Darkness Falls (13 page)

27

A shadow-walker lunged out of the stockroom, shrieking, arms outstretched, its talon-like fingers reaching for Cash’s face. Despite the sudden attack, Cash kept the light focused on the monster’s head, even as he fell back. The darkness cloaking its face fled from the beam, bursting out in all directions.

“Now!” Cash yelled.

Sam lunged forward, holding the large knife like a slasher-film serial killer. He swung down hard, but the thing must have heard him coming, because it tilted its head to the side, just in time to avoid being impaled. As the monster continued falling toward Cash, now pulling Sam’s arms with it, he managed to turn the blade around. When they landed atop Cash, the force of the fall shoved the blade up through the thing’s chin and into where its brain should be...if the shadow-walkers still had brains.

When the thing fell still, Sam felt pretty sure the shadow-walkers still had brains, and they needed them to not have butcher knives embedded in them.
Good news all around
.

Working together, Cash and Sam rolled the thing away and got back to their feet.

Sam looked down, his breathing labored, as he watched as the smoldering black body slowly extinguish, revealing what remained of the human being beneath. Part of him was horrified by the charred remains, but he was also relieved. The body was so mangled he couldn’t recognize the victim. Whoever it was, would have died if freed from the darkness’s control anyway, even without the knife buried in its head.

“Over here,” Cash said. “Give me a hand with this.”

Cash shined his light on the freezer’s door handle. “It was trying to get inside.”

Sam quickly understood the implications.

Cash gave him an odd look. “Get something to use as a weapon, in case one of those things is inside.

Sam stepped back into the kitchen and yanked the butcher’s knife from the dead man’s head. It resisted for a moment, as bone and brain clung to the blade, but then it came free with a slurp.

Cash aimed the flashlight at the door, put one hand on the handle and looked to Sam. “Ready?”

Sam held the knife up and nodded.

Cash pulled hard, stepping back as the door swung open and cold air washed out over them. He shouted in surprise as something flew out of the freezer, just missing his head. Sam couldn’t be sure in the limited light, but it looked like a frozen ham.

“What the...?” Cash said, aiming the light at the projectile next to him. A spiral ham wrapped in plastic.

“Oh my God, Cash, is that you?” Laurie stumbled out of the freezer with Wyatt wrapped in her arms. They were both pale and shivering. Sam crouched and took Wyatt, embracing him tightly, while Cash hugged Laurie.

“I got you,” Sam said, not sure if he could ever let go of the boy again. “I got you.”

“D-Dad,” Wyatt stuttered.

“Ya?” Sam said.

“Can we go home now?”

Sam laughed and hugged him tighter. “Yeah. We can go home.”

“Dad,” Wyatt said again, his body growing rigid. “Is something burning?”

A massive ashen head burst through the kitchen entrance. It roared, sending a cloud of ash toward them. Too large to fit through the door, it snapped about with its massive jaws in a wild attempt to reach any of them.

Laurie screamed and backed into storage room wall.

Sam grabbed Wyatt and stood in front of him. He backed them up next to Laurie, his mind desperately searching for a solution. He thought of hiding in the freezer. No good. If the creature got in, it could easily trap them inside where they would either freeze to death or asphyxiate.

Cash picked up the flashlight and shined it on the creature, but only managed to piss it off. It pushed forward, cracking the door frame blocking its path to the kitchen.

“Is there another way out? That door frame’s not going to hold him for long,” Sam shouted over the creature’s wrathful roaring.

Cash shined the light to the back wall of the stockroom. A solid, painted white wall covered with shelves and cooking supplies glowed in the light. They were trapped.

Frustrated, Sam stepped back into the kitchen and saw a possible solution. A five gallon bucket, filled three quarters to the top with chunky grease sat on the floor next to the grill. Above it, on a shelf, was a bottle of cheap bourbon. He took a dish rag hanging from the oven, popped off the bourbon’s cap and stuffed the rag halfway inside. Placing the bottle to the side, he picked up the bucket. As lethal as a Molotov cocktail could be to a human, he didn’t think it would be enough for this monstrosity. But a bucket of grease? Now that would burn
hot
.

