Tina’s voice rose out of the darkness, very close by. She sounded weak and tired. “Terry? Tom?”
“We’re here,” Terry yelled. “Where are you?”
“I’m here. Just a little farther. Please hurry.”
“Are you okay? Are Russ and Cecil with you?”
“Yes, we’re all here.”
“Hurry up,” Cecil called. He also sounded like he was in bad shape.
They shined their flashlights ahead of them, sweeping the darkness, but saw nothing. The beams did nothing to dispel the gloom. It was as if the night had become a solid wall, and the beams of light were bouncing off it.
“Terry,” Tom whispered, stepping closer, “I don’t like this. My butt is puckering.”
“I don’t like it either. Something’s not right here. I can’t see shit.”
“Then what the hell are we doing? Let’s get out of here.”
“Where are you?” Tina called.
“Coming,” Terry shouted. “Just give us a minute. It’s hard to see.”
“Yes.” This time it was Russ who spoke. “There is no light.”
“What do we do?” Tom asked.
“Fuck this.”
Terry turned off his useless flashlight and pulled out one of the road flares. He snapped and twisted the end, activating it. The flare burst to phosphorescent life, hissing and spitting sparks. Its tip glowed red. Still, the darkness held. He tossed the flare ahead of them. As it spiraled through the air, they caught glimpses of human figures. There were six of them. As the flare began its downward descent, something long and black whipped through the darkness and seized it. The obsidian tentacle coiled around the hissing flare and the red glow disappeared, snuffed out.
“Holy shit…” Terry started to back away.
“No light at all,” Russ called.
“What do we do?” Tom whimpered.
Terry spoke quickly and quietly, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.
“Go back to the exit. Call the cops, the paramedics, the goddamned National Guard. I don’t care who. Just get them down here, now.”
“But what about what you said before? The Ghost Walk—”
“Fuck the Ghost Walk,” Terry said. “Just do it. We just saw a black who-knows-what out there. And hurry up. But don’t wait for me. I’ll be right behind you.”
“What?”
“I’m gonna find out what’s going on. Now go!”
Tom turned to leave and something stepped out of the darkness behind him. It padded forward, growling, until it was only inches away. Tom shined his flashlight on the creature. It was a coyote—sickly and suffering from what appeared to be an extreme case of mange. Most of its fur was missing, and its hide was covered with raw, red sores. Its eyes were two black holes, but its teeth were white—and looked very sharp.
“T-Terry…”
Moving slowly, Terry turned around. His eyes widened when he saw the animal, but he didn’t panic. He inched his hand toward his pocket, intending to grab the second flare. Noticing the movement, the coyote growled louder. Terry stopped, lowering his hand to his side. Then they heard something slithering toward them from the rear.
Both men turned in time to see the darkness move. Dozens of black tendrils hurtled toward them. Behind the darkness, their friends stepped forward. They saw Russ and Tina and Cecil, as well as Sam and Rhonda, and another man that neither of them knew. All of them seemed to be suffering from the same illness that plagued the coyote. Beyond them was a stone circle. The darkness seemed to be clustered there, seeping from the circle like water through a sieve. It bulged, as if there were an invisible bubble still holding its bulk at bay.
Terry closed his eyes. “Oh, Ken. I’m sorry, man. I’m so fucking sorry.”
The darkness hovered inches from their faces, twisting and writhing. It looked solid and yet incorporeal at the same time, defying natural law. The tentacles waved at them, waiting, stoking their fears higher. Tom began stuttering through the Lord’s Prayer. Terry screamed.
Terry?
This voice was different. It took Terry a moment to recognize it.
