Riverwatch

by Joseph Nassise

  The Sheriff glanced back over his shoulder and, seeing the weird light and the seizure that held Katelynn securely in its grip, he reacted with the quickness of years of training.

  He skidded to a stop on the shoulder of the road abruptly enough to toss Sam against the security of his seatbelt. Damon was out of the car and opening the rear door to get to Katelynn before Sam even realized they had stopped.

  For her part, Katelynn felt a sudden, sickening swirl of light and color, and the sensation of falling down a long dark well where she found herself looking through the eyes of the Nightshade.

  Directly into Jake’s face.

  He was there, no more than three inches in front of her, and she could tell by his position that the beast must be holding him in its grasp. Jake’s face was covered with a fine sheen of sweat, his brow contorted with pain. The Nightshade continued to stare directly into his face, so Katelynn was unable to see the rest of Jake’s body to determine how badly he was hurt, but at least he was still alive.

  The question was, for how long.

  The two of them stood that way for what seemed like hours to Katelynn, but what in reality was only a few seconds, before Jake’s eyes suddenly popped open and she found herself staring into their depths. Her heart cried in anguish at the intense pain she could see reflected within them; he was suffering, there was no question of that. Along with the pain, Katelynn could see the blaze of his anger and determination; a wave of emotion that caused those usually gentle eyes to go icy blue with resolve. Jake was still fighting, but Katelynn wondered how much longer he could keep it up.

  They had to get there in time!

  Suddenly, she sensed a third presence in the link, one that emanated from the Nightshade itself. It was aware of her presence in return, might have even pulled her into the link intentionally, for the waves of anger and fury that were directed at her almost swamped her.

  A realization came to her; the necklace worked in both directions! As long as she had it, the beast could seek her out in turn, at any moment, any time it liked, and could pull her into the twisted depths of its mind.

  Before she could react to that knowledge, the beast suddenly plunged both her and Jake into the well of its memories.

  *** ***

  She came to in the back of the Bronco, with the doors open on either side and Sam and Damon leaning in to help her. When they saw that she was conscious they released her and backed up slowly, the concern on their faces evident.

  "Sam!" she cried, grasping his arm tightly. "We’ve got to keep moving. The Nightshade has Jake!"

  Sam didn’t have time to answer. Damon was already sliding behind the wheel, and Sam had to hustle to keep from being left behind. In seconds the car was moving, speeding toward Riverwatch.

  Chapter Thirty-four: A Fiery End

  In the end, it was Loki who saved him.

  Jake was unable to move, frozen in place by the pain radiating out from his left leg and the mental weight of knowing that no matter what he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop the beast.

  As those savage jaws descended, Jake gave himself up for lost, and sent a quick prayer skyward that his friends would take his death as a sign to get out of town as quickly as they could.

  As he felt the Nightshade’s hot, fetid breath on his face and heard the rumble of eager anticipation in his ears, Jake turned his face away, unable to face his own destruction. In doing so, he caught a flicker of motion out of the corner of his eye, and watched in spellbound fascination as Loki hurtled through the doorway, aimed for the Nightshade’s back.

  Loki’s form seemed to glide through the air in slow motion, all grace and power, his lips pulled back from his teeth in a vicious snarl of ferocity and rage; 140 pounds of solid muscle aimed at the thing which threatened his master.

  As Loki reached the zenith of his leap and arced downward his paws extended before him to absorb the impending impact. Jake found the energy to wrench free from the creature’s grip and fall to the floor.

  He was just in time.

  The Nightshade’s jaws snapped shut with an audible clack in the space where Jake’s face had been only seconds before.

  The beast whipped his head around d, following Jake’s motion instinctively, and in the cold gleam of its eyes Jake could see the raw, undiluted hatred as the beast realized that his prey had managed to elude its fate.

  Before it had time to act on that knowledge, however, Loki slammed into it from behind, driving its body against the wall with incredible force.

  Something snapped with a loud crack and the beast roared with pain.

