Halloween
One
Mike Holiday checked the map again with his flashlight as his wife, Peg, drove. He frowned as he traced the line that marked the route they had been following. They were right on course.
"Are we there yet?" Mike's son, Scooter, tried to peer over the front seats of the minivan out the front window. The sun had gone down hours ago and there wasn't much to see out the side windows.
"Sit down." Mike folded the map. "We'll be there when we get there."
"I thought there was supposed to be some kind of festival, Dad." June Holiday stared out the window on her side of the van behind Mike. Being trapped in a moving cracker box with her family for hours had forced her to a resigned sort of indifference.
"There is, honey." Mike put the map in his door's pocket. "We're looking for a sign for Altamoral, Peg."
"Right." Peg preferred to drive on these trips. She trusted her reflexes a lot more than she did Mike's.
"What's so big about a festival?" Scooter dropped in his seat. At eleven, he had tested high for his intelligence and aptitudes, but he preferred the things he was interested in over what he perceived as work.
"It's like a parade and block party." June shook her head.
"People do that for Halloween?" Scooter looked at her in disbelief.
"Some do, son." Mike scanned the road ahead, looking for the sign that he needed. "Grandpa thought I should look into it."
"Dad put you on this?" Peg slowed as she looked over.
"Sure." Mike frowned right back. "I thought he talked to you about it."
"No, he didn't." Peg slowed even more, not looking for the road sign, but for a place to turn around. "This has that smell about it already, Mike."
"I'm sure it's nothing, honey." Mike braced his hands against the dashboard. "That thing was five years ago."
"You should have told me Dad was involved." Peg put down on the gas. "We'll talk about this in private."
"Dad's in trouble." Scooter bounced in his seat.
"I don't need any help from the peanut gallery." Peg looked around her seat. "Got it, mister?"
Scooter buckled up, clamping his mouth shut. June smiled slightly.
The green sign with white arrow pointing flashed in the headlights' beams. The side road appeared next. Peg slowed slightly, then twisted the wheel. The van rolled down toward the town of Altamoral.
"We're looking for the Sleep Inn." Mike checked the note he had written on a piece of note pad paper. "It's supposed to be the first hotel on the left."
"I see it." Peg slowed as they rolled down the main road toward the low slung cream and brown building. A lit green sign marked the front of the parking lot. "I'll let you out to check us in."
"As soon as I get the room number, we can park the van next to the outer door." Mike and Peg had been on the road for a while. In their experience, the higher the room number, the further away from the front desk, so they might as well find the nearest outer door to unpack their cases.
"Right." Peg rolled into the loop in front of the front doors. Mike climbed out with a crackling, walking through the sliding doors.
"This isn't about a festival, is it, Mom?" June watched her father standing by the front desk talking to the clerk.
"I don't know, honey." Peg also watched through the passenger side window. "Your father should know better than to listen to your grandpa."
"Because Grandpa is crazy?" Scooter unbuckled his seatbelt again.
"I wouldn't say crazy." Peg stretched her arms. "He knows a lot of things, and sometimes he doesn't keep them as organized as he should."
"What does that mean?" Scooter stopped still as he thought about that.
"He's senile." June shook her head. "Grandpa must be ninety. It was bound to happen."
"Dad is anything but senile." Peg looked at her husband, remembering how he had looked in the hospital five years ago. He had been on the edge of dying. Now his tall, barrelchested frame carried him along with a semblance of his earlier grace and dexterity.
"What happened five years ago?" Scooter frowned. "Wasn't that when Dad was out of town for so long?"
"Yes." Peg had told her kids that Mike had been out of the country instead of in the hospital. It seemed easier than telling them that Mike had been badly hurt and wasn't expected to live.
"How long are we going to be here?" June changed position in her seat.
"Tonight at least." Peg smiled as Mike started back toward them. "We'll see tomorrow."
"We're in one eighty six, honey." Mike climbed in. "Let's drive around and unpack."
"We'll drive around." Peg stepped on the gas peddle. "We'll unpack after we have had our talk."
"Okay."
Two
Mike and Peg sent the kids to the hotel room with their cases. They didn't like the kids seeing them argue even though they did. They worked hard at the fiction of family unity.
"Why didn't you tell me Dad was behind this?" Peg tapped her foot.
"Because I knew you would be mad and we would have a fight." Mike tried to smile. "And look, that's what's happening."
"Following up on something Dad told you is what landed you in the hospital, Mike." Peg tapped her foot faster. "Don't try to charm your way out of this."
"That was a fluke." Mike spread his arms wide. "No one could have known about the mummy."
"Dad knew." Peg shook her head. "He told me. That's how I found you and called the ambulance to get you to the ER."
"He couldn't have known, Peg." Mike frowned. "I didn't even know where I was right before things started happening. He must have been guessing somehow."
"Dad doesn't guess." Peg shook her head again. "He set you up. Maybe he had second thoughts, maybe you blundered into something he didn't want looked at too closely, but he sent you in there to stir things up and you did."
"And you think he's doing it again?" Mike shook his head. "He wouldn't do that to you and the kids. You're his world."
"He's old and bitter, Mike." Peg gave her husband a hug. "We should get out of here as fast as possible."
"I can't do that, Honey." Mike closed his arms around her. "I would like to but we need the money too bad to just walk away."
"All right, but we go everywhere together." Peg looked up in his eyes, marveling at the way they caught the light differently from each other. "We stick together like glue until we leave. Anything dangerous, we leave right away."
"Don't you think that's a little confining?" Mike smiled, looking down. "The kids will have driven you crazy way before I'm done looking around."
"We're all in, or none of us are." Peg put a hand on his cheek. "I'd rather be dead than lose you."
"Don't worry." Mike sneaked a kiss on her lips. "Nothing is going to happen."
"We'll see." Peg broke the contact. "Let's get our stuff unpacked. I need a shower and some sleep."
"I need something to eat." Mike looked around the parking lot, spotting glowing signs hanging in the night air. "Looks like bastions of civilization are ripe for the raiding."
