Kill the Wild

by S T Branton

"You've been doing what you have to do," Archie told me. "Like you said, the Harbingers are still working. We have to keep pushing if we're going to find Hobbes and stop him."

  "I still haven't been careful enough. We can't stop looking for answers, but we also can't keep going like we have been. If we keep doing it this way, it will get us killed. Or worse, sent to The Deep. I know neither of you has had the distinct pleasure of camping out there, but I need you to accept my review. It is not somewhere you want to end up," I told them.

  "You've been out of that place for a few months now. You've encountered the Harbingers a bunch of times. I haven't seen a fight affect you like this before. Are you upset only because they ambushed you at the warehouse?" Archie prodded.

  I shook my head and reached into my pocket to pull out the remnants of the locket Solon made me. Seeing the broken shards in my palm made my throat tighten with emotion, and my eyes sting with tears made sharper with their blend of sadness and fury.

  "I broke my locket.” I carried the pieces over to him and tipped them into his cupped hands. "Do you think you could do anything with them?"

  "Shit, Sara, I’m sorry. I'll do what I can, but Solon created something truly special. That was a sophisticated rune. I'm not sure if I can match that."

  I nodded sadly and dropped to sit on a stool next to one of the tables. There had been a little hope left in me after destroying the locket. I did what I had to do, although it was devastating to do it. But there was a part of me that had hoped Archie might be able to save what was left. The uncertainty in his eyes as he looked down at the cracked and crumbled pieces of the rune didn't give me any confidence.

  "Is there anything that might make you feel better?" Ally asked.

  "I don't know. I can’t think. That locket meant so much to me, Ally. Not only for the power it brought but for who gave it to me. I hate it. I hate it.”

  Her eyes brightened, and she slid to the edge of the cot. "Hey, do you remember when we were kids and my goldfish died? I was so upset because I'd had him for a long time, and he meant so much to me. You made me feel better."

  I looked at her suspiciously. "Are you suggesting we hold a funeral for the leftover pieces of my rune and bury it in the backyard?"

  "If it would make you feel better."

  "Let's not go to those extremes yet," Archie told her. "Let me see what I can do with the fragments first. I can't guarantee anything, but I might be able to figure something out. And if not, then we can have a dignified burial for it."

  Ally gave a single nod and reached over to rub my leg comfortingly. I sighed.

  "Thanks." Splinter crawled onto my lap from where he'd perched at the end of the bed by Ally's feet. He stood on his back legs and pressed his front paws to my chest while rubbing his face against mine like a kitten. I ran my hand down his back and along his little arm flaps. "You know, today started with so much promise. Splinter stopped snoring long enough for me to get some sleep. We shared Cheese Doodles for breakfast. Then I find out MySpace has bit the big one, get ambushed during what I think will be a little recon, and destroy my locket, one right after the other."

  We were silent for a few seconds. Then Ally perked up again. "I have an idea."

  "I'll start working on the musical selections for the burial," I told her.

  "Good, but that's not it. I think the best thing right now would be for you to get out of town. Things are getting a little too tense around here," she suggested.

  I looked over at her, intrigued by the idea. "You mean like a vacation?"

  She shook her head. "Not exactly. A source got in touch with me saying he might have some information that might interest me. Now, I get weird emails all the time. You do enough paranormal and supernatural research and whacked-out people start crawling out of the woodwork wanting to tell you their story. I get messages every day from people telling me they've been abducted by aliens or had a tea party with Bigfoot. But I’ve spent enough time around you and your new friends to tell when someone has seen something.”

  “What do you have?”

  “This guy contacted me from West Virginia. That's Woodbooger territory, so you know I get to hear all the craziness. But he wasn't rambling about any of that. He offered me some credible information about a weird cult living deep in the woods and possibly connected to recent murders. Do we know of any people who others might perceive as a weird cult and might enjoy murder-lurking around in the woods?"

  I glanced at Archie, then back to Ally. "We may."

