THE HOLLOW SEASON
Chapter Twenty-Three — What We Become
Steve woke to Alex standing over him.
For several seconds he didn’t recognise his son.
Not because Alex looked different.
Because he wasn’t doing anything.
Just standing there.
Barefoot.
Silent.
Watching.
Steve blinked.
‘Alex?’
Nothing.
The house was dark.
3:17 glowed on the microwave.
Of course.
‘Alex.’
His son’s head tilted.
Steve sat up.
‘What are you doing?’
Alex whispered:
‘Listening.’
Steve’s skin tightened.
‘To what?’
Alex looked towards the floor.
‘Everybody.’
Steve stood.
‘Come here.’
Alex didn’t move.
‘Alex.’
‘I can hear Silas.’
Steve stopped.
‘What?’
‘He doesn’t remember his mother’s face anymore.’
Alex sounded sad.
‘He remembers that he loved her.’
Steve stepped closer.
‘Okay.’
‘Ray remembers dying.’
‘Alex—’
‘Earl still thinks somebody’s coming upstairs to help him.’
Steve grabbed his son’s shoulders.
‘Stop.’
Alex looked at him.
His pupils were enormous.
Almost no colour left.
‘They don’t stop.’
‘I know.’
‘No.’
Alex smiled faintly.
‘You don’t.’
The smile frightened Steve.
He slapped Alex.
Not hard.
Enough.
Alex blinked.
Silence.
Then:
‘Dad?’
Steve almost collapsed.
‘Jesus Christ.’
Alex touched his cheek.
‘Did you hit me?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Why?’
Steve pulled him into his arms.
Alex stiffened.
Then held on.
‘I’m sorry,’ Steve whispered.
Alex’s voice broke.
‘I was somewhere else.’
‘I know.’
‘I could hear them.’
‘I know.’
‘They want me to go underground.’
Steve tightened his grip.
‘You’re not going anywhere.’
Alex laughed weakly.
‘You can’t actually guarantee that.’
‘Watch me.’
For a moment Steve had him.
His son.
Then Alex whispered:
‘Dad?’
‘Yeah?’
‘What if I’m safer dead?’
Steve pulled back.
‘Don’t ever say that again.’
Alex stared.
‘I mean it.’
‘So do I.’
‘I wouldn’t be alive for it to use.’
Steve’s face changed.
‘Alex.’
‘It keeps dead people.’
‘Exactly.’
‘But maybe it wouldn’t keep me.’
Steve grabbed his face.
‘No.’
‘Dad—’
‘No.’
Alex’s eyes filled.
‘I’m scared.’
Steve kissed his forehead.
‘I know.’
‘What if I hurt somebody?’
Steve didn’t answer quickly enough.
Alex noticed.
Jyllian was vomiting again.
Dan waited outside the Buffalo bathroom.
‘You alive?’
‘Complicated.’
‘Wrong choice of words around here.’
The toilet flushed.
Jyllian emerged.
Dan stared.
She noticed.
‘What?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Dan.’
Her shirt no longer hid it.
Not really.
A small but unmistakable curve.
Too much.
Too quickly.
Dan lowered his voice.
‘Yesterday you barely looked pregnant.’
Jyllian looked down.
‘I know.’
‘How far along are you?’
She laughed bitterly.
‘Apparently time has stopped pretending to matter.’
Dan didn’t like that.
‘Does Alex know?’
‘Not yet.’
‘He needs to.’
‘I know.’
‘Today.’
‘I know.’
Dan handed her water.
She drank.
Then suddenly grabbed the bar.
Dan caught her.
‘What?’
Jyllian’s face emptied.
‘Alex.’
‘What about him?’
She closed her eyes.
‘He’s getting harder to feel.’
Dan stared.
‘What does that mean?’
‘I always know where he is.’
‘Romantic.’
‘Not like that.’
She looked frightened.
‘I can feel him.’
Dan understood.
‘And now?’
‘Something keeps getting between us.’
‘The thing?’
Jyllian nodded.
‘It’s learning how to wear him.’
Breakfast was strangely normal.
Jessica made eggs.
Steve made coffee.
Alex sat at the table.
Nobody mentioned 3:17.
Nobody mentioned death.
Nobody mentioned that Steve had removed every knife from the kitchen during the night.
Alex noticed the empty knife block.
He said nothing.
Jessica did.
‘Where are the knives?’
Steve looked at the coffee.
‘Garage.’
Jessica stared.
‘Why?’
‘Felt like reorganising.’
‘At four in the morning?’
‘Productive insomnia.’
Alex stood.
‘I know why.’
Steve looked at him.
‘Alex.’
‘It’s fine.’
‘It wasn’t about you.’
Alex laughed.
‘You hid knives in the garage.’
Jessica looked between them.
‘What happened?’
‘Nothing.’
Alex shoved his chair back.
Steve stood.
‘Don’t.’
‘Don’t what?’
‘Turn this into something.’
Alex laughed.
‘You already did.’
‘Alex.’
‘You think I’m going to kill somebody.’
Jessica froze.
Steve’s face changed.
‘I don’t.’
‘Bullshit.’
‘I’m scared.’
‘Same thing.’
‘No, it isn’t.’
Alex pointed towards the garage.
‘Sure looks like it.’
Jessica stepped in.
‘Alex.’
He turned on her.
‘What?’
She didn’t flinch.
‘Your father loves you.’
Alex laughed.
‘Everybody keeps using that like it’s medicine.’
‘Maybe because you’re acting like a dick.’
Silence.
Steve looked at Jessica.
Jessica shrugged.
‘What?’
Alex almost smiled.
Almost.
‘You really don’t know when to shut up.’
‘Apparently neither do you.’
Something loosened.
Then Alex laughed.
A real laugh.
Jessica did too.
Steve stared at both of them.
For one beautiful second, the world was ordinary.
Then Alex’s face changed.
He looked towards the basement door.
‘Did you hear that?’
Nobody had.
Alex stood.
‘Someone’s down there.’
Steve blocked him.
‘No.’
‘Dad.’
‘No.’
‘Move.’
‘Absolutely not.’
Alex stared.
Then smiled.
