He gave her a hint of a reassuring smile as he slipped from the driver’s seat and slammed the door closed. Sidney watched him as he crossed in front of the truck, climbing the stairs two at a time before reaching the door and going inside.
It seemed as though he was in there forever.
“Do you think we should go in?” Sidney asked, petting Snowy nervously, her eyes never leaving the slightly open front door.
“No, give him a little while,” Rich said. “He probably has to fill his dad in as to what’s going on before coming out.”
“Never mind the fact that his father will probably think he’s on crack or something,” Sidney offered.
“There is that,” Rich said with an agreeing nod. He then looked away from the view of the front door, across the driveway, and down into the marina parking lot.
“What’s going on over there?” Rich asked.
Sidney looked in the general direction and saw that there was a light inside the office flashing off and on.
“Is the power back on?” she asked, looking around for more signs that this was the case, but not seeing anything.
“The marina probably has a generator,” Rich said, watching the light go on and off. “I think somebody might be trying to signal us.”
Rich leaned over Snowy and Sidney and tapped the horn three times.
“What are you doing?” she asked him, not sure if it was a smart thing to draw attention to themselves.
“I think Cody should know about the light in the office,” Rich said, watching the door for signs of their friend. He was going to beep the horn again when Cody came out the front and down the steps.
Rich rolled down the window. “Somebody’s flashing the light in the marina office.”
Cody looked in the direction, seeing the light being turned on and then off and then on again. Sidney was surprised when he started across the slightly wooded area and down the hill into the parking lot.
“What the hell is he doing?” she asked. “Is he freaking insane?”
Quickly she slid over in the seat, getting behind the wheel of the truck and putting it in drive.
* * *
Halfway down the hill to the marina parking lot Cody realized that what he was doing probably wasn’t the smartest of things, especially given the current situation.
His father hadn’t been in the house. He’d thought maybe he had gone up to bed early, but the second floor was as empty as the first. It didn’t look as though his father had been home.
The relief he’d experienced when Rich pointed out the flashing light in the marina office was huge, momentarily canceling out his common sense.
Cody sped up his pace as he reached the lot. He kept his eyes on the front door to the office, and how the lights continued to flash off and on, and was startled—coming to a sudden stop—as the door came flying open and his father appeared in the doorway.
Cody raised his hand in greeting and was about to call out to the man when he saw that his father was yelling something to him that he couldn’t quite hear over the storm.
Then he noticed the blood on his father’s hands and the cuts that now adorned his face.
And was finally able to understand what it was that his father was yelling.
He was telling him to run.
Panic gripped him, and Cody started to look around the parking lot for any signs of trouble, while continuing toward the office. He started to run across the rain-swept parking lot, then felt his blood temporarily freeze in his veins, stopping him cold, as he saw something moving out from beneath a parked car. It turned out to be an empty potato chip bag caught in the stream of rainwater, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he continued toward his father.
His dad still stood frozen in the doorway, and the closer he got, the more he saw the look of absolute horror on the older man’s face. Cody wanted to tell him that everything was all right, that he and his friends were here to take him with them, but then he realized that his father wasn’t looking at him—
He was looking above him.
He heard the sound coming closer and looked up just in time to see the huge seagull as it descended, sharp yellow beak pecking at his scalp. Cody cried out at the sudden pain from his head, arms thrashing above him to drive away the attacking bird. And where there had only been one before, now there were many, their powerful wings beating the air as they dove to attack.
It was like being in the center of a tornado, the flock of seabirds swirling around, pecking and slapping him with their powerful wings.
Cody could feel the warmth of his own blood as it ran down his neck and back. He raised his hands above his head in an attempt to ward off the birds’ assault, but those too became objects of their attacks.
Blinking the blood from his eyes, he saw his father about to move from the front door. Gulls were swooping to attack him as well, and Cody screamed for him to get back inside the office.
The birds seemed to be making a conscious effort to take his own eyes, pulling at the soft flesh of his cheeks as he tried to get to cover. The pain was beyond words, and Cody felt his frustration and rage blossom. He reached up, blindly grabbing hold of anything he could—a wing, leg, or neck—to squeeze and twist before tossing the broken animal to the ground.
But for each one he took out, six more swooped in to take its place.
Cody kept his eyes tightly closed, wanting to hold on to his sight for as long as possible. He hoped that he was traveling in the right direction.
His father called out, and he tried to respond, to tell the man to protect himself, but a gull was suddenly at his face, a sharp yellow beak darting between his lips, attempting to snatch his tongue away like a fat worm. Cody went wild, swinging his arms, but with his eyes closed, he lost his balance, falling to the wet pavement on all fours.
The gulls did not let up, touching down upon his back and pecking at the soft, exposed flesh of his neck.
Cody was unable to rise, the multiple feathered bodies attacking relentlessly, but he knew that he had to keep moving. He started to crawl across the lot, hoping that he was heading in the direction of his father’s office. The gulls’ numbers were so great that he could no longer move, and he curled himself into a tight ball, wrapping his arms about his head in an attempt to protect his eyes and face.
