Riverwatch (26 page)

Jake could see the structure clearly now. It was the remains of a boathouse. While it looked like it might offer them some protection, it was still several yards away and would require effort to reach.

There was no time to waste. Ignoring what was left of the pain in his arm and the deep cold that was slowly working its way through the rest of his limbs, Sam doggedly resumed swimming, heading for what he hoped was safety.

Two of the four walls remained standing, the others having succumbed to the ravages of time and weather, collapsing inward against the others to form a ragged lean-to. The roof had collapsed down over these walls as the wood beneath decayed. The most of the dock on which it stood had long since collapsed as well, submerging the lower third of the structure beneath the water line.

Looking at it, Sam felt his heart sink.

What he had hoped would be strong enough to protect them from the beast’s attacks didn’t even look strong enough to survive being touched. The dock itself didn’t look any better; at any minute what remained might collapse the rest of the way into the lake.

When they reached it, they discovered that there seemed to be room for them to hide beneath it. It appeared they could swim underwater and come back up inside the boathouse, safe from view from above, hiding in the pocket of air trapped beneath what remained of the roof.

They wasted no time debating it. Jake dove beneath the surface with Sam quickly following, determined to occupy their makeshift sanctuary as quickly as possible.

They resurfaced, relieved that their suspicions had been correct. By clinging to what remained of the dock support pillars, they could gain a small measure of rest for their weary limbs, but both knew they couldn’t keep this up for long. If the Nightshade didn’t get them, hypothermia would.

The morning around them was quiet. Other than the barely heard sound of the water gently lapping at the remains of the dock, no other noise reached their ears.

Where the hell is that thing? Jake wondered anxiously.

*** ***

At that moment, Moloch was circling the lake, rage burning like an inferno in his breast. Only moments ago he had them trapped. Nowhere to go, no room to run, no means for them to escape. Yet that was exactly what seemed to have happened. They had inexplicably disappeared from sight.

Moloch was furious. Never before had the cattle outsmarted him. He would not let these two be the first.

He swept down low across the water, swiveling his head to and fro as he searched the bank near where he’d made his last attack. He searched for both a trail through the weeds to indicate where they might have gotten out of the water and for the heat residue left behind by their bodies in passing, but he found neither. The frigid temperature of the water and the rising sun to the east worked against him in this endeavor.

It would be dawn soon. Moloch hated the sunlight; too much of it affected his vision, blurring everything with the sudden avalanche of heat, making it difficult for him to see. While he could still rely on his other senses, he did not like to be placed at so clear a disadvantage. With the gray light of dawn slowly beginning to filter into the sky, Moloch knew he did not have much time unless he wished to be seen during the day. Tiring of the low level passes across the water, Moloch swept toward the remains of a small structure against the shoreline and settled tentatively atop the peak of its roof, relaxing comfortably once he determined that despite the groaning it made it would not collapse beneath his weight. He lowered his wings to his sides, so he could listen to the night around him without distraction.

*** ***

Through the holes in the roof, Sam watched as the Nightshade lowered his frame upon the roof above them. Sam froze, not daring to move, even to breathe, the fear like a grapefruit stuck in his throat. He was terrified that the beast would hear them.

A sound suddenly intruded on the silence, a deep, rhythmic drumming from somewhere close. Sam frantically swung his head around, seeking the source, praying that it wouldn’t draw the Nightshade’s attention. He was surprised to see that Jake seemed to be ignoring it, his attention on the dangerously sagging structure around them, and it took Sam another moment or two of confusion before he realized that the sound was the drumming of his own heart in his ears.

Jake, too, was worried, but for an entirely different reason. For one long moment he had been certain the rotting structure would give way when the beast had landed above, plunging it down into their midst. The roof had held firm, though, and now they were trapped not an arm’s reach from the very creature that was hunting them.

Now what? he asked himself.

He had no ready answer.

A quick glance in Sam’s direction confirmed his worst fears. His friend’s face was drawn and pale from the blood he had lost, his lips blue from the cold. If they didn’t get out of the water soon, Sam would be finished.

