Chapter 8 #2
Travis shouted words of power that sent the two wolves flying backward. Before they could regain their footing, Travis blasted one with his shotgun, and Brent put a silver bullet right between the eyes of the third.
When the creatures fell to the ground and lay still, Travis and Brent approached warily, guns ready.
“Pretty sure they’re dead.” Brent took in the bullet-ridden bodies. “But what the hell were they?”
Travis walked around the corpses while still keeping his gun trained on them. “Not a normal wolf.”
“Doesn’t look like a werewolf,” Brent mused. “At least, not the sort we’ve seen. The body and muzzle are all wrong.”
“And they aren’t shifting back to a human form,” Travis noted. “Maybe cryptids of some sort got powered up by the spell that made the witch more dangerous.”
“Might be the basis for the Ol’ Red Eyes stories,” Brent said.
“Maybe.” Travis lifted his face to the wind, as if he were listening for the ghosts. “Do you know what they were?” he asked the spirits aloud.
“The ghosts think something drew them out of the deep woods,” Travis told Brent a few moments later. “The only reason I can think of is to be a hunter trap, like powering up the witch. Trying to cause enough trouble to be sure hunters would come out to deal with it, and hope that it got them.”
They thanked the ghosts and dragged the wolf-creatures to the edge of the tree line, hoping forest scavengers would deal with the bodies.
“I think we’ve overstayed our welcome,” Travis replied. “Let’s fall back before anything else charges out of the forest and figure out what the hell is going on.”
They stayed on high alert, guns ready, and retreated to the car. Nothing tried to follow them, but Brent couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. Travis told him the ghosts had dissipated but remained nearby.
“That was a bit more than we bargained for,” Travis said once they had put the lake behind them.
“It’s hard to know if the different hunts are connected.
” Travis drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.
“There have been bursts of supernatural activity before that weren’t part of a giant conspiracy.
Sometimes it’s the phase of the moon or the way the planets align, or fallout from some other paranormal incident. ”
“True,” Brent replied. “But it’s not just one situation, and even the ghosts thought there was another power involved. We’re missing something big, something to pull it all together. I just can’t figure out what.”
Brent’s phone rang. He looked down at the ID and frowned before answering on speakerphone, recognizing his unwelcome CHARON contact. “Shane?”
“Lawson. They’re after me. I need—” An unnatural shriek sounded, drowning out the man’s next words.
“—Todd Nature Reserve,” Shane’s voice came through, sounding scared and breathing hard, like he was running.
“Who’s after you? What’s going on?” Brent pressed. Travis pulled off the road and looked up the reserve on the GPS, indicating the distance and estimated drive time.
“You were right,” Shane said. “Got set up—”
“Can you get to shelter? We’re on our way.” Brent glanced at the screen of Travis’s phone as they got back on the highway, faster than the speed limit.
“Not gonna make it.”
“Can you hide? Climb a tree?” Brent barely refrained from shouting into the phone. Travis gave him a worried look, then returned his attention to the road.
Shane’s bloodcurdling scream made Brent wince.
“Shane! Shane!”
They heard another scream, a terrifying howl, and then what sounded like an animal licking its chops. Brent squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to throw up as he ended the call.
“Are you okay?” Travis asked after a few moments of silence.
Brent felt shaky and figured all the blood had drained from his face. He clutched the armrest white-knuckled as he tried to pull himself together.
“No. Can we—”
“Already adjusted the route,” Travis assured him, giving the command to the GPS to head for Todd Nature Reserve. “But it’s going to take at least half an hour to get there, not counting traffic.”
“What do you think he meant when he said, ‘you were right’ and ‘got set up’?” Travis was using the tone Brent always thought of as his confessional voice, quiet and calming.
“Shane hadn’t believed me about a conspiracy to kill hunters,” Brent replied. “I’m guessing that something changed his mind when it was too late to get away.”
He took a few deep breaths. “Shane was an asshole, but I didn’t want him dead. And if we’re right, does this mean the Sinistram is going after CHARON as well as freelance hunters? That’s like declaring war.”
“I wish I knew,” Travis replied. “Maybe when we hear from Sorren and the others, we’ll be able to put the pieces together. As I recall, Sinistram and CHARON never liked each other or worked together voluntarily, but I always figured that was a power struggle or a turf war.”
“I don’t think CHARON liked any of the other groups,” Brent said, feeling numb.
“From their recruiting spiels, it always sounded as if they thought they were better hunters, trackers, better at handling ghosts and magic, the whole shebang. And from what you’ve said, Sinistram thought they were top of the heap. They were bound to clash.”
“There’s ‘clashing’ and then there’s putting out a hit,” Travis answered, his voice tight. “Until we figure this out, no one’s safe.”
Traffic had been slow, and by the time they reached the nature reserve, an ambulance and several police cars were already in the lot. Travis parked where they could easily get away, then he and Brent sauntered up like curious hikers.
“Sorry, the trails are closed until further notice,” the cop blocking the entrance said. “We’re still investigating, but it looks like a wild animal attack,” the cop continued. “Don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
Two men wheeled a stretcher out of the park and toward the ambulance. A blanket covered the body, including the face.