  Jake moved along the wall, away from the vicious confrontation happening behind him. Pain welled up from his leg and his feet didn’t want to cooperate with what his mind was telling them, yet he managed to put several feet between him and the Nightshade. A voice in the back of his mind was wondering just how Loki had managed to get loose from the Jeep, but he ignored it, knowing he was still in incredible danger and needing to concentrate on finding a means of escape.

  He had to find some way to stop the beast long enough that he and Loki could get out of the confines of the garret and into the rest of the house where they might be able to lose the beast and escape with their lives.

  Behind him, the beast roared in anger. The answering snarl of fury let Jake know that Loki was still alive and fighting.

  He looked around desperately, trying to find something to stop the beast, even if it was for only a short time. His glance showed Loki standing a few feet away, his back to Jake, his legs tensed and his belly slung low to the ground, snarling. It didn’t appear as if the Nightshade was afraid of the dog in any way, though Loki must have hurt it since the creature stood with its right side forward, favoring its left. From where he stood Jake could see that the beast’s left wing hung limply at its side, and he wondered if that was what he had heard snap when the creature had been forced against the wall. Was it really that fragile?

  As he watched, Loki dashed in at the beast, keeping low, snapping at its legs the way a wolf will worry the legs of a deer. Every time he would rush in, the creature’s claw would lash out in a vicious strike. Jake knew that if the beast managed to connect with one of those blows, Loki would die.

  Jake had to find a weapon before that happened.

  Had to.

  But where?

  The only objects in view where those few things he had brought with him, along with several rotting beams that had broken away from the room’s walls. The gun had proved useless and the short pocketknife he always carried would be as effective as throwing stones.

  A sharp squeal sounded from behind him, and Jake knew he was about run out of time. The beast had scored a blow, and it was just a matter of time before Loki jinked when he should have jagged and ended up a bloody ball of fur on the floor.

  Jake’s gaze fell on the Coleman lantern and he knew he’d found what he needed.

  *** ***

  Swerving into the drive, Damon slammed on the brakes just in time to avoid smashing into the back of Jake’s Jeep. Before the car had even come to a full stop Sam was out the door, running over to his friend’s vehicle. Katelynn and Damon joined him there a second later.

  A great, gaping hole could be seen in the Jeep’s windshield. Shattered glass covered the hood as if something had burst free from the inside.

  Some of the shards were edged with drying blood.

  Without a word Damon walked back to the Bronco and opened the back, removing the rifle from the rack he kept there. He chambered a round, and the sound was strangely loud in the still morning air.

  He smiled grimly.

  "Let’s go," he said.

  *** ***

  The lantern stood alone on the other side of the room near the doorway through which he’d entered. Jake dragged himself across the room, scooping up the pistol as he went by, ignoring the searing flash of pain that radiated out from his injured leg. With the gun in hand, he reached the opposite wall and picked up the lant
ern.

  A glance across the room told him he didn’t have much time. Loki was still harrying the beast, barking up a storm to confuse it, but his motions were slower, weaker, and with each attack he came that much closer to the beast’s claws. It would only be a matter of time before another blow connected. Jake could see a wide wound in Loki’s flank where the first blow had struck, and the brilliant red of the dog’s blood was shocking against the pure white of his fur. He would need extensive care at the hands of a good vet if they got out of this alive.

  When they got out of this alive, Jake corrected himself.

  With his right hand he twisted the fuel knob on the lantern, turning the gas up as high as it would go, then yelled to get the Nightshade’s attention.

  "Hey asshole! Over here!"

  For just an instant, the creature took its eyes off of Loki and looked at Jake.

  That was all the two of them needed.

  With a snarl, Loki dashed in under the reach of the beast’s deadly claws and sank his teeth into the soft underside of the creature’s knee, severing the muscles there as neatly as if it had been done with a knife, pulling the beast down and off of its feet. It crashed to the floor. At the same time, Jake hurled the lantern at its head as hard as he could.

