The Unwanted (36 page)

Lisa understood at the same moment. “He’s coming right at us,” she gasped, her anger suddenly forgotten. Now it was she who reached out to grasp Eric’s hand.

Eric cursed under his breath. His father really intended to kill him this time! For an instant his body froze, then he summoned all his energy. “Come on!” he yelled. Jerking her hard, he leaped sideways out of the truck’s path. It swept past them—its horn blaring, its tires spitting a stinging sleet of sand into their faces. As they watched in growing fright, the truck slowed then spun around to face them again.

“What are we going to do?” Lisa wailed. “What does he want?”

But Eric was too terrified to answer. The truck was gathering speed again, and he had to decide which way to go. Before he could make up his mind, the issue was decided for him. The truck bore down on them, and there was nothing Eric could do but drag Lisa into the protection of the water itself.

“He’s drunk!” he yelled as he stumbled into the roiling surf. “He wants to kill us!”

Lisa’s eyes widened, and she turned to stare at the truck, which had passed them once more and was even now circling around to try again.

“Get out of the water!” she heard Eric yelling. “When he comes back, hell try to push us in again and he’ll swerve down the slope. But this time we’ll go the other way.”

The truck was gathering speed now, and Lisa stared at it in detached fascination. It bore down on her like some kind of raging beast, but she couldn’t move. Instead she stood still, frozen like a rabbit in the glare of the headlights.

She felt Eric yank on her arm, felt herself being pulled
out of the path of the screaming juggernaut. Eric had been right. At the last second the truck swerved down the sloping beach, its left tires hitting the water. As it passed, Lisa got a clear look into the cab.

Behind the wheel, his face contorted into a twisted grin and his eyes lit with a strangely glowing madness, she saw Ed Cavanaugh. An icy chill of pure terror sliced through her. Once again she knew that Eric was right.

He meant to kill them.

She started screaming as Eric dragged her up the beach toward the edge of the marsh.

Goddamn it
, Ed swore to himself. He should have had her that time, should have felt the impact as the front fender crashed into her body, slamming her down into the sand and crushing her under the wheels.

But Eric had outsmarted him. Pulled her the wrong way, so all he’d done was drive the fucking truck into the water. He fought to control the slewing tires, pulling the wheel hard to the right. But it was as if the water itself was fighting him now, trying to pull both the truck and him out to sea. Then, slowly, the ocean seemed to release its grip and the truck surged back onto the hard-packed sand. But the windshield was covered with salt spray now, and he could barely see out. Clutching the wheel with his right hand, he began groping along the dash with his left.

At last the wipers came on and the windshield cleared. He jerked the truck into another U-turn, then he saw them racing across the beach, toward the marsh. If they got in there, he’d never catch them.

He slammed his foot onto the accelerator and the truck lunged forward, hurtling across the wet sand. He leaned on the horn and listened as its blaring rose above the pounding of the surf behind him. The truck slowed as it plowed into the soft sand above the tide line and surged up the gentle slope of the dunes.

But it didn’t slow enough to make any difference.

He’d cut them off this time and drive them back down toward the water. He slammed the transmission into a lower gear, and the extra power made the truck leap forward.

As he shot past them he could see the terror in their
eyes. Even the blasting of the horn couldn’t drown out the girl’s scream.

“He’s going to kill us!” Lisa shrieked as the truck shot past, only inches away. Once again she’d seen Ed clearly, his greasy hair matted against his forehead, his drunken eyes glazed over as he stared drunkenly back at her.

And he was laughing.

Even over the awful cacophony of the racing engine and blasting horn, she’d heard an unearthly laughter pour from his throat.

“He’s trying to push us back in the water,” Eric gasped. “Come on!”

Half dragging Lisa now, he lurched to his feet and started once more toward the marsh. The truck was only a few yards away, floundering in the sand as Ed struggled to turn it toward them once again. Then the lights swept around, blinding Eric for a moment, and he tightened his grip on Lisa’s hand.

“Run!” he yelled, but over the mass of sound that seemed to roll over the beach, he could barely hear his own voice.

Then he was over the dunes, and one of the paths into the marsh opened before him. Hauling Lisa behind him, he lurched into the reeds and stopped, gasping for breath.

