The Long Fall of Night: The Long Fall of Night Book 1

by AJ Rose

  “You mean whoever did this could come back armed?” She flailed her hands, and Ash immediately went to wrap his arms around her.

  “We don’t know that.”

  “Oh my god, what do we do now?”

  “We don’t panic,” Ash answered sternly, taking her by the shoulders and looking into her face. “We salvage what we can and then we see if there’s a camp supply store up here. I highly doubt, with all the trails, there’s nowhere we could stock up on something. It’s spring time, so even if we have to sleep one night without a tent, we’re going to be fine. We’re at a low enough elevation we won’t be in danger. Okay? Let’s round up everyone and try to decide what to do next.”

  Elliot had been wandering around the camp, looking at everything, trying to decide what else might be missing. When he spied a LifeStraw wedged under the still-anchored lip of one of the tents, he breathed a sigh of relief. Even if they had to share, they’d be able to get fresh water. The tatters of his and Ash’s tent flapped in a stronger breeze, catching his attention, and he moved closer, peering into the part still propped up by poles.

  His breath caught.

  “Oh my god,” he said, frantically diving forward and moving the pieces of nylon out of the way. “Ash, oh my god.” Horror. Sheer and utter horror filled him as he realized what he was looking at.

  White fur.

  Bloody white fur.

  “They killed Ghost!” he yelled, his voice rising to an octave he wouldn’t have thought he was capable of. “That’s my dog!”

  Ash dropped beside him and pulled him into his arms, rocking him and immediately beginning to sing their song. Elliot didn’t try to fight the hot tears that stung his eyes, and he pushed his face into Ash’s t-shirt. The new smell of it was so wrong in these circumstances, but he clung to that detail anyway.

  Ash kept singing until Charlotte spoke. “No, Elliot. Hon, it’s not Ghost.”

  She’d rounded the side of the tent to get a closer look at the heap of white fur.

  “They’re not your dog, sweetie. Rabbits. White rabbits piled up to look like something bigger. They are on your sleeping bag, though, which doesn’t look shredded. Maybe I can wash out the blood.”

  Elliot pulled away from Ash but didn’t let go entirely. Charlotte reached into the mess and hefted one rabbit by its foot. It was large, easily the size of a full-grown cat or bigger. She held up another rabbit and the last bit of white fur still on his sleeping bag suddenly looked like what it actually was. Not Ghost.

  “Oh thank god,” he sniffled, getting control of himself.

  The scuff of a boot behind them got their attention. Aaron guided Jennifer into camp, offering her support. She had a hand on her belly and wasn’t looking up from where she needed to put her feet to keep going. Her breathing was labored.

  “What happened?” Charlotte demanded, dropping the rabbits and scurrying to Jennifer’s side to help Aaron settle her to the ground to lean back on the log.

  “She had a couple of sharp pains while we were hiking. I have a small Doppler in my med kid and want to get the baby’s heart—” Aaron had just realized how decimated their surroundings were. “What the fuck?”

  “Vandals,” Ash said. “Don’t know. Where’s your med kit?”

  “It was in my tent.” Aaron stormed over to it to find their stuff had also been ransacked. Ash went with him while Elliot sat beside Jennifer and gripped her hand.

  “Don’t worry about all this,” he said, trying to keep her calm even as her eyes widened, taking in the mess. “Baby first.” She nodded and kept up her yoga breathing, her fingers on his hand painfully tight.

  “Here, is this it?” Ash asked, picking through Aaron’s white metal box. He held up a wand that looked like a microphone.

  “That’s it. Is everything in there, and they just threw the box around?”

  “No,” Ash said grimly as Aaron picked up a half-rolled tube. “All the gauze and bandages are cut to pieces, the medicines are all mixed together, and I don’t see the scissors or the scalpel you had.”

  Elliot’s blood ran cold. “Ash.”

  “Yeah?”

  “My pills. Find my pills.”

  Aaron dropped in front of Jennifer and gently lifted her shirt. Behind him, Ash set the medical box down and went to their tent again. He emerged with a ruined backpack that might have been Elliot’s and shoved his hand in. When he pulled it back out amid the rattle of a pill bottle, Elliot could have shouted for joy.