He’d lied to Ken earlier. Yes, he’d slept with Ken’s prom date, Alicia Hartlaub, on the night of their junior prom. What he hadn’t told Ken—what he’d kept secret all these years—was that she hadn’t been awake when it happened. After the prom, they’d all gone back to Artie Lewis’s house. Artie’s parents had been gone for the weekend, and the teens held a four-keg party in their absence. Bobby Marsh and Chris Sipe had brought along a bottle of Boones Farm Strawberry wine, and Terry traded them an ounce of weed for it. The party was in full swing. Everybody was hanging out and laughing, having a good time while Foreigner and Foghat and David Cassidy blared from the stereo. Ken wanted to go out into the backyard and get stoned with some other kids, but Alicia had declined. Ken asked Terry to keep an eye on her while he was gone. At first, that was exactly what he had done. But as Alicia drank more wine and chased it down with beer, she’d begun to get sleepy. Terry had escorted her upstairs to an empty bedroom, and stayed with her to make sure she was okay. But he was horny and drunk, and when she passed out, he’d taken advantage of it. It wasn’t rape—or at least, it hadn’t seemed so at the time. But later, when he’d sobered up, Terry felt guilty for betraying his friend. He lied about it for weeks, before finally confessing what he’d done to Ken.
He’d never given Alicia the same respect.
The guilt had haunted him for years.
The darkness changed, forming a human shape. Alicia stood in front of him, looking exactly as she had all those years ago. She was close enough to kiss. He smelled the wine on her breath and saw the tears in her eyes.
Those eyes were black.
Now it’s my turn, Terry
.
“I’m sorry…” he sobbed. “I was drunk, Alicia. I didn’t mean to.”
“Terry!” Tom screamed. “Help me. It’s my uncle. He’s back, just like when we went camping!”
Terry couldn’t tear his gaze away from Alicia. She leaned closer, her lips pursed.
Kiss me, Terry. Kiss me like you did that night
…
“Get away!”
“Terry!” Tom shrieked. “Stop him! He’s going to put his thing in me again! Oh, God, help me.”
As their fears peaked, their ghosts laughed. Then the darkness lunged forward and consumed them, leaving behind only withered husks.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“There.” Adam pointed at a garage two houses away from his former home. “Behind Merle’s wood shop.”
The three of them huddled together in the driveway, hiding behind the blue minivan. Levi had convinced Adam to pull himself together.
Maria frowned. “That doesn’t look like a wood shop.”
“It’s not anymore,” Adam whispered. “After Merle died, he left everything he owned to his ex-wife, Peggy. He sold antiques out of the house. She put all of it up for an estate auction—the house, his antiques and personal belongings, the wood shop. Everything. I’d left LeHorn’s book in there the night we confronted Hylinus. I got it back that same night. After what happened with Tara, I buried it behind the wood shop.”
Levi groaned. “You buried the book unprotected?”
“No. Give me some credit, dude. I sealed it in a plastic freezer bag and put it inside a cigar box. Then I duct taped the box shut. It should still be okay.”
Maria stifled a yawn. “Why did you bury it?”
“Because of what it was. What it had caused. I couldn’t just get rid of it. I’m a writer. I can’t throw a book away, even a book like that. But I didn’t want it around, either. So I buried it, just in case I ever needed it again. I hoped I wouldn’t, but I guess now we do, right?”
“You did well,” Levi whispered. “You did very well indeed. You were guided by the Lord.”
“God?”
Levi nodded.
“Fuck God,” Adam exclaimed. “Fuck Him in his all-powerful, all-knowing benevolent ass!”
“Adam.” Levi’s voice was like ice. He grabbed Adam’s arm and squeezed. “That will be enough.”
Adam pushed Levi away and laughed. The sound carried down the alley.
“Be quiet,” Levi hushed him. “You don’t believe in God?”
“Hell, yeah, I believe in Him. And I hate the motherfucker.”
“I said that’s
enough
! I’m not going to let you blaspheme like this.”
“You want to kick my ass? Go ahead. I don’t give a shit. What—just because He’s always been nice to you, you’re required to kiss His holy ass? Well, screw that, Levi. Maybe He’s been good to you, but the only thing God’s ever done for me is shit all over my life. This whole thing was His fucking fault, man. Do you understand that? I prayed to Him. Begged Him. I fucking begged. And God just laughed. He took everything from me. I’m not Amish like you. I’m not one of the favored ones.”
“I’m far from favored,” Levi protested. “And I’ve had plenty of unanswered prayers. You think I don’t know about suffering or loss? You think I haven’t questioned God? You know nothing about me.”