"We'll all go after we unpack." Peg followed his gaze. "None of us are going to be left alone."
"The kids are alone right now." Mike pointed out.
"I can see them both looking at us." Peg smiled again. "As long as they're in the window, they aren't out of sight. So we unpack, get dinner and settle in. Deal?"
"Deal, honey." Mike went to the van's rear door and opened it. "Let's get it done."
The Holidays spent the next few minutes shuffling luggage to their hotel room. Mike's stomach started growling halfway through the unloading much to everyone else's amusement. He took the good humored joking in stride. Peg took a minute to wash her face, then checked the kids over. They locked the room up and walked across the empty road toward the beacons of happy meals.
Mike knew something was going on. Peg's father wouldn't have asked him to look into it otherwise. The problem was Peg. She wouldn't let him out of her sight after what had happened, and knowing her father was involved only intensified her watchfulness. He might have to duck her if he wanted to get anything done.
He filed those thoughts for later when he had a chance to make his escape.
Three
Mike Holiday got up in the morning before the rest of the family, got dressed and took the van into town. He waved at Peg as she rushed out the hotel door to try and stop him. He would pay for that later.
Mike started by getting the lay of the land. He drove all over town, gaining a passing familiarity as he used a map to navigate. He didn't want to be stuck somewhere and not know how to get back to the hotel.
It also allowed him to check things out before he got involved in whatever Peg's father wanted him to look for in the place.
Mike decided to start by checking with the local library. Many a mystery had been solved with the useful search through old papers and magazines. Maybe something in that would stir the old brain to thinking.
An excuse to get out of the doghouse would be great.
Mike parked near the door, checked the hours in white letters on the glass door, saw that he was just past the official opening time. He went in and asked for the paper repository and the 80-year-old clerk pointed him to a reader in the back of the reading area with a decorated fingernail at the end of a liver-spotted hand. Holiday thanked her, thinking something was off with her eyes but put it aside to spend the next few hours reading.
Mike's research yielded a legal pad full of notes on the town, on the annual festival and its sponsors, several things he took for police coverups of unusual activity. The last didn't surprise him. No one wanted the local cash cow tainted by a weird crime.
Whatever was in those coverups was why he was in town. He was sure of that. How to get a handle on it eluded him at the moment.
The thought he should pick up Peg and the kids occurred to him so Mike thanked the librarian and headed back to the hotel. He didn't like the way the trees all looked like they had faces glaring at him as he drove by.
That was a bad sign that he had seen before. He hoped he was wrong but thought maybe he should ask Peg to take the kids home while he dealt with whatever was going on.
He wondered how he could persuade her to go. It wouldn't be easy.
Mike rolled into the hotel's parking lot after securing Subway sandwiches for everyone. That should be enough to slow Peg down while he tried to think of something he could divert her with so she would go home.
He put the planning on hold when he walked over to their room and the family was gone. Their luggage was in the closet, but Peg's bag was gone. He put the sandwiches down on the dresser, and started walking the halls.
Mike wandered all over the hotel before going to the desk. The clerk looked at him with baleful eyes. It was the same look as the librarian earlier. Her thin lips pursed as she walked over to the counter, hair drawn back in some kind of giant hair clip.
"How's it going?" Mike decided to try and be diplomatic before yanking the clerk's hair out. "I'm staying here and I was wondering if my wife left a note for me. The name is Holiday."
"Room number?" The clerk seemed angry that he was interrupting her soaps. She also resembled the librarian in more than facial expressions now that Mike had time to compare the two.
Mike gave her the room number. She turned and went to a box on the shelf for letters to the rooms. Half the room cards glittered in the little cubby holes. Maybe she was upset at the slow business.
"I don't see anything." The clerk turned back. "Anything else?"
"No, thank you." Mike forced a smile and a wave before going back to his room. "Maybe they went over to the burger place."
Mike settled on the bed, pulling his sandwich out of the bag with a can of coke from the machine down the hall. He pulled out his pad, eating while he read. He would give Peg and the kids a couple of hours before he went out looking for them.
This was obviously her way of getting back for him leaving her behind while he checked the town out on his own. He had to push the worry aside while he waited. He wanted to be calm so he could ask her to leave with a straight face.
That would be a major problem in itself.
Four
Mike checked his watch for the hundredth time. He put aside his worry as much as he could. Even though he knew Peg would look after the kids, he didn't like the fact they had left their room to wander off on foot.
Anything could happen in such a place as the newspaper clippings had indicated from his morning research.
It was no wonder Peg's dad had wanted someone looking into this festival. Too many things were going on at the same time of year to be a coincidence. One event maybe, multiple events that happened at the same time on the same day stretched that into something that resembled taffy Mike used to buy on trips to summer beaches when he was a kid.
The main problem was Mike didn't know what was responsible. All of the stories seemed to center on fatal accidents. He expected murders that looked like accidents. The problem was the local sheriff had closed each case with the finding of an accident. Mike had an idea that the law wouldn't reopen things on his say so.
He needed something solid to show them if they were uninvolved in things.
If they were involved, he needed proof of a real variety so he could walk away free and clear.
So no matter what he did, he would be better off steering clear of the local authorities and looking into things on his own under the guise of writing a book about the festival. Peg and the kids became both a camouflage and potential hostages depending on how hard he pushed.
Mike checked his notes and the map he had bought of the county. Pencil marks made a rough circle of an area not far from where he had seen the library. He remembered the street signs from his roaming around. He folded the map to show just that portion of the town, and opened the door.
"I told you he came back to the hotel." Scooter's voice echoed down the hall from the other end of the hotel. "No one ever believes me."
"Indoor voice, Michael Anthony." Peg came into sight as Mike stepped into the hall. She carried a bag of things in one hand as she came down the faded green carpet.
"What you got, Honey?" Mike put on false cheer to avert the potential blow up he could see looming on the horizon. "Souvenirs?"
"I thought we were going to stick together." Peg's voice held more ice than winter in Siberia. "I thought we were all going everywhere no matter what."
