Crimson Falls (The Depravity Chronicles) (23 page)

“That it did,”
she said with a smile.

Anna was grateful
to be in the cruiser with people she liked. She was also pleased that Trevor
was still in one piece. In the back of her mind she knew he would be okay, even
in the midst of all the craziness of the evening. Perhaps all the gun toting
and hunting her husband had done with him had actually paid off.

She looked in
the rearview mirror and could see the three cruisers following her.
Anticipating that citizens would begin arriving shortly after they did, she got
on the radio to help coordinate.

“Dean, Tim, you’re
in the van with the dogs, correct?”

“Copy that,
Sheriff,” Tim said.

“Jake,
Geraldine, your cruisers have the weapons.”

“Copy, Sheriff,”
both Jake and Geraldine echoed.

“When we get to
the Brickton Estate we will not have a lot of time to prepare. I need Sam and
Jake with me. Dean, I need you to coordinate with Tim to establish a perimeter
around the house. The rest of you are to follow Tim. He is in charge.”

“Copy, Sheriff,”
everyone agreed.

They turned the
corner where Sam had run off the road, and the house came into view. Every
light in the house was on, casting a foreboding shadow over the front yard and
tree line. Anna shuddered at the sight of it.

“Sheriff, we
didn’t leave those lights on,” Tim radioed. “Someone’s been here since we
left.”

“Imagine that,”
Anna said. She parked her cruiser at the base of the porch at the side of the
house. The remaining cars parked close behind.

“Get those dogs
out!” Anna ordered as she climbed out of her cruiser. She looked around for
Trevor, but didn’t see Simon’s Honda.

“Our two other
brothers are on their way,” Dean said as he nodded toward the end of the
driveway, which was eclipsed by the trees.

“Good to know,”
Anna said.

Dean and Tim
walked into the backyard with the dogs, while Aaron, Ralph, and Geraldine
followed them, their weapons drawn. A car was coming around the corner, its
high beams blinding them.

Must be Simon
and Trevor
,
Anna thought to herself. She watched as they parked beside the van and got out
of the car.

“Mom!” Trevor
called. She walked up and hugged him as tightly as she could, then held him in
front of her with her hand on his shoulders.

“Why would you
do this?” she asked, trying to remain as quiet and calm as she could.

“Because I was
the only one who knew it wasn’t human,” he explained. “I thought it was a
werewolf.”

“But now we’re
not so sure,” Simon added.

“Oh, and what
makes you so sure it’s not a werewolf?” Anna asked, trying to keep sarcasm from
flowing into her tone.

“Cute, Mom,”
Trevor shot back. “We shot it and it didn’t die. But we did manage to get a
good look at it. We recognized him.”

“Who was it?”
Anna asked, only half believing their story.

“It was...” he
tried to say. “It was…” Trevor said again, but couldn’t finish.

“It was his
dad,” Simon said.

Anna’s heart
began racing and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck slowly come to
attention. She wasn’t sure how to answer what Simon had just announced. Trevor
looked at her with a haunted expression.

“It’s true,”
Trevor said. “Then we lost him. He just vanished.”

“That’s what you
meant when you said that your dad was gone,” Sam interjected. Trevor just
nodded.

“Trevor, honey,
your father isn’t the killer,” Anna said soothingly.

“You didn’t see
what we saw,” Trevor said. “He hid in the trees and moved faster than anyone
could. I think he’s a shadow werewolf.”

“You have quite
the imagination, young man,” Jake said as he joined the group.

“No one asked
you, douche,” Trevor snapped. Jake looked at Anna, who shook her head.

“Get into the
house, Jake,” Anna ordered. “We’re right behind you.” She nodded toward Sam so
he would follow Jake.

“Trevor, Simon,
I need you to stay with Tim and Geraldine,” Anna said. She wasn’t sure where
the safest place would be for Trevor, but knew the least safest place would be
with her.