  “Oh, thank god,” Ash murmured.

  “Okay, sweetheart,” Aaron said to his fiancée. “I got the belly jelly, and it’s going to be cold. Good thing I wouldn’t let you keep doing this and run the battery down, huh?”

  “Yeah,” Jennifer gritted out. “Safe not sorry. Hurry up.”

  He spread the lubricant on her baby bump, and she leaned back to make it easier for him to slide the wand down to her lower abdomen. After a few torturous minutes of hearing her blood circulating, the steady rhythm of a rapid heartbeat thrummed through the air. Aaron counted while he looked at his watch, closing his eyes when he calculated the beats per minute.

  “Baby’s heart rate is fine, Jenn. But you’re not moving for the rest of the day.”

  “Aaron, look around us. I can’t exactly lie in a hammock and eat chocolate while you clean the house.”

  “Not taking chances. Get comfortable on the ground, babe, while we figure out what the hell happened here.”

  “Charlotte, go to the creek and tell Brian not to come back to camp until we say it’s safe. Riley doesn’t need to see this,” Ash instructed. “Jennifer, do you need anything? Water or maybe….” His voice fell away. “There’s not a lot I can offer you. Water?”

  “No, I’m fine,” she said, crossing her legs lotus style and rubbing both hands over her swollen abdomen.

  “Where’s Tim?” Ash turned to Aaron. “Wasn’t he trapping with you?”

  Trapping. Elliot froze. Trapping rabbits to put on my sleeping bag before he demolished our camp and ran off.

  “He went off by himself the first couple hours we were setting snares. Then he was with us until about fifteen minutes ago, when Jennifer had her first sharp pain. I sent him back here to see if anyone was around to help me get her back or bring me my med box.”

  “And he didn’t come back?”

  Aaron shook his head. “I didn’t see him on the walk back, either.”

  Charlotte reappeared, out of breath from running. “Okay, Brian knows what happened, but Riley doesn’t. They’re safe, and yes, Elliot, Ghost is still with them. Brian also has his gun.”

  “Did you see Tim?” Elliot demanded, grateful his dog was fine but fear of something bigger, more sinister taking hold.

  “No, why?” Then it hit her, and her eyes went huge. “You think Tim did this?” she shrieked. “I’ll kill him. I’ll fucking kill him.”

  “You’re not helping.” Ash glared at her. “Has anyone seen Tim?”

  Elliot shifted uncomfortably. “I think he was here right before Charlotte got back to camp the first time. I saw someone moving around but couldn’t tell who it was through the trees. Any one of us would have sounded an alarm, so it was whoever destroyed the camp. He can’t have gotten far.”

  “If he’s nearby, I want to find him. See if he stashed anything useful for himself.” Ash searched the ground, but their prints were everywhere. He walked the perimeter to see where the footprints all led off. If there were prints where none of the rest of them had gone, Elliot supposed they would lead to Tim or at least a hiding place. It was all they had, short of calling for Tim and splitting up, and frankly, Elliot wouldn’t have been comfortable with the group scattering.

  Aaron mirrored Ash’s movements on the opposite side of the camp, and Charlotte moved toward the tents to see if there was anything salvageable. Elliot bent to retrieve the backpack his meds had been in, hoping it was intact. He didn’t see the movement in the trees.

  “Nobody move.”

&
nbsp; Elliot’s head snapped toward the voice. Tim had his arm around Ash’s shoulders, a serrated hunting knife held to his throat, and he pushed Ash into the middle of their clearing. Ash had managed to get his left hand around Tim’s wrist, preventing him from pushing the blade against his skin, but Tim had him securely pinned, the other arm twisted behind his back. Ash was furious.

  Elliot stood there stupidly, trying to comprehend the situation. If he’d thought the journey across the country had prepared him for fear, he was wrong.

  The man he loved had a knife to his throat, and the man holding it had eyes as devoid of compassion, or even sanity, as any serial killer mug shot.

  “Jennifer, get up.”

  “Tim, leave her al—” Aaron began, but Tim pushed harder and curled his wrist, bringing the very sharp tip of the knife close to Ash’s skin. Aaron fell silent.

