Dark Hollow (27 page)

Panting for breath, he halted next to a wild tangle of raspberry bushes. The others caught up with us.

“You can’t just run off like that,” Ramirez warned.

“Quiet,” I whispered. “Listen. We’re close.”

Slowly we peeked over the thicket. Our eyes widened as one.

The glow wasn’t cast by the inferno sweeping through the forest, but by a huge bonfire built in the middle of a clearing. Hylinus danced around it in a circle, playing his shepherd’s pipe. Tara, Claudine, Antonietta, Leslie, and Shannon danced with him. The firelight reflected off their naked, sweating bodies. Shelly sat on a nearby stump, playing the drums.

Dale reached out and squeezed my arm.

The drums were human heads. Now we knew what Hylinus had done with the rest of Paul Legerski. I recognized the other head, too. Had seen it on the news that morning, when they’d shown a picture of him, a picture in which he’d still been alive and smiling. It was Leslie’s date, Michael Gitleson. Their lips were blue, their eyes open.

Ramirez’s stare grew wider and wider.

“Well, Detective,” I whispered. “Do you believe now?”

“Holy shit…”

I knew how he felt.

And then, before we could move, Big Steve finally found his courage. Tara pranced by again, writhing intime to the music. Big Steve watched her pass. Then he slipped his collar and leaped from the undergrowth, landing in the midst of the circle, interrupting the orgy. The women screamed and scattered. Big Steve barked. The music stopped.

I clutched the dog’s empty leash in my hand.

Roaring, Hylinus charged.

Snarling, Big Steve sprang to meet him.

NINETEEN

Everything happened so fast, chaos erupting around the bonfire, screaming and howling and cries of pain and anger, gunshots and more screams.

Big Steve and Hylinus slammed into each other with an audible smack. The satyr had his head lowered in an effort to disembowel Big Steve, but the dog was quicker, twisting out of his path in midair and landing behind him. His jaws snapped shut on the satyr’s tail. Growling, Big Steve planted his feet, shaking his head viciously, intent on pulling the tail out by the root. Enraged, Hylinus tried to turn around and strike him, but Big Steve moved in a circle with him, staying out of reach of those wicked claws, the tail gripped firmly between his clenched teeth. I thought about all the times the two of us had played tug-of-war and knew Hylinus wasn’t getting free.

We crashed through the vines and into the clearing. Merle raised his shotgun, aiming it at Hylinus, but I pushed the barrel away.

“No, you’ll hit Big Steve!”

Apparently Detective Ramirez had no qualms about my dog. Before I could stop him he raised the forty-caliber and fired three shots into the satyr’s chest, the groupings close enough to be covered with the bottom of a soda can. The bullets parted fur and flesh and exploded out the back, spraying the leaves and trees with satyr blood, but Hylinus merely grunted and continued struggling with Big Steve. Cursing, Ramirez readjusted his aim.

“It’s just like the trees, Detective,” Merle hollered. “You got to use silver.”

“Where the hell is that backup?” Ramirez fumbled for his cell phone and tried to place a call. When he still couldn’t get a signal, he pointed the Glock into the air and fired in an attempt to let them know our location.

Wailing with fear, Shelly dropped Paul’s and Michael’s heads and joined the other women on the far side of the bonfire. The severed heads rolled through the leaves, coming to rest against a fallen log.

“Release me,” Hylinus roared. “Release me now, lowly cur!”

Growling in defiance, Big Steve tugged harder, dragging the satyr toward us and away from Tara and the others. The bullet wounds in Hylinus’s chest had already healed, and all that remained were three singed patches of fur.

Dale circled the bonfire, running after Claudine. She seemed to recognize him for an instant. Confusion flashed in her eyes. He swept her up into his arms and pulled her close. I was torn between my dog and my wife. I needed to get Tara to safety, away from the satyr’s influence, but I couldn’t just leave Big Steve behind, struggling with the creature.

Merle must have seen the indecision in my expression. “Go help Tara. I’ve got this.”

He stalked toward Hylinus, intent on shooting him at point-blank range, but before he could reach him the satyr raised the shepherd’s pipe to his lips and played a new tune, one that didn’t invite erections or inspire lust, adarker, sinister-sounding song. The notes hung heavy in the air.

Instantly the women changed. Their expressions and demeanors transformed with the music. Gone was the fear and uncertainty, replaced with horrifying looks of hatred and loathing. The firelight cast writhing shadows on their naked bodies. As one they attacked. Claudine pushed away from Dale, clawing at his face. Her nails sank deep into his cheek, raking the flesh. Dale yelled in surprise and pain. Antonietta Wallace joined her, beating Dale’s back with both fists. Leslie and Shannon dashed toward Merle, shrieking obscenities, and Shelly went after Ramirez. Tara came for me, and in the firelight I barely recognized her as the woman I’d married. Her lips pulled back in a hideous snarl, and something flashed in her eyes that I’d never seen before. Murder. She intended to kill me with her bare hands.

