Eve of Redemption

by Tom Mohan

  Burke gave a short laugh. “I feel reborn. Like…” He paused, and cocked his head. “You hear that?”

  Martinez listened. “That was a yell. Trinny’s still back there.” He jumped to his feet and held a hand out for Burke. Burke took it, but wobbled and fell when he tried to stand.

  “You go, make sure she’s okay. I need to catch my breath.”

  “Sure? Hate to leave you after all that.”

  Burke waved him away. “Go, I’ll catch up.”

  Martinez turned and hurried back up the path toward the cabins.

  Burke watched him go, willing strength to return to his body. He closed his eyes and inhaled gulps of fresh air.

  “You need to go to him.”

  Burke’s eyes snapped open. Red stood before him. She looked like a kid whose favorite pet had just died.

  “Red, what’s wrong?”

  “David Martinez needs you. It’s terrible, John Burke. Go to him.”

  The look on the little girl’s face scared Burke too much for him to ask any more questions. He climbed to his feet and stumbled along the path until he came to where it opened into the old campground.

  A cry rang out as Burke crossed the clearing. At first he mistook it for an injured animal, but a sinking feeling in his stomach told him otherwise.

  A few moments later, he came upon the cabin that Martinez and Katrina had shared for the past two days. Martinez stood at the door looking in, his massive shoulders blocking Burke’s view of the inside. Again the big man cried out, and then disappeared into the cabin. Burke crept toward the building and mounted the steps. Just as he reached the top, Martinez shifted to one side, allowing Burke to view the horror within.

  Katrina stood against the back wall, her head dangling. Something about her stance seemed wrong—her knees were bent and her upper body leaned forward, as though she had frozen in place while falling. Martinez reached out a shaking hand and lifted his wife’s head. Her sightless eyes gazed at Burke, forcing him to look away. Then he saw the knife handle jutting from her chest. He also noticed a pile of something at her feet. With horror, he realized it was her entrails. The woman had been gutted.

  No. Not her. Please, not her.

  Burke didn’t know what to do. He watched, like a spectator in someone else’s life. Martinez’s powerful body shrunk as miserable sobs shook him. He took his dead wife by the shoulders and pulled her toward him, jarring the knife from the wall. After laying her body on the floor of the cabin, he yanked the knife from her chest and tossed it aside with an anguished yell. His body heaved as he stroked her hair.

  Burke stood in the doorway, a helpless bystander. This is my fault. She shouldn’t have been here. Unable to watch the misery inside the cabin any longer, he turned and shuffled down the steps into the bright light of a perfect southern California morning.

  He found himself staring into the barrel of a gun.

  “Stop right there, and get your hands up where I can see them.”

  It took Burke’s mind a moment to shift gears from what he had seen inside the cabin to what he was seeing out here.

  “I said, get your hands up!”

  Burke complied and saw that a cop held the gun on him. Gray and black swirls darted in and out of Burke’s peripheral vision. He tried to blink them away before realizing he was seeing more of the shadows Red showed him in the homeless camp. Apparently, they were drawn to the cop. Not a good sign, Burke thought.

  “Turn around. Get on the ground, face down. Do it now!” The cop waved the gun, and Burke knew he had little choice but to obey.

  “You, inside the cabin, come out with your hands where I can see them.” The cop’s voice betrayed his nerves, but the gun remained steady. Burke could still hear Martinez’s sobs from inside. If he heard the order, he showed no sign of it.

  “I said, get out here, now!”

  Burke swallowed. They’d camped in the middle of nowhere. This guy could shoot them where they stood, and no one would know. He took a gamble.

  “Better listen to him, Dave. He’s a cop.”

  The young man gave Burke a threatening look, and then turned his attention back to the cabin door, positioning himself so as to keep an eye on both Burke and the door. A shuffling sound came from within the cabin and, a moment later, Martinez’s form filled the door. Katrina’s limp body lay in his arms.

