The Final Rule (9 page)

George scrubbed his hand over his jaw. “Her equipment isn’t state of the art.”

“So she can’t tell you what it is?”

“No.” George blew out a breath.

“Can she at least tell if it was normal? And by normal I mean something that would normally come out of a person when they vomit?”

George looked away for a moment. “No. She said it wasn’t organic. And all the samples were inconclusive. But it doesn’t support,” He poked a finger at Jon. “Your hare-brained theory.”

“It doesn’t debunk it either.”

“Something happened last night.” Ellis squeezed Jon’s hand. “He needs to know.”

“What do I need to know?”

“Jon sleep walks.”

“Lots of people sleep walk.”

“Not like this.”

“That’s a little vague, don’t you think?”

“He talks. And the things he dreams about aren’t normal. He knows things he shouldn’t know.”

“Like what?”

Jon blew out a breath. “The other day you said I was lucky I woke up and was able to find Ellis.”

“And you were.”

“I woke up because Rudy made me.”

“It’s normal to dream about loved ones.” George sat back.

“Rudy also showed me what Ellis was going to do. That’s how I was able to tell you where we’d find him.”

“It was a logical guess that turned out right.” There was the slightest waver to George’s voice.

“Last night was different,” Ellis said. “The sleep walking wasn’t the same. Jon went outside. He didn’t even react to the cold. And when he talked it wasn’t him.”

“I wish you’d quit this.” George stood. “You’re never going to deal with losing Rudy if you keep—”

“It said go to the Grove and we’d understand.”

“This is ridiculous.”

“If it’s so ridiculous then what would it hurt?”

“You’ve got to stop this, Ellis. For your own sanity.”

“I think we should go. The coroner couldn’t tell you what was wrong with Russell. Jon found me because Rudy told him in a dream where to look. And last night I talked to something that wasn’t Jon, but was in his body.”

“I’ve heard enough.” George waved them off.

“I’m going to go. With or without you. I need to know if there really is something or if it’s all a delusion like you think.”

“It can only be a delusion.”

“Then let’s prove it.”

George flicked a look back and forth between them. “If we go and there’s nothing there, this nonsense stops. You,” He pointed to Ellis. “Will start seeing a counselor.” He pointed at Jon, “And you will not say another goddamned thing about this or so help me—”

Jon held up a hand. “I understand.”

“Fine. Get your coats. We’re taking my car.”

Jon checked his gun and then returned it to the holster on his belt. At the moment, Ellis had a love hate relationship with the .38. Mostly it was hate, because it reminded him of what he’d done.

“Do you think you’re going to need that?” Ellis nodded at the gun.

“I hope not. But I’d rather have it than not.”

Considering how the week had gone, it only made sense to keep it on hand.

He handed Jon his jacket. “Thanks.”

Ellis put his on and they went outside to join George in the car.

“I really think this is a waste of time.” George started the sedan. “The Grove is nothing but an empty field.”

“And it’s the only common denominator between everything that’s happened.”

George huffed. “I still say it’s a waste.” He pulled out on the street.

Ten minutes later, they were riding down a dirt road shrouded by twisted branches. The twilight they created replaced the morning sun.

Jon paled.

“You okay?” Ellis put a hand over his.

“Yeah, just some unpleasant memories.” Jon looked out the passenger window. “I didn’t actually see this road when Lenny brought me here. They had me in the trunk. But I remember how it felt and how the gravel sounded.”

A hard gust of wind rocked the sedan. Leaves tumbled across the road.

The air crackled with ozone. Ellis propped an elbow on George’s seat. “Is it supposed to storm?”

“Not that I know of.”

The forest pulled back revealing a wide green field on the right side of the road. Six massive pecan trees were the only imperfection in the carpet of green.

What started out as blue skies, turned into an ocean of slate gray clouds. Another gust of wind slapped the side of the car, then tore across the field, pushing the grass flat.

George pulled to a stop and leaned forward over the steering wheel. “It does look like a storm, doesn’t it?”

Thick clouds ended against a blue sky at the entrance to the road. To Jon Ellis said, “How much you want to bet those clouds don’t go further than the Grove?”

“I won’t play that bet because I’d lose.” Jon got out. George followed.

