Devil's Throat (The River Book 6)

by Michael Richan

  They didn’t stop until Deem emerged into the opening with the ladder. Roy followed, and took a moment to catch his breath. He turned around to look back into the adit. The sunlight made it hard to see back into the tunnel. Deem went straight for the ladder, climbing up rapidly. Roy followed, going a little slower, rechecking each rung on his way up. The creatures that followed them hadn’t entered this opening; he figured they must not like the sunlight.

  Deem extended an arm to him as he topped the ladder, and she helped pull him out. Then she replaced the plywood covering.

  “God, I hate that place,” she said, adjusting the plywood so that it completely covered the hole. “So fucking boring!” She looked up at Roy and shot him a quick smile.

  Roy laughed. She’s alright, he thought.

  ◊

  Winn lay on the other bed in Steven’s room, the one not used by Jason. He adjusted himself a few times until he felt comfortable.

  “If he agrees to leave,” Winn reminded them, “make sure you tell him he has to go back and play along, not give them any indication he’s planning to go. I’ll talk to him, too.”

  “And if he says he won’t?” Steven asked.

  “Then that’s that,” Winn said. “So do your best.”

  “Alright,” Steven said, worried.

  “I’ll help,” Roy said, seeing Steven’s concern.

  “Here I go,” Winn said. “It should take about ten minutes before he comes back. If I come back before he does, that means I couldn’t get him to even listen to you.”

  Deem stepped over to Winn’s bed, holding a Big Gulp cup, sipping from the straw. She placed the cup down on the nightstand next to the bed. Winn closed his eyes, and after a few seconds Deem pressed the palm of her left hand onto Winn’s chest and held it there. She watched as his eyes moved under his eyelids, and after a couple of minutes she removed her hand and picked the Big Gulp back up. She looked up at Steven and Roy, who were standing at the foot of Jason’s bed. “He claims it helps him trance deeper for going into St. Thomas,” she said. “Could be total bullshit and his way of getting me to touch him.”

  She walked around to where Steven and Roy were standing. Steven checked his watch. It had been four minutes.

  “You know what you’re going to say, if he comes?” Roy asked Steven.

  “Not sure exactly,” he said. “I’ll have to wing it.”

  “Well, whatever you do,” Roy said, “don’t get all bossy like you do. That’ll just piss him off and he’ll stop listening to you.”

  “You’re one to talk,” Steven said.

  “Maybe I should talk to him,” Roy said.

  “You jump in if it looks like I’m failing,” Steven said. “I’d like a chance to save my own son first, if you don’t mind.”

  “You two always like this?” Deem asked, looking at them.

  “He is,” Roy said, nodding at Steven. “I’m not.”

  Deem turned back to look at Winn. He was motionless. She walked up to him and checked his pulse, then she walked to Jason and checked his.

  Steven sighed and began to pace the room. After a couple of moments he checked his watch again. Eight minutes in, two to go.

  He walked to the side of Jason’s bed, looking down at him. What a mistake not to talk to him when he wanted me to, he thought. We’re going to correct that tonight.

  As if on cue, Jason’s eyes began to flutter, and he slowly opened them. He squinted, the light of the room appearing to be too bright.

  “Turn off the overhead light, will you, Dad?” Steven asked. Roy fumbled for the wall switch, and at the same time Steven turned on the nightstand light.

  “Dad?” Jason said, rising up on one elbow.

  “Careful,” Steven said. “Don’t get up. You’ve got an IV in your arm.”

  “Why?” he asked, a little disoriented. “Where am I?”

  “You’re in the same motel that you came to with Michael,” Steven said. “We’ve moved you into my room so we could keep an eye on you, make sure you’re safe. The IV is to keep you hydrated. You’ve been out of it for a couple of days.”

  Jason sat up in the bed, resting his head against the headboard.

  “Hi Jason,” Roy said.

  “Grandpa Roy?” Jason said, squinting. “You’re here too?”

