Tales of Chills and Thrills: The Mystery Thriller Horror Box Set (7 Mystery Thriller Horror Novels) (46 page)

“Slip.”

“That’s right,” Major said. He let a
smile creep into the corners of his mouth.

“We can slip into another place. That’s
not to say we escape the existence and go home. That might be lost forever. You
know that, right? Mathematically speaking, odds are you’ll never see that place
again.”

“Now you’re a statistician?” Samuel asked.

Major released Samuel’s wrist and
rocked back on his chair. “When you’ve sat at as many table games as I have,
you get to know the odds.” Major continued, not allowing Samuel the time to
respond. “This guy may be able to punch the hole if he’s not damaged.”

“Damaged like us?”

Major laughed.

“Yeah, like that. Let’s hope he doesn’t
swan dive from the top of a skyscraper or shove the end of a shotgun in his
mouth. That’s what I call damaged.”

Samuel looked at Major, not sharing in
his lighthearted giggles.

“Is this hell? Are we dead?”

“Depends on how you define ‘hell’ and
what you mean by ‘dead’,” Major said.

Samuel fought to remain focused on the
conversation. He felt like his head was buzzing with thoughts he couldn’t quite
catch.

“What do you want me to try?” he asked.

Major raised one hand and let it fall to
the table. “I almost forgot.”

He turned as Kole entered the cabin,
followed by Mara. They stood shoulder to shoulder and leaned against the cabin
wall. Major looked at them, and then back to Samuel.

“I’m going to put you in someone else’s
head and see if you can get out. You good with that?”

“He’s a fucking newb,” Kole said.

Mara was shooting Kole red-hot daggers.
She pushed a lock of hair behind one ear. “Give him a chance,” she said.

Major looked at Kole and Mara, waiting in
silence for them to finish their verbal sparring. “Are you ready?” he asked
Samuel.

Samuel nodded. Major looked at his
clothes, his eyes pausing on the silver charm resting on Samuel’s chest. He
wanted to yank it and run, testing the amulet himself to see if it was the
talisman that would get him out of the reversion. But Major knew he had to let
Samuel prove he could slip before he made a play for the talisman.

“Close your eyes,” he said to Samuel. “If
you get in deep shit we’ll yank you back.”

The cabin disintegrated and the
accelerated rush of lights filled Samuel’s vision. He looked up and to the
right and saw the reflection of his own eyes, but they were not his. He
noticed large red eyebrows on pasty skin and touched a finger to a widow’s peak
that retreated back toward thinning, red hair tainted with gossamer strands of
silver. His hands gripped the steering wheel of an Italian sports car as it
blew past the other cars in the right lane of the expressway.

Samuel looked to his left and was met
with a darkened reflection of someone else’s body. It appeared to be
mid-forties, paunchy and pampered. The silk tie sat askew on his collar, while
a diamond stud penetrated his left ear. The whine of the engine caught Samuel’s
attention as the speedometer pushed past ninety-five on the gauge. Rain fell in
large, loud drops and obscured the dividing line on the pavement.

“Death wish,” Samuel said.

Major looked at Samuel, his eyes closed
and his palm wrapped around the ignition key with the blood draining from his
fingers.

“Do you know where you are?” Major asked.

“In a car, on a highway.”

Before Major could reply, a force snapped
Samuel back into the shell occupying the driver’s seat.

He saw the glow of brake lights ahead,
like the eyes of angry monsters. Samuel caught a glimpse of the approaching off-ramp
in the interval between windshield-wiper swipes. He guided the car onto the
shoulder amidst the sound of horns trailing off behind him. Samuel turned the
wheel to the left and pulled his foot off the accelerator, bringing the car
into a controlled fishtail on the rain-slicked pavement. He pushed the flashy
BMW to its limits. He snapped the wheel into the turn and straightened the
vehicle out as it approached a congested intersection trapped within four walls
of suburban, strip-mall hell.

“Running it into a wall or bridge?” Kole
asked.

Major shook his head. “No. He’s headed
somewhere. The driving is reckless, but that’s the emotional state. He has
other plans.”

