On Tenterhooks (52 page)

He struck the ground for a third time
.
As with each time before, a shower of sparks erupted like a roman candle
.
The ground of the lawn smoldered and smoked in a dozen
places
,
as the weeds and undergrowth burned under the fire of the whip
.

Preacher paused, listening and watching t
he house for movement
.
After
several seconds of silence, he began to laugh
.
Martin had heard the same panting laugh
in his dreams of
Maggie
’s death
.
But
this time it was much louder
.
Over and over
it rang across the clearing
,
like the cold cranking of a dead
car alternator.

Rut rut rut rut rut rut rut

Preacher’s mouth was open, panting like a dog
.
His grayish tongue pulsed in time with his spurts of laughter.
He
stopped
.
He re-coiled his whip again.

“
Ahh
. . .
the child
.
Yes, the child among you!
”

Abby’s eyes began to burn, just as they had in the alley in Cozum
el
.
She squeezed them shut
.
She pushed on them
with the heels of her hands
as hard as she dared.

“The
overconfident
little hatchling who thought she was prepared for her future
.
Tell me child
. . .
did your intuition foretell this outcome for you?  I think not
.
Do you know what pain you will feel within my grasp
, you prideful waif
?”

The ghostly shadow of the cabin window floated in the blackness behind her eyelids
.
The pain was burning, acid on her tender flesh
.
She pushed harder until popping patterns of light exploded like tiny fireworks in the darkness.

“Our earlier dance was merely a prelude to the ecstasy of terror that awaits you!  For your failed vision, two lashes
.
I shall
dispatch your eyes and show you
true
vision!”

WU
U
-
T
ISH! WU
U
-
T
ISH!

Abby whimpered involuntarily
from both his words and the pain in her eyes
.
Steve grabbed her shou
lder
.

“Don’t listen to him Abby,” he
growled
.
“That’s what he wants
.
Don’t give in!”

He steadied her
.
She continued to tremble, but flexed her hand around the butt of her knife
.
She rubbed the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand
.
When she
blinked several times
,
the pain lessened.

“I
won’t.
I won’t!”

 
“No matter what happens,”
commanded
Steve,
looking at each of them,
“remember who
you are and why you are here.”

“And tell me foolish ones,” Preacher called again, “where pray tell is your savior now
, he
who led you down this
winding, treacherous path?  Has he served you well now?  Does it become clear to you now, in your final moments, how poorly you have chosen?”

“Be ready with that thing
,
Veronica
,” said Martin.
“
When they come, I’ll bust
out the glass
and maybe you can get a couple
of
rounds into those things
. . .
at least slow t
hem down.”

Veronica
nodded, gritting her teeth
.

Preacher bowed his head
.
He tossed his whip and Bible into the dirt. He placed his hands at his sides.
He stared at them, bulging eyes penetrating them through the dirty
windowpane
.
He was no longer speaking, yet they heard his g
uttural growling
in
side
their heads
.

“My
father, who dwells
in hell
, hallowed be thy name.”

“Get ready
,
Veronica
,” said Steve.

“
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in
hell.”

Preacher turned his palms
out
toward
the cabin and lifted
his arms.

“
Give us this day our daily
blood
and
strengthen our
trespasses, as we
dispatch
those who
rally against us.”

He continued to raise his arms until they were level with his shoulders. Abby backed away from the window to give Martin and
Veronica
room to work.

“L
ead
them
into
perdition
and
deliver
them
to evil.”

Preacher’s
splayed his arms wide. H
e hung down his head, his gray tongue hanging limp and moist like a
massive
slug clinging to his chin. He laughed again for a brief moment.

Rut rut rut rut

Steve raised his hand.

“Wait for it.”

“
For thine i
s
the kingdom, an
d the power, and the glory, for
ever and ever.
”

Preacher put his arms down and slurped in his tongue
.
He wiped the drool from his chin with a sleeve.

“NEMA
.
”

He then raised his both a
rms, palms skyward
.
B
oth of the
ursataurs
pointed their faces
toward
the sky and bellowed.

