Burnt Mountain One in the Chamber

By Cheryl Campbell

Rio Kaiser’s day off from school turns to disaster when Ilnin and his hunters escape the world hidden beneath Burnt Mountain. She avoids capture, but her mother and father aren’t as lucky. Rio plans to use her usual ability to control the elements during her return to the underground world of living nightmares to find and rescue her parents, but everything goes wrong when she ends up in the prison cell next to them.
Injuries and illness strike, and Rio’s friends and family begin turning on each other. She is unable to help them while her worsening hallucinations threaten everyone’s chance of escape, including her own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cheryl Campbell
• Release date: Nov 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301449064

Cheryl Campbell

Cheryl Campbell was born in Louisiana and lived there and in Mississippi prior to moving to Maine. Her varied background includes art, herpetology, emergency department and critical care nursing, and computer systems. She lives in Maine and has won awards for both her fantasy and science fiction novels.

Book preview

As always, for Helen, Jed, Faith, and Michaela

Table of Contents

Copyright

Dedication

Beginning

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Sample: Burnt Mountain Do and Die

1

Dampness lingered in the ground during the spring months, so as Rio Kaiser stood at the open door to enter her home, she contemplated taking off her wet, mud-caked boots. She flexed her toes inside her boots and the leather and fabric squished as she moved. They weren’t too muddy. Toby, her clumsy Boxer bounded past her, filthy feet splattering mud on the wood floor as he went to his water bowl and began lapping. Between the mud Toby brought in and the water he slung from his jowls, Rio shrugged as she walked through the door.

No point worrying about the floor anymore, she said as she pushed the door closed with her foot.

A water pipe at her school had broken during the night, causing flooding and creating an unexpected but appreciated day off from class to create a long weekend. Rio had the house to herself while her mother was in Bangor for work. She didn’t stay in the home long after waking early this morning and headed into the woods.

She stood and looked out the open window from the kitchen while eating her peanut butter and jam sandwich, washing it down with a glass of water. The fragrant scent of the lilacs in the vase on the counter made her smile. Apple trees bloomed and the lilac bushes, wider and taller than her mother’s truck, were full of purple flowers. Mainers often refer to early spring as mud season, and this year, after a winter of heavy snow, the season had lasted weeks longer.

She considered a refill on her water but instead grinned when she noticed her feet and the hem of her jeans. She turned fourteen soon and had grown in the last year. The jeans her mother bought her last fall at the start of the school year were now an easy inch or more, higher up her boots.

She skipped the second glass of water and dropped her rump on a stool by the counter and watched Toby walk in a circle before dropping on his bed. She stood, removed the book from her back pocket, and sat again. Leaves fell out of Rio’s book as she flipped the pages, and she carefully picked them up to put them back between the pages to compare them to the pictures in her book later. She loved the woods.

I could go to college to become a forester, Toby. Except—

Her problem with Dublin, Maine was the hazardous events of last summer that almost got Rio, her mother, and their friends killed. While barely surviving, Rio did meet her biological father, but another friend died. She didn’t want to remember the sad parts, so she forced them from her mind. She winced and touched her fingertips to the side of her head where a sudden headache brewed. She usually got headaches when she didn’t drink enough water on hot days. Today wasn’t warm, but with the unexpected headache, she decided to have the second glass she skipped earlier.

Before rising to return to the sink, she enjoyed another moment resting on the stool. Toby’s head came up, ending his brief nap. He pushed his floppy ears forward and sniffed the air. The hair on his back and shoulders lifted, and he growled.

The skin on Rio’s neck prickled with fear. His rumbling growl in his chest changed into a snarl, and she shuddered. The one time she saw him behave aggressively was during last summer’s nightmarish events. Without a sound Rio slid from her stool and crept to a window. No one was in the front yard or coming down the long driveway. She tiptoed toward the rear of the house where she entered earlier. Toby paced near the back door, and she froze.

