Legion (An Apocalyptic Horror Novel) (Hell on Earth Book 2) (31 page)

"What was that?" Alex whispered.

"I don’t know. Maybe the battery died…"

"It's a Benz. You get it serviced and its one of the best cars on the road. I doubt the battery died."

"Well, you don’t know that. We've had the headlights on for ages."

"That's bullshit…"

"I'm not a fucking mechanic, so
zip it
," Mike whispered fiercely. Mike felt the cold sensation of fear creeping through his blood stream. He felt his skin prickling and his sphincter tightening. His eyes roamed the darkness before them, looking for any shape, any form. His eyes adjusted slowly.

"We gotta get out of here," Alex muttered. The panic in his voice was evident.

"Good idea."

Despite agreeing with his friend, Mike couldn’t move. His legs wouldn’t react, as if his brain and legs had disconnected from one another. His eyes were still observing.

A loud, guttural female scream filled the dark, night air.

It echoed off the cliff side beside them.

Then it was gone.

Alex fell to his knees and groaned, shaking. Mike backed up a step, seizing. He grimaced as he stood funny and twisted his knee. He felt the hairs on his neck stand up and goose flesh prickle. Every inch of his body stiffened at the sudden realisation that someone or something was nearby.

"Alex, you okay?"

There was no response. Mike surveyed the area, turned to his friend, and knelt down. "Alex…
Alex
…."

The smell of feces filled the air. Mike screwed his nose up. He rubbed his sore knee. In the dim light, he could make out Alex staring at the Mercedes, his eyes far away, a glassy sheen over them. They glinted in the now present moonlight.

"Alex, we need to go.
Now
."

"I…what the hell was that?"

"I don’t know and I don’t care. We can't be here though."

"It was Sadie –"

"– fuck Sadie. There's no such thing as…"

The headlights suddenly came on, blasting the boys with an intense glare. Mike's arm shot up to cover his face, nearly smashing his chin and clattering his teeth. Alex turned away and stumbled, collapsing face first onto the asphalt. Mike strained to look over his shielding forearm.

Between the headlights was a figure, the distorted darkness of shadow mutated the glare, creating a hideously tall shadow that froze both boys in their tracks. Mike grabbed Alex by the arm and hauled him to his feet. The figure was almost indiscernible apart from the flowing hair that billowed on the low wind. It reminded Mike of a shampoo advert. It looked almost angelic.

Then, the figure disappeared.

Alex blinked. "You did see that, right?"

"Of course I did."

"Still don’t believe me?"

"We'll discuss this later," Mike uttered as they skirted the headlights and walked sideways towards the car. Mike grimaced again, his knee sending pangs of pain up his spine. Alex shuffled behind. Neither took their eyes off the hood, the small space between the lights in particular. No figure remained.

"Alex, you drive." Mike handed him the keys.

"I've been drinking…"

"I don’t care, just go slow. I busted my knee; I need to stretch it out in the back. Get us out of here."

"Sure…"

Without another word, Alex opened the driver door and paused. Mike opened the rear seat, saw the hesitation in his friend and sighed. "What?"

"I…I crapped my pants back there."

Mike nodded, paused. "I know." He didn’t laugh, normally he would. Circumstance didn’t require it.

"Please don’t tell anyone about it."

"Sure thing. Could happen to anyone."

Alex smiled sheepishly. Mike handed him a towel from an unzipped gym bag on the back seat. "Here, use this. Don’t get your shit on my leather seats."

Alex chuckled, took the towel and placed on the driver seat. He slid into the car, poked the key into the ignition and started the vehicle. Mike slid into the back seat gingerly. Within seconds, the Mercedes was driving away, back on the smooth road, resuming their journey to Donut Diner.

It was almost as if the detour hadn't happened.

Almost.

"Man, I can't believe I shit my pants. So embarrassing."

"It was a hell of a scream. The pitch was enormous," Mike replied, massaging his knee.

"You think it was her? You can't deny you saw her, heard her."

