Paranormal Realities Box Set (16 page)

“You both know the plan?” Zen asked.

We nodded.

“Be careful.” Petra rushed up to me and
wrapped me in a hug. “I can’t lose my best friend.”

“I don’t want you to lose your best
friend either. Believe me,” I drawled, pulling away.

Billy spoke into his cell phone then
motioned to Rom and me.

“This way,” Billy said.

We followed him.

“Hurry. They’re on the move again.”

At his words we broke into a run. I’d
never fired a gun except in perfect calm. Would I be able to hit anything after
a full tilt dash?

As we rounded a corner, I saw Quinn about
twenty feet ahead, pacing. When Billy reached him, the two of them pointed to
us and then waved us forward as they jogged to a nearby car and got in.

Rom pulled me to a halt as he stared into
the distance. Turning my gaze in the same direction, I spotted the monsters
approaching a group of four young men loitering near a street corner under a
light post. The men evidently weren’t getting a good look at the monsters
because one of them started talking smack to them.

The ogre shuffled closer, but the ghoul
lunged and caught the smallest guy by the neck, pulled him closer and chomped
into his shoulder. The man screamed and its shrillness pierced the air. The
other three men stumbled backward before sprinting off.

The monsters were still out of my range.
I needed to get a lot closer in order to have a hope of hitting either of them
with a shot. Not hitting the victim was a priority.

The ogre reached the ghoul and his
captive. The hairy lunk seized the man's other arm and prepared to chomp down.

Rom stopped beside me and fired his gun
twice, striking the upper back and shoulder of the ogre. The thing twisted to
one side as a third round hit him in the arm. The ogre released the victim, and
then shifted around. His bulging eyes took us in and his fleshy lips curled back.
Under the streetlight's illumination I saw him snarl, revealing enormous
rotting teeth.

As Rom and I continued forward, the ghoul
spun around still clutching his victim and stared at us, his yellow eyes
furious. Blood dripped from his lips and claws. He scanned me and grinned.

Without stopping I fired and hit the tree
beside the ghoul, sending bark flying.
With any luck a splinter would impale him
, I
thought.

Beside me, Rom's gun blazed with one,
two, three, four, shots, The bullets struck the ghoul center body mass and he
dropped his hold on the young man as he went down. The victim slumped to the
ground apparently unconscious. Not so the ghoul. He rose almost immediately,
seeming uninjured apart from the black blood oozing from his wounds.

The ghoul spoke to the ogre. What he said
we couldn’t hear. After their brief conversation, the ghoul started toward us
with the ogre following. The ghoul moved quickly and that ogre was much faster
than I’d expected. I skidded to a halt.

“They’re coming too fast,” I said as Rom
reached me. “Let’s get out of here.”

Rom nodded and we pivoted. Veering to the
right, we took off in the direction of the square through a break between two
sections of the town homes. As we ran, I could almost feel the monsters' stinking
breath on my neck. Peeking over my shoulder I saw them gaining on us.
Unexpectedly, the ghoul was sticking with the slower ogre. Perhaps the gunshots
had slowed him down. Perhaps the two were friends and the ghoul didn't want to
leave the ogre. Perhaps I shouldn't look a gift ghoul in the bloody mouth.

Like the ghoul with the ogre, Rom kept
abreast of me.

“Go,” I yelled to Rom panting with
breathlessness. “Go faster. You don’t need to wait for me.”

He ignored me.

I tripped over what felt like a tree root
growing close to the surface of the ground. Down I went, landing hard on my
knees and palms. Rom grabbed the back of my t-shirt and pulled, bringing me to
my feet. With him dragging me along, we continued to move.

“The gun,” I cried. “I dropped it when I
fell.”

“Abandon it,” Rom said. “They gain
ground.”

When I glanced back I saw the truth of
his comment. The monsters had closed the most of the distance, but with my fall
even the ogre should have caught up by now. Were the monsters deliberately toying
with us?

I tried to speed up, but my legs wouldn’t
seem to obey me. Finally, we got within sight of the square. Zen’s van was
still parked and running at the curb of the adjacent street. But I didn’t see
him or any of my friends.

Just when I didn’t think I could run any
further, I reached the center statue and stopped to lean against the tiled half
wall encircling it. Not enough breath would drag into my chest to allow words.
Rom stopped beside me and pointed his gun at the advancing monsters.

A crack of thunder boomed over our heads.

When he realized we had stopped, the
ghoul slowed to a saunter, a slight smile on his still bloody lips. Lightning
illuminated the ogre as he lurched to a stop and turned his bulgy eyes to the
ghoul. His glassy-eyed stare returned to us. He ambled forward again. Closer
they came, until the ghoul’s steps brought him underneath the enormous live oak
tree on the north side of the square. My ability to breathe had returned but I
held it waiting for the ogre to pass under the tree too.

Rom raised his arm and fired, striking
the ground in front of the ghoul. The yellow-eyed monster stopped in his
tracks. The ogre lurched forward and bumped into the back of the ghoul.

A movement behind the tree caught my eye
and I saw Zen struggling to hold a rope running up the tree trunk. The rope
connected to four metal off-shooting rods that held a Kevlar metal mesh netting
in place like a canopy. At the bottom edges of four corners of the net hung
fifty-pound weights.

Zen released the rope and the net fell,
blanketing the monsters, knocking them to their stomachs and trapping them.
Although the ogre and ghoul immediately began to struggle, the mesh held them
both down.

Zen smiled and made a thumbs-up sign.

“You will be dead when we get to you,” the
enraged ghoul shouted as the ogre incoherently keened and screeched.

