Blood Oath, Blood River (The Downwinders Book 1)

by Michael Richan

  “You’re the one who always brings it up!” Winn said, a little exasperated. “And you say ‘fuck’ ten times more than I do!”

  “In context.”

  “Yeah, you said that already. Fuck is fuck in my book, context be damned.”

  “I was just wondering if Jason had returned to normal, that’s all. You’re the one who brought up the sex.”

  “So you think something was embedded in him? Do you think Steven and Roy are in danger?”

  “Don’t know,” Deem said. “I did warn Roy about it, before they left. You’ve seen it before, did you think he was embedded?”

  “The safe bet would be to assume that he was,” Winn said. “No way to know for sure until something emerges. At least, there’s no way to know that I’ve discovered. No test or anything.”

  “What happens when it emerges?” Deem asked.

  “Every embedding is different,” Winn said. “I knew one girl who became depressed and killed herself. There was another in Henderson, authorities caught her trying to poison the town’s water supply.”

  “Damn,” Deem said. “Steven and Roy really could be at risk.”

  “Well, you warned Roy. He’s a smart old man. He’ll be on the lookout.”

  “I like Roy,” Deem said. “He was fun to be around.”

  “Me too. We should go see them sometime. They did invite us up.”

  “I’d be willing to go when this is all over.”

  “Do you know this mining shack Aggie was describing?”

  “I think so. Her directions were screwy, but if it’s the one I think it is, we’ll see the wash in about ten minutes.”

  Deem directed Winn off-road once they reached the sandy wash, and Winn drove around boulders in the dry streambed. They climbed slightly, and Deem had Winn stop the Jeep when she noticed the hill that led to the mine.

  “That’s it,” she said. “Let’s take water. I’m not taking any lights. I don’t see any reason to go into the mine here. We only need to contact Evan in the shack.”

  “Well, I’m bringing a flashlight just in case,” Winn said.

  They trekked up the side of the hill. As they crested it, Deem saw the outcropping of bushes that had grown over the mine entrance and the small white sign placed there by authorities to warn people away.

  “Around this way,” she said, circling past the mine entrance and further up the hill. “Shafts used to lead from the shack into the mine, but they were sealed over years ago.”

  They rounded the hill and the shack came into view.

  “Can’t believe it’s still standing,” Winn said. “It looks like it’s one storm away from collapsing.”

  Bushes had grown up around the shack, but the door to it was still accessible. Deem walked up to it and pushed it open. It creaked as it swung back. She bent down and looked at the door’s hinges.

  “These are new,” she said. “He made sure he could trap his brother in here before he brought him up.”

  “And there’s a new gate lock on the door itself,” Winn said, walking past Deem and into the building.

  “Careful,” Deem said. “Hornets.”

  Winn turned on his flashlight and pointed up to the ceiling of the shack. “Look!” he said to Deem, who walked over to join him. They could see several hornets buzzing around the nest.

  Deem scanned the rest of the shack. There was no way out, no windows or back doors. Only the one door they’d come in.

  “So he must have died right here, on the floor,” Deem said, looking down.

  “Then John dragged him outside to bury him,” Winn said. “Where do you want to try to contact him? In here, or outside?”

  “Outside,” Deem said. “The hornets make me nervous.”

  They walked out of the shack, and Deem looked for an area of open ground where they could sit. She located a spot behind the shack.

  “You’ll watch over me?” Deem asked Winn.

  “I will,” Winn said. “Go ahead and start. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

  Deem sat cross-legged on the dirt, the warmth of the earth radiating up through her jeans and into her skin. She closed her eyes, and let herself fall into the River. Then she focused on the shack, on the inside floor where she imagined Evan had died. She kept the focus until she felt the trance form around her and become solid. Once the trance was complete, she felt free to walk around.

  Evan! she called. Evan Braithwaite!

  She listened, hoping she’d hear a call back. Nothing came.

  Within her trance, she stood and walked to the shack. The door was shut, the gate lock thrown. She could hear a loud buzzing sound inside, and screams.