  “Put the woman down, and get on the ground next to your buddy.”

  Burke turned his head just enough to see the cop falter several steps back. He suspected the look on Martinez’s face had something to do with the cop’s movement.

  “You’ve got three seconds to get yourself on the ground, or I put one between your eyes. You got that?”

  Burke wanted to turn to get a better view, but he knew any movement on his part could get him shot. He heard the cop’s heavy breathing along with Martinez’s sniffling. Then he detected another soft sound, and was surprised to see Martinez lie down on the ground beside him.

  “That’s better. Now you, big guy, put your hands behind your back. Do it, quick.”

  Martinez followed the instructions, and Burke heard handcuffs click into place.

  “I only have one pair of those,” the cop said, “so both of you keep your noses in the dirt, or I swear I’ll put a bullet through your stinking brains.”

  Burke wished he could see what the cop was doing. He assumed the man was peering into the cabin to make sure no one else was with them, and that in a moment he would check on Katrina to find out how badly she was hurt.

  “You slaughtered her,” the cop said.

  Burke groaned. He had been afraid of that reaction. He heard Martinez sob beside him.

  “It wasn’t us,” Burke said. “We didn’t kill her. That’s my friend’s wife. Someone killed her while we…”

  “Shut up! I don’t want to hear your stinking lies. I saw what you two did to those folks back in the city. Butchers, the both of you.”

  “What? We didn’t do anything!”

  “I said, shut up. You hear? Just shut up!”

  Burke wanted to sneak a look at Martinez, but he felt afraid to move his head. The big man had remained silent this whole time, and Burke worried he might do something foolish in his despair. People didn’t always act rationally in times like this. He certainly hadn’t. But Martinez remained still.

  “You two are scum, you know that? Scum. I saw what you did to those puppies back there. Butchered them. That’s what you did.”

  Puppies? What’s this guy talking about?

  “Well, you know what? You’re gonna pay for what you did to them. Not so tough now, are you?”

  The cop grabbed Burke by the hair and yanked his head back. The muzzle of the gun pressed hard against his temple. The cop thrust his knee into Burke’s back and pulled his head so far back Burke thought his neck might snap. He gasped and moved his hands to protect himself, but the click of the gun’s hammer being cocked stopped him cold.

  “Go ahead, make me shoot you.” The cop laughed. “I’m going to anyway, you know. Puppy-killing scum like you don’t deserve to live.”

  Again Burke’s neck was stretched to its limit. He turned his eyes to Martinez and saw the big man looking at him, misery etched on his face.

  “I found those people you killed back there,” the cop said. “Killed them just like this one, didn’t you? Gutted her just like you did them. Just like the puppies. Now it’s your turn.”

  Burke cringed as the cop’s voice rose in volume and pitch until his words blurred into a maniacal screech. The barrel of the gun pressed even harder into Burke’s skull until he thought it would poke through. “Now you die,” the cop roared, and Burke knew his time had come. He tensed, wondering if he would hear the shot that killed him, but it never came. The cop groaned, and his free hand flew to his head. His eyes clamped shut and grimaced in pain.

  Martinez took advantage of the sudden opportunity. His huge feet crashed into the side of the cop’s head. The kid dropped to the ground l
ike a rag doll and lay still. Burke flipped himself over and kicked the gun from the unconscious man’s limp hand, and then gave it another kick for good measure.

  “Find the key and get me out of these cuffs,” Martinez said. Burke rifled through the cop’s pockets until he found the key. He released Martinez and wiped a bead of sweat that dripped down his nose.

  Burke was about to ask the big man what they should do next when the injured cop groaned. Martinez grabbed the man and pulled him into a sitting position, his giant hand wrapped around the smaller man’s neck. He jerked him upward until the man stirred, opening glazed eyes.

  “Wake up!” Martinez shouted.

