Crucifax (12 page)

What if it wasn't grass?

Shaking her head with a jerk, she looked around at the others. They were hunched forward on their cushions watching Mace as if he were a television set, their lips slightly parted.

Mace had not moved. His head was still cocked back, his arms at his sides. The light shimmered brightly through his hair.

The first movement Mallory spotted was on the floor to Mace's left. It was so small that for an instant Mallory thought perhaps she hadn't seen it at all.

Until it happened again.

Mallory stiffened, and her hand found Kevin's thigh.

Something's wrong here,
she thought, her mind a little— but not much—clearer.
Something's big-time wrong, major wrong, we shouldn't
—

Something else moved in the darkness at Mace's right.

—
shouldn't be down here, this is uncool, something's
—

Two pinpoints of light eased toward Mace. The moment Mallory saw them, blinders seemed to fall from her eyes, and she saw others, many others; tiny spots of sparkling light shifting in the darkness like fireflies, except they weren't fireflies. She knew
exactly
what they were.

Jesus Christ my God everywhere they're everywhere and they're
—

Eyes.

—
moving closer my God why did I come why did I come?

Her hand closed hard over Kevin's thigh, and he jerked his leg away as if annoyed.

She saw the glow of an ember in the pipe's bowl as Perry took another hit without taking his eyes from Mace, who was still sitting up straight, head back, but with his arms held out at his sides a bit more, his left hand only inches away from the nearest pair of glittering eyes, which moved a little closer until the thing was able to climb onto his hand and ease its way up his arm, a fat lump of darkness the size of a loaf of bread. It crawled to his shoulder, where, against the light, it became an indistinguishable hump on Mace's back. As it moved Mallory made out a rough shape: small ears first, then the squat head that slowly turned as it made a sound like a jagged bone being dragged across a chalkboard.

When she saw reflected candlelight flicker on two rows of small pointed teeth, Mallory raised a hand to her mouth and screamed….

Jeff whirled around at the corner of the building.

It sounded like a scream, but it was so faint it could have come from anywhere. He faced the building again, looking at the securely nailed boards and the chains fastened with padlocks.

Only the main entrance was uncovered.

He returned to the door and tried it again. It jiggled slightly but did not open, as if bolted on the other side. That probably meant someone was in the building. He heard the scream again….

"Wh-what are th-they?" Mallory stuttered, closing her eyes. She didn't want to see those eyes anymore.

"Just pets. They're harmless."

Something touched her arm, and Mallory jerked back, opening her eyes. Mace was leaning forward, offering her the pipe.

"Here. Have some more."

"I-I don't th-think so, I…"

The thing was no longer on his shoulder.

Mace pressed the pipe and lighter into her hand, then leaned back. It was curled in his lap, and he stroked it gently.

Mallory turned away from Mace and reluctantly took another hit. It tasted even better this time, and she took a third.

"You have some more, too, Trevor," Mace said. "Don't be shy, there's plenty."

Mallory handed the pipe to Trevor, then sank deeper into her cushion. She closed her eyes, listening to the voices and enjoying the high.

"You're good," Mace said, taking off the headphones. "Very good. I'm impressed. Does the band have a name?"

Kevin said, "Well, we haven't decided yet, but we were thinking about Candy From Strangers…."

"Mmm. And you've never played any local clubs?"

"No."

"No one has heard you play?"

"Well… a couple friends."

"I'd like to—go ahead, Kevin, have some more and pass it around—I'd like to help you. Help you develop an image, get some work, put together some songs. Nothing wrong with what you've got here, nothing at all. But to start, you need something that's going to hit hard, catch them by surprise. And you need a name."

Mace was silent for such a long moment that Mallory opened her eyes.

"Crucifax," he whispered.

The word was softly echoed by the others as they tried it out.

"I'm willing to do everything I can for you," Mace went on, "and I can do quite a lot."

"What'll it cost us?" Kevin asked.

"Not a cent. But it won't be free."

