The Hum (17 page)

Pushing down his window, Russell said, “Sorry I’m late man. I stumbled upon some more craziness down here.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was just enjoying the weather here. Washington D.C. is still pretty cold this time of the year, as you may recall.”

“Yes, and I don’t miss it one bit. Throw your bag in

the trunk and hop in. I’ve got a lot to fill you in on.”

While Dean went around to the back of the vehicle, Russell looked into the rearview mirror and tried to remove the dried blood from the ends of his nostrils. He did so gingerly, so he didn’t open the flood gates back up again. He wetted one end of a paper napkin and lightly dabbed it against each nostril, normally an easy feat, but not with severely shaking hands and a pounding heart.

“Are you okay, man? You don’t look so well.” Dean said as he took a seat on the passenger side of the vehicle.

“I’ve been threatened, spied on, and most recently, almost led into a deep sink hole. Things are crazy around here, Dean.”

“Whoa! Slow down. Back up a bit, and explain, please.”

“Sorry. I think I mentioned my run-in at the restaurant with a couple of the locals around town. Well I’ve since then been exposed to all kinds of welcoming rituals. They’ve basically told me that this isn’t my town, and they want me gone. I’m sure they’ll do the same to you. I also just left some ranch on the outskirts of town where I witnessed Sheriff Bowman and a priest that I flew in with, go down into this large sinkhole on some sort of elevator.”

“Sinkhole?”

“That’s the only way I know to describe it. It had to be the biggest hole I’ve ever seen.”

CHAPTER
28

The duration of the ride, Russell did his best to explain what he’d seen, but he knew he wasn’t doing justice to the large crater. It was more than just a massive hole—it was almost as if the thing was alive. But he wasn’t about to tell that to his friend, fearing Dean might think the job was getting to him. Heck, maybe it was. He’d just lost his best deputy and everyone in this town made him feel like an outsider, an outcast. It’s good to have someone on my side for a change, Russell thought as he looked over at his friend.

When they arrived back at the mysterious property, Russell slowly navigated the rental car through the steel gate, and veered to the right towards the same direction where he’d first seen the crater. There were no other vehicles around, and the place looked cold and empty. The heat in the area had been intense just minutes earlier, so the unexpected cold didn’t make any sense. Feeling the chill in his bones, Russell raised both windows, and turned the heat up a bit.

After driving a good five hundred feet past the spot where the hole was supposed to be, Russell parked the vehicle and got out.

“Is it around here?” Dean asked as he exited the vehicle.

Without responding, Russell went back to where

the hole had been and did a complete 360 degree turn.

Not only was it not there, the ground looked completely undisturbed—like it had never been there in the first place. Scratching his head, Russell looked to his left into the woods, and headed that way. Having grown up hunting and tracking deer, he instinctively looked for footprints the entire way. Unfortunately, there weren’t any. When he made it out of the woods, even the tire marks where he’d parked earlier were missing.

“Are you okay, man?” Dean asked out of breath behind him.

“I...I’m not too sure. It was back there.” Russell said pointing behind them. “They must’ve filled it in.” “Didn’t you say it was the biggest hole you’ve ever seen? I thought you just left this site. How could they

fill it in so quickly?”

“That’s a good question, and one I plan on finding the answer to. We will start with Sheriff Bowman.” Russell said making his way back around to the car.

By the time they made it to the rental, the temperature had changed back to the normal New Mexico death heat, leaving them both huffing for breath and sweating. Russell wracked his brain trying to figure out what was going on. How could such a thing just up and disappear? How could weather change like that? It really made no sense, and he refused to even consider the possibility of his mind conjuring it all up.
No, they are trying to hide something and even though I’m not sure how they did it, they made the hole disappear
.

*         *         *

When they arrived in Virginia, Kevin felt every nerve in his body tense up. Just being back in the town where he’d come face to face with the thing in the tunnel, set him on edge.

“Everything will be okay.” Father Gregory said, responding to the fear he could already see on Kevin’s face.

“I know, but it’s still hard. I’ll be better once we’ve checked into our hotel and rested for the night.”

Choosing to stay at the Hilton next to the airport was Father Gregory’s idea, and since he was paying, Kevin didn’t object. Besides, it was nearby and that meant he could bolt himself inside and hide away until the next day.