“SCREE!”
 
“Now!” shouted Steve, ducking to the side
.
Martin
smashed the
windowpane
with
the
butt
end of his
machete
.
Veronica
pointed
the barrel of the gun through
the opening,
ready to let fly at the closest beast
.

Steve
crouched, plugged his ears
and
braced for the report of the gun, but no shot came. He saw from the corner of the window that the beasts had not moved from their spot
.
A
sca
re tactic?
F
rom the other side of the house
came the
horrible reply.

“SCRUM!”

Chapter
4
5

A massive object hit the wall
of the kitchen
behind them. The house groaned under the impact
.
The ceiling timbers showered them with dust
.
They turned away from the window.
Steve located the source of the first impact
,
as he recognized the misshapen horns that punched through the wall.
Another of the
ursataurs
was
behind
the house
.
T
he beast wrenched his head free
and rammed the
house again
. This time Ab
by screamed.

Veronica
fired two shots
into the back wall of the house
, guessing where the beast was
.
Steve heard a wail of pain as the beast w
renched himself fre
e.

Good. I hope the damn thing just crawls away and dies.

The
n
he heard a
smashing of wood and a scream of agony from Martin
.
While they were distracted, one of the creatures with Preacher had bounded across the lawn and tried to take them from behind
.
Its grace and speed
defied
the physics and gravity of its size
,
so it took Steve several seconds to realize how it had happened.

The
ursataur
had smashed through the porch
rail
and
splintered it like an overcooked
f
rench
fry
.
The beast
was too big to get more than a muscle-bound arm through the
tiny
window, but it had managed to rake a bloody trail down Martin’s back with its talons
before
he could dodge
.

Martin was gr
oaning, crumpled on the ground. A
da
rk red stain bloomed across the back of
his white button
-
down shirt
,
and Steve could smell the sickly sweet
odor
of burning flesh.
Abby screamed Martin’s name
,
as she tried to drag his limp form across the floor, away from the window
.

The
ursataur
’s
tattooed forearm was flailing through the opening, raking the
air
in a random pattern of savage intensity, determined to rend flesh
.
The demon paid no attention as it thrashed its arm into the shards of glass remaining in the window, so intent was it to find a victim.
The ancient window frame groaned under the pressure.

The stench of the beast was palpable in the close quarters of the room
.
Steve heard Martin’s howls
,
but he could do little to help.
T
he agonizing chorus
from the
ursataurs
continued to pound
his
temples
from
both sides of the house.

“SCREE!”

“SCRUM!”

Abby tended to
Martin
with
a gentle touch and soothing words, the only f
irst aid
she had
.
The back wall shook again with another massive blow.
Veronica
looked at Steve, begging for direction
.
She had
six
shots left.
S
teve knew the wall and the window frame both would buckle soon.
Martin was down
,
and
Veronica
’s confidence was shaken
.
They were
outnumbered and
outflanked
,
and Preacher knew it
.
It was all happening
too fast
.

“No,”
Steve
said. “NO! Not like this
—
not like this!

“
Veronica
!”
he screamed over Martin’s cries of pain and the
ursataur
calls outside.

H
e po
inted at the window. “Shoot it! Biker said
it wouldn’t do much against
Preacher
,
but
maybe it’ll slow these things down
!
Do it! Aim for the eyes
like Abby said
!”

She was scared
—
he could see it
.
She nodded
,
took one giant breath, pointed
her gun
toward the window, and squeezed the trigger
twice
.
The demon had blocked out
the sun
with its towering frame
in the window
, so Steve
could see
the
muzzle blasts
in the semi-darkness
.
W
ith a
single
thud, the beast collapsed
onto the front porch, its scarred forearm hanging lifeless on the edge of the window frame
.

Looking out onto the empty lawn beyond the porch, Steve knew there was no time
to celebrate the small victory.
Preacher and the other demon were no longer visible, and he knew there was at least one other closing on them from behind.
The taunting calls had stopped
,
and there was nothing audible outside the house.

