Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Kit arrived early at the old Black Rock school. He wasn’t going to take any chances. The day had turned cloudy, and a misty rain covered the windshield as he stared out at the blackened walls. He’d parked so he could see the weed-choked road. His dashboard clock read 11:58 a.m.

He’d been surprised by how quickly the idea had come to him and how easily he’d accepted it. It wasn’t fancy, but maybe it would go a long way toward resolving this mess. If nothing else, it was sure to resolve his troubles.

A sense of peace settled over him. He closed his eyes and let the serenity enfold him. It has to be done. There’s no other way. It’s not what I would’ve expected and certainly not the place. But nobody gets everything they want, do they?

Through the blurry windshield Kit saw someone moving among the walls of the school and coming toward him. Gabe Beecher. Before getting out—and while Gabe could not see him clearly—Kit set his plan in motion. Then he got out and closed the door.

“You got it?” Gabe asked. He was out of breath and seemed irritated.

Kit held up the journal. “Now let Courtney and her daughters go,” he said with hardened resolve.

Gabe shrugged and held out his hands. “They ain’t here. I’ll take you to ’em.”

“Yeah, I figured as much.”

Gabe walked up and patted the front of Kit’s shirt several times. “No wire. Good. Did you tell anybody?”

Kit shook his head. “I’m not stupid.”

“But you ain’t real fuckin’ smart, are you?” a familiar voice said. Kit’s stomach knotted as Buzz Cut stepped out from behind a wall. He was dressed as he had been this morning. He also wore a cap with a rebel flag on it, and the bill had a large fishhook clipped to it.

Kit had put on a black T-shirt with a picture of Johnny Cash giving the middle finger on it. It was a silly, passive-aggressive response to the situation, but it had made him smile. Kit turned so the picture faced Buzz Cut.

“Come on, let’s go,” Gabe groused and started off through the damp weeds. He picked up a backpack when they reached the back wall of the school. As they walked by, Buzz Cut kicked Kit in the butt. Kit gritted his teeth and let it go. This was not the time. Not yet.

“Knock it off, Jimmy Earl,” Gabe said. “We got a long way to go an’ I ain’t in the mood.”

Buzz Cut—Jimmy Earl—fell in behind Kit, which made him anxious. If Jimmy Earl happened to notice the bottom of Kit’s shirt—

“What’s wrong with you?” Jimmy Earl asked as they plodded through the scrub brush and weeds. “Gabe! I’m talkin’ to you!”

“Nothin’, man. I’m fine.”

“You look like you swallowed a used condom.” Jimmy Earl laughed.

“I’m tired of runnin’ up and down this goddamned mountain,” Gabe snapped.

Jimmy Earl spit into the weeds. “You some kinda pussy or somethin’? Scotty says you act like one.”

“Just shut the fuck up and walk!”

After a quarter mile of walking, the ground started sloping up. Kit saw the side of Blackpoint Mountain thrusting out of the treetops, its summit almost hidden by ashen, low-hanging clouds. Gabe said little but walked at a brisk pace. It wasn’t long before Kit had trouble matching it. He noticed with wicked delight that the same was true for Jimmy Earl.

Gabe and Jimmy Earl had basically confirmed Kit’s fears. They weren’t planning to let Courtney and her girls go. If they did, they were bigger idiots than Kit had ever imagined. Of course, that also meant that he wasn’t getting off this mountain alive either, but that was okay. He had a plan.

There was no rain beneath the trees, only the soft tromping of feet and heavy breathing. Kit didn’t see a trail of any kind, but Gabe seemed to know where he was going. Behind him, Jimmy Earl huffed like a teenager with an aerosol can.

Gabe halted them after an hour. He took out bottles of water and pitched them around. “Good to know you don’t want me to die on you,” Kit said sarcastically after he took a drink.

“Shut up,” Gabe ordered.

Kit glared at him. “What am I here for? You’ve got the journal.” He held it up. “Why not just take it back at the school?”

“Because Scotty wants it done this way!” Gabe said, looking away.

