by Gord Rollo
He opened the door to the coat room and quickly snapped a picture, the camera flash dazzlingly bright in the small, dark space. The room was empty. Shit! he thought, knowing he’d probably just blown his chances at surprising the couple. Wasting no more time, Pat stuck his head into the reception area and snapped off another picture with unfortunately the same result. This room was empty as well.
Well, hell…where are they?
Surely they wouldn’t go into the basement, would they?
Then Pat glanced at the doors leading into the sanctuary. “No way,” he whispered, and then thought, They’re not sick enough to do it in there, are they? Not with the dead body of Reverend Miller hovering over them?
That was just flat-out wrong!
Even he wasn’t that horny.
Moving to the doors, not nearly as worried about being as sneaky as he was before, he flicked on his flashlight and pushed his way into the room beyond. Unfortunately the sanctuary was empty too, but it wasn’t until Pat realized just how empty it was that he started to worry. Walking carefully toward the empty altar, he could see the ropes that had bound the dead man to the cross lying on the raised wooden platform, some obviously cut by something sharp but others looking like they’d been torn in half by someone incredibly strong.
“Where the fuck is the reverend?” Pat said, the pretense of being quiet completely gone now. “Dan? Kim? Where are you guys? Get your asses in here and look at this!”
No one answered, neither his question nor his summons, and the first stage of panic began to set in. Not fear yet, but something close to it and moving closer by the minute. Something wasn’t right here but Pat couldn’t seem to wrap his head around it. Who had moved the dead body? And why would they do something like that? What purpose did it serve? Pat had none of those answers and it made him feel uncomfortable just standing alone in the dark staring up at an empty cross.
It naturally occurred to Pat that maybe Dan and Kim had done this and were secretly concocting some crazy plan to try and scare everyone, but that just didn’t make sense. Why would they do something like that? They wouldn’t, but if Pat ruled them out of the equation, who did that leave? Everyone else was back in their tents fast asleep. Unless someone else was here that none of them knew about.
“Get your ass out of here,” Pat said, speaking to himself but not liking the sound of his voice. He could hear the fear in his tone, even though there wasn’t anything to be scared of. Not really. For all he knew, the damn ropes had finally rotted through and the mummified holy man had tumbled down into the basement through the hole in the floorboards. An explanation like that was possible, right? Edging closer to the collapsed area of the floor, Pat shone his light down into the hole but from what he could see from here, there was no sign of the reverend’s body down below. He couldn’t see much of the basement from this view and the cornstalks were in the way but damned if he was going down there to have a better look. Not by himself anyway. No, the best thing to do was go back to camp and wake everyone up. They needed to see for themselves what had happened and together they could decide what to do next.
Decision made, Pat ran for the front door.
He bolted out of the sanctuary, dashed across the reception area, and was hitting full speed by the time he entered the front room and saw the abomination standing in front of him. Blocking Pat’s path outside was the largest man he’d ever seen, a shadow-shrouded, long-haired hulk who filled the entire entranceway to the church. Pat tried to put on the brakes and stop in time to run the other way but his forward momentum carried him straight into the behemoth’s waiting arms.
No! It can’t be! Pat thought, knowing in the back of his mind it was Reverend Miller wrapping powerful fingers around his neck but not wanting to admit it. Admitting it would make it real and the last thing he wanted right now was for this to be real. He prayed he’d wake up back in his tent but as soon as Joshua began to laugh and squeeze tighter, Pat knew his nights of dreaming were probably over.
“Christ! Let me go, you freak!” he tried to scream but with his windpipe about to be crushed it came out more like a whimper.
“Blasphemer!” Joshua growled, lifting Pat completely off his feet. He began to see stars, his vision frosting up on him and he knew he had to do something quick or he was going to die. He tried punching the reverend but his blows had little to no effect on the man-monster. Instinctively, Pat reached for his camera and snapped a picture right in his would-be killer’s face, the flash exploding only inches away from the reverend’s strangely illuminated eyes, causing him to scream and release his constrictor hold on Pat’s bruised throat.