  Burke considered telling Martinez to take it easy, but then he thought better of it. Instead, he scanned the tree line, not wanting to be taken by surprise again. The deep shadows could conceal anything but, for the time being, they kept their secrets to themselves. Burke turned his attention back to the cop and saw that the shadows around him grew more lively and aggressive as he regained consciousness. Burke had to use his peripheral vision to see them, but there was no doubting their presence. If Martinez detected them, he gave no indication of it.

  While Martinez tried to wake the cop enough to get some answers from him, Burke found himself gazing at Katrina’s body. Martinez had closed her eyes before bringing her out. She looked so peaceful, so relaxed. Though her death had been gruesome and no doubt painful, all of the stress and agony of her long bout with cancer had drained from her, leaving her at peace.

  Burke had admired Katrina for her deep faith. Having been personally introduced to her God in the lake, he now wished she were here to guide him, to show him what to do next. The feeling he’d had in the water had begun to fade now that he’d arrived back in the real world with his broken-down body.

  Burke turned his attention back to Martinez and the cop, who now appeared to be at least semiconscious.

  “Okay, buddy,” Martinez said to the dazed man. “Don’t want to hurt a fellow officer. But I’m in a real bad mood right now, and you’re the only one with answers.”

  The cop shook his head. “The puppy’s dead.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Burke could see Martinez’s patience running short.

  “The puppy…” The cop squeezed his eyes shut as he shook his head again. “No, not puppy—people. Killed the people.”

  Burke watched, mesmerized, as the shadows surrounding the young man grew more frenzied, darting around him and through him. Burke felt a light vibration in the air. It reminded him of the last rock concert he had attended twenty-odd years ago. But in this case, there was no music. He held his hand out in front of him and moved it back and forth. It seemed the strange sensation came from the shadow-covered cop.

  The cop’s eyes grew clearer. “You killed them?” It was more of a question than an accusation. He looked around, taking in his surroundings. “Where? What’s going on?” He began tugging at the cuffs. “What are you doing? I’m an officer of the law.”

  “An officer of the law who’s gonna be in a world of hurt if you don’t shut up and listen,” Martinez said.

  “You can’t talk to m—” The officer saw the truth of the threat in Martinez’s eyes and cut his protest short.

  Martinez pointed to Katrina’s body. “She’s my wife, you got that? My wife, who I love more than anything in this god-forsaken world. She’s dead—murdered by either you, or someone who came here with you.” Martinez’s finger moved from his wife to the chest of the young cop. “Now, you’re going to tell me what happened here, or the term police brutality will seem like a kid’s game compared to what I’m going to do to you.”

  Burke felt the vibration emanating from the cop strengthen, becoming more agitated. He thought he heard a hum join with it and tried to focus on it. He definitely sensed a sound from the moving shadows. The more frenzied their movement, the louder the hum.

  “Dave, something’s happening here,” Burke said.

  Martinez turned his attention from the cop. “What?”

  Burke shook his head. “I don’t know, but this isn’t all it looks like. You don’t see anything weird when you look at him?”

  “No, what should I see?”

  “I’m not sure how to explain it.” He shrugged. “Go ahead with your questions.”

  Burke watched as Martinez grilled the cop on the strange events of the past couple of days. At first, the young man appeared almost as confused as Martinez and Burke. But with careful questioning, he began to come up with more detail. Burke watched the shadows grow more and more excited as the questioning went on. The cop had broken out in a sweat and struggled to catch his breath.

  “You keep saying there was someone else, but you aren’t giving me much to go on,” Martinez said. “Who came here with you? Who killed my wife?” The words came out in a snarl as the last of Martinez’s patience expired.

  The cop’s eyes bulged. His mouth moved, his tongue clucking, but he couldn’t form any words. Burke looked at Martinez just as the big man grabbed the cop by the shoulders and began shaking him like a rag doll.

  “Ung…bnhg…” the cop muttered.