‘You’re afraid of me.’
Steve’s heart broke.
‘I’m afraid for you.’
Alex stepped closer.
‘Same difference.’
He walked away.
Jessica found him outside twenty minutes later.
Sitting on the porch.
She brought coffee.
Alex looked at it.
‘Poison?’
‘Thought about it.’
He took the mug.
‘Thanks.’
She sat.
For a while, nothing.
Cars moved below.
Morning sunlight touched the mountains.
Alex said:
‘I really did hate you.’
Jessica nodded.
‘This is a lovely conversation.’
‘I mean before.’
‘I know what you mean.’
‘I thought if you disappeared, Dad would come back.’
Jessica stared ahead.
‘Did he?’
Alex looked at her.
She smiled slightly.
‘When I started sleeping upstairs alone. When we stopped talking. When everything fell apart.’
Alex looked down.
‘No.’
‘There you go.’
‘I was wrong.’
Jessica turned.
That surprised her.
Alex continued.
‘About some things.’
‘Careful. Growth is dangerous.’
‘Don’t ruin it.’
‘Sorry.’
He smiled.
Then stopped.
‘You helped him.’
Jessica didn’t answer.
‘Dad.’
‘I tried.’
‘After Mum.’
‘Yes.’
Alex swallowed.
‘I think I hated you for surviving something she didn’t.’
Jessica looked at him.
‘That isn’t fair.’
‘I know.’
‘Neither was me being jealous of you.’
‘We’re very healthy.’
‘Exceptionally.’
Alex laughed.
Jessica bumped his shoulder.
‘For what it’s worth, I like you.’
Alex looked horrified.
‘Let’s not get carried away.’
‘I said like.’
‘Still.’
Jessica smiled.
Then Alex said:
‘I’m sorry I wanted to hurt you.’
She studied him.
‘I know.’
‘No.’
His eyes filled.
‘I really wanted to.’
Jessica’s smile disappeared.
‘I don’t anymore.’
‘Good.’
‘But sometimes something inside me does.’
She waited.
Alex looked frightened.
‘If I ever scare you, leave.’
Jessica stared.
‘Alex—’
‘Promise.’
‘I’m not leaving you alone with this.’
‘Jessica.’
‘I mean it.’
‘That’s stupid.’
‘Probably.’
He laughed through tears.
Jessica took his hand.
‘You’re part of my family.’
Alex looked at her.
That almost destroyed him.
‘Don’t say that.’
‘Why?’
‘Because everything here kills family.’
Jessica squeezed his hand.
‘Then maybe Idaho Springs can fuck off.’
Alex laughed.
A voice beneath the porch whispered:
Soon.
His smile vanished.
Steve went to the Buffalo.
Of course he did.
But this time he didn’t order whiskey.
Dan noticed immediately.
‘Coffee?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Who are you?’
Steve sat.
Dan poured.
‘Bad morning.’
‘Those usually end in bourbon.’
‘Alex said something.’
Dan waited.
Steve stared into the cup.
‘He asked what if he’s safer dead.’
Dan closed his eyes.
‘Fuck.’
‘I don’t know how to help him.’
Dan knew more than he could say.
That made it worse.
Steve looked at him.
‘You’re doing that thing again.’
‘What thing?’
‘Knowing.’
Dan wiped the bar.
‘I know you’re terrified.’
‘That’s not what I mean.’
Dan didn’t answer.
Steve leaned forward.
‘What happened to you?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Bullshit.’
Dan sighed.
‘Steve.’
‘You know something about Alex.’
Dan stopped.
‘You know something about Jyllian.’
Nothing.
‘You know something about Nora.’
Dan looked at him.
Steve’s voice cracked.
‘And Laura.’
Dan almost told him.
Almost.
Then remembered Nora:
He’ll try to save us.
‘Go home.’
Steve laughed.
‘Again?’
‘Yes.’
‘I swear to God—’
‘Go home to your son.’
Dan’s voice was harder now.
‘Today.’
Steve stared.
Something in Dan’s face frightened him.
‘Why?’
‘Because you keep assuming you’ll have tomorrow.’
Steve went cold.
‘Dan.’
‘Go.’
Steve stood.
‘What do you know?’
Dan looked him directly in the eye.
‘Enough to tell you to go home.’
Steve left.
Dan watched him through the window.
‘I’m sorry.’
Jyllian’s voice behind him:
‘You did the right thing.’
Dan turned.
Then saw her stomach.
His face changed.
‘Jesus.’
‘I know.’
‘You need to tell Alex.’
‘I was going to.’
‘Going to?’
Jyllian looked towards the door.
‘He’s not himself.’
Dan stared.
‘That’s exactly why.’
By afternoon Alex could no longer read.
The words on his laptop changed.
Normal paragraph.
Then names.
Silas Bell.
Ray Mercer.
Earl Whitcomb.
Rebecca Lane.
David Mercer.
Thomas Reed.
Hundreds.
Alex slammed the laptop shut.
The names continued across the black screen.
‘Stop.’
More appeared.
People he didn’t know.
Dates.
Deaths.
He threw the laptop.
It hit the wall.
Jessica ran upstairs.
‘Alex?’
He stood in the middle of the room.
‘Don’t come in.’
She stopped.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Leave.’
‘What happened?’
‘LEAVE.’
Jessica stepped backwards.
Alex pressed his palms into his eyes.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘It’s okay.’
‘No.’
His breathing became ragged.
‘Something’s wrong.’
Jessica lowered her voice.
‘Do you want me to call your dad?’
‘No.’
‘Jyllian?’
Alex looked up.
‘Where is she?’
‘I don’t know.’
His face hardened.
‘She left.’
‘Alex.’
‘Everybody leaves.’
Jessica frowned.
‘That’s not true.’
‘Mum did.’
The words sounded strange.
Not quite his voice.
Jessica noticed.
‘Your mother disappeared.’
‘Same thing.’
‘No.’
Alex stared at her.
‘You don’t know anything about her.’
Jessica stepped inside.
‘You’re right.’
Alex smiled.
‘At least you finally admit it.’
‘But I know she loved you.’
Something inside Alex recoiled.
