Chapter 23

The boy turned toward Danny and smiled, showing the space where his front tooth was missing. The wound in his neck was gone. He lifted the bundle in his arms.

Danny took a step back, nearly toppling down the slope into the river. He looked to the sky and said, “I found him, Linda.”

The boy passed Joseph over. “We got here just in time. I’m glad. I told Linda I’d help you find him. I kept my promise and now you can take Joseph back to her.”

Unable to take his eyes off his son, Danny grinned. “Daddy’s got you now, little guy. Everything’s gonna be okay.” He looked up at the boy. Not only was the wound in the boy’s neck gone, but there was no blood on his shirt either. And he was smiling like he was getting ready to blow out the candles on his birthday cake. Seeing the kid so happy made something swell in Danny’s chest. “Thanks, kid,” he said. “I don’t know how you got my son, but I owe you. When did you see Linda? Is she okay?”

The boy stepped away from Danny. He looked over his shoulder, giggled, and then turned, running toward the green forest. A couple steps into his run, he stopped, turned, and yelled, “Linda’s okay but she’s worried. You can come back later if you want, but you have to go now. You have to take Joseph to Linda so she won’t be worried anymore.”

Danny looked back the river. Water cascaded and rolled in clear green sheets, channeling around the big flat stones he’d used to cross over. With the monstrous bat that had chased them gone, the rest of the children were jumping over the stones, crossing to this side. As each child made their way over, they waited on the shore, helping the next child in the group navigate the last jump until everyone was safely across. A cold, clean spray from the river filled the air, sparkling in the sun. The children ran toward Danny, laughing the whole way. Then a shadow passed over the river. The whole area grew darker, as if the sun was losing its power.

The gang of kids flowed around Danny. Each of them touched Joseph as they ran by. Danny turned and watched them run toward the boy waiting at the edge of the forest. Light circled the children as they gathered around the boy, holding them in a bright sphere. Danny yelled to the boy, “Who gave you Joseph? Can you take me to him?”

The boy shook his head. “Not now. Maybe after you’re done.” Laughter bubbled out of the boy, sounding muffled and distant, and then he added, “You need to hurry, Danny. You don’t have much time. Linda’s waiting.”

With that said, the boy ran into the forest, followed by the rest of the children. Danny watched the circle of light surrounding the children move deeper and deeper into the trees until it was nothing but a glowing pinprick. And then even that blinked out of existence, leaving him with nothing but the sound of the roaring river.

Danny looked down at Joseph. “I guess we need to get you back to your mom,” he said. A glint of gold on his son’s chest caught his attention. Danny looked closer, touching the Saint Michael medal. It was the one he’d given Linda. “Where did you get this, huh?” he said, fingering the chain. “Did Mommy give it to you?” He slipped the gold chain off his son’s neck, wrapped it around his hand, kissed Joseph’s forehead and then looked up. “Thanks, Babe. It’ll protect both of us now.”

Shifting Joseph to his right shoulder, he walked toward the river.

Water lapped over the toe of his shoe as he stepped on the first stone. He gasped and almost dropped Joseph. Eyes shut tight, he bent over and fought to breathe. The pain in his side had returned.

He straightened, shifted Joseph into the crook of his right arm and looked down. The gunshot wound reappeared under his gaze—big, black, and bloody. Dark red spittle aspirated out of the hole onto his shirt. He pressed his palm against the hole and pulled Joseph up high on his shoulder, laying his cheek against his son’s head. Sick heat radiated from Joseph. Danny’s lungs felt as if they were filled with wet sand. Gasping for breath, he bowed his head.

If he didn’t start walking now, he’d never make it.

It was dark and the rocks were slippery, and the water was making everything worse, but he started forward, concentrating as he jumped from rock to rock.

No matter how bad it hurt, he had to get Joseph back to Linda.

Leaping toward the next rock, his lead foot slipped, then caught on the gritty stone. Pain flared in his wound. He took a moment to settle himself, clenching his jaw.

Pain doesn’t matter. Don’t think about it, just move.

Mind focused, he hop-scotched from rock to rock. His final jump onto solid ground made him smile despite the pain. The Saint Michael medal grew hot in his palm as he clenched his fist.

No matter what, he’d finish this.

Among the tall silhouettes of the trees, Danny found his rhythm. It wasn’t pretty. More shuffle than run. But he kept moving, concentrating on the ground in front of him, his face dripping sweat.

One foot in front of the other was all that mattered.

The sound of someone following him caught his attention. He stopped. Joseph lifted his feverish head off his shoulder for a moment. Danny surveyed the forest, trying to see who or what was out there. He stroked Joseph’s long curly hair.

“When we get home, you’re getting a haircut,” he said, scanning the forest. “People are going to think you’re a girl,”

His gaze settled on a point in the darkness. Something was out there. A dark shape, moving among the trees. He turned away from it, pressed a hand against his side and continued his journey.