The music continued. Big Steve wrenched his head to the right, ripping the tail out by the root. Bellowing in agony, Hylinus tumbled backward into the dirt, still clutching his pipe. Big Steve dropped the bloody stump and leaped for his throat. His teeth flashed in the darkness, and sounds rumbled from his chest that I’d never heard him make before.

Both my wife and my dog, the two beings closer to me than anybody on earth, were different now. Big Steve’s animal instincts had taken over. Tara’s had, too.

The satyr kicked out with both feet, catching Big Steve in midleap. Yelping, the dog flew through the air, crashing into a tree. He landed in a pile of dead leaves and lay still. Before I could run to him, Hylinus brought the pipe back to his mouth and resumed playing. Tara fell upon me again, kicking and scratching. She knocked the bat from my grasp, and her hands closed around my throat and squeezed.

From the corner of my eye I saw Ramirez point the pistol at Shelly and order her to halt. Then Tara swung me around, blocking my vision. A gunshot rang out. I heard Big Steve making the helicopter noise with his ears as he shook his head, so I knew he was alive, at least, and able to move. Relief coursed through me, even as the blood pounded in my temples and my lungs screamed for air. I was dying, but that was okay because my dog was still alive.

“T-Ta…” I tried to speak her name, but couldn’t.

“I should have done this a long time ago,” she spit. “You are fucking worthless, Adam. I want babies, and Hylinus can give them to me. Unlike you, he’s a real man, with a real dick.”

My vision blurred. Tara’s foul breath was hot on my face; her spittle ran down my cheek, mingling with my tears.

“He’s so much bigger than you.
And I love it!
”

With all my remaining strength I brought my knee up hard, kicking her in the groin. Tara’s breath whooshed out of her lungs, and her grip loosened around my throat. I gasped for air and then swung my fist, striking her in the breast. She crumpled to the ground, gasping in pain. My lungs felt like they were on fire. Coughing, I glanced around.

Dale had gone down under Claudine and Antonietta’s continued assault. Merle and Ramirez both had their hands full as well. Shelly had backed the detective up to the bonfire. He warned her again to step back, told her to lie down on the ground with her hands behind her back, but she ignored him, flinging taunts and curses. Ramirez pointed his weapon at her, but his aim wavered, and I could tell he didn’t want to shoot her. Merle, however, had no qualms. Shannon Legerski aimed a kick at his stomach, and Merle sidestepped and then swung the stock of the shotgun, striking her in the chin. Shannon collapsed, screaming through a broken jaw. From behind Leslie grabbed a fistful of Merle’s hair and gave it a savage yank.

“That wasn’t nice, old man.” Leslie cackled. “All those times you were checking me out at the gas station, staring at my ass—let’s see that dick now, so I can tear it off!”

Hylinus continued to play. The bonfire’s flames grew higher, and the woods filled with smoke as the raging forest fire drew closer.

Tara didn’t move. Stumbling forward, I reached for her.

“Honey, are you—”

Shrieking, she flung a handful of dirt into my face, blinding me. Her first punch caught me square in the groin. My testicles shriveled as cold pain coursed through me. I didn’t even feel the second punch. I fell. Dale screamed from somewhere to my left.

Blinking the dirt out of my eyes I tried to roll over, but Tara leaped on top of me, straddling my chest. Her vagina gaped like an open wound, raw and bleeding. The satyr’s sperm dripped from it like poison. I tried to scream, but Tara’s fist smashed into my mouth. My lips shredded against my teeth. Blow after blow rained down upon my face. Another gunshot rang out, but I barely heard it over the ringing sound in my ears. Frothing at the mouth, Tara ranted incoherently.

“Killyoukillyoukillyoukillyoukillyoukillyoumother-fuckingkill…”

Something dark and hairy jumped between us, brushing against my face. I thought it was Hylinus, but when I sat up Tara was on her back. Big Steve held her down with his front paws. Whining, he licked her face.

“Adam!”

I turned. Ramirez stumbled toward me, reloading the Glock. Behind him Shelly Carpenter lay still, dead. He’d shot her after all. There were two wounds: one in her leg and a second in her head.

Tara struggled beneath Big Steve. “Get off me, you Goddamned dog!”

He responded with a worried bark, and then licked her face some more.

“Ramirez.” I pointed toward Dale, all but invisible beneath Claudine’s and Antonietta’s thrashing bodies. “Help Da—”

A wailing, high-pitched scream cut me off. It seemed to have no end, reminding me of a fire siren—a breathless, warbling screech that went on and on and on until it seemed that the vocal cords of whoever was making it would rupture.

It belonged to Merle.

He was on his back against a log. Somehow they’d managed to get his pants off. Shannon clubbed him repeatedly on the head with the shotgun, while Leslie sat between his spread legs. One of her hands clutched his manhood, stretching it out. The other hand sawed back and forth at the base of his penis with a sharp rock. Blood poured from the wound. Merle’s arms and legs jittered spasmodically. He tried to sit up, but Shannon struck him again with the stock. He sank back, still shrieking. Leslie continued hacking through his dick with the rock.