When his feet hit the floorboards, Pat fell backward onto his rear end, painfully whacking his tailbone in the process, but that was the least of his worries. The camera flash had temporarily blinded his adversary but it wouldn’t keep him out of commission for long. He knew he should get up and run, but instead he reached for the flashlight he’d dropped when he’d first been grabbed. Clicking it back on, Pat couldn’t believe his eyes; something straight out of a comic book or low-budget Halloween movie towered above him, rubbing its eyes. Pat only wasted a moment looking, but that was more than long enough to notice the bulging muscles, the cornstalks fused with living flesh, and to be repulsed at the sight of the monstrous creature who had once been Joshua Miller.
Son of a bitch! Pat thought as he hurriedly climbed to his feet. He looks even more like a scarecrow than before. How the fuck is any of this happening?
Joshua took a step into the church, taking a wild, clumsy swing with his massive arm, obviously still not able to see clearly, but knowing his prey was somewhere nearby. He rubbed his eyes again, squinting into the darkness and looking directly over at Pat, who had backed up near the staircase leading to the bell tower. “I see you, boy,” Joshua said, his voice cold and angry. “There’s nowhere you can run. Nowhere you can hide. This is my church…my village, and you and your friends are just the soulless vermin trespassing on unholy land. Filthy rats! You know what we did with rats back in my day, boy? We stomped on them. Mashed their worthless skulls beneath our heels!”
The scarecrow took another step closer.
With his path outside effectively cut off and not liking his chances of beating the reverend into the reception area, Pat took the only option left, making a move for the staircase that headed up to the second floor. Even as he ran he knew he’d be boxing himself in, knowing there was no exit from the bell tower room from their thorough search of the church yesterday afternoon, but running anyway. Pat heard the scarecrow growl and without having to look knew the monstrous man was right on his ass. He started screaming for help, hoping someone outside in the tents might hear him and come help, but his throat was already swelling shut from nearly being strangled and no matter how hard he tried, his injured vocal cords could only produce a low-pitched squeal. He gave up trying, knowing he was on his own, unless he could make it to the tower and ring the bell. His screams might not be loud enough to wake up his friends and bring help running, but the church bell certainly would be. In his heart, Pat knew there was no time for his friends to come to his aid and that he’d probably be dead long before they got there but he had to try. He’d run out of all other options.
Unfortunately, he’d also run out of luck.
Just as Pat reached the top of the staircase, the hanging bell rope in sight, Reverend Miller caught up to him and clamped one of his powerful taloned hands around his ankles and stopped him dead. Pat did a sudden face-plant onto the hard wooden floor, knocking himself senseless, smacking his chin so hard he saw stars. Joshua rolled Pat over onto his back and started dragging him back down the stairs, Pat’s head thumping on each riser until they’d reached the bottom. Pat tried to shout, tried to scream, even tried to beg for mercy, but his head was spinning and the scarecrow definitely wasn’t in a compassionate mood to listen.
“Rats, boy!” the scarecrow shouted. “We used to stomp ’em!”
He began
kicking Pat in the ribs, the arms, the stomach, the legs, and eventually the head, anywhere he could inflict pain and damage without spilling too much blood that he’d be forced to clean up later. Pat tried to defend himself, to cover up as best he could, but in the end it was futile. Joshua’s knifelike toenails sunk into Pat’s battered body, breaking several bones and tearing into his vulnerable flesh in many places. The attack was intentionally cruel and brutally savage, leaving him broken and helpless on the dusty floor in less than thirty seconds.
“Mash their skulls beneath our heels!” Joshua said, beginning to laugh.
The last thing Pat ever saw was the bottom of Joshua’s huge leather shoe lift high in the air and begin rapidly descending toward his eyes. He said a quick prayer that he’d pass out or die before it landed, surely crushing his face.