  “I am,” Roy replied. “And this pretty young girl is Deem. She’s been helping us.”

  Deem gave Jason a silent wave, and Jason smiled and nodded at her.

  “What are you all doing here?” Jason asked, starting to become more like himself.

  “We’re here to rescue you,” Steven said. “From Michael.”

  “From Michael?” Jason asked. “Why? I don’t need to be rescued.”

  “Let me explain,” Steven said. “Will you hear me out?”

  “Go ahead,” Jason said.

  “First off,” Steven said, “I want to apologize for not talking to you about the gift back in Seattle when you came to me. I had my reasons for not wanting to talk to you about it, but the more I thought about them, the more I realized you needed to know. And your Grandpa Roy convinced me too. I was literally about to call you to discuss it when I got your message about going out of town.”

  “How did you find me?” Jason asked.

  “I tracked your phone,” Steven said.

  Jason seemed confused. “Why would you come all the way down here after me?” he asked.

  “Because I know Michael,” Steven said. “From the past. He targeted you because of some history that I have with him. It’s bad news, Jason. Very bad stuff.”

  “This place he’s taken me to is great,” Jason said. “You can’t believe how cool it is.”

  “I can,” Steven said. “I’ve seen it. I know what they’re doing at the hotel. They’re training you, so you can serve some evil creature. Just like Michael did.”

  “That’s not what they said,” Jason said.

  “That’s because they lie,” Steven said. “They’re like a cult. You can exercise your gift without becoming involved with them. Come back to Seattle with me and Roy, and we’ll train you. If you stick with these people, you’ll just be sold off to some twisted creature, like Michael was.”

  “What are you talking about?” Jason said. “That isn’t at all what’s happening there.”

  “Jason, listen to me,” Steven said. “Your grandfather and I did battle with Michael and a creature he was serving named Lukas. He and Lukas had kidnapped and eaten – eaten – little children in Seattle, in an attempt to complete some ritual for Lukas. Roy and I killed Lukas, but Michael survived. When he saw that you’d moved next door, he took advantage of that. Jennifer told us how he pressed you, how he ingratiated himself.”

  “You talked to Jennifer?” Jason asked.

  “We were trying to track you down,” Steven said.

  “Everything your father is telling you is true,” Roy said. “Michael is a child killer. He was trained here at St. Thomas to be an assistant to Lukas, just as he’s having you trained now. He’s doing it to get back at both of us for killing Lukas. He told us as much.”

  Jason sat stunned, his mouth open. His eyes glanced from side to side, as though he was thinking through everything he’d just heard.

  “So you’re saying he dragged me down here to make me like him?” Jason said.

  “You can practice the gift without Michael,” Steven said. “All of us do. We make our own way. But there are people who take advantage of young gifteds like yourself, and turn them into a kind of slave. Once they’ve finished training you, they sell you to someone like Lukas, and you’ll be expected to serve them.”

  “They said I’d be given a mentor,” Jason said, “for further training.”

  “That’s true,” Roy said. “But the work you’ll be doing will be evil. Your father and I don’t practice that kind of work. We help people, we try to protect people from people like Michael and Lukas.”

  “Come back with me,” Steven said. “Grandpa Roy and I will
start your training as soon as we get back. There’s a ton of things we will show you, some really amazing stuff. But you have to leave this place and distance yourself from Michael.”

  Jason slowly nodded his head. “He told me you’d say that.”

  “Who?” Steven asked. “Michael?”

  “Yes,” Jason said. “I want to believe you, but everything he told me would happen is happening. He’s been right.”

  “It wasn’t that hard to predict we’d come to rescue you,” Roy said. “Do you think we’d just leave you to him?”

  “I don’t know,” Jason said. “I’m…confused.”

  “I’m asking for your trust, Jason,” Steven said. “I promise you we know what Michael’s up to here, and it’s bad. And it’ll be bad for you. And they’ll tell you anything to get you to stay.”

  Steven could see the wheels turning in Jason’s mind. “What do you want me to do?” Jason asked.

