The Diablo Horror (The River Book 7)

  The Diablo Horror

  By Michael Richan

  By the author:

  The River series:

  The Bank of the River

  Residual

  A Haunting in Oregon

  Ghosts of Our Fathers

  Eximere

  The Suicide Forest

  Devil’s Throat

  The Diablo Horror

  The Haunting at Grays Harbor

  It Walks At Night

  The Downwinders series:

  Blood Oath, Blood River

  The Impossible Coin

  The Graves of Plague Canyon

  The Dark River series:

  A

  All three series are part of The River Universe, and there is crossover of some characters and plots. For a suggested reading order, see the Author’s Website.

  Copyright 2014 by Michael Richan

  All Rights Reserved.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious.

  Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  www.michaelrichan.com

  This book is also available in print.

  ASIN: B00MGRTZ4W

  Published by Dantull (148615127)

  ◊

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  For Jessie, Jim, and the boys

  Chapter One

  Steven walked with Roy as they left Key Arena. The stadium was filled to capacity for the memorial service, and parking around Seattle Center was tight. Since the nearby parking structures had filled, they were forced to park several blocks away in lower Queen Anne. As they walked past storefronts, avoiding the bustle of Mercer Street, Steven started to say something to Roy at least a dozen times, but stopped. Roy was as contemplative as he’d ever seen him, except for his mother’s funeral.

  The service was inspiring. Recently it seemed there were too many of these memorial services for policemen struck down in the line of duty. Steven hadn’t attended any of them before this one, although his sympathies always went out to the fallen officers. He’d watched the other services on television.

  This service was similar to the others he’d seen, but with one big difference. His father considered himself responsible for the officers’ deaths that had happened just over a week ago. Consequently, it had been a rough two hours.

  Not as rough for us as for the families of those policemen, Steven thought.

  Steven didn’t share Roy’s guilt. Well, maybe a little. He called the cops at Roy’s direction, and he raised the idea that maybe they shouldn’t. Roy was focused on making sure they wouldn’t be blamed for the horrors inside June’s house, not thinking that by calling the cops, he was bringing those horrors down upon the innocent public servants who would respond to the call. Maybe, had they taken just a second more to think about it before they called, they would have realized that bringing in the cops was a bad idea. They could have waited until the demon inside the house had finished his evil business; then a call to the police wouldn’t have put them at risk. They would have showed up, inspected the house, questioned Steven and Roy, and been done with it. Instead, two officers had died.

  He and Roy had gone to Nevada almost immediately after it happened, and had been busy for several days rescuing Jason from St. Thomas, but now that they were back in Seattle where the news of the officer’s deaths had occupied the local media for a whole week, Roy had time to think about how it all went down. He considered himself responsible.

  Steven tried to talk his father out of the guilt several times, but Roy was having none of it. “I made a mistake,” Roy said. “I should have thought it through. I reacted too quickly. I didn’t listen to your objections. It’s my fault.”

  So, as they trudged through the soggy streets on a late Thursday afternoon, Steven was content to hold the large umbrella they shared and just let Roy have his thoughts without interruption.

  They drove back home, and Steven suggested they stop for dinner somewhere. Roy said he wasn’t hungry and just wanted to go home. So Steven dropped Roy off at his house, watching as his father got out his keys and tried to open the door. The deadbolt had recently been replaced, and it sometimes stuck. Steven watched through the rain as Roy fidgeted with it, and then saw him wave him away. But Steven wasn’t in a hurry, and he wasn’t going anywhere until he was sure Roy had made it inside. When Roy saw that Steven wasn’t leaving, he returned to the deadbolt and jiggled at it. He cursed repeatedly, with increasing loudness.

  He’ll be at that lock with WD-40 before I make it a block away, Steven thought.

  The lock finally popped for Roy, and he disappeared inside his house without any acknowledgment to Steven.

  Fine, he’s in, Steven thought. I can go home.

  He backed his Accord out of Roy’s driveway and maneuvered through the wet streets of Seward Park. I’ll give him another day, he thought. I’ll avoid talking to him tomorrow. Let him come to terms with things. I’ll call him Saturday.

  Steven parked his car and walked into his house, the new alarm system he’d recently installed chirping at him. He disarmed it and walked through the basement entrance and up the stairs to the main floor of the house. He was weary from the long day. The memorial service had been emotionally draining, and he felt like sleeping.

  Better check the mail, he thought. He walked through the kitchen to the dining room and then the living room. He stopped as he realized someone was sitting on the couch. It was a man, dressed in a suit. Even though it was still daytime outside and the living room was filled with the greyish light that a cloudy day in Seattle provides, the man’s features were dark and obscured. Steven recognized the fancy Italian shoes.

  “It’s you,” Steven said.

  “It is,” the man replied.

  Steven turned on a light, hoping to better see the man. Correction, Steven thought. Not a man. A demon. This is just the image he presents.

  “You’ve been back from Nevada for a couple of days now,” the man said. “Just wondering how the project is going.”

  “Our deal doesn’t give you the right to invade my privacy like this,” Steven said. “It just makes me mad, makes me want to delay things.”

