by James Bee
“There,” Hank said, pointing at an open door to their right. The rule was to keep the doors shut, those that could still close at least. That this one was open was a pretty strong clue that someone had been inside.
“You smell that?” Robbie said. Jason took a deep sniff. There was too many scents swirling around, none of them good.
“Smells like shit up here,” Juni said.
“Smells like death,” Robbie corrected. Jason couldn’t disagree, as much as he would have liked too.
“Let’s just go have a look. Sooner we do, the sooner we can go back downstairs,” Hank said, walking toward the open door. Reluctantly, the rest followed. The room was empty, with only a few cardboard boxes lining the sides. However, at the far side there was another door, also open. Wordlessly, they walked toward and through it.
This room was a dead end, maybe used as a storage room or a small office. It had been packed to the brim with boxes, though it looked as though someone had torn through them, looking for something. Something that they found.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Robbie whispered. Juni cursed soundlessly and stepped out of the room. Jason could hear him being noisily sick. He and Hank just stood and stared, eyes locked on what had lain concealed.
It was a body, that much was clear. Beyond that, Jason couldn’t tell anything. It had been ravaged, decimated, mutilated. The face was half torn off, completely unrecognizable. Arms and legs stuck out at unnatural angles, bones poking out through the skin in several place. The skin was shredded, as though someone had take a cheese grater to it. Any blood that had leaked out had long since congealed, clinging to the cadaver. As he looked closer, Jason saw strange marking on what skin was still intact. An interwoven pattern, pressed into the flesh.
“Looks like he got hit by a goddamn car,” Hank breathed. He? Billy? Through the shock and disgust, Jason could see that Hank was probably right. It was certainly not Mia, that much they could see.
“How could someone even do this? He’s torn apart. Would need to go at him with an axe or something. Fucking hell…” Jason breathed. He had to get out of the room. The stench of decay was overwhelming. He stumbled backward into Robbie, nearly tripping over him.
“You ever seen anything like that, Jase? What could even possess someone to do that?” Robbie asked. Jason shook his head. Yet he had seen a body in that kind of a condition before, only once. It wasn’t a murder, at least not a direct one. He’d been living on the street, downtown, the worst part of downtown. Drugs were everywhere, and no one spent a day sober if they could help it. One night someone took too much. A woman, younger than him, too young. She walked out into the middle of the street. A car was coming too fast to miss her; maybe they didn’t try. After she went under the wheels, there wasn’t much left. Just a bag of broken bones, leaking and oozing onto the pavement.
“Guess we know why Kenneth and Chad left in such a hurry,” Juni said. The young man had his back to the door and was hugging himself. Might be the first dead body he’s seen, Jason thought. He forgot how young Juni actually was sometimes. Don’t think this will be too good for his rehabilitation.
“We need to find Stu, if he’s here. Find Stu and hide out somewhere, maybe the kitchens. If we stick together, Mac can’t get us,” Hank said.
“I say we track down that lunatic and avenge Billy. Mia too,” Robbie said. Jason found himself agreeing. What had happened to Billy was the work of a sick mind. He didn’t want to think about what had probably happened to Mia.
“No point in taking that risk. Look what he did to Billy. I don’t want to tangle with him. Not if we don’t have to,” Hank said.
“Fine. Let’s just get out of here. This place is giving me the fucking creeps,” Robbie said. Jason couldn’t blame him. The air on the third floor felt heavy, oppressive. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was trespassing, forcing his unwanted presence. That there could be a crazed murderer hiding behind every corner didn’t help.
13
Chapter 13
They found Stu waiting for them in the kitchen. Jason felt a surge of relief when the cook ushered them into the room. He’ll know what to do. Maybe he has some spare keys or knows another way out.
“Seen Mac? Any of you?” Stu asked as Robbie closed the door behind them. The tone of his voice sucked any hope from Jason. He sounded just as panicked as the rest of them.
“Nope. Maybe he’s not here. Maybe he snuck out before they locked the doors,” Juni said hopefully.
Stu shook his head. “You four went upstairs, right? All the way upstairs? Damn it. I heard someone bash in the door to the supply closet, the one at the back.” An icy feeling began to creep down the back of Jason’s back. Who knows what kinds of things he found in there. What weapons he could make.