  The Coleman smashed into Moloch’s shoulder just as its arm came up and around to brace its fall, trapping the flaming lantern between wing and chest.

  The Nightshade let out a howl of pain and anger.

  *** ***

  Damon, Sam and Katelynn dashed up the stairs and into the house. From high above, the sounds of the conflict drifted down to greet them, and Damon wasted no time rushing up the stairs in hot pursuit.

  "Come on!" Damon called to the others as he reached the final staircase, but there had been no need, for Katelynn and Sam were right on his heels.

  At that moment, a shot rang out from above.

  *** ***

  Once the beast collapsed onto the lantern, Jake called out to Loki to heel. At once the dog stopped his attack and backed away, snarling all the while, clearly unhappy but obeying his master, as always.

  Jake loved him for it.

  Moloch used his good wing to push himself partially off the floor, his injured arm and leg hanging limply at his side. As he rose, Jake could see the lantern on the floor beneath him, the beast’s weight had smashed the glass but hadn’t smothered the flame.

  As Moloch roared out his challenge, he called on his power, ordering his tissues to begin healing the ravaged bone and muscle.

  In that moment of hesitation, Jake saw his chance and took it.

  Raising the pistol in his right hand, he took aim on the cylinder of gas that fed the lantern and fired.

  *** ***

  The Sheriff entered the garret ahead of the others and what he saw there froze him in his tracks.

  A great hulking beast was slowly dragging itself to its feet on the other side of the room, and as Damon stopped in the entryway, it turned its yellow eyes on him and snarled in rage. The intelligence and hatred in those eyes caused the blood to freeze in Damon’s veins. It was clear the thing was injured, yet even as he watched, it seemed to be gathering strength, using one of its long, winged arms to push itself up off the floor and into a semi-erect position.

  Off to Damon’s right, Jake Caruso lay on the floor with his arm outstretched and pointing a pistol at the beast. Jake was slumped against the wall, one leg twisted at a peculiar angle. Between him and the beast crouched a dog, torn and bloody from the fight but still in the game.

  The sudden sound of the Jake’s second shot as Jake fired made Damon jump.

  *** ***

  Jake stared in dismay as the shot went wide, the recoil pulling the gun to the left so that the bullet slammed into the wood floor, barely audible over Moloch’s snarls of anger.

  The beast was slowly getting up, moving away from the lantern.

  Jake couldn’t let that happen!

  He fired again, peripherally aware of movement on his left but ignoring it, concentrating on getting the shot where he wanted it, praying for it to connect before the beast got too far away. He gripped the butt of the gun as tightly as he could to prevent as much drift as possible; praying, praying, needing the shot to be true, knowing if it wasn’t he might not get another chance.

  His second shot went wild as well.

  Oh, Jesus! he thought, watching in horror as the beast climbed to its feet, the damage Loki had done to its hamstring now completely healed so it could support itself on both legs, its wing slowly knitting itself back together as well.

  Jake realized that in less than a minute it would be completely healed.

  Suddenly other shots rang out in the room, and Jake watched in awe as the power of the impact drove the beast right back down to its knees, huge chunks of flesh ripping out of the side of its head and shoulder, the gun obviously in the hands of someone who knew how to use it, the sound of the shots echoing around the walls of the small chamber.

  Jake twisted to see the Sheriff, Katelynn, and Sam framed in the doorway, the former pointing a very large rifle at the beast while chambering another round.

  Their gazes met, and Jake could see the fear and horror in the Sheriff’s eyes, the disbelief being shoved aside in favor of action; the mind’s need for survival waiting until later to rationalize the presence of the deadly thing before them.

  Their weapons went off in unison this time.

  Damon’s shot took the Nightshade high in the side of the head, driving it backward, just as Jake’s struck the gas canister of the Coleman lantern with a metallic whine.

  The resulting spark ignited the propane inside, setting it aflame with a loud thump and mini-explosion. Burning fluid splashed over the beast’s neck and shoulders as it was forced down by the power of Damon’s rifle.