‘Don’t.’
‘Steve told me.’
‘Shut up.’
‘He said she—’
‘SHUT UP.’
The bedroom window cracked.
Jessica froze.
Alex stared.
The crack spread across the glass by itself.
‘Get out.’
Jessica whispered:
‘Alex.’
‘Please.’
She backed into the hall.
‘I’m downstairs.’
Alex nodded.
She left.
The door closed.
Alex collapsed.
‘I don’t want this.’
The thing behind him whispered:
You do.
Alex spun.
No one.
‘No.’
You wanted her gone.
‘Not anymore.’
You hated her.
‘I was angry.’
Same thing.
‘No.’
The voice laughed.
Ask her.
‘Ask her what?’
If she forgives you.
Alex covered his ears.
‘Fuck off.’
Ask.
‘STOP.’
Every door in the house slammed shut.
Steve saw the shattered upstairs window from the street.
He ran.
‘ALEX!’
Jessica met him inside.
‘He’s upstairs.’
‘What happened?’
‘I don’t know.’
A crash.
Steve moved.
Jessica grabbed him.
‘Wait.’
‘That’s my son.’
‘I know.’
‘Move.’
‘He told me to leave.’
Steve stopped.
Jessica looked frightened.
‘I think we should listen.’
That terrified him.
Jyllian reached the house at the same moment.
Steve saw her.
Then saw her stomach.
Everything stopped.
‘What the hell?’
Jyllian froze.
Jessica looked at her.
The two women understood each other instantly.
Steve didn’t.
Not yet.
‘Jyllian?’
She whispered:
‘Where’s Alex?’
‘Upstairs.’
She moved.
Steve grabbed her arm.
‘Wait.’
‘Steve.’
He stared at her stomach.
‘Are you—’
A scream came from upstairs.
Alex.
Jyllian tore free.
They ran.
Alex stood at the end of the hallway.
Blood on his hands.
Not much.
Enough.
Steve stopped.
‘Alex?’
Alex looked down at himself.
Confused.
‘I don’t know.’
Jyllian approached slowly.
‘Alex.’
‘Don’t touch me.’
‘Okay.’
His eyes were black.
Not metaphorically.
Black.
Jessica gasped.
Alex looked at her.
Something changed.
He smiled.
Jessica backed away.
Steve stepped between them.
‘No.’
Alex tilted his head.
‘Dad.’
‘You stay right there.’
Alex laughed.
‘Why?’
‘Because I’m asking you.’
‘You don’t trust me.’
Steve’s voice broke.
‘I love you.’
Alex’s smile disappeared.
For a second.
Then returned.
Wrong.
‘That’s not the same thing.’
Jyllian whispered:
‘Alex, listen to me.’
He looked at her.
His eyes dropped to her stomach.
Everything in him stopped.
The darkness vanished.
‘What?’
Jyllian froze.
Alex stared.
‘Jyllian.’
She began crying.
‘What is that?’
Nobody spoke.
Alex looked at Steve.
Jessica.
Dan wasn’t there.
Back to Jyllian.
‘Are you pregnant?’
Jyllian whispered:
‘Yes.’
Alex’s face emptied.
Then something enormous moved through him.
Fear.
Love.
Horror.
Joy.
Everything at once.
‘Mine?’
Jyllian cried harder.
‘Yes.’
Alex laughed once.
Disbelieving.
‘Oh my God.’
His eyes returned to normal.
Steve stared at him.
His son.
Completely.
For one moment.
Alex stepped towards Jyllian.
‘I’m going to be a dad?’
Jyllian nodded.
Alex cried.
She cried.
He touched her stomach.
Nothing burned.
‘I love you.’
‘I love you.’
Steve watched.
Terrified.
Because something about the happiness felt like a trap closing.
Then the house knocked.
Three times.
Every wall.
Together.
KNOCK.
KNOCK.
KNOCK.
Alex looked up.
The darkness returned.
Instantly.
Jyllian whispered:
‘No.’
The voice came from everywhere.
Son.
Alex clutched his head.
‘Stop.’
Father.
‘STOP.’
Jyllian grabbed him.
He threw her aside.
Steve caught her.
‘Alex!’
Jessica stepped forward.
‘Alex, look at me.’
He did.
That was the mistake.
He saw everything he had ever hated about her.
Not Jessica.
What she represented.
Dad moving on.
Laura disappearing.
Aspen gone.
His bedroom gone.
His old life gone.
A woman sitting where his mother should have been.
A house that never felt like his.
A father laughing with someone else.
Jessica telling him rules.
Jessica touching Steve.
Jessica asking him to give up waiting.
Every resentment magnified until memory became evidence.
The thing whispered:
She replaced her.
Alex shook his head.
‘No.’
Jessica approached.
‘Alex.’
She took him.
‘No.’
‘Alex, it’s me.’
She wanted you gone.
Jessica reached out.
Alex whispered:
‘You took my dad.’
Jessica stopped.
‘No.’
Steve moved.
‘Alex, listen to me.’
‘YOU TOOK HIM.’
Jessica’s eyes filled.
‘Alex, I didn’t.’
‘He was mine.’
Steve’s face broke.
‘Son.’
Alex looked at him.
The thing whispered:
Choose.
Jessica stepped between them.
‘Steve, stay back.’
Steve stared.
‘Jess.’
‘Stay back.’
She looked at Alex.
‘I didn’t take your dad.’
Alex shook.
‘I know.’
Jessica exhaled.
‘Okay.’
‘I know.’
His eyes briefly cleared.
Jessica smiled through tears.
‘Good.’
Alex whispered:
‘I’m sorry.’
Then his face changed.
He grabbed her.
Steve shouted.
Jyllian screamed.
Jessica fought.
Alex drove her backwards.
Not towards the stairs.
Towards the upstairs landing.
Jessica grabbed the railing.
‘ALEX!’
Steve reached them.
Alex hit him hard enough to send him into the wall.
Steve dropped.
Jyllian lunged.
Something threw her backwards without Alex touching her.
Alex held Jessica against the railing.
She stared at him.
Terrified.
‘Alex.’
He shook.
‘I’m sorry.’