Kit studied the young man. He didn’t see the cockiness from Marty’s Joint nor the antagonistic attitude that had led to the bar brawl. Gabe seemed distant, preoccupied. Kit sipped his water and stared at the pine needles and leaves at his feet. He pulled out his cell phone to check the time. Almost one o’clock.

If they took me seriously, they should be there by now.

“What the fuck?” Jimmy Earl shouted. He leaped up and knocked the cell out of Kit’s hands. He turned on Gabe. “You didn’t think to get his fuckin’ cell phone? Jesus, you really are some kinda fuckup!”

Gabe curled his lip. “I told you once before, Jimmy Earl. Get off my back!”

“Shit, what else is this fat ass carryin’? Did you even search him?”

Kit stiffened. His pulse sped up.

“He ain’t wired if that’s what you mean.”

“Stand up, fat ass,” Jimmy Earl demanded, “and raise your hands.”

Kit felt adrenaline kicking through his system. This was not how he had planned it, but when had any of his plans ever worked out? He prepared to make his move.

“Goddamn it, Jimmy Earl!” Gabe bellowed, disturbing the birds in the surrounding trees. His eyes blazed as they bore into Jimmy Earl. “Enough! I’m sick of your shit!”

A demonic light glinted in Gabe’s eyes. His jaw tightened, and one hand repeatedly flexed into a fist just like Kit had seen him do at Marty’s Joint after the brawl. While Gabe was tall, he was not muscular. Yet Kit saw a tension in his arms, the muscles visible beneath the skin in a way that did not seem natural.

Jimmy Earl sneered. “Like I give two shits what a pussy like you thinks.”

With an explosive lunge, Gabe grabbed Jimmy Earl by the throat. He lifted him off the ground and slammed him into a tree trunk. Jimmy Earl gasped in shock. He beat at Gabe’s bony arms to no avail. His feet raked against the bark, unable to find purchase. Jimmy Earl was more compact and probably outweighed Gabe by forty or fifty pounds, yet he hung in the air, face reddening, while Gabe snarled at him.

I could do it now.

The pistol Kit had smuggled out of Albert’s house pressed into his spine. He could drop both of them right now, then find Courtney and the girls. Kit hesitated. He had no idea where they were. He could wander for days without ever locating them. In the time it took him to stumble upon them by accident, there was no telling what Scotty might do. Kit opted to wait although he hated to watch this opportunity pass.

Gabe let go, and Jimmy Earl dropped like a bag of cement and fell over, clutching his throat. Gabe knelt in front of him and said something. Kit could not make out what it was, but Jimmy Earl quickly nodded.

“Get up. We’ve wasted enough time,” Gabe ordered. When he turned to start up the mountain, Kit noticed the fire was gone from his eyes. Gabe’s body language reverted to the slumped shoulders and downcast gaze he’d had before.

Jimmy Earl climbed to his feet, coughing and rubbing his neck.

Kit caught up with Gabe. After a few steps he realized how quickly they were walking, yet Gabe was not winded.

“Listen, about the other night at the bar,” Kit said. “I wasn’t trying to make a fool of you. I just… I needed this journal.”

To Kit’s surprise Gabe said, “What for?”

They walked in silence for a moment.

“Have…have you read it?” Kit asked.

Gabe shook his head. “Bits and pieces, like I told you. Scotty told me some of what’s in it.”

Kit hesitated but decided he had little to lose by remaining quiet. “I read it last night. Gabe, did you and Scotty bring Uyaga any…blood?”

“Yeah, we did.” He paused. “But I didn’t do nothin’ to them. Scotty is the one who did it. All of it.”

“Did what?”

“Sacrificed ’em to Uyaga.”

Kit had to catch his breath before continuing. “W-who did he sacrifice?”

When Gabe looked at Kit, his eyes were haunted and filled with doubt—something Kit had not seen from him before. Gabe’s tone dropped an octave, making it harder for Kit to hear. “Those two missin’ people—the guy and that college girl—and there was also a migrant worker. Santiago somethin’. I forget his name.”

“Is Scotty planning to sacrifice Courtney? Or her daughters?” Kit dreaded the reply.

