Slash, p.8
Slash, page 8
The worst part is, I know he’s still out there. I don’t know why. I’m sure that the answer lies in what I left behind at the Hayden. I can’t access that part in my memories, but a part of me just screams that it’s there. Maybe I’m better off in the dark.
Knowing he’s alive and can come for me is too much. It was bad enough when I could convince myself that he crawled away like a wounded animal and found a dark place to die. You know how I still jump at noises and freak out in the dark. I used to think it was all part of the PTSD. Now I’m sure it’s because I know we didn’t do enough to kill him.
And if he comes for me, he’ll get you too. I can’t let that happen. I won’t.
What’s come back to me is just pieces.
I found something out about the Hayden. When I sit and try to concentrate on it, I get physically ill. It must have been real bad. But like most everything else, it’s gone.
The longest fragment I have, and I don’t know why, is when Fred was attacked.
It was cold that night, or at least it felt cold. The days were unseasonably hot, we hadn’t been prepared for the early morning chill in the mountains. I think it was around three. That’s the real witching hour. Not midnight like they show in movies and books. Anyway, something had happened to Addie. I wish I could remember what it was. I just know that we had to stop and rest for a while. Jamal wanted to make a fire but I told him he couldn’t. It was too dark out there, any fire would be a beacon for the cops. I had a shock blanket in my first aid kit and I wrapped it around myself and Addie. I don’t know where Sheri was. She could have been right with us. Or knowing her, she was probably off sketching one of the buildings. Fred was tending to Addie. Jesus, it’s frustrating to be able to see almost everything.
I…I get the feeling we were thinking of calling it a night. We’d been so excited, we had climbed the fence to get inside earlier than usual, so we’d already had a couple of hours under our belts. With that place, we’d need a week of nights to take in everything. Our plan was to go back someday soon.
Someday.
You know me, I had the night all planned out. Our goal was to explore the main hotel, the attached indoor pool and the ice rink. The hotel was this mini rise with twelve floors. I guess thirteen if you counted the basement, which they didn’t, for obvious reasons. It was in much worse shape than we imagined. I remember thinking that we shouldn’t try to go up the stairs. At best, someone’s leg would go through the rotted wood and get hurt. At worst, I’ve heard of people falling completely through the floor and dying. Maybe Addie got hurt in there. Man, this sucks.
I don’t think we stayed in there for long. I’m not sure. My next memory is sitting with Addie with the shock blanket wrapped around us. There was a small lantern on the ground and we kept it on low. Jamal had picked a spot where we were surrounded by trees and stuff. Were we outside the rink? Maybe. I keep seeing the corner edge of some structure, but I just can’t tell what it is.
When Fred was finished with Addie – doing what, I wish I knew – he went to his pack and took out a flask. I was mad at him. Hmmm. If I was mad, that must mean we were still going to do more exploring. I wouldn’t care if he drank when we were leaving. But if we were still going to look around, we couldn’t have him buzzed or drunk. His life and our lives depended on it. And that place was in real bad shape. What was still standing was rotted to the core.
We got in a fight, and now I see Sheri and she’s mad at Fred too. He’s telling us to back off and it was just a couple of sips. It was cold and maybe we should all have some to warm up a little. For people who enjoy breaking the rules, we had very strict rules of our own. No drinking was a big one.
Jamal tried to take the flask away from him and Fred pushed him into Sheri. He hit into her so hard, she fell and now I was really mad. We were all yelling at each other and making a lot of noise. That’s another rule broken, but this time we all did it. We might have been in the middle of nowhere, but sound travels, especially at night.
That has to be how he found us. Maybe, if we’d all just stuck to the rules, we could have gone in and out without him even knowing. The Hayden was huge. He could have been on the other side of the resort for all I know.
But we called him to us.