  Amazingly, within seconds the Nightshade’s whole head was ablaze, covered with the burning fluid.

  A loud, piercing scream of pain came from the thing’s mouth as it struggled to its feet. Loki was barking furiously now, Sam was at the door screaming, "Kill it! Kill it!" and Damon was readying his rifle for another shot, when suddenly the fire that was consuming the beast leapt to the rafters above. The flames spread quickly on the dry and rotting wood.

  Within seconds, that entire side of the room was a raging inferno.

  "We’ve got to get out of here!" Katelynn yelled to them over the hideous cries of the beast, and she rushed over to Jake and grabbed him under his good arm. Supporting his weight, she began dragging him towards the door and out of the room. Sam rushed over to help while Damon let loose with another shot.

  Before Jake knew it, the four of them of them were rushing down the narrow staircase, the eerie cries of the beast being drowned out by the roar of the flames as they hungrily consumed the fuel on all sides. Loki dashed past and led the way before them, still barking like crazy.

  They reached the second floor as the smoke began to flood the hall before them in great, billowing, black clouds. By the time they descended the stairs and dashed across the living room to the front door, the flames were rushing from the room and consuming the third floor in their fiery grip.

  The group raced from the house and took refuge behind the vehicles further down the drive, turning as one to watch the spectacle unfold behind them.

  The entire upper portion of the house was in flames; the fire raging out of control as it burned through the wood. The garret was one mass of flames so bright they were forced to shield their eyes to see it. Damon opened the door of the Bronco and slid inside to put out the fire alarm over the police band. The others lowered Jake to the ground, leaning him against the fender so he could see, Loki crouched at his side, refusing to leave his master.

  "Look!" Katelynn cried suddenly and pointed to the upper level where the wood surrounding one of the windows had burst free and a blazing form stood for a second framed in the light.

  It was the Nightshade, its entire form shrouded in flames.

&
nbsp; For just a moment it hung there, those eerie cries of pain and anger still issuing forth from its maw, and then with a massive shove of its powerful legs it launched itself into space.

  The beast spread its wings, and those below could see that these too were ablaze as they beat frantically for a minute against the air, trying to raise the beast’s form into the sky, yet the beating of its wings did nothing but fan the flames.

  With a great cry the thing plunged earthward, a fiery comet on the last leg of its journey, roaring down through the sky, blazing, crashing into the placid waters of the Quinnepeg River.

  Chapter Thirty-five: Aftermath

  "�and I cannot say enough about the bravery and professionalism that these men exhibited in the face of danger. They were a testament to themselves, this town, and this country."

  The news clip jumped from Sheriff’s Wilson’s eulogy to the long procession of fellow officers that had come to pledge their support to the families of Deputies Jones and Bannerman. The line of blue and tan uniforms stretched down the street, unquestionably the largest gathering of officers Harrington Falls had ever hosted. The 2 fallen brothers-in-arms were being recognized as heroes and the town wanted everyone to know they understood and appreciated the sacrifice that these men had made.

  "As you know, these brave officers were slain on duty while trying to apprehend a murder suspect in Harrington Falls, a small town just north of Montepelier. Two days after their deaths, a confrontation occurred between the alleged killer and Sheriff Damon Wilson, who we just saw delivering the eulogy for these fine men. That confrontation ended in the death of the suspect and the accidental fire that razed the town’s oldest estate, Riverwatch, to the ground. Back to you, Steve."

  Jake used the remote to turn off the television set. All the networks were carrying the funeral. The news channels had been covering the events that had occurred that night at Riverwatch. Knowing everything the reporters said about that night was false made it a lot less interesting, Jake realized. He shifted in his hospital bed, trying to find a comfortable position. He had been doing this repeatedly for the last three days, since being admitted. Having his leg in traction made getting comfortable difficult. He was fiddling with the straps around his leg when he saw a figure standing in the doorway.