Evil Origins: A Horror & Dark Fantasy Collection (54 page)

She
took two steps toward the gate and stopped. A jogger came around the corner and
almost knocked her over. He sidestepped at the last moment, sliding down the
asphalt path and grabbing on to the gate to keep his balance. Molly saw the rage
in his face but the rain swallowed his angry words. She stepped onto the path
and went to the right, following the trail that would eventually loop back
around to the gate.

***

Drew sat
beneath the cabin and watched the water gushing from the roof and splattering
on the muddy ground below. He had seen only one person on the path, a jogger. The
man passed him twice but did not come by again. Drew pulled his shirt up to his
neck in order to fight the chill creeping into his bones through the wet soles
of his feet.

“She is here.”

Gaki’s voice
rattled Drew. He put his hands up to his ears to fight off the greasy sounds of
the creature. Drew looked around the cabin and into the trees of the park, but
did not see Gaki.

“As soon as she
sees me, she’ll run. She’ll know something is wrong.”

“I will handle
the bait, you will handle the hunt.”

A bead of rain
water dropped from Drew’s nose and ran down the middle of his chest. He
shivered, his body unable to fight off the chill.

“She’s coming,”
replied Gaki.

***

Molly saw the
figure waving from the front of the cabin and recognized Brian’s frame. Even in
the cold chill of the park on a rainy afternoon, she felt a twinge of
excitement.
No
, she thought.
I’m here to get my ring and be grateful
I can retrieve it without any drama with Drew.

He stopped
waving and opened the door. Molly saw deep blackness inside and wondered why
the handoff had to be in a dark cabin. She kept moving forward with the help of
storm gusts that pushed at the back of her legs. The rain drenched her jeans, which
now clung to her skin.

Molly stood in
front of the old cabin, the rain continuing to pummel the earth. She glanced at
the asphalt footpath in both directions and saw nobody. She reached out and
pushed the door inward. The smell of mildew and rotting leaves struck her. She
put a hand to her mouth and saw a single candle burning on the mantle of the
hearth. Brian sat on a chair, his back to her, facing the phantom heat from the
fireplace. The air felt colder inside the cabin than outside.

The log
construction left gaps in the walls that the historians had filled with
plaster. Cobwebs sprawled from corner to corner, covering most of the cheap replicas
placed to instill a sense of authenticity. A blue, plastic bag hung from a
loose nail on one wall, dog feces now fossilized inside.

“Hey, Bri,” she
said.

The figure
turned and Molly froze.

“Hey, hon,”
Drew responded.

“I—I thought I
was meeting Brian here. He found my ring. I must have left it on the table at
the alley the other night. You know how hard it is to bowl with—”

“You’re
rambling.”

Molly put her
chin to her chest and then looked up at Drew through the flickering
candlelight. “The police are looking for you. Did you kill those people, Drew?”

Drew shook his
head. “Doesn’t really matter what I say, does it?” he asked.

“I know you’re
not a killer.”

“The cops have
me for this,” he replied. “And I’m sure they’ll have the physical evidence they
need.”

“Why did you
get me here, Drew? What is it you want from me?”

Drew stood and
walked to Molly. He smelled her conditioner and saw the light tangle with her
hair. Drew put a hand to her face and caressed her cheek.

“Remember when
we used to run around, back in college? We’d work until ten or eleven, go out
drinking, get food, mess around in my car, and then get home as the sun was
coming up. The next day, we’d do it all again.”

Molly opened
her eyes and looked into Drew’s. A tear fell from his face.

“Yeah, I
remember that.”

“Feels like
another lifetime ago, eh, Molly?”

“We can get you
help. My mother knows a great attorney and he’s been very successful at—”

“I miss that
look in your eye, the way you used to look at me.”

“Drew, listen. You
have to pull it together and do this for Billy and Sara.”

“Yes, for the
kids,” he replied.

Drew removed
the tire iron from Molly’s waistband and tossed it to the corner of the room.

Molly
nodded, a nervous smile sprouting.

Drew took Molly
by the shoulders and guided her to the chair he was sitting in when she
arrived. She sat down and knocked a cloud of dust into the air of the musty
cabin. Drew walked behind her, his hands on her shoulders. He knelt down, buried
his face in her hair, and inhaled.