Behind him Lisa collapsed to the ground, panting. Sobs of fear wracked her body, and when she looked up at Eric, her face was streaked with tears and sand.

“What’s he doing?” she wailed. “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s gone nuts,” Eric replied, kneeling beside her and straining to see out onto the dunes and the beach. The headlights had destroyed his night vision, and though he couldn’t see the truck itself now, he could see its twin beams of light and hear its engine roaring like an infuriated animal that had momentarily lost its prey. “We’ve got to get out of here. If he finds us—”

“How?” Lisa demanded. “We should have stayed on the beach! We can’t get through here—we’re trapped!” She stared fearfully into the depths of the marsh, remembering the maze of nearly invisible paths, some of which led somewhere, some of which simply disappeared into the reeds and the quicksand. Why had she ever come out here in the first place? Why had she ever thought she could get all the way out to
Miranda’s house all by herself? “I didn’t mean it,” she suddenly sobbed. “I shouldn’t have come out here at all! I didn’t mean it! I swear I didn’t mean it!”

Eric turned to face her, his eyes suddenly blazing. “Didn’t mean what?” he demanded. “You tell me what you were doing, damn it!”

“The cabin,” Lisa wailed. “I was going to burn it down! I was going to get even with Cassie by burning the cabin!”

The anger inside of Eric suddenly boiled to the surface. “You’re just like him, aren’t you?” he grated through clenched teeth. “You think you can do anything, and everybody’s always going to let you get away with it!”

“Stop it,” Lisa whimpered. “I didn’t mean—”

“You didn’t mean what? You didn’t mean to do what you just said you were going to do? You didn’t mean to slap me? What didn’t you mean, Lisa? What!”

But Lisa didn’t hear him, for the truck was moving again, its headlights slowly sweeping the marsh, twin eyes searching for them.

“Maybe—maybe he won’t be able to see us,” Lisa gasped. “Maybe if we just stay still—”

And then the lights were on her, and without thinking Lisa stood up. She stood perfectly still, frozen in the blinding glare.

Like a bug on a fucking pin
, Ed Cavanaugh crowed to himself. There she stood, a scarf wrapped around her head, her black sweater almost invisible against the background of the night. But it was her, all right. He could almost see those eyes of hers, those accusing eyes—and he could almost taste the fear in her. But where was Eric? But it no longer mattered, not really. He could take care of Eric anytime.

But he might never get another shot at Cassie as good as this one. He gunned the engine and popped the clutch. The rear end of the truck dropped lower and the wheels once more dug into the sand.

The sudden movement of the truck seemed to free Lisa, and she screamed.

“Run! He’s coming again.
Run
!” Without thinking, she
spun around and lurched off the path, into the reeds and grasses that choked the marsh.

Water flooded into her shoes and she stumbled, then caught herself and plunged on, no longer caring whether she was on a path, caring only about hiding herself from Eric’s father and the truck. But the lights seemed to stay on her no matter how she twisted and dodged. It was almost as if they were playing with her.

Eric moved quickly down the path, his fury still growing. Suddenly he hoped his father
would
find her. Let her find out what could really happen to her! He didn’t care anymore. He didn’t care about any of them! And then, a few steps ahead of him, he saw a shape on the path—no more than a small dark mass, crouching low to the ground.

And two yellow eyes, glowing brightly in the darkness.

Sumi.

Eric paused, staring at the cat.

Cassie’s cat. Or so they all thought.

There was a reason why he was here, why he had stumbled across him—he was sure of it.

As he looked into Sumi’s glowing eyes, he knew what the reason was.

He thought quickly, then knew what he had to do. He crouched down and whispered soothingly to the cat. Sumi’s tail twitched, then he crept slowly forward, into Eric’s waiting hands.

Slowly, concentrating on the fury pent up inside him—and on the sting of Lisa’s slap—he began stroking Sumi’s soft fur.

Beneath his fingers he could feel the cat’s body tense up. It was working. It was all working.

The gray shape rose in front of Lisa like a shadow out of the night, and her hands instinctively came up to shield her face.

Too late.