Jessica saw him.
The real him.
Trapped behind his own face.
‘It’s okay.’
Alex began crying.
‘No.’
Jessica whispered:
‘Fight it.’
His hands loosened.
For one second.
She almost got free.
The voice beneath the house whispered:
She doesn’t belong.
Alex screamed.
And pushed.
Jessica went over the railing.
Steve heard the impact downstairs.
Then nothing.
No scream.
No movement.
Nothing.
The entire house went silent.
Alex stared at his empty hands.
His eyes were normal.
‘Jessica?’
Steve ran.
Alex didn’t move.
‘Dad?’
Steve disappeared down the stairs.
Jyllian stood frozen.
Alex looked at her.
‘I didn’t—’
She was crying.
‘Jyllian?’
He walked towards the railing.
Saw below.
Stopped.
Jessica lay at the bottom of the stairs.
Still.
Steve dropped beside her.
‘Jess?’
He touched her face.
‘Jessica.’
Nothing.
‘No.’
He checked her neck.
Her wrist.
Her breathing.
Nothing.
‘No.’
Alex stood above.
‘Dad?’
Steve looked up.
Alex’s face collapsed.
‘I didn’t mean—’
Steve stared at his son.
Alex whispered:
‘Dad?’
Steve looked back at Jessica.
‘Call 911.’
Alex didn’t move.
‘CALL 911!’
Alex grabbed his phone.
Dropped it.
Picked it up.
Could barely make his hands work.
Jyllian descended slowly.
Steve pulled Jessica into his arms.
‘Come on.’
Nothing.
‘Jess.’
He rocked her.
‘Come on.’
Alex reached the bottom step.
‘Dad.’
Steve looked at him.
Alex was crying.
Eighteen years old.
Terrified.
His son.
Jessica’s killer.
Steve’s face became something Alex had never seen.
‘Don’t.’
Alex stopped.
‘Dad—’
‘Don’t come near her.’
That destroyed him.
‘It wasn’t me.’
Steve closed his eyes.
Alex looked at his hands.
‘I remember it.’
Nobody spoke.
‘I remember pushing her.’
Jyllian covered her mouth.
Alex stared at Steve.
‘Dad, I remember.’
Steve cried into Jessica’s hair.
Alex whispered:
‘I’m sorry.’
Three knocks came from beneath the floor.
Alex screamed:
‘SHUT UP!’
The house shook.
‘SHUT THE FUCK UP!’
Every light exploded.
Darkness.
Then laughter rose beneath them.
Not one voice.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
The collected.
Alex collapsed.
‘I’m sorry.’
Steve held Jessica.
Jyllian held Alex.
Nobody could undo anything.
Sirens eventually came.
For once, ordinary people entered the story.
Paramedics.
Police.
Questions.
A woman in uniform guided Alex into a chair.
Another officer spoke quietly with Steve.
Jessica was covered.
Alex stared at the sheet.
He never looked away.
Jyllian stood near him.
Someone asked who she was.
Alex answered automatically.
‘My girlfriend.’
The officer glanced at her stomach.
Then at Alex.
‘Okay.’
Jyllian took Alex’s hand.
He pulled away.
‘Don’t.’
She looked hurt.
‘I killed her.’
‘Alex—’
‘I killed her.’
‘That thing—’
‘My hands.’
Jyllian stopped.
Alex stared at the sheet.
‘She said I was family.’
His voice broke.
‘Today.’
Jyllian cried.
‘She said I was part of her family.’
Across the room, Steve heard.
His shoulders shook.
Alex saw.
‘Dad.’
Steve did not turn.
Alex tried again.
‘Dad.’
Nothing.
And Alex understood something worse than hatred.
Steve couldn’t look at him.
Dan arrived after sunrise.
Saw police.
Ambulance.
Steve sitting alone on the curb.
Alex inside.
Jyllian in the doorway.
Dan knew.
He didn’t ask.
He sat beside Steve.
For several minutes neither spoke.
Finally:
‘Jessica?’
Steve nodded.
Dan closed his eyes.
‘Alex?’
Steve’s voice barely existed.
‘He killed her.’
Dan looked at him.
Steve stared towards Main Street.
‘My son killed her.’
Dan wanted to say it wasn’t Alex.
Couldn’t.
Because it had been.
Not entirely.
But enough.
Steve laughed once.
Broken.
‘I kept thinking I could save him.’
Dan said nothing.
‘I thought if I stayed close enough—’
‘Steve.’
‘I lost him anyway.’
‘He’s still here.’
Steve turned.
The look in his eyes silenced Dan.
‘Is he?’
Dan couldn’t answer.
Steve stood.
Walked inside.
Dan remained.
Jyllian came outside.
Her pregnancy was obvious now.
Dan stared.
She nodded once.
‘I told him.’
‘Alex?’
‘Yes.’
‘Steve?’
She looked towards the house.
‘Not that part.’
Dan understood.
Not Nora.
Not Laura.
Not yet.
‘Tomorrow.’
Jyllian said it like a sentence.
Dan looked at her.
She pressed her hand to her stomach.
‘Everything tomorrow.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘No.’
She looked through the doorway.
Alex sat alone.
Steve stood across the room.
Two people who loved each other more than anything.
Unable to cross fifteen feet.
Jyllian began crying.
‘But there isn’t anything left to protect them from.’
Dan looked towards the Buffalo.
‘There is.’
Jyllian shook her head.
‘Not the truth.’
Inside, Alex finally looked at Steve.
‘Dad.’
Steve turned.
Alex whispered:
‘Please.’
That word.
The word Silas Bell had once spoken while dying.
The word the thing beneath Idaho Springs had learned to recognise.
A request offered to anything listening.
Dan heard it from outside.
His blood ran cold.
‘Steve.’
Too late.
Steve crossed the room.
Alex stood.
Steve grabbed him.
Alex broke.
‘I’m sorry.’
Steve held his son.
‘I know.’
‘I killed her.’
‘I know.’
‘Do you hate me?’
Steve cried.
‘No.’
‘I do.’
Steve held him tighter.
‘Then I’ll love you until you don’t.’
Alex sobbed against him.