"It could have been any woman, any animal. I've heard foxes and cats duel it out during the witching hour. It sounded similar. Maybe a fox fell down the cliff."

"Or maybe you're deluded. You fucking idiot."

"It's feasible."

"Last I checked, foxes didn’t have long, pretty hair or stand tall between two fucking headlights. You can't deny what you saw."

"True. Let's just get out of here."

"Suit yourself."

Mike gazed out of the windshield. "Let's get to Donut Diner. Take a left here, it's quicker." Alex nodded and steered the vehicle into the narrow bend. Silence settled in the car for a few moments. Street lights passed routinely for several minutes. No cars were visible. The road took them between two, intimidating cliff faces, one either side. The shadows here were a little darker.

"Did I ever tell you about my sister," Mike asked.

Alex shook his head, keeping his eyes on the road. He couldn’t see much of the road, the white lines barely visible in the newfound gloom. "No, dude. Why, she hot?"

"She's attractive, yes. Way out of your league."

"Why are you bringing this up?"

"I thought it was relevant."

"Why's that?"

"Because you just met her."

"Huh?" Alex glanced at the rearview mirror and froze in terror. Had he not voided his bowels already, he would have done so now. His hands clenched the steering wheel, turning the knuckles white. He felt a chill crawl up his spine just as sweat beaded on his forehead.

"You met Sadie, right?" Mike said, his voice calm, an octave deeper than before.

Mike was sitting dead centre, his hands on his legs, his face staring directly at the rearview mirror and, as a result, his eyes bored into Alex. His eyes were solid red, blood red, orbs of bottomless gory darkness. His grin was one of pure, unadulterated evil. It was literally dripping with blood and saliva, the fluid dripping as his smile widened, baring smashed teeth.

"What did you think of my sister?"

Alex said nothing, his eyes transfixed on the being in the back seat. The eyes were swirling, like a crimson typhoon.
What did I think? Past tense. Did, not do
. Realisation dawned on Alex as he readjusted his grip on the steering wheel. "No way."

Mike Nodded. "What did you think of Sadie?"

Alex swallowed, his dry throat aching as he did so. "I…I never met your sister…Sadie…her."

"Lies. You met her. You met her when you stuck your dick in her, fucked her, handed her to one of your cretin friends. You treated her like a toy and disposed of her. You met her when you murdered her in cold blood."

Alex said nothing.

"She was my sister."

"You got the wrong guy," Alex uttered. Urine sprayed down his leg, soaking his jeans. "I swear you got the wrong guy."

"No, I didn’t. You know how I know this?"

"I swear…"

Mike cocked his head sideways, giving him a menacing and predatory stance, like a viper assessing its prey. "The key is in the details. Everyone in Widow's Peak has heard the story. It changes, sure, like most urban legends do. Chinese whispers and all that. But, your version stuck. The small details gave you away."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, first, the seventeen dollars. It's a trivial detail. However, any kid in school would take seventeen dollars for giving someone a ride, especially a pretty girl like Sadie. Hell, some would do it for free and leave her with money in her pocket for a relieving coffee afterwards. However, you, with your father's trust fund, laughed in her face. Seventeen dollars might as well be toilet paper to you…keep your eyes on the road."

Alex flicked his eyes back to the road. He was familiar with the layout. It was straight for several miles. His eyes hesitantly returned to the mirror.

"Second was the eyes. I spoke to a hundred people about Sadie's death – no one had a clue we were related, why would they, I was born in a different state with a different surname – and you were the only one who mentioned the eyes. A detail that, in some horror stories, would be too inventive, too unrealistic. You didn’t know Sadie suffered from a condition that caused severely bloodshot eyes. Blunt force trauma is just one of the reasons this can occur. I remember waking up and seeing Sadie in the upstairs hallway and her eyes were red, it terrified me. She'd done it by hitting her head on the doorframe whilst going to the toilet. However, you were the only person who mentioned it. Therefore, I know you did it."

