The Collected Horrors of Tim Wellman (18 page)

"Nothing," Tamara said.

"Well..." Kimberly started to speak but Tamara
punched her on the arm.

"You need to tell me the truth," he said. "I
won't hate you."

"We have some power," Tamara said. "It's why he
wants us. We can sense him, but we had nothing to do with the
things that happened."

"Well..." Kimberly said.

"Okay, we made you trip and fall earlier,"
Tamara said. "But you said these stupid dresses made us look
cute."

"Okay, come on, we have to tell everyone," he
said. "And then we'll figure out how to stop old man Perry."

"No, it's not him," Tamara said.

"Say wha?"

"He died in the fire," Kimberly said. "Our other
grampa is the bad guy! He lives in the woods."

"Okay, see this look on my face?" he said. He
dropped to his knees again so he was eye-level with them and
pointed to his face. "Completely fucking lost."

"Grampa Perry's sons, our dads, married sisters,
our moms. And their dad lived on the hill too, until he moved into
the woods," Tamara said. "Simple."

"I might have got that," he said as he stood up.
"Might not." They started walking and were soon on the sidewalk.
"Another question. Do you girls really want everyone's
property?"

"We don't want it," Kimberly said. "As long as
we can be together and live normal lives. Or kinda normal?"

"Hey!" Steve yelled at the crowd watching the
bingo hall burn down.

"There they are!" someone yelled, and everyone
started coming down the street toward them.

"Now, hold up," he said. "Missy was supposed to
tell you the girls had nothing to do with the fire."

She stepped through the crowd. "Oh yeah, I
forgot. Them girls was a comin' off the hill with Steve when y'all
was havin' the fire." she said. "I seen it and can avow to it."

"I don't believe you!" Charlie said.

"God, Charlie, don't you ever just shut the fuck
up?" Steve said. "These girls have been in my sight since we left
y'all this morning."

The other guys started mumbling to each other.
Steve couldn't really make out what they were saying, but that was
sometimes difficult even when they were talking loudly. They all
suddenly turned back and pointed at the girls. "We ain't trustin'
them devils," Tom said. He cleared his throat. "But I reckon we
trust you. So, if'n you can say they didn't have nothin' ta do with
the fire, we can b'lieve ya."

"Well, I can't say that," he said. "They're not
to blame, but they are the cause."

"I told y'all!" Charlie yelled.

"Shut the fuck up, Charlie!" several men said at
the same time.

"Ya best be explainin' whatcha mean, Steve," his
dad said, "b'fore these hillbillies string ya
all
up."
Everyone turned as the roof of the bingo hall collapsed with a loud
boom like a clap of thunder.

"It's an old man," he said. "Someone we didn't
know lived up there. The father of old man Perry's sons' wives." He
looked down at the girls. "Did I get that right?" They nodded.
"These girls were locked up their entire lives to protect them from
him. They're seven years old for god's sake! They've suffered every
day of their lives because of that old man!" He nodded and took a
deep breath. "And they don't want the property. They're tearing up
the newer will and honoring the old one that gives y'all
everything. Y'all get your buildings and businesses."

"What?" at least ten men said at the same time.
Then the entire crowd seemed to move as a whole toward Steve and
the girls. "Really?"

"Really," he said. "On one condition. You all
have to help protect them from that crazy old man. They're not
evil; they're not devils... but the old man is. He's some kind of
witch or devil worshipper or something. I know that sounds fucked
up, but I believe it's true."

"Them girls said this morning that their grampa
killed the paramedics," Jerry said. "I remember that."

"And Jake was yellin' 'bout seein' some old man
when he got killed," Tom said.

"But ya's wantin' us ta believe this old dude
has some sorta special powers or something," someone else said.
"That's just some spook show bullshit ain't it?"

"I reckon we all jumped bigger'n shit right into
a wrong conclusion," the chief said. "But I reckon if ya believe in
God ya gotta believe in Satan, too, so they's gotta be some powers
out there ain't normal human."

"Ya believin' this, chief?" Jerry said.

"I ain't
not
believin' it," he said.
"Somethin' sure as hell weird happenin' 'round here."