Mallory looked around at all of them. Mace was still talking, mostly to Kevin, but his words became an aural blur as she brought her eyes into focus—

"… some songs I've written… music with power…"

—able to center her attention on no more than one thing at a time.

The guys were all leaning toward Mace, watching him intensely as he spoke—

"… of our group like a brotherhood…"

—their hands in their laps, moving slowly back and forth, back and forth, and at first—

"… requires loyalty and devotion and trust…"

—she thought they were masturbating, but that was silly, so silly she almost giggled. But they weren't doing that, they were stroking, all right, but they were stroking—

"… think of this place as your home…"

—black lumps that were curled up in their laps and when she turned to Kevin—

"… of me as your friend…"

—she blinked again and again, hoping she was not actually seeing the thing that seemed to be hunched on his shoulder facing her—

"… and I promise you…"

—with fierce golden eyes and two small tusks protruding from its lower jaw—

"… we…"

—and she sucked in a deep breath, wanting desperately, more than she'd ever wanted anything before, to scream—

"… will own…"

—but the breath left her lungs without a sound and when she tried to stand, to move away from Kevin, she couldn't her body would not obey her mind, and she closed her eyes over burning tears, folded her arms across her stomach and leaned forward into a ball, a sniffling, rocking ball.

"… this valley."

Jeff found a gap between two boards nailed over a window and peered through it, cupping his hands to his eyes. He saw dim light; someone was in there.

He looked around the parking lot again just to make sure he was not being watched, then curled his fingers around the board and pulled hard.

The nails creaked, strained.

He pulled again and again until one end of the board came free and then the other.

The board clattered to the pavement, and the sound ricocheted through the night like a bullet, making him wince.

Jeff put his face to the opening left by the board. He listened for voices, another scream, anything. But what he heard was not human.

Something scuttled over the floor beneath the window and made a belchlike squeaking noise.

Rats?
he thought.

He gripped the next board and began pulling, but the noise inside increased, and he stopped to listen.

More of them.

He pulled the second board away and eased it to the ground, catching a whiff of the stuffy air inside, almost backing away, almost leaving.

Instead, Jeff leaned his head into the window.

"Mallory."

She felt his hand on her neck, his wrist on her shoulder, and lifted her eyes to him.

Mace was standing beside her, bending down slightly and smiling.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm…" She looked at the others in the dark, holding those things, petting them as if they were puppies. Kevin even seemed to be smiling, enjoying himself. Maybe not; it was dark. "I'm scared."

"Mmm, too much smokes."

"I want to go. Now."

"Where? Home?"

She nodded.

"You like it at home?"

The words were whispered so quietly, Mallory knew only she could hear them. She slowly looked up at him again but didn't reply.

"You don't seem to me to be a very happy girl," he went on. "I'd guess home isn't such a cool place to be."

Mallory didn't reply. She didn't feel the need to say anything; his golden eyes seemed to know everything she might tell him.

The room was alive with guttural squeaks that sounded somehow content.

"Parents giving you a rash of shit?"

She shrugged. "Just my mother," she said, her voice faint. "Dad's gone. Two years now. And Mom and I…" She shrugged again.

"What else?" He rested his big hand gently on the crown of her skull.

"My… brother. He's so… I don't know, he's as bad as her, but in a different way. She doesn't… doesn't seem to care what I do. He cares too
much.
He doesn't want me to see Kevin… always asks where I'm going, what I'm doing. I love him, but…"

Mace's smile stretched into a grin.

"Protective of his little sister, isn't he?"

Little sister?
she thought.
How does he
… But the thought faded, outweighed by the comfort she found in Mace's eyes. They were the color of melted butter, at once warm and smooth, cool and comforting.

They snapped shut suddenly; his grin dropped away. He raised his head a bit and said in a breath, "Someone's here…."

When Jeff saw the eyes in the corner, he knew they'd seen him first. There were four of them, unmoving, unblinking, but definitely eyes glinting in the dark.

