It was cold. Not unbearable but he could feel it despite the fire he had started and the heavy down jacket he had picked up. It was four in the morning, and he had tossed and turned all night. He had given up two hours earlier and restarted the fire, hoping that, and a paperback book would calm him down. It hadn't but he was still trying. After a long moment of staring at the words, Luka set the book down with a sigh of regret.
He wanted to lose himself in some pleasant fictional fantasy for a while. There had been no time for pleasure reading at all since the summer began and he missed it. He also missed being able to sleep. Even with Jeanie beside him, there were nights where his dreams were simply too much to handle. It had been getting better, he allowed. As they had entered Colorado, some of the urgency he felt had faded, but that didn't make bad dreams about the dark man's empire easier to face as he was farther west than he had ever planned, and alone, camped along a deserted highway.
It hadn't been his idea to split up. Carter had wanted to check a different route altogether, and Dave was of the opinion that it was a safer bet to assume that Doug was off in a nearby liquor store drowning his sorrows. The younger men had good ideas, and at the time they had seemed as likely as his own thought that Doug would make a straight run west. He thought, based on what he knew about the man, that underneath his blustering angry drunken exterior, Doug was simply depressed. Carol was not his wife, but really, marriage was the legitimization of the feelings of two people. They didn't have to be married for Doug to be depressed. In fact he suspected the fact that they hadn't been married made it worse for Doug. That he had loved Carol, Luka had no doubt, and that fact that Doug was ruled by survivor's guilt was also clear.
Luka felt more than a little sympathy for the man. It could be justified all they wanted, but their group had made precious little effort to help Doug. That Doug wasn't ready to listen wasn't the point. The man had been suffering. Granted. no one was having a fun time that summer, but Doug's pain was obvious. The drinking was obvious, even to him, and he was not one of Doug's long time associates. It wasn't like the issues with Kerry, not at all. She had been, and probably still was, hiding and masking a lot of emotional pain. Outwardly, it was hard to tell if there was anything going on under the stern exterior. Doug was different. It had been clear from the day he'd met Doug that the man was suffering and they had done nothing but turn a blind eye to it. He had done nothing, even though it had bothered him immensely. The sad truth was, until he had left the house that morning, and really not until night had fallen after a fruitless day of searching, he had been nothing but angry and annoyed. Annoyed that Doug had run off and angry that he had to go looking for him. It had taken a day long trek west to make him start to see Doug in a sympathetic light. It was no wonder that Doug had left, really. They had all been far too wrapped up in their own personal misery to see his suffering and the second that misery was alleviated, they had attacked him.
Of course, Doug wasn't blameless. He was drinking. He was wallowing in misery and making next to no effort to help himself and he did make the choice to head west all on his own.
There had been a huge argument that morning, not made any easier by the presence of hot food. Luka wasn't ashamed to admit that he had been very angry. Angry with Doug, but mostly angry with Kerry and she had not had any defenders. Luka was appalled that she had sent Lucy. Lucy wasn't seriously injured and they had her riding in the truck with Kerry more out of convenience than concern for her physical state, but she was just a girl. Luka had shouted that very fact at Kerry, and she had merely eyed him coolly, listening but clearly not caring what his opinion was. He had almost struck her. It had been so close, he had actually raised his hand. It was a sharp, threatening look from Dave that had stopped him.
They weren't at agreement on what to do. He had wanted all of them to start looking. Randi had stood up against his plan, a huge surprise. She was of the opinion that if Doug wanted to head west, that was his right, and if Lucy wanted to run after him in some sort of lame attempt to stop him, then that was her right. " We don't have the right to make their decisions for them," Randi had said, and rather vehemently at that. Judging by Carter, Dave, and Jeanie's nods, they approved of that viewpoint.
It had been decided to make a day long attempt to find them. Randi and Jeanie would search the nearest town, and Kerry and Dave would take the truck and search the next closest. He and Carter would check the roadways. He had taken Jeanie aside as soon as the meeting had split up, to explain that he had no intention of just turning around when the sun started setting. There was no way he was heading back until he had at least seen and spoken to Lucy. Or, at least until he'd found enough evidence to know that there was no way to catch them.
He had kept traveling for a few hours after sunset, hoping to make up some of the time he had lost, but as the highway became increasingly filled with stalled, wrecked cars, he had pulled off the road for the night. It had been a long night. His nightmares had returned in full force and a very large part of him wanted to turn around. It was hard to resist the urge.