  She laughed miserably. "With my recent track record, it’s probably another one of Bentham’s traps. But it might be worth checking out."

  I thought about the offer. Getting out of The Deep put me into a world so unfamiliar to nearly everything I'd known. There was so much for me to learn and experience, but I'd spent the vast majority of my new freedom close to the same area. Now Ally was offering me the chance to keep doing what I needed to do to find Hobbes and stop him from completing his evil plan while also stretching out a little more. I nodded.

  "A road trip sounds perfect."

  Chapter Nine

  "Convenience stores are amazing these days," I said to Ally as we explored the sprawling shop.

  "You've been to rest stops before."

  "Yeah, but nothing like this. When I went," I glanced around and noticed we were far from the only people in the store at the time. I leaned a little closer to her, "away, I was getting used to design-your-own sandwich shops in gas stations. Now it's a whole new world of road tripping. Did you see all this stuff?"

  My arms were already overflowing with mounds of snacks as I rushed over to a frozen yogurt machine up against one wall. I pointed at it and gave an open-mouthed look of amazement to my best friend. She laughed and shook her head in amusement. I couldn't pass it up. After juggling all my other selections into one arm, I pulled a Styrofoam cup from the dispenser and pulled down the lever to distribute a perfect frosty swirl of chocolate and vanilla into the bottom. To my side was a toppings bar with dozens of options in little silver containers. I pored over them like I was making the biggest decision of my existence.

  "What are you doing?" Ally walked up to my side.

  "Trying to decide what topping to put on my frozen yogurt. What do you think? Crumbled up cream-filled chocolate cookies or tiny little M&M's?"

  "It's unlimited toppings, Slick. You could have both."

  I gasped. "Oh... my... God. I'm going to have both."

  She could have left me happily standing there beside the toppings bar distributing sprinkles of cookies and candy over my frozen yogurt like some tremendously benevolent topping deity raining down on my itty-bitty yogurt people, and I probably would have considered the road trip a success. Ally, not so much. We still had a while to go to get to West Virginia, and she was eager to get back on the road. But the glow of the phenomenal convenience store had called to me. She could have kept right on driving past it if she wanted to. A sign a couple of miles back told us there were other options for stopping for gas, and I was positive somewhere along the line we could find a grimy little roadside bathroom should the need arise.

  But, no. She stopped here, and now I was enraptured.

  "I think your sandwich is ready," she told me. "The guy behind the counter has been waving the bag at you for the last thirty seconds."

  "There’s a number on my ticket. He could have called me."

  "Number 6750? He did."

  "Oh. He did."

  I finished the flurry of embellishments atop my frozen yogurt and made my way over to the counter to accept my sandwich. It nestled in the white paper bag with two cups. One overflowed with beer-battered onion rings and the other with french fries. What a time to be alive. And not in prison.

  "So, now you think you have everything you need?" Ally asked.

  I nodded. "I'm pretty sure I'm good. This should carry me through the rest of the trip."

  "I should hope so. It's only a couple more hours. I'll get gas while we're her
e and we shouldn't have to stop again. Unless all that hits you somewhere between here and there."

  "Maybe there will be another one of these stores somewhere."

  "Maybe there will be an open field you can squat in, so we don't take another hour and a half."

  "You have no sense of adventure," I informed her.

  "And you have no self-control. Put down the dog treat. We don't have a dog with us."

  I thought about the massive black dog growling in the parking lot behind my hotel. I wondered how he would react to me not coming back for the next couple of days. But that wasn't the motivation behind me grabbing the adorable cupcake-shaped cookie.

  "This is for Splinter," I told her. We headed for the cashier, and another display caught my eye. "Look at the miniature glasses of wine! I'm getting one." I snatched a glass from the display and looked at it happily.

  "Why do you need a miniature glass of wine?" Ally asked.

  "Because I turned twenty-one years ago and haven't had a chance to buy any alcohol. I want to. It's my right as a grown adult."

