Chapter Thirty-Five

 

Fortunately, there was no foot in the shoe, attached or otherwise. But the scene was only slightly less concerning without a body. After all, where was the owner of this lonely Reebok?

“Marissa, where are you?” squeaked Holly.

Yes, thought Eric. Where are you? He tried the light switch, but it didn’t work. “Really?” he murmured. “Somebody’s a fan of horror movie clichés.” He squinted into the darkness. The barn was huge, with enough natural lighting to get around, but the morning sun had left him blind to the gloom.

Holly slipped her small hand into his. He barely noticed. He was looking around at the five massive tractors that were parked in a neat row in the middle of the floor. Even more than before, he felt as if he’d wandered into a land of giants. He half expected to see the huge creature they encountered in Clodsend Park stroll through the enormous main doors wearing bib overalls and a straw hat.

A scream from the rear of the building drove the image from his mind before he could decide whether it was more amusing or disturbing.

“Marissa!” gasped Holly. She tried to run toward the sound of her sister’s cry, but he held her back.

“Careful!” he warned her, his voice a harsh whisper. “Don’t lose your head!”

She nodded, but the panic in her eyes remained.

“Come on…”

They moved quietly toward the rear of the building, their hearts racing. Eric strained to hear, but there was no noise but the pounding of his pulse in his ears.

The good news was that Marissa appeared to still be alive. Between the signs of struggle in the yard, the blood and the lone shoe, he’d begun to fear the worst. Unfortunately, however, she was clearly still in terrible danger.

There was a door at the back of the room. A machine shop, perhaps. It stood ajar and as they approached, he realized he could hear the soft sounds of a woman sobbing.

Eric’s knuckles were white on the handle of the dagger as he reached out to push the door open. The blade trembled. His heart was racing, his mouth dry. Better than most, he knew a bad situation when he saw one and this was definitely a bad situation. Something awful was waiting behind this door. It wouldn’t be wise to simply barge in, but neither could he afford to linger.

Steeling himself for whatever horrors awaited him, he pushed open the door with the tip of the blade and stepped into the dark room beyond.

At first, he didn’t see anything that shouldn’t be here. Work benches. Tools. Machines. Tractor parts. But then a whimper drew his attention to the back corner. There, deep in the shadows, he saw a young woman. She was sitting on the concrete floor, one foot sprawled in front of her, the other folded beneath her. She was wearing shorts and a light blouse and only one shoe. Her head hung down, her curly blonde hair obscuring her face, one hand resting on the floor. She was trembling. Her whole body shook with the force of her quiet sobbing.

“Marissa!” Holly tried to rush to her, but again, Eric held her back.

“Don’t!” he warned.

Marissa lifted her head and peered at them through the dirty strands of her hair. Her face was bloody. Her shirt was torn and gaping open in the front, revealing a lacy white bra beneath. She was gasping for breath between sobs. “No…” she croaked, lifting her hand off the floor and flapping it at Holly as if she were too weak to do anything more. “Don’t… Don’t let it…”

“Let go!” cried Holly, trying to wrench her hand free from Eric’s grip.

But Eric pulled her back and stepped in front of her. “Look, damn it!”

She clearly didn’t understand at first. She kept trying to free herself from his grip, but then she abruptly stopped struggling and he knew that she saw it.

It sat on a chair in the corner, behind the battered girl, where it blended into the shadows, barely visible in the deep gloom with its dark, dirty skin. It was grasping her upper arm in its huge hand, twisting it back so far that Eric hadn’t at first seen her arm at all. He’d thought she was holding it behind her.

It was even bigger than an ogre, and didn’t really resemble any of the things he’d seen during the night. Surprisingly, it was far uglier. It had a huge, misshapen head, massive hands and grotesquely swollen lips that looked like fat sausages with cracked casings. Alternately, it had a tiny little nose, beady eyes and no visible ears. Its torso was bloated and fat, its legs as big as tree trunks. Long, straggly strands of dirty hair dangled from its head like dreadlocks. Like most of the creatures he’d encountered since arriving in the area, it didn’t appear to be wearing any clothes. Its dark skin was blotchy and covered in sores, as if it were riddled with disease.

And he could smell the foul thing from where he stood. It reeked of body sweat and sewage. And blood. Lots of blood.

It seemed almost to be grinning at him.

“Go…” gasped Marissa. Then she coughed and her head lolled backward, her eyes fluttering back into her head. She was teetering on the edge of consciousness.

What had this monster done to her?

“Stay behind me,” warned Eric as he let go of Holly’s hand and took a step toward the monster, holding the dagger out in front of him.

The monster’s grin widened. It was definitely not a grimace. He actually heard it chuckle, as if his threats amused it.

Eric braced himself, ignored the terror clawing up from the depths of his belly and waved the dagger a little higher. He took a step forward, but he wasn’t sure what to do. He’d fought plenty of monsters, but this was his first hostage situation. “Okay, Butt Ugly. Let’s do this.”

But then the thing did something that he didn’t expect: It spoke.

“You’re one to talk,” it told him.

Eric stopped and lowered the dagger, distracted. “What?”

“I’m only saying. You’re not much to look at yourself.”