Gabe didn’t say anything, but his shoulders slumped even more.

The light dimmed as clouds continued to bunch together. Thunder rolled behind the mountain. Jimmy Earl trailed behind like a whipped puppy.

Kit’s stomach was a block of ice as he imagined Scotty’s plans. He didn’t know how long they had until they reached their destination, but another idea was beginning to form in his mind.

After several minutes, Kit said, “I take it that means yes.”

“I didn’t do nothin’ to them,” Gabe said. “Scotty killed ’em.” He looked at Kit. “Uyaga gave us power. As long as we do what she says.”

“Gabe, Uyaga is evil. She can’t do anything good. No matter what you got from her, it’s corrupted in some way or it’ll corrupt you. Why do you think the Cherokee imprisoned her? Look what happened to Edgar. All she knows how to do is hurt and destroy. She manipulates and lies. All the bad shit in Black Rock comes from her.”

They climbed another hundred yards before Gabe said, “Maybe.”

“It’s all right here in the journal. She caused Edgar to go mad. I’ll bet you’ve noticed something different about Scotty too, haven’t you? That’s her influence. She destroys everything she comes in contact with—and she doesn’t care.”

Gabe started to speak, then stopped. He sighed. When he spoke again, his voice was even lower. “Scotty plans to kill ’em. I told him it was a bad idea. They’ll be missed. That migrant worker? He won’t be missed, least not for a good while.”

Kit’s legs burned and ached. Sweat poured down his face and back. “The Collinsworth boy and the Walston girl—they’ve been missed. You know the cops and the TBI are looking all over for them.”

“Of course, I know,” Gabe said. “That’s what I was tryin’ to tell Scotty. We can’t keep takin’ people who’re noticeable. We were supposed to stick to the hitchhikers and runaways. That’s the mistake Scotty’s kinfolk made back in the 1980s. He told me all about it, yet he’s doin’ the same damned thing.”

“What happened in the ’80s?”

“Greg and Jeff Dunley found the cave and the journal. They started out bringin’ people who wouldn’t be missed, but then they got greedy. Or stupid. Or both. They tried to kidnap some girl in Knoxville while her parents were home. Got caught, of course, and went to jail. Not long after there was a riot or somethin’ in their cell block—both of ’em were killed.”

Kit remembered the newer entries at the back of the journal. “Were they responsible for the disappearance of Melody Sellers? Did they kill her too?”

“Don’t know.”

“Greg mentions her in one of his journal entries.”

Gabe shrugged.

“Gabe, listen, I know this power you’ve got—I’m sure it’s intoxicating. I know you feel invincible. I can only imagine what having something like that means in a place like Black Rock. Kind of makes you king of the mountain so to speak. I grew up here. I know what a shitty place this is—how hard it is to get out of and how hard it is to get people to take you seriously if you’re not from a high-class neighborhood. What you’ve gotten from Uyaga makes you special—different from anybody else around—but please, please, listen to me. She’ll mess you up just like she did Edgar. Like she’s done to Scotty. You’re nothing but a plaything to her.”

The thought stabbed Kit’s heart. He heard the echo of insidious laughter in his mind, remembered the dream of being chased through town.

“I am too,” Kit said. He told Gabe about his encounter in the park when he was twelve, and the curse Uyaga had placed on him. “She picked me at random so she could fuck up my life for her enjoyment.” Kit grew livid talking about it.

“Yeah, maybe,” Gabe said.

 

Jimmy Earl had confiscated his cell, so Kit had no idea of the time. He figured it had to be around two or three in the afternoon. The air was cooler and still dreary thanks to the thunderheads above the trees. The wind had picked up. It was going to be a strong storm when it hit.

Kit prayed that help was on the way. He needed all of it he could get.

They weren’t far from Blackpoint’s summit. The rocks were blackish gray, while the soil looked like volcanic dust. As they had climbed, Kit had noticed fewer patches of blight. Now, as they neared their destination, there was none to be seen. He remembered hearing that the blight never appeared on the summit.

