Chapter Eighteen
Allison pulled up the long drive that led to the mill. The road had become overgrown over the years of nonuse, and the car bumped roughly along until she reached the top.
She climbed out of her car and stared up at the massive place. As a child, the two large domes always reminded her of some sort of beehives. They loomed, overlooking the town with their pluming clouds of smoke.
The mill had closed down years ago. Eagle Ridge hadn’t escaped the changes to the state’s economy in the last couple of decades. It wasn’t profitable, and it left, taking a lot of jobs with it.
The town had recovered, but it was still far from its glory days.
Allison slowly made her way over to the large building and wondered how Ms. Anderson made it up the steep steps with a bad ankle. She was nearly breaking her own just trying to get up there herself.
She huffed and puffed her way to the top and stopped to wipe the sweat off her brow. It was much higher up than she imagined, and now she was starting to wonder if the call had all been a ruse to get her alone for another bribe attempt.
Allison swore under her breath. If the crazy woman tried to buy her off again, Allison was going right to the police. She’d about had her fill of shit recently, and the last thing she needed was another person adding to her troubles.
She gave two knocks on the large metal door. A hollow, echoing sound followed, like banging on the side of a metal drum.
“Hello?”
She’d come all this way, and the woman wasn’t even here? Now she was beyond pissed.
Allison frowned and knocked a little louder this time. The sound echoed through the wooded area nearby, startling the neighboring birds.
Somewhere deep inside she heard the scrape of a chair.
Maybe Ms. Anderson really was hurt and couldn’t make it to the door. Allison would feel like an ass if the poor woman answered the door with an injured ankle, and she’d been thinking the worst of her.
“I’m going to just come in Ms. Anderson,” Allison called out.
She tested the door. She pressed down on the rusted handle and pushed the door hard.
It creaked loudly as the door swung partway open.
It was dark inside. No light from anywhere that she could see.
Allison reached into her pocket to pull out her phone when she realized she’d left the damn thing at the office. She’d been in such a hurry to get out of there she hadn’t even thought of it.
“Hello?” she called again.
Her voice bounced off the walls, and she could hear something move in the distance.
Her heart picked up a bit. This place had been abandoned for years. Who knew what kind of animals might have taken up residence?
“Ms. Anderson?”
She swallowed the fear that bubbled up in her chest and stepped just inside the door. Maybe if she was farther in, she’d be able to hear just what that noise was.
“Please don’t be a rat. Please don’t be a rat,” she mumbled under her breath. “Ugh. Please don’t be several rats.”
Allison could hear the sound a little closer now. It didn’t sound like rats. It sounded like the sound of bare feet on the floor. Heavy feet. With some scratching. A giant rat?
A shiver passed over her the more she listened. Something was wrong about that sound. Something unnatural.
A loud screech ripped through the air.
Glycons.
Allison turned to flee, but they beat her to the door. They slammed the heavy door closed just as she stepped forward. Thick darkness swallowed her.
Two sets of glowing red eyes stared at her from the door. She could hear a low growl, but was glad she couldn’t see the monsters. If she was going to die, it might be better not to see what was coming at her.
Something moved just behind her, and she turned to see six more sets of eyes peering at her from the darkness.
“I must thank you,” said a familiar, yet still odd-sounding voice. “Thank you, indeed.”
The somewhat distorted voice of Ms. Anderson drifted in the room.
“My pets aren’t fond of the sun you see,” she said. “A small kink the Group was never able to fully deal with.” She laughed. “What good is a weapon you can only use at night?”
Allison turned around in the dark, trying to follow the voice of the woman as she moved in the black room.
“Why are you doing this?” Allison said.
A harsh, cold laugh cut through the air. “All you had to do was push through the forms, but you had to be arrogant and obstinate.”
Allison spun again to try to face the woman.
“And you just couldn’t do it.” Ms. Anderson hissed next to her right ear.
Allison reached out, but she was too slow. If she could just get her hands on the other woman, maybe she would stand a chance of making it out of there alive.
“Maybe we could work something out now,” Allison said, trying to stall.
Another sharp laugh split the air. “I liked you better when you were being hardnosed. Not trying to barter for your pathetic little life.” Her voice grew closer, and Allison could nearly feel her breath on her neck. “Besides, why would I do that when I can just have your job?”
Allison reached out and grasped the woman’s upper arms. Now she just needed to knock her out and deal with the Glycons. Piece of cake. In theory.
She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat and tried to convince herself that she was totally not royally fucked.
Low-level lights flicked on, and Allison blinked a few times to adjust to suddenly being able to see.
A few more blinks, and she realized that Ms. Anderson hadn’t tried once to get herself free from her grasp.
Allison slowly allowed her eyes to focus on the woman in front of her. When she finally came into sight, Allison nearly fell backwards trying to get away.
“Boo!” Ms. Anderson cackled.
She could still see the woman that came into her office, but the difference was startling. All the strange makeup from before was gone, replaced by twisted skin and scars on that side. She might have once had a lovely face, but now she looked half-melted.
Her eyes were even more startling. Two red orbs just like the Glycons standing around them.
“What are you?” Allison whispered.
She immediately regretted the words.
Ms. Anderson’s face contorted into the same rage she’d seen just a few days prior in her office.
“I am your better,” Ms. Anderson hissed at her. “That’s who I am.”
The Glycons closed in around them. Their mouths snapping shut as they did so.
Allison tried not to think about them. Instead, she kept her focus on Ms. Anderson. As long as they were talking, the Glycons weren’t killing her, and that was a win in her book.
“You’ll never get away with this,” Allison said. “People will ask questions.”
Ms. Anderson’s response was a manic laugh. “Just another sad animal attack. But it’s lucky that I’m here to help end their troubles. They’ll be no more attacks with me as their mayor.”
Allison shook her head. “People will know,” she said. “I have people on my side.”
Ms. Anderson gave her a wide grin. “They will either make me mayor, or my pets will slaughter the whole bunch,” she said. Her grin twisted down for just a moment. She glared at Allison “As soon as you tell me how you’re keeping my pets out. There’s no way an inferior town like this should be able to keep them out.”
Allison shook her head. If Veronica’s devices were the only thing separating a mad woman from her people, she’d die with the secret.
Ms. Anderson leaned forward and held Allison’s chin in her hand. “So brave for a dead person.”
A tear leaked down Allison’s face. She wouldn’t beg the woman. There was no way she’d give her the satisfaction. But she would have revenge.
“Kill me, and Quintus will hunt you down,” she said through gritted teeth.
The other woman moved her face closer to her own. Allison could see the glowing red eyes as anger filled them.
“Is that right?”
Suddenly, the door banged open. Ms. Anderson stepped back in surprise, dropping Allison’s chin.
“That’s right,” Quintus said from the door frame.