"I went and did some reading on the local history, Honey." Mike tried to smile. "And I got Subway. It's a little cold now, but it should still be edible."
"What kind of sandwich did you get me, Dad?" Scooter slid by, hoping to get out of range of the grownups before the wrath spilled down on him.
"We found some knick knacks, Dad." June held up a stuffed clown from her bag. She had trailed her mother and brother, fading into shadow until Mike focused on her. The clown had an evil grin that made Mike want to burn it.
Maybe he was seeing things again.
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Peg glared at him. "Other than I got a sandwich. That won't get you out of the doghouse, mister."
"I thought we could take a nice ride. I saw some good looking houses when I went to the library." Mike held his breath for the answer. He wanted her to leave, but not in an angry storm.
"All right." Scooter sounded happily from inside the room. "I got a meatball sub."
"I know you're trying to ditch us." Peg whispered so the kids wouldn't hear in the hotel room. "I'm on to your game."
"Yes, dear." Mike tried not to sigh. That would only make things worse.
"Don't drive off without us again." Peg looked around. "This town is creepy. Everyone looks like family."
"I noticed that too." Mike thought about the looks the librarian and the hotel clerk gave him. "I thought it was just my imagination."
"Only if your imagination was everyone marrying their brother and sister." Peg stepped into the room.
"I'm sorry the food's cold." Mike handed the one untouched sub to Peg. "I got back and you were gone shopping."
"Don't expect an apology, mister." Peg inspected her sandwich with a frown. "What is it about those houses?"
"I thought we could do a riding tour of the place while we waited for the festival to start tomorrow." Mike smiled. "I didn't see a historical park sign, but some of them looked well preserved and more than a hundred years old."
"I'll drive." Peg threw her sandwich in the trash.
Five
Mike sat in the passenger seat taking pictures, as Peg drove and the kids rode in the back. He didn't expect much to come of what he was doing. He just wanted to look the ground over. He might have to come back in the middle of the night to deal with things.
The things he dealt with loved to move around at night. He didn't expect this trip to be any exception despite what he told Peg.
"Everyone must be related, Dad." Scooter bounced in his seat. "The kids look like bulldogs."
"Michael Anthony." Peg shook her head.
"He's right, Mom." June tapped the window beside her as she watched the road moving by. "They do look like bulldogs."
"There might be a genetic reason for that." Mike thought the kids looked like goblins. "They might all have common ancestors."
"The whole town?" Scooter picked up his game boy and fiddled with it before putting it down again.
"It depends on how many people settled, how many married within the community, how many new genes came in over the years." Mike took a picture of one of the target houses. "If twenty people started the town, and they all married together with few people joining the tree, they might all look alike."
"I guess." Scooter looked at the people on the street. "Are you sure?"
"That means they married their relatives." June made a face. "That can't be good."
"It's not healthy." Mike took another picture as they cruised down the street. "The royalty of Europe used to marry cousins off and such. That led to several diseases becoming prevalent in their blood lines."
"Yuck." Scooter stuck out his tongue. "Who would want to marry their cousin?"
"I think it was the law, or something." June smiled, shining bright for once instead of her customary grayness. "The princes had to marry girls who were from other royal families, but they all became related in some way."
"That's still pretty gross." Scooter made another face. "I wouldn't do that."
"Not even for a whopper?" Mike smiled as he took another picture.
"Not even for a whole Burger King." Scooter shook his head at the thought.
"Can we talk about something else?" Peg slowed to take in a two-story house with actual gables on the front. "The festival is tomorrow. I don't think the townsfolk want strangers mixing in."
"I wonder if there will be a parade." Scooter brightened at the thought of bands marching down the street in front of them. "Maybe a block party."
"Maybe we can go trick or treating." June went back to looking out her window.
"I'll be working." Mike held up his camera. "Your Mom will have to take you. If you guys want to swing by that mall instead of going out, that might be easier."
"Everything's closed for this festival thing." Peg grimaced. "Signs were everywhere. If we had came tomorrow, we wouldn't have gotten a room at the motel."
"I missed that." Mike took a picture of his last house. He wanted to go back to the hotel to look at the pictures and reread the reports. "Maybe you guys should head home so you can celebrate while I finish up. I can rent a car or something and charge it to your dad."
"We already talked about this." Peg glared at him. He tried to look friendly and open. "We all stay, or we all go."
"Yes, dear." Mike snapped another picture. He needed something persuasive to get them out of town. He had a feeling that outsiders were in trouble when things started. He could take care of himself but he didn't want his family around as a distraction.
"Let's get out and walk around." Peg pulled over and parked. "We need to stretch our legs."
The kids groaned, but Mike bailed out quickly. He didn't like being on foot, but he didn't want to alert Peg that he wanted them to leave. She was already being mulish about it.
She would stay if she thought he was trying to get rid of her.
She was staying right now unless he could think of something to get her out of town. Maybe he could ask Scooter to fake an illness that needed to be taken care of at a hospital. He knew there was only a small doctor's office in town. The nearest hospital was in the next county.
Mike discarded the idea. Peg would insist he stay in the hospital with them. If he did that, he would have to wait until next year to figure out what was going on.
He watched his family, hiding his worry. He needed to get them out of town some way. There had to be something he could send them for which would let him stay behind while they were gone. He thought but came up with nothing.
Six
The Holidays stopped under a tree to survey the scene. Mike looked at the glowering trees, the hateful squirrels, and the looming picket fences. He knew his instincts were telling him bad stuff was about to happen sometime.
"I don't like this, Dad." Scooter crowded next to his parents. "Everything looks wrong."
"Close your eyes, count to three, and say gone, gone, gone." Mike glanced at Peg. "Everything will clear up."
"Gone, gone, gone." Scooter looked up at the top branches of the nearest tree. "That's a neat trick."
"It's an optical illusion." Mike tried to think of a reasonable explanation. "Once you close your eyes, that breaks it up so everything goes back to normal."
"You kids go ahead." Peg gave them a nudge. "Look after your brother, Junie."
The kids walked ahead to give their parents the illusion of privacy.