“Fuck. Do we have anything in here that we can use to protect ourselves? Knives or anything?” Robbie asked.
“Chad locked up all the blades. Didn’t take this, though,” Stu said, patting his belt. Hanging off it was a meat cleaver. The handle was well worn, the blade notched with years of hard use. Still, it looked sharp enough to do damage. Jason had seen Stu use it before, hacking a chicken to bits. He could do the same to a person. Could have taken the cleaver to Billy. Once, when he’d first arrived, Jason had asked the cook why he carried the weapons around with him, even out of the kitchen. Stu’s answer had discouraged any further questions and stuck with him ever since.
“Keep it close to remind me of what I’ve done. What I can do.”
“Thank god. That beast’ll make Mac think twice about trying to do us like he did Billy,” Robbie said.
“Billy? You found him then?” Stu said. There was concern in his voice, but what was the cause? Concern because he liked Billy, or was he worried that his crime had been uncovered? Could they be hiding with the murderer instead of from him?
“We did. What was left of him anyway. The body was barely recognizable,” Hank replied. He sounded guarded. Is he thinking the same thing as me? Damn it, I wish I could talk to him in private. Jason liked the rest of the men well enough. They were solid, had never given him reason to dislike or distrust them. Yet Hank was the only one he truly trusted.
“Mac’ll have to pay for what he’s done. If I have to carve justice out of him myself,” Stu said, patting the weapon on his hip. This comment sucked any other conversation from the room. Everyone went quiet, listening for sounds, for anything that would betray Mac’s movements. Yet Oakview was quiet, which was odd. Shouldn’t the police have been back by now? It had been at least a half hour since Kenneth and Chad left. What was taking so long?
“This won’t look good, will it?” Robbie said.
“What do you mean?” Jason asked, mystified by the question.
“Once this is over. We’ll all be going back to jail. Oakview will get shut down for good. Even though we haven’t done nothing. I mean, me and Juni were probably going back to the joint anyhow. Don’t think that the system is done with us yet. You two, though. It’d be a shitty thing. Both of you are on your way out, to go back now…” Robbie left the thought unspoken. What would it be like going back to jail? Could he even survive now? As much as he tried to ignore it, Jason was starting to feel old, slow. His body was breaking down, years of booze and brawls catching up to him. If he went back to jail, he’d be like an old wolf running amongst a young pack. How long until his name wasn’t enough to protect him? Until some bastard wanted to test him, to make his own reputation. Jason shook his head. He didn’t want to even think about what would happen to Hank. It would break him. To be so close to freedom, only to have it snatched away. And for something that wasn’t his fault.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen. Not much use in us guessing about it,” Hank said, though he didn’t sound too hopeful. Not that Jason was harboring much hope himself. Builders build, firemen fight fires, and murderers murder. At least that’s what people would think when this story broke. How could it be spun any differently? The government
would go into damage control mode with the election being only a few months away. They’d come down hard on Oakview to make it seem like they were being tough on crime.
“Hank’s right. The system has to be fair to you. They can’t go pinning Mac’s murders on you four. Wouldn’t be right. I’ll speak up for you, for what it ends up being worth,” Stu said. Jason felt a flicker of hope return, but he tried to push it down. He couldn’t say that the Canadian Criminal Justice system had been unfair to him. But neither had it gone out of its way to help him.
“Best thing to do is stick together and watch each other. If we’re all together, then we all have alibis, and no one else can get hurt. When the police come, Mac’ll have to do something. Something drastic and stupid. He’ll incriminate himself. All we have to do is keep our noses clean. Keep enough doubt and deniability around us, and we’ll be fine.” So long as none of you is the one that has been butchering people, Jason didn’t add.
“Jason’s right. We’ll stay in this kitchen until things blow over,” Hank said.
“Might not have to wait long,” Robbie said. He had his ear to the door and was listening intently. “Pretty sure the cavalry just showed up.”
14
Chapter 14
“Hear anything?”
