Devil's Nightmare: Premonitions (Devil's Nightmare, Book 2) Page 4

  Eyes wide, both men checked their surroundings and splashed their way towards the shore.

  “Hey,” Aaron yelled. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” The alligator’s head had drifted away towards the center of the lake.

  “Um… Right.”

  The two men retrieved the alligator head and dropped their jaws in unison. “What the heck could have done this to a gator this size?” Brad said. “I mean, this thing had to have been at least eight or nine feet long.”

  The men shared theories with each other, ranging from the rotor of a boat chopping up the alligator to its dying of natural causes. Brad suggested it might have died, and other alligators had eaten the rest of it. Paul agreed with the scavenging alligator theory.

  “Well, I guess there is some good news,” said Brad.

  Aaron handed the man his noose back. “And what exactly might that be?”

  “We don’t have to lift a big-ass alligator onto the truck.”

  The two men tossed the head onto the bed of the Animal Control truck.

  “Well, I guess it’s off to the oven, then,” Paul smirked.

  Aaron grabbed the man’s shoulder. “Not so fast. That’s evidence. I need you to put it on ice.”

  “What in hell for?”

  “For analysis.”

  “For what?” Paul returned a clueless gaze. “You think there’s another gator in there big enough to take this one out? This ain’t Lake Placid, you know.”

  “Just make sure it goes in the freezer, okay?”

  “Man, you’ve been watching too many horror movies, boss.” He laughed and hopped inside the truck.

  “I mean it!” Aaron stressed. “Freezer!”

  “All right, fine. We’ll put her on ice,” Paul promised, and waved out the window before starting the truck and driving off.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Chimera

  Heavy rain fell over the flaming inferno spreading throughout Saint Hedwig Youth Home. The scorching flames engulfed the old building within minutes, resisting the precipitation. The screams of children from within the fire drowned out the sounds of the storm and crackling wood. The chimera appeared, creeping through orange, red, and yellow flames, its multiple sets of eyes glowing deep amber as the hide melted off its body. The creature lifted its heads and roared, moving out of the inferno toward Aaron Sanders, who stood motionless in the courtyard, surrounded by topiaries.

  The chimera, charred and deformed, emitted a guttural roar and bolted towards the human standing in front of the burning building.

  Aaron turned to run, but tripped and fell. Fighting to get upright, the back of his neck burned from the chimera’s hot breath. The horrid scent of burnt flesh invaded his nostrils as the creature’s deep growls echoed in his ears. His brain begged him to run, but his body betrayed him, frozen motionless.

  Aaron’s heart pounded in his chest. His head ached as if someone had driven a spike through his skull. High-pitched shrills of children haunted him. The thought of those children burning alive—No! Maria had told him they were already dead. But what if she’d been wrong? He could hear them screaming, feel their pain as if it were his own! He had to save them!

  Aaron swung around to rescue the children, but lost his footing and stumbled backwards. Cody stood before him, face pale and eyes black as the night, a dagger protruding from his chest. He stared into Aaron’s eyes, tilted his head and lifted his hands outward. He mumbled something incomprehensible and took a step forward, ripping the blade from his chest. Blood gushed from the wound. His face contorted into a demonic humanoid creature’s with jagged teeth and scaled skin. The demon that once had been Cody shrieked and struck Aaron in the chest with the curved dagger over and over, until Aaron’s body fell limp.

  Holding the bloodied dagger over his victim’s body, the demon’s face morphed back to that of the blond-headed, blue-eyed boy. He dropped the weapon and shed a single tear. “You should have let me die,” he said, then disappeared into a flaming mist.

  †

  Aaron’s eyes shot open as he rose from a couch in the small hospital room at Lost Maples Medical Center. He placed his hand over his pounding chest, internally forcing his heart to beat normally again. Cody, awake, lay on his side, watching him. Wind howled against a solitary window above the couch while the hum of medical equipment filled the room. Aaron and Cody stared into each other’s eyes for a few minutes until Aaron finally spoke.