His prayer went unanswered.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lizzy thought she was the first one awake in the morning, but when she rolled over in her sleeping bag and saw Kelly and Dan half naked with their tongues down each other’s throats she realized she’d been wrong. She also knew three was a crowd and needed to get her butt out of there and let her best friends have some alone time after all the craziness that had taken place last night.
“Don’t mind me, guys,” she said, grabbing for her hiking boots and a thick wool sweater. “I’ll be out of here in a jiffy.” Neither Dan nor Kelly even responded, so intent on each other they probably didn’t even hear her. “Alrighty then…have fun.”
She climbed out of the tent and made a beeline over to where Rich was sleeping, but saw he was already up and at it too, and was rebuilding the fire for breakfast. He smiled and waved when he saw her approaching.
“Morning, sexy,” he said. “You hungry?”
“Starving…but it might be just us eating for a while.”
“Why? What’s up?”
“Dan and Kelly are in my tent, ah…making up, I guess you’d call it.”
“Well, I’d call it something else,” Rich said, grinning, “but are you serious? I thought they were fighting again? Wasn’t Kelly ready to kill him last night?”
“Think so, yeah. But to be fair, it was more Kim’s fault that Dan’s. He didn’t really do anything. She’s the one with the hots for him, not the other way around.”
“Exactly. Maybe she’s been sniffing around him while Dan and Kelly were broken up, but that was pretty uncool what she did. Caused a big scene for nothing. I hate chicks like that. Fucking drama queens.”
“Yeah well just be thankful you’ve got me then.”
“I am, sweets. How ’bout we go into my tent and I’ll show you how much?”
“Down, Rover! You promised me breakfast, remember?”
“Food before sex?”
“Always. It’s one of the rules in the official woman’s guide to being a successful bitch. Wanna read it?”
“Nope. Guaranteed that book sucks. Speaking of bitches though, have you seen Kim this morning? I haven’t seen her or Pat yet.”
“Me neither. I just woke up though. Have you checked their tent? Maybe they’re still snoring?”
“Or maybe they’re doing the humpty dance too. I better go check.”
“Uh uh. You get some toast going, sport. I’ll check. You wouldn’t want to have to stomach seeing Kim’s sexy body lying around naked in there.”
“Right. Good call. Thanks…I think.”
Lizzy laughed, kissed her adorable boyfriend on the cheek, and went to discreetly check on Pat and his troublemaking new woman. She hugged herself on the walk over to their tent, warming her hands by rubbing them on her upper arms. The sky above was clear and blue and it looked like it was going to be another beautiful day today but it was still chilly out at the moment and she was glad she’d decided to slip on her wool sweater. Not wanting to barge in on Pat and Kim, just in case Rich was right and they were in the process of making up as well, she stopped five feet from the front of the tent and softly asked, “Hey, guys…you awake yet?”
No one answered her so she tried again, this time louder.
“Pat? Kim? Rich has breakie on the go out here if you guys are hungry?”
Still no response.
Screw it, Lizzy thought, and walked right up to the tent. “Knock knock!” she said, unzipping the door and unabashedly sticking her head inside.
She was surprised to find the tent empty, neither Pat nor Kim curled up in the mess of blankets within. “That’s strange,” she said, standing up and returning to Rich by the fire. “They’re not in their tent. Both of them are gone.”
“Gone? Where? It’s not even eight o’clock in the morning.”
“Don’t know. Should I go tell Dan?”
“Hell no. Leave them guys alone. Pat and Kim probably just went for a walk or something. Sit down with me and have your toast. Pat’s always hungry after he drinks, so I’m sure they’ll turn up soon.”
They didn’t though. Not while Rich and Lizzy ate their breakfast and cleaned up their mess, not even thirty minutes later when Dan and Kelly eventually came out of their tent and met them by the fire. Kelly had her arm around Dan’s waist and the couple was laughing and all lovey-dovey, flirting with each other so much it took them a minute to recognize the tension in the air.
“What’s wrong?” Dan asked.
