The Traveler (The Great Rift Book 2) Read online

  "We have to find Geoff and Stacy and get out of here," Lisa said. "They have to be in the house, there's no other explanation."

  "And who's going in there to find out?" Romeo asked.

  "We can't just leave them here. They wouldn't do that to us."

  Romeo leaned over and dug his cell phone from the console. He pushed a few buttons, but the screen remained dark. "Anyone else have their phone on them? Mine's dead."

  "For what?" Dink asked. "Are you going to call AAA and get a tow truck?"

  "I figured it couldn't hurt trying to call Geoff. He might have his phone on him."

  They all dug their cell phones out of their pockets, but had the same luck. They were all completely drained.

  "Turn on the radio," Beth said. "I want to hear what's going on."

  "I don't want to kill the battery," Romeo said.

  "Just turn it the fuck on."

  Romeo sighed and turned the dial on the radio, hearing nothing but broken static. He fiddled with the tuning knob and finally found a station clear enough to understand. They listened as commercials gave way to the deep voice of Christian Mathers, one of the local DJs on the station's morning show.

  "It's still night, what's he doing on there?" Dink asked.

  "Just be quiet and listen," Lisa replied.

  "Roads are looking clear all over the area," the announcer declared. "No accidents are reported on 78 or 81, but traffic on the turnpike is a little slow this morning due to some construction around the Pocono interchange. The skies are expected to be clear today with a high of eighty-one, but it's going to go down into the low sixties later on tonight. As always, we'll keep you up to date on traffic and weather throughout the day. Now here's some CCR to get the blood pumping on your morning commute."

  "What is he talking about?" Beth asked. "It's not morning, and it sure as hell is not eighty degrees."

  "I want to go home," Trina mumbled. "I'm done with this."

  "We're not going anywhere until we find Geoff and Stacy," Dink growled. "So just get that shit out of your head."

  The radio squealed and went silent for a moment before coming back with the low drone of white noise and what sounded like distant voices.

  Screaming voices.

  "Hello boys and girls," a voice growled. "Welcome to my picnic."

  "What is that?" Dink asked. He felt Beth trembling beside him and pulled her closer, not only for her comfort but for his as well. "This is all wrong," he moaned.

  "We're getting out of here," Romeo said as he shifted the truck into reverse. "We'll get to the nearest town and call for help, tell them Geoff and Stacy are still out here."

  "Who are we going to tell?" Lisa shouted. "The cops? They'd probably arrest us for trespassing first."

  "Well it's better than letting them out here to freeze to death," Romeo replied. He stomped on the gas and the truck lurched backward, slewing sideways in the snow. He engaged the four-wheel drive and slowly turned around in a wide circle as the tires spun in the snow and wet grass. Once they reached the road, Romeo nudged the truck forward, gripping the steering wheel tightly as it tried to escape from his hands.

  Low, gravelly laughter rumbled from the truck's speakers as Trina slammed her hand down on the radio. The engine raced as Romeo guided them through the snow-filled ruts. At this pace, they would reach the road in a few minutes.

  "What's going on?" Lisa cried. "Who is that on the radio?"

  "Don't worry about it," Roger said. "Let's just think about getting out of here and going for help, okay?"

  "Don't worry about it? How can you say that? Have you been paying attention?"

  Everyone slid forward in their seats as Romeo slammed on the brakes and slid to a stop in the center of the driveway.

  "What are you doing?" Dink asked. "Get us out of here."

  Romeo said nothing, but slowly raised his arm and pointed through the windshield with a shaking finger. At first, no one saw anything through the falling snow, but as the seconds ticked by, they noticed something in the middle of the road at the edge of the headlights' glow. The entire driveway was blocked by a writhing black mass; snow fell in clumps from heavy branches as the thing slowly came toward them. A large tree split and fell across the road, blocking their path, but it didn't stop the slow progress of the shadow. It went through the giant trunk and kept moving.

  "Oh my God," Trina wailed. "Go back, go back!"

  Romeo slammed the truck into reverse and backed down the driveway; the wheels remained stuck in their deep grooves, allowing Romeo to maintain control without wiping out.

  "I'm not seeing this," Beth groaned. "Not seeing this at all!"