  “You okay?”

  Cody did not respond.

  “Talk to me, Cody.”

  Cody turned onto his back and took a deep breath before mumbling something.

  “What?” Aaron sat up and leaned forward. “I didn’t hear you.”

  “It’s happening again.”

  “What’s happening again?”

  Cody rolled over with his back towards Aaron. “You know.”

  “No, I don’t.” That was a lie. He just didn’t want to believe it could be happening again. “Talk to me, son. No bullshit. What’s going on? You having nightmares again?”

  Cody gazed at the round, black and white clock on the wall, his chin quivering. It was 3:20 in the morning. “It’s never going to stop, is it?” He tried to hide his tears by pulling the covers over him. “You should have just let me die.”

  Those words echoed in Aaron’s mind. “Hey, don’t talk like that. That thing is dead, and it’s not coming back. We saw it burn up in the flames.”

  “You can’t kill it, Aaron. It’s a demon,” he said, poking his head back out from underneath the sheet. He wiped his face with it. “Maybe they were right. Maybe me dying was the only way it—”

  “No! It wanted you to live. It protected you.”

  “Only because of that stupid curse. And it’s killing again.”

  Aaron squeezed Cody’s hand. “They’re just dreams.” At least that’s what he wanted to believe. “That’s it.”

  “I saw the man fishing with a woman on a lake. And three teenagers at Saint Hedwig. I know they’re all dead now. I saw it.” That was information Cody could not possibly know.

  “What exactly did you see, Cody?”

  He sniveled and rolled over on his side. Just as he took in a breath to say something, a nurse stepped into the room. The bright light from the hallway shone on Aaron’s face.

  “I’m just here to check… Is everything okay?”

  “He’s having some bad dreams, that’s all.”

  “They’re only dreams, hon,” the nurse said as she checked Cody’s vital signs. She placed her hand on his forehead. “Looks like you’ve got a bit of a fever. I’d better check your temperature. Okay, sweetie?” Cody sniffled and nodded.

  Aaron rubbed his hand over his face and watched the nurse while thinking about his own nightmare. He feared that all the crap David had told him about the devil’s nightmare curse was true. Two years had passed since Saint Hedwig burned to the ground, and life was finally returning to its new version of normal.

  Was that curse like a cancer, lying dormant, just waiting to return and claim its victim? If Cody still had the curse, why hadn’t the nightmares continued over the past couple of years? Why had they stopped? And why had they returned? And why was Aaron having nightmares again? Those questions burned through Aaron’s mind, though he didn’t have a single answer for any of them. What he did know was that he needed to find out exactly what Cody had dreamed. Exactly.

  “It’s not too bad,” the nurse said. She showed Aaron the thermometer. “He’s at one hundred, but just to be safe, I’ll get him some acetaminophen to help reduce the fever.”

  Aaron thanked the nurse and waited for her to leave the room and shut the door. “What did you see, Cody? I need to know, because we found a body at the lake today.”

  Cody’s voice was timid. “It killed them both… the man and the woman on the boat. It just… the woman… in the woods.” He shivered as he tried to explain what he’d seen in his nightmare. “I… I’m sorry, but I can’t. I don’t want to live with thes
e nightmares again.”

  Aaron approached him and squeezed his forearm. “I’m having them too, Cody, so you’re not alone.”

  “Really? Are they like last time?”

  Aaron took in a deep breath before he answered. “Yeah, except we don’t have a crazy cult to worry about now. And that chimera is just an animal.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  Aaron widened his eyes and nodded. “Yeah, it is. And I promise you this: I’m finishing the job this time. Make sure I put that flea bag to rest for good.”

  Cody shook his head. “You know you can’t kill it.”

  Aaron leaned forward. “Watch me.”