Jyllian watched.
Dan watched.
And beneath the house, beneath Main Street, beneath the Buffalo, beneath millions of years of stone—
something listened.
Steve had come back for the person he loved.
Again.
Exactly as Nora had warned.
But this time there was one thing the ancient thing beneath Idaho Springs had not learned to account for.
Alex looked across his father’s shoulder at Jyllian.
At the child growing inside her.
And whispered:
‘It doesn’t get him.’
Jyllian stopped breathing.
Dan heard.
So did the thing beneath the ground.
Alex looked towards the floor.
His eyes blackened.
Then cleared.
‘I don’t care what happens to me.’
Steve pulled back.
‘Alex.’
Alex looked at his father.
For the first time in days, there was no darkness in his face.
Only Alex.
‘I’m ending it.’
And beneath Idaho Springs, something ancient finally became afraid.
——————
THE HOLLOW SEASON
Chapter Twenty-Four — What Survives
Alex disappeared before sunrise.
By seven, the police were looking for him.
By nine, they had his photograph.
By noon, his name was on local news.
EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD WANTED FOR QUESTIONING IN IDAHO SPRINGS DEATH
By evening, the language changed.
SUSPECT.
Steve stopped watching after that.
The house no longer felt haunted.
That was almost worse.
Police moved through it.
Photographed the stairs.
Measured the railing.
Bagged things.
Asked questions Steve answered badly.
Had Alex been drinking?
No.
Drugs?
No.
Any history of violence?
No.
Mental illness?
No.
Problems with Jessica?
Yes.
That answer stayed with him.
Yes.
They had problems.
He heard himself explaining arguments.
Alex resenting the move.
Jessica and Alex fighting.
The slap.
Things Alex had said.
Every ordinary family failure transformed into evidence.
Steve wanted to scream.
You don’t understand.
Instead he sat at the kitchen table and answered.
Because what was he supposed to tell them?
Something beneath Idaho Springs had been teaching itself how to hurt people for millions of years?
His dead sister had made a bargain with something pretending to be the Devil?
His son could hear dead people beneath Main Street?
A motorcycle ghost had called Alex brother?
Hundreds of dead people had knelt outside their house?
Alex had killed Jessica.
That part required no supernatural explanation.
Steve had seen it.
His son’s hands.
Jessica falling.
The sound when she hit.
They found Alex’s phone near the creek.
His jacket twenty yards away.
One shoe beneath the bridge.
The other was never found.
Dogs followed his scent to Main Street.
Then lost it.
Not faded.
Lost.
Three different dogs stopped at almost the same place.
Outside the Buffalo.
One whined.
One refused to move.
The third growled at the pavement.
Police called it contamination.
Steve didn’t.
Jyllian disappeared that same night.
Of course she did.
No phone.
No address anyone could verify.
No family.
No school record matching what she’d told Alex.
No driver’s licence.
Nothing.
When police asked Steve her surname, he realised he didn’t know it.
‘Jyllian what?’
Steve stared.
‘I don’t know.’
The detective waited.
‘Your son’s girlfriend is pregnant and you don’t know her last name?’
Steve closed his eyes.
‘No.’
It sounded insane.
Everything did.
Dan came to the house the next morning.
Steve opened the door.
Dan took one look at him.
‘Any word?’
Steve shook his head.
‘Jyllian?’
‘Gone.’
Dan looked away.
Steve noticed.
‘You knew she would.’
Dan didn’t answer.
Steve stepped closer.
‘You knew.’
‘Steve.’
‘What the fuck did you know?’
Dan looked exhausted.
Older somehow.
‘Not here.’
Steve laughed.
‘Not here?’
His voice rose.
‘Jessica is dead. Alex is missing. Jyllian is carrying my grandchild somewhere and you’re still doing this?’
Dan looked at him.
‘Your grandchild.’
Something about the way he said it made Steve stop.
‘What?’
Dan shook his head.
‘Nothing.’
Steve grabbed him.
‘Don’t.’
Dan didn’t fight him.
‘Don’t you fucking say nothing to me again.’
Steve was crying now.
‘Everybody knew pieces of my life except me.’
‘Steve.’
‘Nora knew. Jyllian knew. You knew. Whatever is under this town knew.’
His voice broke.
‘Laura probably fucking knew.’
Dan’s expression changed.
That was enough.
Steve released him.
‘What?’
Dan looked towards the street.
‘You need to talk to Jyllian.’
‘She’s gone.’
‘I know.’
‘Then tell me.’
Dan couldn’t.
Steve stared.
And suddenly understood something much worse than the answer.
‘You promised her.’
Dan looked at him.
Steve laughed.
Broken.
‘Of course you did.’
Jyllian returned that evening.
Steve found her sitting in the dark living room.
For one second he thought she was Laura.
It wasn’t appearance.
Something smaller.
The way she sat with one leg tucked beneath her.
Laura used to do that.
Steve stopped in the doorway.
Jyllian looked up.
Her pregnancy had advanced again.
Impossible.
She looked months pregnant now.
Steve stared at her stomach.
Then at her.
‘Where’s Alex?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Bullshit.’
‘I don’t.’
‘Where is he?’
‘Steve—’
‘WHERE IS MY SON?’
Jyllian flinched.
Steve immediately hated himself.
But not enough to stop.
‘Did you take him?’
‘No.’
‘Did that thing?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Then what the hell do you know?’
Jyllian began crying.
Steve laughed.
‘No. You don’t get to cry.’
She looked at him.
That hurt her.
Good.
Steve wanted it to.
He recognised that impulse.
Thought of Alex.
Felt sick.
‘Tell me the truth.’
Jyllian wiped her face.
‘I will.’
‘All of it.’
She nodded.
‘All of it.’
Steve sat.
Not because he wanted to.
Because his legs stopped working.
Jyllian remained across the room.
‘Your sister didn’t die in 1975.’
Steve stared.
‘I know.’
‘Not exactly.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘The bargain kept her alive.’
Steve swallowed.
‘Nora.’
Jyllian nodded.
‘She thought she was saving you.’
‘She did.’
‘Yes.’
Jyllian’s voice broke.
