J.A. Konrath / Jack Kilborn Trilogy - Three Scary Thriller Novels (Origin, The List, Haunted House)

by J. A. Konrath

  Shotzen gagged.

  “He wants to talk to yoooooou.”

  The creature chucked Thrist’s head at the Rabbi. On reflex, Shotzen dropped the bottle and the lighter and caught it with both hands like a basketball. The firebomb fell to the ground and shattered.

  Shotzen stared at the head in his hands.

  “Kill me,” the priest’s lips clearly said.

  Shotzen yelled out in shock.

  Bub laughed so hard he vomited out Father Thrist’s leg. It flopped onto the floor and wiggled like a fish.

  Shotzen threw the head into the wall as hard as he could, hoping to end the priest’s misery. He reached for the second Molotov cocktail and took another lighter from his pocket.

  “Back to the pit with you,” Shotzen declared, shaking with rage. He flicked the lighter and the two inch flame jumped up to ignite the gasoline soaked rag. The Rabbi threw the bottle at the ground before the beast. It shattered, showering Bub with a wall of flames.

  The demon screamed. The stench of burned hair and cooked meat invaded Shotzen’s nostrils. Bub batted at the flames with its claws and rolled in the cramped hallway, trying to staunch the flames.

  “What the hell?” Andy said. He’d come out into the hallway fifty yards further down, on the other side of the second gate. Sun appeared a moment later.

  “Stay back,” Shotzen warned them.

  Bub burned for almost a minute before the sprinklers came on.

  The flames died down, and then smoldered out. Smoke began to clear. Shotzen stared in amazement as Bub’s burned flesh seemed to wash away under the water stream. He shook like a wet dog and shed the scorched flesh. Underneath his skin was new and unharmed.

  “Now it’s my turn,” Bub said.

  “Rabbi!” Andy yelled. “Come on!”

  “Run!” Shotzen yelled back. “He knows the codes!”

  Bub was on Shotzen in a single lunge, scooping up the holy man in a claw.

  “Codes?” he asked. “There is mooooooore than one?”

  He dragged Shotzen to the second gate and punched in a code.

  Nothing happened.

  The demon roared. It was the most horrible sound Shotzen had ever heard. Like the thunderclap of a terrible storm.

  “What is the code for this dooooooooor?” Bub demanded.

  The talons were digging deeply into Shotzen’s body. If he’d been skinnier, it might have killed him. As it stood, they were only imbedded in fat, causing excruciating pain.

  “Race!” Shotzen called to Andy. “The bombs!”

  Andy nodded, grabbing Sun by the hand and disappearing into Red 3.

  “The coooooooode,” Bub said. He tightened his grip.

  It was like being prodded with hot pokers, the Rabbi thought. The pain was worse than anything he’d ever known.

  “Shema Yisraeil, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad,” Shotzen gasped.

  “Ah, the Shemaaaaaa,” Bub said. “Deuteronomy six four. Rabbi Akika, riiiight?”

  Shotzen thought of Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph, the man who compiled the Mishna in the first century. He suffered a horrible death, tortured by the Romans, but still proclaimed his love for God as he died. His last words were the Shema.

  “How did Rabbi Akiba die?” Bub asked. “Remembeeeeer?”

  Shotzen remembered. The thought of it had given him nightmares as a youth.

  Bub said, “I want the doooooooor code.”

  Shotzen shut his eyes and prayed. “Barukh Shem k’vod malkhuto l’olam va-ed.”

  Blessed be the name of his glorious kingdom for ever and ever.

  “Rabbi Akiba was skinned aliiiiiiiive.”

  Shotzen quaked with fear. Bub pinned the rabbi to the ground and ripped away his clothing.

  “Paaaaaaainful,” the demon said. He sunk two claws into Shotzen’s shoulder and began to pull.

  “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might!” Shotzen screamed.

  He’d said the words a thousand times. Ten thousand. They were the words in his mezuzah on his doorway, the words in the tefillin he strapped to his arm and forehead for morning aleinu.

  “The cooooooode,” Bub ordered.

  Shotzen thought of his life. Of his parents. Of Reba. Of the congregation that didn’t want him and the children he never had.