He stood there, his thoughts stuttering in his head. He hadn’t expected the thing to talk, much less insult him. Did this hideous thing really just call him ugly? What the hell?

The monster lifted Marissa to her feet by her arm, wrenching a painful shriek from her that made Eric lurch a couple steps forward. Her arm was broken or dislocated, he realized. The monster was torturing her.

“This one’s not bad, though,” the monster said, peeling its bratwurst lips back from its yellow teeth in an evil grin and giving her a hard shake so that she let out another agonized scream.

“Stop it!” Eric shouted, lifting the dagger again. “Put her down!”

“What’s the point? She’ll be dead in a few hours anyway, just like the rest of her kind.”

“I’m warning you!”

The monster gave him another evil grin, but it lowered Marissa back to the floor, where she dropped onto the concrete and sobbed louder, clutching futilely at the monster’s massive fingers with her free hand.

“Desmond Weizner’s cursed blade,” the monster observed.

Eric glanced quickly down at the dagger and then met the beast’s eyes again. “You know it?”

“Some say it cuts all the way to the soul.”

“Fascinating,” said Eric. “Stings like a bitch, I’m sure. Now let go of her.”

“No.”

Eric opened his mouth, but he wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t seem to have much bargaining power. This thing was clearly not afraid of Grandpa’s soul-cleaving blade. His mind was racing, but he had no idea what to do. He didn’t know how to save the poor girl.

The monster looked down at her, giving her arm a small twist as he did, and wrenching another wail of pain from her. “I think I’ll hold on to her for now. You see, you and I have some things to talk about.” It spoke quite well for a hideous freak of nature. The English teacher part of him was actually impressed.

“I’ve got nothing to say to monsters.”

“Perfect. Then you can shut your stupid mouth and listen like a good boy.”

Eric was getting a little tired of being talked to like this, but he found that he didn’t have any clever comebacks to that. The only thing that came to mind was, “No, you shut your stupid mouth,” and that was as un-hero-like as those less-than-macho noises he sometimes made when he was startled. (Who are you kidding? he thought. Sometimes you scream like a girl. Don’t sugarcoat it.)

“It’s already after dawn. The battle grows near.”

“Yeah,” replied Eric. “We should get going. So if you’d be so kind as to give us the girl and then drop dead, we’d be grateful.”

“You won’t survive.”

“We’ll take our chances.”

“It’s hopeless.”

“We’ll see.”

The monster sighed. “Why do you care so much? Why are you even here? You don’t belong with them. You’re not one of them.”

Eric eyed the creature. The thing’s voice was so clear, so smooth, not monstrous at all. In fact, it had a very soothing voice, in spite of its massive, Johnsonville lips. He was beginning to wonder if maybe it was speaking for someone else. Was it possible that he was really talking to the magic man, himself? Perhaps this thing was only a receptacle for his voice, a means for him to communicate without having to actually be here.

“They’re good people,” he said. “I won’t let you hurt them.”

“But why?”

“It’s what I do.”

“And why is that?”

“I don’t know. But I’m still not letting you hurt that girl again.”

The monster grinned. Out of nothing more than pure, evil spite, it twisted its fist and made Marissa scream again. The sound was awful, less like a shout than a howl.

Holly cried out for her sister.

“Stop it!” Eric shouted.

“Once I’ve killed you,” said the monster, “I can dispose of this one.” It lifted its free hand and pointed at Holly. “And I can play with that one for the rest of the day.”

Holly ducked behind him and made another of those frightened squeaking noises in her throat.

“Not going to happen, freak,” growled Eric.

“It will happen, actually. When the magic man’s army surrounds that little farmhouse and begins closing in, it’ll happen to every one of those little bitches.”

Eric clenched his teeth. It knew about the farmhouse?

“They’ll be beaten. They’re bones will be broken, their eyes gouged out. Some of them will be eaten alive. They might even be…violated.” Its grin widened. “The thing about imps and ogres, sometimes they get a little frisky when things get violent.”

He told the monster that it could violate itself.

It ignored him and went on: “It’ll be slow and agonizing. I can promise you that. Horrible way to die. And they won’t stand a chance. They are only eight, after all. Ten, if you count the two strays you dragged home from the hospital.”

Eric’s heart sank even further. It even knew about Shondra and Siena? Was there anything it didn’t know? “Why is he doing this?”

“Because they are a perversion, of course. An abomination. They have power they don’t understand and don’t deserve. And each one of them should have died a long time ago. Desmond Weizner upset the natural order of things by saving what should have been left to rot. And Delphinium Thorngood has only compounded that in her foolish quest to seek out others like herself, changing their fate.”

Eric felt a chill creep down his back. He thought this was all about revenge, but apparently it went even deeper. The psychopath actually seemed to believe that these women had cheated their rightful deaths and were upsetting some kind of delicate balance.

“But he will put things right,” growled the monster.

This was bad. Revenge was about anger and hatred. Those emotions were self-destructive, distracting. This self-righteousness was much more dangerous to deal with.

“So his solution is just to murder these women?”

The monster’s response was as cold as it was concise: “Yes.”