Jon ducked his head back in. “You coming?”

A terrible heaviness settled in Ellis’s chest.

“Ellis?” Jon gave him a worried look.

“I’m okay, it’s just…” Ellis opened the car door. A gust of wind slammed it shut, almost catching his foot. He tried again. This time when it hit, Jon was knocked off balance and George braced himself against the side of the sedan.

“Maybe you should get out on my side.” Jon said. The wind changed direction. Ellis stumbled back into Jon’s arms.

“I think we’d better get back,” George pointed at the wave of black clouds boiling from the center of the sky. “Those look serious.”

With each new ripple the mantel spread.

“They’re coming from nowhere.” Ellis scanned the surrounding sky.

“What?” Jon looked up.

“The clouds. They’re not coming from any one direction, it’s like they’re pouring out of the air.” He took a few steps toward the field and Jon caught his arm. “I need to get closer.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” A somber presence sharpened to fear. Ellis pulled out of Jon’s grip. Leaves tumbling across the road made a wide circle around Ellis. The groan of swaying pecan trees grew in volume until it was a plaintive cry. Jon and George joined Ellis at the shoulder of the road.

“You ever heard trees sound like that?” Jon jerked his chin in the direction of the field. “That’s most definitely not normal, George.” He tilted his head up. “And Ellis is right, those clouds are coming from nowhere.”

“It’s a storm.” There was a waver to George’s voice.

Ellis stepped into the grass. A growl of thunder vibrated up his legs. “It’s coming from the ground.” He looked back. “The thunder. It’s not coming from the sky. It’s coming from under us.” Ellis took a few more steps. Wind tugged at his clothes, but it was insignificant compared to how it pummeled the grass.

The pecan trees bent so low the limbs brushed the ground.

George said, “Hardwood doesn’t do that. It breaks, it doesn’t bend.”

“Ellis, come back.” Jon waved him closer.

“Not yet.” He had to see. He had to know. Rudy’s death was somehow connected to this place or, at least, what was happening here.

The hollow wail cutting through the trees rose to a scream.

Fescue grabbed at Ellis’s feet and legs with every step that took him deeper into the field.

Lightning shot up the pecan trees and danced between the branches in full tesla glory.

Swells pushed up dirt in front of Ellis’s feet. The lumps left rows as they raced away across the pasture. The further they retreated the larger they became until each one was the size of a car.

Ellis started to make chase. Jon grabbed his arm. “We need to get out of here.” The explosions of wind almost erased his words.

“I can’t.”

“You will. This isn’t safe.”

“It told me to see for myself.”

“And you’ve seen enough, Ellis. Please.”

The mounds of earth disappeared under the grass. A sharp crack of lightning snapped from above. Static danced around them in tiny flash fires.

“Please, Ellis. Before someone gets killed.”

“It’s afraid of me.” He pulled against Jon’s hold. “I have to see it.” Jon locked his arms around Ellis’s chest. “Damn it, Jon, let me go.”

“I won’t let you kill yourself.”

“I have to know what it is.” He kicked..

“For the love of God, Ellis, whatever that thing is, it shouldn’t exist. This isn’t a dream. This isn’t a vision of my dead brother. It’s the monster.”

“
The
Big and Terrible. That’s what Rudy called it. He called it
The
Big and Terrible
. He knew it was here. I bet he even knew what it is.”

“He also knew enough to fear it. Please, we need to go.” Jon’s whisper trembled against Ellis’s ear. The fear in his eyes belonged to a man who’d seen something no man was ever meant to witness.

“Okay. We’ll go.”

Jon put him down. On the way back to the road the fear emanating from
The Big and Terrible
condensed into rage.

He grabbed Jon’s hand. “Run.”

Jon tried to glance back.

“Don’t look, just run.”

The rumble in the earth turned into an angry snarl. A path of sinking ground followed them across the field.

A gaping hole opened up under Ellis.

Jon jumped but Ellis lost his hold on his hand. Clods of soil crumbled under his heels and grass ripped in his hands as he slid toward the widening pit. An oily blackness at the bottom crawled up the sides.

His shirt pulled tight around his chest. George and Jon dragged Ellis to the gravel road.

Grass rolled upwards and dirt fell away. Within seconds the tear was nothing but a carpet of fescue.