“What’s happened?” Travis asked a nearby woman, looking believably innocent.
“I was jogging when I heard screams, and I called the police,” she told him, wrapping her arms around herself for comfort. “I’m not surprised someone’s dead.”
“For everyone’s safety, the park is closed while we investigate,” the cop added. “I’d appreciate it if everyone could please clear out.”
The woman made the sign of the cross and left for her car, and the others who had gathered drifted away.
“We’re not going to get anything,” Brent murmured. “The cops don’t have a clue.”
“They’re not the only source of information,” Travis said. “There are always ghosts. Maybe they saw something.”
They went back to the car but didn’t drive away. Brent watched as Travis closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.
“Spirits of the nature reserve, if you saw what killed that man, please tell us what happened.” He and Brent waited for a few minutes, long enough that he started to wonder if the ghosts would respond.
“We’ve got one,” Travis said quietly. The ghost didn’t make himself visible to Brent, but he could sense its presence.
“What killed that man? He was an…acquaintance…of ours,” Travis asked.
They waited as the silence stretched on.
“It was one of the things that lives in the deep woods,” Travis said finally, repeating what the ghost told him. “Even we rarely see them,” he quoted. “But there was a power that urged it to attack.”
“Urged?” Brent echoed. “Like magic?”
Another silence stretched, and Brent wondered if the ghost was trying to figure out how to explain.
“I don’t know anything about magic,” Travis repeated the ghost’s words. “But the creature seemed…compelled. It hunted the man and killed him, then disappeared into the shadows. I have never seen that happen before.”
“Were there other people nearby acting strangely?” Travis asked the ghost. “Someone who could have done something to attract the beast?”
“People come and go. I don’t usually notice,” Travis spoke the spirit’s answer aloud then thanked the ghost and ended their connection. “Not sure that helped a lot.”
Brent frowned, thinking. “We know that the attack wasn’t natural and that whatever did it seemed to have been sent to kill Shane,” he reframed what Travis had said. “But we don’t know why Shane went to the nature reserve, and whether he found what he was looking for.”
“Let’s go back to St. Dismas. We can ask Shane himself.”
Brent checked and re-checked the news on his phone as they drove.
“There’s a breaking news alert about a hiker’s death and a possible dangerous wild animal, but no details.
The park is closed until further notice pending an investigation and a search by Animal Control.
They don’t give Shane’s name. Do you think whatever killed Shane will go after the Animal Control people?
” Brent asked, looking up from his phone.
Travis thought for a moment before responding. “If the creature was sent to kill Shane, then probably not. The Animal Control people are already on alert for a dangerous wild animal. They aren’t going to believe us if we try to warn them about a monster.”
When they reached St. Dismas, Travis spoke quietly to Jon.
“I’ll bring up a tray with dinner,” Jon told them. “Glad you made it back safe and sound.”
They thanked him and headed upstairs. “Figured it made sense for you to stay another night. Then we can check over your place to be sure it’s safe,” Travis said.
Brent hated to keep taking advantage of Travis’s hospitality, but until they had a clearer idea of what they were up against, he agreed that there was safety in numbers. Once they got settled in Travis’s apartment, they sat at the table while a fresh pot of coffee brewed.
“Can you reach him yet?” Brent asked.
Travis closed his eyes and concentrated. After a few moments, he seemed to find what he was searching for.
“Shane is still off-kilter, not surprising. Being dead takes some getting used to, and it can take a while for them to adjust,” Travis replied.
“What I can read right now is trauma, fear, shock, and betrayal. His words are still disjointed, but I get that he’s certain it was intentional, and not a random attack. ”
Travis was silent for a few minutes. “Shane didn’t recognize the creature, but it wasn’t anything natural, so the whole bobcat or mountain lion thing doesn’t fly.”
Much as Brent disliked Shane, he would never wish his last moments to be filled with terror. “Is there anything we can do to ease his passage?”
“A prayer or two wouldn’t hurt, but I’m not sure they’ll help, either,” Travis said. “I’ll say a blessing and do a passing over ritual tonight. That might help settle his energy.”
“If Shane felt betrayed and realized it wasn’t a random attack, then it’s likely it was connected to the other hunter deaths,” Brent said. “And we need to figure out whether Sinistram is behind both of them.”
“I don’t think it’s really a question of whether Sinistram is behind it; the question is, why?” Travis replied.
They stayed up a while after dinner playing cards, too jittery and unsettled to try going to sleep. Later, when Brent was alone in the guest room, he sensed Danny’s spirit nearby.
“Are you safe?” Brent asked Danny, who shrugged.
“Be careful,” Brent warned. “Someone is fucking around with ghosts. You can still get damaged, even though you’re…dead.” That last word stuck in his throat.
Danny placed a hand on his chest above his heart, a promise to be careful. Then he pointed to Brent and gave him a look that clearly demanded Brent also take precautions.
“I will. And if you can, watch my back, okay?” Brent replied.
He imagined that he heard the distant sound of Danny’s laughter as the ghost blinked out.