He began carefully examining their surroundings. Maybe there was something that could be used as a weapon; something that could hold the creature off long enough for the two of them to climb out onto the shore.

A few minutes were all it took to dash such hopes. There was nothing but water and rotting wood, slick with many years’ accumulation of lake slime.

The boathouse groaned as the beast shifted its weight.

Glancing up in dismay, Jake wondered if the damn thing was going to just hunker down and wait them out.

If it did, the wait wouldn’t be a long one.

Lucky for them, that proved not to be the case.

Moloch didn’t know the prey he sought was scant inches away because the high, thick scent of the marshy shore hid the usually strong scent of the humans and the lapping of the lake against its banks masked any telltale sounds they might make. The rising sun in the east forced Moloch to abandon the chase. He took one last look around the immediate area and then unfurled his great wings. Anger coursed through his veins like quicksilver as the realization struck that the humans had escaped. Never before had such a thing occurred. It was obvious to him that the humans had grown more cunning during the years of his confinement and he vowed not to let them outwit him again. For now, he would return to his haven in the garret across the lake to await the setting of the sun.

It didn’t really matter that they had escaped; they would not go far. When night once again spread its glorious wings across the world, he would find those two humans.

When he did, he would kill them.

Slowly.

With that satisfying thought in mind, Moloch leapt from the roof, a few quick thrusts from his wings carrying him up into the brightening sky and across the lake to the mansion.

*** ***

Beneath the boathouse, Sam’s strength finally gave out. The pain and the cold had taken their toll. With dismay he watched as his fingers lost their grip on the support piling and his body slipped down beneath the surface.

Frantically, Jake grabbed for him, his fingers snaring the folds of Sam’s jacket. He hauled him above the surface and close to his side, keeping Sam’s head above the water through sheer adrenaline-driven strength.

The two of them stared fearfully overhead, every nerve in their bodies tight with anticipation as they waited for the wood above them to splinter beneath the awful force of the creature’s blows, waited for the descending claws to savage their unprotected flesh.

No attack came.

Was it waiting for them to make the next move? To dash out from their protective cover, so it could cut them down in the open?

Still, nothing happened.

"Where is it, Jake?" Sam asked, his fear giving back a little of his energy, enough so that he could cling to the pilings unassisted again.

"I don’t know," Jake whispered in reply. He hung there in the water, listening intently for some small sign that might detect the presence of the beast.

Nothing came to him.

He glanced up at the roof and this time noticed something different.

It was easier to see.

Not by much, but certainly better than it had been several moments before. A gray light was seeping through the holes in the roof, allowing him to make out some details of the structure and to see Sam’s face more clearly.

Had the rising sun driven the creature off, like some vampire out of legend? Or was it now crouched above them, out of sight, trying to fool them into believing it had taken off? Maybe it had left, yet was only circling high above, ready to plunge down as they emerged from the water and stood exposed on the bank?

As he debated the question, the light coming in through the roof grew discernibly brighter and in the end it was this fact that Jake used to make his decision. Jake decided that if the beast were still on the roof waiting for them, then the light would in some way be blocked by its bulk. At the very least, it would throw a shadow that they would be able to see. Therefore, the creature must have taken to the air. If that was true, and they moved quickly, they might just be able to get out and onto solid ground before it attacked.

It was only a slim chance, sure, but it was all they had.

Jake hoped they could pull it off.

He explained his idea to Sam, who by know was too weak to protest even if he’d wanted to. Jake slipped his arms under Sam’s and around his chest.

"All right," he said to his friend, "a quick breath, then down we go. I’ll do all the work, you just hold on. Okay?"

Sam nodded.

"I’ll get us to the surface. Once we’re there, get yourself another deep breath, just in case that thing is waiting for us and we need to dive again. If we do, I’ll get us back here under cover and we’ll think of something else."

Jake paused, looked Sam over, and then said, "Are you sure you can do this?"

"Let’s do it already."