That night Kevin somehow found himself back down in that same cavern and this time there were more bodies than just those of his family and the ones he’d murdered. They were everywhere, and many of them were missing their heads. The deeper he ventured down the tunnel, the darker the place grew. At some point, he tripped and fell. Feeling his chest land on something hard, Kevin hesitantly coursed his hand over the object. “Ugh!” He jumped up and kicked the thing out of his path. The feel of coarse hair continued replaying in his head, making him retch in his throat. No longer able to hold it back, he let loose a flood of vomit. Even then, he couldn’t help but envision his throw up landing in the hair of that decapitated head. He wondered to which of the dead bodies it belonged.

Traveling deeper into the blindness, Kevin happened upon the thing that had toyed with him eight years prior, and it left him screaming with everything in him.

“Kevin! Wake up, Kevin!” Father Gregory said, as he shook the screaming man in the bed next to him.

Looking around the room wildly, Kevin struggled to figure out where he was. He began to relax a bit when he realized he was no longer in the tunnel. Looking up at Father Gregory, he said, “I can’t go back down there! The bodies were everywhere, Father! It was awful!”

“It was just a dream, Kevin. The only bodies here are yours and mine.”

“No, it wasn’t, Father. Don’t you see? It was giving me a preview of what I’d see if I go back down there! I can’t do this!”

“Calm down, Kevin. You’re letting this thing control you. I promise you this thing will continue to rule your life unless you face it. What if everything suddenly stopped after you went down there? No more humming, no more headaches? Wouldn’t it be worth it?”

“Not if I have to face that...that thing again.” “What thing, Kevin? What has you so afraid?”

“The thing in the tunnel. It knows everything: the people I’ve killed, my darkest desires, even the guilt I feel for leaving Amanda back there in that crazy town.” “We’ve been through all of this, Kevin. You’re a normal person just like me. Quit rehashing your past

and move on.”

“I can’t. Don’t you see that? I just...I can’t. I killed my own wife and kids for goodness sakes.”

“And you’ve been forgiven. I was there when you asked for forgiveness, Kevin. Look, if leaving Amanda back there is causing you all this guilt and angst, I think you should call and check on her.”

“Do you think that’s the reason I’m having such a hard time here?”

“We can’t be sure until you call and put it behind you for good. Just call her.”

“But I don’t know her number, or where she’s staying. I can’t see her going back to her old apartment after being attacked there.”

“Word around town is that she booked a room at the Sagebrush Inn.”

“What? The same hotel we were just at? You overheard someone say that?”

“The manager of the hotel was talking to another guest about her, when I happened to walk up to check out earlier this morning.”

“Did he say anything else? Why was he telling this person Amanda’s whereabouts? You don’t think...?” “Stop it, Kevin. Just pick up the phone and call

her. Here, I’ll even look up the number for the Inn on my phone and dial it for you.”

Kevin looked on with uncertainty as Father Gregory dialed the number and handed the phone over to him.

After three long rings, Amanda said, “Look, quit calling and harassing me! If you’re a real man, then you’ll quit hiding behind a phone, and say what’s on your mind, to my face! And get your facts straight before you start calling people names! My sister was raped—got it?”

“If you’re through ranting, I’d like to speak with you for a minute or two.” Kevin said unsure of just about everything at that point.

“Kevin? I’m sorry about that. I’ve been getting numerous calls from idiots around here, telling me to get out of town and a few even had the audacity to call Jordan a whore. I really hate these people!”

“Sorry to hear that. I just called to check on you, to make sure you were safe.”

“I’m still alive, if that’s your concern. I drove over to El Prado and purchased myself a pistol. If they try to break in on me again, I’ll fill them full of led.”

“Wow! You’re one mean woman. Have you always been this way?”

“Only when I’ve been getting calls from idiots all night.”

“Ouch. That hurts, you know. Here I am calling to make sure you’re still alive, and all you have to say is that I’m an idiot.”

“I wasn’t talking about you, Kevin. You’re no longer a part of this crazy town. So how’s Virginia treating you?”

“Well, I just arrived last night, so I’m not too sure. I’m hoping it turns out to be all I expected and then some.”

“Well good luck, Kevin. I should be going now. You take care.”

“Will you do me a favor, Amanda?” “I guess so. What is it?”

Fully expecting her to decline, it took Kevin a few seconds to respond. “If you run into trouble with the people there, would you please call me? I know I’m quite a distance away, but I want to help, if I can.”

“If it makes you feel any better, and gets you to hang up so I can get something done, then I’ll agree to do so.”

“My number should be on your caller id. Make sure you write it down, and please don’t hesitate to call me. I can get back on a plane and be there within five hours.”