He’d all but given up when he heard it—the blaring of his truck horn—and he actually found himself breaking into a smile as he listened to the sound of the truck coming closer.
Just like in the movies, the cavalry had arrived.
* * *
“Holy shit, do you see that?” Rich screamed from his seat.
Sidney saw, even though she didn’t want to.
A flock of gulls had driven Cody to the ground of the parking lot and were attacking him as if he were a pile of fresh bait.
She leaned on the horn as she drove across the lot, careful not to hit the random cars that were parked here and there. Bringing the truck to a screeching stop mere inches from where her former boyfriend crawled, she began to open the door.
“What are you doing?” Rich screeched, throwing himself across her lap and pulling the door closed. “You can’t.”
“We can’t leave him out there,” she said. He had no answer, since he knew that she was right. “Hold on to Snowy; I’m going to get him back into the car.”
She threw open the door and jumped out, slamming the door closed again behind her.
“Cody!” she called out, and saw him begin to angle himself toward the sound of her voice.
In seconds she was the object of attack as well.
The gulls flew at her, strangely silent, the only sound coming from them was the heavy flapping of their white and gray wings.
She didn’t hesitate, running from the car, swiping her arms above her head, batting the birds away from her.
“Sid?” Cody called out. She knelt down beside him, taking him beneath the arm and attempting to haul him to his feet.
The gulls w
ould have none of it, throwing their weighty, feathered bodies at them, attempting to drive them to the ground.
“The truck’s right here,” she said, crying out with each peck, pinch, and bite from the sharp beaks of the birds swarming about them.
“I’m sorry,” she heard him grunt.
She could see that he was bleeding, the blood from wounds about his head streaming down to color his face crimson.
“No apologies,” she said from between gritted teeth, still helping him as they tried to get to the truck.
A gull landed atop her head, the claws on its webbed feet raking across her scalp. She cried out, and Cody reacted, reaching up to grab one of the bird’s legs and yank it from the air to the ground where he stomped on its puffy white chest, breaking the bird’s insides in an explosion of gore.
She knew they had to be close, but the relentlessness of the storm and the flapping of the gulls had taken her off course. The bray of the truck’s horn was exactly what she needed as they moved toward the sound, and hopefully, safety.
“Over here!” she heard Rich yelling over Snowy’s excited barks. He continued to lean on the horn.
It was as if the seabirds knew that Cody and Sidney were close to escaping them, and their attacks grew even more aggressive, whipping wings and pecking beaks trying to keep them away from the sanctuary of the truck. She felt Cody move closer to her, pulling her head into the protection his arms.
“What are you doing?” she yelled, now fighting against him as well as the birds.
“Protecting you,” he said.
“Protect yourself,” she told him, grabbing his shirt and giving it a tug. “We’re going to get to the truck.”
The blast of water hit them with enough force to cause them to stumble back, almost knocking them from their feet. Sidney wasn’t sure what happened, at first thinking that the storm had somehow intensified, but then she realized that the birds were no longer attacking. She opened her eyes to see Cody’s father standing in front of the marina office, aiming a high-pressure fire hose.
“Get to the truck!” the harbormaster screamed as he directed the intense flow of water at the angry flock circling above the parking lot. The gulls turned their attention to him, and he returned that aggression, blasting them from the sky.
“We’re not going without you,” Cody cried, going to his father.
Sidney followed him, and the two of them stood behind the man with the hose as he doused the angry seabirds. They advanced into the lot as far as the hose was long, but it eventually went taut and they had to make their move.
Sidney studied the distance between them and Cody’s truck and decided that now was as good a time as any.
“C’mon!” she called. “Run for it!”
Cody took the metal nozzle of the fire hose from his father, continuing to spray the attacking flock, giving the older man a firm shove toward Sidney. She grabbed hold of his arm, and they both began to run. Moments later Cody dropped the hose and began to run as well.
With no high-pressure stream of water to hold them at bay, the birds resumed their attack, swooping from the sky as Sidney, Cody, and his father made their way across the lot toward the truck. Rich maneuvered it around, pulling up in front of them.
“Get ready,” Sidney said, swatting at the new onslaught as she turned to grip the back door handle, flinging open the door and diving in. She spun in the seat, reaching out to grab at whomever would be next. Cody was ushering his father in as the birds’ attack intensified. Sidney reached for the man, her hands on the sleeve of his jacket, when he suddenly pulled away, grabbed his son, and pushed him toward the open door. Cody, shocked by his father’s actions, actually fell backward onto the seat.
“Dad, what are you—”
Sidney could see the intention in Cody’s father’s expression, wanting his son to be safe before him. He was swinging his arms wildly at the attacking birds and was just about to duck his head to climb in when it happened.
