Cave of Bones (Dark Island Series Book 2)

by J. D. Matheny

  What about this case, though? he wondered. Can a god be killed with a wooden club? He laughed out loud but his companions didn’t seem to notice. All we can hear out here is the damn rain beating everything to shit! He waved the club back and forth, imagining the solid thunk of it crashing off a skull. The weapon was about the same length as his arm. Its handle was wrapped in a cloth that gave his hand a good grip, despite the saturation. The handle was like that of a baseball bat, but the striking end was thicker and lined with dozens of small spiky nubs. He figured he could do severe damage with it, and hoped to God he wouldn’t have to.

  Sophie stood in silence between him and the witch, still walking straight as an arrow, showing no sign of submission to the darkness surrounding them or the tropical deluge pounding relentlessly down upon them. Her head scanned their surrounding along with the others.

  She may have appeared strong and resilient, but inside, where her brother couldn’t see, another storm was raging and it was close to sweeping her away. In the middle of this island her baby lay helplessly in the clutches of some demonic force, she was sure of it. The books and movies she had seen over the years always indicated that loved ones who shared a deep bond could always tell when the other was in dire peril, or worse, when they died. What deeper bond could there be then that of a mother and baby? Her baby, her little Kai, was alive. If he wasn’t, she would know. How badly she wanted to run across that clearing, tearing blindly through the night, until she reached her little child! But she knew she had to be smart and she was under no illusions that this venture would be so simple as to walk up, grab Kai, and walk out. Something bad would happen before all this was said and done. Something terrible.

  So, she waited, passing the time by grinding her teeth and presenting a strong front. If she was being watched by some foul creature who waited to pounce then she wanted It to at least see she would be no easy prey. This mama bear was going to bite. If only she had a big ole club like Thomas, she would feel much better. Let him do the fighting, you save your arms for carrying Kai and your legs for running.

  After a few more moments, Noni turned to face them and waved a hand back toward the cover of the trees that they had just left. Then she brushed past them and disappeared once more. Frustrated, Sophie growled but followed quickly, not wanting to get separated from her. Part of her wanted to forge ahead, fuck the old lady. What could she possibly do for them? Sophie knew exactly where to go. There was something about the bent stick figure, though. As frail and stooped as she was, she belied her stature by emanating a certain power. Sophie continued to follow, and continued to growl under her breath.

  They walked only ten feet into the trees before the old woman lowered herself on to the ground. She had chosen a small rise surround by dense brush and covered well with a thick canopy. It certainly wasn’t dry, but it was about the best they could hope for given the elements. She planted herself right up against a bush and sat quietly, her head lowered. Sophie and Thomas stood watching, both wondering if the old woman was meditating, or sleeping, or just waiting for the right moment to continue. Then she reached out a stick thin arm to tap Sophie on the leg before patting the ground next to her. Sophie gave her brother an impatient look, then sat beside Noni, as directed.

  Thomas went to sit next to his sister but was immediately halted by another gesture from the old woman’s arm, this one the universal sign to halt, hand flat and held up before him. He paused in confusion, staring down at her. When she looked up to meet his gaze another brilliant flash lit the sky, with enough light creeping through the gaps in the canopy to briefly illuminate the lower half of her face. Thomas saw thin lips stretched out in a smile that showed a mouthful of crooked brown teeth. He shuddered involuntarily and had the fleeting thought that maybe this was the true demon. Then she was pointing at her eyes and waving her hand out at the jungle before them.

  Great, he thought, I’ve pulled guard duty. Well, it was probably the smart thing to do. Besides, he didn’t feel like resting, he only wanted to move. To be done with all this madness and have what remained of his family back home, unharmed and back where they belonged. In the meantime, might as well play sentry and work the nervous energy out of his muscles at the same time. His only hesitation was the thought of leaving his sister alone with the strange woman. Sure, she was a tiny thing, but there was something more to her, he could feel it. His eyes turned toward Sophie and she met his stare with a hard and determined look. Go on, that look said, I’m not scared.