  Then, the cop’s head exploded in front of their eyes, followed closely by the sound of a gunshot. Burke and Martinez glanced at one another and then dropped to the ground and rolled behind the cabin.

  “Think we just confirmed he wasn’t alone,” Martinez said.

  “You think?”

  Another shot rang out, splintering the dry wood of the cabin inches from Burke’s face. He scrambled further back, pulling Martinez with him. His hand brushed over something, and he picked up the dead cop’s gun as Martinez pulled his own pistol from beneath his jacket. Without another glance behind them, the two men dove into the cabin and slammed the door.

  THE SERPENT LAUGHED as he squeezed off another shot. He’d never fired a gun before, and he found it loads of fun. He was a natural at it, too. He’d nailed the cop right in the head on the first try, with the man’s own gun no less. He laughed again as he watched the two men duck for cover. He knew he wouldn’t be able to hit Burke. Oh no, that wasn’t allowed, was it? Burke’s protection made him untouchable. But the Serpent had other ways of doing damage. Besides, no one said the other guy was off-limits.

  The Serpent looked down the sights of the pistol again, amazed at how clear the shot looked to him. Whatever had happened back there with the old woman, he felt Lord Denizen’s power flowing through him again. His master had not deserted him. The Serpent aimed at the corner of the building, knowing that the gun had the power to punch a bullet right through the rotted wood. He didn’t know guns, but this one had sure done the trick on its owner’s head. Popped that zit.

  The Serpent laughed, feeling better than ever. The moment he had buried the knife in the woman’s chest, something had happened—something terrible and wonderful at the same time. The Serpent wasn’t afraid to admit, to himself at least, that he had been scared at first. That old woman possessed power beyond what his master had shown him. He had run out of that place like a little girl, leaving his favorite knife behind. Only after he’d fled deep within the cover of the trees did he fall to his knees and heave his guts out. He had been shaking badly, but he felt better after puking. Then, he realized why he was sick and shaking. Every memory of all the ugliness of his life had raced through his head, stoking the hate within him like a bonfire.

  Sometime during all this, the Serpent had lost his hold on the cop—lost his hold on everything, for that matter. For a time, he knew nothing. When he came to his senses once again, he was staring up through the pines at the blue sky above. His awakening was not a slow confused ordeal. He remembered where he was and what was happening. And he felt strong—really strong.

  The Serpent had gone back to the edge of the forest and taken in the scene at the cabin. He had hoped the cop would be able to kill Burke, but the idiot had screwed everything up and gotten himself caught. That no longer bothered the Serpent. Like everyone, th
e cop was expendable.

  Now as the Serpent stood, laughing at the futility of the men in the cabin, the shadows around him grew deeper.

  That was when he saw them. They were everywhere, coming toward him.

  Brothers. His brothers.

  Demons.

  Thousands of them, coming to do his bidding. He knew what was going on, as if this sort of thing happened every day.

  Victory. Let me show you what you have become.

  The Serpent smiled. “Yes, Master. Show me.”

  Burke rolled into the small cabin. Another shot rang out, and one of the two windows imploded. Burke reached up and slid the dead bolt home before crawling across the room to ensure the back door was locked as well. Martinez peeked over the window sill.

  “See anything?” Burke wondered why he was whispering. It wasn’t like the shooter didn’t know where they were.

  “No,” Martinez said. “They’re in the woods.”

  “How you set for ammo?”

  “Full clip in and one extra.”

  Burke knelt beside Martinez and risked a quick look out the broken window. Directly in front of the cabin lay the bodies of Katrina and the cop. The path to the lake extended to their right, and the forest sat on their left. Everything seemed still and quiet.

  “You think the cop had backup?” Burke asked.

  Martinez shook his head. “Didn’t act like it. Besides, I swear I heard laughter after the kid was shot.”

  “And the shot was too perfect.”

  “That’s why I’m keeping my head down.”

  “I don’t get it,” Burke said. “No matter what we do, things just keep getting worse.”