was carrying a portable blowtorch. “Don’t ya worry, tough guy,” he said, “I’m ‘bout to fix ya up good as new.” He paused, grinning. “Well, maybe not exactly good as new, but ya get my drift.”
He approached Frank, pulling a wooden box of matches from the front pocket of his pants. Jason could hear the faint hiss as Cliff turned the knob on the side of the blowtorch, releasing propane. Cliff struck a match under his thumbnail and held it in front of the torch. Immediately, a blue flame licked from its nozzle.
“No no no,” Frank was repeating, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t move his hands away as Cliff brought the blowtorch closer. His face had gone a sickly pale, as if all his blood had been drained.
“This won’t hurt a bit!” Cliff shouted over the sound of Frank’s repeated denials.
When the flame actually touched his hands, Frank’s scream was so ghastly that Jason thought his eardrums might burst. He had never heard his brother scream like that. It pierced into his brain, gouging at the soft core of resolve that still remained. Jason felt tears sliding down his face even though he hadn’t realized he was crying.
After a few seconds, he smelled burning flesh. He wanted to gag, to be sick, but he wasn’t. He didn’t have the energy.
Cliff held the flame of the blowtorch on Frank’s hands, not really concerned with the cauterization of the severed fingers. He was just reveling in the thrill of the pain he was causing. He made no attempt to keep the flame away from the rest of Frank’s hands, and Jason could see the blackened flesh creeping up all the way to the wrist. Frank screamed and screamed. Somewhere behind that screaming, Jason could hear Cliff laughing.
All of Jason’s hope had left him. What was he supposed to do? What options did he really have? His brother was being burned alive. His girlfriend was still speechless beside him. And Lucy was out there somewhere, probably frozen to death by now.
Cliff had moved over to Frank’s left hand, but Jason looked away. He was powerless to stop what was happening and he didn’t want to watch it anymore. As his view shifted, he saw the creature had backed away from the pedestals. It had two of its knotty arms raised above its head and folded across each other. It looked as if it was trying to cover its eyes. Or maybe it was trying to block out the sound of Frank’s screams. Jason didn’t know, but for the second time since it had entered the barn, he saw it as weak. Cliff was the one with the power. Cliff was the monster.
Frank’s screams ended suddenly, and a few seconds later Cliff turned off the blowtorch. Jason looked back to see that Frank had passed out again. His body hung limply in the yoke, his head resting against the left side of the neck restraint, the metal buckles under his arms digging deeply into his armpits. Both of his hands were charred stumps, barely resembling hands at all. Jason thought he could see little wisps of smoke rising from them, but that might have been his mind playing tricks.
Cliff was still grinning as he headed back across the barn in front of Jason.
“You bastard,” Jason croaked. He didn’t have the energy to yell. “You fucking bastard, that’s my brother.”
“Izzy?” Cliff asked as he stepped past. “Interesting.” He looked like he might say more, then changed his mind and left the barn.
“Kiff?” The mewling was quiet, questioning. Fearful? Yes, Jason thought so.
Slowly, Colonel Cuddles followed Cliff out of the barn.
Jason looked at Valerie. “Val?” he whispered. “Baby, can you hear me?”
Valerie stared straight ahead, her eyes glazed over, acknowledging nothing.
“Please, Val. Please? Say something.”
Nothing. Not so much as a twitch.
“Oh God. Val? Val!” Jason was fully bawling now. Tears ran down his cheeks in streams and mucous hung from his nostrils in long runners. He had no way to wipe it away. “Frank!” he shouted. “Can you hear me?”
Nothing from Frank either.
“Oh God, Val, I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry I brought us here. I didn’t know. I didn’t. Valerie? Talk to me!” Jason had slumped against the buckles under his arms. His feet held none of his weight. He looked very much like Frank did. “I’m sorry,” he sniffled. “I’m sorry.”
Valerie was the only one of them that still stood upright on her own feet. She stared straight ahead, at nothing at all, a vapid husk, but somehow she still supported her own weight.
“Val? Baby?” Jason had resorted to sniffling and whimpering. The words coming from his mouth were barely decipherable. “Frank? Anybody?”
The tears in his eyes made prisms of everything, but he thought he saw movement to his left. He swiveled his head around, expecting to see Cliff again, but it wasn’t Cliff.
It was Lucy.