  Even with the night creeping in and the light now all but gone, except for the strange flashes, he felt the clearing was too exposed to move through, since they were obviously trying to stay hidden. He didn’t see any reason to move back the way they had come, either. Instead, he went to the edge of the tree line, one step removed from entering the grassy meadow, and walked along that path, keeping himself cloaked in darkness and nature. His eyes scanned the jungle in front and to the side, but mainly his focus was on the clearing. He couldn’t see much in the jungle. Just picking out safe spots to place his feet was a challenge. But he could see a lot in the clearing, when the flashes came.

  Each flash brought with it the possibility he would glimpse something that would both excite and terrify him. As much as he desired to find little Kai here, alone and safe, where they could just grab him up and make a break for the boat, he also desired to see this “God” for himself. The internal debate about what manner of being it would turn out to be still struggled inside him. As crazy as it seemed, he was open to the idea that there could be a monster roaming an uninhabited island in the middle of the Pacific, but a god? He went back and forth on that one. A deep sigh escaped his lips. I’m tired of this debate. Trying to decide if evil gods really exist or my sister is just some homicidal maniac that gave birth in a tub and flushed her newborn baby down the toilet. But a newborn babies, small as they are, wouldn’t fit down a toilet, would they? He didn’t think so. Not in one piece … Thomas let out a growl of his own and smacked the nearest tree with the club, getting some grim satisfaction at the gouge it made on the outer skin and the feel of finally getting to hit something. That’s why I want to see this creature! Even if a confrontation means my likely death, at least I’ll know for an absolute certainty that my sister isn’t a delusional baby killer! Because he wasn’t certain. Sure, ninety-nine-point-nine percent, but that still left a tiny, miniscule piece of his mind that wondered, and that fraction of a piece was enough to torture him at times.

  He scanned the clearing, waiting and hoping for something solid to focus on. Any threat he could inflict his doubt and anger upon. Even a wild pig would do. Thomas just wanted to smash something.

  Then he froze. In his reverie he had nearly missed it, but it was there, wasn’t it? A form melted into the shadows on the other side of the clearing? He thought he caught a glimpse but then it was gone. Damn it, you idiot! Focus and get your head out of the clouds! He knelt as close to the edge of the trees as he dared without exposing himself too much and waited, barely breathing. There was a few hundred yards of ground between him and the other side, and in the middle a torrent of rain and a sheet of darkness. All he could do was wait for the flashes and try to catch movement.

  Then it came, a big flash of light, and bathed in that light, just a half step out of the edge of the forest opposite him, was a dark figure. Then the flash had passed and the figure was gone. It was a man! Thomas thought. That was no god, just a man! He was holding something too. A club, maybe.

  This made more sense to him, and the thought came in a flood of relief. Perhaps Sophie had some psychic connection with her little Kai, and in that connection the villain was symbolized as some dark god, but it was a man, after all. One with a strange voodoo power, he supposed, but flesh and blood, in any case. Well, he though, that evens the odds. At least he’s a man. A man can be killed.

  Still, as excited as he was, he knew it also meant danger. Less danger than he had feared, but a man could still get to his sister. Can
a man, even some shaman or witchdoctor, make a baby vanish from six thousand miles away?

  He shook the thought from his head. Maybe the guy was a voodoo freak. Maybe he possessed black magic. Yet he was carrying a club. If he could just use magic to kill them, why carry a club? Thomas smiled to himself. You’re in for it buddy. All this time I was mostly expecting something I couldn’t even hit, but you I can hit.

  Another flash lit up the clearing. The dark figure was gone. Thomas moved back the way he had come, toward his sister. He would need to be very careful now. The threat was real.