The anger in the air rang with a silent tome that rippled through Ellis. “We gotta get out of here, it’s not done yet.”

George was already behind the wheel with the engine running when Jon shoved Ellis through the open door.

Jon landed in the seat beside him. “Go, goddamn it. Go.”

George spun the car into a U-turn and the door slipped from Jon’s hand. Ellis grabbed Jon’s arm as he regained his hold and yanked it shut. “Punch it, George.”

“What the hell do you think I’m doing, son?”

Wind bulldozed the sedan toward the shoulder. Gravel sprayed from under the spinning tires.

In the field, a swell of earth shot in their direction. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

The tread caught and the sedan lunged toward the main road.

“It’s scared,” Ellis said.

“It doesn’t act very scared.”

The swell raced up the edge of the field.

“Go faster.” Jon hit the back of George’s seat.

“If one of you wants to get out and push we might go faster.”

“It’s gaining.” Jon twisted around. “Shit, it’s gaining.”

“Don’t you think I see that, son?”

The car hit a rut and came down on a patch of gravel. Momentum swung the rear of the sedan to the side. George cranked the wheel and the tires found traction.

They left the open dirt road and the tunnel of trees surrounded them.

“Did it stop?” George said. The ground burped up roots as the swell shredded the forest floor. “I take that as a no.”

Ellis pressed himself against the glass. Every so often the mound of dirt would crack and a flash of blackness breeched the surface. The shredded line left by
The Big and Terrible
smoothed out.

The distance between the mound and the sedan began to close.

“Fuck.” Jon swung a look back. “You gotta go faster, George.”

“And how do you suppose I should do that? The pedal only goes so far.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know. Christ, George. It’s going to catch us.”

Fear and rage pulsed from
The Big and Terrible
in a rhythmic beat. Ellis strained to hear the words he was sure were there.

The sedan swung wide, tossing Ellis against Jon. Then the hum of asphalt replaced the ping of gravel.

The emotions echoing inside Ellis stopped. “It’s not following us anymore.”

The engine continued to roar.

Jon twisted in his seat. “He’s right.”

George’s grip on the wheel left his knuckles bleached out.

“You can slow down,” Jon said. The car weaved, catching the shoulder and grinding the tires. “George, slow down before you wreck.”

Ellis touched George’s arm. “It’s okay. It can’t go any further. It’s gone. I promise it’s gone.” The red stick on the odometer eased back to the left, dipping below ninety, then sixty. It settled at forty five.

While Jon and George reeked of fear a strange calm consumed Ellis.

“What the hell was that?” George said.

“I don’t know.” Jon glanced back.

“Jesus Christ. Will someone tell me what that thing was?”

“I told you, I don’t know.”

“
The Big and Terrible
,” Ellis said. “That’s what Rudy called it.

George nodded. “That’s definitely a good name for it.” He flexed his hands against the wheel. “God help me, I don’t think I’ll ever sleep again.”

Jon stared at his hands. One second more and he wouldn’t have been able to grab Ellis’s shirt.

“You okay, dear?” Eleanor put a cup of coffee on the table in front of him.

“To tell the truth, I don’t know.” He’d come too close to losing Ellis. Too damn close.

George stared at nothing with haunted eyes.

Man was not meant to see that kind of evil. Or as Rudy had called it,
The Big and Terrible
.

“Barron at the station called,” Eleanor said. “They went over your house pretty good yesterday. He said they didn’t find anything.”

The house. Ellis’s house. It had been destroyed by Lenny. Violated. But after the past hour the crime seemed insignificant.

“Where do you think it came from?” Ellis said.

Jon had almost forgotten he was sitting beside him.

“I mean, it’s got to be from somewhere else, right?” Ellis looked back and forth between them.

“You mean like Martians?” George said.

“No, not really.” Ellis gave a crooked smile. “But it didn’t come from here.”

“Martians would have a space ship. I didn’t see a space ship.”

Eleanor patted George’s shoulder. “Calm down. You’re making a spectacle of yourself.”

“If you’d seen this thing you wouldn’t be saying that.”

“Ellis is right.” Jon sipped his coffee. “Whatever that thing is, it’s not earthly and it doesn’t belong here.”