With the speed of lightning Sumi’s claws sank into the flesh of Lisa’s cheeks, and she screamed in sudden pain. Stumbling, she lurched sideways, and suddenly the grasses seemed to wrap themselves around her.

But far worse than the slime and reeds of the marsh was the creature tearing at her now.

Where had it come from?

Why was it attacking her?

She thrashed against it, trying to tear it away, but it only clung closer, its claws sinking deeper and deeper. A searing pain slashed through her as its jaws closed on her cheek and ripped a piece of flesh away.

She rolled violently, trying to escape the animal’s fury, and then the ground suddenly gave way beneath her and she felt herself begin to sink through the brackish water, into the sucking mixture of mud and sand below.

She screamed again, flailing at the muck that held her in its grasp, managing to knock the cat aside. Sobbing, she struggled to her hands and knees, but then the cat was on her again. She felt her right leg plunge knee deep in the quicksand as the animal’s claws stripped the skin away from her forehead. As she clawed at the cat with her hands, she tried to jerk her leg free, but only felt her left leg begin to sink too.

“No!” she screamed. Then: “Eric! Eric—help me!” For a second nothing happened, but then she heard the roar of the truck’s engine once more. Suddenly the lights were on her again, slicing through the tangle of reeds which now seemed to threaten her.

“Please,” she sobbed. “Please, help me … please.…” But the marsh held her firmly in its grip, and the cat’s attack went relentlessly on.

The harder she struggled, the deeper into the quicksand she sank. Then, as the shallow layer of water above the quicksand closed over her, the cat suddenly abandoned her.

Swim
.

The thought rose out of the depths of her subconscious, and she began trying to fight the panic that had already overwhelmed her. But it was too late, and as she flailed her arms, the reeds and grasses only wrapped themselves more tightly around her … until she felt she could struggle no more. All she could do was wait, whimpering and bleeding, to die.

Eric burst out of the marsh and paused to catch his breath. His heart was pounding and he could feel the blood
throbbing through his veins with so much pressure it made his head ache and his vision blur. But when he looked back toward the beach, he could still see the lights of the truck.

Only they were still now, reaching out into the marsh.

Had his father found Lisa yet? And if he had, what had he found …?

He turned away and forced himself to run once more. Then he found the house he was looking for, and pounded up onto its front porch to pummel at the door with his fists. After what seemed to be an eternity, the door finally opened and Charlotte Ambler, clutching at the bodice of her robe, stared out at him.

“It—it’s Lisa,” Eric gasped. “In the marsh. He—he’s trying to kill her, Mrs. Ambler.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened. “Kill her?” she repeated. “Who, Eric? Who’s trying to kill Lisa?”

“My father,” Eric rasped. “My father!”

Charlotte Ambler stared at Eric. What on earth could he be talking about? After what had happened at the dance—

Her mind reeling, she pulled Eric into her house.

A moment later she was calling the False Harbor police department. It seemed as though it took forever before a bored voice finally answered the phone.

Ed Cavanaugh sat in his truck, watching the girl die. It seemed to take a long time, but it didn’t matter. It was good to see it happen, good to enjoy every moment of it.

As she struggled, he began to feel the same strange pleasure he always felt after he’d put Laura in her place, or given Eric a whipping.

He left the truck and picked his way slowly into the marsh, until at last he was standing in the muck only a few feet from her. Now, out of her torn and bleeding face, he could see her eyes watching him in the glow of the headlights. There was terror in them, the kind of terror he had never seen in Laura’s eyes, or in Eric’s, and he smiled as he watched her writhing in the tangle of reeds and ooze. But even through his drunkenness, he could sense that something wasn’t quite right.

It was her eyes. There was something about them that was wrong.

Maybe, he decided, it was just because she was dying.

*  *  *

Lisa looked up into the twisted face above her.

He wasn’t going to help her, wasn’t going to release her from the grip of death.

He was smiling at her, smiling at her with an expression she had never seen before.

He was going to watch her, and he was going to enjoy every moment of her agony.

No
, she told herself.
No. I won’t let him do that. I won’t
.

Making up her mind, she tensed her body for the final effort, then lunged—