inside of him was growing.

  “Let’s begin,” Zed said. He turned to face Anita. He spoke again in his unnaturally amplified voice. “Anita Lawrence, you have been found guilty of Breaking and Entering and Theft. While your neighbor fought for her life against the Unfeathered, you stole her jewelry. You have been sentenced to three hours Away. Do you have anything to say before your sentence is carried out?”

  Anita's mouth was a thin white line. “This is ridiculous. I don’t understand what is happening.”

  Zed put a hand on her shoulder. “You will, sister.”

  He held out his hand, and the police officer handed him the gold necklace with the little gold loop hanging from it. Zed leaned forward and put the necklace around Anita’s neck. Frank’s mind flashed to the end scene in Star Wars when Princess Leia put medals on the heroes. Everyone but poor Chewie.

  Zed said, “Under Regulation 19, your sentence begins now.” He poked the little gold loop with his finger. And suddenly Anita changed.

  The crowd gasped.

  A moment ago, Anita had been clean and tidy, her hair neatly pulled back into a ponytail. Now she looked like a woman who had been chased through a field of thorn bushes. Her clothes were torn, and small cuts crisscrossed her face. Her hair was down and chunks of it were missing, leaving gaps large enough to show her bloody scalp. Her face was dirty. Her cheeks were gray with little streaks where her tears had run down.

  She spoke in a hoarse, scratchy yell. “My God, the people there. They ain’t real. They hurt me. They hurt me bad, and they ain’t even real. They…” Her words trailed off as she began to cry.

  Zed removed the necklace and then put his arm around her. “Shhh. You’re safe, sister. Your debt is paid.”

  The man next to Frank took a step back. “What the hell just happened? You ain’t doing anything like that to me.”