Scribner Horror Bundle: Four Horror Novels by Joshua Scribner (60 page)

Within yards of the man, James could
hear the other two up ahead had turned around and were also making
their way toward them. James felt an urge to stop the spirit and
then to turn and run in the other direction. He at least wanted to
communicate with the spirit, to ask what it had in mind in this
seemingly impossible situation. But two emotions kept James from
stopping the spirit. He was too afraid to try it on his own. If he
stopped the spirit and took over himself, he would be rendered a
cold and tired human out of his element. The other emotion was pure
exhilaration. He liked being afraid. He liked not knowing, facing
death at the controls of another. He wanted to see how this played
out.

The first hunter came into view
straight ahead, half his body behind a tree. James realized that
the hunter didn’t have the same view of him that he had of the
hunter. James was low and moving quickly, unnaturally. As fast as
he moved toward the hunter, the hunter was very likely to panic,
not having time to register what he was shooting at before he
pulled the trigger.

The hunter stopped and did raise his
gun. James could actually make out the barrel pointed right at him.
At that moment, he realized what it was like to be sure that he
would die. Much of his life, in a condensed form, flashed through
his head. It wasn’t hard to see it all, because his life had been
much the same on most days. His mind seemed to skip over the
redundancy and just show the gist of it: Him in his room looking at
some object, whether that be a computer screen, a television or a
book, taking in large amounts of information about a world he was
certain he would never see in real time. He saw the session when he
first broke through the barrier and then the one when it crumbled.
He saw his hill. He saw his first set of victims, even heard the
shotgun blasts. He saw the two bodies burning in the flames that
had engulfed their bed. He saw the hunter from earlier this
week.

At the last possible instant, he
darted. There was a sequence of sounds. First the blast, then the
high-pitched sound of a bullet ripping through the air, then the
thump when that bullet entered a tree. The amount of sensation was
incredible. James realized that he was processing at an inhuman
rate. The spirit had given him all of this to experience. His body
rushed at a sharp angle at the hunter whom had fired on him. The
man came into view with amazing clarity. Thoughts continued to
fire, assessing the man, scanning him for vulnerability, as the
other two targets closed in.

The hunter, in his human slowness,
still had the gun aimed where he had fired. Bulges in his vest
revealed where he carried his ammo. But James’s attention, guided
by the spirit, closed in on the back of the man’s pants, where a
chain hung in a loop from his pocket. James’s right hand went high
as if to swipe, but merely to distract the man’s attention, as his
left hand went unnoticed to the chain. The man lifted his arms to
absorb the blow, as the chain was ripped from his pants, taking the
attached wallet and Swiss Army Knife. They turned in a circle,
unfolding the blade from the knife, then in poetic fashion, thrust
the man’s own weapon into his throat. Dropping his gun, the hunter
put both hands to his throat, where the knife hung.

They moved to the side and behind a
tree. The other two hunters came, but they came to the sight of
their friend kicking and gurgling on the ground.

“What the hell?” one man said as they
both leaned over their fallen comrad. That was when James and the
spirit came up behind the men.

There had been a large stone in the
ground as they approached. But they passed it without the spirit
willing his body to pick it up. They could have easily struck
before the men saw them, but instead the spirit willed the body to
stop a few yards away.

“I stabbed your friend,” the spirit
made James say. Then, when the two hunters turned around, James
said, “Now I’m going to kill the two of you.”

One of the hunters, a younger man,
merely stared in shock. The other, an older man, and by the
resemblance, the other’s father, raised his gun. They stepped in so
quickly on that gun and turned the barrel so fast, that the man
didn’t have time to stop the momentum of his trigger finger. The
gun, which they had aimed to the head of the man’s son, went off,
producing a gaping hole all the way through the victim’s
head.

There was now one man standing. From
the looks of it, he would not fight, at least for a while. He only
stared in disbelief at what he had done. They got the rifle of the
man’s dead son off of his shoulder as the last standing hunter
waited, like this was all a dream he hoped would soon end. They
killed him next, with a merciful blast at point blank range to back
of his head. They then reloaded the rifle and shot the first
hunter, who was still gurgling and kicking on the
ground.

***

“We’re leaving tonight, aren’t we?”
James asked.

They were in the cavern, roasting a
large rabbit over the fire.

“The three hunters will be missed. The
police will come with dogs. They’ll eventually find us
here.”

James realized that the spirit had not
answered his question. “So, do we wait for that?”

“That is up to you. To wait for them
and then escape will be a big challenge. There is some chance you
will not survive it.”

James wasn’t sure what to say. There
were too many variables, too many questions left
unanswered.

“How long will you be with me?” James
asked.

“That also is up to you.”

James thought of what he had
experienced today. He had been through the better part of his own
death, without actually experiencing dying. Though he had not
asked, he was sure that was a lesson the spirit had taught him on
purpose. The spirit derived something from teaching him such
things.

“Will you teach me to be like you?”
James asked. “I mean, can you teach me things I can use after my
body dies?”

“Yes, I can teach you such things. But
that will require that your body survives for many
years.”

James thought a little more and then
said, “And with you it will?”

The spirit nodded James’s head in
agreement. “With my guidance, no man will ever be able to kill
you.”

James knew what that meant. That meant
he had to use the spirit’s guidance correctly. And the spirit had
said staying here might get them killed.

“Then tonight we leave,” James
said.

***

Dr. Porter stayed home Sunday. He’d
called both James and Celeste after the session
yesterday.