  She passed through the door of the shack, and saw Evan on the floor. He was twisting back and forth, rolling on the floorboards of the shack, attempting to squash the dozens of insects that were on him. His face was already grotesquely swollen. He was struggling for air.

  Evan! she called.

  If Evan heard her, he didn’t respond. He kept rolling back and forth on the floor, screaming. She watched as he struggled to breathe and his body began to shake, anaphylactic shock setting in. Eventually the shaking stopped, and he lay still on his stomach, face down. The hornets disappeared.

  He won’t come in for another half hour, Evan said. He waits until he’s sure the hornets have calmed down and returned to the nest.

  Who? Deem asked, already knowing the answer.

  John, my brother, Evan said meekly into the floor below him. Somehow the door locked. He was too far away to hear me. He forgot I was in here.

  Evan began to cry, still facing down.

  Deem hadn’t had much experience with normal ghosts. She was used to the kind that transformed and chased her. Evan was different. He was playing out a pattern, as Awan had said. He doesn’t realize his brother killed him, Deem thought. He thinks it was an accident.

  When he comes in, Deem asked Evan, after a half hour, what does he do?

  He buries me, Evan said, outside.

  Why doesn’t he take you back into town? So you can have a proper burial, with a funeral?

  Evan didn’t respond.

  Normally that’s what people would do, especially a brother, Deem said.

  Evan began crying again. It hurts so bad, he said. I can’t breathe. I need my EpiPen. He rolled over to face Deem. His skin was blue and covered in hives. She tried not to respond to the horror of it, but she wasn’t sure Evan could even see her – the flesh around his eyes had nearly swollen them shut.

  Can you take me to where you’re buried? Deem asked.

  It’s outside, Evan said. He rose from the floor and drifted through the walls of the shack. Deem followed him. There was Winn, watching over her body. She passed by him and followed Evan as he made his way through brush. He stopped at a barely perceptible mound.

  Here, he said, staring down.

  Why did he bury you here? Deem asked.

  I don’t know. I was dead, I suppose. Evan’s breathing consisted of loud wheezes at he tried to pull air in and out through his swollen throat.

  But he should have taken your body back to town. Had a funeral, so your wife would know where you are. Your wife thinks you’ve gone missing, just like the rest of your family and friends. Your brother John knows you’re not missing, doesn’t he? He buried you out here in the middle of nowhere so they wouldn’t find you.

  He did, Evan wheezed, wiping tears from his swollen face.

  Why did he do that, Evan? Deem asked. There must have been a reason. Why didn’t he let you out of the shack, when it was full of hornets?

  I don’t know, Evan said, frustrated. I don’t know why. He was too far away to hear me. I couldn’t breathe – I needed my EpiPen.

  Because he killed you, Deem said. He left you in that shack so you’d get stung. He knew you were allergic, didn’t he?

  Yes, Evan said. He’s bringing it to me.

  Bringing you what?

  My EpiPen.

  But he didn’t bring you a
nything, did he? And he buried you out here, so people wouldn’t know he’d killed you.

  No! Evan said, wailing. He wouldn’t do that! He was my brother. He loved me.

  He killed you so he could become a skinwalker, Deem said. He had to kill someone he loved. He chose you. He planned all of this. He led you out here, trapped you in the shack, made sure the hornets stung you, and then he buried you. He let your family think you’d disappeared. They’re still wondering what happened to you.

  No, no! Evan cried, trying to suck in air. That’s cruel. He wouldn’t have done that.

  He did, Deem said. That’s why you’re buried out here in the dirt, instead of a nice cemetery back in town. What other explanation is there?

  Evan raised his eyes from the grave to look at Deem. He went to get my EpiPen. He’s bringing it. Evan looked down at his grave, then back up at Deem. He killed me? he asked.

  Yes, Deem said. I didn’t see it happen, but I talked to someone who did. They told me you were here. That’s why I came. We have to stop John. He’s hurting more people since he killed you.