“I know that you still love Him, even if you’re not Amish anymore. And I know that I still hate him—more and more every day. All I want to do is spit in His fucking face. You want the truth? I wish the motherfucker was standing here in front of me right now. I’d fucking say it then, too.”
“Then I pray that your wish never comes true.”
“Look,” Maria whispered, quieting them both. “I’m going on well past twenty-four hours with no sleep here, and I’m about to fall over. Can we please get on with this? You two can argue theology and steal lines from
Pitch Black
later.”
Levi appeared confused. “Pitch black?”
“It’s a movie, and it doesn’t fucking matter. I need some sleep before we do whatever it is we’re going to do with this book. Let’s just sneak over there and dig it up and go home before we get caught. Tired as I am, I really don’t feel like sleeping in a holding cell tonight.”
“You’re right,” Levi agreed. He looked at Adam. “I am sorry.”
“I’m not. I meant every word of it. I fucking hate Him.”
Levi tugged on Adam’s arm. “Maria is right. Let’s go retrieve the book. We’ll discuss the rest later.”
“Hey!” Adam yanked away from him. “Let go of me or I’ll wake up everybody in this fucking neighborhood.”
Levi took a deep breath. “Adam, look over there, beyond the playground. Do you see those trees?”
Adam turned away from him, sulking.
“Do you see them?” Levi insisted, wrenching the man’s arm.
“Yes. Now let go. You’re hurting me.”
“You know where those trees go, don’t you, Adam? You remember where that forest leads to. What it’s part of.”
“
Leave me alone
.”
Levi leaned close, breathing into Adam’s ear. “It leads to LeHorn’s Hollow. Sure, we’re on the far side. There are many miles between us and that place, and the fire destroyed a great portion of the woods between here and there, but it’s all still connected. It’s all part of the same net. The energies that make that place what it is don’t rely on trees or undergrowth or property boundaries. They run through the ground. I can feel them, you know. Pulsing. Turning. Vibrating far beneath our feet. And you can feel them too, I’ll bet. Because they’ve touched you. You’ve been poisoned by that place.”
“Stop it,” Adam whispered.
“That’s enough, Levi. You’re hurting him.”
Maria stepped forward and tapped Levi’s shoulder. He brushed her away and continued.
“But the energies aren’t the only thing brewing there, Adam. Something else is growing in those woods. It’s searching for a way into our world, and it’s found one. It’s seeping through right now, a little bit at a time. Gathering strength. But it’s almost to the boiling point now, and tomorrow night, those floodgates won’t be able to hold it back any longer. It will swamp the Earth, extinguishing everything that lives, smothering the planet in darkness.”
“No…”
“Oh, yes. You fought one of its minions before. Fought it and defeated it. Hylinus. But now we have to stop the rest of it. We have to stop the thing that Hylinus served.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. You have no choice, Adam. You owe it to your friends. To your wife. It’s time to finish this once and for all.”
“Okay!” Adam shouted. “You win! You’re right. Just leave me the fuck alone!”
Maria ducked down behind the minivan again, gasping. She started to speak, but Levi held his hand up, listening. They waited, but heard nothing.
“Shit,” Maria breathed. “If that didn’t wake anybody up, then nothing will.”
“It didn’t,” Levi said.
“Then this town could sleep through a nuclear bomb attack. Or the Second Coming.”
“Perhaps. Or maybe the Lord is with us.”
Adam started to speak, but they both silenced him. After making sure his outburst hadn’t attracted any late-night attention, they crept out from behind the minivan and snuck across the yard, single-file. The grass was wet with dew and showed traces of their passage. Maria kept glancing at the houses around them, looking for lights, but the homes remained dark and silent.
“Don’t any of these people have dogs?” she whispered.
Levi shrugged.
“I did,” Adam said. “Big Steve. He was my best friend.”
“Where is he now?”
“Hylinus killed him, too.”
They crossed over the second yard and then into the third, darting quickly behind the former woodshed. The corrugated steel structure hid them from the view of the other houses. Now all they had to worry about was someone driving down the alley unexpectedly, or the fire siren going off.
Adam moved to the center of the building’s wall and stood with his back against it. Then, staring at the ground, he counted off twelve paces, putting his feet together, heel to toe. He stopped and crouched down.