  Romeo couldn't see the road in the rear view mirror; everything was bathed in the eerie red glow of the truck's taillights. Just as the path opened to their campsite, the truck hit a deep rut and the steering wheel jerked out of Romeo's hands. The truck spun sideways, hopped the bank, and slid to a stop in the dense forest. Before he could get it in gear, the engine coughed and died as they were plunged into darkness. He tried to get the engine going, but it wouldn't turn over. The SUV was dead in its tracks.

  "Get the flashlights," Romeo said, breathing heavily. "There should be two or three of them in a box in the back."

  "What are we going to do?" Roger asked. "What in the world was that thing?"

  "Just get the goddamn lights!" he ordered.

  As Roger sifted through the accumulated garbage in the back of the truck, something brushed against the side of the vehicle with a rasp. Trina gasped and covered her eyes as the sound continued. Something was circling them, something they couldn't see, but heavy enough to rock the truck on its springs.

  "What is that what is that what is that?" Lisa moaned.

  "I got the lights," Roger whispered. "What do we do now?"

  "Quiet," Romeo warned.

  The snow crunched around them under invisible feet as something squealed behind them.

  "Was that a fucking pig?" Beth cried.

  The squeal was joined by others, followed by deep grunts and the unmistakable sound of laughter. They held their breath as the sounds grew distant and finally vanished into the forest behind them.

  "This has to be a gag," Dink said. "This isn't happening."

  Romeo turned the key in the ignition one last time, but the engine was dead. "Okay, take a flashlight and follow me. The house is the only option. If we stay out here, we're all going to freeze to death." The interior of the truck had already grown cold, and the windows were covered in condensation. Dink clicked the button on the flashlight and covered his eyes as he was momentarily blinded.

  "Well, at least they work." Beth grabbed it from his hand as he passed the others to Roger and Romeo. The inside of the cabin was awash with a brilliant white light, but outside it looked darker than ever.

  "Maybe we shouldn't have the lights," Lisa said. "It's going to make us easier to spot."

  "I'd rather see what's chasing me than have it sneak up behind me in the dark," Romeo replied. He quietly opened the door and stepped into the snow, shining the beam of light into the forest. "There's nothing here. Come on."

  One by one they each stepped out of the truck, gazing into the snow-covered forest. Beth wiped snot from her upper lip and pushed a low-hanging branch out of the way. Luckily they had only crashed a few feet from the driveway; the house wasn't far.

  "Stay behind me," Romeo said. "We get to the house, lay low, and plan our next move."

  "Our next move?" Dink said. "My next move is to not get eaten."

  "Just keep up. Don't get separated."

  "Look at that," Beth said, tugging on Dink's arm. She shined the light into the snow and followed a set of tracks with the beam. "They look like hoof prints."

  "Don't worry about the damn prints," Lisa said. "Just move your ass."

  They followed Romeo out of the woods and onto the road, soon passing their campsite. The tents suddenly looked as if they'd been there for years, weighed down by snow, flaps whippi
ng back and forth in the wind. It reminded Beth of something she'd seen on television, a documentary about missing hikers on Mount Everest. She only hoped they didn't turn out like that, their ragged tents found years later but their bodies still missing somewhere in the deep woods of Northern Pennsylvania. She pushed the thoughts from her mind and concentrated on following her friends through the driving snow. Before long, the house stood in front of them, windows dark, quiet as a crypt.

  "What if we try Geoff's car?" Trina asked. "Maybe it'll still run."

  "We don't have keys," Beth said, "and I left my Juvenile Delinquent Handbook at home. I'm a little rusty in the fine art of hot-wiring a car."

  "Well can't we at least try?" Trina asked. "How hard can it be? It has to be a better idea than going in there."

  "If you want to try, go for it, but I'm not staying out in this fucking snow," Lisa said.

  "Fine, I will," Trina said, "and if I get it started, you owe me an apology."

  "I wouldn't hold your breath."

