The Diablo Horror (The River Book 7)
Read The Diablo Horror (The River Book 7) Online
Authors: Michael Richan
The Diablo Horror
By Michael Richan
By the author:
The River
series:
The Downwinders
series
:
The Dark River series:
All three series are part of
The
River Universe,
and there is crossover of some characters and plots. For a
suggested reading order, see the
Author’s Website
.
Copyright 2014 by Michael Richan
All Rights Reserved.
All
characters appearing in this work are fictitious.
Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
This book is also available in print.
ASIN: B00MGRTZ4W
Published by Dantull (148615127)
◊
For Jessie, Jim, and the boys
Steven walked with Roy as they left Key Arena. The stadium was
filled to capacity for the memorial service, and parking around Seattle Center
was tight. Since the nearby parking structures had filled, they were forced to
park several blocks away in lower Queen Anne. As they walked past storefronts,
avoiding the bustle of Mercer Street, Steven started to say something to Roy at
least a dozen times, but stopped. Roy was as contemplative as he’d ever seen
him, except for his mother’s funeral.
The service was inspiring. Recently it seemed there were too
many of these memorial services for policemen struck down in the line of duty.
Steven hadn’t attended any of them before this one, although his sympathies
always went out to the fallen officers. He’d watched the other services on
television.
This service was similar to the others he’d seen, but with
one big difference. His father considered himself responsible for the officers’
deaths that had happened just over a week ago. Consequently, it had been a rough
two hours.
Not as rough for us as for the families of those policemen,
Steven thought.
Steven didn’t share Roy’s guilt. Well, maybe a little. He
called the cops at Roy’s direction, and he raised the idea that maybe they
shouldn’t. Roy was focused on making sure they wouldn’t be blamed for the
horrors inside June’s house, not thinking that by calling the cops, he was
bringing those horrors down upon the innocent public servants who would respond
to the call. Maybe, had they taken just a second more to think about it before
they called, they would have realized that bringing in the cops was a bad idea.
They could have waited until the demon inside the house had finished his evil
business; then a call to the police wouldn’t have put them at risk. They would
have showed up, inspected the house, questioned Steven and Roy, and been done
with it. Instead, two officers had died.
He and Roy had gone to Nevada almost immediately after it
happened, and had been busy for several days rescuing Jason from St. Thomas,
but now that they were back in Seattle where the news of the officer’s deaths
had occupied the local media for a whole week, Roy had time to think about how
it all went down. He considered himself responsible.
Steven tried to talk his father out of the guilt several
times, but Roy was having none of it. “I made a mistake,” Roy said. “I should
have thought it through. I reacted too quickly. I didn’t listen to your
objections. It’s my fault.”
So, as they trudged through the soggy streets on a late Thursday
afternoon, Steven was content to hold the large umbrella they shared and just
let Roy have his thoughts without interruption.
They drove back home, and Steven suggested they stop for dinner
somewhere. Roy said he wasn’t hungry and just wanted to go home. So Steven
dropped Roy off at his house, watching as his father got out his keys and tried
to open the door. The deadbolt had recently been replaced, and it sometimes
stuck. Steven watched through the rain as Roy fidgeted with it, and then saw
him wave him away. But Steven wasn’t in a hurry, and he wasn’t going anywhere until
he was sure Roy had made it inside. When Roy saw that Steven wasn’t leaving, he
returned to the deadbolt and jiggled at it. He cursed repeatedly, with
increasing loudness.
He’ll be at that lock with WD-40 before I make it a block
away,
Steven
thought.
The lock finally popped for Roy, and he disappeared inside
his house without any acknowledgment to Steven.
Fine, he’s in,
Steven thought.
I can go home.
He backed his Accord out of Roy’s driveway and maneuvered
through the wet streets of Seward Park.
I’ll give him another day,
he
thought.
I’ll avoid talking to him tomorrow. Let him come to terms with
things. I’ll call him Saturday.
