Monster Page 3

  She regained consciousness with the man slapping her awake, laughing at the pain he was causing. Hughes used duct tape to gag her. Alicia’s head ached in waves so intense she nearly threw up behind her gag. Swallowing the bile with her tortured eyes squinting at Hughes, Alicia tried to turn away from the man’s hand. When Hughes saw she was awake, he yanked her to her feet. Only then did she see they were in the middle of a dense woods. Hughes ripped the duct tape off, leaning down menacingly as Alicia screamed. He shook her by the arm until the little girl whimpered and begged for him to stop. Keeping her hands duct-taped behind her back, Hughes leashed Alicia like a dog with choke chain and tether. Alternately yanking and dragging on the tether to keep her moving, Hughes had brought her to their present position.

  Hughes kept Alicia trussed up next to him while he set up his sniper rifle on a stand, perched within the camouflage of some thick bushes. He had seemed contented, making jokes to her about the great shots he would take, and described the pain he would inflict. Only in the last hour Hughes had begun cursing as if something had not progressed the way he had planned.

  “Don’t you think for a moment, little Missy, that anybody’s goin’ to’ rescue you,” Hughes growled. “I’ll carve you like a pumpkin when I’m sure they’re within range to hear you scream. Then I’ll do for them in the dark. Yep, it’s gonna’ be a long night for those assholes.”

  Hughes reached down and stroked the little girl’s leg. “Too bad we don’t have enough time to play.”

  Hughes gave Alicia a shushing sound, putting one dirty nailed index finger up to his lips when she whimpered. “You keep quiet girl, or Daddy goin’ to punish you.”

  Alicia closed her eyes tightly, heart racing in time to her throbbing temples. Hughes continued cursing the approaching agents, detailing what he would do when night came. The little girl cringed when she heard a loud rustling sound. She heard Hughes belch out a throaty gargle. Alicia felt something tapping against her side. She opened her eyes to narrow slits, hoping the man would not notice her. The side of Hughes’ boot brushed against her rhythmically. Great founts of a liquid splashed into the foliage. Alicia looked up to see something massive holding her captor with his feet off the ground. A moment later, Hughes crashed to the ground beside her, twitching slightly. A huge hand reached down and picked Hughes’ body up by the back of his belt. As the body was carried away, Alicia saw it no longer had a head.

  A few minutes later, Alicia lay with her eyes again clenched tightly closed, her teeth clamped shut. She wondered what new horror would be visited on her. She jumped involuntarily as a hand gently touched her hair, stroking her head gently. She felt the tape being cut away from her wrists and ankles. Pain from the sudden flow of blood caused her to cry out behind the duct tape gag. Warm hands massaged the raw skin of her ankles and wrists, pausing to massage her knee joints and ankles.

  “Easy, little one,” a deep voice soothed softly. “Lie still for a moment while I work this tape off. My name’s Jeremiah. I’ve come to take you back to your Mommy and Daddy.”

  Tears flowed from her eyes as Alicia began to sob, not believing this news could possibly be true. The nightmare would return somehow, bringing the pain and darkness.

  “Hey, don’t cry,” McDaniels urged. He removed the duct tape bindings carefully. “I’ll help you sit up and then you can peel the tape off your mouth, okay?”

  Alicia felt the hands lift her effortlessly up into a sitting position. A silvery blanket was draped around her, providing more warmth. The man continued to massage her arms and legs through the rustling material of the blanket for the next few moments. Whenever he saw her looking wide eyed at him, McDaniels smiled reassuringly at her.

  “Yep, you’re going to be good as new. Now, do you think you can peel that crappy tape from your mouth?”

  Alicia nodded, reaching up with her still partially numb fingers, feeling clumsily for a corner of the tape. She picked at it, working the duct tape little by little from her mouth. It felt so wonderful to feel the cool air on her mouth, Alicia yanked the last quarter off.

  “Ouch.” McDaniels chuckled. “I guess that stuff feels pretty bad after all the time you’ve had it on. Are you warming up some?”

  “I… I think so.” Alicia rubbed her mouth and clutched the blanket around her shoulders. “Is… is that man dead?”