“Shut the fuck up, Juni. Can’t hear shit over your mouth-breathing.” All five men were clustered around the door, standing as quietly as possible. There were sounds floating in from outside, but it was impossible to tell what they were. And so far it didn’t look like anyone was too eager to leave the kitchen and find out. Jason didn’t envy the police officers outside, preparing to burst through the doors. Oakview had no windows that they could use and only two ways in. Not to mention it was filled with dangerous criminals, most of whom were probably on some drug or another. And they were. He’d seen Hank pop four pills already, twice as many as he should have in a day. Robbie had been taking pull after pull from his flask, sharing its contents with Stu. Jason didn’t ask was Juni was on; he didn’t have to. All he needed to know was written on the younger man’s arms. Doubt that Mac’s living the sober lifestyle. Probably hopped up on steroids and ecstasy or some shit.
The five of them were listening so hard that the sound that came through the door nearly knocked them flat. It was a high screech, one that usually came through speakers that had been looped accidentally.
“Ah! What the fuck,” Robbie said, stumbling backward.
“Guess the fuzz wants to have a word with us,” Jason said. Yet the voice that started booming was familiar. The last voice he wanted to hear right now.
“VANCOUVER POLICE DEPARTMENT. THIS IS THE INMATES OF OAKVIEW SPEAKING. I WILL SAY THIS ONLY ONCE. DO NOT TRY TO FORCE YOUR WAY INSIDE. WE HAVE A HOSTAGE. DO NOT TEST OUR RESOLVE. WE WILL HAVE MORE DEMANDS SOON.” Mac’s voice filled the building. Jason felt his blood chill. He’s speaking for all of us, making it seem like we’re in this together. If they come inside, it’ll be with guns blazing.
“Bastard! Asshole! He’s going to get us all killed!” Robbie yelled.
“Am I the hostage? Or is it someone else?” Stu asked.
“Might be you. Might be Mia. Or he might be bluffing,” Hank said.
“We gotta go find him now. Find him and shove that bullhorn up his ass and toss him through the front door,” Juni said.
“I agree. The longer we wait in here, the worse it gets. We should just leave, force the door open or something. Then they’ll know it’s not us. That we’re not doing anything,” Robbie said.
“Gonna need one hell of a crowbar to get that door open. Pretty sure it was made to keep the plague in or something,” Jason said. It was true, the door had to be at least a quarter of a foot thick, sitting on heavy hinges.
“We can find a way. Anything’s better than sitting in here,” Robbie said.
“He’s right. We gotta get out of here,” Juni said. Jason looked at Hank, who nodded his consent.
“Fine, but we’ll have to be careful—”
Mac’s voice cut Jason off. “I REPEAT. NO ONE GOES IN. NO ONE GOES OUT. YOU WILL UNLOCK THE DOOR BUT SHOOT ANYONE WHO PASSES THROUGH IT. IF YOU DO NOT, THEN I WILL SLIT HER THROAT. OAKVIEW IS OFF LIMITS.” As the echo of Mac’s words died down, the five men just looked at each other.
“Do you think they would do it?” Juni asked.
“Do what? Shoot us if we try to leave? Not sure I want to test them. Not with my life,” Stu said.
“He said ‘her throat.’ He must mean Mia. Could he have her?” Hank said, tossing another pill into his mouth. Jason watched it happen uneasily; he needed Hank to be here and present. If he went off the deep end, it was over.
“Don’t know who else it could be. Unless he grabbed someone from outside. Seems unlikely,” Jason said, rubbing his chin.
“Fuck. Goddamnit. If he’s been hurting her, I’ll tear him apart,” Hank said. There was a darkness returning to his eyes that Jason had never seen before. The Hank he knew was leaving, and someone else was taking over. A person that Hank had tried to bury, that had gotten him his thirty years in jail. A killer.
“Then it’s agreed? We should find Mac and beat his ass, and then save Mia, if he really has her,” Juni said. Robbie growled his assent. Neither Stu nor Hank disagreed, though they didn’t look overly happy about it. Jason felt a pit settle hard in his stomach. He didn’t think it was the right thing to do. They should hunker down and wait for the whole thing to end. If they went looking for Mac, it would only end it blood. Yet he didn’t argue. He wanted to go out there and find Mac just as bad as the rest of them. Wanted to punish him for what he’d done, what he was doing.