"What's going on, Mike?" Peg watched Scooter as he jumped up and down. "Optical illusion?"
Mike didn't want to say anything except to be a comfort. He weighed everything but couldn't think of a good way to put things. A tree glared down at him.
"I think Scooter is having a psychic flash." Mike went back over the words he had just uttered. They seemed the truest things he had spoken all week. "Everything looks bad because he's getting a warning he should take off."
"You're getting the same thing, aren't you?" Peg glared in triumph at the wince on his face. "That's why you have been wanting us to leave. You're getting these same flashes."
"I wouldn't say the same thing." Mike winced again. Of course, it wasn't the same thing. He knew the warning signs when he saw them.
"So when were you going to tell me about this?" Peg put her hands on her hips.
"Never." Mike kept walking so she had to walk to keep up. "I'm just looking around. I admit I don't think having your family along on the job is a good thing, but I know that you won't leave if you think there's going to be trouble."
Mike took in a deep breath. It felt good to say everything he felt instead of holding it in. Then he could sit through the storm, and go about his business. He kept an eye on the kids while he waited for Peg to reach critical mass.
"I don't approve, Mike." Peg walked along, storm in abeyance with an exertion of her iron will. "We need to all get out of here."
"I need you guys to get out of here while I try to figure out what's going on." Mike looked the neighborhood over, wondering where the local kids were. "I think I have a handle on things but I don't want you caught in the crossfire."
"I don't want to wait in the hospital for you to wake up." Peg clenched her hands into fists. "I don't want to lose any more of you than I already have."
"We need the money to pay my hospital bills." Mike shook his head. "I can't pass this job up because it might be dangerous. I need to work so we can have food on the table. I'll take care of myself."
"All in, or all out." Peg shook her head. "We can starve a little longer if we have to."
"That's a big risk for the family, honey." Mike hunched his shoulders, feeling like he was losing the argument. "We can't lose everything because you want to be a mother hen."
"Don't start with me, Michael Holiday." Stamp went the foot of displeasure. "You like to take risks over keeping the family together."
"That's not true." Mike looked around, glad that no one else was on the street. "I need to be able to move. Having you guys here ties me down, makes it hard for me to get things done. And I don't think this will wait until next Halloween. Can't you give me the three days I need?"
"No." Peg firmed her lips in a straight line. "I need to be here in case something happens. I need to look out for you."
"No, you don't." Mike had been in a lot of hairy situations before and after being married. He had never taken his wife along for any of them. "You're being stubborn so you can get your way."
"How can you say that?" Peg flinched as if from a blow.
"Because there's no reason for you to stay, and every reason to get off my back." Mike looked around again. "That's especially true since Scooter is showing a knack."
Peg started sobbing. Mike hugged her gently, unsure what else to do. He hated having to take a stand like that. He should have thought of something else to say.
The band music started then.
Seven
The parade started a few blocks over. The family went to look, to see what the show was about. Mike noticed no one else went to watch. People cleared the street at a quick walk.
"Turn around." Mike grabbed the kids by the shoulders and tugged at them to walk with him. "Head back to the van."
"What's going on, Mike?" Peg hurried to keep up with him as he half-dragged the kids down the sidewalk.
"I just got a bad feeling." Mike picked up the pace, glancing over his shoulder. "We don't want to be out in the open when the parade comes by."
"I don't understand." Peg didn't argue. She scooped up Scooter in her arms and started trotting to keep up with her husband.
"I can walk, Mom." Scooter looked around. "I'm not a baby."
"There's the van, Dad." June pointed at the vehicle. "The wheels are flat."
"Here's the keys, Junie." Mike handed over the key chain. "I want you to open the doors for us."
June ran ahead and unlocked the van's sliding door. She looked inside, glad that no one waited for her. She jumped inside, sliding over to the passenger side after she unlocked the front doors for her parents. Scooter was handed into the rear seat like a sack of groceries.
"I want you two to get down in the floor board and hide." Mike went to the luggage in the back. "Don't get up unless we say so."
Mike moved the bags they had left in the van out of the way. He pulled open the top of the spare tire compartment. He smiled at what he saw inside. One hand grabbed something that looked like a camera on a rifle stock, and a meter. A flip of a switch said the devices were in perfect order and ready to justify their existence.
He went to the front of the car. Peg had dropped one of the seats so she could hide with the children. If something happened, he doubted that would do any good, but at least she could keep them quiet.
Mike climbed in the front seat, folding the arms up out of the way. He made sure everything was locked down as he held the meter and the camera at his side. They were still too exposed to whatever the band meant.
Mike didn't think it was anything good. Otherwise, why cut the tires to keep them in place?
"Remember to stay down out of sight." Mike set the camera up to shoot out the window with as little exposure to himself as he could. He placed the meter right beside it and turned it on. "I don't know if what I'm feeling is just because this town is weird, or because of my accident. Either way, we wait out of sight until the parade is gone, then try to call someone who'll bring us tires for the van."
"I don't want to be scrunched down like this, Dad." Scooter shifted around, elbowing his sister for room.
"Watch it." June elbowed back.
"Stop that, the both of you." Mike felt his calm wearing down into hysteria and grabbed hold before he did something he would regret. "Do what I say. I don't want either one of you hurt. This could be bad, really bad. Now I want you to wait and be quiet until the parade is gone."
"All right, kids." Peg gathered them up in her arms, trying to protect them with the small amount of body and huge will that she had. "We're going to do this so no fussing, or fighting."
Mike looked down the street to the next block. The parade came into sight, brass wailing for all it was worth. The tune seemed discordant to his ears, painful to listen to, and out of step with what he thought of as band music. The marchers swung their instruments in time as they came down the middle of the road.
Mike pointed the camera at the parade and pulled the trigger. The meter buzzed as the music increased in volume. Holiday wasn't surprised that he hadn't seen any stray animals with that wafting through the trees.
No dog dared listen to that, or stay in one place as the band played their extraordinarily bad music. Their sensitive hearing would have told them to beat it without question.