Trevor
immediately shook his head. “We’re going with you, Mom. You’re best equipped to
keep us safe.”

“Nice try,
Trevor,” Anna retorted. “But you’ve had enough excitement for one day. Believe
it or not, I am trying to keep you and Simon alive. So please just do as I
say.”

Simon looked at
Trevor, shrugged his shoulders, and was the first to speak. “Okay, Anna, we’ll
stay here.”

“Dude!” Trevor
yelled as he smacked Simon on the arm.

“Deal with it,”
Simon growled.

“Thanks, boys,”
Anna said in relief. “And Trevor, please make sure you stay here. If you go on
some cockamamie mission I swear to God I will make your life a living hell.”

Trevor laughed
and was about to speak, but the look on Anna’s face made him squirm. He
shrugged in agreement.

Anna took one
last look around her, satisfied that the guys could handle the boys as well as
the civilians who would soon be arriving. She turned to her small group, which
included Matthew, Amy, Sam, Jake, and Anish. She gestured for them to follow
Sam up the stairs. As they did, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was
watching her. It seemed to press against her, almost like it was trying to push
her down the stairs.

“I’m never
coming back to this place again,” she said to herself.

“What did you
say, Anna?” Matthew asked as she entered the mudroom.

“It wasn’t
important,” she mumbled. “So where exactly is this secret passage?”

“Don’t you think
we should go down where Tim and them just were?” Jake said. It was more a
statement than a question.

“If I thought
that then we would do that,” Anna barked. “I have a feeling that whatever room
Michael was being held in is going to lead us to where Lionel may have been
taken. I’m sure they are connected in some way.”

“That makes
sense,” Sam said. Jake’s face got red and he began walking swiftly toward the
library.

“Asshole,” Amy
coughed through her hands. Everyone smiled.

“This is quite a
house,” Sam said as they entered the living room. Anna could see through the
large windows and was happy to see that Dean, Dylan, and Tim were creating the
perimeter with the dogs as well as other officers. Trevor and Simon were
talking with Geraldine. For the first time she felt like they weren’t ten steps
behind the killer.

This might work
in our favor,
she
thought to herself as she followed everyone into the hallway. When she entered
the library, Anna was overwhelmed by the enormity of the room. Amy noticed her
fascination.

“I know,” Amy
said as she walked up to Anna. “Believe it or not, he’s read all of them.”

“I’m not sure
how I feel about that,” Anna admitted. “Looks like Trevor and Simon aren’t the
only geniuses in this town.”

“And what am I?
Chopped liver?” Matthew said with a wide grin. “After all, I found this.” He
gestured to the large table.

“So this is
where you found the secret door?” Anna asked.

“See for
yourself,” Matthew said as he disappeared under the table.

Anna felt like
she was a teenager again, searching in the woods for Matthew’s father. She also
remembered being at St. Mark’s with Matthew when they were seventeen, exploring
the old church’s many small cupboards and strange passageways. When she knelt
down to crawl under the table, she shook her head and her nostalgia for earlier
days grew as she faced the blackness of the passage in front of her.

* * * * * *

3

Dean and Dylan
Lofton stood side by side as they scanned the woods for any sign of movement.
Both men were almost 6’3, both had dirty blonde hair, and both men were proud.
Dean took a moment to take stock of what had happened today, then just shook
his head.

“I say we just
jump into those trees and find this guy,” Dylan said, the younger brother by more
than a decade. At thirty years old, he had yet to grow out of what Dean called
‘extended adolescence.’

“That’s a smart
idea,” Tim said. “You’ll get yourself killed.”

“I could handle
it,” Dylan protested.

“That’s fine,
Dylan,” Tim laughed. “You keep telling yourself that.”

“Yeah,”
Geraldine added. “And when you see the shit that we did under the house, then
maybe you can tell me how excited you are to run into the woods like a madman.”

