Homecoming, page 1
OTHER BOOKS BY MATT DRABBLE
All priced £0.99/$0.99 via Amazon
Rapture Falls
Fangsters
Gated
Asylum – 13 Tales of Terror
Abra-Cadaver
Gated II: Ravenhill Academy
After Darkness Falls Volume One
After Darkness Falls Volume Two
The Travelling Man
The Montague Portrait
Double Visions
Asylum II – 13 More Tales of Terror
The Last Resort
Gated III: Election Day
Grave Robbers
Asylum III – Crowtree Manor
Survival Island
After Darkness Falls Volume Three
Prime Time
Capes
The Cure
The Retreat
Salvage
Full Moon
Crossfire
Homecoming
Full Moon 2: Silver Bullet
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
EPILOGUE
REVIEW & LINKS
OTHER BOOKS BY MATT DRABBLE
PROLOGUE
Three months ago
“I don’t know about this,” Jeremy whined for what seemed like the hundredth time tonight.
Saul squeezed his fist tightly together enough to whiten the knuckles and fought the urge to give his younger brother the slap that he so richly deserved; the only thing stopping him, of course, was the added noise it would make. He made a mental note to give him what he was owed as soon as they were out of here.
‘Here’ was the rear of the Schaefer Institute, a large medical research facility run by the military which sat on the outskirts of the small town of Wellspring.
The Institute was effectively the only thing keeping the town alive, reason enough for Saul to want to burn the damn place to the ground. As far as he was concerned, someone should have buried this place and let it die years ago. There was nothing here worth keeping it alive for, and he wouldn't have spared a single person in Wellspring.
Saul was 23, and he already knew that he had nothing to look forward to. Their old man worked a security gig at the Institute; in fact, the place was the main employer of the townsfolk, and just about everyone owed a living to the place whether they worked there or ran a business in town where the workers spent their cash.
“Keep that bloody thing steady!” he hissed at his brother as the flashlight wavered on the lock that he was currently working on.
“I thought I heard something,” Jeremy whispered, turning away.
“There’s nothing out there, you pussy. I told you, the patrols work on a rota, and when they switch over, they spend time nattering away like a bunch of sodding pensioners. We’ve got time before Dad or anyone else makes it this far over. Now keep that light straight or else I'm gonna split your skull open with it.”
The light went back to the door but trembled a little. That was okay, though – Saul liked a little trembling in his presence.
The plan for tonight was simple: get into the Institute and take whatever they could find of value. The place was huge and everyone knew that it was stuffed full of expensive equipment. While he wasn't sure exactly what was here, he knew that it would be enough to pawn for the sort of cash that would get both him and his brother the hell out of this shithole for good.
In truth, there was very little in this life that he cared about, but he had his brother and he had his wheels, and that was all he figured he needed. The world was a large place and he was sick of being stuck in the back of beyond while it all turned without him.
Tonight's score would be enough to set them up somewhere else and he didn't care much where. Of course, that bitch Tara Wagner – Wellspring’s resident constable – would know that it was him behind the break-in, but he didn't care. He figured that once he was out beyond the tree line and back in the world, she wouldn’t pay him much mind let alone bother following him.
The woman was a poor excuse for a cop and, given the small community, she had little to do except for shoving her nose into other people’s business.
She was constantly riding him for every little offence in Wellspring, and regardless of how often she was right, he hated her for her persecution. The sooner he got the hell out, the better. He just needed a little travelling money to do so.
The door lock was proving to be far trickier than he’d first thought. The online videos he'd watched had done little to prepare him for the time pressure he was currently under or the sweat making his hands slippery.
With the flashlight starting to drift away again, he finally felt the slip of the lock as it turned and released.
"Told you, piece of piss," he whispered in triumph.
He opened the door and stepped inside, yanking his nervous brother with him, before closing it softly behind them.
Taking his own light from his jacket, he shone it around and took in their surroundings.
"Jackpot!" He breathed out as he took in the view.
All around them lay what looked like new lab equipment still boxed up and sealed. He had no idea what any of the stuff was or even did, but he knew that it looked expensive and ready to travel.
"Shit, Saul, what do you think it's worth?” Jeremy asked in a hushed voice.
"Enough, Jez, enough. Now start grabbing boxes.”
Together they started to carry the equipment out of the storeroom and towards the rear loading exit. Saul could feel that time was slipping by at an alarming rate of knots, but he didn't share his concerns with his brother. The last thing Jeremy needed was another reason to start panicking.
The second love of his life was parked outside, and he set his loot down before opening the van’s side door and then loading her up.