‘That’s the cruel part.’
Steve waited.
‘She asked to live.’
‘And?’
‘It let her.’
Steve’s face tightened.
‘Jyllian.’
‘I wasn’t allowed to leave.’
She stopped.
Steve heard it.
I.
The room became very quiet.
‘What did you say?’
Jyllian closed her eyes.
Steve stood.
‘What did you just say?’
She looked at him.
And there she was.
Not physically.
For one impossible instant Steve saw the girl from the photograph.
Blonde.
Denim jacket.
Eighteen.
Terrified.
‘Stevie.’
Steve staggered backwards.
Only Nora had called him that.
‘No.’
Jyllian cried.
‘I’m sorry.’
‘No.’
‘Steve—’
‘NO.’
He backed into the wall.
‘You’re not Nora.’
‘I am.’
‘You’re twenty-something.’
‘I know.’
‘Nora would be—’
‘I know.’
‘YOU’RE NOT HER.’
Jyllian stood.
Steve recoiled.
She stopped immediately.
‘Okay.’
He stared at her.
Looking.
Searching.
The eyes.
Not the same colour.
Not the same face.
But something.
God.
Something.
‘Prove it.’
Jyllian began crying.
‘When you were ten, you stole Dad’s cigarettes and blamed me.’
Steve went still.
‘Anybody could—’
‘You hid them beneath the loose board in the shed.’
Steve’s breathing changed.
‘Stop.’
‘You broke your wrist jumping from the garage because I told you you were too scared.’
‘Stop.’
‘You cried when the dog died and made me promise never to tell Tommy because you thought he’d call you a baby.’
‘Stop.’
‘You used to crawl into my bed during thunderstorms.’
Steve covered his ears.
‘I SAID STOP.’
Jyllian stopped.
Steve slid down the wall.
For several minutes neither spoke.
Then he looked at her.
His sister.
A stranger.
His son’s girlfriend.
His grandchild inside her.
The thought entered his mind fully.
Steve turned and vomited.
Jyllian cried silently while he was sick.
Steve wiped his mouth.
Wouldn’t look at her.
‘Alex.’
She knew what he meant.
‘Yes.’
Steve shook his head.
‘No.’
‘Steve.’
‘You were his aunt.’
Jyllian closed her eyes.
‘Yes.’
‘You knew?’
‘Not at first.’
He stared.
‘Not at first?’
‘Not all of me remembers everything.’
‘Don’t.’
He stood.
‘Don’t make this sound poetic.’
‘I’m not.’
‘You slept with my son.’
Jyllian flinched.
Steve immediately looked sick again.
‘Jesus Christ.’
‘Steve.’
‘You knew you were Nora.’
‘I knew pieces.’
‘When?’
She couldn’t answer quickly enough.
Steve laughed.
‘Oh my God.’
‘It isn’t like that.’
‘Then tell me what it’s like.’
Jyllian cried.
‘Every life feels real.’
‘Every life?’
Steve stopped.
‘What does that mean?’
Jyllian looked at him.
This was the truth she feared most.
‘Nora wasn’t the only one.’
Steve stared.
‘What?’
‘After 1975, it changed me.’
‘Changed?’
‘Different women.’
Steve shook his head.
‘No.’
‘Different names.’
‘No.’
‘Different faces.’
‘Stop.’
‘Different lives.’
Steve looked at her.
Then something inside him understood before she said it.
He whispered:
‘Laura.’
Jyllian broke.
Steve saw the answer.
‘No.’
She sobbed.
‘I loved you.’
Steve stepped backwards.
‘No.’
‘Steve—’
‘NO.’
He looked at her as though she had become something monstrous.
‘I married you.’
Jyllian covered her mouth.
‘Yes.’
‘I had a child with you.’
She couldn’t speak.
Steve whispered:
‘My sister.’
‘Steve—’
‘My fucking sister.’
‘I didn’t know then.’
‘YOU WERE NORA.’
‘Not the way you mean.’
‘HOW ELSE CAN I MEAN IT?’
The house seemed too small to contain him.
Steve paced.
Hands against his head.
‘I slept beside you.’
Jyllian cried.
‘I know.’
‘I loved you.’
‘I know.’
‘Alex—’
His voice disappeared.
He stared at her stomach.
His grandchild.
His sister’s great-nephew.
His son’s child.
His family folded back into itself until the relationships stopped making sense.
Steve whispered:
‘What did you do to us?’
Jyllian looked destroyed.
‘I loved you.’
That answer was worse.
Steve stared.
‘As who?’
Jyllian couldn’t answer.
‘Nora?’
Silence.
‘Laura?’
She cried.
‘Jyllian?’
Nothing.
Steve laughed.
‘Do you even know?’
She whispered:
‘No.’
That stopped him.
Because she looked as devastated as he felt.
Steve sank into a chair.
‘Laura disappeared.’
Jyllian nodded.
‘Why?’
‘I started remembering.’
Steve looked at her.
‘Nora?’
‘Everything.’
‘So you left us.’
‘I was afraid.’
‘Alex was eight.’
‘I know.’
‘He waited for you.’
‘I know.’
‘He still waits for you.’
Jyllian sobbed.
‘Every day.’
Steve looked at her.
‘You watched him.’
She nodded.
‘I wasn’t supposed to come close.’
Steve’s face hardened.
‘But you did.’
‘I saw him and—’
‘And what?’
‘I loved him.’
Steve closed his eyes.
Sick again.
Jyllian rushed:
‘Not like that at first.’
Steve looked at her.
‘Stop helping.’
She did.
Silence.
Then Steve asked:
‘Was Alex part of the bargain?’
Jyllian stared.
‘I don’t know.’
‘Don’t lie.’
‘I don’t.’
‘You said children.’
Her face changed.
Steve noticed.
‘What?’
Jyllian whispered:
‘I thought the price was one son.’
Steve felt cold.
‘Whose?’
‘I didn’t know.’
‘Nora’s?’
‘Yes.’
Steve stared.
‘Alex.’
Jyllian cried.
‘I thought it ended with him.’
Steve’s eyes moved towards her stomach.
Both understood.
‘But it didn’t.’