Samuel felt the car lurch as he
downshifted from second to first gear. His breathing felt shallow and rapid as
the adrenaline heightened his senses. He followed the flow of traffic while
checking his rearview for flashing lights. It would be miles before they caught
up, and even then they wouldn’t know which exit he had taken. Samuel made several
turns, until he passed the sparkling new sign for Golden Meadow development.
Samuel slowed down and drove through the gate and into the private community.

He turned through several streets
designed after the old, inner-ring suburbs of the twentieth century, complete
with tree lawns, sidewalks and street lamps. Samuel spun the wheel into the
slick, wet asphalt driveway at 1329. His plump finger reached up to the
sunshade and punched the button that opened the double-car garage. Samuel
pulled the car into the silence so the rain could no longer pummel the roof.
With the car’s engine idling in neutral, Samuel hit the button again, which
dropped the garage door behind him.

He sat in the front seat as the song
on the CD player came to an end. Samuel let the song fade before hitting the
power button. As if in cosmic alliance, the overhead light of the garage-door
opener clicked off, leaving him blinded by the reflected rays coming
from the car’s headlights. He slammed that button too, sitting in complete darkness.
Samuel’s ears adjusted as he heard renegade raindrops crashing into the steel
roof of the garage, while the engine continued to idle in neutral.

Mara stood behind Samuel with her arms
crossed while Kole stared at Major. Both of them were becoming agitated with
Major’s test of Samuel, what he called a “test slip.” As long as Samuel had a
talisman, he would be able to invade the soul of another in a different
universe—and those in the reversion with him could watch it as if the entire
experience was being broadcast over closed-circuit television. A test slip was
temporary but the effects were not. Although nobody but Major saw this happen
in a prior reversion, he made it clear that dying in the inhabited soul during
a test slip meant dying in the current reversion as well. This was a dead-end
in the cycle, not an escape from it. For Kole and Mara, losing Samuel during
Major’s test would mean the end of any hope. Major knew it as well but he had
to be certain Samuel could return on his own.

“He can’t do it. I told you he can’t.
Pull him out,” Kole said.

Mara looked at Samuel and then to Major.
“Kole’s right. Pull him before it’s too late. You know he can slip.”

Major shook his head. “No, I need to know
if he can get back on his own.”

Mara huffed. “No you don’t. That doesn’t
matter.
Pull him
.”

“I’m not watching this,” Kole said. He
opened the door and walked from the cabin into the eternal dusk of the
locality.

“Do it or I’ll cut him right now.”

Mara pulled a knife from her hip and
placed it on Samuel’s throat.

“Is that a threat?” Major said.

“Yes,” Mara said.

Major rubbed a hand on the stubble
covering his chin. He chuckled and shook his head.

“I woulda spanked your ass back in the
day. Taught you some manners, missy.”

Mara opened her mouth slightly,
hesitated, then closed it. She narrowed her eyes without taking them off Major.

“Go,” he said with the wave of a hand.
“Go in and pull him out of there.”

Samuel felt his head become lighter,
as if he were swimming in ether. He turned the CD player on again and it kicked
back around to the first track. Samuel felt the guitar waver through the air
and he reached out, almost touching the notes. The engine ran with a smooth,
steady purr.

Samuel tilted his head back until it
struck the headrest. He looked at the dull reflection of this other body in the
driver’s side window. He saw the eyelids drooping and felt a heavy sleep
pushing him down into the leather seat. Samuel blinked and closed these eyes.
He could feel the sounds of the car slipping away in the distance, surrounded
by the comforting silence.

He felt the car shake and opened one
eye. Another shake came along with a muffled thump.

“
Samuel
.”

He opened both eyes, and a shiver ran
across his neck and down his spine. A woman stood on the other side of the
glass, pounding it with the meat of her fist. Her jet-black, shoulder-length
hair fell across her face. Thin eyebrows narrowed and came together at the top
of her thin, pointy nose. Samuel followed the lines of her high cheekbones.

