Tales of Chills and Thrills: The Mystery Thriller Horror Box Set (7 Mystery Thriller Horror Novels) (59 page)

Chapter 15

“Another round?”

Samuel blinked and looked down at his
folded hands on the polished, mahogany bar. He blinked again at Mara
sitting next to him on the stool. She wore her hair bundled on top of her head,
curls dangling on her cheek like onyx earrings. The dark mascara accentuated
her eyes. Her red lipstick could hypnotize any man. Samuel looked at her
foundation, delicately applied to her porcelain skin in a way that defined
gothic beauty. He felt satisfaction, contentment, even a peaceful calm
emanating from her.

“Where are we?” he asked.

Mara winked and turned to the burly
bartender standing before a wall of mirrors and bottled spirits. She ignored
Samuel’s question and answered the bartender’s.

“Yes. For both of us,” she said.

With a swift swipe of his rag, the
bartender smiled and cleared the condensation left by the previous round. He
turned to toil and clang bottles together while ice clinked in the bottom of
the glasses. A thin layer of sweet tobacco smoke hung just below an intricately
carved ceiling. Ornate posts straddled the bar as patrons moved about.

“Don’t know the name of the place, but
it’s really old. They built the bar before prohibition and then opened it up
again afterward. Most of it has been restored. Even the ghosts that
haunt it have come back.”

Mara winked, catching the light in her
eyes with a dazzling smile. Her brilliant teeth shone between ruby lips. Samuel
felt mesmerized by her beauty, and yet a deep sadness seemed to reside below
the surface, one that hurt like an ache in his chest.

“You look stunning,” Samuel said. He
felt as though he was gawking at his sister dolled up for prom.

“Thank you,” she said.

Samuel looked down at her bare
shoulders sitting atop a tight, black dress. Mara wore ankle bracelets and toe
rings that glistened in the light.

“Are we still in the cave?” he asked.

“This is it, Samuel. Our first and
last date, if you want to call it that.”

Samuel felt his face blush from that
awkward feeling again.

“The wolves, they—”

Mara cut him off with the wave of a
hand. Before she could reply, the bartender returned with two glasses filled to
the brim with sparkling ice cubes suspended in a clear, amber sea.

“To us. Our time together and, sadly,
our goodbyes.”

Mara held her glass up. Samuel lifted
his to the toast and watched her lips caress the glass. She siphoned half of
the drink on the first sip before setting it back down. People moved about,
navigating through the bodies clumped near the bar. Samuel looked at them
looking at him.

“Goodbye?”

“Of course. The wolves, the horde.
Shit, the reversion. It’s all coming to a head. You know that, right?”

Samuel shook his head and rubbed a
hand across his chin.

“We can still say goodbye,” Mara said.
“I’ve always liked this place, and I’ve always wanted a special little black
dress. Shame I’m only getting it now.”

“We have to fight our way out of the
cave.”

Mara snickered and held her hand over
her mouth to stifle the laughter, as if trying not to embarrass Samuel. “You
will. You still have work to do. But me, Samuel, I’m finished. There isn’t
anything left for me.”

“But the portal, a slip, I could—”

“No. No, you can’t. I’m not leaving
the cavern, Samuel. I won’t be able to slip with you and try my luck in another
locality. This is it for me.”

Samuel looked around again, feeling as
though everyone in the bar was about to yell “surprise” as party hats appeared
in the room. He felt the tension of secrecy and the pain of being left out of
it.

“How do you know that?” he asked.

“I got word. I know. I’ve done what
was asked of me, and now I’m out. That’s how it works. You’ll see.” Mara drew
another sip of liquor over her glistening lips and winked. “Forget it, Samuel,”
she said. “I can’t explain it to you and, even if I could, you wouldn’t
understand.”

“I’m done,” he said, a serrated edge
to the words. “The date is over, and this entire bar can fuck off. Put
me back in the cave with the wolves and the undead.”

“Done with what?” Mara asked. “That’s
one thing about us Americans, right? We want everything tied up perfectly, no
loose ends. We want all the answers and logical reasons for everything.”