His knuckles were itching, and there was only one way to scratch them.
15
Chapter 15
Jason eased the door open and poked his head through. The immediate hallway was clear, though that didn’t comfort him much. The building was a mess of little rooms, and Mac could be hiding in any one, clutching whatever weapons he’d managed to get his hands on. Still, they had to go find him, for themselves and for Mia. She helped all of us. If she’s still alive we have to save her. Even if it means we get hurt. Jason stepped out of the kitchen, very conscious of how loud his footsteps sounded. Oakview was strangely silent. He could hear sirens outside, but they were muted.
“See anything?” Stu asked behind him. The cook had his hand wrapped around the hilt of his cleaver. His presence gave Jason some comfort. If Mac leapt out and stabbed him, at least Stu would avenge him.
“Nothing. Can’t hear nothing either,” he replied.
“You can’t? I can. Fuck, it sounds like there’s voices inside the building,” Stu whispered. What? Jason stood stock still and listened as hard as he could. There was nothing.
“I can’t hear shit.”
“What? It’s not that quiet. Voices, calling from upstairs. I think I recognize them too,” Stu breathed. Jason looked and saw that he was shaking, like a leaf in a breeze.
“Is it Mac?” Jason asked. He still couldn’t hear anything, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t anything to hear. Maybe getting punched in the head enough had deadened his senses.
“No. Not Mac. Sounds like … sounds like … no can’t be them. Can’t be.” Stu’s voice trailed off until he was only mumbling loud enough for him to hear.
“What’s going on?” The others pushed past Stu into the hallway.
“You guys hear voices? From upstairs?” Jason asked.
“Don’t hear shit,” Robbie said. Juni and Hank shook their heads.
“How can you not hear it!” Stu yelled. “They’re as clear as your voices are. Calling out. Asking for help. Asking for me.” Jason was close enough that he could smell the alcohol on his breath. No way Robbie gave him enough to get drunk. Unless he was already drinking before. Jason’s eyes strayed down to the cleaver that Stu was clutching. The last thing they needed was two madmen on the loose. All it would take is one punch, and he could put the cook down. Put him down and take the c
leaver for himself, to keep them all safe.
“Take it easy, Stu. Just take it easy. There aren’t any voices coming from upstairs. None at all. Just relax, buddy,” Hank said.
“There are. There are! What is the matter with the rest of you?” Stu said, taking a step away from them. Behind his back, Hank shot an urgent glance at Jason. Taking a step forward, Jason placed his hand on Stu’s shoulder.
“Relax, Stu. It’s been a stressful day. Maybe it’s just all getting to you. Just go back into the kitchen. Everything is gonna be fine,” he said.
“NO.” Stu shrugged him off. “I have to find them.” Before any of them could do anything, the cook took off down the hallway, heading for the stairs.
“Shit. After him,” Hank yelled, hurrying past Jason. Juni and Robbie followed a moment later, cursing. Jason didn’t move. The prospect of going back upstairs kept him rooted where he stood. What the hell is wrong with him? Stu had always seemed so solid, so calm. To have him lose his head so quickly was unnerving. His friends disappeared up the stairs, leaving him alone. All alone. Suddenly, Jason decided that going upstairs was the lesser of the two evils. They weren’t supposed to separate, yet they had, almost immediately. Jason made to follow the others but stopped.
Just to the right, a door was open. A door that he had been sure was closed just a moment ago. In order to get to the stairs, he would have to walk right past it. Go right past the gaping opening, in plain view of whatever or whoever was inside. Shit. Shit. Shit. Adrenaline hit his bloodstream with the force of a freight train. He couldn’t move. Couldn’t take his eyes off the opening. What could he do? What was the smart thing? Find a weapon. Mac may have been crazy, but he was just a man like the rest of them. If I can find something, I can end this. Jason glanced backwards, into the kitchen. There had to be something in there that he could use. Break the table apart and use the legs maybe. Something. Jason turned back to the hallway. And froze.