  “Give me the code and I’ll make yoooooooou better.”

  Bub had healed Race’s wife. He had seen them together, in the Octopus, laughing like children. Shotzen had no doubt that Bub could heal him now. Perhaps even fix his sterility. Shotzen could live through this, maybe even start a family. He knew that if he gave Bub the code, he didn’t have to die.

  Bub began on his leg, pulling and ripping. Shotzen fought against the agony and continued to pray.

  “And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart!”

  Perhaps fifty thousand times he’d said the Shema in his life. He’d meant it every time. But he’d never truly understood what love was until that moment. Loving G-d with more than heart and soul and might. Loving Adonai with your life.

  Shotzen’s eyes were somehow forced open.

  “Seeeeeee this?” Bub held up what looked like a bloody rag. “This is your faaaaaaaaaace.”

  Shotzen could no longer form words without lips, and an animal cry came from his throat. But his thoughts were focused.

  And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall speak of them when you sit at home, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up.

  “Foooooools,” Bub spat. “Stupid religious foooooools.”

  The light was dimming, things became blurry. Shotzen was in incredible pain. Yet he was happy. He knew even though he hadn’t killed Bub, his life was not in vain. Bub wouldn’t get out. Race would set off the explosives implanted in Bub’s body. Shotzen hoped to live long enough to hear the boom.

  “You won’t die until I get the coooooode. I’ll keep resurrecting you, ooooover and ooooooover.”

  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be frontlets between your eyes.

  Shotzen could no longer see. His own blood had pooled into his eye sockets.

  Angry at the lack of response, Bub began to rip the rabbi in half.

  You shall write them on your doorposts of your house and on your gates…

  Shotzen finished the prayer. His very last thought was his love for his Lord.

  Bub cast aside the body of the holy man. Then he shook the titanium gate and howled.

  “Where the hell is he?” Andy swore. He had the phone in his hand and had tried Race’s room, the Octopus, the Mess Hall, the rec room, Helen’s room, the library, and even the pool, all the while trying to remain in control while Shotzen screamed in the hallway.

  “Use the intercom,” Sun told him.

  “How? What goddamn button? Was it star something?”

  “I forgot too, dammit!”

  The floor shook and there was a tremendous clang. Sun and Andy exchanged glances and peeked out of Red 3 into the hall.

  CLANG!

  Bub had charged the gate and rammed it with his shoulder. His chest was soaked in blood, making the fine red hairs appear black. Behind him, Shotzen was lying on the floor in two large pieces, neither of which had any skin.

  When Bub noticed Andy he smiled at him, stringy things sticking to his steak knife teeth.

  “Aaaaaaaandy!”

  “We are so out of here.” Andy grabbed Sun’s arm and they ran down the Red Arm, away from the demon.

  “Let me ooooout!” Bub shouted after them.

  They rushed into the Octopus. No Race.

  “Okay, what were Race and Helen doing?” Andy said, thinking out loud.

  “Dancing. They were dancing.”

  “Does this place have a disco?”

  “No. But… the lounge! There’s a stereo in the lounge.”

  “What room?”

  “Purple someth
ing.” Sun rubbed her forehead. “Um, the pool is 2, the bar is 6, library is 8. Dammit, I don’t know the lounge.”

  “We’ll try them all.”

  Andy picked up the nearest phone and dialed Purple 1. No answer. Then he tried Purple 4.

  “Howdy, you’re interrupting a rumba lesson.”

  Thank God.

  “Jesus! General, Bub is out. He’s killed Rabbi Shotzen and gotten through the first gate.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  “He’s coming,” Andy told Sun, hanging up the phone.

  “What did he do to the Rabbi?” Sun asked. “The screams…”

  Andy put his arms around her. He tried to shake the image of Rabbi Shotzen being peeled by Bub, but it refused to go away.

  The Purple Door flew open, and Andy and Sun each jumped back.

  “How did he get out?” Race demanded.

  The General was in full dress uniform. Helen was in a sequined evening gown. She looked worried.

  “Shotzen said Bub knew the code.”

  “Sunshine, if you could wait with my wife. Andy…”

  Race motioned for Andy to follow. Andy didn’t want to. But Sun’s eyes on him forced him to move. He trailed Race back into the Red Arm.