  “We have to remove you from St. Thomas carefully,” Steven said. “It won’t be tonight. You’ll need to go back and play along with their training. Winn will come back on another night and then we’ll be able to physically leave, OK?”

  “Alright,” Jason said hesitantly. “I think I can do that.”

  “I’m so sorry, Jason,” Steven said, taking his hand. “I should have told you sooner, you were asking me, your grandpa told me I should, but I didn’t move fast enough. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

  Jason smiled at him.

  “When you go back,” Deem said, “it’s important that you don’t give them any indication that we’ve talked or you plan to leave. Just keep on doing what you were doing.”

  “OK,” Jason said.

  “We’ll see you in a couple of days, tops,” Steven said, “then we’ll road trip back to Seattle. Stay safe in there.”

  “What happens now?” Jason asked, lying back down. “How do I get back?”

  “Do you know how to initiate a trance?” Steven asked.

  “They explained it yesterday,” Jason said. “But I don’t know how I got there in the first place.”

  “Close your eyes and drop into the River,” Steven said, smiling as he gave Jason his first instruction as a father. “Then concentrate on St. Thomas and yourself inside the hotel. Think of nothing else. Don’t let any other thoughts come into your thinking until you’re actually there.”

  Deem stepped forward and placed her hand on Jason’s chest, pressing lightly. “This might help,” she said, holding her hand there for a couple of minutes, then removing her hand. “I think he made it,” she said, glancing at his face.

  “A natural,” Roy said. “Like his grandfather.”

  After a couple of minutes Winn opened his eyes and sat up.

  “How did it go?” Deem asked him.

  “Quick,” Winn said. “Quickest one I’ve ever done. He agreed to go talk with you right away. I guess it worked, huh?”

  “Yes,” Steven said, “it worked. He’s coming.”

  Deem offered Winn her Big Gulp but he declined. “I wouldn’t mind a beer though,” he said.

  “I’ve got a couple in the fridge in my room,” Roy said. “Hang on, I’ll get you one.”

  “What now?” Steven asked. “Tomorrow night?”

  “Tomorrow works,” Winn said, “as long as we have a good plan for Michael.”

  Roy walked back into the room, carrying a can of beer. He tossed it to Winn, who caught it and popped it.

  “What are we going to do about Michael?” Steven asked.

  “I’m going to kill him, that’s what,” Roy said.

  “The issue is the timing,” Winn said. “Thinking out loud here: while I’m at St. Thomas dealing with Jason and cleaning up our tracks, you’ve got to take care of him. He’s going to figure out Jason is gone one of two ways: either by watching us physically leave the motel, or by realizing that he’s left St. Thomas in the morning, when they wake up and see that he’s gone. The powder will stop the Callers from tracking us, but it’ll do little good if he just tells them where we are because he saw us. They’ve got influences everywhere downwind. You’ve got to get Jason out of here pronto.” Winn swung his feet off the bed and onto the floor, sitting on the edge of the bed. He took another swallow of beer.

  “It’s eight hours up 93 to Idaho,” Steven said. “Even if we do this right at midnight, sunrise will hit before we clear the state line.”

  “You won’t go that way,” Winn said. “You can’t stay downwind that long. The quickest way out is west. You’ll go west to Barstow on I-15 as fast as you can. Once you’re an hour past Vegas and into California you’ll be outside the downwind area and much safer. Then you can make your way to Bakersfield and take I-5 home.”

  “What happens if they find us?” Steven asked.

  “They won’t,” Winn said, standing up and stretching, “as long as you make it to California. Deem’s powder primarily protects me, since I’ll still be downwind after you go. They won’t know I was involved, since the powder gets rid of all the tracks they’d use to find me.”

  “Not that we’re planning a trip back anytime soon,” Roy said, “but how long do we have to avoid the area? And which areas exactly?”

  “After six months they won’t care anymore,” Winn said, “and you can come back and be safe. But until then, stay out of Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.”

  “No problem,” Roy said quickly.