He added more wood to the fire. The moon was just a mere sliver in the sky, and he had never seen the stars shine so brilliantly. It was beautiful and yet he felt nothing but a cold chill deep inside his soul. It was like the feeling he had moments before the bodies of his wife and children were pulled from the mass grave of slaughtered victims. There was something wrong. What exactly, he didn't know, but he felt more than just a ping of fear.
There was a rustling noise. Luka looked up, his heart suddenly pounding. He heard a slow, rumbling growl. Suddenly he saw several red eyes glowing, just outside the range of the fire's light. Wolves, he thought with a shudder. He didn't have the American attitude toward wolves, the silly notion that they were merely wild dogs that had lost their hunting environment. No, he was from the old world, the world were wolves were vicious animals that could and would kill a child that lingered too long by themselves. He also came from the land that originated the tale of the werewolf. Wolves were not friendly creatures to him. To Luka, they had always been creatures that were faintly touched by evil.
He counted the red eyes. There were at least five of the animals, and probably more that he couldn't see. His rifle was inches away. He could grab it and open fire, but there was a chance he'd miss. Better to hold off, at least for the moment.
Their eyes glowed brightly. His fear grew. It wasn't natural for them to wait. It was almost as if they were waiting, but for what, he didn't know. His hand inched towards the rifle, even as the icy cold of the night seemed to enter every cell of his body.
" Oh no need to be afraid." Luka jumped at the sound. He struggled not to look as he knew instinctively that there was no real person there. Whatever was controlling the wolves was there, but he knew there was no physical presence there. It was a test, and it made him angry.
The voice chuckled. " I'm not testing you, Luka. I don't test people. I just make offers. Its the other side that gets its jollies with tests. I imagine your wife and children died during just such a test. I don't work that way."
" No, " Luka said softly, his breath showing a fine mist in the freezing air. " Your way is to surround me with wolves and then make an offer." Flagg was a demon, and Luka had gone to enough church to know that demons didn't tell the truth.
" The wolves? They're just pets. Fellow travelers." In an instant, the red eyes disappeared and the cold intensified. " I made a mistake. I can admit that. I miscalculated. I needed a doctor for my budding community, and I made an offer to someone that wasn't worthy. Wasted my time all summer and she wasn't even tough enough to take herself out of the picture. A rather unfortunate waste of my time. You, however, don't seem to be quite so foolish. You're already on your way."
" I'm looking for people, not heading west." Luka said it forcefully. Inside, he was feeling a cold rush of terror. They had discussed Flagg, and the strange way they seemed to be pulled to one side or another, but he had never thought he'd find himself in the position of questioning it. He had lost his faith a long time ago, and yet he found himself silently praying.
" Come now Luka, prayer is nothing, and you're on a fools errand. Doug Ross choked to death on his own vomit about four hours ago. Pity really. Of course he was an utter drunk but he would have filled the void until you were able to step up. He would have been a bad example though. And your poor little medical student, what was her name? Lucy? The silly girl ran her motorcycle off of a cliff a few miles up the road. Also a pity but frankly, Ms. Knight is the sort that is doomed to a tragic end, whatever dimension and time she resides in."
Its not true. The words rang in his mind, not because the words were so shocking, but because for the first time in eight years, he heard the voice of his long dead wife. Her words were like a thunderclap. He's lying, she said in her soft direct way, you must have faith my love.
He rose to his feet. " No. I don't believe you and I don't want your offer." He could feel the evil enclosing all around him, and he grasped at the last straw he had, a straw placed into his hands by a specter from the past. " The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." As the words rose from his throat in the language he had first learned them, the night air grew warmer and the sensation of an evil presence left. He finished the prayer and looked up into the sky, startled to see a bright ribbon of red and blue streaks glittering across the sky. He watched in awe, knowing intellectually it was the Northern Lights which he had never seen before, but sensing deep within his soul that it was something more.
After a long moment, the sound of a motorcycle reached his ears. He turned and found himself caught in its headlights much like a deer.
" See?" Doug said from his seat behind Lucy, " I knew she'd send a rescue party. I hope you don't need a lift."
" Riding three people on one bike must be some sort of safety violation." Lucy added. Luka couldn't help it, he started to laugh. He felt wonderful and for the first time in a long time, it felt good to be alive.