"That old man out there ain't normal, never was
according to the girls. He's been doing occult stuff and satanic
stuff, I guess," Steve said. "He's got some powers regular people
don't have so he's gonna be hard ta stop."

"Sounds like bullshit ta me," someone else said.
"Bunch a horror movie stuff."

"Is he still human, Stevie?" Tom said.

"Yep, he's still flesh and blood far as I know,"
Steve said.

"Then a 30-06 'ill bring 'im down like a sack a
shit."

"Now, y'all's talkin' about a human bein',
here," the chief said. "I think ya's forgettin' that'd be murder ta
go out huntin' 'im. This ain't no damned zombie movie where ya can
just go around shootin' people."

Steve scratched the back of his head and sighed.
"All I know is I believe the girls and they say there's a wicked
old man out there. He's killed three of us and burned down the
bingo hall and he's..." He looked down at the girls and they both
looked up at him and nodded. "He's watching us right now."

Everyone started looking around. There were a
hundred places he could hide: behind buildings, inside buildings,
along the hedges of the yards, in the woods at the end of the
block, up on the Perry hill or another hill overlooking the town.
But everyone seemed to sense his presence, now.

"I just got the creeps," Jerry said. Several
others nodded and rubbed their arms.

Tamara pointed toward a house. "He's there!"

"In the house?" the chief said. "That's Eddie
Lynch's house." Everyone flinched and then out of instinct ran
behind a nearby car and then started peeping from the relative
safety of two tons of steel between them and the house. "Ain't no
reason fer 'im to be in there."

"These girls are our secret weapon," Steve
whispered. "They have some powers of their own." Everyone took a
step away from them. "They're
not
evil!"

"Fire!" Kimberly yelled. She pointed at the
house as a window blew out and a huge flame roared through the
opening.

"Dang it!" Jerry said. "Eddie was just sayin' he
was gonna kill them girls at the meetin'." He shook his head. "Ya
think he's in there? He took off b'fore the bingo caught fire."

"Okay, forget what I said," the chief said.
"Boys, go get your huntin' rifles."

"We can help," Tamara said.

"Shit, y'all is too small to hold a gun," Sam
said. "Maybe a derringer er somethin'. Can ya throw a grenade?"

Steve shook his head and sighed. "No, she
means
they can sense where he's at."

They could only stand and watch the house burn.
The town's one fire truck was already tending the other fire. The
chief had already called in Kenoa and the county's departments
again, but they were busy with the bingo hall, too.

"I think I seen this old man b'fore," Charlie
said. He had everyone's attention. "He got long gray hair and a big
beard? Little hunched-over runt of a man?"

The girls nodded. "That's what our parents used
to say."

"Where you seen him, Charlie?" Jerry said.
"Around town?"

"He come inta my store a while back an' I
remembered 'cause he weren't no body I'd ever seen 'round here
b'fore," he said. "Looked like some damned old hippy." He pulled
his own scraggly beard a few times. "Bought one a them red axes
like you bought, Mark, an' never paid me fer, I might add. And some
buildin' stuff, ropes and whatnot."

"Building stuff?" Steve said. "You mean like
hammers and saws and stuff?"

"Yeah, that's right," Charlie said. "Stuff he'd
need to build something outa wood."

"So he lives up on the hill someplace and built
a shack 'er somethin' up there," the chief said.

Steve nodded. "But it's gonna be too dark soon
to do much good tonight."

"We're gonna set up a perimeter right here in
town for the night," the chief said. "Even if we ain't
after
'im, we can protect what we got left." He looked around. "Y'all
meet back here as soon as ya get your guns. And somebody find that
Eddie Lynch b'fore he gets hisself killed."

"It's too late, chief!" someone yelled. Tom
pointed toward the burning house as a person, completely engulfed
in flames, came running out the front door before falling on the
sidewalk. He was still holding a rifle, but he was a dead man
before he hit the ground.

"Fuck!" the chief said. "Go get your guns, boys,
and be careful! Bring your families back here with ya, we're all
gonna be campin' out here tonight." He looked down at the girls and
nodded. "Y'all feel like helpin' us get this bastard?"

They smiled and nodded. "Can you burn the stuff
in the bags first?" Tamara said.