  "You don't have an ID."

  "Damn it."

  She snatched the glass from my hand and added it to the small assortment of snacks she'd chosen. "I'll use my ID to get it for you. But you're not allowed to get belligerent on me."

  The snacks and gas were courtesy of Archie, who made good money on his black-market activities and stashed away most of it for a rainy day. Turned out, we were his rainy day. Right before we left, he took a stack of money out of a hidden compartment in the wall and handed it to us. It would supplement Ally's pay for our road trip and make it easier for us to get what we needed. It was an unexpected gesture, and one I was positive was directed right at Ally.

  After pumping the gas, we were on our way. I sat in the passenger seat with my loot spread out around me, happily holding my glass of wine. I had no intention of opening it. It simply made me strangely happy to have it. Although I still hadn't technically bought alcohol since the man at the bar bought my beer and Ally bought my wine, it was still a little glimpse of adulthood.

  "All right, so tell me more about this guy from the internet," I said after downing most of my sandwich and half the onion rings. The fries would come as a second course.

  Until this point, our trip had been about listening to bad mixtapes and reminiscing about when we were younger. We'd always talked about taking long road trips when we were in college, but obviously, this was the first chance we had. Now it was time to buckle down and think about the reason we ventured out in the first place.

  "I first found him on a message board. I have a list of them I cycle through every couple of days to catch up on the latest rumors, sightings, and stories. They're where I start a lot of my investigations. This guy's name is Jonas. We'd never interacted directly, but I'd seen his name pop up now and then. He emailed me because he'd seen my past reporting on weird phenomena. He thought I was the right one to help him."

  "How flattering."

  "Yep. I have a way with the guys. Lure them right in with my astounding connections to the strange and often distasteful."

  "It's a special appeal."

  "Well, Jonas was eager to get hold of me. But he didn't tell me much. All the messages said was there were these strangely brutal killings near an odd off-the-grid community. He wouldn't give any details or anything until we met in person. It was all vague, but it sounds like possible Farsider activity to me."

  "They won't be able to hide for long with Slick and Ally on the case." I stuffed a handful of fries into my mouth.

  "Let's hope."

  Between us on the console, Splinter happily nibbled his way through the cupcake dog cookie. It was almost half as big as his body, but I had total faith he'd get through it by the time we got to West Virginia. He might sleep for a few days afterward, but that was fine. Ally reached into my lap to snitch some fries, then grinned at me as she turned back to the road.

  We spent the next hour seeing if any of our favorite old dance moves could be effectively recreated in a sitting position and working our way through my mountain of snacks. Ally's beat-up old vehicle was the perfect choice for the trip, and I was enjoying being out experiencing new things. We were getting close when I saw a broken-down car on the side of the road ahead of us.

  "Slick," Ally pointed it out. "We should stop and see if they need any help. It's the least we can do for our fellow man."

  I sighed heavily. "Look at you, having all kinds of compassion."

  “You could stand to learn some compassion too, Slick.”

  She pulled off a few yards behind the car and got out. I'd only taken a few steps toward the vehicle when something rustled loudly in bushes beside the road. I turned in time to see people climbing out of the bushes toward us. I instantly recognized the glittering wings and tall, thin bodies. They were Fae, and their ‘too cool for this world’ demeanor had vanished. They were ready for a fight.

  It was a trap.

  "Fucking compassion," I muttered.

  Chapter Ten

  I hopped over the hood of the car, sliding like a Duke boy, and landed on my feet ready to swing. The Fae kept back, obviously a little warier of my fighting skills now. Ally slammed my door shut, and I heard the automatic lock come from inside. I looked down into her window and saw her flash me a thumbs-up and a cheesy smile. I knew she would try to help me if it looked like I needed it, and frankly, I was glad she was out of the way and out of danger, but still. Rude.

  “Get her,” Naida screamed.