A cold spot surfaced on the back of his neck. Whatever was back there, he could feel it focusing on him as it closed the distance. He breathed open-mouthed, trying to get more air as he quickened his pace. He hoped it wasn’t one those bats. Or one of those things made of worms. He shuddered and the hair on the back of his neck stood. He didn’t know if he had any strength left to fight those things. They were horrible. Then he grinned, knowing there was something besides monsters in this place. Across the river there was only peace and light. But now wasn’t the time to be thinking about the place across the river. If he could help it, it was going to be a long time before he crossed that river again. He coughed, spit blood, and then broke into a jog. He had to make it out of this forest and find Gloria. She’d help him get back to Linda. Then he’d be happy no matter how bad his job was or how poor they were. If he got back, he’d be the richest man in the world for the rest of his days.

Whatever followed behind him grew louder, closing the distance. He wanted to turn and get a look at it, but he kept moving, working his way up a slight incline.

Light diffused the darkness ahead. He grinned. He was almost out of the forest.

Despite his pain, he began to run. A loud wheeze came out of him with every step. It didn’t matter who or what was following him. He was bringing Joseph home.

The footsteps behind him grew louder, mirroring his pace. He glanced back and saw a silhouetted figure. A whiff of ammonia filled his head. A memory of worms falling off the dark thing flashed through his mind, how they turned to smoke as they hit the ground. Teeth clenched, he grunted in pain with each step.

The light ahead grew brighter. The pain in his side, his exhaustion, and the weight of his son on his shoulder joined forces, slowing him. But there was only a hundred yards to go. Nothing could stop him.

The forest trees thinned. He crested a hill. A last lonely stand of trees waited for him at the bottom of the hill. Beyond that was the field of grass, glowing with the light of dawn.

Danny pounded down the decline toward the last stand of trees that skirted the field. Tall, thick-trunked, healthy hardwoods and evergreens. He was almost home. Just a few more steps. He glanced back. No one was behind him anymore. He turned his head, running past an evergreen.

Something smashed into his injured side.

Joseph flew from his grasp.

He fell, the world a blur as he rolled through the dirt.

Joseph wailed. He pushed up to his hands and knees, trying to get to his feet. The full damage of the blow to his side crashed through him. He collapsed. Flashes of white and red and black popped behind his eyes. A voice came down from above.

“Think you’re smart, huh? Think you can beat me up and leave me for dead out here?”

Danny tried to open one eye to see who’d blindsided him. He couldn’t. Every part of his body screamed. He curled up tight as the voice yelled.

“You’re gonna wish you were never born when I’m through with you.”

Danny tried to roll away.

“Where are you going? Get back here, bag boy.”

He recognized the voice at the same moment he felt the kick in his shoulder. His arm felt like it had been unplugged. He tried to talk, to ask his boss, Mr. Vincent, why he was attacking him, but all he could manage was a moan.

“Got your attention now, don’t I?” Vincent yelled. “Now where’s Benji and Johnny? What did you and Clay Freeman do with them?”

Danny stopped moaning. His voice came out in a tremble. “Who? What are you talking about?”

Danny looked up. Blood covered Vincent’s chest. Five bullet holes leaked blood onto his shirt with each of his labored breaths. Vincent pointed at him. “Don’t play games. Where’s Benji and Johnny?”

“I don’t know who they are or what you’re talking about,” Danny said. “But somebody shot you.”

Vincent glared. “What?” He patted his chest, smearing blood as he examined himself. A weak gush of blood spilled onto his hand as he pressed his palm over a ragged, silver-dollar-sized hole in the middle of his chest. He sneered, waving his blood-covered hand. “I’m not shot.” He pointed at Danny. “But let me tell you something, you’re gonna be dead when I’m through with you.”

Too weak to move, Danny watched Vincent walk toward the evergreen he’d hidden behind for his ambush. Not too far from the tree, Danny saw Joseph waving his arms and bawling in a bed of soft evergreen needles. Vincent walked past Joseph, reached down and picked up a big, thick stick. Danny recognized it. He’d seen it in the hands of the guy that had been tracking him when he’d first walked into the forest. Vincent had been after him this whole time. He’d been robbed because of Vincent. He’d been shot because of Vincent. And now Vincent was trying to keep him from taking Joseph back to Linda.

Vincent smacked the stick against his palm as he walked back. He loomed over Danny. “Let’s start again,” he said, waving the stick.

Danny’s anger rose. This man was the reason Linda was sitting at the hospital alone, watching Joseph die.

“Now, for the last time, where are Benji and Johnny?” Vincent said, tapping the sole of Danny’s shoe with the stick.

Footsteps thudded back by the evergreen. Vincent turned to see who was coming. Danny followed Vincent’s gaze. A big man in a dark suit and white dress shirt walked toward them. The guy had to be six-foot five. Another man in a tight, black turtleneck with shoulders like a linebacker, followed.