  Desperation bubbled up in Elliot’s throat. Oh god, no, don’t. Please don’t.

  Charlotte wasn’t bothering with negotiations. She’d pulled her Colt from its concealment and had it aimed at Tim, or as much of him as she could with her brother being used as a shield.

  “Get up, Jenn,” Tim repeated. The woman struggled to her feet, concern and fear painting her pretty face, but there was also weariness in the slope of her shoulders. She didn’t have the fortitude for much more, and Elliot supposed any woman fearing for the life of the child she carried would have less to give the outside world.

  “Yes, Tim?” she said as calmly as she could.

  “The bow and Elliot’s hunting rifle. Get them and put them by the fire. When you’re done, get Charlotte’s gun and any of the others you have and put them there, too. I know there was a second Colt around here somewhere, but we haven’t seen it in a couple weeks, have we?”

  Elliot shivered as Tim’s eyes passed over him. He wasn’t about to give away that the gun was stashed at the small of his back.

  “Where’s Brian and Riley?”

  “At the creek, fishing. They don’t know about any of this,” Charlotte said hurriedly.

  Tim sneered. “Bullshit. I heard you say he had his gun, and he was staying away with the boy.” Turning his face to hide more behind Ash until Charlotte was unarmed, he snarled, “Ash, call for help. Yell Brian’s name.”

  “No,” Ash said vehemently.

  “Do it, or you’ll really need help.”

  “I don’t care.” Ash’s eyes flashed.

  I do, Elliot thought desperately. Apparently Tim had the same thought, because his flinty eyes turned in his direction.

  “Brian will come running faster if it’s you, Elliot. So call to him for help or watch your boyfriend bleed out on the pine needles.”

  Elliot swallowed as Ash met his gaze, shuddering at the picture of that very thing. Ash tried to shake his head, but Tim pushed the knife closer, and their arms began to tremble with the effort of one trying to overpower the other.

  “Brian!” Elliot yelled, not having to fake the fear in his voice. “Brian! Help me!”

  A few breathless minutes later, Brian and Riley barreled into camp and skidded to a halt, the dog on their heels.

  “Elliot, are you oka—?”

  “Clearly, no one is okay,” Tim interrupted. “Put your gun in the pile, please.” His matter-of-fact tone was as disturbing as the politeness, and Brian shoved Riley behind him the second he registered what was going on. Riley had to grab the dog’s harness to keep him from lunging, but Ghost kept growling menacingly. “Come on, we haven’t got all day.”

  A parade of emotions crossed Brian’s face, from hope that there was some quick way to dispel the situation to the realization it wasn’t going to happen, in the span of a few seconds. Brian’s shoulders slumped in dejection, and he added his pistol to the pile of weapons. Tim was pretty well hidden behind Ash, and trying to take a shot was too risky.

  “Now that you’re all unarmed, this won’t take long. I love how you assumed I’m the one who trashed the camp instead of worrying someone came along and hurt me or dragged me off.” Tim’s words were flat, devoid of even anger, which Elliot would have expected.

  “You did do it, you douchebag,” Charlotte snapped.

  “Semantics,” Tim said dismissively. “I’m not going to stand here and list my grievances. I will say, Ash, you brought this on yourself, and everyone here can put aside their hero worship when they realize why. See, you don’t care about your own sister and her kid more than you do that faggot wuss in front of you.” He flicked his chin in Elliot’s direction.

  What the hell is he talking about?

  “If you hadn’t put the well-being of the group aside when Elliot had his seizure and made it clear you wanted to move faster, Jason would have never asked me to kill him. He needed weeks to recover, but you wouldn’t let him have it. If you had let us rest for a while, he wouldn’t have felt like his time had run out. He wouldn’t have thought it was stupid to take a few days for the antibiotics to work.”

  Aaron held up his hands. “Tim, Jason’s infection was bad. There’s no telling if he’d have pulled out of it even with proper medical care, which he kept refusing. You can’t lay that on Ash.”

  “I can!” Tim bellowed, spittle flying from his lips. Ash flinched, but he got the knife moved away an inch. There was the fury, and it was mighty.