  “And I’d stay out of New Mexico, Wyoming, Colorado, and maybe Idaho, too,” Winn said. “Pull up a map of the fallout on the internet and you’ll see where it all went. They’ve got networks throughout the whole area, so just steer clear. Stay in Seattle.”

  “Back to Michael,” Steven said, turning to Roy. “You’ll have to track him so you can take him down tomorrow night.”

  “We know he’s got a room here,” Roy said. “I’ll finish him off in the room if here’s there. If not, we’ll have to stake it out and hope he comes by so we can follow him until the time is right.”

  “What do we do with Michael’s body?” Steven asked.

  “I know a place we can take it,” Deem said.

  “Palmerton caves?” Winn asked.

  “Yup,” Deem replied.

  “You’re going to bury him in a cave?” Roy asked.

  “Nope,” she said. “Just dump his body into the opening. It’s very deep.”

  “Someone might still discover it,” Roy said. “This guy is a monster and deserves to die, but I’ll still go to jail if his body is discovered.”

  “It won’t be,” Deem said. “It’ll be gone completely.”

  “Not if you just dump it into a cave,” Steven said.

  “You don’t know what’s in this cave,” Deem said, smiling. She took another sip from her Big Gulp.

  Chapter Eight

  The next morning Roy began his surveillance of Michael by sitting in the car in the parking lot, watching. He let Steven take the car for coffee and food while he stood under the shade of a tree across from the motel. When Steven returned with the food, he joined Steven and they ate in the car, with the A/C blasting.

  “Anything yet?” Steven asked, handing Roy a large styrofoam cup filled with coffee.

  “Nope,” Roy said. “Haven’t seen anything coming or going.”

  “We don’t even know if he’s in the room right now, right?”

  “Right. I’m going to go up there and check in a bit.”

  “It’s gonna be a long day,” Steven said, “keeping tabs on this guy.”

  “I don’t care,” Roy said. “I just want to end it. End him.”

  “You sound a little more convinced than after we killed Lukas,” Steven said.

  “I’ve come around to your way of thinking,” Roy said, remembering Frank Wilmon and how he had to go back and eliminate that threat from the past. Steven didn’t have any memories of Frank, but the incident had changed Roy. “I still think it’s a case by case basis, but in general I think your approach of eliminating monsters that migh
t have a vendetta against us is a good idea.”

  “Sounds logical when you phrase it that way,” Steven said, eating a breakfast burrito. “We know if anyone deserves to go, it’s Michael.”

  They sat in the car a while longer. Nothing moved outside Michael’s door. The maid came and went, ignoring the room since it had its ‘Do Not Disturb’ hanger out.

  “Alright, I’m going to go check,” Roy said. “Keep an eye on me.”

  Roy walked up to Michael’s room and knocked. There was no answer. He tried to peer inside the window but couldn’t see past the curtains. He walked back to Steven’s car.

  “No answer and I can’t see inside,” Roy said. “I wish Deem was here to slip through the window. No way I’ll fit.”

  “We can call her if it comes to it,” Steven said.

  They watched for a while longer, Steven removing his phone and checking email. He brought up a browser and continued to search for information on St. Thomas.

  “Look!” Roy said, grabbing Steven’s arm. He pointed to Michael’s door.

  Steven looked up, and saw that Michael had emerged from the room. He was pulling the door closed behind him. They watched as he walked to his car, an old black Mercedes, got in, and began backing it up.

  “Let’s follow him,” Roy said. Steven started up his car, and they waited for Michael to leave the motel parking lot.

  Then they followed Michael around town. He went to Pete’s for lunch, then stopped at a drug store. After an hour he wound up back at the motel. They watched as he went back into the room.

  “Well,” Roy said, “at least now we know he’s in there.”

  “Do you think he knows we followed him?” Steven said.

  “I don’t know,” Roy said. “You hung back pretty far. It wasn’t hard to follow a Mercedes in this town. But Michael’s a cunning little prick, so who knows.”