“
Samuel.
”

This time he heard it clearly and knew
the woman called his name. He searched in his mind for her name but couldn’t
unlock the mystery. Samuel’s mouth was dry, and a dull ache grew from the back
of his head, coming forward like a storm cloud.

“Mara?” He heard himself ask.

She smiled and said one word. “Duck.”

A second later, a red brick crashed
through his window. Mara took a step forward, reached through the gaping
hole and unlocked the power doors. She took another step forward and yanked
open the door. Samuel sat there with a grin, amused at the amount of activity
around him. Mara turned the ignition off with one hand and slapped the button
on the garage door opener with the other. Cool, moist air flooded the garage,
and the carbon monoxide oozed into the night. She reached down and released the
seatbelt holding Samuel tight.

“C’mon. Let’s go.”

Samuel tilted his head sideways like
an old drunk. He grinned again and slapped one knee.

“Not sure how I got here, but thanks
for helping me out.” He slurred the words at her.

“Major got an opening, but I don’t
know how long it’ll last. I don’t even know if it’s going to bring us back to
that place. But there’s no time to discuss it. Let’s go.”

Mara turned, and Samuel stared at her
lithe form as she walked toward the open garage door. He saw the way her hair
rested on the black biker jacket, the chains and zippers glistening like
miniature serpents on her back. He followed the coat where it stopped, at the
base of her spine. Samuel gawked at her well-proportioned legs, which looked
utterly smooth in the tight leather pants, as if she wore an outfit of crude
oil.

“Damn.”

Mara turned and shook her head. She
grabbed Samuel’s arm so hard it made him wince, dragging him upright and
tossing his upper body toward the open door. She blew past him with a blur of
black and a hint of perfume.

“Around back and through the tree
line,” she said.

Samuel stumbled behind her as Mara
bolted down the driveway and to the gate between two segments of chain-link
fence. She flipped the horseshoe up and pushed the gate open, running down the
sidewalk and past the gas grill to the fence stretching across the rear
of the yard. She stopped and turned to face Samuel, her face appeared to be
floating amidst a sea of darkness. Towering trees silhouetted against the rainy
night sky swayed above as if daring entry. She waited another second and then
motioned for him to hurry before leaping over the fence. Samuel watched
as she swung both legs to one side and vaulted over the top. He smiled again
before he doubled over with a fit of coughs. The more he hacked, the less air
made it to his lungs. Tears filled his eyes and mixed with the steady drizzle
on his face.

“Get up,” she said.

Samuel rolled over and clawed at the
manicured grass with both hands until he felt the cold metal of the fence. He
climbed up the links until the top rail was at his waist. He swung one leg up
and over the rail and let gravity take over, bringing Samuel crashing over and
into a pile of wet leaves. Before he could cry out, Mara was moving again,
running between the trees.

He stumbled forward until another
round of coughing arrested his lungs. He collapsed and looked back at the
house. Red and blue lights appeared, splashing the white siding with resplendent
color. A back porch light came on, as did the house lights of several
neighbors.

“
Get up
.”

Mara broke him from his gaze and he
scrambled upright and followed her path. The bark of a dog and a bleating car
horn reminded him he was running through a copse of trees separating two
streets of a modern neighborhood. He ripped the tie from his neck and focused
on the light reflecting from Mara’s wet leathers.

Shouts broke through his hazy head as
dark figures burst into the backyard like a black avalanche. He put his hand to
his forehead to try to ease the pain. Samuel felt as though a tank had taken a
detour through his skull.

“I can almost see the cabin,” Mara
shouted.

He followed her farther, until he saw
it as well. Samuel rubbed his eyes, turning to look at the flurry of activity
coming their way, and then back to Mara. She was there. It was there.

Mara bolted for the door. She lunged
and grabbed the doorknob in one motion.

“C’mon, it only stays open for a
second.”

Mara waited, breathing heavily and looking
from side to side.

Samuel slowed to a trot and placed his
hands on his hips. “The cabin?” he asked.

“If you don’t step through here with
me, you
will
die.”