Normally, with clients, he instructed
them to call him at his office or call his pager in case of
emergency. But he had given both James and Celeste the number to
his cell phone, and told them to call at any hour. Neither had
returned his call yet.

Tabitha was talking about taking a
trip. But he couldn’t go, and he couldn’t let her go. The second
phase to the experiment involved her. He told her to wait just a
few weeks and then she could travel anywhere she wanted, even
overseas.

Dr. Porter didn’t know when he would
begin the next phase. First, he wanted to close out this one. That
involved getting information from his clients. He needed to know,
at least to an extent, what happened to them when their barriers
crumbled. Once he got that information, he needed them no more, and
he could proceed to another level, to a level that would dwarf what
he was doing now.

But he was beginning to wonder if he
would be able to get anything from his clients. They had all evaded
him so far. The more their barriers had come down, the more
secretive they had become. Would any of them give him real
information again? If not, would he be able to get that information
in some other way, or at least part of it? Either way, he would
proceed to the next phase. He would rather go into it more
informed, but he would go into it regardless. It was now just a
matter of time.

Late Sunday morning, he finally got a
call.

***

James realized that he could now go
about anywhere he wanted. That was why he decided to go home. He
was curious. He and the spirits that possessed him had now
committed many murders. He was interested to see the reaction
around the area. Would the police have any idea? Would they even
come close to him?

Finding this out would not be hard.
He’d use the old methods, the television and the newspapers, to
watch what was going on. But he would also use more efficient
methods. He’d have the spirit scout around. If the police got close
to him, he’d leave fast. Or if they didn’t get close to him and he
got bored, he’d leave anyway.

He had another reason to come home. He
knew that after he left, there was a good chance he’d never see his
parents again. He wanted to spend at least a few more days with
them.

James and the spirit had arrived home
in the early morning hours. Then James had slept, mainly to let the
spirit have that pleasure. It was a comfortable sleep, perfect
relaxation with the spirit.

James woke up a little before noon,
realizing the spirit was gone. No doubt off scouting for
information. Though James didn’t like being without the spirit, it
comforted him to know that it was out checking out the situation,
making sure there was no danger for James.

What if he did get caught? With the
spirits help, could he escape? Without a doubt. The spirit would be
able to look around, find kinks in the system of the guards. Maybe
James would allow himself to be caught sometime, just to experience
escaping. But not now and not for a while. First, he wanted to
experience more of the pattern of hiding and coming out to kill.
New games could come later.

James had been neglectful of his voice
mail the last couple of days. But he had checked it when the
arrived home this morning. His parents had called on Friday saying
they were having a great time and would be home Sunday afternoon.
The only other person who had called was Dr. Porter. James had no
desire to talk to the doctor. But he knew if he was to stick around
here for a while, he would have to keep Dr. Porter’s suspicion at
bay.

He got some coffee after he got out of
bed. With the spirit, caffeine wasn’t a requirement. No outside
chemicals were necessary. The spirit seemed to have control over
the pain and tiredness James experienced. But with the spirit gone,
his body and mind were tired. The coffee sounded good. After his
first cup, James got another and then dialed the number Dr. Porter
had left. It rang twice.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Dr. Porter. This is James
Kisner, returning your call.”

“Oh, good, James. I’m dying to know
how you’re doing.”

“I’m doing very well, Dr. Porter. My
parents left town for the week, and I think I’ve functioned well
enough without them. I’ve done all the shopping myself. I’ve even
managed to keep entertained. Yesterday, I went to see a series of
movies at the theater. I didn’t arrive home until late, and didn’t
get your message until this morning.”

James realized immediately that he’d
made a mistake. All Dr. Porter would have to do is ask what movies
he had seen, and James would not be able to tell him, no clue what
was showing.

“That’s wonderful, James.”

James didn’t give Dr. Porter a chance
to speak further on that, to question James for details. Instead,
he offered up what he knew Dr. Porter wanted. “I think we should
meet again, Doctor. I want to discuss everything I’ve been through,
but I don’t want to discuss it over the phone.”

James wasn’t sure when Dr. Porter
would want to meet. But he had to dictate that. Of course, he’d
never actually meet with the doctor. It was just a matter of how
long he wanted to stick around here. He’d leave, at latest, the
night of the scheduled appointment. “My parents come home today,
and I’d like to be free to visit with them the next few days. So
could we meet later this week?”

“Let’s see,” Dr. Porter responded.
“Can you meet with me Wednesday night at six, just the two of us,
at my office?”

James thought for a second. That gave
him three days. “Sounds good,” he said.

Afterward, James went outside to get
the paper. He read about the two murder cases that didn’t seem to
be going anywhere, as he waited for the arrivals of his day. The
spirit came first. His parents came home a little later.

***

When he was sure that they were all
asleep, Toby got out of bed and crept through the house. He stopped
at the refrigerator and looked inside. There he saw foods similar
to what he had been eating last week. There was raw bacon, eggs,
and even a little bit of raw chicken breast that his mom was
probably saving to cook up for a sandwich.

Of course, Toby had stopped eating raw
food from the refrigerator. He had food in the system of coolers he
had made. He hadn’t come here to feed. He had come here to find
out. When he had woken up earlier today, his craving had felt
different. Suddenly, it wasn’t images of raw food that came with
the rising heat. New images had arrived. Right now, with the raw
meat in front of him, he still couldn’t want it. He didn’t think it
would be gross to eat it. He thought it would fill up his stomach.
But it wasn’t what he craved.