Jason tried to shake the tears from his eyes to get a better look at her. Her skin was very white with a bluish tint. She only had one shoe on. On the other foot was a soaking wet sock. Her hair hung in damp clumps across her face and Jason could see ice crystals glistening in it. They melted as he watched.
She stepped towards him cautiously. Her eyes darted around her in all directions.
“Code,” she said. “O code.”
Jason understood. She was cold. No shit. But here was his chance. Possibly his only chance.
He spoke quietly. His tears had stopped as adrenaline once again surged through his body. “Lucy. Untie me. Get me out of this thing.”
Lucy came nearer and he could see she was shivering, even in the heat of the barn. It would take her some time to warm up. It was a wonder she was here at all.
“My hands are tied, Lucy. Untie me.”
She moved around behind him and he could feel her pulling on the cords that bound him. After a few attempts she stopped trying.
“Kat,” she said. “Oo code.”
“See if there’s anything sharp around here that you can cut it with,” he whispered. “Look in those stalls. Hurry. There has to be something.”
The look on her face said it was a useless endeavor, but she obediently shuffled off towards the nearest stall. She swung the door open on hinges that were surprisingly quiet, and disappeared inside. She emerged just a few seconds later and shrugged her shoulders in Jason’s direction. Nothing there, the gesture said.
“Keep looking,” Jason hissed. “Hurry.”
She moved to the next stall.
She had just stepped inside when Jason saw white from the corner of his eye. Colonel Cuddles had returned. Jason looked at it. He knew it had seen Lucy. It must have. Without another thought, Jason began screaming at it, trying to distract it.
“Get outta here you fucking freak! Goddamn abomination! Leave us the fuck alone!”
Cliff entered the barn only a few seconds later. He grinned wider than ever when he heard Jason shouting.
“Well, that ain’t very nice, now is it?” he said. “And hee-ah I thought you and the Colonel was gonna be good friends.”
The creature was almost bouncing. Jason could see stubby little legs underneath its bulbous body. All four of its arms flailed. “Kiff! Kiff! Kiff!” it said.
Cliff paid no attention to it. He just kept looking at Jason. “I’ve a mind to make ya ‘pologize,” he said. “But I’ll let it slide this time.”
“Fuck you!” Jason shouted. “Stay away from me!” He hoped Lucy could hear him and was smart enough to stay where she was inside the stall.
“I said I’d let it slide,” Cliff sneered, “but I’m gonna have to ask ya to shut yer trap now. Can’t ya see you’re upsettin’ the Colonel?” He motioned to the creature with one hand. It was still bouncing up and down, waving its arms in the direction of the stall Lucy had disappeared into. “All he wants is his dinner now and you’re holding up the gravy train.”
“Don’t come near me!” Jason shouted. “You fucking psycho! Get away!”
The grin on Cliff’s face slowly turned into a frown. “Shut up!” he shouted suddenly. “You too,” he said to the creature, who immediately stopped gesticulating and looked almost sullen, if
that was even possible. “I gave ya a chance,” he said to Jason, “but ya just wanted to keep on yelling ‘bout psycho this and freak that. Well.” He paused. “I guess I’m gonna have to give ya yer medicine after all.”
He stepped up to Jason and slapped him across the face hard enough to make his head rock back. Jason didn’t even see it coming. The guy was quick. Jason tried to kick out with his right leg, but he’d missed his chance; Cliff had already stepped back.
“If ya think that’s all, you’re sorely mistaken,” Cliff said. The grin had returned to his face. He looked at Valerie. She was still motionless. “This is yer woman, ain’t she?”
Jason didn’t reply. He could feel a trickle of blood running down his chin from the left side of his mouth.
“Yes sir,” Cliff continued, “I do believe she is. She’s mighty fine, though, ain’t she? Yes indeed. I might like a little taste of that before the Colonel gets his share.”
Cliff was still wearing his parka, although he had pulled the hood down, and now he unzipped it halfway and reached inside. He pulled out the serrated knife, the one he’d used earlier to cut Jason’s bonds, and stepped up to Valerie. He stood directly in front of her, but she seemed to look right through him.
Slowly, he touched the point of the knife into the hollow of her neck. He didn’t apply enough pressure to break the skin, but Jason winced all the same.
“Stop,” Jason said. “Don’t. This isn’t her fault.”
“This ain’t nobody’s fault,” Cliff said, “it’s just the
The Snow and The Darkness Page 10