“This is it,” Gabe said. He indicated a pile of rubble on a flattened shelf of rock just above them. The stones had probably been brought down by a lightning strike or rockslide.

Or an explosion, Kit thought. Edgar’s gunpowder explosion.

Kit saw Scotty Dunley standing on the rubble, watching them.

Gabe directed Kit up the pile of rocks. Kit had to crawl on his hands and knees before he could squeeze through an opening. He could understand why no one had ever discovered the cave on purpose. Unless someone was standing right beside it, there was no way to see the entrance. He skidded down a pebbly incline with Gabe and Jimmy Earl right behind.

The cave was larger than he’d expected, and Scotty had it lit with battery-operated camping lanterns. In their garish white glow, Kit guessed the cave to be about 150 feet at its widest point, probably a little less than that in height. The ceiling had a few stalactites. The floor was uneven, dotted with boulders and a couple of stalagmites. Far in the back was what appeared to be another cave or a tunnel. The stench of death lingered in the temperate air.

What was it that Edgar’s journal had said? nObOdy neVernevEr go in the black beeyond furst cave WhERe i put them kidS.

Kit stood up and spotted Courtney and the girls on the left side of the cave. Their hands were bound, and they clung to each other. Scotty had removed their blindfolds but not the gags. Courtney started crying when she saw Kit.

To his right, human bodies lay scattered across the floor like scraps of garbage. Kit saw several skeletons dressed in little more than rags. Three corpses were in increasing stages of decay. One appeared to have been Hispanic. Flies buzzed around the putrefying corpses. Kit’s eyes roved over the deceased. In front of a stalagmite lay a skeleton wearing what had once been shorts and a blue halter top.

Melody Sellers.

Kit’s stomach flipped. The urge to run—to scramble back through the opening and breathe clean air again—overwhelmed him. He tried to contain his mounting panic.

Daniel, Lena, and Lydia appeared from the rear of the cave. The Children of Uyaga stood in front of the tunnel opening. Their own spoiled scent added to the miasma.

“My journal,” Scotty said as he stepped toward Kit. His face was a mask of icy contempt.

Kit gestured toward the women and held the journal close to his side. “L-let them go.”

Scotty stuck his arm out, palm open.

“You get it when they’re out of here,” Kit said with more courage than he felt.

“Yeah, I had an idea you’d say something stupid like that.” Scotty sighed and turned to Gabe. “Slit the youngest one’s throat,” he ordered in the most mundane manner as if he were responding to survey questions from an automated phone system.

“No!” Kit exclaimed. “Don’t!”

Gabe didn’t move.

Courtney squealed and struggled against the zip ties.

“Gabe!” Scotty barked. “Get going!”

Gabe shot Kit a confused look.

“Give me the fucking journal or Gabe starts killing them until you do.” Scotty’s tone was pitiless, hard as the stone that entombed them.

“Scotty, listen to me,” Kit urged. “Uyaga isn’t what you think. She doesn’t care about you. She’ll destroy you!”

Scotty threw his head back and laughed. “I serve Uyaga, you ignorant son of a bitch! I ain’t afraid of nothing!”

“Well, you should be! She’ll chew you up and spit you out. What happened to Edgar will happen to you.”

Scotty stopped laughing. His eyes turned cold. “Edgar was stupid, a waste of Uyaga’s power. He sealed himself in here to try an’ stop her, but she can’t be stopped! She’s the ground itself! The land belongs to her!” His voice rose with each exclamation.

Scotty stopped and turned as if just remembering Gabe was there. “What the fuck are you waiting for, asshole? Kill her!”

“C-c’mon, Scotty, you don’t really want me to…to kill ’em, right? J-just scare ’em a little.” Gabe’s tone was pleading, desperate.

Scotty slid a hunting knife from the sheath on his hip. He walked toward Courtney and her daughters, eyes locked on Kit, Gabe, and Jimmy Earl. He stopped less than a foot from Whitney.

“Wait, wait!” Kit begged. “Don’t do it!”

With his back to the captives, Scotty glared at Gabe. “Now pay attention, Gabe.”