  McDaniels glanced over his shoulder in the direction he had carried Hughes’ headless corpse. “Oh yeah, Honey, he won’t be making the trek down with us. I’m sorry you saw that. I have some friends camping pretty close to here. I wish we could take the chance and carry you back home tonight but it’s real dangerous plodding around up here in the dark. How about I carry you down to where my friends are camping and I light up a nice fire?”

  Alicia accepted the water bottle McDaniels handed her. She gulped the cool water from the small retractable spout. McDaniels let her drink for a long moment and then put a restraining hand over hers, pulling the bottle down.

  “Easy, Alicia, not too much at one time, okay?”

  “You… you know my name.”

  “Oh yeah, your Uncle Frank contacted a friend of mine, who asked me to come help you. They’re all worried sick about you. We have a special phone so we can call your Mommy and Daddy from camp. I’d let you call right now but I’m afraid my friends would be angry.”

  “I…I’m real glad you came,” Alicia whispered.

  “Me too, little one. Do you think you could swallow one of these aspirin? It’ll make you feel better. I’d give you two but I’m afraid they might make you sick on an empty stomach.”

  Alicia took the proffered aspirin tablet. She swallowed some more water to wash it down. Alicia handed the water bottle back to McDaniels while looking around her at the darkening woods. “Are you going to leave the man here?”

  “Part of him,” McDaniels replied, lifting the little girl up in his arms. “We better get moving or my friends will start worrying about me. I think they believe I’d leave them up here in the spooky old woods alone.”

  “You wouldn’t do that,” Alicia stated firmly.

  “That’s what I told them, little one.”

  * * *

  “Christ, it’s dark up here,” Rutledge said. The three FBI agents huddled against a fallen log. “The Colonel should have been here by now.”

  “He’s probably making his way slowly,” Barrington told her. “It’s dark. No use in screwin’ around and breaking something.”

  “I hope you’re right. “I…”

  “Hello the camp,” McDaniels’ voice called out loudly.

  Although McDaniels had not simply appeared in their midst, the three FBI agents jumped at the sound of his voice so near their cold camp. The three scrambled to their feet, peering out into the darkness trying to discern where McDaniels was.

  “Come in, Colonel,” Barrington beckoned.

  A huge shadow detached itself from behind a tree only twenty yards to their right. The FBI agents could see McDaniels was carrying something wrapped in a silver space blanket from his survival kit. The big man carefully walked towards them, threading his way noiselessly through the undergrowth.

  “How the hell do you do that, Colonel?” Rutledge asked for the second time, surprised at the almost silent approach. “I… hey… what the hell…”

  “I brought someone to share our camp tonight,” McDaniels announced. “This here is Alicia. Alicia, meet my friends, Tom, Jen, and Diane. They’re all real FBI agents.”

  “Oh… my… God…” Reskova said in complete shock as the three agents stumbled forward around McDaniels and his wrapped bundle.

  A small hand waved to them in the darkness from beneath the blanket.

  “Hi,” Alicia greeted them.

  Barrington laughed out loud. “Oh man, Colonel, you are somethin’ else, brother.”

  “Where the hell is Hughes?” Reskova glanced furtively around in the darkness beyond.

  “Didn’t you goofballs ever see those movies where the
characters rig up warning lines bordering their camp instead of sitting around waiting for the monsters to get them?” McDaniels joked. He gently rested Alicia down against the same log the FBI agents had been leaning against.

  “Answer the question!” Reskova ordered, crouching next to Alicia.

  “He lost his head,” Alicia said simply.

  “He what… listen, Alicia, you take it easy and…” Reskova began.

  “Jeremiah promised me I could roast marshmallows,” Alicia interrupted.

  McDaniels knelt next to Alicia, patting her shoulder. “Let Diane call her boss on the phone. Then she’ll get your Mommy and Daddy on the line. Me and Tom will clear out a safe place for a campfire. You’ll be toasting them in no time.”

  “Okay,” Alicia agreed happily.

  Reskova grabbed McDaniels arm as he tried to straighten up. “Where’s Hughes?”

