Jack: Secret Circles

by F. Paul Wilson

  Its grip tightened and he shuddered as he felt something warm and rough—it could only be a tongue—squirm against his neck and lap at the blood oozing from his scalp.

  The creature stiffened and backed away a few inches, but didn’t release him. After what seemed like a long wait as the water rose toward his chin, the tongue licked him again.

  Suddenly the rope uncoiled from his neck and the paws released him. He was free. He heard a splash behind him and spun in the water, but saw nothing. He was alone and that was fine, that was wonderful.

  He began kicking and stroking with everything he had toward the light and Weezy’s calling voice.

  “Jack!” she cried when she saw him. Her words became mixed with sobs. “Hurry, Jack! Hurry!”

  He was stroking too hard against the increasing current to speak. Finally he reached the ladder and clutched at it. He looked up and saw Weezy’s tear-streaked face staring down at him.

  “Oh Jack, I thought you were gone forever!”

  So had he. And the thing was, he didn’t know why he was alive or how he’d survived. Once the thing had a taste of his blood, it lost interest in him. Was there something wrong with him? With his blood?

  Well, if so, he was glad of it. He would have loved to take a few moments here to think about it and catch his breath before climbing, but every second counted for Cody.

  His foot found a rung somewhere underwater and he was just starting his climb when he heard a loud crunching crack! to his right. He looked and saw a wall of water rushing toward him.

  The lake was exploding into the lost town.

  Terror ignited a burst of speed in his limbs as he rushed to escape the tsunami, but he’d climbed only halfway through the trapdoor when it hit him. He gasped as the force of it tore his feet from the ladder and dragged his legs along with it. He might have been sucked back into the torrent if Weezy hadn’t grabbed one of his arms and helped him the rest of the way through.

  “What happened?” she said as he lay dripping and gasping on the floor.

  “The barrier must have given way.”

  He looked over at the trapdoor opening and saw the foaming water lapping at its edges. He pushed himself to his knees as an awful realization hit like a speeding truck.

  “Cody … he hasn’t a chance.”

  She shook her head. “Don’t say that! We’ve just got to find a phone and—”

  A splash and movement in the opening.

  Jack rolled away, expecting the creature to emerge. But instead Cody appeared, rising through the churning water as if propelled from behind.

  He was being propelled. Jack saw a pair of thick, black-furred arms pushing him out of the water. His limp form flopped onto the floor where he rolled over onto his back and lay still.

  Jack saw those two furred arms reach over the edge of the doorway, saw the sharp yellow talons of its handlike paws frantically claw at the floor, trying to find purchase, but they couldn’t hold. Slowly they slipped toward the opening, leaving gouges in the concrete. Something that could have been a snake or an eel or a smooth tentacle whipped out of the water and waved about as if trying to find something to grip.

  And then with a final scrabbling rasp of claws on concrete, the paws slipped through the opening and disappeared along with the eel or what ever it was.

  Jack stared in openmouthed shock. It had saved Cody—pushed him out of the water. He kept waiting for the hands to reappear, but they didn’t.

  He turned to Weezy. “Did you—?”

  “Jack!” she cried, pointing to Cody. “He’s not breathing!”

  Jack leaned over the boy and saw that Weezy was right. His face was white, his lips blue.

  Cody Bockman was dead.

  16

  Maybe not, Jack thought as he sorted through his shell-shocked brain, trying to tease out what he’d learned in life-saving class about drowning victims who weren’t breathing.

  Pulse—check for pulse!

  He thrust two fingertips against Cody’s throat, pressing into the flesh about an inch from the midline. He felt a weakly beating artery.

  “He’s alive!”

  “But he’s not breathing!” Weezy said. “He needs CPR!”

  Right—no!

  Can’t get air into water-filled lungs, he remembered. Always do a Heimlich first!

  Jack lifted Cody’s limp body to a sitting position and got behind him. He placed a fist under his breastbone, covered it with another hand and began thrusting.

  “What are you doing, Jack?” Weezy wailed. “He needs CPR!”