“What are you
doing, Drew?”

He stood and
put the rope around Molly’s wrists and tied them behind her back. He laced
several loops around her ankles.

“Drew, wait,”
Molly started to say.

Drew put a
finger to her lips and shook his head. “Why Brian?” he asked.

Molly curled
her bottom lip under her top one. She opened her mouth and closed it several
times before giving up on words and shaking her head.

“He’s gone,
dead,” Drew said with an indifferent tone.

Molly heaved
and then shook. “Did you kill him?” she asked.

Drew laughed
and held his hands in the air. “Yes. No. Maybe. Who the fuck knows? Does it
matter if it was by my hand or Gaki’s?”

Molly turned
her head and gave Drew a quizzical look.

“Answer me. Why
Brian?”

“You quit being
you. You stopped brushing your hand over my back when walking through the
kitchen. You stopped kissing me when leaving the house. You stopped being passionate.”

“And so you
find that passion in my best friend? You decide to wreck our family, forsake
our kids, and shit on our relationship to fuck my best friend?”

Molly shook at
the increasing volume of Drew’s voice. His words rattled the cabin, masking the
downpour of rain outside.

“I’m sorry,”
Molly whimpered.

“I’m sure
you’re fucking sorry!” he screamed. “Now you’re fucking sorry!”

“Drew, please
don’t do this.”

“I have to. You
don’t understand. In a way, your cheating ass made it easier. If you had not
been with Brian, I wouldn’t have known what to do. But you spread your legs for
him and that makes it very easy. You for them, sweetheart. You for them.”

Molly shook. She
moved her fingers over the rope, looking for a space in the knots. Her feet moved
back and forth, attempting to loosen the knots on her ankles.

“What are you
talking about, Drew? I’m worried. I’m worried for you and for the kids.”

Drew cackled. The
sound hurt her ears. “There’s nothing to worry about now. The deal’s been
struck and all that’s left is to seal it.”

“Are you going
to kill me, Drew? The mother of your children? Are you going to kill me? They’ll
catch you and leave you to rot in prison. Billy and Sara won’t have a chance in
life.”

“I’m giving them
that chance, you bitch!” Drew stamped a foot in front of Molly. “Fucking Gaki
never gave me a chance, but I’m saving them. I’m saving their souls, and in a
way, so are you.”

Drew stepped
back and reached inside his coat for a ten-inch hunting knife. The polished
blade shone like a jewel in the meager light. Molly’s breath hitched and she
shook her arms and legs, rattling the chair on the floor.

“Oh my God,”
she cried. “Drew, please, no.”

Drew crouched
down in front of Molly, his face looking up at hers. A trickle of blood came
from her lip. He wiped it away with one finger and shook his head back and
forth.

“Gaki never
said it had to be a painful, torturous end. Sit still and let me save our
children. Your blood will save them from eternal damnation. My life and your
blood. Isn’t that the ultimate sacrifice parents make?”

He drew the
knife up to Molly’s face. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back to
expose the white crease of her neck.

“You’ve lost
your mind and you will pay for that in hell,” she whispered.

“I’m paying
now. My grandfather paid and I’m sure my entire line has paid. That ends today.
Gaki can possess another soul, take another into the curse. My obligation ends
now.”

Drew lifted the
blade. His hand shook back and forth. He turned the sharp edge toward Molly’s
throat. Drew placed the steel on her skin and felt the pressure on it. He
closed his eyes and dropped his head. He looked up again and Molly was staring
at him. Her eyes bored through his.

“The cunt
betrayed you. She let your best friend stick his dick inside her. He came on
her. Stop hesitating and seal the deal. Spill her blood and your children are
free.”

Drew heard
Gaki’s words coming from Molly’s mouth. He stuttered and turned away from the
terrified look on his wife’s face. She whimpered, tears streaming down her cheek.