  Keep doing that, baby, Elliot thought. Just a couple more inches, and I can shoot him. Elliot’s vantage point wasn’t great, and when Jennifer let out a sob at Tim’s scream, Elliot used it as a reason to comfort her, changing positions so his view of Tim’s head was better. Plus, he could hide behind her back while going for the gun.

  “Jason would never have died if you hadn’t led us onto that land.”

  “You’re right,” Ash agreed, focusing on Elliot as he moved.

  He knows I have the gun. He remembers.

  Jennifer leaned back into Elliot’s chest, her shoulders trembling. “No he’s not, Ash!” she cried, tears shining on her cheeks. “Jason wanted to go through when Ash said we should go around. He only went with what all of you said you wanted. I remember because I didn’t want to go that way! Jason pushed it first.”

  Elliot tightened his arms around Jennifer and shushed her. Tim was visibly more aggravated with her words. It didn’t matter if they disagreed with what he was saying; they had to keep him from plunging the blade of that wicked knife into Ash’s throat, an image that kept playing in Elliot’s mind like a gif file on the now inaccessible Internet.

  “Tim,” he tried.

  “Don’t you fucking talk to me, faggot. You’re not more important than anyone. Just because you have money and a big shot daddy don’t mean you matter.” Ash’s arm shook where Tim tried to assert the knife.

  “So kill me,” Elliot offered, surreptitiously drawing the Colt from the back of his pants. “I don’t matter, except to Ash. A life for a life.”

  “Elliot, what are you doing?” Ash gritted out.

  “Babe, everyone needs you,” Elliot said as calmly as he could. “You’re the one who knows what to do. You’re the one who knows where to go. If Tim wants it all equal, he’ll take me since I matter to you and he blames you for the death of the friend who mattered to him. It’s only fair he take me instead of you.”

  “Elliot,” Brian said almost angrily. “That’s stupid. You matter to me, too.”

  “No,” Tim said with a sinister smile. “It’s perfect. A life for a life. I’ll even do it quick.”

  Elliot stepped out from behind Jennifer and over the log into the clearing they’d all thought was perfect when they’d discovered it the day before. He vowed this beautiful place would not be tainted by Ash’s death because of him.

  “Elliot,” Ash croaked.

  Then his eyes flickered down, and when Elliot began to draw the gun out from behind his thigh, Ash moved, slamming his boot heel on top of Tim’s foot. Several things happened at once.

  Tim hunched forward in pain, and Ash tried to use the momentum to throw Tim over his shoul
der but failed. Elliot leveled the gun at the newly exposed view of Tim’s head. Charlotte and Jennifer screamed, and Riley started to cry while Ghost drowned them all out with ferocious, teeth-clacking barks. Brian yelled Elliot’s name and moved to intercept him, knocking the shoulder opposite his gun hand, changing his aim.

  But most importantly, Tim kept his feet. The effort of staying upright had him and Ash, grappling for the knife, Tim with both hands, Ash with the one he had not clamped desperately around Tim’s wrist.

  “We’re wearing the same heavy boots, asshole,” Tim huffed, twisting to grab at Ash’s free arm and pin him. The tip of the knife touched Ash’s neck just below his left ear. A small slice of skin opened, blood welling as Tim fought to draw the blade across Ash’s jugular.

  Elliot saw red and fired.

  The shot echoed around the mountains with a finality that overpowered everything in the clearing.

  The pair of them, Tim and the man Elliot had only just told he loved, fell in a heap.

  23

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Day 47

  Rock Creek Ridge, Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming

  * * *

  Most of us are imprisoned by something. We’re living in darkness until something flips the switch.

  —Wynonna Judd

  * * *

  ASH’S HEART PUMPED FEROCIOUSLY, and despite the adrenaline surge, he lay on top of Tim for a moment to be sure his blood was firmly trapped in his veins and not gushing onto the pine needle cushion beneath him. When he moved, it was with a pained groan. As he got to his knees, Charlotte and Brian rushed him, while Aaron dropped beside Tim.

  The fury he’d been trying to keep in check at being held hostage in front of his family surged to the surface, and he wanted to turn and throttle Tim, give him the ass kicking of a lifetime. How dare he think Ash would passively let him tear apart their group?