  CLANG!

  The gate was still holding. Bub rubbed his shoulder and squinted at the new arrival.

  “Raaaaace. Let me oooooooout.”

  Race approached slowly. Andy was even slower. He watched the General peer past Bub and down the hallway, which was charred black and drenched in gore.

  It looked like a corridor of hell.

  “Why did you kill Rabbi Shotzen?” Race asked.

  “It was fuuuuuuun.”

  “Blow this bastard up,” Andy told Race.

  Bub leveled his eyes at Andy. “Open the doooooor, Andy. You want to fuck Suuuuuun? I’ll make her your whore if you let meeeeee ooooout.”

  Andy had to clench hard to avoid wetting his pants.

  “Here’s the deal, Bub,” Race said. “You go back into your habitat, lock yourself in, and I won’t destroy you.”

  “Do you want power, Raaaaaace?” Bub hissed. “You can be a general in my army. I’ll make immoooooooortal.”

  Race took another step forward, still beyond grabbing range. He took his eyes off of Bub to examine the gate.

  “Hooooooow is Helen?” the demon cooed.

  “She’s fine.” Race looked hard at the demon. “Why?”

  Bub grinned slyly.

  Race’s voice was almost as scary as Bub’s. “What did you do to her?”

  “Let me ooooooooout. There’s still time to fiiiiiiiix it.”

  “So help me, if anything happens to that woman…”

  “She haaaaaaates you. She haaaaaaates you for bringing her heeeeeere. But I can fiiiiiiix that. Maaaaaaake her loooooove you again.”

  “You’re bluffing. You’re trapped, and you’re bluffing.”

  Bub barked, his laughter echoing down the hall.

  “We’ll seeeeeeeee.”

  Race turned around and walked briskly back down the Red Arm, Andy in tow.

  “Let me oooooooout!” Bub screeched.

  CLANG! The ground shook as the demon rammed the gate again.

  “What’s going on, Race?” Andy asked. “Just detonate the bombs.”

  “I need to talk to the President.”

  “Then get his ass on the phone!”

  They entered the Octopus, Race going to his wife. He held her face in his hands.

  “Do you feel okay, dear? Anything wrong?”

  “I feel fine, Regis.”

  “Sun, can you check her out?”

  Sun nodded, and sat Helen down at one of the far tables.

  Andy got up close to Race and thrust out his chest. “Why don’t we kill him?” he demanded.

  “He can’t get through that gate. It’s holding.”

  “What if—”

  “I can only destroy Bub if he’s a risk to any of the occupants of Samhain.”

  “Bullshit,” Andy said. “We’re expendable. The people involved in a top secret project are always expendable.”

  Race jammed his finger into Andy’s shoulder. “We are not expendable, understand? But I can’t kill Bub unless he’s a threat. Right now he’s trapped. He cannot get out. And even if he does, we have back-ups.”

  Andy said, “The bombs implanted in his body.”

  “Yes. Plus we have something called Lockdown. See, above all the doors?”

  Race pointed to every door in the Octopus. Above each of the frames was a large overhang with a slit in the bottom.

  “More titanium gates, they completely seal off each arm and the Octopus. I just need to type in the code on the security screen, right here.”

  “What’s the code?” Andy asked.

  “Lockdown. One word, all caps.”

  “So what are you waiting for?”

  “It can’t be reset. Once we’re in Lockdown, gates drop on all the arm entrances and in front of the exit at the end of the Yellow Arm. Plus three more titanium gates drop on the staircase leading to the outside. We’d be stuck here until someone cut us out, bar by bar, with a blowtorch. So that isn’t necessary right now. You don’t have to worry. We’re safe.”

  Andy shook his head. “I’ve had it,” he said. “I’m not a soldier. It’s not my job to fight the devil. I know exactly what will happen. I saw Jurassic Park. Everything will go wrong. The systems will fail, Bub will get out, we’ll all be dead by morning.”

  “Calm down, son.”

  “Bullshit! I want out. Me, Sun, the rest. Get us the hell out of here, Race.”

  Andy met Race’s gaze, trying to be just as impassive.