“Nothing,” Rich said. “Well…hopefully nothing. It’s just that we can’t find Pat or Kim anywhere.”
“To hell with Kim,” Kelly said. “I don’t care if I ever see that bitch again.”
“I’m being serious. They’re gone!”
“Gone home?” Dan asked. “They wouldn’t have left without telling anyone, would they?”
“Everyone was pretty pissed off last night. Maybe Kim didn’t want to be here this morning and talked Pat into taking her home?”
“In the middle of the night?”
“I don’t know? I guess.”
“But their tent’s still here. Probably all their stuff too.”
“Pat’s coat and camera are gone. I’m not sure what Kim was wearing. My guess is they’re gone. Either that or they’re playing games and hiding in the field somewhere.”
“What about the church?”
“Nope. I already walked over there and yelled in the front door. No luck.”
“Well, fuck,” Dan said, pissed off. “What kind of idiots would try to walk out of here in the middle of the bloody night?”
“A couple of drunken ones?” Lizzy said, shrugging her shoulders.
“Maybe?” Rich said. “What do we do now?”
“We keep looking for the treasure. I didn’t come all this way just to go home because Pat’s off in a snit again. I need that gold. We all do, and hey, if Kim’s too embarrassed to face us this morning…screw her. With all the trouble she tried to cause, I’m kind of glad she’s gone.”
“Me too,” Kelly said. “I mean, I hope they made it out to their car okay, but what are we supposed to do about it? They can take care of themselves.”
“I guess,” Rich said. “I suppose they know where we are if they change their minds, right? Let’s get you two some breakfast and Lizzy and I will whip up some sandwiches to take with us for lunch. If they’re not back by the time we’re done, too bad, we’ll go exploring without them.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Kelly said. “We still plan on checking out the village today?”
“Yep,” Dan said. “Can’t be far. It’s gotta be in the woods somewhere near the church, right? Might not find the treasure but I think we’ll find the settlement easy enough. Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky.”
While Liz made the picnic lunch, Rich made Dan and Kelly some toast, burning the bread on one side nearly black, but he smothered it in a thick layer of raspberry jam and his friends never complained at all. By nine o’clock, the temperature was starting to rise, the crows were doing their usual noisy morning laps in the sky, and everyone was suited up and ready to go. Pat and Kim hadn’t returned so it was presume
d they were gone for good and the rest of the group would have to make do without them.
“I tell you though,” Rich said. “Damned if I’m lugging his tent and all his shit back with me. He can come back and get it himself.”
“We can’t just leave it here,” Kelly said.
“Sure we can. Why the hell not? Might be a good lesson. It’s high time he got a backbone and stopped letting women walk all over him.”
“Still…seems like a nasty thing to do. If I know Pat, he’s just trying to help.”
“Trying to get laid, you mean.”
“Not everyone’s as sex craved as you—”
“Stop,” Dan said, interrupting, having heard enough. “We can worry about this later. For all we know Pat might just find Kim a taxi and hike his ass back here. And to be honest, we don’t even know if they’re really gone. Maybe they talked things out like Kelly and I and they’re off on some lovers’ stroll or some damn thing. Either way, they’re not here so what’s the point arguing about it? Let’s just get moving, okay?”
They circled around to the rear of the church, where yesterday they’d spotted the trail heading through the corn and leading into the forest on the far side of the clearing. They set off toward the woods at a brisk pace, Dan and Rich plowing ahead like it was some kind of race to see who could find the village first, leaving Kelly and Liz following behind. Lizzy had been hoping for a chance to talk with her best pal alone anyway.
“So what’s up with you two?” she asked.
“What do you mean?” Kelly said but knowing perfectly well what was coming.
“Bite me, Kel. Let’s hear it. Last night you wanted to kill everyone and bawled yourself to sleep on my shoulder; then eight hours later Dan and you are slobbering all over each other. What happened?”
“Nothin’ really. I woke up and Dan was lying beside me, shivering on the tent floor. He didn’t even have a blanket.”
“I never even heard him come in.”