Dean often grew
sick of how people seemed to pick on his little brother. Sure, there were times
when Dylan deserved it. But most of the time people just didn’t understand him.
Didn’t know how to take his jokes.

“I hear some dogs
up in the driveway,” Tim said. “I’ll take care of them.”

“Thanks,” Dean
said. “We’ll hold the line.” When Tim was halfway up the yard, a large shadow
zigzagged through the trees at the edge of the yard. The dogs began barking and
howling, pulling at Dean and Dylan.

“Let’s get ‘em!”
Dylan yelled. The dogs sprinted forward and Dylan followed them, almost
tripping several times until he disappeared into the woods.

“Dylan!” Dean
screamed. He turned around frantically, wondering how to save his little brother.
His other two brothers were making their way down the hill. When they saw Dean
panicking, they picked up their pace.

“What’s going
on, Dean?” his second youngest brother asked.

“Dylan just ran
into the woods!” Dean cried.

“Then let’s go
get him!” his brothers cried. Without hesitation they too darted into the woods
after their little brother.

“Son of a
bitch!” Dean said. He followed his brothers into the woods, even though he
could hear Tim screaming at him to stay behind.

Dean stopped
running, coming to a halt down by the river. The only sound around him was
water, with occasional shouts from up toward the house. Suddenly a dog yelped
wildly, followed by several more dogs howling in fear. He could hear them
running through the woods, along with small whimpers. One dog ran up to him,
its tail between its legs.

“Hey, boy,” Dean
said. He knelt down to pat the dog on the head. Without warning the dog backed
away, a deep growl in its throat. Dean then heard another growl, this time
behind him. He turned around slowly, assuming one of the dogs had panicked.
Nothing was there. The dog in front of him yelped, and when Dean faced forward
again the dog was gone.

“Something must
have spooked him,” Dean said to himself. He couldn’t figure out how the dog had
moved that quickly. Then he heard growling again. This time, however, it was
accompanied by heavy breathing. He turned around again, walking toward the
water and pausing at a large rock. As he shined the light on the rock, he
noticed the blood.

“This is where I
died,” a voice said from behind him. Dean swung around, drawing his gun. There
in front of him was Alan Brickton.

“Mary, Mother of
God,” Dean said. Although it looked like Alan Brickton, he seemed taller. His
eyes were enormous, and sunken into his skull. His teeth were yellow and
somehow larger. It looked like he was wearing lipstick, until Dean realized it
was probably blood. Before he could say something, Alan suddenly leaped
forward. Dean fell on his backside, the gun falling from his hands. Alan perched
on top of his stomach.

“Let’s go get
‘em!” Alan yelled. It sounded exactly like Dylan’s voice. “Let’s go get ‘em!”

“We’re getting
‘em!” Dean’s brothers yelled. They must have been close so Dean shouted for
them.

“Down here!
We’re down here! Help me!” Dean waited and listened for a response.

“Dean?” one of
his brothers called.

Alan put a
large, bony hand over Dean’s mouth with such force that Dean’s mouth began to
bleed.

“I’m okay,
guys!” Alan cried, but in Dean’s voice. “I think I saw Dylan about a hundred
yards downriver!” Alan broke Dean’s left leg, then jabbed him in the mouth with
three of his long fingers.

Dean could feel
some of his front teeth falling down his throat. He began to choke, spitting
out as many as he could. The man on top of him had disappeared. Dean tried to
climb to his feet, but couldn’t balance himself. His left leg limp and keeping
it as still as possible, Dean began to pull himself up the hill toward the
house, keeping it as still as possible. He heard more dogs whimpering, then one
of his brothers began screaming.

“Tim, come in,”
Dean screamed into his radio. He turned it off, then turned it on again. The
radio was dead. He threw it down in frustration. As he looked at it, two large
feet stepped directly onto the radio, crushing it under its weight. He knew
without looking that Alan had come back to kill him, but he wasn’t going to
give him the pleasure of doing it without looking him in the eye.