“That’s insane.”

It gave him another of those awful grins. “Maybe. Doesn’t matter to me. I’m just the messenger.”

“Messenger?”

“He sent me here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be a total waste. Like I said before, you’re not one of them. He doesn’t care about you. You don’t have to die.”

Eric didn’t respond. He stood his ground, dagger in hand, listening.

“Just go home. Stay out of it.”

“And if I say, ‘Go to hell?’”

The monster shrugged. The motion made Marissa gasp. “Then you’ll suffer with them. It won’t matter. He doesn’t care. But despite what you may think, he is merciful. He’s offering you a deal. Leave now, and you can take the redhead with you. He’ll let you have her. As long as she doesn’t go out fouling everything up like Del did, he’ll leave her alone. Just get back in the van and drive home.”

“And let him kill the others.”

Again, it flashed him that evil grin. “It has to be put right.”

“It’s not right. It’s savage.”

“It’s nature.” The monster rose to its feet, lifting Marissa into the air again and making her wail. It was taller than he’d thought, and it stood with its head almost touching the ceiling while the poor girl writhed in agony, her feet kicking in the air.

“Stop it!” screamed Holly.

The monster ignored her. “Tell you what,” it said. “He’ll even throw in this one. Just to show you how generous he is.” It swung its arm and tossed her. She struck the floor with a shriek of pain and rolled, coming to rest at Eric’s feet, where she crumpled into a pitiful pile.

Holly knelt down and put her arms around her. “Marissa!”

Eric stepped over her, planting himself between the girls and the monster messenger.

It stepped toward him, its beady eyes fixed on him. “It’s a good deal. The only one you’re going to get. I’d take it if I were you.”

“And trust a murderous psychopath to keep his word? No thanks. Not even if I was selfish and cowardly enough to abandon the people who came to me for help.”

“Suit yourself,” said the messenger, stepping even closer. Eric pressed the tip of the blade against the thing’s bloated belly, trying to warn it away. “It’s a shame. He could’ve used someone like you.”

“You can give him a message from me,” said Eric. “I’m going to kick his wizard ass.”

It bent over, its hideous face hovering over him. “Tell him yourself.” With that, it seized Eric’s hand and forced the dagger blade into its own, swollen belly.

Eric cried out, startled and repulsed. He tried to pull his hand back, but the monster’s grip was too firm.

It forced the blade downward, unzipping its flesh all the way to its groin.

Then it let go of his hand and stepped back. Smoke poured from the wound as the weight of its foul innards pushed the cut open, spilling them to the floor in a wet splatter.

Holly screamed and pressed her face into Marissa’s hair, unable to watch.

Eric tried to tear his eyes away, but he couldn’t.

It dropped back into the chair and then lowered its head. Just like that, the monster messenger was gone. Smoke began to rise from the rest of its body. Its messages were delivered. It was dead.

That was all this was about? The magic man told Delphinium where to find Marissa and beat the poor girl half to death just to tell him he could go home if he wanted? The message was that he was excused?

Maybe the monster was right. Maybe they couldn’t win this battle. But he knew one thing for sure: if he took Holly and Marissa and left, Delphinium and the others would die. And without Delphinium, nothing could stop the magic man from making his way to Wisconsin and killing them. This guy’s promises would dissolve into smoke just like the messenger who gave it. When the smoke cleared, it’d be like it never existed.

Confident that the creature wasn’t getting back up, he turned and knelt, examining Marissa. She was unconscious, and it was no surprise. Both her eyes were black. Her lip was split. Her face was swollen and puffy. Her body was covered in bruises, her clothes torn. The thing had really worked her over. Was that part of the magic man’s plan? Or had the ugly freak only been amusing itself while it waited for them to arrive?

Holly looked up at him, her pretty eyes glistening with tears. “Will she be okay?”

“I think so.” It felt strange, working his hands over her body, but he needed to make sure she was okay, and as far as he could tell, she seemed mostly fine. He couldn’t find any broken bones, but the arm was definitely dislocated. That would have to be taken care of, though it made his stomach squirm a little. The poor girl had already been through so much. “Hold onto her. Tight. I have to set this.”

Holly made a sick noise in her throat, but she did as he said and hugged her tightly.

He was thankful she was unconscious. At least she wouldn’t see it coming. He sat down on the floor, gripped her arm, set his foot against her armpit for leverage, and prayed he remembered how to do this correctly.

The pain dragged her back to consciousness with a piercing scream, but by then it was done. She lay in Holly’s arms, sobbing and clutching at her shoulder.

“She needs a sling,” said Eric. “Then we have to get her back to Delphinium.”

Holly looked up at him. “You didn’t even consider his offer, did you? It never crossed your mind to leave Del and the others behind.”

He didn’t have to answer. She knew. It was what she did. It was her power. But he answered anyway. “Delphinium asked for my help. I’m still not sure why. I still don’t see what difference I’ll make in the end, but I won’t abandon her.”

She gave him a smile. “I’m pretty sure I know why.”

He cocked his head, not understanding, but she only smiled at him and then looked down at her sister again as she brushed the hair from her bloodied face.

“I’ll find something to use as a sling.”