  “He’s dead, Diane,” Rutledge broke in. She patted Alicia’s hand. “You want a picture? I’m Jen, Alicia. Diane will be making that call now, right Di?”

  Reskova stared at McDaniels for a moment longer before releasing his arm. She sat down next to Alicia. Reskova pulled out the satellite phone from her parka pocket. McDaniels handed Rutledge a sleeping bag from his pack which she helped Alicia ease into. The two men cleared the brush and debris from near the log until they had a nearly barren area twenty feet in diameter. Using the numerous loose granite rocks around and dried wood, Barrington and McDaniels completed the setup in a short time as they listened to the happy sounds of a phone reunion. McDaniels used a propane lighter from his bag to ignite the small batch of kindling beneath the pyramided logs.

  “I figured you’d rub two sticks together, Colonel.”

  “Not hardly.” McDaniels smiled over at Tom from the rapidly growing flames.

  Rutledge warmed her hands near the flames. “God almighty this fire looks and feels good. You never had any intention of taking us to Hughes, did you?”

  “Nope.”

  “Thank you,” Rutledge said.

  “Ditto,” Barrington added.

  “I mean it, you two,” McDaniels said, changing the subject. “Didn’t you guys ever see Predator or one of those other movies where the heroes always set up a perimeter? In your defense, Hughes wasn’t very good at perimeters either.”

  Barrington and Rutledge both laughed. McDaniels extracted a bag of Sta-Puff marshmallows from his bag, handing them to Rutledge. “I’m going to get some marshmallow sticks made. Who wants one?”

  “Me, me, me,” Rutledge waved her hand comically with Barrington laughing and mimicking her gesture.

  McDaniels grinned and went out into the darkness. When he returned a few moments later Reskova and Alicia had finished the call to her parents. He brought along four long, thin sticks. Reskova walked away while making a second call. Sitting next to Alicia, he quickly trimmed the bark off and sharpened the ends. McDaniels handed the sticks to Barrington while he scooted Alicia nearer the fire, using his bag to allow her to recline comfortably.

  “Okay now,” McDaniels said, taking one of the sticks from Barrington. He rotated it over the hot coals. “First we burn off any residual stuff on the stick in the fire. Then we’re ready. Marshmallow please, Jen.”

  Rutledge handed McDaniels the marshmallow. McDaniels put it on the end of the stick firmly and passed it on to Alicia. “Are you an old hand at these marshmallow roasts, little one?”

  “Yes Sir. Rotate it and don’t hold it too far in or you get a flameout, right?”

  McDaniels laughed and nodded his assent. Barrington and Rutledge followed suit with their own sticks. Reskova completed her second call on the phone and put it away. She moved to the fire, sitting across from McDaniels.

  “Where’s Hughes?” Reskova asked brusquely. She looked at Barrington pointedly when he muttered under his breath. “I’m serious. Before we all break out in a campfire sing-along I want to know where Hughes is. Did it ever dawn on you two, McDaniels might have…”

  “Don’t go there, Agent Reskova,” McDaniels cut her off, standing up from the fire. “I brought proof down about Hughes. Let’s enjoy the fire for the little one’s sake and deal with the rest tomorrow.”

  “That won’t fly, Colonel, show me.”

  “I left the proof out there where I called to you. I’ll get it.”

  Reskova followed McDaniels to the edge of the woods. She stood waiting for him to return with her arms folded over her chest.

  * * *

  Alicia glanced up at Barrington and Rutledge as she drew back her marshmallow, allowing it to cool.

  “He… he was going to let you get close and then cut me up to make me scream where you could hear me,” Alicia told the stunned agents. “Then he said he’d come down to get you all in the dark… and… and he would’ve too. Jeremiah didn’t let him.”

  Barrington looked over at Rutledge who was trying to make her unattended marshmallow stop flaming. She finally blew on it.

  “See, that’s a flamer,” Alicia told her.

  Rutledge smiled at Alicia. The three of them watched McDaniels come back out of the woods with a plastic bag. He opened it, allowing Reskova to shine her Mag-lite down into the bag. Reskova gagged and dropped her small flashlight. She staggered a few steps away and vomited violently. McDaniels sealed up the bag. Without another word he returned it to the woods.

