Chapter 26
26
brAD
“L uke!” I call out. “Cody!”
“It had to have come from this direction,” Seth says as we stop in a clearing. He pulls out his phone and scans around.
“Anything?”
“No,” he says in a hostile tone.
Both of us are still reeling from the wild goose chase.
After the Slasher tossed me against the tree, it took me a moment to get back on my feet.
“It was a bear,” Seth pushed on Preston. “Call 911. Get Finnegan help.” I doubt he pushed that last part—didn’t need to—before Preston took off.
I found my bat, then headed in the direction the Slasher chased the guys. Since we lost sight of Luke and Cody, we searched for clues. There was Luke’s baseball bat, then some blood on a tree trunk that I assumed—or hoped—was what remained on the Slasher’s claws after assaulting Finnegan. We found Cody’s thermos, which must’ve fallen off his bookbag. I hoped we were that damn lucky, but then I started getting suspicious, especially as we kept on with no sight of the guys.
We shouldn’t have been so quick to trust what we found. It was all too perfect, something that really hit me once we heard the screech coming from the opposite direction we’d taken, on our way to little more than an echo.
The Slasher may be a monster, but it isn’t an unthinking, feral creature. It’s clever. Tricky. It already showed us that with what it did from the tree, tossing sticks to throw us off its whereabouts.
Would’ve been nice if the original Sinners had given us a heads-up about that, but now Seth and I just have to hope we can make it to Luke and Cody before it does.
I heard Luke call out, but it’s a struggle to tell which way it’s coming from.
We keep quiet, listening for any other sounds that might indicate where we should head next, hoping Cody or Luke might call out again.
Something. Anything.
Seth scans our surroundings again, and as he faces me, aiming up at the trees, he freezes in place. “Brad—” He doesn’t have to say more. I’ve already got my bat up, spinning in the direction he’s pointing his phone.
The flashlight reveals a dark figure flying toward me, and I jump out of its path just in time for it to drop where I stood.
As Seth backs up, his phone light catches the cloaked creature, which no longer wears its hood, exposing wide black eyes in a narrow face and sharp fangs. It crouches, then steadily rises, towering over us before displaying its lengthy fingers with sharp claws at the ends.
I tighten my grip on the bat, and the Slasher hisses before coming at me.
“Stop!” Seth pushes, but it keeps coming.
I strike, and it moves out of my path. As I give it another go, it snatches the end of the bat and tosses me once again, throwing me as effortlessly as it did the first time. I release the bat as I hit a tree and tumble to the ground.
As I push back to my feet, the Slasher starts for me, when I hear Seth shout, “Hey, asshole!” He rushes the monster from behind, his phone in the clip at his waist so the light’s still illuminating the clearing. When he’s a couple of yards from the monster, he raises his arm, and a stream of pepper spray nearly hits the Slasher’s face, but it turns so it catches the back of its head. It cries out, but it’s not the sound we heard before, when it sounded injured. This sounds annoyed. It swipes at Seth, catching his wrist, and Seth curses as the spray goes flying out of his hand. He jumps out of the creature’s reach, inspecting the blood on his wrist briefly before readying his bat as the monster redirects its attention to him.
“Stop!” he cries out of desperation, but like his other attempts, the monster keeps moving toward him, assuring us Seth’s power has no effect on it.
Seth strikes, slamming his bat against the thing’s neck, but it doesn’t faze it. Just stands strong before unleashing a deep roar. Seth tosses the bat aside, retrieving the stun gun from his pocket. Realizing the bats are useless against this thing, I discard mine as well, arming myself with the stun gun and heading to join my fellow Sinner. I don’t know that I’ll get to it before it can get its hands on Seth, when something comes flying from the woods—a rock?—and hits the creature’s head. If only because of the surprise of being hit, it doesn’t attack Seth, turning instead to see where that came from, and I notice a figure moving quickly through the clearing.
The light catches a face, and I realize it’s Luke.
Luke!
The Slasher spins around and goes for him.
My boyfriend is unarmed, his arms spread to either side as he runs at the thing full force.
What the hell is he thinking?
“Luke, no!”
The Slasher roars again before lunging into the air. Luke mirrors the move, on a collision course toward this thing that could easily tear him the fuck apart.
I call out in vain, and the next moment there’s a blinding flash of light, so bright I have to momentarily avert my gaze. It’s followed by a pop , then a wave of heat and a piercing screech. A fireball surrounds Luke and the monster, and at its center, Luke’s clinging to the creature, the fire searing through its cloak, revealing its lengthy arms and legs.
Fire…
No.
I start toward them. “Luke, stop!”
Luke turns to me, then looks away. “Seth, stop him!”
Like hell he will!
“Brad, stop!” Seth spits out, and I freeze in place against my will.
Fuck!
I struggle against the directive, trying to continue to Luke.
“Luke, what are you doing?” I call out. “You can’t do this!”
Luke’s face strains as he cries out. As the creature unleashes its own agonized cry, its flesh burns like paper. Luke’s own flesh starts to turn gray, then black.
I struggle to rush toward him. “Seth!” I shout. “Let me go!”
“You can’t help him now,” Seth says.
Fuck him.
I drop the stun gun, lock my fists, and punch through the air, willing my limbs to obey my command when Seth shouts, “I said stop, Brad!” My muscles stiffen like I’ve been turned to fucking stone.
Dammit! “Fuck you, Seth!” I scream, battling his push as Luke and the Slasher are consumed by flames, their screams becoming one.
I continue fighting my body. Even with how burned Luke is, I have to believe there’s still a chance. If I can just get him away from the Slasher.
My struggle takes me to my knees as I claw at the earth, trying to pull myself even an inch, but my body won’t allow it.
“Seth!” I turn to him, and his gaze meets mine as tears well in his eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Brad,” Seth says before turning back to the fire.
“I’ll never forgive you for this!”
But he doesn’t reply, and when I look back to the fire, I see Luke’s victim has finally stopped moving, and Luke looks as though he’s been painted black.
Just like in the vision.
His haunting, strained cry fades with the flame, until both cease.
“Seth, let me go! Let me go now !”
“You can go to him,” he says. “I’ll call the police.”
The release from this psychological bondage clicks. I crawl to my feet, but then get quickly back on my knees as I reach Luke’s charred body, now lying on top of a pile of ashes the monster has become.
Luke’s body’s a fit of shivers. I want to grab him, to hold him, but I don’t want to cause him any more pain than he’s already in.
“Why did you do that?” I ask, tears streaming down my face.
This can’t be!
Not my beautiful Luke.
His chin shakes, and he opens his mouth like he’s trying to say something, but all that comes out is a choking sound.
“No, God no!” I cry out.
Is this really how we end?
I refuse to believe it! I refuse to lose him.