Mike struggled to stay down under the edge of the window himself. He grappled with the desire to start the van and mow the band down on his rims. His hands kept the camera shooting to keep him from acting on his desire.
The music wailed on without mercy, but slowly it passed and faded until they could no longer hear it. The kids started to struggle to get up, but Peg held them in case something was wrong. She held up a finger to keep them from talking.
"I'm going to take a peek." Mike pulled the camera back, checked the readings on the meter. Whatever the music meant, the readings were dropping to normal now that the band had moved toward the next mile of houses. "I'll let you know if it's safe."
Mike waited another few minutes before sticking his head up enough to look outside. Everything seemed quiet. People stepped out on their porches and front stoops. The town was getting back to normal business.
"Everything seems okay." Mike sat up, tucking the camera between the seats. "We'll need to call for assistance and get tires for the van. It looks like they missed us, guys."
"They sure did." Scooter bounced up. "What was that all about, Dad?"
"I don't know, Scooter." Mike climbed out of the van, sampling the air as he used his cell phone. "I'm just glad nothing bad happened while we were trapped in there."
"Are you sure this wasn't some kind of overreaction, Honey?" Peg helped June out, looking around for any lingering threat.
"Ask me again tomorrow." Mike found a service station outside of town and called them. He told the man on the phone what he needed. He nodded as he confirmed the address. "The music bothered me so I got us under cover. I think there would have been real trouble if we hadn't got in the car and hunkered down. There still might be."
"Are we leaving town, Dad?" Scooter bounced beside the disabled car.
"You guys are." Mike looked up and down the street. "I still have work to do."
Eight
The Holidays sat in their hotel room. Mike and Peg had argued for hours while they waited for a mechanic, during the changing of the tires, and on the way back to the hotel room. They had lapsed in a sullen silence as the kids decided to amuse themselves with video games, and a book, until the parents finally agreed what they should do.
Scooter picked up the camera gun his father had brought in from the van and started playing the recording of the band. Maybe there was something on it that was interesting. Maybe he could see who had slashed the tires so they could call the police.
The tape was evidence that something was wrong in that stupid town.
Scooter covered his mouth to hold the scream he felt coming up. He shut his eyes, but couldn't unsee what had been burned in his brain for as long as he lived. A trembling hand shut the screen off before he started to cry.
June put her book down when she noticed her brother was unusually quiet. She looked over. He sat in front of the camera gun, hand over his mouth. She frowned before walking over to sit beside him. His eyes were like a horse ready to bolt at the first sign of trouble.
That was unusual enough on its own.
"What's wrong, Scooter?" June hugged her brother. She couldn't remember doing that in a long time.
"We're dead, June." Scooter closed his eyes. "There were things on the tape. We're in the middle of monsters. They're going to kill us."
"Dad won't let them do that." June reached for the camera to see what was on it for herself. Her brother's hand clutched her arm like a dying man.
"Don't look at it." Scooter couldn't bring himself to talk above a whisper. He thought he would scream if he tried. "Take it to Dad, but don't look at it."
"All right." June picked up the camera and put it under her arm. "Do you want some soda or something?"
Scooter violently shook his head. He didn't want anything but to run for the hills. Instead he sat and thought of how long he had to live. He didn't think it would be past Halloween.
His whole life passed by in his mind and was over in seconds no matter how much he tried to concentrate on one portion.
June watched her brother as she walked over to where her parents glared at each other. They weren't often like this, but when they were it sometimes took hours for them to reach some compromise. She didn't think they had that much time.
"I think you should see this." June whispered to them when they both turned their heads to acknowledge her presence. "Scooter watched was what recorded and he's freaking out."
Mike took the camera and started playing the recording from the start. He held the screen so Peg could watch over his shoulder if she wanted. Her glowering aura became darker as they watched the band come down the street with their flesh ripped away in spots, mists full of things erupting from the holes in their bodies. Mike shut the recording down.
"We're leaving." Mike stood from the small table. "Grab what you want and let's get out of here."
"Our things." Peg stood also, looking around, snagging her purse on her forearm.
"We're ditching." Mike walked over and scooped his son up under his arm. "Don't leave anything with your name on it."
"They won't let us leave, Dad." Scooter reached down for his Nintendo DS but missed it from where it hung. "We're dead."
"We're ditching." Mike flipped his son up so they could see eye to eye. "No one is going to stop us. We're going fast out of here."
"Okay. I'm okay." Scooter took a deep breath. "Let me get my games and stuff."
"We're going down to the exit and getting in the van and taking off." Mike went to the door, meter at the ready. "Peg, get the keys ready since you're driving. Kids, stay between me and your mom. Anything happens, find a place to hide and wait until sun up and do what you can to get out of town. Got it?"
June put her arm around Scooter. They both nodded.
"We're in this together." Mike opened the door. "Everybody ready?"
The chorus of yeses didn't fill him with hope. He stepped out in the hall, glancing one way, then the other. He ushered his family out, letting Peg go first toward the exit. He kept an eye out for trouble as they walked.
The hall stretched out in front of them, dilated by Mike's fear of something happening. If they had been marked, he thought that the town would be watching them right now. Leaving without the luggage might throw them off.
How many vacationers left their clothes behind?
Peg paused at the door, looking out on the deserted parking lot. She felt something was wrong. She didn't know what looked out of place. She just knew that something nagged her perception for a precious moment as she looked for anyone to block their escape.
Peg stepped outside, holding the door for the kids. She started toward the van as Mike herded the siblings in front of him. They might be trying to look casual but she didn't think they were fooling anyone watching them.
There was bound to be trouble.
"Something isn't right." Mike stepped to keep the kids between his body and the hotel's bricks. "Let me get some things out of the cargo before we get in the van, Peg."
"Got it." Peg waited by the passenger side of the van, keeping the kids next to the metal body as Mike opened the concealed compartment in the body of the van.
Nine
Mike Holiday pulled several cases out of the space under the seats. He frowned as he looked around. The shadows appeared to be grim scarecrows pointing at him. Something bad was going to happen.