“There you are,” Vincent said. “Come on over. I found the guy that dumped us out here. Let’s all teach him a lesson.”

Danny cocked his foot back and kicked the side of Vincent’s knee. Vincent’s leg cracked, buckling sideways. He fell screaming to the ground.

Danny didn’t know how he got up and was even less sure of how he was going to stay up. Everything swayed and tilted. He stumbled from one tree to another, head spinning, grabbing trees for support as he stumbled toward Joseph.

“My leg!” Vincent yelled. “Get that guy! Kill him!”

Leaning on a tree to keep from falling, Danny raised his head. Vincent’s men, Benji and Johnny, stepped toward him. Both were as pale as dead fish. Blood covered the white shirt of the man in the suit. The muscled guy in the turtleneck was missing a chunk of his forehead. Danny braced himself, waiting for them to grab him. His strength was gone. He had nothing left. The muscled guy walked right past him and said, “We’re coming, Mr. Vincent. Hold on.”

The guy in the suit followed the man in the turtleneck. Neither of them gave Danny a second look as they rushed to help their boss.

Danny stumbled toward Joseph, lost his balance, and fell. On his knees, looking down at the ground, he smelled ammonia. And then he gagged, overpowered by the stench of rot as a foot squirming with maggots stepped next to him. Icy trails of frost spread out from the foot, trailing across the ground. The foot lifted and a maggot rolled off, hit the dirt, and disappeared in a curl of smoke.

Danny watched the thing move toward Vincent and his men. More worms fell on the ground and sizzled, adding to the ammonia smell in the air. Vincent and his men didn’t notice it until it was nearly on top of them. The man in the dark suit turned first. The thing rose over him. It opened its mouth.

A flood of worms poured out, covering the man, muffling his screams. The man disintegrated as the worms ate him. The thing turned toward Vincent and the man in the turtleneck. They backpedaled, falling on the ground as it came for them.

Danny turned away. As much as he wanted to watch Vincent suffer, he needed to get Joseph. Evergreen needles carpeted the dirt under his hands and knees as he crawled. Every part of him hurt. Every breath was a labor. If he could only stop. Just for a moment. The necklace wrapped around his dirty hand caught his eye.

Linda was counting on him.

He kept crawling. The screams of Vincent and the other man tore through the darkness. The thing would be finished with them any second now. And after that, it would come for him and Joseph. How was he going to get away when all he could do was crawl?

Something grabbed his arm, lifting him to his feet.

“I’m here, Danny. He told me I could help you if you made it this far.”

Danny turned toward Gloria’s voice, but there was nothing there. He wasn’t sure if he’d really heard her or somehow made it up, conjuring it into existence in a final act of desperation, but it didn’t matter. He was on his feet. He could do this.

He spotted Joseph underneath the evergreen. His hands were balled in fists. His face was red and blotchy as he wailed. The screams of Vincent and the other man muffled and died out as Danny scooped Joseph to his chest. He glanced back.

Vincent and the other man were gone, eaten by worms. The thing turned in his direction. If it could smile, Danny guessed that was what it was doing as it came toward him.

He didn’t look back as he hugged Joseph and weaved through the trees. His boots scuffed through the soft evergreen needles, then clomped onto hard-packed dirt. The light intensified with each step forward. Slipping between two massive oaks, he was bathed in a pool of light for a moment. As much as he wanted to stop and let the warmth of that light pour over him, he kept moving. Only a little farther.

Footsteps thudded after him. Then more. And more. The ground shook with his pursuers, a chorus of voices rising as they closed on him.

Danny!

Stay with us!

Leave Joseph with us!

You belong with us!

Danny stumbled and veered toward a tall maple tree. Beyond the maple was the field, bathed in light. He stepped toward the maple and caught his foot on a root.

When he touched his hand to the ground to keep his balance, something ballooned inside of him. He could feel it tearing, sending a rush of heat through his chest. The heat flushed up his neck and face, then receded, leaving him cold. His vision dimmed. He wobbled on his feet. Strong fingers clamped his shoulder from behind, pulling him back. He tried to fight, but whatever had torn loose inside him ripped completely. His eyesight dimmed, then went black. Blind, he felt the hands on his shoulders. No more fight left, he let himself be pulled back. Warm breath feathered the back of his neck. Gloria’s voice drifted over him. “Fall on me, Danny. Let me help you finish this.”

Danny fell into Gloria’s embrace. He held Joseph tight. He felt her powerful embrace tighten and lift him. A light filled his head, growing brighter and brighter. He rushed toward it, no longer able to feel the ground beneath him. Gloria’s voice filled his head, saying, “It’s time for you to go home.”

The smell of thousands upon thousands of roses filled Danny’s head, wrapping him from head to toe. His pain disappeared. He felt the light all around him and he became part of it. His body filled with it. It felt good.

It felt like he was flying into forever.