Alex gulped. The game was up. "You'll never take me down for it. You don’t have any proof."

"I know."

"My Dad will get me off. His money can get me out of anything."

"I know."

"You can't prove that I raped and murdered your sister. No one will believe you. I was born here, grew up here. You came here a year ago. It's my word, my wealthy word, against yours. Homegrown rich kid against an outsider."

"I know," Mike replied, his grin was disappearing slowly. Blood was dripping into his lap, splattering the leather seat between his thighs.

Alex grinned, gaining control. "So why don’t I drive home, you get out, and you go about your business. We don’t have to see each other again. You can pin it on someone else, but I'll be hiding behind the best lawyers in the country. You won't be able to touch me. It's the only resolution of this dilemma."

"Why would I do that?"

"Why? You don’t have a choice."

"Who says I want justice? Who says I want to take you to court? Money won't bring Sadie back."

"You want justice, oh you do, why would you bring me up here? You have no choice though, but to let me go. My Dad knows where I am."

"There's one more option."

Alex chuckled. "What would that be, dickhead?"

"I kill you myself."

"Huh?"

Alex's left arm snapped back, shattering at the forearm. Bone shredded the flesh and sweater, spraying the window with blood and viscera. His hand flopped about on the end of the broken limb. Seconds later, Alex screamed, the pain washing over him.

"Oh, would you look at that?"

Alex began to cry. His flesh started to pale, the sight of blood making him queasy. Alex remembered that night, seeing the blood on Sadie's toned stomach and torn pussy, minutes after her death. He remembered how dead pussy smelt. He got his accomplice to finish the job, puking in the van to restrict evidence. He looked at his broken arm and groaned, feeling vomit rise from his stomach. "What…
what are you doing
?"

"I think that's fairly obvious."

Alex's other arm snapped at the forearm, repeating the injury. More blood spurted, this time splattering the passenger seat and dash with droplets of blood. It sounded like rain as blood sprayed from the broken artery in the wrist, soaking the interior of the car.

"
Arghhhh, you muthafucker
…."

"I haven't even started yet."

The car veered left, then balanced and returned to the centre of the road. Alex's agonising screams filled the interior of the Benz. Mike smiled, watching the carnage before him. Alex's chin flopped forward, blood loss and the tight seatbelt causing all sorts of biological problems with his body. "What…what do you…"

"You raped and murdered my sister. Why would I go through the legal system when I have the best person to help me?"

"Who?"

"Sadie."

Alex's tired eyes roamed the mirror and, for the first time, saw Sadie in the back seat, beside her brother. She was beautiful and elegant, innocent, just like the day they'd found her on the road. The day they'd violated her, killed her, tossed her broken body over the cliff. Her smile, a smile that could stop traffic and sign modeling contracts, was present. Alex, for a brief second, felt a clutch of regret, of guilt. He tried to speak, but the pain was unbearable.

Then, Sadie wasn't beautiful anymore. Her skin darkened and started to flake as her eyes turned red, blood seeping into her sclera, which faded into a brown-yellow. Her grin became one of stolen innocence and murderous vengeance. Mike watched her change, smiling as she did so. Both siblings returned their demonic eyes to Alex, who finally puked in his lap, the vomit blending with the blood that cascaded down his front.

Alex uttered the words, chunks of puke on his chin. "I'm…sorry."

Mike leaned forward and grinned. "Too late."

"Huh?" Alex stuttered, before the steering wheel before him spun all the way to the left. He looked at his broken arms, unable to stop it.

Alex screamed as the car veered off the road, flipped over, and bounced into a ditch, rolling as it did so. Glass and metal flew into the air, scraping and sparking off the tall mountainsides that flanked the road. The car span to a stop, flames licking the engine. The stench of petrol and death filled the air.

On the side of the road, two figures observed. Sadie and Mike smiled at one another. Sadie faded until Mike stood alone, returning to human form. He stared.

Watching.

Waiting.