Steve held up the bags of their belongings.
"These?"

They nodded. "And the other stuff we got from
our room," Kimberly said.

"I reckon so, if ya think it needs doin'," the
chief said.

****

"Hey Steve," his dad said. The entire town had
gathered in the small park area by the courthouse and the men had
set up a circle of defense with the women and children inside.
"Just what kinda shit can this old man do? Are we talkin' like
bible demons and stuff? Or like horror movies?"

"Not sure, dad," he said. "The girls say he has
a lot of power. All I know for sure is he can be incredibly fast
when he wants to be 'cause he made it down the hill almost
instantly."

"Do you think he can be killed?"

Tamara and Kimberly were sitting on a small
bench with Susie and a couple of older girls. Everyone was on edge,
but Tamara seemed to be listening intently to anything going on
outside the circle. "He can be killed, I think," she said.

What was that, sweetie?" Susie said.

"Tell Steve that grampa can be killed," she
said. "Grampa Perry almost killed him once."

Steve was close enough. He heard, and so did the
chief. "So, I reckon we wait."

"I think you should call in the National Guard
or something," Mister Williams said. He had taken his place in the
frontline like every other man and some of the gun-savvy women in
town.

"And tell 'em what? We got a demon-crazed old
man on the loose?"

"Tell 'em it's zombies!" Charlie said. "They'd
come if it was zombies!"

"Charlie does have a point, chief," Williams
said. "Not zombies, they'd probably nuke us if ya told them that,
but make up some lie to get them here. Tell them it's Arabs."

"Let's just get through the night," he said.
"We'll be on the offensive in the mornin'."

"Fire!" someone yelled. But no one needed to be
told. They could see a big blaze on the hillside behind the town.
"What is there up there ta burn?"

"Just trees and brush as far as I know," the
chief said.

"Hey, y'all keep your guard up, now!" Steve
yelled. "Remember, he can move incredibly fast! He outran an
ambulance. He could be down here already!" He walked into the park
and looked around. It was well-lit but the long shadows from
artificial light and small fires made it hard to see anything but
basic shapes. "Tamara?! Kimberly?!"

"Over here, Steve," Susie said and motioned with
her hand.

"Oh." He walked toward his sister. "Hey, girls,
do you feel him anywhere close?"

They both shook their heads and then hopped off
the bench and walked over to where he stood. "He's up at our house,
now," Tamara said. "Trying to get into our room."

"Trying? But, he can just open the door,
right?"

They both shook their heads. "We sealed it."

"Sealed it?" he said. "You can do that?"

"Barely," Kimberly said. "It can only work
against someone with our blood and will only last a few minutes,
but maybe he doesn't know that."

"Why's he trying to get in there? He knows
you're down here," he said.

They nodded again. "He's looking for something
to draw us to him," Tamara said. "But I think we took everything he
could use."

"So that's why you were so determined to go back
there?"

"And why it needed burned," Tamara said.

"Okay, y'all's like bloodhounds on this old
fucker," the chief said. "We'll be on 'is ass at daybreak."

"If we ain't all burned up by then," Charlie
said.

"Charlie, why don't you go back there and help
with handing out water bottles," Steve said. "Before I fucking kill
you myself."

"Okay guys, no sleeping tonight!" the chief
yelled.

"He's coming back," Tamara said. Even though she
spoke softly and barely above a whisper, everyone seemed to hear
her clearly.

"Ready up, boys," the chief said. "Who knows
what the hell we're in for."

As he turned around, the old man was standing
only inches away from him, face to face. "Looking for me?"

The chief didn't flinch. "Get the fuck out of my
face you piece of shit!"

And just as quickly as he had appeared, he
disappeared before the chief could get out his gun.

"Wow!" Steve said. "Way to go, dad!"

"You can't eat and drink like I do if you have
any regard fer your personal health," he said. He laughed, but
Steve could tell he was scared and nervous, even if he managed to
hide it from everyone else.

"Why don't you drop back, dad," he said. "Get
yourself a cold beer and take the weight off your feet for a
while."

"I think I'll do that," he said. He turned
around and looked through the crowd of townsfolk. "Hey Charlie, ya
got a cold beer fer me?"