Holding the heavy bucket of salty smelling slime, he ran across the kitchen, lifted the bucket and hoisted it at the creature. The bucket sailed through the air, spewing an arc of grease and landing square on the creature’s face, coating it in heavy oils that matted the ashen body down, revealing the cracked, black skin and sinister facial features hidden beneath.

Sam’s momentum carried him forward and he spilled to the floor, sliding toward the creature. With a snort, the thing reeled back, but just for a moment. When it saw Sam within striking distance, it forgot all about its slimy covering. With a quick snap of its forelimb, the creature struck out with the speed of a praying mantis, impaling Sam’s leg with a long black claw and pinning him to the floor.

Before Sam could fully understand his situation, the beast reeled back again, this time from a bright orange light. Cash stood above him, lit Molotov in hand, shaking it at the monster.

Sam dragged himself away from the monster while Wyatt yelled for him. He got to his feet, putting on a brave front, but he could already feel the dark curse spreading up his leg. It wouldn’t be long before he shared Dana’s fate...right in front of his son. But he’d worry about that once Wyatt was safe.

He took the Molotov from Cash and motioned to the window between the kitchen and dining room where the cooks placed ready meals.

“Go!” Sam shouted.

28

“Go! Through the food window!”

Cash moved quickly, helping Laurie through first, who received Wyatt next.

“Sam,” Cash urged.

“Right behind you,” Sam said. He inched closer to the monster, shaking the Molotov, keeping it distracted by the painful light. As Cash dove into the dining room, Sam stepped back and tossed the flaming cocktail as hard as he could. The bottle struck the thing’s snout and burst, flames exploding out in all directions as the bourbon, and then cooking grease caught on fire.

The creature wailed and thrashed back, slamming its head into the ceiling. While the beast writhed in anger and pain, Sam squeezed himself up through the food counter and chased after the others, who were running past the crashed van. He could no longer feel his wounded leg, which was a reprieve since the wound should have hurt like hell. The numbness was spreading, moving up through his torso. In his mind’s eye, he saw his blood running black, sliding through his body, turning it against him. Against his son.

Not yet
, he thought.
Not fucking yet.

Only then did he realize they had no way to escape back to town. When Laurie ran for the parking lot, he shouted. “Where are you going?”

“My car!” she shouted back.

Sam felt a flicker of hope, but it was quickly squelched when he heard the ashen predator careen out of the diner behind him. He glanced back. The ash-beast was nearly on top of him already. Two more leaps and it would—

Bright light struck the creature, stumbling it up before it reached him. Sam looked forward and found Kyle on his motorcycle, high beam aimed at the monster. But while he kept the giant at bay, the horde closed in from behind him.

“Hurry up!” Sam shouted as Laurie fumbled with her keys. When she dropped the keys, Cash put his fist through the window, unlocked the door from the inside and pulled it open. The first thing he did was sit inside and flick on the lights.

Nothing happened.

“I told you to replace this battery!” Cash shouted.

“Dad!” Wyatt yelled. “They’re coming!”

Sam turned to find the horde closing in. He pushed Wyatt behind him, ready to slug his way free. But he had no illusions about surviving. The shadow-walkers numbered at least fifty, and Sam noticed with a twist in his stomach that many of them were never human beings. They had four limbs, but the forelimbs were long and solid, deadly looking. The back legs were short, but powerful. Some were about the size of man, but a few were even bigger, and he had no desire to find out exactly how big these things grew.

The ash-monster roared and pushed into the light, moving in for the kill, despite the flakes of ash being torn from its body by the bike’s headlight.

Sam looked to Cash, who shook his head. They were all out of ideas. “Thanks,” Sam said. “For everything.”

“Likewise,” Cash said.

Sam knelt in front of Wyatt and wrapped the boy in his arms, holding the boy’s head down so he wouldn’t see the end coming. Sam squeezed him tightly, part out of despair, part of pain as the darkness spread through his limbs and clutched its cold tendrils around his heart. He looked to Kyle. “You might as well make a run for it. You might make it back to town.”

Kyle rolled the motorcycle backwards, keeping the light on the oncoming monster. “I’m not going any—”

Sam wondered why Kyle had stopped speaking, but then noticed he was looking to the side, rather than at the giant monster about to kill him. Sam turned and saw a warbling distortion in the air.