  No, he knew he was right.

  Suddenly powerful hands tore him away from Cody. He looked up and saw Mr. Drexler’s angry face.

  “Take over, Eggers,” he said to his driver, then looked at Jack and Weezy. “And you … you two have caused a big problem.”

  Jack watched Eggers sling Cody over his shoulder like an empty sack, then begin jouncing the limp little body.

  “What’s he doing?” Jack said.

  “What you were attempting—only better. I assume that’s the Bockman boy?”

  Jack nodded. “Yes, he—”

  “Quickly, Eggers!” Mr. Drexler said. “Take him up to that sinkhole.” His expression was stern as he turned to them. “Who do you two think you are, breaking into private property and vandalizing it.”

  “We didn’t vandalize anything!” they replied in unison.

  He pointed to the water now bubbling through the opening and spreading over the floor.

  “That water is about to irreparably damage a lot of valuable furniture. I call that vandalizing. Shut that trapdoor immediately.”

  “We can’t,” Jack said. “The pyramid’s down there … in the water.”

  Mr. Drexler looked as if he were about to explode. “You—”

  “Who cares about that!” Jack shouted. “Cody’s dead!”

  He ran for the stairs, pounded up to the first floor and out the open front door. It had stopped raining, but thunder still muttered and grumbled off to the east. Eggers was at the curb, trying Heimlichs on Cody’s limp form.

  It’s no use, Jack thought, feeling his throat lock. He’s gone.

  And then a sloppy, soggy figure stepped from the shadows.

  “Hey, what’s goin’ down here?” he said.

  Jack recognized Walt’s voice. He looked like he must have been standing out in the storm the whole time.

  “Get away,” Eggers said.

  “Naw, man,” he said, leaning over the boy. His voice sounded clear, not a hint of a slur. “I know this kid. I been waiting for him.”

  He reached for Cody’s hand. Jack noticed with a start that he wasn’t wearing gloves.

  Waiting for him? Was this why he’d been hanging around Old Town? But how could he possibly—?

  He touched Cody’s hand and as soon as they made contact, Cody jerked and coughed up what seemed like a quart of water.

  Walt staggered back like he’d received a shock, then began to wander away.

  “Walt?”

  Walt turned and gave him a dazed look, then faded back into the shadows.

  When Mrs. Clevenger had told him to stop drinking, she’d said, You may be needed in the next day or so. Was this what she’d meant?

  What just happened here?

  Then Weezy rushed up behind him.

  “Jack!” she said as she saw Cody gasping for air in Eggers’s arms. “He’s alive!” She threw her arms around Jack and squeezed. “He’s going to be all right!”

  Jack felt his throat tighten. He was all right … Cody was all right. He might have nightmares the rest of his life, but he was alive.

  He felt a surge of pride.

  Because of us.

  Mr. Drexler appeared. “Well, that will make things less complicated. I called in an emergency. And while we’re waiting you two will explain exactly how that child came to be in the Lodge’s basement.”

  Taking turns, Jack and Weezy launched into a rundown of the night’s
events. Mr. Drexler didn’t seem too surprised at anything until they mentioned finding Cody in the lost town.

  He held up a hand and stared at them.

  “You found him down there? How could he possibly have—?”

  “The creature brought him,” Jack said.

  Mr. Drexler froze as if hit by a paralyzer beam. After a pause he said, “Creature? What creature?”

  “Some kind of weird bear,” Jack said. “We never saw it except for its black furry arms and claws. Oh, and I saw something wormlike stick out of the water at the end.”

  “I saw it too,” Weezy said, glancing at Jack. “Looked like a tentacle but that couldn’t be, right?”

  Mr. Drexler looked as white as his suit as he leaned heavily on his cane.

  “No … couldn’t be.”

  “Are you all right?” Weezy said.

  Instead of giving an answer he asked a question. “You say this animal brought the child underground. Why would it do that?”

  “It was feeding him,” Jack said. “Maybe to fatten him up?”