Petra, Chase and Senji clambered out of
the van each holding long metal rods with barbed tips: electrified cattle
prods. They crossed to Zen and Senji handed him a prod. Zen unclipped one of
the weights, then a second.

“Up,” he ordered zapping the ogre with
the prod.

The ogre shrieked and cringed away from
the electric tip and the smell of rotting burnt meat wafted up my nostrils. The
monsters staggered to their feet and then began to trudge forward, the ogre
limping.

Rom and I looked on as the monsters were
herded to the van and into the cargo area where Zen had set up a cage. Once the
monsters were inside, Zen snapped a heavy padlock in place on the cage door
securing them.

“Is that cage going to hold?” I asked.

“Let’s hope so,” Zen said. “This is the
first time I’ve used it.”

“Fantastic.” I turned to Petra. “You guys
did a great job. Now take Chase and Senji home.”

Petra began shaking her head before I
even finished the sentence.

“We’re not missing the rest of the
excitement.”

“These things are dangerous and it’s
going to get dodgy trying to get them to the tunnel.”

“Then you’ll need us.”

I ground my teeth in frustration. “Please
Petra, I don’t want—"

“No more arguments. We’re coming.” Petra
stomped to her car where Senji and Chase waited.

“You have friends of worth,” Rom said as
we got into the passenger side of the van.

“Or friends who aren’t too bright.” I
scooted to the edge of the seat and Rom crammed in next to me before closing us
in.

Zen was on the phone calling an ambulance
for the victim. He snapped his phone shut and put the van in gear.

The ogre screamed and shook the metal
sides of the cage.

“Shut up back there.” Zen picked up a
prod from between the seats and handed it to me. “If they struggle any more,
zap em.”

A clap of thunder rumbled so loud it
shook the van.

Zen powered the engine. Without further
warning, rain poured down in a blinding shower. Zen flicked on his windshield
wipers turning them to fast mode.

The ride to the old hospital was the
longest of my life. I imagined all sorts of possible scenarios from the police
stopping us for a traffic violation to the monsters breaking free and tearing
us apart. But the monsters, after that initial scream, remained curiously
quiet, except for the murmurings of the ghoul in an incomprehensible language.

Reaching our destination, Zen rammed the
gate, knocking it open and pulled into the graveled parking area before driving
onto the lawn. He brought the van to a stop along side the door I'd found
yesterday leading directly to the basement. Petra, Senji and Chase came running
from around the block and met us by the door. Petra held a newspaper over her
head. Chase and Senji allowed themselves to be soaked just as I did.

Breathing in a deep breath, I tried to
calm my racing heart.

“This is it,” I said.

Rom entered the basement first before Zen
unlocked the cage and opened its door. I held a prod, but didn’t feel safe. Rom
still had his gun, however. There was some comfort in that.

After wrangling the monsters out of the
van, we proceeded quickly down the steps. Once inside we made our way to the
grate. Flashlights held by Rom, Zen and Chase illuminated the passageway before
us.

I followed Petra who was also armed with
a prod.

“Wow! This is a lot easier than I thought
it would be,” she said.

“Yeah, easy.” Maybe too easy.

Even climbing down the ladder and into
the tunnel caused no complications. The biggest problem was the water—due
to the heavy rain—seeping into the tunnel and soaking the ground under
our feet.

We reached the doorway to the morgue
before I had much time to think. Billy and Quinn waited for us just outside
where the brick wall used to be. They both fidgeted as if on crack but I
suspected it was the sight of the monsters that freaked them out.

Senji, with obvious reluctance, handed a
prod to Billy. Quinn wouldn’t take one and just stood wrapped in a self-hug.

“Open the vortex.” Zen's glance flicked
back and forth from the monsters to the floor design as if he expected the
monsters to attack.

They both seemed extremely passive for
flesh eating fiends.

“Let’s get these things back home,” Zen
said.

“How do you do it?” Petra asked.

“My blood. It has to interact with the
portal I think.” I threw up my hands. “I’m totally guessing here, but that
seems to be the common denominator.”

Zen glanced at Rom. "Is she right?
Is that how it opens?"

Rom didn't answer. He only stood with his
eyes on me.

Senji reached into his pack and drew out a
Swiss Army knife and opened it to the blade. I crossed to him and Senji held
out the knife.

“Halt!” Rom ordered in a harsh tone.

I turned to Rom, and for a moment I only
saw the semi-automatic he held. The gun was pointed straight at me.

”You shall not attempt re-opening of the
door to Dorcha.” In the depths of his eyes there was a fixed coldness I had not
observed since the day of the bridge. Rom’s face had set in sharp lines. His
mouth, his jaw, his cheeks. “You shall not.”

“Or what?” I asked Rom.

“Or it is my duty to kill you.”

“Dude. What are you saying?” Chase took a
step forward.

Rom gave a jerk of his hand. “Come no
closer,” he ordered.

“I knew I shouldn’t trust you.” Zen
seemed unable to decide whether to be more concerned about the threat Rom posed
or the monsters. In the end he kept the prod directed at the monsters.

“So you’re going to kill Kizzy,” Zen
said. “And then what are you going to do with these two?”

“They will die also,” Rom said in a
monotone.

“What about the rest of us?” Zen asked.

Rom did not answer, as if he had not
thought about that.

“Why are you doing this?” Petra inched
closer to me as she asked the question.

I prayed she would stay away. I didn't
want her hurt.

“Do you not realize these creatures
wished for you to return them here?" Rom's eyes blazed to life with his
anger, the earlier coldness gone.

“Bringing them here was too easy,” I
acknowledged.

“Accord. And why do you suppose?”

The ogre emitted something between a
grunt and a growl but which sounded suspiciously like a chuckle.

“Because they want to go back home.” My
statement brought a smile to the ghoul's face.