  †

  Cody’s doctor released him from the hospital on Tuesday evening and cleared him to return to school. Other than a slight fever, the physician couldn’t find anything wrong with him. He also couldn’t explain the seizure, and therefore prescribed plenty of rest and restraint from any strenuous activities for at least another week, which included physical education at school. Aaron received no complaints from Cody on that order. Aside from the recent scare, he was in good health. He had no prior history of epilepsy, so his doctor considered the possibility of further seizures unlikely. However, he did advise Aaron and Maria to contact him immediately if they learned of any other health issues over the next several days.

  Maria wanted to keep Cody out of school until the following week, but he insisted he was okay. He may have been physically well, but it was obvious to Aaron he still suffered from anxiety. He didn’t have to say anything, though. Cody’s nervous glances were enough to establish the need to continue their conversation about their shared dreams. He’d have to keep that information from Maria and Samantha until he had enough evidence to prove his suspicions about the curse. Keeping quiet was the most logical choice. The last thing he wanted was to alarm his family over something that may not even be true. But he couldn’t ignore it either.

  †

  Aaron drove to San Antonio the following morning to meet with the Bexar County medical examiner. After getting clearance, an employee walked him to the autopsy room where Dr. William Erickson had already performed the autopsy on Doug Travers. His torso lay on a metal dissection table, chest cracked open and flesh pulled to the side, in the middle of the room. This gave Dr. Erickson access to the organs the lake’s scavengers had not already devoured. The young forensic pathologist stepped away from the table, removed his bloodstained latex gloves, and introduced himself to Aaron.

  “Ah, you must be Officer Sanders. I’m Dr. William Erickson, Chief Medical Examiner.”

  “Lieutenant Aaron Sanders,” Aaron corrected, and shook the man’s hand. “Lost Maples Sheriff’s Department.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Lieutenant. No disrespect intended.”

  “None taken.”

  The men shared an awkward moment of silence.

  “Anyway,” Dr. Erickson said, “I’ve made a bit of progress in determining the COD.” He stepped over to a table with a metal container that housed a pair of organs. “If he drowned, these lungs would have been full of water, but that’s not the case here. Something else killed this man.”

  “What do you think killed him?”

  The pathologist smirked. “I think it’s pretty obvious. He lost his head.”

  Aaron lifted his eyebrows and closed his eyes for a couple of seconds in response to the man’s poor sense of humor. “What else can you tell me?”

  Dr. Erickson cleared his throat and returned to the autopsy table. He pointed to the neck from which the head had been severed. “Something very sharp severed this man’s head. But that’s pretty obvious, right?” Aaron nodded. “At first, I assumed the boat engine’s rotor did the job, but if that were true, the flesh would be much more mangled and torn than what we have here.”

  “So, you think he was murdered and dumped in the lake?”

  “No, I don’t. In fact, based on the other injuries, I believe an animal did this. Possibly a large alligator, which could have easily taken this man’s head off and—”

  “I found a plus-sized alligator head in the lake just hours after we found our vic.”

  “Just the head?”

  “Yeah, just the head.”

  “Well, that is interesting. Where is it now?”

  “On ice at Lost Maples Animal Control. Still think it was an alligator?”

  The ME leaned back against the metal table and crossed his arms. “You don’t? What do you believe killed this man?”

  “You don’t want to know what I think.”

  “No, actually I do. I read about your investigation in Austin. The one about the satanic cult. Didn’t you believe that someone murdered those kids at Memorial Heights Cemetery? Or was it a large rogue jaguar or something?”

  Aaron glared at the pathologist and crossed his arms, mimicking him. “What’s your point?”

  “Just recognizing that APD never solved that case.”

  “And that is relevant, because…?”

  “I’m just saying I can understand why you have such an interest in this man’s death. You know, because of the similarity of his condition and those from your case in Austin.”

  “I just want to know what killed him. That’s all.”

  “I’d like to show you something.” The ME moved towards a counter at the back of the room and picked up a small plastic bag. He handed it to Aaron.

  Aaron raised the bag and examined the contents, some sort of bone fragment. “What’s this?”

  “Part of a tooth I pulled out of the body.” He went back to the autopsy table and pointed to the wound near the victim’s groin. “Right here. Half an inch to the left, and hello castration.”