I think Jamal and Fred wrestled around for a bit, but they were best friends and it didn’t escalate. In the end, Fred handed over the flask. Sheri got up and was okay, but Addie, I think she stayed sitting. Could she even get up? Why the hell can’t I remember?
I do know that we weren’t ready to go anywhere. Not yet. Everyone settled down and we decided to eat. Jamal handed out the energy bars and bottled water. Sheri shared a box of raisins. Doing that kind of stuff is hard work and you need carbs and sugar to get you through the night. It makes for a hell of a crash when you’re done, though.
We got real quiet. I thought someone a mile away would be able to hear us chewing. We’d never fought like that before and I think we were all feeling kind of weird.
All of us heard something in the woods.
We were startled at first, but then Sheri said it was probably just a deer. We’d been seeing deer in the distance all night. In hindsight, we should have known that no deer would come that close to a bunch of loud-mouthed humans. They’re smarter than that. Way smarter than us.
We ignored it. And then it came again. It was the sound of scrunching grass. The Hayden hadn’t seen a landscaper in decades, and some of the grass went past our knees. It hadn’t rained for a while and everything was starting to turn brown and brittle.
To me, it sounded like footsteps, like a person walking, not an animal. I grabbed the lantern and turned it off. What if it was a cop? The last thing I wanted was to get arrested again. I’d just finished paying the fines from when I got busted at that vacant hospital in Port Chester.
Nobody made a sound.
We should have run. At the time, we didn’t want to give our position away. I know I hoped whoever it was would walk right past us in the dark.
I always carried pepper spray with me. You never knew who was squatting in these places. You needed protection, and not bringing a gun was another rule. No guns, since what we did was illegal and if we got caught, we didn’t need a weapons charge thrown in.
This time, I left the pepper spray in my pack. I was convinced it was a cop and I didn’t want to spray him or her in the face. I waited to see the beam from a flashlight or hear them tell us to come out.
Whoever it was, they didn’t bother to mask the noise they made as they walked around us. That’s why I thought it was a cop. We were the ones in hiding, not them.
It got real tense. It sounded like they were circling us. I was afraid to even take a breath. I think Jamal was to my left. In the dark, it was too hard to see. I know I was holding Addie’s hand. She was squeezing it so hard, I thought she would break it.
The footsteps started to move away.
And then the worst possible thing happened.
You know how those first aid shock blankets are made of that loud, silver kind of paper? Addie started shivering. When she went to pull the blanket tighter around her, it made this god-awful noise. I tried to stop her but it was too late. Fred shushed her, but she’d already stopped moving, so that also gave us away.
The walking stopped.
We waited a long time. Whoever was out there waited right along with us. None of us wanted to be the first to make another sound. That’s when Fred knew it wasn’t a cop and probably some derelict. He shouted that we knew he was out there and to get going.
He didn’t get a reply. There were no more footsteps.
“Maybe it was an animal,” Sheri said. With the shock blanket crinkling, we could have easily missed a deer or fox taking off. They’re real fast and can put a lot of distance between you in a hurry.
Jamal made a joke about us being afraid of a rabbit or something and Fred laughed. Fred asked if anyone wanted to come with him to check out the pool.
That’s when he turned on his flashlight.
And that’s when we saw him.
We didn’t actually see him. It happened so fast. Suddenly, there was someone standing right in front of Fred who shouldn’t have been there at all. I mean, how could he have possibly gotten that close without us hearing?
Fred didn’t even have time to react.
I saw the man’s torso, and his arm lash out at Fred. He hit Fred with something that looked like a pipe or piece of rebar. There was rebar everywhere you looked. The sound it made when it hit Fred’s skull. Oh my God. I can still hear it as if he’s standing right next to me. It was a thump, like if you kicked a car door, and then it just sounded…it sounded wet.
Fred’s flashlight dropped to the ground and we lost the light.
We screamed.
Someone was grabbing me. Either Addie or Sheri were shouting Fred’s name over and over and over.
In the dark, I heard another thump.