He put the cases in the van and opened them. It was time to find out what was really going on and stop it.
"Take these, Peg." Mike handed her goggles that seemed built out of Pringle's chip cans. "Put them on and hit the switch on the side. The battery should still be good."
"Right." Peg followed the instructions without comment. "Everything looks like daytime."
"Take the camera, June, and point it out the back window. Stay beneath the door for protection." Mike pushed the seats down out of the way before he climbed in and shut the body door behind him. "Let me know if anything shows up on the screen."
June nodded. She set the stock so she could hold it with her hands above her head, but twisted so the screen fell in front of her face. The metal door covered her when she was sitting down.
"Scooter, this is the meter." Mike handed over the small device. "This is a booster pack. Plug them in and let me know if the scale starts climbing."
"Right, Dad." Scooter grinned as he took the laptop and collection of wires, and the meter from that afternoon. He hunkered down beside his sister, and started plugging the meter into the laptop. The screen came on with a blue glow as it self evaluated before indicating it was ready.
"We can't expect these guys to let us go." Mike started clicking parts together from the cases. He knew how they worked, had tested them on a smaller scale, but this would be the biggest thing he had used them on since he had helped build them. "We're going to try the soft approach and sneak away first. If that doesn't work, we might have to fight."
"What's all that stuff, Dad?" Scooter stared at the equipment laid out on the floor in front of him.
"This is an energy pulse gun." Mike flicked the switch, listening to the whine of it powering up. "It won't hurt humans, but it will stop spooks like we photographed. It breaks them up so they can't do anything."
"This other stuff?" Scooter wanted to grab something but knew better. He didn't want to accidentally blow the van up with one wrong move.
"This is a shield for the van." Mike placed a black box under the passenger seat. He flicked it on. "This will keep things from getting in. It won't stop anything real."
"All right." Scooter raised a fist. "We're going home."
"We'll have to get out of here first." Mike put together another pulse gun. "Here, Peg. This one is for you. If you see anything floating, shoot it."
"Right, Mike." Peg switched the gun on, laying it across her lap. Her head moved back and forth. "What else have you got back there?"
"I got a spirit crystal in case we have to catch a spook." Mike took the round stone and clipped it to his belt. "I also got a flare gun if we need it."
"So we just drive out of here?" Peg put her keys in the ignition.
"Let's try." Mike took the flare gun and a dozen assorted shells and put them in his pockets. If worse came to worse, he would put a shell in someone's eye if he had to do it. "We might have some trouble."
"All right." Peg turned the key, listening to the motor. At least they hadn't put a bomb on the van yet. She headed for the exit.
"All right, kids." Mike looked around, the lights in front of the van disappearing in the darkness ahead. "Keep your eyes peeled. We don't want anyone sneaking up on us."
"I'm on it, Dad." Scooter turned his full attention to the blue screen and the shifting numbers on it. "They'll never get by me."
"I've got the back covered." June ran the camera back and forth. "It looks clear so far."
"Let's head out, Honey." Mike nodded. "Head for the county line. Be careful."
Peg put the gas pedal down, rolling onto the street with a small roar of the engine. She aimed for the road leading into the town. Once on the interstate, they would be free of whatever was plaguing this town.
The van started missing about halfway there. Then the engine cut out completely. Peg pumped the gas pedal frantically. She put the van in neutral and turned the key as the vehicle coasted along. She gave up with a frown.
"It shouldn't be doing this." Peg pulled the van over to the curve. "We're in trouble, Mike."
"They did something to the van." Mike looked around, thinking hard with the set of his lips. "We're in a bad spot now. We'll have to keep going. I don't like that at all."
"Kids, grab your equipment." Peg pointed her gun through the window. "We'll be exposed so we'll have to stay close together."
"Lead off, Peg." Mike pushed outside. "You have the nightvision. Kids, I want you to stay between us until we're over the line. Keep an eye out for anything that looks bad."
"We got it, Dad." Scooter didn't grin then. Walking in the dark through hostile territory had dampened his spirits for once.
"Let's go." Mike gestured for Peg to step out first. He pulled the shield generator out and clipped it to his belt beside the spirit catcher. "We have a long way to go so let's be careful and quiet."
Peg started walking, pulse gun to her shoulder. It wouldn't do anything against a human, or animals. It spread ghosts like butter on toast. If that's all she had to worry about, then they would be able to walk away free and clear.
She heard a car and turned her head. She saw a shape in the distance. Obviously someone had been watching them drive off and had waited to pick them up. She frowned, knowing this could be deadly for her family.
"It's got those things, Dad." June held the camera gun up for her father to look for himself.
"Take the kids, Peg." Mike slung his energy gun over his shoulder. "I'll hold them off and catch up."
"Mike . . . "
"Go ahead and go." Mike pulled his flare gun. "Don't worry about me."
Peg led her children away from the scene to vanish into the night.
Ten
Mike waited in the dark with the flare gun ready. He didn't like what was going on. He didn't like that his family was involved and he would have to make sure they stayed alive instead of worrying about his own safety. He would only have one shot at this and he had to make it count.
Mike waited until the car stopped, one hand holding the flare gun, the other leveling the pulse gun. He didn't want to use that because of what it would do to the car behind the zombies when he fired the beam. He wanted them to get out so he could use the beam after they got clear of the automobile.
The four things got out of the car, turning to face him as if they could see him in the dark. Maybe he was marked. That didn't matter. All that mattered was making them chase after him. He had to get them away from the car.
Mike moved up the road, heading away from the direction Peg had went with the kids. He wanted them to chase him. They turned their heads to watch him. Then they started after him on foot.
Mike walked on, looking around to make sure more of the town hadn't decided to join on the roadside. He was confident he could handle four of them. Any more than that and he would need help.
Mike pointed the flare gun at the one left of center. He fired. The rocket hit the blank faced goon in the chest and started to burn through. The four didn't hesitate. They kept walking. Holiday fired the pulse gun, not expecting anything to happen.