Jyllian whispered:
‘No.’
Three knocks came from beneath the house.
Steve didn’t react.
Neither did Jyllian.
They had nothing left to give fear.
The ancient voice whispered:
‘Beautiful.’
Steve looked down.
‘Fuck you.’
The thing laughed.
Jyllian placed a hand over her stomach.
The child moved.
Hard.
She gasped.
Steve stared.
For one horrible second something pressed outward beneath her skin.
Not a foot.
Too long.
Too deliberate.
Then gone.
Jyllian went white.
Steve saw.
‘What was that?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Jyllian.’
‘I don’t know.’
For the first time, Steve believed her.
He asked the question that mattered.
‘Where’s Alex?’
She cried.
‘I think he went below.’
Steve’s face collapsed.
‘No.’
‘After Jessica.’
‘No.’
‘He told me he was ending it.’
‘I know.’
‘He thought if he reached whatever is underneath—’
Steve stood.
‘I’m going.’
Jyllian grabbed his arm.
‘No.’
He threw her hand off.
‘That’s my son.’
‘That’s what it wants.’
‘I don’t care.’
‘Steve.’
‘I DON’T CARE.’
Jyllian stared.
There it was.
Exactly what Nora had told Dan.
Steve would always come back for the people he loved.
Even if coming back destroyed him.
‘Please.’
Steve reached for the door.
Jyllian said:
‘He asked me not to let you.’
Steve stopped.
‘What?’
‘Before he disappeared.’
She cried.
‘He said if he didn’t come back, don’t let Dad follow me.’
Steve looked at her.
‘He knew me.’
Jyllian smiled through tears.
‘Yes.’
That broke him more than anything else.
Steve leaned against the door.
‘I can’t lose him.’
Jyllian whispered:
‘I think you already did.’
Steve turned.
He hated her for saying it.
Hated Nora.
Hated Laura.
Hated Jyllian.
Loved all three.
That was the sickness of it.
He walked over.
Touched her face.
Jyllian closed her eyes.
Steve stared.
‘I don’t know who I’m looking at.’
‘I know.’
‘I loved Laura more than anybody.’
‘I know.’
‘I loved Nora before I knew what love was.’
Jyllian cried.
‘I know.’
‘And you—’
He couldn’t finish.
Jyllian covered his hand with hers.
‘I’m sorry.’
Steve withdrew.
‘Where will you go?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Can you go?’
She looked towards Main Street.
‘Maybe.’
He looked at her stomach.
‘And the baby?’
‘I won’t let it have him.’
Steve laughed bitterly.
‘You don’t know what it wants.’
‘No.’
Neither did the reader.
Not yet.
Jyllian left before dawn.
Steve did not follow.
He never saw her again.
Dan left the Buffalo three days later.
No goodbye party.
No explanation.
Jenna said he’d had enough.
Sold what needed selling.
Turned over what needed turning over.
Packed a truck.
Left Idaho Springs.
Actually left.
Steve didn’t know where.
He didn’t care.
At first.
The search for Alex continued.
Police searched mine shafts.
Creek banks.
Trails.
Abandoned buildings.
Surveillance footage.
State patrol.
Hospitals.
Friends in Aspen.
There were no friends to call.
No credit-card use.
No phone.
No body.
Nothing.
Steve told police Alex was alive.
They began looking at him differently.
He stopped telling them.
Jessica was buried in Denver.
Her sister handled most of it.
Steve attended.
Sat in the back.
Nobody asked him to speak.
He didn’t blame them.
Someone had placed a photograph of Jessica beside the coffin.
She was laughing.
Steve had taken it.
Santa Fe.
One of the trips Alex had once mocked her for wanting.
Steve stared at it until the room emptied.
Then whispered:
‘I’m sorry.’
No answer came.
For once.
Three Months Later
Snow fell over Idaho Springs.
Not heavily.
A thin dry snow that caught in gutters and along the edges of Main Street.
Christmas lights hung from buildings.
Tourists moved between shops carrying bags.
Someone laughed outside Beau Jo’s.
A motorcycle passed.
Steve Miller walked among them.
He had lost weight.
His beard had grown in grey.
His coat wasn’t zipped.
He didn’t notice the cold anymore.
Every face mattered.
That was the worst part.
A tall boy in a black jacket.
Steve followed for half a block.
Not Alex.
A blonde woman crossing the street.
For one impossible second:
Nora.
Not Nora.
A dark-haired woman inside a coffee shop.
Laura.
Steve stopped.
She turned.
Stranger.
He kept walking.
This was his life now.
Faces.
Possibilities.
Disappointments.
Sometimes he thought he saw Jessica too.
He never followed those.
He didn’t think he deserved to.
Alex remained wanted for Jessica’s murder.
Posters had mostly disappeared.
Steve kept one folded inside his coat.
Police photograph.
Eighteen.
Annoyed expression.
Steve hated the picture.
Alex looked like a suspect in it.
Not his son.
He preferred remembering eight-year-old Alex missing his front tooth.
Seventeen-year-old Alex pretending not to like Idaho Springs.
Alex laughing at Steve’s pancakes.
Alex asleep on the sofa.
Alex saying:
Dad?
Sometimes Steve heard him.
He never answered.
He’d learned that much.
He entered the Buffalo at 4:23.
Jenna looked up.
‘Hey, Steve.’
‘Hey.’
She didn’t ask what he wanted.
Nobody did anymore.
She poured whiskey.
Two fingers.
Set it in front of him.
Steve sat in Dan’s old section of the bar.
‘Any word from him?’
Jenna knew who he meant.
‘Dan?’
Steve nodded.
‘No.’
He drank.
‘Weird bastard.’
Jenna smiled.
‘Yeah.’
‘Just left.’
‘Pretty much.’
Steve stared into the whiskey.
‘Everybody leaves.’
Jenna didn’t answer.
She knew better.
Steve drank again.
Above him, the ceiling creaked.
He looked up.
Waited.
Nothing.
The Buffalo had been quiet lately.
Steve wondered if that meant something.
He had stopped wondering what.
Outside, snow thickened.
Main Street blurred behind the window.
Steve saw his reflection.