They returned three more times together before Jeremy returned to sit in the van and wait. Each additional trip made Saul squirm with the fear of being caught, and by the fourth time he went back, he knew that he was pushing it, but he was unable to stop himself. His nature was such that any barrier put in front of him was little more than an itch he just had to scratch.
Suddenly, Saul was caught out in the open when the world erupted around him. The rear loading bay was suddenly flooded with bright lights and the quiet air was shattered by a piercing alarm.
"SAUL!” Jeremy suddenly yelled from inside the van.
He flinched at the sound of his name being announced at such volume and risked a look back over his shoulder as the doors flew open and several security guards burst out and spotted him.
"START IT, START IT!” he bellowed to his brother.
"YOU SAID I COULDN'T!” Jeremy yelled back.
"DO IT NOW!”
Mercifully, Jeremy did as he was told. For years he'd been told to never touch the van for fear of the repercussions, but thankfully now the old girl roared into life.
He could feel the guards closing in and knew that the van would give his identity away, but he wasn't planning on sticking around, not after tonight anyway.
The van started rolling backwards as Jeremy fought to understand the controls. At first, Saul was happy to see it running but then became painfully aware that it was picking up speed, reversing towards him.
"WAIT!” he roared, thinking now that he could feel the hot breath of the security guards on the back of his neck coming up behind him.
The van picked up speed as it thundered backwards, and Saul thought that he was done with through his brother’s incompetence. Saul was going to get out of here all right: he was going to get far away from this town, but it was either going to be in a jail cell or a hearse if Jez didn't find the brake.
The van sped into the loading bay and kept on going. It smashed its way through the partially open doors and then continued before it struck a wall of the inner building.
There was a sudden massive explosion of electricity that burned his eyes as the van hit something important, and then the whole place was plunged into darkness as the power went out.
The loading bay around him was only lit in eerie red light from the van’s brake lights now as Saul sprinted as fast as he could manage to the passenger side door. He reached for the handle before yanking it open and leaping inside.
"GO, GO, GO!” he yelled.
"I’m trying,” his panicking brother replied as he tried to slip the van into a forward gear again.
Saul turned to look back out of the window and saw that the guards that had been scattered like bowling pins were rearranging themselves again. Instead of attempting to explain anything, he simply reached over, slammed the van into gear, and then stamped his foot down on top of Jeremy’s, flattening the accelerator pedal. The van sped off away
They burst out of the loading bay and back out into the night, leaving a multitude of debris behind them before speeding along the Institute’s private lane towards the main road outside the grounds.
Wellspring was in the middle of its usual harsh winter season and the snow had been falling intermittently for the past week or so. It was a cold and cruel season that often cut them off from the outside world with the heavy snowfall making the roads impassable. It was one of the reasons that he couldn't wait until the spring thaw before he made his move; another day here would crush him, let alone another few months.
They veered wildly across the road with Saul unwilling to take his foot off the accelerator and his brother struggling to keep the van pointed in a straight line.
They burst through the outer fence and slid about on the snow-covered ground until between them – more by luck than judgement – they managed to straighten up and find the main road again.
The area surrounding the large medical research facility was thick woodland that was impenetrable in places as the unforgiving landscape threatened to swallow anyone foolish enough to wander off the path. Many a climber and hiker had gotten lost down the years, men and women with an arrogance that spat in the face of mother nature only to have their confidence shattered with reality.
The corner came upon them too quickly and they hit it too fast for the icy road. The van skidded, and for a moment, Saul thought that they were going to make it before the van’s front wheels slipped off the hard road and then the vehicle was sliding downwards, pulling them off the road. Frozen tree branches struck the windscreen hard enough to crack it in a few places as they plummeted down the slope before finally levelling off and spinning to a halt.
"Shit, shit, shit,” Saul breathed out as he tried to check if he was in one piece.
They were sitting in almost complete darkness, embraced by the forest’s thick arms with icy air sneaking inside and making them both shiver with the biting cold. The van cabin looked bowed in several places, and the roof was now low enough to brush the top of Saul’s hair from a huge dent above him.
"Jez? You okay?”
"I... I think so,” came the unsteady reply.
Saul tried the overhead light; mercifully, it came on. Looking at his brother, he could see a lot of blood running down his face, but when he wiped it away frantically with his sleeve, he took in a deep sigh of relief as the wound appeared to be relatively minor.
"Am I going to die?” Jeremy asked.
"Don’t be a knob, Jez,” Saul replied. "You're fine, so stop whining.”
The door on his side was jammed, so he put his shoulder to it and started to bash against it until finally it gave a little, and with a loud protesting creak fell open.
The sound pained him in a physical way and any thoughts of brotherly love and relief gave way to anger at the sight of his baby.