The zombies caught in the invisible beam shuddered, stopped, almost collapsed. That was good as far as Mike was concerned. It meant he had a chance to fix whatever was going on in town.
He had to get his family out of there first.
Mike took careful aim, looking through the scope of the pulse gun. Threads tried to coalesce around the zombies. Obviously that was the big boss reaching out to keep his flunkies on the job. He needed to get closer so he could use the spirit crystal.
Mike ran up, firing the pulse gun as he went. That blacked the zombies out enough for him to get within a few feet of them. He pulled the crystal from his belt, and tripped the switch. Glowing light formed a circle around him. The false diamond clouded over and snapped off.
Mike leveled the pulse gun at the four bodies. The traces he had seen were gone. It looked like it was Holidays four, Halloween Hellions zip.
Now he had to get the car, load his family up, and get them out of danger. Obviously the townspeople were going to be able to home in on them. They must have been marked when the van was damaged at the parade. He should have got out of town then.
Mike checked the car out. No one inside waiting to trap him when he got in. No one in the trunk. Keys glittered from the ignition. Time to get the kids and Peg now that he had some wheels.
Mike got behind the wheel, put the car in gear, and started down the road. He honked the horn to let Peg and the kids know he was on the way. A few minutes later he saw Peg standing close to the road. Her arm waved back and forth.
Mike slid to a halt.
"I got us a ride, Honey." Mike waved at her to hurry up. "Let's go before more of those goons show up."
"Cool, Dad." Scooter ran to the back door and yanked it open.
"I should drive." Peg stood by the driver's door.
"No." Mike shook his head. "Go around and ride."
"I'm not going anywhere unless I'm driving." Peg tapped her foot against the asphalt. "I'm the better driver."
"No, you're not." Mike looked around. "Do we have to do this right now?"
"I'm not going if I'm not driving." Peg looked away, arms crossed.
"Fine with me." Mike waved at June. "Get in, Junie."
"No, you don't." Peg held her hand out to block her daughter. "We're staying."
"All right. You drive." Mike slid over to the passenger seat.
Eleven
Mike Holiday looked around, using the scanner from their supplies. The sides of the road hid everything from normal eyesight. The screen and camera pointed at rabbits and deer hidden in the night.
"What do you think, Dad?" Scooter looked out the back window. "We made a clean getaway."
"Not yet." Mike looked down at the spirit crystal. Shadows moved in its cloudy depths. He put it in a pouch, loaded another one on the stick. "We still have to get over the line before they get wise we're still loose."
Mike wanted to walk a line between getting their hopes up, and dashing them completely. He had an idea the big brain behind everything knew they were still loose. He had seen the threads of control from spirit energy when he had used his pulse gun on the goons he ambushed behind them. Information would flow back through that link, even if he had disrupted it temporarily with the rifle. The spirit crystal should cut that off but he wasn't willing to gamble his family on it.
"What do you think they'll do next, Mike?" Peg drove carefully but fast along the asphalt. Their escape depended on her not hitting anything in the road before they could get over the county line.
That assumed the county line was a barrier to the zombie townspeople they had seen. They might have to keep running until Halloween had passed.
"It depends on how fast the brain can react to what we're doing." Mike put the scanner on the dashboard. "Reinforcements might be on their way to block us."
"What's the plan?" Peg wondered if some of the stories she had heard about her husband were true. The only one with which she had personal experience was the one where he had landed in the hospital.
"We try to stay mobile and heading west along the way we entered town." Mike looked at his watch. "They might have thought we were easy pickings with the van broken down. Someone fighting back might have thrown them off their game."
"That's a lot of might haves, Dad." Scooter bounced in his seat.
"The only problem is they know where we're going and they know the lay of the land." Mike looked through the glove box idly. He didn't expect to find anything but maybe someone had put a gun in there. "That balances out any head start we earned when I took out the goon squad."
The glove box mocked him with its emptiness.
A white flare came to life on the scanner. It appeared in the darkness, rushing the road. Mike reached for the flare gun, knowing this was the ambush he feared would happen.
"Look out, Honey." Mike wished he hadn't gave in to his wife on the driving. There was no way for him to shoot at the charging vehicle from the passenger side. "Crash positions, kids."
Peg hit the gas, swerving to the right, hoping to get around the sudden obstacle. The wrecker hit the rear fender with the crash bar mounted on the front of the old pickup body. The stolen car spun around, ended up in a ditch. The tow truck hit them again in the front to keep them from trying to drive out of the ditch and back on the road.
"Get ready to run." Mike kicked open the passenger door. "We can't let them take us."
"We're surrounded, Dad." June cowered in her seat, night glasses in her hand. "They're all around us."
Mike looked around. Blank faced drones walked out of the trees, guns in hand. He thought about trying to fight it out but banished that idea. Peg or the kids would get hit in the crossfire if he tried to shoot one with the flare gun.
"We're trapped." Mike raised his hands. "We'll have to go along quietly."
"Mike!" Peg had the pulse rifle in her fists.
"We're out of options." Mike opened the back door, gathered the kids to him. "We'll get killed if we try to resist. Just put the pulse gun down."
"So we just give up?" Peg slammed the weapon down on the seat, and walked around to be with her family.
"Until we can think of something better to do." Mike hugged his family close, trying to think of something that would get them out of this mess. One hand slid the spirit crystal in Peg's bag as she stood next to him.
He might have one option left if he could work it right.
Twelve
The Holidays walked into the central lobby of the small Town Hall. They were pushed down steps leading into the basement. One of the guards had to feel around for a button to unlock a secret door in a wall. The family walked down some more steps to a large underground chamber.
Mike recognized most of the people he had seen in town as they were pushed to a central spot in the room.
"Welcome." The voice didn't belong to anyone Mike had talked to in the last few days. He looked around for the source. "We have been waiting for you to join the party."
"We'll pass." Mike tested the handcuffs around his wrists. They seemed solid enough.
"I'm afraid attendance is mandatory." The speaker stepped into view, apron covering his Ward Cleaver suit. Thin hair had been vitalized from his flat forehead. "You have been selected for a singular honor and it will be bestowed upon you."