  “No,” Weezy said. “It was bringing him toys … like presents. Maybe it was lonely. It almost seemed to be treating Cody like its own child. Maybe it wanted a child and couldn’t have one.”

  “’Like its own child,’” Mr. Drexler repeated in a soft voice.

  Weezy added, “Yes. I mean, it got Cody to safety first, then couldn’t save itself. That has to mean something.”

  Mr. Drexler looked dazed as he shook his head. “Incredible. None of this, however, mitigates your breaking and entering, and the destruction of Lodge property. This will have to be reported to the police.”

  Jack felt his chest tighten. His folks were going to kill him. Plus he’d have some kind of criminal record.

  He glanced at Weezy who looked like he felt.

  We’re cooked, he thought. Deep fried and well done.

  “At least we found Cody,” he said. “So it wasn’t all for nothing.” He looked at Mr. Drexler. “Do you have to report us?”

  The man gave him a disgusted look, then his features relaxed. “Perhaps something can be worked out.”

  “What?” Weezy said, straightening. “Anything.”

  Jack’s mood lightened at the ray of hope, but he was wary of this man.

  “I wish to exclude all mention of the Lodge or the Order from this,” Mr. Drexler said. “Even though it hasn’t been opened in perhaps a century, I do not wish it known that the building’s basement housed a trapdoor into the underground.”

  Jack said, “But Cody will—”

  “The child was unconscious during his brief time in the basement. He nearly drowned in the underground and came to up here on the street. He will have no idea he was ever in the Lodge. But the same cannot be said of you two.”

  “You want us to say we were never in there?” Weezy said. “But he saw us underground. He’ll remember that.”

  “Of course he will.”

  Jack raised his hands. This didn’t make any sense. “Then how do we explain how we got underground?”

  Mr. Drexler stopped and pointed to the front yard of the house next door.

  “You’ll say you fell through there.”

  Jack looked and didn’t see what he was talking about. Suddenly Cody struggled to his feet and stumbled toward them.

  Crying, “Cody!” Weezy ran to him and he fell into her arms. “Jack!” she said, lifting the boy. “Look!”

  And then he saw it: a six-foot-wide hole in the front lawn—the sinkhole Mr. Drexler had mentioned.

  “I noticed the lake was lower on the way in,” Mr. Drexler said. “And when I saw that sink hole, I instantly realized what was happening. But I had no idea …” His words drifted off as he stared in Cody’s direction.

  “Why did you come back?”

  “Hmm?” His attention returned from wherever it had been. “I didn’t at first. We’d stopped for a bite to eat when I realized we’d left something behind.”

  “The pyramid.”

  “No.” He gave Jack a look. “That belongs here. Now I suppose it’s lost forever, thanks to you and your girlfriend.”

  Jack wasn’t going to let that pass. “Just as lost as it would still be if we hadn’t found it in the Pines.”

  Mr. Drexler stared at him, and Jack stared right back.

  “And she’s not my girlfriend,” he added.

  After a moment Mr. Drexler said, “Be that as it may, I sent Eggers back and he found the door unlocked. When he returned to me and reported that the pyramid was missing, I knew exactly who was to blame. But I wanted to see for myself before visiting your and the Connell girl’s parents. Upon my return I noticed the basement lights on. You know the rest.”

  Jack jumped at a loud crunching, sucking sound to his right. He looked and saw a section of the street’s asphalt caving in not thirty feet away.

  Another sinkhole.

  “You can expect many more of those in Old Town before the night is over. The lost town is crumbling beneath us.”

  “Will there be anything left of it?”

  “I doubt it.”

  Jack pointed to the original hole. “So … we say we fell in there and found Cody. How did we get out?”

  “The flood waters floated you high enough to climb out. The revised story is essentially true. All you are changing is the location of your ingress and egress. In exchange, I do not press charges.” He gave a small, condescending smile. “That way the two of you can become big heroes in your little world.”

  Jack didn’t want to be a hero, and was already working on ways to play down his role, reducing it to just happening to be in the right place at the right time. The real hero—at the end, at least—was the animal. It had died saving Cody. Of course, Cody wouldn’t have needed saving if it had left him alone in the first place.