  Trina grabbed the flashlight from Beth's hands and turned to walk away when the silence was shattered by a long, whining howl. She turned back to her friends, but before she could open her mouth, a massive shape darted out of the forest and knocked her to the ground. The others stood frozen and watched as a massive black and gray wolf stood over Trina and sniffed at her thick, blond hair. It was twice the size of any wolf any of them had ever seen. Saliva dripped from its mouth as it hunkered down and prepared to pounce on anyone that made a move.

  "Trina, stay still," Romeo whispered.

  Trina obeyed, but not by choice. She'd been knocked unconscious by the enormous beast. It stood over her, shielding its prey. The others slowly stepped away and climbed the steps backward, unable to take their eyes from the giant wolf and its shining, crimson eyes. Snow quickly coated its pelt as it eyed them warily. Ever so slowly, it lowered its head and licked Trina's face. The scent of her skin was too much to bear.

  With a growl, the wolf grabbed Trina's throat and shook its giant head quickly from side to side as a gout of blood rained into the air and pattered into the fresh snow. The wolf stood there, chewing its warm meal as steam escaped from the gaping hole in Trina's neck. It nibbled on her hands, ripped strips of flesh from her exposed arms, lapped at the thick river of blood leaking from her ruined throat. It clamped its teeth around her ankle and crunched down before bounding off into the darkness, leaving a trail of bloody snow in its wake.

  In a jumble of arms and feet, the others ran inside as their terrified screams blended into one cacophonous drone.

  The house, and whatever lived in its cavernous rooms, awaited them with open arms.

  ***

  Geoff had been awake for over five minutes, quietly scanning the small room and trying to get his bearings. Stacy snored next to him, curled into a fetal position on the worn wooden floor. He'd had some really bad mornings in the past - waking up in strange places, surrounded by people he didn't know - but this was different. He remembered everything he'd done before falling asleep; every joint he smoked, every beer he drank, the tension between him and Romeo. He crawled into a tent outside an abandoned house and woke up somewhere else. His head ached and his back was sore from lying on the hard floor.

  Where the hell am I?

  Geoff stood and stretched before tip-toeing to the front of the room, where large, cloudy windows looked out onto an empty, snow-covered street. The only sound was that of his feet creaking on loose boards. He rubbed his eyes to make sure what he was seeing was real.

  "Snow?" he muttered. "I went and did it this time. I lost my damn mind."

  "Who are you talking to?" Stacy mumbled. "Close the tent, it's cold in here."

  "Um, Stacy, we're not in the tent."

  She slowly sat up and looked around, wincing at the pain in her neck. "What happened? Where are we?"

  Geoff shook his head but had no words to describe their current predicament. His breath escaped in a white cloud as he rubbed his hands together to get feeling back into his numb fingers.

  "What's going on?" Stacy asked.

  "I don't know. What do you remember from last night?"

  "Are we back in the house?"

  "No, we're not in the house... and it's snowing out there."

  Stacy laughed and stood up. "Now you're pulling my leg." She walked up behind him and looked over his shoulder into the dark street outside. Her breath caught in her throat.

  "Told you," Geoff said.

  "Wait a second," she said. "How is that possible? It's July!"

  "Does it look like July to you?"

  Geoff shook his head and turned away from the windows. Stacy saw his wide-eyed stare and gasped as the reality of the situation sunk in. Something had happened to them, something neither of them could remember. She had a clear memory of the night before, but it stopped the second she crawled into her sleeping bag. She wasn't sure if her body trembled from the cold or from the fear that slowly wrapped around her heart like icy fingers.

  "Where are the others?" Geoff asked the empty room. "Where are the tents? Where's the house? What in the world is going on?"

  Stacy had no reply. Geoff might as well have been asking her the meaning of life.

  Geoff stood next to a dusty counter, squinting into the gloom and shuffling through a stack of papers sitting next to a forgotten cash register. His eyes had adjusted enough to see that they'd awoken in some long-abandoned grocery store, one that had been shuttered for some time based on the amount of dust on the nearby shelves. He reached out and grabbed a small calendar from the counter, holding it close to his face.

  "July 18th," he said.

  "So it's still July," Stacy said, relieved.

  "1986."

  Stacy felt the blood drain from her face as she grabbed the calendar from Geoff's hand. "Let me see that. 'Macelli's Market. Seventy-five years of quality. Elmview's Premier Grocer. July 18th, 1986.'"

