Tales of Chills and Thrills: The Mystery Thriller Horror Box Set (7 Mystery Thriller Horror Novels) (40 page)

“Where to?” Samuel asked. He dusted his
pants off and faced away from the photograph.

“I’ve got a feeling someone who can help
us has popped out. He’s at least a two-day hike from here, and through some
pretty tough shit. Gonna make the fight with those wolves seem like walking
your dog in the park. Plus, I’ve got two other friends I’d like you to meet.”

Samuel raised his eyebrows. “Or I could
sit in this cabin, staring at the reflection on the wall while waiting for
death.”

“Something like that,” Major said.

Chapter 6

Both men slept the entire day and through
the next night. The reversion distorted time in a way that left them groggy and
slow despite the hours spent asleep. Samuel opened his eyes and saw Major
sitting on the same chair, rubbing a sharpening stone over multiple blades. The
rhythmic scraping annoyed him. The meager light penetrating the slate skies had
returned, signaling a faint resemblance to the mornings of Samuel’s old life.
He reached up to his neck and let his fingers trace the interlocking spirals of
the medallion hanging from the leather string.

“What’s that?” Major asked, his eyes
making contact with Samuel’s while the sharpening stone continued working on
the blade of a curved knife.

“A triskelion. Some call it a triskele.”

Samuel hesitated, surprised the
information was so readily available to his brain. Major saw the look on his
face.

“That reflection on the wall is starting
to jar things loose. Go ahead. I’m sure you can recall what it is and why
you’re wearing it. I’d like to hear about that.”

Samuel paused and closed his eyes. He
could feel the triskelion on his neck and felt the knowledge seeping back into
his head.

“They’re not sure where it came from, but
most archaeologists date it to the European Iron Age, Celtic in origin.”

“Sounds like you know what you’re talking
about,” Major said as he smiled. “Go on.”

“They had some evidence the symbol was
used for a very long time, as early as the Greek and Mycenaean civilizations
centuries earlier, but the Europeans assimilated it. Wales, Brittany, they all
used a variation of the form.”

Major waited as the blade slid back and
forth across the stone.

“
QUOCUNQUE JECERIS STABIT
.
Wherever you throw it, it will stand.”

“Latin, right?” Major asked.

“Yes. It’s a motto on a coat of arms.
Olaf the Black.”

Samuel stopped and rubbed his head. It
felt as though a door opened, one he struggled to pry loose from the rusty
hinges of his damaged mind.

“Historian? Archaeologist? Maybe you just
read a lot,” Major said.

“Yeah, could be,” Samuel said. “The Nazis
corrupted a version for the Third Reich. I think it represents timeless human
symbolism, like the cross.”

Samuel stopped as he discovered the
flow of information behind the door. There was nothing more to unearth, at
least during this conversation.

“Nazis. I’ve seen reflections of them,
too. Mostly the swastika on armbands or officer caps. Not much more.”

“Where did you see this stuff?” Samuel
asked.

Major shook his head. “My blades are
sharp. Got your stuff together?”

***

The two men stepped out of the cabin.
Samuel drew a deep breath and noted he could no longer smell the pine needles
underfoot. The forest felt as silent as a snowstorm blanketing the landscape.
Even the air felt dead on his skin. He detected an absence of temperature, as
if this place existed in a vacuum.

Major looked down into the valley and
then back toward the summit, which stuck out over the chimney of the cabin. He
secured his belt and sheath over his left hip, pulled the black headband down
over his forehead and nodded at Samuel.

“Reversion.”

Samuel stared at Major and shrugged his
shoulders.

“Is that why this place doesn’t have
odors, sounds?”

“I think so. This place is in a reversion.
Rewind. It’s ‘undoing’ itself. We’ll have a lot of time to talk during the
hike. I’d rather set off now before the alpha male returns. Let’s go.”

Before Samuel could reply, a lone howl
pierced the atmosphere and raised the hairs on his neck.

“Guess we won’t have to wait long, after
all,” Major said. “Your biggest fan is back.”

***

The wolf glared at the hunters by his
side.

They set forth.

The other hunters snapped and paced in
circles.

Yes. Now there are two. The old man
has returned seeking his escape. We are not to allow either, as He has spoken.
Take the elder down first.

The alpha male trotted to the edge of the
clearing and looked over his shoulder. The other hunters followed with a
burning hunger in their stomachs.

The pack wound through the trees until
the forest thinned with the rising elevation. Their sinewy bodies moved through
the underbrush in silence, the leaves no longer rustling in the stillness of
the air. When the alpha male crested the last rise, he could see the tip of the
chimney protruding from the top of the cabin.

They wait for us.

He broke into an even-paced run, with
seven hunters in line behind him.

***

“They will always go for the throat,”
Major said.

“Are they reflections?” Samuel asked.

“I’m not sure, and I don’t want to find
out the hard way. They want you, not me, but they will attack anything that
gets in their way. If they are sentient creatures, they no doubt feel the reversion
like we do. They’re in self-preservation mode, and that means they will fight
to the death.”

Samuel drew a deep breath and nodded.
Major shoved his hand underneath his coat and removed another curved blade. He
squeezed the blunt edge between his thumb and forefinger and spun the handle
toward Samuel in one motion.

“Ever use one of these?” he asked.

“Maybe,” Samuel said. “I can’t quite
remember.”

“The early Arabs called it a scimitar.”

“Sounds like you have some history in
your background as well,” Samuel said.

Major ignored the comment and continued.
“They’re designed to be light and used to slash in a diagonal direction, not a
stabbing motion. If you strike across the muzzles of the wolves, you’ll make it
impossible for them to clamp their jaws on your throat.”

That visual made Samuel shudder.