“Are you finished? Good-bye, Kevin.”

Not exactly the vote of confidence he was hoping for, but just hearing that Amanda was still alive did help ease a bit of Kevin’s guilt.

“Thanks, Father Gregory.” Kevin said as he closed the phone and handed it over to his friend.

“I take it she’s alive and well then?”

“The same firecracker she was when I left her yesterday.”

“That’s good to hear. So, what would you like to do today?”

“I’d
like
to grab breakfast, lay around by the pool and throw back a few cold beers, but it doesn’t look like I’ll be doing any of those. I’ve got a date with the tunnel of death.”

“Are you sure?”

“Not at all. But it’s best I do it while I still have some resolve built up, because if I don’t, I probably won’t.”

“Would you like me to go with you?”

“If you could ride out to the woods with me and wait in the car that would be great.”

“Let’s get dressed and head that way then.” Father Gregory replied smiling.

*         *         *

Father Gregory walked out onto the landing while Kevin was in the shower. Pushing the buttons on his cell phone, he cautiously looked over his shoulder to ensure no one was in earshot.

“What’s up, Clint?”

“We’ll be in the tunnel within the hour.”

“Good. Sheriff Jent’s FBI friend is here, and I’d bet my badge that more of them are on the way.”

“I told you to leave Kevin to me. He’s confused and a bit scared, but it won’t matter after he goes down into the tunnel; he’ll soon be a different man. He will help rid of us our outsiders.”

“Hopefully, he’ll be able to sever this bond he’s made with Amanda as well. She needs to disappear soonest.”

“Are you forgetting that we got Kevin to kill his own wife and kids, Sheriff Bowman? Don’t worry about Amanda. She will die a death similar to that of her sister.”

CHAPTER 29

As he pulled up near the site of the old service station, Kevin noticed right away that the place was deserted. He wondered if it had reopened after his killing spree there. Parking the car near the front entrance, he slowly opened the door and made his way towards the building without saying a word.

Father Gregory remained in the car, the expression on his face that of a proud parent. And in a way that’s what he was to Kevin, a father, his only father.

The glass door was broken, so Kevin made his way inside with little effort. Scanning the room, he noticed the overturned wooden display cases, along with quite a few candy wrappers strewn throughout. It was obvious that the place never reopened, something that left him feeling even guiltier. He was to blame for the lifelessness in the place, both human and nonhuman.

Guilt turned to sadness, leaving Kevin momentarily stuck in his footsteps.
What’s the point? What good will it do to go back into the tunnel? I don’t deserve to live a life of peace—look at what I’ve done
.

Unsure of his next move, Kevin’s feet made their way to the back door, and eventually out into the dreaded woods which led to the tunnel. Just like the last time, he was being drawn there, taken back into his past to face the thing that caused his mind to snap. Just like in his dream, the sky brightened, and a sense of peace temporarily came over him.

As he stood looking down at the lid to the entrance of the tunnel, the peace disappeared and sweat dripped from his forehead. He no longer knew what the thing was made of, just that he wouldn’t be slamming his hand into it again anytime soon. Bending down at the waist, he slowly removed the lid and placed it off to the side. Remembering what happened the last time, he had second thoughts and decided to hide it underneath a pile of leaves about twenty-five feet off to the right.

Headlamp strapped to his forehead, Kevin descended back down into the very spot that he felt had destroyed his mind—ripped it to pieces. He was just now beginning to think clearly, and somehow Father Gregory had talked him into facing this madness. As he stepped off the last rung of the ladder, he had a hard time removing his hands from the thing. It was his only source of comfort, like a child clinging viciously to their favorite blanket when they get hurt.

Forcing himself to let go, Kevin slowly turned and took a few hesitant steps down the tunnel. He fully expected the lid to slam back into place from above, and when it didn’t happen, his heart was very thankful.

Fifty feet into his search for answers, Kevin looked over at the walls and watched as blood began coursing down them. It was slow at first, but within seconds, it became a flowing tide. From his left and right, the stuff threatened to overtake him. When it reached the sides of his sneakers, he took off running deeper into the madness that surely awaited him.

Abruptly the tunnel took a sharp right turn, which Kevin didn’t recognize from his last visit. No longer seeing the blood, he slowed to a walk. The further he went, the more at peace he suddenly became. It made absolutely no sense, but he’d already forgotten all about the blood on the walls and the things he’d seen in the tunnel all those years prior.