He sat back as Mara’s eyes began to
shed tears from each corner.

“We demand a happy ending and for shit
to make sense. Well, let me tell you something. It ain’t like that. Sometimes
you don’t get to find out why. Sometimes shit doesn’t belong to you.”

Mara slammed the glass down on the
bar. Samuel looked around and noticed the place was now empty. Even the
bartender had disappeared.

“I didn’t mean to—”

“I know what you meant to do,” she
said. “I know what your intentions were. But that doesn’t matter, either. You
know what they say about the path to hell and how it’s paved. And if you don’t,
you know now.”

When Samuel looked up at her face, he
saw the healthy shine of her hair degenerate into the filthy, sweaty strands
lying on her forehead. The eye make-up disappeared, as did the layer of
foundation that accentuated her smooth skin. The sexy, black dress morphed into
the rags that hung from her emaciated frame.

“Wait, Mara. I don’t understand what
you want from me.”

The mirrored walls slid downward into
the pools of mineral water gathering at the base of the cave wall. Ornate
columns and brass poles turned into teeth of rock hanging from the unseen
ceiling of the cavern.

“Nothing, Samuel. I don’t want
anything from you. It’s about what you’re willing to give, not what is demanded
of you.”

***

He blinked once, and the cavern snapped
back into view. Mara stood by him with tears in her eyes and his hand in hers.
The alpha male crouched low, his hunters surrounding him, with the horde
continuing to march into the space until enough appeared that Samuel could
begin to smell their rotting flesh.

If you give me your neck, I will make
it pass quickly.

Samuel shrugged and shook his head at the
alpha male.

“I don’t know what it is,” he said while
casting a confused look at Mara, “but I know I can’t lie down for you. If you
want me, you’ll have to fight.”

The hunters growled and snapped their
long teeth into the air. Mara let go of Samuel’s hand and stepped backward
until she felt the wall behind her.

Without warning, the alpha male lunged at
Samuel. The hunters stepped closer while the horde remained in place, swaying
even in the absence of wind. Samuel spun and raised his hands into a defensive
position, using his fingers to grab the alpha male’s coat while turning to the
right. The movement took advantage of the wolf’s momentum and allowed Samuel to
toss him to the side. The alpha male yelped as he crashed into the stone wall.
Samuel reached a hand to the empty sheath still attached to his leg and cursed
the reversion—Samuel could not remember losing the knife, yet it was gone.

Mara stepped to the side, and the other
hunters stayed with her. Samuel struck at the alpha male with his foot. The
kick connected with bony ribs, which elicited another cry from the wolf.

You are not leaving this cave.

Samuel felt the pain in the wolf’s
telepathic communication. He shook his head and lunged forward. This time, the
alpha male anticipated the kick, dodged to the side and locked his jaws around
Samuel’s ankle. The wolf snapped its head back and forth while ripping Samuel’s
pants below the knee.

Mara cried, and Samuel turned in time to
see the three hunters on top of her. He saw her legs kicking and arms flailing
as the beasts attacked.

“No,” Samuel yelled, dragging the
alpha male across the floor toward Mara.

The alpha male released his grip on
Samuel’s ankle, which brought an immediate wave of relief followed by the cold
burn of torn flesh exposed to the air. Samuel felt blood pooling in his shoe
and fell to the ground when his leg would not obey the signals sent by his
brain.

I must leave you both to Him.

Samuel sat up, his left hand clamping
around the pant leg now saturated with his own blood, looking at the shuffling
horde.

“What are you saying?”

The hunters moved back. The alpha male
barked, and they continued past the standing undead and left the cavern.

We have done what was asked of
us. We have released her. I would have rather eaten the flesh, but that command
will not be given.

The alpha male trotted by Samuel and
around the undead. The wolf stopped in the tunnel and looked back at Samuel.

He that commands will fulfill the
contract and release us from the grips of the reversion. The other beasts, they
seem to be destined to be eaten by the cloud.