  25

  Bolo stared out over the clearing. He fought to see through the rain, but at least he no longer had to fight to see through his tears. Tears were done. Every step that had taken him further from his wife had strengthened his resolve. He would return to her. He would keep her safe. These people that were coming were nothing to him. They’re still people! he thought. They have done nothing wrong! He shook his head to brush the thought aside. No weakness now! Weakness would get Sala killed. What will you do if you find them? he asked himself. Will you be so strong then? Will you not show weakness? Will you not show mercy?

  His thoughts went to that frightful vision Daucina had shown him. The murderous figure in that vision had filled him with revulsion and terror. Was he truly capable of such mindless bloodshed? Was the vision a glimpse of the future? He wouldn’t have thought himself capable of such a thing, but the alternative was even more horrifying. If those three strangers didn’t die by his hand, then his wife and child would die in a way that was even more horrifying.

  The tears were threatening again. Be a man! Sala is counting on you! Your baby is counting on you! Bolo brought forth all the anger he could muster. He pictured his wife, pinned beneath that hulking figure, being beaten and raped in front of his eyes. That was a vision he knew would come true. He couldn’t allow that to happen!

  The big white man would die. The pretty dark-haired woman would die. Even the little old lady, hunched and fragile like a twig, she would die too. They would all die. Such was the way of the world, that sometimes death was necessary for life.

  He gripped his primitive but deadly weapon and stepped into the open space before him. Just then a bright flash lit the sky and for a moment he thought he saw a large figure crouched just behind the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. A hammer of panic hit him. He saw me! Quickly, he stepped back into cover. This was no time to be stupid. If they knew he was coming they would be on their guard. But the man was already waiting, wasn’t he? Why else would he be hiding out in the trees watching? The realization hit him, these strangers were expecting danger. In his naiveté, he thought it would be as simple as walking up on them in the dark and slaughtering them like lambs, but it wasn’t going to go down that way. Not unless he was exceptionally quiet and clever.

  You might die out here, Bolo. Alone in the rain and the dark. And if you die …

  He knew what would happen if he died. If he failed in this then the vision would come true. Light strobed again in the heavens and Bolo tried to catch another glimpse of the large man who seemed to be waiting for him, but he saw nothing. The man was gone. Had he been spotted as well? You were standing out in the open like an idiot! Of course he saw you!

  He needed a plan. Something better then rushing them in the dark. If he walked down the tree line far enough to pass the clearing and looped around behind them then he could attack from the rear, which would be good, but he guessed that would take him at least an hour to accomplish, probably more. By then they could have moved on and if they did, he would lose track of them. That was a substantial risk. Chances were that they had moved in a straight line from the beach, having come from Kabara or the South Island, where else? But they might not continue in a straight line now. Not after seeing him in their path.

  Think Bolo! Why are they here? Why would Daucina want them dead? He knew intuitively the answers to those questions but hadn’t yet confronted those answers. It was the baby. The pretty woman with the dark hair, she was coming for her baby. The realization hit him like a brick and he squatted down in the darkness, dropping the weapon, and placing both hands along the sides of his head. The woman’s face swam before his eyes, a sweet face. The face of a mother trying to reach her child. Then the face changed and he saw only Sala, from the vision, afraid and crying, pleading with him to do whatever he had to do to keep her safe from the monster. ‘Please. Please don’t let that happen to me.’ That’s what she had said. She knew her only chance for survival was in her husband becoming a killer. What choice did he have? He couldn’t fight Daucina. He couldn’t sneak his wife away. There was only one course of action that would save his family. The decision was tearing him in two but he did his best to pull himself back together and do what needed to be done.

  I must attack at night. The daylight will make it too difficult to surprise them. I cannot risk taking the time to travel around the clearing or they may move on. I must go now.

  Bolo took the weapon back in hand, squeezing so hard he feared his knuckle bones might burst forth from the skin, and walked back out into the clearing. His first instinct was to rush across, hoping to avoid being seen, and setting upon them before they could understand what was happening. Then it occurred to him that they had no idea who he was. If they saw his boat, which they likely did, they may have realized he was a villager, just a fisherman that was stranded. There was nothing to suggest he meant them any harm.

