Empty Bodies 3: Deliverance (Empty Bodies Series Book 3) (13 page)

“Everyone here knows that one of our own was taken by some redneck savages. A young, helpless boy. And it’s no secret that the man who killed my mother and Kristen, and who was responsible for the death of Trevor, is more than likely there with them.” He had to stop again. Jessica could see in his face that the utter thought of David Ellis jolted Will’s nerves. Gabriel leaned over to whisper something into Will’s ear, but Will shook his head and then continued. “Gabriel, Marcus, and myself have come up with a plan to rescue the boy. We’re here today so we can get your opinion. This is going to require everyone to contribute, and it’s going to be dangerous.”

Jessica looked to Holly again, who was staring up at Will. The girl was scared, no doubt. Much more scared than Jessica. Jessica was prepared to do what she needed to do to help the group move forward, whatever the cost might be.

“So,” Will said. “Here’s what we’re gonna do.”

***

Jessica was the first one to walk away when Will and Gabriel were through talking and everyone had agreed on the plan. She headed to her room, but she immediately heard approaching footsteps and turned around to see Will.

“Are you okay?” Will asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jessica nodded.

Will shook his head. “You don’t have to do this.”

“It’s okay,” Jessica said. “I want to do it. Really. It can’t be you, Holly, or Marcus. And Sarah is way too scared. So, that just leaves me.”

His hand landed on her arm and his face moved closer to hers. “We’re gonna be right behind you. I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.” Will leaned in and hugged her, and as she looked back down the hall over his shoulder, Jessica saw Holly glaring at her.

Will pulled away. “Go get some rest. We’re gonna head out in just a couple of hours.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Dylan

As soon as he finished eating his steak and egg breakfast, Clint slammed his hands on the table and jumped to his feet. It startled Dylan, who almost choked as he was trying to force down more of his slop. He looked up to see the large man looking down to Clint and nodding.

“Everything’s ready?” Clint asked.

The oversized man nodded. A grin stretched across Clint’s face.

Cindy stood and looked down at the two boys sitting next to Dylan.

“Go to your room!” she demanded.

The two boys promptly stood up and dashed up the stairs, refraining from speaking, though one of them giggled.

The woman stomped over to Dylan and grabbed him by the arm, pinching the skin around his bicep. The boy cried out, but she ignored him and dragged him away anyway.

“Where are you taking me?” Dylan asked.

“Shut up,” Cindy said.

Clint and David walked a few paces in front of them, talking to each other. Dylan wasn’t able to make out what they were saying, and he was too focused on the pain in his arm for it to matter.

When they stepped outside, he immediately put his free hand over his eyes. It had been a couple of days since he’d been out in the sun, and in that short amount of time, his eyes had already forgotten how bright it was. A gentle breeze carried an autumn chill in the air which brushed against the boy’s skin through his clothes.

For the first time, he saw outside of the home he’d been a prisoner in. He looked across the large yard of overgrown grass to see the old barn that he assumed was the same one he’d spent time in when he’d first arrived there, before he’d been knocked out and dragged over to the house. From the outside, the barn looked like it could crumble at any given moment. Mismatched colored boards patched holes in the structure, and tall discolored grass surrounded it.

Dylan’s attention returned to where the people were leading him. A table sat in a part of the yard where the unkempt grass became dirt. An old, full-grown tree shaded the area. When the
 
group moved close enough to the table for Dylan to see what lay on top of it, his eyes widened.

A woman, appearing to be in her early twenties, lay in the middle of the table. He hadn’t gotten a good enough look at the girl’s in the barn to know if she was one of two that had been in the barn with him. Her hands and feet were bound to the table and her mouth was gagged. Her muffled screaming sent a chill through Dylan, and as they got closer to her, she looked over at the group and her eyes met Dylan’s. The young boy didn’t know a person’s eyes could be so red. There was a pain in them that he would not be able to understand until later in his life. He might, in fact, never understand it. But what he did understand was the fear inside him as he looked at the girl.

“Go ahead, Horace,” Clint said, looking to the large man.

Dylan looked to where Horace was walking and he noticed a small shack about twenty-five yards away from where they stood, just outside the looming shadow of the old tree. He noticed that the door on the metal building was moving.

The boy’s attention turned away from the shack when he heard a commotion coming from the barn. He looked over and saw the doors open. Two men appeared from the inside. One of them was a man with long, stringy hair, wearing a sleeveless plaid shirt that was unbuttoned to reveal his bare chest underneath. He was holding another man by the shirt and Dylan recognized the man instantly.

It was the preacher.

The long-haired man brought the preacher over near the table, then shoved him, causing the priest to fall down into the dirt.

“Please, don’t make me do this again,” the preacher cried.

Clint knelt down next to the preacher, and for the first time, Dylan noticed the holster around his waist, housing a handgun.

“Samuel, Samuel, Samuel,” Clint said to the preacher. “This is God’s work now. Isn’t that what you’re all about?”

The preacher breathed heavy. “But I am not Him, Brother Clint. I cannot do what you ask. I am but a mortal man.”

Clint laughed. “Yeah, well, we’ll see about that. Surely, you won’t let another one die.”

Samuel crumbled to the ground and clasped the dirt.

“I’m anxious to see this,” David said.

Clint patted him on the back. “Well, then, let’s get the party started.” He looked over to Horace and the long-haired man, who’d joined Horace by the shed.