"Look what you did!” he exclaimed once he was able to step a few paces away from the vehicle and take in the damage.
"Sorry,” his brother mumbled when he too had forced his way out.
"Sorry? That's what you’re offering me? I ought to put a dent in your head, see how you bloody well like it!”
"Sorry,” Jeremy mumbled again.
It was the acceptance of his bullying that Saul found so difficult to take from his younger brother. The kid had always been weak, always the victim, always looking to his older brother for protection. It was one thing to look out for him when they were kids, but they weren't kids anymore, and not for the first time since he'd come up with the plan to rob the Schaefer Institute, he pondered just driving off and leaving him to look after himself. While he was far from what you would call an intelligent man, the one piece of self-analysis that he knew was that he didn't want to be like their father. Isaiah King would have left a liability like Jeremy in a heartbeat. Knowing that was the only thing keeping Saul from doing the same.
He didn't trust himself to speak again for a few minutes as Jeremy merely stood looking helpless like a lost puppy. Instead, he spent his energy checking over both their surroundings and the van and praying that it wasn’t totalled.
Looking up towards the slope they’d slid down, he could see that their path was already obscured. If the guards bothered to come out this far looking for them, they'd have a tough job finding them, as would Constable Wagner if she dragged her fat arse out of bed at this hour.
Once he was certain that they at least had some time, he checked over the van and found that his girl was made of sturdier stuff than he’d thought. The damage to the bodywork was extensive, but mechanically she appeared to be driveable.
"Atta girl,” he whispered to himself as he placed a soft hand against the dented metal.
"Is she okay?” Jeremy asked nervously.
"No thanks to you, dickhead,” Saul snapped back, but he was already letting go of his misdirected anger.
"You think we can still drive out of here?”
Saul turned to explain the insanity of the question, but now, as he looked over his brother’s shoulder, he saw that perhaps it wasn't as misguided as he'd first thought. They were now parked on level ground, and while the forest was thick and wild around them, there did appear to be something of a flattened track that ran deeper into the darkness. While it was far from a proper road, it did give him a little hope.
“That look like a path to you?” he asked his brother.
“Out here?”
“Looks like someone made it to me.”
“Who’d do that?”
“Beats me.” Saul shrugged as he moved closer.
He could see that several branches had been cut with deliberate intent as though someone was clearing a path out in the middle of nowhere.
The night was frozen around them, and he knew that they couldn't afford to be out in the open for long if they didn't want to freeze to death.
Saul re-entered the van and thought a silent prayer as he turned the key. Miraculously, the engine turned over after a whining protest but then she held steady.
"Alright,” he muttered to himself with an approving nod. “Okay, Jez, go take a look.”
"A look?”
"The path… go see how wide it is, how far it goes etc.”
"I... I don't know, Saul. It’s pretty dark in there.”
"Jesus Christ, you baby! Do I have to do everything myself? Shift your arse and go take a bloody look!”
Jeremy turned to look towards the covered path. The tree branches were hanging down low, blocking their view, but the foliage was mainly hanging down due to the weight of the snow rather than being heavy limbed.
“Go on,” Saul ordered.
Jeremy took a couple of nervous steps forwards until he was pressed up against the trees and the hidden path.
"GO ON!” Saul yelled at him. "We ain't got all night. You wanna end up in a prison cell with Wagner’s baton shoved all the way up your arse?”
"No.”
"Then get moving.”
Saul sat in the van while his brother slowly started to push the tree branches aside and then finally ducked into the darkness.
Waiting there, he suddenly found his own gut churning with worry when Jeremy didn't reappear for several long moments. Minutes drifted away as fresh snow started to fall, and Saul wondered if his brother might actually have a concussion. Guilt rose up now for forcing Jeremy into the darkness when he was clearly terrified of it, always had been. But that had been the main reason for him forcing his brother to do it – a childish lash out of spiteful anger.
Finally, he climbed out of the van, and despite the meagre protection of the vehicle from the elements, the outside air was far colder as great plumes of breath rose from his mouth and nose.
He crossed to the tree line slowly, his boots crunching through the snow on the ground.
“Jez? JEZ?” he called out, louder when the first try didn't get a response.
He moved closer to the trees, looking down at his brother’s boot prints on the ground that led into the darkness through the low-hanging branches.
“JEZ? JEZ!”
Again, there was no answer, and that nagging doubt in his gut now became a full-blown panic.
He stood rooted to the spot, unwilling or perhaps unable to follow into the dark for fear of what lay beyond. He wasn't a young man blessed with an over-excitable imagination, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something very wrong about this place.
