The Altar. James Arthur Anderson
in his heart, he couldn’t believe. He knew it had all been real. Hauntingly, terribly real. He hadn’t imagined the polished stone. And he hadn’t imagined the blood.
He could still see the terrible place whenever he closed his eyes. The sight of the awful black stone was permanently engraved into his mind. His fingers still tingled with the remembered cold, then heat of its touch. He shivered involuntarily at the thought and pulled the blankets up around his neck. Yet they did nothing to stop the cold, which chilled him to the very marrow of his bones.
He looked into the Rock’s eyes, seeking an answer. But the poster stared past him as if he were not even there. It would offer no help.
No, he was alone on this one. And Mom and Dad would be no help. They still thought his imagination was running wild. He remembered how his Mom had taken his temperature and started feeding him pills, as if that would do any good.
It had been real. The blood had been real. And his geologist’s hammer was broken—that was real. His Uncle Mike had taught him a lot about rocks and had told him that hammer wouldn’t break. He’d been able to chip quartz with that hammer. And quartz was harder than almost anything, except diamond, he remembered. The hammer hadn’t broken by itself.
Then he thought about the Indian, Dovecrest. Maybe he would understand.
Todd couldn’t remember the Indian actually finding him in the woods, but he sensed that somehow, Dovecrest knew. Yet despite being rescued by the strange man, the thought of speaking to him was almost as frightening as the black rock itself.
Loneliness suddenly consumed him and he shivered harder. He wished Faith were here to console him. Scratching her ears and listening to her purr always made him feel better.
“Mom!” he shouted. “Mom!”
Having a fever definitely had its advantages. His mother immediately hurried up the stairs to tend to him. She entered his room and he noticed that she walked funny now. It was because of the baby growing inside of her, and he suddenly felt bad about making her hurry.
“What is it, Todd?”
“I’m cold. And I need Faith.”
“Oh, I put Faith out about an hour ago. She was scratching at the door. She should be back soon, though.
“Oh,” he said, disappointed. Then a sudden chill ran up his spine as he thought of what might be lurking outside.
“Can I bring you some chocolate milk?” his mother asked.
“I guess so. But I really wanted Faith to sleep with me.”
“I’ll bring her up as soon as she comes in.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
His mother leaned over and hugged him, and it was good. Even though he was a big boy now, too big for such things, he hugged her back as tightly as he could.
-2-
“Well, Erik said, placing the bag of groceries on the table. “How did I do on my world-wide radio debut?”
“Just great,” she said, hugging him. “You did fine. I even missed my favorite soap opera for you,” she teased.
“That was very nice of you. But, really? Did I sound ok?”
“You sure did. I taped the show so you can listen to it for yourself.”
“Great. Than I can hear me embarrass myself on the radio. Now that everyone else has heard.”
Vickie laughed. “But seriously. Even I didn’t realize you know so much about old movies.”
“Just bad ones,” he replied. “I had a warped childhood.”
“That explains a lot of things.”
They both laughed.
“How is Todd? Is he any better?”
“He’ll be all right. It’s just a cold. And he had a scare. He’ll be fine.”
“What’s he doing now?”
“He fell asleep.”
“Not from listening to me on the radio, I hope.”
“No. He listened to a little. I don’t know how much he understood, because we don’t let him watch horror movies,” she teased.
He laughed. “The kid must have a bad cold. It’s not like him to sleep during the day. We’ve got enough trouble getting him to sleep at night.”
“He hasn’t slept much since we moved in. But I’ve been giving him cold medicine. That makes you sleepy.”
“I know. Let him sleep.”
Vickie nodded. “Erik, you haven’t seen Faith around, have you? Did she follow you in?”
“Ah...no. I don’t think so. I haven’t seen her since this morning. Why?”
“Well, I let her out this afternoon right after your show and I haven’t seen her since. It’s been at least an hour.”
“She usually stays out all afternoon, Vic. I wouldn’t worry. Did you call her?”
“Yeah. That’s what bothered me. Todd wanted to sleep with her so I went outside and looked around and called her. It’s not like her not to come when she’s called. You always say she’s like a dog that way. You don’t think she’s gotten lost, do you?”
“I don’t think so. Cats are really good about finding their way home. I read an article once that a cat found its way home all the way across the country.”
“You don’t think she headed back to the old place, do you?”
“No. She’s probably out exploring. Probably stalking a blue jay or something. Or maybe she’s sleeping in the SUV. You left the windows open, you know.”
“Oh, I forgot. Did you close them for me? You never know about those late afternoon showers this time of year.”
“I did. But I didn’t check to see if the cat was inside.”
“Then she might be out there. I’ll have to check. If she is, I don’t want her taking a dump in the back seat.”
“I’ll go check,” he said. “I wouldn’t worry about her. She’ll come in when it’s time to eat. And that should be any minute now.”
Still, as much as he tried to act nonchalant, he had a bad feeling about this.
-3-
The man known as Seti to his followers stepped out of his trailer and breathed the fragrant air of the forest. Soon the sun would be down, he thought, stubbing his cigarette into the ground with his boot. Then his favorite part of the day would begin—the night. Perhaps this would be the night when he’d locate the voice, the presence that had spoken to him, called him from so far away.
He scratched the smooth, shaved surface of his skull and smiled as, even now, he sensed the presence once again. Yes, he was close, now. Very close. Probably only a few miles away. Probably in these very woods. For the past week he had felt its power as it grew stronger every night.
The moon would not be full for another week. By then he would have found the presence and the ritual would be complete. He licked his lips in anticipation of the blood that would be shed.
But there was so much to be done between now and then. Everything must be carefully prepared. And a child must be found. No, an infant, he realized suddenly. That would be best. Rhonda, the dark-haired one, might have her baby before then, but there was no guarantee. Her baby—it was probably his baby, too. As if he gave a shit.
But tonight he felt good, felt confident. Tonight he would find the power that had drawn him across an entire continent to this desperate forest that hadn’t changed much since the Pilgrims and the Indians.
He