Mike looked around. The odds were bad. The only weapon he had was the backup pistol he wore in an ankle holster, and the spirit crystal still in Peg's bag. He needed to cause some kind of distraction so he could get to it.
"We'll pass on the honor also." Mike tried to think of some way to get the crystal. "If you can fix our rental, we need to get on our way."
"I'm afraid your wandering days are over." The ringmaster smiled. He raised a hand. A table rose from the floor. "You're about to keep the town alive for another year."
"You don't touch my kids." Peg lashed out at the nearest guard, kicking him in the leg with all her might. A back hand knocked her to the ground.
"You're in no position to make demands." The spokesman smiled. "If it will make you feel better, we'll sacrifice the children first. Our god doesn't care who he eats first."
"They're just kids." Mike bent to try and help Peg up with his bound hands. "Why do this at all?"
"It must be done." The spokesman gestured. Two men grabbed Scooter by the arms. They dragged him kicking to the table. More guards grabbed Peg and Mike. "The town needs it."
"No one needs to kill kids." Mike fell on top of Peg's bag on the floor. "You have to stop this."
"No one can stop it." The headman smiled. "No one wants to stop it. If not you, it would be one of them."
"You don't have to do this." Mike struggled to get up. "Human sacrifice is not the way to appease a deity."
"We made a deal that we would send someone to our god every year." The priest smiled. "As long as we do that, the town has good fortune and prospers. If we fail, the town will die. It's the common thing I have been told."
"Please." Peg raised her bound hands. "I'm begging you. Please don't hurt my kids."
"We're sending them to a better place." The mayor produced a knife. "And we're insuring continued life for the rest of us. They'll be heroes."
"I'll pass!" Scooter tried to kick off the table. Guards tied him down so he could be stabbed with surety. "Let me go."
A cloud formed inside the round room. The townspeople chanted something. Mike didn't bother listening to the words. He had to save Scooter, even if it was temporary. He pulled the spirit crystal out of the bag. He hoped this next move would work like he hoped.
Eyes blossomed in the cloud as tendrils reached for the chanting population. Mike frowned in recognition. The same thing had been with the crew from the road. Maybe there was something here more than human sacrifice and inbreeding.
The mayor raised the knife and Mike didn't need to know any more. He pulled the spirit crystal out of the bag and activated it before throwing it across the few feet separating them. The gem glowed like the sun as it passed through the mist, soaking it up as it headed for the floor on the other side.
Mike got to his feet, smiling at what he saw all around him. He searched the guards nearest him for keys to the handcuffs on his wrists. He could hardly believe his luck. Hopefully the whole town was involved and down in the basement under the Town Hall.
"What just happened, Dad?" June started dumping pockets on the floor around her. All of the guards were down. That made the search easy. She suppressed a cry when she saw the face of the guard she was rifling.
"I know, honey." Mike produced the key. He started unlocking their manacles. "They're all dead."
"What happened, Mike?" Peg held out her hands for her own freedom.
"I guess you could say that the spirit was the only thing that moved them." Mike went to get Scooter off the table. He kicked the ashes that used to be the man in charge out of his way as he went.
Epilogue
"Peg still mad?" Arthur Printer looked up at the portrait of his dead wife, faded eyes seeing things that hadn't existed in some time.
"Furious." Mike Holiday admitted. He handed over the two spirit crystals he had been carrying around since they had left Altamoral. "The gadgets worked great the amount of time we got to use them."
"I thought they would do the trick." Printer tossed the crystals in the air, catching them in his hand. "It was hard to be certain."
"So do you want to tell me why the subterfuge?" Mike crossed his arms. Printer had his own way of looking at things. Most of the time it was at odds with everyone else on the planet.
"I have dealt with Altamoral before but I could never dig deep into its mysteries." Printer opened a panel in the wall to the right of his dead wife. "It attracts things for some reason. Just dealing with what it used for a garden bed was often tragic enough. This time you've done more than anyone ever has."
"I killed the whole town." Mike frowned. "I don't think that's something to brag about."
"If not you, who?" Printer stepped inside the panel. He placed the spirit crystals into empty sockets like the receptacles for light bulbs. "It was going to have to be done one way, or the other. This way no one was harmed while the deed was done."
"Peg and the kids could have gotten hurt." Mike didn't bother to ask about the strange machinery. He didn't know what it did, but every time he had asked, he got a nonsensical answer back. "They're not really cut out for monster hunting."
"No one ever is." Printer pushed two switches. The crystals began to glow. "It's the nature of our business, Michael. You can try to anticipate the unexpected with every effort of your mind, but something will always strike through a missed hole."
"I'll let you explain that philosophy to Peg after she calms down." Mike smiled.
"I would rather not." Printer stepped out of the secret room, shutting the panel behind him. "She was always a bag of nerves. Even as a child, she would grow furious if someone disagreed with her point of view on any subject."
"What happens now?" Mike couldn't disagree with Printer.
"I need to do a little more research, and you go home." Printer went to his desk. He pulled a check from under his blotter and handed it over. "Half of the sum promised, the other half in a trust paying your hospital bills as we discussed."
"Are you going to keep looking into things men weren't meant to know?" Mike folded the check and put it in his pocket. They would have lights and water for another month after all.
"It is the sum of my existence." Printer smiled for the first time. "Don't worry about me, Michael. I'm afraid the fear of losing my soul has long passed during my long years looking into strange things. Go home and look after your family."
"Thanks for the money." Mike nodded and headed for the door.
"You earned it, Michael." Printer sat behind his desk. "The world would give you honors if it knew what you have done. Unfortunately I can't equal that."
"Take care of yourself, Arthur." Mike slipped from the quiet office. The front door was to his left. That was the way he needed to go.
Mike stepped out on the wide front porch, shutting the door behind him. He got behind the wheel of his car, looking up at the house before starting the engine. He drove down the gravel drive and out on the street. He noted the presence of sparks floating in the air as he drove away.
It looked like he was back in business.