What the...?

“Is that the church bell?” Laurie asked.

Sam listened for the bell and heard it immediately.

“It’s happening again!” Cash shouted, but the hope in his voice confused Sam. “In the car! Everyone, inside now!” He flung open the back door, shoved Laurie inside and dove in next to her, slamming the door closed. Sam didn’t question the man’s judgment. He simply threw Wyatt inside the car too. But he didn’t follow his son. He couldn’t. When he changed, he would kill them just as surely as the creature would.

Holding back sobs, he took Wyatt’s arm. “Tell your mother I love her. Tell your sister the same. Understand?”

“But—” Wyatt reached out for him, lips trembling.

“And I love you,” Sam said, opening his shirt, revealing the black tendrils, so the boy could at least understand the reason for his sacrifice. When Wyatt withdrew his hand, he knew the boy understood.

“Love you, too,” Wyatt said. Sam closed the door.

Despite the madness of everything that was happening, Kyle took the time to put down the bike’s kickstand and balance it before heading for the car. He gave Sam a confused look, but then noticed his blackening chest, gave a nod of gratitude, jumped inside and closed the back door.

The beast stalked forward, pushing through the motorcycle’s high beam, still headed for the car, ignoring Sam, perhaps understanding that he’d already been claimed by the darkness.

“Hey!” Sam shouted at the creature, waving his hands. “Hey!

The monster ignored him, just a few feet away from the car. Sam jumped on the vehicle’s hood. He stood still, fists clenched, staring down the monster, daring it to test him. But it just waited, and he knew why, the darkness was moving up his neck now, spreading over his face. In just seconds, he would no longer be Sam Lake.

The wavy effect in the air became frenetic, distorting their view of the world so much so that even the ash-monster noticed. It turned back and forth, agitated, perhaps looking for a new target. But there was nothing.

And then, there was everything.

In a blink, the darkness of night became the brightness of day. Sunlight flooded the area, illuminating everything beneath a clear blue sky.

Sam saw it all through human eyes, for just a moment, and then through the eyes of the darkness. The light of a normal sun shone with such brilliant purity that it burned through him, scorching the darkness, destroying it, along with his body.

The monster wailed, its high-pitched voice loud enough to send hands to ears. The shadow-walkers joined in, shrieking in anguish. The giant thrashed about, its body shrinking away as it was scoured by the light. During its writhing, the monster caught sight of Sam, arms outstretched, welcoming the purifying light, despite the pain it brought. Their eyes met, and the monster, perhaps knowing it was doomed and longing for revenge, lunged at him.

The beast struck him hard, wrapping its large arms around his body. They fell back toward the car together and struck the windshield, both of them harmlessly bursting into a cloud of ash that swirled away into the blue sky.

Kyle sat up
slowly. He’d ducked down, covering the boy with his body and his head with his hands. But the darkness, and its minions were gone. The sun shone brightly. Since arriving in town the night before, he had been wishing that he’d never decided to stop at the diner, that he’d just passed through as planned. But now, he forgot about all that and just started laughing, happy to be alive. Cash and Laurie joined in, their laughter fueled by relief. Only Wyatt remained silent, staring up at the sky, where swirling motes of ash were whisked away. Despite their relief, it was a full minute before anyone got out of the car. When they did, they were greeted by a parking lot full of singed corpses, human and not. Sam, however, was nowhere to be see. He and the ash-monster had simply ceased to be.

Wyatt clung to Cash’s leg, not looking.

Cash held the boy with one hand and noticed Jimmy’s truck, still parked nearby.

Laurie stepped up next to her brother. “We better get him home to his mother.”

Wyatt sniffed back a tear. Kyle was impressed he’d held it together this long. He was about to comment on the boy’s strength and resolve, say something—anything—to ease the boy’s pain. But something in the sky caught his attention. A bird? Looked too big to be a bird, and it was shaped roughly like a kite...or a square balloon. With
tentacles
.

Cash noted his attention and looked up. He frowned and said, “We can head back to town, but we’re nowhere close to home.”