“Stay away from the wall and the windows,” Steve whispered.

Abby had managed to pull Martin onto the couch
,
and she sat
on the floor in front of him
, whispering in soothing tones and stroking his head
.
Martin was quiet, but Steve saw that he was still breathing.
He lay on his st
omach
.
His back was a patchwork
of bloody torn shirt and skin
.
The blood had trailed dow
n the sides of his shirt and the faded yellow flowers on the couch cushions were turning red.
Smoke rose from his back
.
Steve could smell the burned flesh.

Abby sobbed as she tried to draw enough breath to comfort Martin
.
Her soft and tender whispers came in spurts
,
and
she forced
back
tears
through ragged breathing
.
Veronica
remained
stone still
, her gun still trained on the
windowsill
.
Any minute she expected the
ursataur
’s arm to begin moving once more
.
Sh
e
wanted to
be ready if it did
.
The stench of the beast filled the cabin, mixing with Martin’s burning flesh
.
Steve’s ears were still ringing with the
ursataurs
’ roars,
Veronica
’s gunshots and Abby’s crying. The miasma, the cacophony
, it all
was too much for him to take
.
He stumbled to the corner of the room and retched
.
He gasped a ragged breath,
fell on his knees and retched again
, then
leaned his back against the wall and took shallow breaths.

As
his stomach settled, he wiped his face
and
scrambled to
their supplies on the back wall, taking
a long drag from a water bottle. He moved close to
Veronica
.

“You okay?” she whispered, eyes remaining on the window frame.

“Yeah, thanks.
See anything?”

“No, just that thing
’
s arm,” she replied
, gesturing with the gun
.
“I think
it’s
dead, but I’m not taking any chances.”

“
Good
—
one down
.
See anything else out there?”

“No, not since that first one hit the kitchen wall. He’s still close
by though, I can still feel it
—
that panicky feeling I get when he’s around.”

“O
kay, stay close to the window
, not too close though.
I need to check on Martin. H
e looks pretty bad.”

Veronica
nodded.
Steve turned and crouched down next
to
the couch.

“Abby?”

Her dirty hair was tied back in a
ponytail
,
and he could see the trails of tears etched in her sun-kissed face
.
Her deep and beautiful blue eyes were tired and huge
.
“I think he’s passed
out from the pain or the shock
.
He lost some blood,
but that thing’s claws somehow burned him
,
too
.
It looks like it helped
seal up the wound.”

“Cauterized
,” Steve said.

Abby nodded
,
“
I think he’ll be okay, if we
. . .
,”

“If we get out of here
soon
,
” finished Steve.

Abby turned to face
him
and whispered
,
“Steve
,
w
e have to get out of here! 
I
have to get out of here!
  I
need my
m
om
.
I don’t want to die here
,
Steve. Please!”

As s
he pleaded,
her
tears came again
.
She collapsed into Steve’s arms
,
and he held her, rubbing her back. She laid her head on his shoulder
,
and he
wrapped his arms around her
as she convulsed with sobbing.

“You won’t die here
,
Abby,” he said, praying for a confident voice. He whispered into her ear
,
“I know it looks bad right now, but Biker knew we could do it
,
or else he wouldn’t have sent us here. We’ve just got to hold it together, stick together. We’ve got to have faith.”

“I know, I know,” she sobbed
into Steve’s shirt
.
“I have faith
.
But, t
hose creature
s, his whip, it, it’s so much
.
Did you see how evil he is? Just his eyes
—
so bottomless
,
so
unforgiving.”

She sobbed again and put her face back down into Steve’s shoulder.

“
Shhh.
” He rubbed the back of her head gently. “
Yes, I saw them
.
But I also see you
.
I see how
,
despite your
fear,
you’ve st
ill got that knife in your hand. I see
how you
’re tending to Martin
.
And did you see how Deadeye behind me there killed one of those things when it got to
o
close to us?”