Horace held a long pole with a hoop at the end. He nodded to the long-haired man, who nodded back and then opened the door to the shed.

A boy, a teenager probably no more than five years Dylan’s senior, walked out of the shed. But he was no longer just a teenager. His skin looked old and battered, blood stains circling his mouth, and his eyes were pale. The boy was Empty.

The girl on the table didn’t even have to look back to see what they’d pulled from the shed. She screamed.

The Empty lumbered toward Horace, but the skinny long-haired man waved his arms and whistled.

“Hey, come on over here,” the man called. “Come to Danny.” The Empty turned from Horace and walked toward Danny. “Come ‘ere, you dumb piece-a-shit.”

Danny backed up as Horace brought up the pole and then wrapped the hoop at the end of it around the creature’s neck. Once Horace had him secure, Danny moved to where his back faced the group, and he started to walk backward toward the table. The Empty followed, reaching out its arms, ignoring the noose around its neck.

Dylan looked up to Clint and David. Both men had their arms crossed, smiles across their faces.

“What are you doing?” Dylan asked.

Neither man looked down, but Dylan felt a pop on the back of his head and cried out, reaching back to rub his skull.

“Shut the fuck up,” Cindy commanded him. He looked up to the woman, tears now filling his eyes, and she glared down at him.

Dylan turned his attention to the preacher, Samuel, who was down on all fours, his face in the dirt, mumbling a prayer to himself. The girl on the table had tears pouring down the sides of her face as she continued to try and break free from the restraints. All the while, Danny was approaching the table, still taunting the beast.

Danny moved to where his back was against the side of the table. The Empty was only a few feet away from him, reaching his arms out and trying to grab the hillbilly.

“I hope you’re ready, Preacher,” Danny said, not letting his eyes leave the Empty.

“Please, don’t do this,” Samuel said, looking up for a moment as he gripped a cross on his chest.

“Now!” Danny shouted.

On Danny’s command, Horace slacked up on the beast, sure to still keep hold of him, and the Empty lunged toward Danny. The long-haired man dove out of the way, but the creature continued its snarling lunge. But instead of biting Danny, it dug its teeth into the girl’s arm.

The grotesque sound of the initial bite buried itself into Dylan’s ears. It was like watching a car crash. When he’d been seven years old, Dylan had witnessed a head-on collision, and remembered not being able to look away. Watching the Empty sink its teeth into the helpless girl’s arm as she squirmed, almost as if she were having a seizure, was a similar experience. Dylan couldn’t turn his head. He was in shock.

What was more sickening than the feast in front of him was that the two men, David and Clint, continued to stand with their arms crossed, grinning. Dylan’s young mind couldn’t process how the two men could be getting so much enjoyment out of seeing the girl suffer. He’d never seen this level of hatred.

“That’s good,” Clint said, holding his hand up to Horace as if to tell him to stop, and Horace pulled the Empty away from the girl.

Danny ran around the table and taunted the creature again; once more, it followed him back toward the shed.

Dylan caught a glimpse of the girl’s bite mark. Blood drained from the round wound which was slowly fading to black. The distaste hung in Dylan’s throat from the disgusting breakfast, and he turned and threw the slop up all over the dirt. It looked just as nasty coming back out of him as it had going in.

Clint went to Samuel and grabbed him by the collar. He forced Samuel to his feet and dragged him over to the girl’s side, where the wound was. The young girl had given up trying to break loose, and now just cried, her body bouncing.

“Alright, Brother Samuel. Are you really willing to let this girl die?” Clint asked.

“Please,” Samuel cried. “God be with this young girl, for I am mortal, and I cannot help her.”

Clint grabbed a handful of Samuel’s salt and pepper hair and yanked his head back. Anger filled his raised voice. “Is that it, Preacher? Are you just gonna let this bitch die? Are you?”

Dylan could see the girl looking at Samuel, as if begging him to save her.

Samuel’s eyes went to Clint’s. “I cannot—”

“Save her!” Clint moved the preacher’s head back to the wound. “Pull the demon out of her! You’re running out of time!”

Dylan saw the preacher shudder and close his eyes as he started to pray.

“Dear Heavenly Father, it is with heavy hearts we come to you. You are full of grace, Almighty Creator. Our hearts are heavy because of this life that is leaving us. Death engulfs us, Lord…”

Dylan had heard this prayer before. Pastor Dennis, the preacher at his church back home in Virginia, had said this same prayer to one of Dylan’s cousins, just before she’d died of cancer. Clint’s eyes narrowed. He’d apparently heard this before, too, and it wasn’t what he’d expected Samuel to say.

“Ah, fuck!” Clint yelled. He pulled Samuel down by the back of his shirt and then drew his gun, directing it at the preacher’s head. Dylan gasped as the pistol clicked, sending a round into the chamber.

“Wait,” David said, breaking his silence.

With the gun still pointed at the preacher, ready to end his life at any moment Clint chose, Clint looked to David.

“Don’t kill him. Not yet,” David said. He looked down at the girl. “Maybe if you bring him out here later to see what he’s done, he won’t let it happen again.”

In the distance, the door to the shed closed, as Horace and Danny had led the beast back inside. Danny reached up to give Horace a high-five, though he ignored him, and they made their way back toward the group.

Clint looked back down at Samuel, contemplating what David had suggested. The preacher mumbled a new prayer to himself, now begging that God would guide him into Heaven, as he would be joining Him soon. Clint lowered the gun, then looked back at Horace and Danny.