  "What does that even mean?" Geoff asked. "How can that be?"

  "The place looks like it's been abandoned for years," she replied.

  "Elmview, Stacy. How the fuck did we wind up in Elmview?"

  She looked at the calendar again, reading the words carefully. "There must be some explanation. Maybe we drove here. It wouldn't be the dumbest thing we've ever done."

  "Then where's the truck? Where are the others?"

  "I don't know," she shouted, tossing the calendar on the floor. "There has to be something that makes sense."

  "This was a bad idea."

  "No, leaving camp and coming here was a bad idea."

  "Are you blind?" Geoff shouted. "We're miles away from where we went to sleep, and it's snowing in July. Does any of that make sense to you?" He stomped to the front of the store and looked out into the street. "We're not supposed to be here."

  "So let's leave," she said. "We'll walk back to camp if we have to."

  "We're not dressed for this. We'd freeze before we got back. This is crazy."

  "Call Romeo or Dink. Maybe they know what's happening."

  Geoff pulled his phone from his pocket, but it was completely dead. It didn't surprise him. He shook his head and sighed.

  "This is insane," he whispered. "It's just not possible."

  "Wait," Stacy yelled. "If we're in Elmview, maybe that explains it. You said there was a gas leak, and that people were hallucinating. Maybe we're just imagining all this?"

  "That was thirty years ago, and it still doesn't explain how we got here. You think we're hallucinating the snow?"

  Geoff pushed on the front door and it opened easily, letting in a gust of frigid air. He scooped his hand through the snow, squeezed it into a small ball of ice, and tossed it to Stacy. She caught it and frowned as it slowly melted in her palm.

  "It's snow," she said.

  "Of course it's snow! Do you still think you're hallucinating?" He shivered and closed the door, wiping his wet hand on his pants.

  "Well, we can't just stay here, can we?"


  "That's exactly what we're going to do. Stay here, wait for the snow to stop, and form a plan."

  "How do you plan for this? It doesn't make any..."

  She was interrupted by a loud scraping sound from the floor above. The harder they listened, the quieter the noise became, as if whatever had made it wanted to continue unnoticed. When Stacy opened her mouth to speak, Geoff put his index finger to his lips and shook his head slowly. The wind gusted and rattled the windows at the front of the store; visibility beyond the sidewalk had gone down to nothing. Geoff felt like he'd been trapped inside the world's most demented snow globe.

  "I hear the pitter-patter of little feet," a voice growled overhead. "I wasn't expecting company on such a snowy night."

  "Who's there?" Geoff called. "We don't want any trouble."

  "And yet you've found it," the voice replied. "Aren't you a little old to be playing games in the snow?"

  Stacy grabbed Geoff's hand and squeezed until his knuckles cracked. Breath escaped from her lips in quick, shallow puffs. A cold wind swirled around them and blew the stack of paper from the counter; an old Kit-Cat clock came to life on the wall, its beady eyes swinging from side to side, its tail scratching at the wall with an off-beat rhythm. The clock's hands slowly began ticking down the seconds in reverse.

  "Do you think it's safer out there than it is in here?" the voice questioned. "Stay a while, put your feet up, let me show you some good old-fashioned hospitality."

  "That's okay," Geoff moaned. "I think we'll take our chances."

  "Suit yourself. I wouldn't want to ruin our new friendship by being a bad host."

  At the back of the room, a shadowy staircase led up into the darkened second floor. Stacy was the first to see movement, and although her brain screamed for her to run, her feet felt like they were nailed to the floor. A figure appeared halfway down the stairs, slithering into the dim light on squat, misshapen legs. It looked something like a skinned alligator, dragging a long, scaly tail that thumped from side to side as it descended one step at a time. Its flesh was cracked and bloody, covered in suppurating pockets of milky liquid; its eyes had been sewn shut with rusty wire, and black, gelatinous sludge bubbled from its toothy snout. It hit the floor with a watery splat and dragged itself toward them, leaving a trail of steaming muck behind it. It whipped back and forth, knocking metal shelves aside as it slid down the aisle, bringing with it the meaty smell of fresh roadkill.