Next thing I remember, we were running. I can’t see who was running with me. I get the impression that we somehow split up. I was crying and half out of my mind with fear. I kept thinking, if Fred calls out for help, I wouldn’t have the guts to go back for him. And that filled me with so much shame. I was especially ashamed at the relief I felt when I didn’t hear him.
Absolute terror makes your mind do funny things. You think you’re a certain type of person. When the shit hits the fan, is that the real you that comes out? Or is it just the fear taking over? I don’t know, Todd. I’ve lost myself to fear all these years.
And that’s all I remember the first time we saw him, the Wraith, and how Fred died. You told me not to read the reports later, but I did. I know that there was almost nothing left of Fred’s face when they found his body. I didn’t see it, but I heard it and I don’t know which would have been worse.
Whenever I close my eyes and think about running, I can see my video camera in my hand. I’d been practically attached to it all night. I’d film little bits and put them on a USB that I wrapped in a plastic bag and hid. It’s a strange thing, I know, but it was my thing. I know me. I was in the Hayden for close to four more hours. I know I recorded whatever I could, not to leave a piece of myself, but to have some kind of proof. If he got me, I knew he’d destroy my camera as easily as he’d destroy me.
So I left a saved recording around the Hayden. If I lived, I assumed I’d remember where I put it and easily find it for the police. If I died, I hoped they’d come across it during their investigation.
But I was wrong. I didn’t remember until now, when it’s too late and I’m too afraid to go back there. And the police, I think they were too unprepared and horrified by what happened to tear the place apart looking for any more evidence than what was around the bodies of my friends.
The Wraith used the remains of the Hayden to murder them. He came out of the darkness and he returned to it. I know we hurt him. We just didn’t kill him. I’m beginning to wonder if we could.
No matter. It’s all gone now. We’re all gone now. And you’re safe.
That’s all that matters to me anymore.
You’re safe.
The Hayden and its dark past, the threat of the Wraith, we’re all going to die together. I just thought you should know, my love. I’m sorry I kept it from you until now. I had to keep you safe, and I had to keep you away from that place.
I love you more than you could ever know. And I love you still, even while you’re watching this.
Goodbye, Todd.
Please remember me. And always, always love me, too.
Chapter Eleven
Todd opened one bleary eye to check his ringing phone. It was his foreman, probably pissed, definitely wondering where he was. He swiped his thumb across the screen to send the call to voice mail.
His head was pounding and his stomach felt curdled. He had to go to the bathroom, but he couldn’t will his body out of bed. He unscrewed the cap on the bottle of water he’d left on the bedside table – a bottle he didn’t remember putting there – and drank greedily.
All of the sheets and blankets had been kicked to the floor. He was sweating, the funk of alcohol so thick he thought he could reach into the air and ball it up like snow, yet he was so, so cold. Muscles aching from dehydration, he reached down to snag the corner of a blanket and pulled it over himself.
The laptop was open on his side of the bed. For the past two days, he’d been sleeping – no, passing out – on Ash’s side. It would be easy to turn it on and watch the video again, just as he’d done day in and day out since he’d found it.
As he rolled over to do just that, he felt a heavy pressure shift on the mattress. He was startled to see Elvira had jumped up onto the bed. She positioned herself between him and the laptop, flopping onto her side to show him her sagging, shabby belly.
Elvira never went on the bed. Under it, yes, but never on it.
Her orange eyes pierced into his throbbing skull.
“Are you trying, tying to tell me something?” he mumbled. His throat hurt. He must have been snoring loud enough to rattle the walls last night. Drunk snores. Ash hated his drunk snores. She’d tell him they made the house too loud.
Elvira’s paw flicked to her face and she licked it…loudly. Todd had to turn away.
Of course Elvira wasn’t capable of understanding the implications of his watching Ash’s video again.
But Ash would have known.
Had she urged the cat to block his access to the laptop?