  On the off chance that the man he had seen acting as lookout missed the fact that Bolo was carrying a weapon, he held the axe behind his right leg, then set off at a casual pace across the open span of grass.

  Just a few more minutes, he thought, then this will be done. They’ll be dead, or I’ll be dead.

  He chanted his wife’s name repeatedly as he walked. “Sala, Sala, Sala”

  26

  Thomas peered out from between the trees, watching the strange man walk casually across the meadow like he was out for a Sunday stroll. The man held a hand behind him, trying to hide something. I know what you have, you sneaky bastard. You won’t surprise me. But maybe I’ll surprise you.

  He moved a couple of steps further back into the cover of the jungle, far enough he hoped he couldn’t be seen, but could still catch glimpses of the dirtbag that thought to pay them a friendly visit. With the grace of a stalking cat, he moved back toward the spot where his sister and the old witch were waiting. His initial thoughts when the woman had stopped them was she wanted to wait out the storm, which he hoped wouldn’t rage all through the night. He didn’t think he or Sophie would have the patience for that. Now he thought back to her entering the clearing, pausing, then bringing them back in the cover of the forest. Did she sense something then? If so, he could appreciate her finely tuned senses, but the thought also disturbed him.

  With complete silence, aided by the saturation of the ground cover, he approached close enough where he could see his two travel companions hunkered down near the bushes where he had left them. Both had their heads tilted downward to avoid any rain that penetrated the cover overhead. They didn’t appear to realize he was there. Should I warn them? he wondered.

  Thomas looked back to his right, through the trees, at the approaching figure. The man was two-thirds of the way across the clearing now and Thomas could see him in detail for the first time. A tall man, skinny, but muscles corded his arms and shoulders. This would be no pushover. The hand at his side was still tucked behind his leg. His skin was very dark, blending in to the night that enveloped him and making the whites of his eyes jump out like beacons. Thank God for flashes of light, he thought. Moonlight would have been preferable, but at least he had something to see by.

  The man was approaching the spot where Thomas had been when he’d first seen him on the other side of the clearing, which told him he had been spotted as well. He has sharp eyes. That worried him. He also worried that if he moved in to warn his sister he might lose track of the man, and if
that sonofabitch reached the trees while he wasn’t looking, they would be in some serious jeopardy. He could toss a stick and get Sophie’s attention that way, but might the man hear that? Thomas wanted him to continue in the line he was currently walking, not veering over toward where Sophie and the old witch were waiting.

  He held firm and tense, feeling predatory. They would be fine where they were, and if he did this right, it would be over before they even realized they were in danger.

  He crept slowly back the way he had come, intending to intersect with the man and spring at him as soon as he cleared the trees. The figure was only twenty feet away now and not slowing down. Fifteen feet, now seconds away. Thomas settled in to the spot he intended to attack from. He would have only about five feet of ground to cover if the man didn’t stray off course.

  Then their pursuer stopped, less than ten feet from the line of trees. There he waited, making no moves and no sound. Thomas’s muscles strained with anticipation. C’mon, you fucker, let’s do it! C’mon! But the man paid no thoughts to his silent urgings, he simply stood there for nearly a full minute. Then he spoke.

  “Hello friends! Are you there? My name is Bolo! I am glad to see somebody else on this island.” Then silence. The man, Bolo, looked back and forth along the tree line, waiting for a response.

  Thomas frowned, his muscles relaxing slightly. Could this man not be the threat he thought him to be? Perhaps he wasn’t an enemy at all. Thomas had been anticipating an attack every step of the way since they left the beach. Maybe he was seeing an adversary where none existed. But the man was out and walking right toward them, in the dark and the storm, with a weapon. That wasn’t normal.

  Aren’t you out in the storm at dark? Don’t you have a weapon? he asked himself.