  Race said, “Okay.”

  Andy stared at him, amazed. “Okay? That’s it? We can go?”

  “Of course you can go. I’ll call the President right now, arrange for transport. We can have a chopper here within an hour.”

  Andy wasn’t sure if he could believe him or not, but Race sat down at a terminal and accessed a program called CONTACT. He clicked the options bar on EMERGENCY.

  “Direct link to the Prez,” Race explained. “Unless he’s having a press conference, he should be on line in a minute or so.”

  Within seconds another window appeared on screen. The message bar read AUDIO CONNECT.

  “General?” came the President’s voice from the monitor speaker.

  “Mr. President, the occupant has breached the first two phases of security. He is extremely hostile, and we have civilian casualties. Request immediate evac.”

  “Is the occupant currently contained?”

  “Yes. I’m going to stay with him. But I want the rest of the team picked up ASAP.”

  “Of course. I’ll contact Fort Bliss.”

  “I’m going to need help to neutralize the subject. Maybe one of those big game hunters who captures elephants for zoos. With a tranquilizer gun and plenty of ammo.”

  “I’ll find someone as soon as possible. A helicopter will be sent immediately to evacuate the team. I’ll debrief them at Fort Bliss. How did this happen, General?”

  “I’m not sure, Sir. He got the codes for the gates somehow.”

  “I’ll contact you soon. God be with you and your team, General.”

  The computer blinked MESSAGE ENDED.

  “Well,” Andy said, relief making him feel twenty pounds lighter, “he’s an okay guy after all.”

  Race picked up the phone and hit *100. His voice boomed over the in house speakers. Dammit, Andy thought. That was the intercom code.

  “Attention, this is Race. Everyone meet in the Octopus for immediate evacuation. Repeat, everyone meet in the Octopus, we’re all getting out of here. Move your asses, people.”

  “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!” Bub bellowed, his voice heard from all the way down the Red Arm.

  “I guess he doesn’t like the news,” Andy said.

  “Screw the son of a bitch. What the hell happened in there, Andy?”
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br />   “I don’t know. I was in Red 6 translating the glyphs and I heard screams. It was Rabbi Shotzen, getting ripped apart.”

  “Shotzen let him out?”

  “I don’t think so. Bub… he skinned Shotzen to get the code for the second gate. The Rabbi didn’t give it up.”

  “Brave man. So how did Bub get the codes?”

  “What’s happening?” Dr. Belgium entered the Octopus through the Green Door.

  “Bub’s out,” Andy explained. “We’re leaving.”

  “I’ll get my things,” Belgium turned for the Blue Door.

  “Pack light,” Race said. “Have you seen Father Thrist or Dr. Harker?”

  “Not lately. Do you think…”

  “Race!” Sun said. “Your wife!”

  The three of them hurried over to Helen, who was lying on the floor with Sun crouched over her.

  “She was fine just a second ago,” Sun said.

  “Is it the Huntington’s chorea?” Race asked. “Is it back?”

  “No,” Sun said, panic in her eyes. “This is something else.”

  Helen struggled in the throes of some kind of seizure. Her limbs flapped uncontrollably, and her back arched and twisted, but it didn’t look like any convulsions Race had ever seen.

  Helen’s legs and arms were bending backwards.

  “Helen! Oh, Lord!”

  “Regis,” she cried.

  Race’s eyes clouded over. He knelt next to his wife, holding her in an attempt to stop her body from snapping apart.

  “Her feet.” Dr. Belgium pointed.

  Race stared as one of Helen’s high heels split open. The shoe fell away, revealing toes that swelled and melded into a giant black mass that resembled…

  “A hoof,” Andy said.

  Race could feel his wife expand in his arms, bulging and stretching. Changing.

  Helen howled, revealing several rows of long, sharp teeth.

  “Oh my my my…” Dr. Belgium said.

  “Race,” Andy put a hand on the General’s shoulder.

  “I’m sorry, Helen. I’m so sorry.”

  “Race, we’ve got to take her out of here.”

  “Take her where?” Race accused. “This is my wife, dammit!”

  “Race, your wife is growing hoofs and fangs. We’ve got to separate her from the group.”

  “I’m not leaving her!”