“And the blade is extremely sharp.
Remember that on your follow through.”

Samuel nodded. “What happened to your
shotgun?”

“This,” Major said, holding two empty
shell cases in the palm of his hand. “No sporting goods stores around
here.”

“What’s our strategy against the pack?”
Samuel asked. “What’s the best way to take them out?”

“I have no idea,” Major said. “I’ve never
fought a wolf before.”

Before Samuel could respond or find a way
to deal with his fear, the alpha male appeared from the edge of the tree line.
The creature strutted up the slope with several hunters following him. His feral,
yellow eyes never left Samuel. They seemed to float through the thick blanket
of perpetual dusk that draped this place.

***

The men stood shoulder to shoulder with
their weapons drawn. A bead of sweat rolled down Samuel’s nose and dropped to
his upper lip as they watched the wolves trot toward the cabin. The wolves knew
their prey would not run or lock themselves in the structure this time.

The young one is mine.

The other hunters whined and gathered to
the left of the alpha male. They spread out until they formed an arc that faced
the old one, and the alpha male fanned out to the right until his trajectory
aligned with the young one. They stopped twenty yards from the cabin. Several
of the wolves snarled and began throwing their heads toward the sky. The alpha
male felt the hypnotic pull of the moon. He searched the heavens for the
celestial body, but could not locate it. Millions of years of evolution,
interrupted by the reversion, left him feeling out of sync, distraught. He
shook his head and picked up the pace toward his prey.

***

“I’m ready.”

“You’d better be,” Major said. “The alpha
male wants you all for himself.”

Before Samuel could say another word, he
saw the rest of the pack spring into a run toward Major. Through the corner of
his eye, he saw a blaze of fur, teeth and those yellow eyes. Major bent his
knees and raised his arms, ready to slash at the first beasts to reach him.

Samuel glanced back and noticed the alpha
male closed the gap and was within an arm’s reach of him. He dropped to his knees
and raised the scimitar as the alpha male lunged over his head. He felt the
movement of air caused by the beast and rolled over. Samuel jumped and spun in
the opposite direction as the wolf came back at him. The creature paused and
bared its teeth, and Samuel felt a stabbing pain in the middle of his head.
Pressing a palm to his forehead, he could feel someone or something else
inside, like a cancerous intruder.

I must devour you. I must honor His
command or I will die with this world.

Samuel felt the words enter his mind
rather than his ears. He blinked and looked at the alpha male.

“Why?” he asked.

You are my reflection.

Samuel shook his head and raised the
knife to a defensive position. The alpha male took three long strides forward
and stopped. He bared his teeth at Samuel before darting off in the other
direction, toward the rest of the pack surrounding Major.

The other hunters pushed Major back
against the rear wall of the cabin. He stood with a knife in each hand and a
wicked smile on his face. The wolves, ears up, pinned him there until the alpha
male came up from behind.

“I’m waiting,” Major said to the wolves.

Take him.

The hunters lunged forward. One locked
its jaw around Major’s ankle while another reeled back from the slash that
opened its throat. The wolf died before it hit the ground. Another wolf bit
into Major’s left arm while two more flanked the alpha male. Major brought the
blade in his right hand across his body until it slashed the muzzle of the wolf
on his arm. He heard a whine and felt the pressure release on his wrist,
followed by the warming pain of torn flesh. He brought the heel of one
boot down on the head of the wolf latching to his ankle. The animal let his leg
loose and stumbled into the wall of the cabin.

The alpha male howled, and his two
sentries ran at Major. One leapt at his throat while the other bit at the
injured ankle. Major cried out as the wolf’s teeth snapped at his chin. He
turned in toward the cabin wall in a desperate attempt to knock the animals
loose. When Major dropped to his knees, the alpha male came forward. He opened
his mouth, and his eyes flared yellow in the disappearing light. The wolf
reared back on its hind legs, ready to lunge.

Samuel came around the corner as the
alpha male leapt at Major. He felt his breath catch as he realized when the
wolf finished with Major, he would be next. Major caught the wolf on his chest,
the weight of the beast spinning him to one side and knocking him backward over
a downed tree limb. The mixture of man and beast rolled to a stop. The alpha
male sprang to his feet and, a second later, Samuel landed on him. He had his
hands around the wolf’s neck, his fingers gripping fur while the alpha male
snapped at his face. With his upper body pointing down the slope, Samuel brought
both legs up and in front of the alpha male until the back of his calves rested
on the wolf’s head. In one motion, he brought his legs back, heels first,
driving the beast to the ground. Samuel heard the yelp and the cracking of bone
on the hard earth, and he stood and kicked the alpha male in the ribs. He felt
a surge of adrenaline at the beast’s cry and realized there was hope. The wolf
jumped up and ran toward the tree line with one rear leg dangling in painful
limbo.

As he watched the alpha male run, Samuel
began to pursue the beast before he heard another scream from Major. He winced
as the white underside of the alpha male’s tail disappeared beyond his sight.

We are not finished.

Samuel felt threatened by the thought,
but he had to put it aside for now. He saw two more hunters approaching Major.
A knife dropped during the fight rested near one of the steps, and Samuel
lunged for it and spun with the sharp edge out, slicing an ear off one of the
wolves. The animal cried out and scratched at the stump with one paw. Samuel
knelt and sliced horizontally through the air, his blade cutting through the
mangy fur and major arteries of the wolf’s neck. It flopped to the
ground while blood poured from its wounds. By this time, Major maneuvered on
top of the last remaining hunter and his knife was raised high, ready
for the plunge.

Samuel took a step closer, staring at the
carnage left by the battle with the pack. When he bent down to examine the tail
of one wolf, another memory filled his head.