  “Show a little respect, doc. This man was part of my community.”

  “Um… yeah. Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  Aaron waved him off. “It’s fine. Back to the tooth.”

  “Right. Anyway, I’m sending the tooth off to a colleague of mine for confirmation, but I believe it’s reptilian. I’d like for him to examine the alligator head, too, if that’s possible.”

  Aaron nodded. “Yeah, I think I can arrange that.”

  “Excellent.” Dr. Erickson wrote an address on a piece of paper and handed it to Aaron. “His name is Dr. Allen Westminster. He works at the Natural Science Center at the University of Texas in Austin. He’s a paleontologist and has a particular interest in—”

  “Let me guess. Alligators?”

  “That’s right. Alligators are basically dinosaurs, if you think about it. They’ve been in existence for millions of years, and if this tooth came from an alligator, Dr. Westminster will be able to tell us. Plus, he’ll be able to tell us if the tooth fragment came from the dead alligator you found in the lake.”

  “Let’s hope so. I’d hate to think that…” Aaron stopped himself.

  Dr. Erickson lowered a curious brow. “Think what?”

  “Nothing,” Aaron said, realizing how close he’d come to sharing too much information about something he hoped wasn’t true. “I’ll contact Animal Control and ask them to ship the alligator head on Thursday.”

  †

  Aaron leaned against the railing on the front porch outside his home, a lit cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. A rare late summer cold front had blown in, dropping the temperature into the upper forties. That was unusually cold for September in the Texas hill country. It wouldn’t last long, because the weatherman on Channel 5 had said it would be back into the nineties by Friday. The front, albeit a short-lived one, would be a refreshing change.

  The smoke from Aaron’s cigarette blended in with the vapor of his breath as he gazed at the clouded sky. Flashes of light illuminated behind the clouds far into the horizon, and a faint hiccup of thunder roared in the distance. The weather guy had promised a slight chance of rain overnight, but most of it would more than likely fall north of Lost Maples.

  Maria joined her husband outside and pecked him on the cheek. He closed his ey
es while she massaged his tense muscles.

  “When are you going to stop sucking on those cancer sticks?”

  Aaron glanced at his cigarette and took in a deep breath before exhaling slowly. He drank the rest of his beer and snuffed the cigarette out on top of the aluminum can. “I don’t even know why I keep smoking these stupid things. I can’t stand the taste in my mouth or the smell on my clothes afterwards, but I keep on smoking them.” He slipped the cigarette into the beer can and set it on the banister.

  “I can think of some much better ways to relieve your stress.” Maria ran her fingers through Aaron’s hair. “Those cigarettes are just going to kill you.”

  He thought about that statement for a moment, focusing more on the suggestion of stress-relieving alternatives as she rubbed his tense shoulders. She kissed the back of his neck once and wrapped her arms around him, her warm body pressing against him.

  “Where are the kids?”

  “Sam’s doing her homework in the dining room. Cody’s in his room. I think he’s already in bed.”

  It was only 8:30, but considering Cody had barely touched his dinner or even eaten his dessert, Aaron wasn’t surprised he would turn in early. He faced his wife and moved in to kiss her, but she stepped away.

  “There’ll be time for that later.” She smiled and brushed the back of her hand over his cheek. “Your breath reeks of tobacco.”

  “Way to kill the mood, Maria.”

  She moved toward the door back into the house and glanced over her shoulder. “I’ll make it worth the wait later.”

  Aaron snatched the beer can, crushed it, and threw it in the trashcan around the side of the house. It was cold outside, but his body was hot with anticipation. As soon as he went back inside, he headed straight for the master bathroom to brush his teeth and take a hot shower. He squirted a couple of sprays of Drakkar Noir—Maria’s favorite—on his neck and put on his flannel pajamas. He didn’t plan to have them on very long, especially after finding Maria lying on the bed in black lingerie. That made Aaron’s blood pump in all the right places.