JACK KILBORN ~ ENDURANCE by Jack Kilborn Read Free Book Online Page B

very bad idea.
    “ We drivin’ or what?”
    Felix had to let go of the gun to turn the ignition. His initial feeling of hope was replaced by uneasiness. This guy was so big his head touched the ceiling.
    “ What’s your name?” Felix asked.
    The hunter grunted. “I’m John.”
    “ Do you know where the Rushmore Inn is, John?”
    “ Not here. I’ll tell you when we’re moving.”
    “ Why? Are you afraid?”
    John leaned over, his brown eyes slightly crossing. His breath was warm and smelled like decay. “Damn right I’m afraid. And you should be, too.” Then he smiled, revealing brown, crooked teeth and gums that looked like raw hamburger. “Y’all should be scared as hell.”
     
    # # #
     
    She has the dream. Again.
    In it, the man has two heads and three arms. His second head is smaller, misshapen, with a mouth crammed full of crooked teeth.
    He climbs on top of her, one head giggling, the other drooling.
    Others watch.
    Other monsters.
    A man whose fingers are fused together, like flippers. The bushy unibrow dividing his oversized forehead makes him look Neanderthal. He has a tiny nose and tiny ears, out of proportion with his large face. He claps his flippers, applauding the show.
    Another man with a pointed head, thin on the top and bulbous on the bottom, like an eggplant. He hops from foot to foot, anxiously awaiting his turn.
    One man has a split down the middle of his face, as if someone hit him in the nose and mouth with an ax. He snorts through the combined nose/mouth opening, spit and snot spraying.
    Another man, naked and disgustingly obese, is propped up in an old, rusty wheelchair. Instead of knees, he has tiny, baby feet attached to his thighs. His right arm is also no larger than a baby’s. It’s waving at her as he smiles.
    There are others. Many others. Many that are even worse.
    She doesn’t scream. They like it when she screams.
    Instead, clenches her fists, her fingernails digging into her palms, her teeth biting her own tongue, willing herself to wake up.
    Her eyes open wide.
    The creatures are still there.
    This isn’t a dream.
    She’s been awake all along.
     
    # # #
     
    Letti Pillsbury glanced in the rearview mirror at her mother and daughter in the backseat, huddled over the videogame. It made her feel both happy and sad, and more than a little dishonest. But she and Florence had agreed not to tell Kelly until after the Iron Woman event.
    One thing at a time.
    She shifted her eyes back to the road, and then to the map. It wasn’t a real map. In fact, it looked like a photocopy of a hand drawing, and a poorly done one at that. Letti had called the inn yesterday and spoken to the female proprietor to get better directions.
    “ Ten point six miles southwest down 219 once you pass 55. The road isn’t marked, so use your odometer. It’s on the right. We’re so looking forward to having y’all.”
    The odometer was creeping up on ten point five, but there was nothing out here but hills and forest, and it was getting increasingly more difficult to see as the sun went down. Letti questioned, not for the first time, her decision to stay this far away from the competition, instead of at the event hotel. But money was tight and would only get tighter, and when the Rushmore Inn brochure arrived in the mail, stating they’d won free rooms, she couldn’t pass it up. Letti didn’t even remember entering the contest, but apparently she’d checked some box while filling out the extensive paperwork for the competition. The inn was really out of the way, but even if it had the worst amenities in the history of bed and breakfasts, it was still a lifesaver.
    Letti slowed down, squinting into the trees, looking for the road. At first, the endless forest and jutting mountains had taken her breath away with their beauty. But after hours of the spectacular view, she began to feel intimidated. Letti hoped the race course was clearly marked, because if one of them got lost in this wilderness,