David watched as Ellie and Tim loaded the Tahoe with some snacks, fresh clothes, and a few jugs of water. Tim also packed the two shotguns and the pistol in the back of the Tahoe, along with several boxes of ammunition. Tim estimated they could make it back to Kentucky in two days, unless they ran into trouble on the road. He had been apprised of Ellie’s plan and had agreed to see it through. “I’ll take care of her like she’s my own daughter,” Tim assured him. “Don’t you worry about that, David.”
David hugged his brother and kissed the scruffy side of his face.
He managed to make it out into the yard as they finished packing the Tahoe. Ellie stood beside the Tahoe’s open rear door, hands in her pockets, her face emotionless. She stared at him as he crossed the yard. And she hugged him when he reached her.
He knelt down so that they were eye to eye.
“I’ve been meaning to give this to you for a few days now,” he said. “It was Mom’s.” He twisted Kathy’s wedding band off his pinkie and held it out to his daughter. “It’s too big for you now, but you’ll grow into it.”
Ellie took it between two fingers, holding it up so that the sunlight caused it to sparkle.
“Happy birthday,” David said.
She hugged him around the neck. Cried against him.
“I love you,” he said, and kissed the burning hot side of her face. He braced her head in both hands and pressed the tip of his nose against hers. “Listen to me. Listen to me.”
She nodded.
“I’m so proud of you. Your mom and I, we’ve always been so proud of you.”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“It’ll be okay.”
He kissed her forehead, the side of her face. Said, “Shhh, shhh,” over and over to her until her sobs tapered off, leaving only the sharp hitching of her chest in their place.
“Okay,” she told him, once she’d gotten herself under control. “I’ll be brave. I’m okay.”
“That’s my girl.”
“Little Spoon,” she managed.
David smiled. “That’s right,” he said. “My Little Spoon. Don’t you forget it.”
His brain must have shut down for a few seconds then, for when he regained consciousness, he was watching the Tahoe drive away, Ellie’s small silhouette framed in the rear window. She had one palm pressed against the glass, Kathy’s wedding band shining on her finger. She was crying.
65
It took him several attempts before he made it up the front porch. Beneath him, the steps seemed to melt and grow soft, and he kept losing his footing. At one point, the handrail turned into a large millipede, its countless legs thrashing, its body undulating beneath his hand, causing him to scream, lose his balance, and tumble down the stairs. Several times he nearly gave up, and curled up on the ground. But the sound of the bugs in the grass began to drive him mad.
When he finally made it inside, he found that the sky outside the windows was a hellish black, even though he knew it was still midday. He progressed down the hallway, one hand on the wall for support. When he passed the open bathroom door, he saw Burt Langstrom standing there, his face half gone, a fireworks display of blood sprayed along the bathroom mirror. When David blinked again, Burt was no longer there.
In the kitchen, Dr. Kapoor was seated in a chair, his face as expressionless as a cadaver’s. The charred remains of Deke Carmody appeared beside David at that moment, not even startling him. David could smell Deke’s burned flesh, and when Deke grinned, it was the grin of a skull covered in flaking black chips.
Go on, Deke said, acknowledging Kapoor propped up in the chair. Grab some of that moonshine, a match, and burn the motherfucker. In fact, go ahead and burn down the whole house. Hell, that’s what I did.
But when he turned to respond, Deke was gone. So was Kapoor. The house was empty.
Yet when he turned back to the wall of windows, he saw that a figure stood outside, peering in at him. It was a dark-skinned little boy with rosary beads around his neck. As David stared at him, the boy’s mouth unhinged and a catlike hiss ratcheted up his throat.
David turned away, his heart thumping. The periphery of his vision was breaking apart, leaving a border of blackness around everything. It was like looking through binoculars.
Ellie stood in the doorway.
“Are . . . are you real?” David managed.
“I couldn’t leave you like this,” she said, crossing the kitchen and coming over to him. He knelt down, wrapped her in his arms, and indeed she felt solid. Real.