Drew pushed the
knife into Molly’s neck and pierced the skin under her left ear. He felt her
shake and watched the first drop of blood taint the blade. Drew began to slide
the serrated edge across her throat when a force shook the cabin. It sounded as
if a lightning bolt exploded on the structure. The manufactured artifacts fell
from the mantle, and dust rained down on Molly and Drew. He dropped the knife
and fell to the side as the door to the cabin burst open in a confusing mix of
light, wind, and blinding rain.

Chapter 15

“You plaster
the walls of your domicile with filth and now you must fill my head with the
sounds of it as well.”

Ravna used an
exaggerated motion to punch the power button on the car stereo. The old man had
no appreciation for the heavy vibe of Threefold Law.

“His home?”

Mashoka shook
his head.

“Work?”

“Centennial
Park. He is there.”

Ravna pulled
the Ford Taurus into the right lane, the rear axle rod groaning underneath the
seventy-thousand miles accumulated on it. Mashoka put the window down a few
inches in order to better see inside the fury of the storm. Water splashed onto
the dashboard.

“C’mon, man!”
cried Ravna. “Only ten more payments and this girl is all mine.”

The old man
ignored the remark and squinted. “Faster,” he said. “There isn’t much time
left.”

Ravna
accelerated and maneuvered the car as best he could without being reckless. The
rain came harder and the water poured across the road, ignoring the storm drains
lodged under the curb.

“I’ve never
seen rain like this.”

“It is Gaki. He
is trying to keep us from him.”

Ravna drove farther
until he came upon the entrance to the park. The wind swayed the trees back and
forth while the rain carried currents of leaves and debris down the sidewalk.

“This looks
like something out of Middle Earth.”

Mashoka turned
an eye to Ravna and shrugged his shoulders.

“Fangorn
Forest?
The Two Towers
?
The Lord of the Rings
?”

Mashoka
continued looking at Ravna with a blank stare.

“You sure he’s
in there?”

“I feel him.”

Ravna parked
the car a hundred feet from the entrance. He jumped out and ran around to the
other side, where he opened the door for Mashoka. He allowed the old man to
grab his elbows and Ravna lifted him off the seat and onto his feet.

“Bet Gaki is
shaking in his boots now that he sees you coming.”

Mashoka ignored
the sarcasm and bent down for his cane on the floor of the car. He nodded at
the gate. The rain came sideways, pushing the men off the asphalt path. They
stumbled to the gate and through it.

“Which way?”
Ravna asked, screaming over the torrential rain.

Mashoka pointed
to the right and hobbled back on the asphalt path toward the cabin. Ravna came
up beside him and offered assistance, but the old man shrugged him off.

“What do we do
when we get there?”

“Gaki is there
with the trapped soul. However, he has another, too. He plans to take both.”

“Two people?”

“One cannot
explain the ways of Gaki. The one under the spell is poised to take the life of
another, probably someone close.”

Ravna and Mashoka
turned around the bend and saw the cabin. It sat like a rotten tooth inside a
mouth of naked, spindly trees.

“Can’t we call
the police?”

“Sure. Call
Father William too, while you’re at.”

Ravna smiled,
impressed with the Mashoka’s sharp wit. The old man continued toward the cabin.
The rain subsided, still a major thunderstorm but no longer powerful enough to
knock them from the path.

“Gaki has
accepted our challenge. He knows we’re here.”

They stood at
the threshold of the door. The wind and the rain continued its natural symphony,
and nothing could be heard from inside the structure.

“What’s the
plan?” Ravna asked in a whisper.

“There is no
plan,” replied Mashoka.

“Surely we
didn’t come here to die at the foot of a demon, for fuck’s sake?”

Mashoka
grimaced.

“Sorry. I
forgot how much you despise profanity. How do we defeat Gaki?”

“I must do
battle with it, and you must make sure it does not escape the cabin. If Gaki
destroys me, you must destroy the cabin and everyone inside. He will quickly
poison anyone left, and the entire Hunt will have been a loss.” Mashoka took a
road flare from under his coat. He handed it to Ravna. “When the time comes, light
this and drop it on the floor.”

“How will I know
when to do it?” asked Ravna.

“You will
know,” replied Mashoka.

The old man
reached for the brass doorknob when Ravna grabbed his hand. “Wait.”

Mashoka looked
Ravna in the eye.