  I can’t believe he’d do that, Evan said. It’s not like him. He’s bringing me my EpiPen. He just needs to hurry. He can’t hear me.

  How else do you explain why you’re buried out here, Evan? Deem said patiently. She was beginning to become frustrated, but she knew she had to remain calm with Evan, convince him to work with her.

  And now he’s trying to put other people in the ground, too. Innocent people, just like you. He’s sick, Evan. Your brother has become a monster, preying on people. Meanwhile, you stay here, getting stung by hornets until you swell up and die, over and over again. Aren’t you tired of it?

  It hurts so bad, Evan said, clutching his chest. I can’t breathe.

  Evan? Deem said. Evan? Are you listening to me?

  He can’t open the door, something must be stopping him. Maybe he doesn’t know I’m in here. Maybe he can’t hear me. John! I need my EpiPen! I can’t breathe!

  Urrgh! Deem thought to herself. I can’t get through to this guy.

  Evan! she said. He killed you. He knew the hornets would kill you. That’s why the door never opens. He comes in after you’re dead, and buries you, to hide you, to cover up the fact that he killed you!

  That’s not like him, Evan said, a fresh round of crying starting up. He loved me. John! I can’t breathe!

  Deem abruptly left the trance. She stood up in front of Winn.

  “Arrrrgh!” she growled at Winn, raising her hands into claws. “I would strangle him, but he’s already having problems breathing.”

  “Who?” Winn said, taking a step back. “Evan?”

  “Yes, Evan!” Deem said, pacing. “The idiot won’t listen to me. He keeps babbling on, saying the same things over and over.”

  “Did you explain that his brother killed him?” Winn asked.

  “Of course I did!” Deem yelled.

  “Hey, don’t take it out on me!” Winn said.

  “Sorry,” Deem said, calming down. She kept pacing. “I explained the whole thing to him, several times. He seems happy to just keep getting stung until he dies, and complaining about how his brother doesn’t open the door to the shack. I asked him why he thought his brother buried him out here in the middle of nowhere, but he never came up with an answer. I told him it was because he killed him, and he’s trying to hide the body. He just started wheezing and saying he can’t breathe. It’s like he doesn’t want to know. What do we do?”

  “I don’t know,” Winn said. “I usually just shoot them.”

  “If we can’t convince him to come with us to the blood river, we’ll never get rid of the skinrunner.”

  “Maybe we need to try a different approach,” Winn said.

  “Yeah, but what?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not an expert. We should talk to someone who knows how to handle these kinds of ghosts.”

  They both paused for a moment, then they turned to each other. They both said “Roy!” at the same time.

  “Drive me back to somewhere with cell phone coverage,” Deem said.

  ▪ ▪ ▪

  Winn stopped in a spot where Deem was able to get a single bar of signal on her phone. She called Steven to get Roy’s phone number, but it turned out Roy was at Steven’s house, so Steven just passed Roy the phone.

  She explained the situation and how she’d tried to get Evan to see that he’d been murdered.

  “I could really use some help,” Deem said. “Some idea of what to say to the guy to get him to work with us.”

  “You’re trying to use the truth and be rational,” Roy said. “It’ll never work. These ghosts don’t suddenly have some change of heart. They’re locked into their patterns, and their patterns are irrational. They don’t know anything else. He’ll stupidly insist that his brother loves him and wouldn’t have done this to him from now until the end of time. You’ll have to get him to come along with you some other way.”

  “How?” Deem asked.

  “Well,” Roy said, “you’ve got to leverage what you already know to construct a lie, and lure him with something he wants more than his pattern. You said he can’t breathe, right?”

  “Yeah, he must have complained about it a dozen times. And he kept talking about an EpiPen, whatever that is.”

  “It’s a shot that delivers a dose of epinephrine. People who are allergic to bee stings usually carry one with them wherever they go, in case they get stung and need to use it. It opens up the airways so they can breathe.”

  “Well, he kept saying he needed it. He thought his brother was going to bring it to him. Of course, he wasn’t.”