“It should be right here. Which one of you brought the shovel?”
Maria and Levi glanced at each other. Levi closed his eyes and shook his head in frustration.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Maria whispered. “You didn’t prepare for this?”
“Well, I didn’t know he’d buried it, now, did I?” Levi protested. “We’ll just have to use our hands.”
Kneeling next to Adam, Levi began digging at the earth with his hands. After a moment, Adam joined him. Together, they tore up clumps of sod and tossed aside rocks, then pawed through the softer dirt below. Earthworms wriggled in annoyance, disturbed by the intrusion. They’d only dug about eight inches when their fingers grazed the surface of the cigar box.
“See? I knew I didn’t bury it too deep.”
“I’ll be thankful when I get what we need,” Levi said.
Adam started to dig again, but Levi gently pushed him back.
“Allow me.”
“I can help.”
“I know you can. But trust me, it’s for the better. With all the pain this book has caused you, do you really want to touch it again?”
Adam shook his head, then stood up and wiped his dirty hands on his hospital smock. Levi clawed at the dirt feverishly, throwing it to the side until he could slip his fingers around the edge of the box. Then he hauled it upward and brushed the soil from the lid. He ripped the duct tape away and then opened the box. Inside, just as Adam had told them, was a slim, brown leather book wrapped in a plastic freezer bag. Levi unzipped the bag and held up the book. Maria leaned forward, reading the tiny gold lettering on the front cover:
The Long Lost Friend
A Collection
of
Mysterious & Invaluable
Arts & Remedies
For
Man As Well As Animals
With Many Proofs
Of their virtue and efficacy in healing diseases and defeating
spirits, the greater part of which was never published
until they appeared in print for the first time in the
U.S. in the year of our Lord 1820
.
By
John George Hohman
I N R I
“Wow,” she whispered. “That looks really old.”
Levi flipped it open and glanced at the bottom of the title page.
“It’s a 1916 edition. Not the complete translation, but not as bad as some of the later editions. Certainly better than the abridged versions available on the Internet.”
“Is it worth anything?”
“Quite a bit, actually. An antiquarian book collector would pay several hundred for this. A powwow practitioner would pay even more.”
Holding the book by the front and back covers, he turned it upside down and fanned the pages. Six folded sheets of paper fell out. Levi closed the book and picked them up. He glanced through them quickly, then settled on the final sheet. His eyes glinted in the darkness as he scanned it. Then he smiled.
Maria tried to read over his shoulder, but the words were in another language. She tried to figure out what it was, but couldn’t. The words weren’t typeset. They’d been written by hand. There were also several hand-drawn diagrams and figures. When Maria focused on the drawings, her vision blurred. She chalked the occurrence up to her lack of sleep, and rubbed her eyes. When she opened them again, Levi was folding the sheets of paper again. He tucked them carefully in his shirt pocket.
“The book is valuable,” he repeated. “These pages from Nelson LeHorn’s
Daemonolateria
are priceless.”
“Can we go now?” Maria asked, shivering in the damp air. “Do we have everything we came for?”
“Oh, yes. This is exactly what we needed. We’ve got one more stop to make, but it will be quick.” Levi stuck his hand out to Adam. “Thank you, Mr. Senft.”
Maria groaned upon hearing of yet another stop.
Adam stared at Levi’s hand for a moment, his expression timid. Then he shook it.
“So this really will help you?”
“You’ve helped me a great deal,” Levi said. “I’ve got one more thing I’d like you to do for me, but we’ll talk about that later. For now, this is enough.”
“What is it?”
Levi walked out into the alley and headed for the car. “Something small. Just some closure. But not now. Like Maria, I’m exhausted. We all are. Let’s talk about it in the morning, after we’ve all had some sleep.”
“But it
is
morning,” Adam said. “It’s just not light out yet.”
Levi glanced up at the sky. The moon was shrouded in clouds again. The stars seemed dim and cold, and the darkness between them was vast and impenetrable. He turned back to them. His expression was grave, his eyes bloodshot.
“Then let’s just hope that when the dawn arrives in a few hours, it’s not for the last time.”