  “You don’t want to do that,” the man said. “In fact, that’s why I’m here, to discuss timetables with you.”

  Here it comes, Steven thought. He knew the demon would turn up the heat at some point. Before he went to Nevada to rescue his son, he struck a deal with the demon to search for, and return, certain objects. After he returned from Nevada, the demon gave him a list. He had it for a couple of days. Steven looked the list over, but he had no idea from the details on the list which of the items might be at Eximere. He planned to go back out there after the memorial and the holiday weekend, when Roy might be in better sorts. He’d have to compare the demon’s written list to objects he could observe, and see if there were any matches.

  “I’ll be looking for your objects soon,” Steven said. “But every time you show up like this, uninvited, I’m going to take an extra week to look, how about that.”

  “Not a good idea,” the man said. “In fact, you’ll need to accelerate everything. I want every object on that list by Saturday morning.”

  “Oh, fuck off,” Steven said. “First of all, I told you I’d lo
ok for them. That doesn’t mean I’ll find them all. Our deal only involves returning to you the ones I can locate. So expecting them all is bullshit. That wasn’t the deal.”

  “I realize that.”

  “And second, there was no timetable to the agreement. I said I’ll look. I will. Next week.”

  “No. You will look tomorrow, and bring me all of the ones you find no later than Saturday morning.”

  “No, I won’t,” Steven said. “It’ll be next week.”

  “You’ve had it easy so far, haven’t you?” the man asked, standing. “I’ve tortured your friends a little, but no real pain for you. I used to love inflicting pain. Lived for it. It was the greatest rush. Long ago I helped men construct some of the most devious devices, all for the purposes of torturing humans. Now it’s just tedious. It really bores me. But still I do it, because it works. You recall your father and friend gasping for air in the car in California, I’m sure. I could give you a sample, if you’d like. But I find it so utterly boring, I’d rather you just take me at my word.”

  “You’re changing the terms,” Steven said. “Doesn’t that nullify the deal?”

  “I am not changing the terms. You said you would search for them and deliver to me the ones that match my description. That was more than a week ago. I am merely insisting that you finish the work. And since you seem to be dragging your feet, I’m giving you a deadline. My expectation was that I’d have them by now, so it’s within my right to insist.”

  “I think you make up rights as you go along.”

  “Enough,” the man said, walking toward Steven. As he approached, his faint, blond goatee became visible, and Steven could see dark veins under his thin skin. “Saturday morning, right here. Every object on that list.”

  “Every object that I can find,” Steven said. “Fine. I hand them over to you, and we’re finished. That was the deal. Whether I can find one, or a hundred, or none. Saturday morning, we’re done.”

  “Correct,” the man said, retreating from Steven and turning away from him. “Resist the temptation to get lazy and not check thoroughly. I’ll know if you didn’t. And don’t think about keeping anything on my list either, and lying to me about not having it. I’ll know that too. This will conclude only so long as you don’t take any shortcuts.”

  “Fine, no shortcuts. Are we finished now? Will you get the fuck out of my house?”

  “I don’t like your tone,” the man said, walking toward the front door. “I’ll go. But based on how this conversation has gone, I think I’ll need some insurance. You might want to give your friend in California a call.” He opened the front door and turned. “Saturday morning, or she’ll succumb.” He looked up at Steven and smiled, then closed the door.

  ◊

  Steven arrived at Roy’s house. He was balancing a box of Krispy Kremes in one hand and a thermos of coffee in the other. “Open up, Dad,” he hollered through the door. “My hands are full.”

  Roy opened the door and looked at him. He was wearing his underwear and a wifebeater. “You couldn’t call?” He turned and walked back into the house, leaving the door open and Steven on the porch.

  “I brought doughnuts,” Steven said, stepping inside. “Normally you’re happy to see doughnuts.”

  “Well, bring ’em in, you’re here now,” Roy said, marching back to his bedroom. Steven took the food and coffee into the kitchen and retrieved mugs from the cabinets. He poured out servings and opened the doughnut box, selecting one and chomping down on it. Roy returned as Steven swallowed the mouthful.

  “You’ll leave me some, I hope,” Roy said, flopping down in a kitchen chair and running his fingers through his hair. He looked tired.

  “Did you sleep?”

  “A little.”

  Steven handed Roy the mug of coffee he poured for him, and Roy took it.

  “I have a favor to ask,” Steven said.

  “Hence the doughnuts,” Roy said sarcastically. “You only bring doughnuts when you want something.”

  “I need to go to Eximere today. I was hoping you’d come along.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  “It’ll do you good to get out of the house,” Steven said, taking a second doughnut. “A little bit of time on the road…”

  “We just spent days driving back from Nevada. I’ve seen enough road.”

  “…and some time at Eximere. You’ll feel better.”

  “You think I want to walk down all those stairs?”

  “And, Eliza’s in trouble. I need your help to save her.”

  Roy looked up at Steven, not sure if he was telling him the truth or not.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Roy asked.

  “She’s in the hospital,” Steven answered. “Pneumonia. Very severe. Came on very quickly. She could die.”