  “You’re going to use the promise of the EpiPen to lure him to the blood river,” Roy said. “Tell him that if he’ll follow you there, you’ll give him the shot. That’s what he wants, so use it.”

  “That seems a little dishonest.”

  “It’s completely dishonest!” Roy said. “But what’s more important, saving yourself and your mom? Or maintaining integrity with some ghost buried out in the desert?”

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “Of course I’m right.”

  “It just never occurred to me to lie.”

  “That’s one of the things I like about you, Deem. Despite that potty mouth you’ve got, you’re one of the most innocent and naïve people I’ve ever met. People lie all the time to get what they want. I don’t advocate it with humans, unless they’re pricks. But I do what I have to when ghosts are involved.”

  “I understand,” Deem said. “It makes sense.”

  “Of course it makes sense.”

  “I guess I’ll give that a try.”

  “Deem, listen to me. You be careful. Some ghosts get angry if they figure out you’ve lied to them. And down your way, angry ghosts are deadly.”

  “Oh, great.”

  “Not all ghosts. The stupid ones rarely figure it out. He sounds stupid.”

  “He is, kinda. But I can’t tell if he’s really stupid or just wrapped up in his pattern.”

  “Does he say the same things over and over again?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You’ve got a good shot, then. Go for it.”

  “If he’s going to be flesh for a moment, after drinking from the blood river, I really could give him the shot. It might make him feel better. And then he wouldn’t think I was lying.”

  “That’s up to you. You’ve just got to get him to say his brother’s name during the process.”

  “Thanks, Roy. I was at my wit’s end.”

  “Well, don’t lose your wits! Stay sharp until it’s all over. We want you and Winn to come up and visit, and that’ll be hard to do if you get ripped up by some zombighost or what not.”

  “I will. Thanks again Roy. Bye.”

  “Goodbye.”

  She slipped her phone into her pocket and turned to Winn. “OK, let’s head back to town. I think I know what to do.”

  ▪ ▪ ▪

  Wi
nn and Deem split up for the rest of the morning. Deem needed to round down a friend of hers who was allergic to bee stings and see if she could borrow one of her injection kits since they weren’t available over the counter. She wanted to have the epinephrine in hand when she went back to talk to Evan. Winn said he had a few things to take care of, and that he would contact Awan for the exact location of the blood river. If the shot was enough to lure Evan to go with them, they wanted to go directly to the blood river and get it over with. They agreed to meet up just after lunch and go back out to the mining shack.

  The friend Deem contacted worked at a uniform supply story in Mesquite. She hadn’t seen Molly since graduating from high school, and they were only acquaintances, so Deem wasn’t sure Molly would hand over her EpiPen just because Deem asked for it. So, Deem made up a story about a friend from out of town needing one to go camping with her, and that her old one had expired, and she was unable to get one locally for insurance reasons.

  “They want almost five hundred dollars at Walgreens!” Deem said. “I remembered you were allergic and was wondering if you could help us out so we could go camping.”

  “Sure, I have one in the car,” Molly said, standing behind the counter at the shop. “I have to pay about $50 for mine, can you pay me that?”

  “Sure,” Deem said. She fished out her wallet, hoping she had the cash on her. “Oh, it just occurred to me, if I take this one, what if you get stung?”

  “No problem,” Molly said. “I have another at home. I doubt I’ll get stung between now and then.”

  “But if you did?” Deem said. “I’d feel horrible.”

  “I live five blocks down the road,” Molly said. “My mom would have it here in two minutes. It won’t happen.”

  “OK,” Deem said, guilt washing over her. Not only had she lied to Molly, now she felt she was putting her at risk.

  Molly walked out from behind the counter. “Keep an eye on things, will you? I’m the only one running the store at the moment.”

  “Will do,” Deem said. Molly stepped out from behind a glass case counter, and walked out of the store. Deem examined the items in the case. She was surprised to see colored handcuffs. They looked hard and soft at the same time.