Steven parked his car and walked into his house, the new
alarm system he’d recently installed chirping at him. He disarmed it and walked
through the basement entrance and up the stairs to the main floor of the house.
He was weary from the long day. The memorial service had been emotionally
draining, and he felt like sleeping.
Better check the mail,
he thought. He walked through the kitchen to the dining room
and then the living room. He stopped as he realized someone was sitting on the
couch. It was a man, dressed in a suit. Even though it was still daytime
outside and the living room was filled with the greyish light that a cloudy day
in Seattle provides, the man’s features were dark and obscured. Steven
recognized the fancy Italian shoes.
“It’s you,” Steven said.
“It is,” the man replied.
Steven turned on a light, hoping to better see the man.
Correction,
Steven thought.
Not a man. A demon. This is just the image he presents.
“You’ve been back from Nevada for a couple of days now,” the
man said. “Just wondering how the project is going.”
“Our deal doesn’t give you the right to invade my privacy
like this,” Steven said. “It just makes me mad, makes me want to delay things.”
“You don’t want to do that,” the man said. “In fact, that’s why
I’m here, to discuss timetables with you.”
Here it comes,
Steven thought. He knew the demon would turn up the heat at
some point. Before he went to Nevada to rescue his son, he struck a deal with
the demon to search for, and return, certain objects. After he returned from
Nevada, the demon gave him a list. He had it for a couple of days. Steven
looked the list over, but he had no idea from the details on the list which of
the items might be at Eximere. He planned to go back out there after the memorial
and the holiday weekend, when Roy might be in better sorts. He’d have to
compare the demon’s written list to objects he could observe, and see if there
were any matches.
“I’ll be looking for your objects soon,” Steven said. “But every
time you show up like this, uninvited, I’m going to take an extra week to look,
how about that.”
“Not a good idea,” the man said. “In fact, you’ll need to
accelerate everything. I want every object on that list by Saturday morning.”
“Oh, fuck off,” Steven said. “First of all, I told you I’d
look for them. That doesn’t mean I’ll find them all. Our deal only involves
returning to you the ones I can locate. So expecting them all is bullshit. That
wasn’t the deal.”
“I realize that.”
“And second, there was no timetable to the agreement. I said
I’ll look. I will. Next week.”
“No. You will look tomorrow, and bring me all of the ones you
find no later than Saturday morning.”
“No, I won’t,” Steven said. “It’ll be next week.”
“You’ve had it easy so far, haven’t you?” the man asked,
standing. “I’ve tortured your friends a little, but no real pain for you. I
used to love inflicting pain. Lived for it. It was the greatest rush. Long ago I
helped men construct some of the most devious devices, all for the purposes of
torturing humans. Now it’s just tedious. It really bores me. But still I do it,
because it works. You recall your father and friend gasping for air in the car
in California, I’m sure. I could give you a sample, if you’d like. But I find
it so utterly boring, I’d rather you just take me at my word.”
“You’re changing the terms,” Steven said. “Doesn’t that
nullify the deal?”
“I am not changing the terms. You said you would search for
them and deliver to me the ones that match my description. That was more than a
week ago. I am merely insisting that you finish the work. And since you seem to
be dragging your feet, I’m giving you a deadline. My expectation was that I’d
have them by now, so it’s within my right to insist.”
“I think you make up rights as you go along.”
“Enough,” the man said, walking toward Steven. As he approached,
his faint, blond goatee became visible, and Steven could see dark veins under
his thin skin. “Saturday morning, right here. Every object on that list.”
“Every object
that I can find,
” Steven said. “Fine. I
hand them over to you, and we’re finished. That was the deal. Whether I can
find one, or a hundred, or none. Saturday morning, we’re done.”
“Correct,” the man said, retreating from Steven and turning
away from him. “Resist the temptation to get lazy and not check thoroughly.
I’ll know if you didn’t. And don’t think about keeping anything on my list
either, and lying to me about not having it. I’ll know that too. This will
conclude only so long as you don’t take any shortcuts.”