Todd didn’t believe in ghosts. That was Ash’s territory. But ever since he’d found her last recording, he sensed that some part of her was near.
He hadn’t expected a video, though he should have if he’d just taken a moment and thought about it instead of tearing through the house like a madman. Ever since she’d gotten her first phone in high school, she’d been addicted to taking pictures and videos, just like all the girls and most of the boys in their class. Personally, Todd hated selfies. He couldn’t have cared less about chronicling every single thing he did throughout the day and sharing it with the world.
Ashley King was a product of her generation. Their parents would have called it vain or narcissistic, this need to constantly preen and smile for the camera. For some of the kids he knew, that was a dead-on assessment. Especially someone like Elise Judge, a girl so vapid and self-obsessed, she would marry herself if it were possible.
Ash found using video to capture special moments easier than writing in a diary. She said it gave her a more complete, a more accurate snapshot of her past. She was always nostalgic like that, desperate to capture the moment for posterity. Watching old interview shows had become a nighttime comfort for her after the night of the massacre. Lying next to Todd in bed, she’d follow links and suggested videos on her phone until the dawn, the volume on low because she didn’t want to put in headphones and be deaf to the world around her.
He’d woken up one morning to her arm draped over his back and her phone hovering in front of his face.
“Watch this,” she’d said excitedly.
He couldn’t match her giddiness at the moment, but he indulged her.
She started a clip of a talk show from the seventies. Director Orson Wells, graying hair slicked back, cigar smoldering in his chubby fingers, was explaining how he couldn’t trust history. The proof could be found right here, at any time. Tell someone a story and see how distorted and inaccurate it became in just one retelling. History was always being rewritten, from the moment it passed hands.
“Finally, someone gets it,” Ash had said. “It’s how I’ve always felt. I just could never get the words right.”
So yes, it was only natural she’d leave him a video instead of a note. She must have known how seeing her face again would have rocked him to his core. So much so that he was sure he no longer had a job.
Had she sent Elvira onto the bed to tell him enough was enough? He looked into the cat’s eyes and could find no answers.
Sitting up, he saw himself in the mirror hanging over the dresser. He looked like death.
“There’s your sign.”
His phone rang again. He knew if he didn’t answer, he was more than likely fired.
He ignored it and went to the bathroom. He had to wake the hell up and steam the toxins from his body. There were even empty beer cans on top of the toilet tank.
“Enough already.”
It was time to stop feeling sorry for himself and save Ash’s history.
There was a lot of work to do and precious little time.
* * *
The Gridiron Sports Bar was crowded for a Thursday night. It was easy to see why. Thursday Night Football played on almost a dozen televisions. For once, there was actually a competitive game. The bar was packed two people deep. Every table in the restaurant had been taken. Todd and his friends had pulled two round pub tables together and sat in the corner of the bar area. It was the only place that wasn’t directly under a blaring television.
The waitress, a pretty girl who didn’t look old enough to work legally, brought them their platter of wings and another pitcher of beer. Jerry Mulcahy was telling them about a brawl he broke up at a diner the past weekend and how it had spilled into the middle of the road. Someone had sucker punched him square in the face. His eyes were still black and the left side of his nose was a little swollen.
“Did you find out who did it?” Vince asked, piling his plate with drumsticks and blue cheese dressing.
“It wasn’t for lack of trying. I would have liked to introduce the schmuck to my baton. There were seven of them, juiced-up peacocks with too much booze and little peckers. Me and my partner had a hell of a time getting them in cuffs, but we were sober and had the upper hand. I didn’t even realize my nose was broken until our backup arrived.” Jerry’s glasses sat high on the bridge of his nose. He had a blue, black and white tattoo of the American flag on his forearm that flashed out of his sleeve when he reached over to pour the beer. He was small in stature but could fight like a heavyweight. Todd had always said Jerry would end up on one side of prison bars. He was just glad he chose the side that held the keys.