For a split second the gulls had gone, almost as if Cody’s dad had actually managed to scare them away. He was coming forward to climb inside beside them when the hawks attacked.
The birds’ razor-sharp talons seemed to magically appear on Cody’s father’s scalp, digging into the already lacerated flesh and taking hold.
Cody’s dad screamed as he was pulled backward, away from the car door. Sidney cried out, as did Cody, who frantically reached for the man. Through the doorway she saw the multiple hawks using their talons and beaks to savage the man’s face and throat.
Their attack was devastating, the damage so severe that there was little the man could do to fight back. Sidney saw the horror in his expression, beneath the flow of bright red blood.
“Dad, no!” Cody cried as he actually tried to leave the car.
Sidney grabbed hold, using all her strength to pull him back into the car. Cody fought her crazily, trying to push her away, but Sidney held on with everything she had, knowing that if he got out of the car, he would not be getting back in. Rich leaned over as well, trying to help her as Snowy barked and howled, pacing back and forth nervously in the front seat.
Wrapping her arms tightly about Cody, she used her weight to pull him back away from the still-open door. The birds had begun to collect around the opening, their powerful wings flapping crazily as they tested the zone to see if it was safe to enter and attack.
Cody’s dad had collapsed to the ground outside, five hawks perched upon his failing body. He tried to fight back, to bat them away, but they snapped at his hands, strong beaks severing the tips of his fingers until all he had to work with were bloody nubs. He had started to crawl toward the truck as Cody continued to scream.
“We have to do something! We have to help him!”
The presence of birds had grown, and every single size and kind of bird imaginable had come to try and kill them.
“If you leave this car . . . if we leave this car, we’re dead,” Sidney said, fighting back her tears, repeating the harsh-sounding words over and over again as he continued to struggle with her.
His father was a mere foot away from the car now, crawling on his hands and knees as the hawks continued their assault. Sidney, Cody, and Rich watched as he raised himself up from the ground, revealing the horrible damage done to him. One of his eyes was missing, and the entire right side of his face had been torn away to reveal the bloody skull beneath. Sidney thought that he just might make it, that he was going to try to climb into the backseat, but instead the man took hold of the truck door in his mutilated hand and slammed it closed.
Cody’s dad then turned from the truck, pitched forward, and lay deathly still upon the rain-drenched parking lot, blood pooling around him.
Cody screamed as he managed to get away from Sidney, throwing her back as he slid across the seat toward the door.
“Cody, you can’t,” she said, watching to see what he would do. He pressed himself against the window, slapping at the glass as he sobbed.
“Get us out of here!” Sidney shouted to Rich, who still sat in the driver’s seat.
Rich did as he was told, putting the car in drive and starting from the parking lot.
The gulls were back now, diving at the truck, striking the roof and windshield, leaving bloody marks and streaks as they hit. The wipers did nothing but create crimson smears across the glass, and then the windshield began to give way, spiderweb cracks exploding across its curved surface.
Snowy barked savagely and Rich swore. “I can’t see!” he yelled, attempting to steer the truck through the blood and bodily fluids coating the windshield.
Sidney let go of Cody, who had gone strangely still, and leaned over the front seat, hoping to help guide their escape. The gulls’ attack had broken the driver’s-side wiper, leaving them nearly blind as the truck careened through the torrential rain.
She was reaching across for the steering wheel when the impact came, bringing the truck to an abrupt stop. Sidney fell over the seat, her face striki
ng the dashboard. Through a haze she heard the blare of a horn from someplace very close by before realizing that the sound belonged to their car.
Then everything went quiet, swallowed up by the dark.
She wished it could stay like that forever.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Her father appears in the doorway to her room.
In his arms he is holding a squirming bundle of white, the cutest puppy Sidney has ever seen in her life.
Snowy.
Sidney is struck by an immediate sense of familiarity, knowing that this is a memory from the past, but it does not stop her from going through the motions like she had all those years ago.
She bounds from her bed, approaching her smiling father, and she is at once aware of how good he looks, how healthy and young. Something niggles at the back of her mind; this isn’t right—this isn’t how it is anymore—but the closer she gets to this new realization, the deeper it recedes into the background.
The puppy is all she can think about, all she can focus on, and she holds out her arms excitedly, begging her dad to let her hold it.
Her father clings to the wriggling white pup, the shepherd burying her face in the crook of his neck. He tells her that this is a very special pup and that she is going to have to take very good care of her.
Sidney tells him that she will, still holding out her beckoning arms.
He pulls the shepherd puppy from his chest and presents the dog to her.
She takes the puppy from him and sees something strange about her.
Her eyes.
They’re unusually large, one of them as black as a marble, while the other—the right eye—is covered in a glistening metallic sheen.
She wants to ask her father what is wrong with the puppy’s eye, but her father has changed into Cody’s dad, his face torn and shredded. Blood pours from the wounds on his head and face, making puddles of red that expand on the ground around him.