“Fine, no shortcuts. Are we finished now? Will you get the
fuck out of my house?”
“I don’t like your tone,” the man said, walking toward the
front door. “I’ll go. But based on how this conversation has gone, I think I’ll
need some insurance. You might want to give your friend in California a call.”
He opened the front door and turned. “Saturday morning, or she’ll succumb.” He
looked up at Steven and smiled, then closed the door.
◊
Steven arrived at Roy’s house. He was balancing a box of
Krispy Kremes in one hand and a thermos of coffee in the other. “Open up, Dad,”
he hollered through the door. “My hands are full.”
Roy opened the door and looked at him. He was wearing his
underwear and a wifebeater. “You couldn’t call?” He turned and walked back into
the house, leaving the door open and Steven on the porch.
“I brought doughnuts,” Steven said, stepping inside.
“Normally you’re happy to see doughnuts.”
“Well, bring ’em in, you’re here now,” Roy said, marching
back to his bedroom. Steven took the food and coffee into the kitchen and
retrieved mugs from the cabinets. He poured out servings and opened the
doughnut box, selecting one and chomping down on it. Roy returned as Steven
swallowed the mouthful.
“You’ll leave me some, I hope,” Roy said, flopping down in a
kitchen chair and running his fingers through his hair. He looked tired.
“Did you sleep?”
“A little.”
Steven handed Roy the mug of coffee he poured for him, and
Roy took it.
“I have a favor to ask,” Steven said.
“Hence the doughnuts,” Roy said sarcastically. “You only
bring doughnuts when you want something.”
“I need to go to Eximere today. I was hoping you’d come
along.”
“I don’t want to.”
“It’ll do you good to get out of the house,” Steven said,
taking a second doughnut. “A little bit of time on the road…”
“We just spent days driving back from Nevada. I’ve seen
enough road.”
“…and some time at Eximere. You’ll feel better.”
“You think I want to walk down all those stairs?”
“And, Eliza’s in trouble. I need your help to save her.”
Roy looked up at Steven, not sure if he was telling him the
truth or not.
“What’s wrong with her?” Roy asked.
“She’s in the hospital,” Steven answered. “Pneumonia. Very
severe. Came on very quickly. She could die.”
Roy’s expression changed from disbelief to concern. “We
should go down there and see her, then.” He got up from the table and began to
walk around as though he was considering how to pack and leave.
“Dad, no,” Steven said. “Even if we went down there, we
couldn’t help her. The only way she’s going to survive is if I go to Eximere.
And it has to be today.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Roy said, sitting back
down with his coffee. “You’re not making any sense.”
“Eliza’s been made ill by Aka Manah, the demon that killed
Robbie,” Steven said. He knew he couldn’t tell Roy the details of the deal he’d
made with the demon, but he had to give him enough information to solicit his
help. “There are some things I have to do at Eximere, and they have to be done
today. And I have to be back in Seattle by tomorrow morning. I could use some
backup. And, I suppose, the moral support.”
“I presume you can’t tell me what you need to do at Eximere.”
“You know I can’t. What I didn’t expect was that he’d turn
the screws on me and threaten Eliza’s life if I didn’t meet a deadline.”
Roy rallied himself, standing back up and taking a long deep
breath. “Well,” he said, “if Eliza’s in trouble, we’ve got to go. I’ll do
whatever you want.” He wandered back into his bedroom. “Give me a minute to get
ready, and we’ll leave.”
Steven took another doughnut and topped off his mug. By the
time he’d finished both, Roy was standing in the kitchen, ready to go.
“Bring the box,” Roy said. “I’m not really hungry, but we
shouldn’t let good doughnuts go to waste.”
Steven grabbed the box and his thermos, and they walked out
to his car.
◊
The drive down was quiet. Roy was still moody from the
memorial service, and the threat to Eliza just added to the somber mood. By the
time they reached Olympia, Roy had both woken up and warmed a little, and was
ready to talk.