  “Uh oh, I guess Diane saw something that didn’t agree with her,” Barrington said.

  “Be careful what you wish for, huh?” Rutledge winked at Alicia. “You ready for another marshmallow?”

  “Yep,” Alicia accepted another white puff from Rutledge. “Remember, don’t let yours get too close to the fire.”

  “I’ll remember, Honey,” Rutledge promised. “Do you think Diane’s okay, Tom?”

  “She’ll be okay, but the Colonel might be in for some trouble.”

  Alicia watched Reskova stumble over to her bag and take out her water bottle with a shaky hand. She rinsed her mouth out before spitting the water on the ground. McDaniels walked over next to her. Reskova waved him off angrily and stalked over to the fire. She crouched down, holding her hands out to warm them. After a moment, she glared at the other agents.

  “Do you know what that monster did?” Reskova asked them, her voice almost a hiss as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

  “Jer…Jeremiah’s not the monster, lady,” Alicia protested, her voice trembling as McDaniels walked slowly over to the fire. “Don’t you talk about him like that.”

  Alicia felt McDaniels’ arm around her shoulders. “It’s okay, little one, Agent Reskova is just shaken up a bit.”

  “You’ll answer for this when we get back down,” Reskova promised darkly. “You can’t…”

  “I asked you nicely not to talk any more about this until we get down out of here,” McDaniels cut her off. “Now I’m telling you. Relax and enjoy the fire. Give Alicia a chance to think about something else.”

  “You…” Reskova began, starting to get to her feet. Rutledge grabbed her arm.

  “The Colonel’s right, Diane. Give the little girl a break. You can do anything you like when we get out of these damn woods.”

  Reskova shrugged her off but stayed silent.

  “Is there anywhere we can land a helicopter and cut the trip back short, Colonel,” Barrington asked.

  “Yep, there’s a meadow only a half hour away we can use for an LZ,” McDaniels answered examining the lightly browned, toasted marshmallow Alicia held up for him to inspect. “We can call in the coordinates tomorrow morning. Let me have one of those sticks and marshmallows, Jen. They look good.”

  “Diane said you were bringing the tents, Colonel,” Barrington said.

  “I have four of those tube type tents. I’ll get them out a little later.” He took out the water bottles he had refilled before going after Hughes from the pack Alicia leaned against. He passed them out to the agents. “There are bears and such out here. I have a bear bag to string all our food up
with.”

  “Did I mention I hate it out here?” Rutledge glanced around uneasily.

  “That makes about the five hundredth time, Jen,” Barrington joked.

  “Just checking,” Rutledge replied as Alicia laughed.

  “You have to use a shovel too when you go to the bathroom,” Alicia informed her. “Otherwise the animals will smell it, right Jeremiah?”

  “That’s right, little one. You’re pretty good at this camping stuff.” McDaniels chuckled, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. He placed two small packets which said baby wipes on them near a folding camp shovel where everyone could see them.

  “Bury anything you do about eighteen inches down,” McDaniels said.

  “Where?” Rutledge asked hesitantly.

  “Jesus, Rutledge, out there behind a tree somewhere,” Reskova told her with some exasperation.

  “In the dark?” Rutledge continued. Alicia giggled at the comical look on Rutledge’s face. “I never saw Scully head out into the woods with a shovel on the X-Files.”

  Even Reskova laughed.

  Chapter 4

  Cold Mountain

  While Alicia lay sleeping in the small hiker’s tent, McDaniels and the three FBI agents remained by the fire.

  “You know, Colonel, there ain’t hardly any way we can help you out on this Hughes’ thing,” Barrington said at just above a whisper.

  “I don’t want any help,” McDaniels replied, reaching inside his pack and taking out a clear plastic bag. He handed it over to Barrington. “Look, I had every intention of killing that sick piece of shit. After I found the razor wire trap, I decided to return it.”

  Barrington looked through the bag, with Reskova and Rutledge leaning in for a better view. Inside the bag two large pieces of wood had been attached to a bloody piece of razor wire.