Ike Hamill - The Hunting Tree Trilogy

Mike ducked away from the car and brought his arms up to protect his head. The detector pulled free from his hand when it reached the end of its cord. Mike didn’t notice as it tumbled to the ground. He was too busy trying to cover up from the flying debris.

Bill’s voice rescued him from his fugue—“Mike! Get in!”

“What?” he opened his eyes and looked around. From the interior lights of the car and small amount of ambient light from the night sky, Mike surveyed the damage. The back window of Bill’s car had shattered, peppering Mike with glass. Bill’s car now featured a deep dent in the roof. Mike gathered the abused device and piled back into the car.

“What happened?” he asked Bill.

“The thing jumped over the road and landed on my roof,” Bill explained. When Mike closed his door, Bill put the car in gear and whipped it into a u-turn while Mike struggled to buckle his seat belt.

“I was so focused on the readout that I didn’t even see it,” said Mike. “What did it look like?”

“Fucking huge,” said Bill. “Where do I go?”

“Next left,” Mike gathered back up his navigation aids. “Device still works, but it’s a little dinged up.”

“As long as it works,” said Bill.

“Do you think it knew we were chasing it?” asked Mike.

“I don’t know,” said Bill. “But it could have stopped to kill us easily enough. I suggest we keep a little distance until we form a better plan.”

“It’s moving in a straight line,” said Mike. “We should be able to figure out where it’s going, and get there first.”

“Then what?” asked Bill.

“We set a trap,” said Mike.

DAVEY SAT ALONE on a sticky leather couch. The man behind the desk leaned forward, propping himself up on his elbows, and the officer who had driven Davey to the station sat on a chair by the door.

“Let’s just start with your name, son. Can you at least tell us that?” asked the man behind the desk. He pulled at his tie and rolled up his white sleeves as he pushed back from his desk.

“John,” said Davey.

The officer and the man behind the desk exchanged a glance, and then the officer pulled his chair closer to Davey.

“I didn’t really introduce myself before,” he said. “My name is Sam Arenaz.” Sam held his hand out to Davey the same way he had when Davey had been cowering in the gully next to the road. Davey glanced at his hand before shaking it.

“Call me Sam,” he said.

“I can’t tell you my real name, Sam,” said Davey. “There’s a monster after me, and if you send me home, he might hurt my family.”

“You’re very brave, son,” said Sam. “But we found that man dead. He’s not going to hurt you or your family.”

“Not him,” said Davey. “There’s a much worse thing coming.”

Sam looked up at his commander, who rose and came around the desk to sit on the edge of the couch next to Davey.

“Call me Jim,” he said to Davey’s upturned eyes. “We’re the police,” he continued. “We stop the bad guys, and protect people like you and your family. We can protect you, but we can’t help your family until we find out who they are.”

“Cap’n?” A young man poked his head through the door.

“Yeah?” said Jim.

“Phone for you.” He waggled his spread thumb and pinky next to his face.

“Thanks,” said Jim. He rose from the couch and followed the young man through the door, leaving Davey alone with Sam.

“Were you running away from home?” asked Sam.

Davey nodded and noticed the rough stubble on the officer’s chin.

“Can you tell me about what’s scaring you?” asked Sam.

Davey shook his head and looked at the ground. “You won’t believe me,” he said.

“Why would you say that?” asked Sam. “Can I tell you a secret?” Davey looked into Sam’s earnest eyes.

“I can tell when people are lying,” Sam revealed. “It’s something they teach us at the academy. I know you weren’t lying when you said there was a monster chasing you. I can tell.”

“Really?” asked Davey.

“Yeah,” said Sam. “So you can tell me anything. I’ll know you’re telling the truth.”

“Can I ask you something?” asked Davey.

“Anything,” said Sam.

“Did you find the nurse yet?” asked Davey.

“I’m sorry?” asked Sam.

“The nurse and her sister. They lived west of here,” said Davey. “He killed them last night, after he killed Charlotte and her family. I saw it in my dream, but I know it was real.”

Sam’s eyes had grown wide, despite his best efforts to maintain a neutral expression. His throat clicked when he opened his mouth to ask his next question—“Who killed them? Who killed those people?”

Sam jumped halfway out of his chair when Jim came back into the office.

“That was your mom, Davey,” said Jim as he strode passed his stunned officer and reclaimed his position next to Davey on the sticky couch. “She’ll be here in twenty minutes.” Jim looked at Sam and saw his shock. “What’s going on? What were you guys talking about?”

“He, um, Davey was just telling me about how the man who is hunting him killed several people last night,” said Sam.

Jim did a much better job at handling this new information. He turned to Davey and fixed a look of deep sympathy on his face. “Tell us what happened, son. Were you there? Did you witness something last night?”

“No,” said Davey, shaking his head.

“How did you know about the murders?” asked Jim.

“A girl at camp told me about Charlotte and her family,” said Davey. “I met her one time. Can I get something to drink?”

Sam jumped up and disappeared out the door to fulfill the request.

“That must have made you really sad,” said Jim. “Is that why you ran away?”

Before Davey had a chance to answer, Sam had appeared with a paper cup filled with cold water.

“No,” said Davey. “I mean, sorta. I was upset about Charlotte, but I ran away so I wouldn’t lead the monster back to my family. I don’t want them to get killed too.”

“Davey,” interrupted Sam. “Tell Jim about what you were telling me when he was out of the room. About the nurse?”

“I was just wondering if you found them yet,” said Davey. “I don’t know how to tell you exactly where they live, but I bet the hospital would be able to tell you where.”

“Which hospital?” asked Jim.

“The one next to the river,” said Davey. “Where they took me that time I fell down and couldn’t breathe.”

“And what happened to the nurse?” asked Jim.

“I don’t know exactly,” said Davey, “but the monster got her. It got her and her sister after it got Charlotte.”

“And this is the same monster that had you in the trailer? Did he tell you about the nurse?” asked Jim.

“No,” said Davey, frustrated. “I told you, he wasn’t anything. Horace didn’t kill anybody, he wanted to…” Davey found it hard to speak as he remembered the dying man’s hands on his body.

“Davey,” Jim said sharply, bringing him back from the memory, “tell us about the nurse.”

“She took care of me when I was at the hospital. That’s why the monster wanted to get her. I didn’t really see anything. I know he must have killed her though. He kills everyone he goes after,” said Davey.

“Start at the beginning, and tell us what you know,” said Jim.

Davey nodded and finished his cup of water. “I saw him go to Charlotte’s house first. He jumped from the tree down to the driveway so he wouldn’t leave any footprints. He’s trying to fool you. Then he took a piece from underneath the car. I couldn’t see what it was, but it must have been metal or something, because he straightened it out and went over to the house.”