  The first of the Fae tried to make a move. I dodged him, grabbed his wrist in mid-punch, and twisted his arm behind him. I swung him around in front of me in time for one of the Fae to accidentally punch him while aiming at me. The second Fae must have been damn strong because the wrist I held suddenly went limp and the Fae crumpled to the ground. The Fae leader stayed back and watched as the second Fae swung at me.

  I ducked and slammed a fist into his stomach. His abs were as hard as a rock, and I wasn’t entirely sure I did any damage, but he buckled and fell back a step to gain his balance. Despite not having my locket anymore, I still had my training, and my fists and kicks found weak spots no matter how strong the enemy. As he stepped back, I leapt forward and kicked his chin. He fell to the ground dazed as the leader looked down at him in disgust.

  “Perith, you idiot. This is why I brought backup,” Naida said scornfully.

  “Backup?” I questioned.

  The leader smiled as two more Fae came from the wooded area beside us. Both were tall and gorgeous with long blonde hair falling in braids to their waists. Aside from the braided hair, they looked much like Naida. Unlike the men, the female Fae were a little smaller and more innocent-looking. The leader laughed as her two clone-like minions advanced on me. They smiled and showed off their needlelike teeth. Teeth that ripped what they ate to shreds.

  “Silly Sara Slick,” Naida mocked, “now you’ll pay for embarrassing me!”

  She shrieked as she too charged. I thought quickly and flipped out of the way, letting the other two stumble and trip over each other in an effort to turn and catch me. Instead, I went right for the source. A thrust kick directly into Naida’s knee sent her barreling to the ground, smashing into the gravel hard, and slicing up her face. As she tried to stand, I field goal-kicked her head so hard I was pretty sure I broke a toe. It did the job, though, snapping her head back so sharply she instantly went unconscious.

  The other two Fae were on me now, each trying to grab an arm. I wrestled one free and used it to punch one in the nose, and when they let go of my other arm, I elbowed the other in the stomach. With both hands free, I smashed their heads together.

  They crumpled to the ground while shrieking at their bloody faces. That left Perith, who was now standing and looking down at his defeated brethren, and knew I did all that unassisted.

  On my own. Without the locket. A pang of sadness coupled with rage filled me as I thought about Solon. I had lost so much of t
he life I should have had, and now I was losing parts of the life I did have.

  I was highly trained even without the locket and kept myself in fighting shape at all times despite the taco gorges. But without it, I felt their hits a little more than usual. I felt bruises swelling under my skin as I stood there, and I was a little more winded than usual. I tried to brush it off, though, because while I might feel it, there was no reason for them to know that.

  There was a tense moment where I thought Perith would run. Simply pick up and bolt the other way. But then he looked down and saw his leader, and something steeled inside him. He charged.

  Dummy.

  He threw several fists, and I dodged them all pretty well until the last one. That one landed hard on my jaw, and for a moment, I saw stars. It was enough time for him to grab me by my shirt and toss me on the roof of the car. I heard Ally scream from inside the vehicle as his hand wrapped around my throat and he lifted me, only to slam me back down again. It hurt, and it knocked the wind out of me for a moment, but I gathered my strength to slam into his arm with both hands like I was swinging an ax. It was enough to make him break his grip, and I shot my head forward to crash it into his face.

  Blood spurted out from his mouth, and I kicked him in the gut, forcing him back a few steps. Still woozy, and upset by how much all this hurt more than usual, I stood on the roof of the car. I quickly measured him and the distance in my head and leapt. With one expert move, I twisted upside down, grabbed his head under the chin, and flipped down behind him, landing in a sitting position. I heard his neck snap as I landed and his body fell over me, all dead weight.

  I stood and brushed off my pants as the two bloodied Fae stepped back. They seemed to value their necks. Naida woke up and was on her knees, watching as her backup ran away. Even the first Fae I’d knocked out cold was up and had taken off at some point in the skirmish. Fae were known for being fierce, but their will for fighting wasn’t exactly legendary. Easy fights sure, but once the going got rough…