The alpha male stared at him for
another second before turning and disappearing into the darkness of the cave.

Samuel looked at the horde. The creatures
inside the cavern remained in their animated sway. He clawed at the dirt,
dragging his injured leg behind as he crawled next to Mara, whose breathing
came in ragged gasps. The wolves had torn ragged chunks from her arms and legs,
which bled openly.

“I’m going to save you,” he said.

Mara smiled, even as he recoiled at the
sight of her wounds.

“I’ll last longer than you think. The
reversion. It slows even death.”

Samuel smiled, his face contorting
between sadness and pity.

“Deal with the horde.”

Samuel took her hand and looked up at the
sentinels standing in the cavern, their lifeless orbs staring back at them
both.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“You’ll figure it out.” Mara winced,
trying to staunch the flow of blood with strips of fabric ripped from her
pants.

“I need help. You know things about this
locality, this place.”

“It’s time,” she said as the creatures
came toward them.

***

Samuel slid his left arm underneath
Mara’s right arm and she grabbed his shoulder as they both hobbled on injured
legs. With his right, he grabbed a crooked stick from the ground to use as a
club. Samuel took a deep breath as he felt the blood pulsing in his ears.

“This is the only way,” he said.

“Go on,” she said, gritting through the
pain.

The first thirty feet through the passage
proved to be the most difficult as Samuel tried to keep his balance. A creature
appeared occasionally, arms outstretched, until Samuel would strike it with the
club. He struggled to climb the rising incline of the passage while
supporting Mara. He shifted as best he could, but their pace was slow at
best.

When he reached the first intersection
inside the mountain, Samuel glanced back at the horde behind him. New arrivals
came through the tunnels at a trickle, giving him time to strike and then step
over them.

“Hurry,” Mara said. “Not much time left.”

Samuel moved forward into the tunnel that
led upward toward the surface of the locality. Samuel thought about that, and
wondered what good it would do to race to the surface of a world about to be
demolished by the reversion. Before his rational mind could answer, he took
more steps toward the surface.

He let the club swing next to his right
leg as he climbed through the tight passages. Samuel turned several times, Mara
slowing with each step. When he reached another tunnel, Samuel stopped. He let
Mara slide to the ground, careful to keep a hand near the back of her head to prevent
it from striking the stone wall. He placed his hands on his knees and drew as
much air into his lungs as he could. Before Samuel stood, he heard a rotten
voice speaking as if from the grave.

“Our last stand is here. We cannot let
you pass.”

***

Samuel gazed at the form slathered in
darkness. The voice felt different, yet it retained a familiar timbre. With
another glance at Mara, he stepped forward, gripping the makeshift weapon in
his hand. The color fell from her face as more of her life bled from the
wounds. The entity stepped to the side and into the glow cast by the cave.
Samuel shook his head and wondered how long the ambient light would last as the
reversion bore down. With a quick glance, he looked at Mara’s wounds, which
appeared deeper and more serious than his own.

“You remember?” the form asked.

“We spoke of
ahimsa
,
moksha
and rebirth. On the edge of the marsh,” Samuel said.

The creature nodded and stepped closer.

“The reversion has exhausted the horde,
broken them down. You will not need that any longer.”

Samuel looked to his hand holding the
club and then back over his shoulder at Mara.

“Nothing will attack her,” the creature
said, following Samuel’s eyes.

“You’re different.”

“Than you?”

“Yes. But different from the horde, too,”
Samuel said. “You speak with more authority in your voice, more experience.”

“Maybe you hear that as less threatening.
I came to you in the marsh to try to explain the universe, or as much of it as
you could comprehend. The others—” The creature waved a hand in the air. “The
others are bound by their duty, their
dharma
.”

The last word hung in the air, and Samuel
felt the familiar twinge of memory. He thought back to his conversation with
this entity.

“Aren’t you, as well?”

“Yes, but not the same
dharma
.”

The creature stepped closer and motioned
for Samuel to sit on a wide, flat rock near the wall of the cave. He looked at
the opening and then back to the rock.