  Roy’s expression changed from disbelief to concern. “We should go down there and see her, then.” He got up from the table and began to walk around as though he was considering how to pack and leave.

  “Dad, no,” Steven said. “Even if we went down there, we couldn’t help her. The only way she’s going to survive is if I go to Eximere. And it has to be today.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Roy said, sitting back down with his coffee. “You’re not making any sense.”

  “Eliza’s been made ill by Aka Manah, the demon that killed Robbie,” Steven said. He knew he couldn’t tell Roy the details of the deal he’d made with the demon, but he had to give him enough information to solicit his help. “There are some things I have to do at Eximere, and they have to be done today. And I have to be back in Seattle by tomorrow morning. I could use some backup. And, I suppose, the moral support.”

  “I presume you can’t tell me what you need to do at Eximere.”

  “You know I can’t. What I didn’t expect was that he’d turn the screws on me and threaten Eliza’s life if I didn’t meet a deadline.”

  Roy rallied himself, standing back up and taking a long deep breath. “Well,” he said, “if Eliza’s in trouble, we’ve got to go. I’ll do whatever you want.” He wandered back into his bedroom. “Give me a minute to get ready, and we’ll leave.”

  Steven took another doughnut and topped off his mug. By the time he’d finished both, Roy was standing in the kitchen, ready to go.

  “Bring the box,” Roy said. “I’m not really hungry, but we shouldn’t let good doughnuts go to waste.”

  Steven grabbed the box and his thermos, and they walked out to his car.

  ◊

  The drive down was quiet. Roy was still moody from the memorial service, and the threat to Eliza just added to the somber mood. By the time they reached Olympia, Roy had both woken up and warmed a little, and was ready to talk.

  “How’d you find out about Eliza?” Roy asked.

  “I called down to see how she was,” Steven said. “While I was talking to her, she began to feel worse. I suggested she call Joe and have him take her to the hospital. Joe called me back to say it was pneumonia, and bad.”

  “Troy?” Roy asked, referring to Eliza’s ten-year-old son.

  “Staying with Joe.”

  “So I’m assuming you had a reason to call her. A visit from Aka Manah yesterday?”

  “He was in my house after I dropped you off last night. Just sitting in the living room like he owned the place, waiting for me to walk in. He was insistent that I…” Steven caught himself. He almost spilled the deal to Roy, which would have been a violation of the agreement’s terms. “…let’s just say I have to do what I have to do by Saturday morning,” Steven finished.

  “And to make sure you did, he’s done something to Eliza?”

  “Yes, he said I should check on her. He called it insurance.”

  “There’s times I really hate dealing with ghosts. But at least I feel like we have the upper hand with them. With this demon, you’ve got no leverage. It holds all the cards.”

  “You’re exactly right,” Steven said, taking the turn to Highwa
y 101 toward Eximere. “He insisted it be done by tomorrow, then he threatened Eliza to ensure I get it done. There was no changing his mind.”

  “Alright. What do you want me to do?”

  “I have some cardboard boxes in the trunk,” Steven said. “Help me haul them down to Eximere. Then I’ll need some uninterrupted time while I… do what he wanted me to do. Might need your help carrying boxes back up.”

  “So we’re removing objects?” Roy asked.

  Steven didn’t know how far he could go with Roy and not violate the terms of the deal. Roy saw him thinking about his answer.

  “Never mind,” Roy said. “I won’t ask what’s in the boxes. You’re already in a hard enough position without me making it worse.”

  “If we get this done by tomorrow, the deal should be complete and I should be free of Aka Manah.”

  “If he holds up his end of the deal, that is.”

  “Yes, provided he doesn’t change things around. The whole deal was his idea in the first place, and he forced me into making it using similar tactics.” Steven remembered seeing Roy and Eliza suspended mid-air in the suicide forest, mimicking the pose of the hundreds of hanging bodies he’d seen in the trees. This whole thing was Aka Manah’s doing. The terms were entirely his, with Steven forced into it. He could come up with a new set of terms, and I’d have no choice but to accept them, Steven thought. He’s only tolerating me now because he wants his objects so badly. Once he has them, he won’t give a rat’s ass about me or Roy or Eliza. And hopefully that will mean he’ll just leave us alone. And not kill us.

  Roy saw the look of concern on Steven’s face. He slapped Steven’s knee. “Buck up, kiddo. We’ll figure this out. You need me to do anything, you let me know. And don’t worry about Eliza. She’s tougher than a two dollar steak.”

  Chapter Two

  Carrying the empty boxes down the many stairs to reach Eximere, Steven imagined what it was going to feel like hauling full boxes on the way back up. They’d rarely taken things out; they usually brought things down, like food and conveniences, like a coffee maker. Most of Eximere felt like a fully furnished rental house where the owners were perpetually away and housekeeping services happened magically when your back was turned. After they explored the house briefly to make sure everything was as they left it, Steven left Roy to the breezy comfort of Eximere’s back porch and walked to the object room, removing Aka Manah’s list from his back pocket. He scanned it – there must have been at least three dozen items on it, each with a name and a physical description. The names were useless since they were arcane.