  The animal … Jack had a feeling Mr. Drexler knew something about it.

  “What do we say about the animal down there?”

  Mr. Drexler fixed his gaze a thousand miles away. “Say what ever you wish.”

  “Not much to say since none of us saw it.”

  “Then perhaps the less said, the better. The child’s story will be confused and garbled, and will change again and again. No sense in causing undue alarm over a creature that is undoubtedly dead.”

  “What was it?”

  Mr. Drexler kept his gaze averted. “I have no idea.”

  “Yes, you do. You reacted when we told you about it.”

  Finally he looked at Jack. “I assure you I do not know what it was. I have an idea what it might have been, but …”

  “But?”

  “What it might have been should have died a long, long time ago. It seems impossible that it could have survived this long.”

  Frustration flooded Jack. Mr. Drexler was answering the question without telling him anything.

  “But what ‘might’ it have been?”

  “Let’s just call it a bear … an unusual breed of bear.”

  What ever Jack had seen of the creature could be considered bearish … except maybe for that tentacle thing. Okay … a mutant bear or some such.

  “Could it or one of its ancestors have been caged in that stone pyramid out by the mound?”

  Mr. Drexler stared at him for a long moment. “You do get around, don’t you.”

  The wail of a siren filtered through the night. Jack looked down Quakerton Road and saw flashing red lights heading their way.

  “Do we have a deal?” Mr. Drexler said.

  Jack nodded. “Deal. I’ll fill Weezy in. And I guess I’m fired, right?”

  The dark eyebrows lifted. “Fired? Why would I fire you?”

  “Well, I thought—”

  “Oh, no. I want you where I can keep an eye on you.”

  FRIDAY

  1

  “I should have stayed with you guys!” Eddie said for what had to be the thousandth time as they walked toward the bus stop. He was toying with his Rubik’s Cube, absently t
wisting it back and forth without looking at it. “Why didn’t I stay?”

  “’Cause you’re a wimp,” Jack told him.

  “I am! I am! Wimpacious maximus!”

  They’d told him pretty much the same story they’d told everyone else, but with a special variation since Eddie knew they’d been in the Lodge. They told him they hadn’t found the pyramid and had fallen into the sinkhole after leaving the building.

  “I could be a hero now like you guys!”

  “Not until you straighten out that cube—or let a genius like me do it for you.”

  “And let you be a Rubik’s hero too? As if.”

  “We’re not heroes,” Weezy said. “Please stop saying that.”

  “But you are! Man, if I’d been with you guys when you found Cody, I’d be wearing a Superman cape to school today.”

  “Then I’m glad you weren’t,” she said, glancing at Jack.

  Yeah. Jack was glad too. There’d be no way of keeping a lid on Eddie. Sooner or later he’d spill the beans about being in the Lodge, ruining their deal with Mr. Drexler.

  Jack and Weezy had quickly discussed it last night during the turmoil of the ambulance’s arrival. Neither wanted the attention that was coming, so they agreed to minimize their role in Cody’s rescue.

  When they were questioned—by Tim, who’d shown up even though it wasn’t his shift—they told him they’d fallen through the sinkhole, heard Cody’s cries, and climbed back out with him.

  What of Cody’s story of a monster keeping him prisoner?

  We don’t know … we never saw it. Too dark to see anything down there.

  What you did was very brave. You’re heroes.

  We’re not. We literally fell into the situation and did what anyone else would have done.

  And that was the way it had gone. Jack asked Tim to keep their names out of it as much as possible. He’d seemed puzzled by the request but said he’d do what he could.

  “How’s your head?” Weezy asked.

  He touched the tender area of scalp at the rear, gooey now with Neosporin.

  “Okay, I guess.”

  The EMTs had looked at it last night and told him he’d be better off with stitches but, because it wasn’t a full-thickness cut, didn’t absolutely need them. Jack had opted for a little first-aid treatment.