Behind him, expression hidden from view, Jake smiled.

Maybe they’d get out of this alive after all.

Breathing a silent prayer that the beast had truly left, Jake said, "Okay. One. Two. Three."

Each took a deep breath and they dove.

Chapter Thirty-one: Repercussions

"We’ve got to go back."

From his seat at the kitchen table, where Katelynn was disinfecting the wounds on his shoulder and preparing to cover them with a heavy padding of surgical gauze, Sam looked over at his friend.

"What?" he asked, incredulous. "What?"

Jake turned to face him. "We have to go back," he said more forcibly this time. The shocked, vacant expression he wore since they escaped the creature was gone from his face, and in its place Sam could see the first shining gleam of determination that he knew from past experience always meant trouble.

Sam wasn’t going to be persuaded. As a matter of fact, he’d had just about enough of Jake’s bullshit.

"No way, Jake. Not on your fucking life. Time to let somebody else take care of the mess. Gabriel was crazy to think we could handle it!"

Jake shook his head in denial. "We’ve got to stop this thing. We’re the only ones who know about it."

Sam snorted in disgust. "So we tell someone else. Anyone. The cops, the National Guard, I don’t really care." Sam seemed to remember that that had been the original plan. Prove it exists, and then get someone else involved. He said so to Jake.

Jake didn’t immediately answer, so Sam took his silence for agreement and turned his attention back to examining the cuts on his shoulder. The Nightshade’s claws had sliced through his leather jacket and had left four deep furrows across his shoulder and three inches down his back.

He winced as Katelynn began applying the bandage, and turned to watch her to take his mind off the fact that he’d come within inches of dying. She kept her mouth shut during the exchange between him and Jake, and upon seeing the look on her face, Sam instantly knew why.

She was pissed. Angrier than he’d ever seen her, in fact. She’d been at Jake’s house when they’d returned, pacing the front walk in sharp, hard strides, but on seeing their condition she’d followed them inside and had simply begun tending them without a word. Now her wall of calm seemed to be eroding, and Jake’s comments just made the stones start falling faster. Sam spared another glance in Jake’s direction and discovered to his dismay that his friend had retreated a thousand miles away, if the dazed look on his face was any indication.

A sudden pain flared in his shoulder, and he flinched.

"Hold still!" Katelynn said sharply, gripping his arm tightly in order to reinforce the suggestion.

"That hurts," he replied through teeth clenched against the pain, but he did as he was told. He knew he wasn’t about to get any sympathy from her. She said that they were liable to get killed if they went, and they had certainly come awfully close to making her prediction come true. Katelynn didn’t like it when her advice was ignored.

Jake broke Sam’s thoughts.

"Fine. I’ll go alone."

Sam surged to his feet, ready to tell Jake what a thick-headed fool he was, but Katelynn beat him to it.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" she screamed at him suddenly. She moved closer, still yelling, each word seeming to Sam like a hammer blow directed at Jake’s head. They made him flinch, and he wasn’t even the target of her attack.

"Haven’t you figured it out yet? This…thing…kills people! That’s all it does. Kills people! It’s stronger than you, faster than you, and about four hundred times deadlier than you. You almost got yourself killed. Now you want to go back and try to fight this thing? How? With what? Haven’t you had enough already?

Katelynn was standing directly in front of Jake by the time she finished, her hands clenched into fists at her sides as if to prevent her from physically beating the idea out of him. Sam waited for Jake to blow his cool in return, to lash back at her in self-defense, but, after several long, tense moments, when he finally did answer her, his voice was calm and even.

Hearing that tone, Sam knew they’d lost, even before his friend’s words had sunk fully into his mind.

"You’re right, Katelynn. This thing, this Nightshade, does kill people. It’s killed six in the last two weeks alone. Six that we know of. Who knows how many others? No one else in this town will believe us if we tell them. That’s why it’s up to us. We’ll get the pistol from my trailer, search Riverwatch until we find where this thing goes to rest during the day, and then put a couple of bullets through its head. End of story."