Okay,
he thought, gulping,
I'm outta here, I'm
—

Something moved just beneath the window. When he looked down, it pounced up at him in a flash of sharp teeth and small, snatching claws, making a deep, chitinous sound as it shot out of the dark. Jeff threw himself back from the window, his arms flailing before him, his feet stumbling backwards as he made a staccato
nuh-nuh-nuh
in his throat. The pavement came up and hit him in the back, knocking the wind from his lungs, making him gasp desperately for breath as he crawled backward; watching the window, he saw small claws pulling a dark shape through the gap in the boards, a shape with glistening black lips that pulled back over sharp teeth and two lower tusks that curled upward about an inch and a half, gnashing the air as the creature pulled itself over the sill and down the wall dragging a long, flesh-pink tail behind it. Another came through the window, then another.

The first creature hit the pavement and began skittering toward Jeff, its nose aimed directly between his legs.

Jeff rolled over, crawled on his hands and knees for a few feet, then clambered to his feet and broke into a lurching run toward the shrubbery that ran along Whitley.

Throwing himself into the bushes, Jeff felt the sharp branches scraping over his face and neck, cutting his hands as he clawed his way through, spitting leaves from his mouth; he tore through the thick web of shrubbery until his arms were caught, trapped like a spider's prey.

"Muh-Muh-Mal-Mal," he blurted, trying to call his sister's name.

With a throaty grunt, jagged teeth clamped onto the cuff of Jeff's pants and began to thrash….

Mace's smile returned. His eyes were still closed, but he was
seeing
something, Mallory was certain. The gleeful look on his face seemed somehow malignant, and she felt the comfort of a moment before drain from her like water from a sieve.

"And what's your brother's name?" he asked.

"Juh… Jeff."

He opened his eyes and grinned down at her, sliding his hand lovingly over her hair as he whispered, "Yeah, he's protective of his little sister, all right…."

The pantleg tore and branches snapped as Jeff threw himself forward to the sidewalk on the other side.

Behind him, the bushes continued to rustle as the creatures pressed on through.

Jeff crossed the street in a staggering run, falling against the car, pulling the door open and lurching inside. A second after he slammed the car door, something thumped against it, claws scratched the metal, and, for an instant, snapping teeth flashed in the open window. Jeff rolled it up as he started the engine, floored the accelerator, and tore away from the curb.

His lungs were burning, his chest heaving, and his mind was a clean, white blank. He glanced in the rearview mirror, expecting to see the creature in the road behind him. Teeth lashed against the back window, and the creature's small claws slid frantically over the glass, as if it might dig its way into the car.

"Oh Jesus oh God oh Jesus Jesus Christ," Jeff sputtered, at a loss. Bracing himself against the steering wheel, he slammed on the brakes. The tires squealed over the road, the rear of the car swerved to the right, and the creature swept across the back window and out of sight.

Jeff let up on the brakes as he steered into the swerve, looking in the mirror again.

The creature was rolling over on the pavement. It landed on its feet, sat up on its haunches, and sniffed the air, snapping its teeth as it grew smaller and smaller in the distance.

"Oh, God, Mallory," he gasped as he continued down Whitley. He spoke his sister's name again and again, wiping the sweat from his forehead, tugging his collar away from his throat.

What had happened to her? If she'd gone into that building with those things…

He took a right on Moorpark and drove into the parking lot of an AM/PM Mini Market, where he parked. Opening the door, Jeff leaned out and vomited onto the pavement.

Mallory felt dizzy as Mace took her hand to help her stand; she stumbled against him, and he put a long arm around her shoulders. She avoided looking at Kevin and the others. She couldn't bear the sight of them holding those animals. Mace led her by the pool again and back to the stairs.

"Tell you what," he said softly into her ear, "why don't you go around the corner to the phone booth and call your brother." He lifted her hand and pressed a quarter into her palm as they went up the stairs together. Halfway up, he stopped and faced her. "Tell him you're okay. Then, if it'll make you feel better, wait in the parking lot."