“Drop your weapons,” Ramirez warned.

A crazy part of me wondered if he meant the shotgun or the rock. I started to laugh, but it turned into a scream.

Ramirez snapped the Glock up and squeezed off a shot. The back of Shannon’s head exploded. Still holding the shotgun, she toppled over onto Merle. The exit wound was the size of a fist. At the same instant Leslie leaned back and, with a triumphant cry, held Merle’s severed penis over her head like a prize. A second later Ramirez shot her, too.

Hylinus stopped playing. Roaring in furious indignation, he ran toward his fallen harem.

“Help Dale,” I shouted at Ramirez.

Springing to my feet, I seized the baseball bat and charged Hylinus. Big Steve jumped off Tara and dashed along behind me. I swung the bat, but the satyr was faster. He ducked beneath the blow and punched me in my already battered face. One of my back teeth crunched beneath his massive fist. I flew backward, landing next to Leslie. Blood trickled from her mouth and nose, and her chest was as pink as her hair. Her eyes were open. She blinked.

“Adam?”

With the music halted, her senses had returned.

“Don’t move,” I said, sitting up. “Just lie still, Leslie. You’re hurt.”

“I…” Her lips stopped moving.

Big Steve sprang into the air, knocking Hylinus to the ground. The two of them wrestled with each other, rolling through the leaves, growling and clawing and biting. Big Steve’s teeth ripped into the satyr’s side, tearing through fur and flesh.

“Adam,” Merle moaned. “My fucking dick’s g-gone.…”

“Ssshhh.” I patted his hand. “Just lie still, man. Help is coming. It’s gonna be okay.”

“Okay? M-my fucking d-dick’s gone!”

“You’ll be—”

“Where’s Cliff?”

I choked back tears. “He’s okay. He’s just waiting for you to get better. Now you just rest, okay?”

He grabbed my hand. “T-tell Peggy…that I…”

“Yeah? I’m listening, Merle. Tell me.”

“T-tell Peggy…”

He died with his ex-wife’s name on his lips.

Then Big Steve yelped, louder than I’d ever heard him before.

I turned away from Merle—and screamed.

Big Steve thrashed in the satyr’s grip. Hylinus held him aloft, dangling him from his back legs. One clawed hand gripped Big Steve’s hind paws, and the other still clutched the shepherd’s pipe. The satyr’s horns were buried in Big Steve’s underbelly. Blood stained both their fur. The dog struggled helplessly as Hylinus ripped into him, goring him further. Big Steve howled, and then Hylinus pulled his head away from the dog’s torn abdomen and threw him to the ground.

Something spilled out of Big Steve’s insides, and I snapped. “You motherfucker!”

Hylinus grinned. “Now it is your turn, son of Adam. At the hands of your wife, I believe.”

Grabbing Merle’s shotgun, I stumbled to my feet and pointed the weapon at him.

“Oh, what fools you mortals be.” Hylinus laughed. “Your weapon cannot harm one such as I.”

He raised the shepherd’s pipe to his lips and began to play.

“It’s silver, you son of a bitch.”

Hylinus stopped playing. His eyes grew wide.

I squeezed the trigger.

The blast hit the satyr in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Blood poured from the wound, hissing like bacon grease in a frying pan. His fur burned. Hylinus screamed in a language that I didn’t understand. It sounded like something from one of Nelson LeHorn’s books.

Looming over him, I jacked another shell into the chamber.

He pointed at me with one clawed finger. “Know this, son of Adam. I have tasted the nectar of your wife’s loins. She has presented herself to me and we have rutted beneath the moon. Forever, when she orgasms, my name will be on her lips. This is my curse upon thee.”

I pressed the smoking shotgun barrel between his legs, right against his penis.

“No!” His eyes grew wider still. Terrified.

“Yes.”

I pulled the trigger again, obliterating that monstrous phallus. His terrible, agonized cries filled the night, music to my ears. I squeezed the trigger a third time, unloading into the bite wound Big Steve had delivered. Blood bubbled as the silver hissed, burrowing deeper into his flesh.

I spit in his face. “That is silver from those who you defiled, delivered with duct tape owned by Merle, and emptied into a wound caused by my dog, Big Steve. Our magic is stronger than yours.”

I glanced around the clearing. Tara knelt over Big Steve, gently stroking his fur. Claudine sobbed, rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. Antonietta shivered, looking about in bewilderment. Dale and Ramirez moved to my side.

“What is that thing?” Ramirez asked.

Ignoring his question, I held out my palm. “Hand me that cigarette that Cliff gave you earlier.”

Hylinus twitched, moaning in shock and pain.

Dale slid his gold wedding band off his finger, knelt over, and thrust it into the gunshot wound in the creature’s chest. “This is a band of gold, a perfect circle, and a symbol of my wife’s and my undying love. You cannot break the circle. You cannot break us. This is our magic.”