Suddenly, Kevin heard a familiar voice calling to him. He picked up his pace, now more excited than ever to see the person behind that voice. A looming figure came into view about twenty paces in front of him, causing Kevin to fall to his knees.

“It’s good to see you again, Son.”

“Dad? Is that you? What are you doing down here?” “Resting, my son. I’ve been waiting for you to come

back. I’ve missed you, Kevin.”

“You have? I...I’ve missed you too, Daddy.”

“Get up, Son. Come closer. Let me get a good look at you.”

When he got within three feet of his father, Kevin stopped. Even though he knew his father was long dead, he didn’t allow such thoughts to creep into his head. He’d never before heard his dad tell him that he missed him, and it felt too good to walk away from.

“I’m sorry about Wayne, Daddy. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“It’s alright, Son. I’m the one who should be sorry. He treated you awful, and I should’ve put a stop to it. Every single one of those people that you killed had it coming, Kevin. You did the right thing, and it’s time you accepted that.”

“Not my wife and kids, Daddy. They were good, innocent.”

“That woman didn’t care about you, Son. If she did, she would’ve never asked you to raise another man’s baby. She deserved what you gave her.”

Part of Kevin wanted to scream that his wife and kids didn’t deserve to die, but another portion wanted desperately to believe what his father was saying was true. In the end, he chose the latter. Maybe his father was right, maybe Father Gregory was too.
What woman would ask such a thing of a man?

“Dad, did you hear the humming sound too?” Kevin asked.

“Ever since I was a little boy. We’re special, Kevin.

We will receive a great reward for our loyalty and our hard work. But there’s still more to do, Kevin. You’ve been given great responsibility. Make me proud.”

No more words were exchanged, but Kevin remained there for another hour or so, running through his father’s words and the murders over and over again in his head. He even thought briefly about Amanda out in Taos, his view conforming to that of everyone else in town. She was an outsider there; maybe he should even go back and kick her out himself...

A suggestion entered Kevin’s head from out of nowhere, disrupting his thought’s of Amanda.

“You’re right, Daddy. That’s what I must do.”

But how do I find them?

“Yes, Father Gregory will help me. I will take care of them all, Daddy.” Kevin said, as he moved closer to give his father a hug. Abruptly, he disappeared. Kevin was left all alone once again in the tunnel, but he wasn’t scared anymore. Now he knew the truth of it all: His daddy was trying to comfort him, to console him when he needed it the most. He’d forgiven him for murdering Wayne, and that’s all that mattered now.

Kevin began to wonder what his father would’ve told him all those years ago, when he first entered the tunnel. He’d seen plenty of shows where the souls of the dead come back to settle things they’d failed to take care of while they were living, and he began to wonder if that was what his father was doing. Had he been feeling guilty for always putting him second to Wayne? Was this his way of paying for his failure as a father?

Not really wanting to leave just yet, Kevin plopped down on his seat and enjoyed the comfort of being inside his father’s final resting place.
How ironic that I’d find comfort in the very place that scared me senseless for nearly eight years
.

Making his way back to the ladder, Kevin noticed the bodies stacked on top of each other, just like he’d seen when he first came there, while trying to evade the police. The difference now was that it no longer scared him; they no longer burdened him with their guilt. He was justified in what he’d done to them—all of them. They brought it upon themselves.

As he stepped out of the tunnel and into the woods above, Kevin was surprised to see Father Gregory sitting on a felled tree a few feet in front of him.

“How did it go?”

Still gaining his breath, Kevin eventually replied, “You were right. All this time I’ve been afraid of nothing. I’ve let undue guilt weigh me down. I know now what I must do, but I need your help to get started. I understand if you don’t want to get mixed up in this, Father. If you could just find an address for me, I’ll take it from there and you can head back to Michigan.”

“It’s okay, Kevin. I really don’t mind.” Father Gregory replied smiling. “Did you get the closure you were looking for?”

“Oh, did I ever. I can finally move on. All this time I’ve been blaming myself for the murders. I see now that my victims were as much to blame as I was. Besides, there are more important things here than my past.”

“It’s hard to believe just hours earlier you were afraid to go back down there. So, what can I help you with now?”

“Sheriff Jent’s address here in Virginia. I have to stop him from destroying everything we’ve worked so hard for in Taos.”

Reaching into his front pocket, Father Gregory pulled out a folded piece of paper and held it out in front of him. “His place is only fifteen miles from here. Mind if I tag along?”

“Not at all. One question though, Father: How deep are you tied to all of this?”

“Let’s just say that I’ve been around since the