For half a second someone stood beside him.
Alex.
Steve turned.
Empty stool.
He laughed softly.
‘Yeah.’
Jenna looked over.
‘What?’
‘Nothing.’
Steve finished his drink.
She poured another.
Hundreds of miles away, Dan rocked a baby beside a window.
Snow fell there too.
Different town.
Different street.
Dan had chosen a place with no mountains.
He thought that mattered.
Maybe it did.
The baby was three weeks old.
A boy.
Healthy.
At least every doctor said so.
Jyllian had appeared at Dan’s door shortly before dawn.
Blood on her clothes.
Baby in her arms.
No explanation of how she’d reached him.
She looked exhausted.
Older.
For several seconds Dan thought he saw blonde hair instead of dark.
Then she placed the child in his arms.
‘Promise.’
Dan already knew.
‘I remember.’
‘Don’t take him back.’
‘I won’t.’
‘Don’t tell Steve.’
Dan hated that part.
‘He deserves to know.’
‘No.’
‘That’s his grandson.’
Jyllian began crying.
‘I know.’
‘He thinks everybody is gone.’
‘I know.’
‘That’s cruel.’
Jyllian looked at the baby.
‘Cruel keeps him alive.’
Dan had no answer.
‘Where’s Alex?’
Jyllian closed her eyes.
‘Gone.’
‘Dead?’
‘I don’t know.’
Dan stared.
‘And you?’
She kissed the baby’s forehead.
‘Probably.’
Then she left.
Dan never saw her again.
Now the baby slept against his chest.
Dan rocked slowly.
He had not named him.
That bothered the nurse at the hospital.
He said the mother was deciding.
There was no mother.
Not anymore.
Dan looked down.
Tiny face.
Dark hair.
Closed eyes.
Normal.
Completely normal.
‘What the hell am I supposed to do with you?’
The baby yawned.
Dan smiled despite himself.
‘Yeah. Helpful.’
He rocked.
Outside, ordinary people lived ordinary lives.
Cars.
Dogs.
A man shovelling his pavement.
A kid dragging a sled.
No haunted Main Street.
No Buffalo.
No voices beneath the floor.
Dan had done it.
He had taken the baby away.
Nora had been right.
He could leave.
The child could leave.
Maybe that was enough.
Maybe the cycle had broken.
Dan wanted to believe that.
The baby opened his eyes.
Dan stopped rocking.
Dark eyes.
Almost black.
Around each iris, a thin ring of gold.
Wolf eyes.
Dan stared.
‘Well.’
The baby smiled.
Too early.
Newborns made expressions.
Dan knew that.
Gas.
Reflex.
Nothing.
The smile widened.
Dan’s own smile disappeared.
‘Don’t.’
The baby looked towards the floor.
Three tiny knocks sounded beneath Dan’s chair.
Dan froze.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
‘No.’
The baby’s eyes remained fixed downward.
Something beneath the house whispered.
Dan couldn’t understand it.
Then realised why.
It wasn’t speaking to him.
Dan stood.
Held the baby tighter.
‘You can’t be here.’
The baby turned his head.
Looked at Dan.
And laughed.
Not a newborn sound.
Not quite.
Dan went cold.
Back in Idaho Springs, Steve sat at the Buffalo.
Jenna wiped glasses.
Tourists came and went.
A man complained about parking.
Someone ordered fries.
Life continued with astonishing cruelty.
Steve looked through the window.
A boy crossed Main Street.
Black jacket.
Dark hair.
Steve stood so quickly the stool fell.
‘Alex?’
He ran outside.
The boy turned.
Not Alex.
Steve stopped.
‘Sorry.’
The stranger hurried away.
Steve stood in the snow.
People moved around him.
Faces.
Always faces.
Nora could be one of them.
Laura could be one of them.
Jyllian could be one of them.
Alex could be one of them.
He searched anyway.
That was what Steve Miller did.
He waited.
He searched.
He came back for people.
Even when they never came back for him.
Snow settled in his hair.
Across Main Street, Christmas lights blinked.
For one moment the Buffalo reflected behind him.
Steve thought he saw four people in the glass.
Jessica.
Laura.
Alex.
Nora.
He turned.
Nothing.
When he looked back, only himself remained.
Steve put his hands in his pockets.
And kept walking.
Far away, Dan stood beside the baby’s cot.
He hadn’t slept.
The three knocks had not repeated.
Morning light entered the room.
The baby slept peacefully.
Dan had almost convinced himself it hadn’t happened.
Almost.
Then he noticed something on the floor.
Black dirt.
A thin line of it beneath the cot.
Dan crouched.
Touched it.
Cold.
The same impossible cold he’d felt beneath the Buffalo.
‘No.’
The baby opened his eyes.
Dan looked up.
The child watched him.
Dan slowly stood.
‘You followed us.’
The baby smiled.
Dan understood.
The thing beneath Idaho Springs had never needed the child to remain in Idaho Springs.
That had been the mistake.
The town could keep the dead.
Nora could carry life.
Alex could inherit what the town had learned.
And the baby—
The baby could leave.
Dan backed away.
The child stared.
Not possessed.
Not inhabited.
Something much worse.
Born.
For millions of years, the thing beneath Idaho Springs had been trapped beneath stone.
It had learned from everything that died above it.
Fear.
Grief.
Love.
Voices.
Faces.
Bargains.
Blood.
Family.
Generation after generation.
Until finally it learned the last thing it needed.
How to live.
The baby laughed.
And beneath a town hundreds of miles away, something knocked back.
Three times.
In Idaho Springs, Steve stopped in the middle of Main Street.
He thought he’d heard a baby crying.
He turned.
Snow.
Tourists.
Cars.
Nothing else.
Steve listened.
The sound was gone.
He looked towards the mountains.
For reasons he could not explain, he smiled.
Only a little.
Maybe somewhere Alex was alive.
Maybe somewhere Jyllian was alive.
Maybe somewhere something belonging to his family had survived.
Steve held onto that thought.
It was all he had left.
Then he continued walking.
He never knew that he was right.
And he never knew how terribly wrong he was.
———
The End- Thank You For Reading The Hollow Season