A chill ran through her, and she didn’t want to admit why. Her headache, momentarily forgotten, worsened, and she winced. She pressed her back against the wall and slid along the surface until she reached a window. She dared a peek through the glass. Her eyes widened, and the book slipped from her hand when the thickly-built, powerful, hair-covered creatures emerged from the woods a hundred yards from the house.

No. No, no, no. They weren’t supposed to escape, she said with a whimper. I’d dehydrated. I’m hallucinating.

Her breaths quickened, and dizziness overwhelmed her thoughts.

Calm down. You’re not hallucinating. Rio forced her breathing to slow. Her mind cleared some, and she spotted her phone on the counter. Mom.

She shifted her body for another glance out the window. The creatures with bear-like bodies and flattened faces moved from bipedal to all fours as they raced toward the paddock next to the barn. The horses shrieked in fear but couldn’t escape the attack. Rio cried as she slid down the wall, placing her palms over her ears to keep the sounds of the panicked horses out.

Toby rushed to the window near Rio and stood with his front paws on the sill. He barked at the creatures, and Rio threw her arms around him. She pulled the dog into her lap and drew in a ragged sob. Rio needed help. The closest neighbor was Pete Cole who lived several hundred yards away in a valley. Her mother was due home soon, but Rio didn’t know what time. She could call Pete or her mother, but neither could arrive at the house in time to help. Rio considered the police, but they wouldn’t believe her if she told them about animals from another world.

The Kaiser home was too rural for the sheriff’s department to respond quickly. The creatures that her father called Tuars would find Rio by her scent long before anyone could help her. Still, Rio decided she needed her phone to call the police about an intruder and avoid the other details. As she moved from her rump to crawl to retrieve her phone, Toby thrashed free from her arms.

He growled louder and bared his teeth. Rio realized the screaming from the horses had stopped. The dog resumed his place, guarding the home and pacing by the back door.

Toby, come, Rio said with a hiss.

The dog turned and considered her for a moment before staying by the door. Rio crawled to him, grabbing his collar, and tugged him away from the door. The closest exit that would lead her out the house was through the cellar. She forgot about the phone and scrambled across the floor while pulling Toby with her. She eased the door open, sent Toby through first, then turned her body. She kept her eyes on the back door while she moved her feet down the steps before pulling the cellar door closed.

Rio darted for the bulkhead door. It would open into the back yard. If the creatures entered the house through the basement, they would immediately find her. The bulkhead locked from the inside, but the creatures could rip the door off its concrete base if they wanted to.

Please don’t come this way, Rio said. She repeated the phrase with a whisper and flinched when an explosion crashed inside the house above her. The back door was torn from the frame, splintering wood and shattering the glass, followed by a second crash against the floor. The Tuars were inside the house.

Heavy feet stomped on the floor in the kitchen above. More glass broke and objects slammed into the walls and floor as the creatures moved through the house. Toby growled at the noise above, and Rio pulled him closer. Shh!

He turned his brown eyes toward her. Rio’s knuckles were white as she gripped his collar; her body shook uncontrollably.

She remembered her phone in the kitchen. She groaned—no way to warn her mother and tell her to not come home. Memories of the Tuars’ razor-like claws and black eyes that glowed yellow with heightened moods made her body tremble. Her stomached tightened with thoughts of their rows of shark-like teeth. She didn’t want to die.

Rio yelped when something heavy collided with the floor directly above her head. She clamped her hand over her mouth. Toby’s body rumbled with another growl, and she buried her face in his fur. He stopped growling, but Rio couldn’t wait in the bulkhead for the creatures to find her.

Stay, she said to the dog and uncurled her fingers from his collar. Toby remained with her though his ears continued to twitch while he watched the door between the cellar and the rest of the house. Rio hoped she could slip out while the creatures were busy tearing the inside of the house apart. A high-pitched beeping sound echoed through the house, and Rio tilted her head.

Crap. Now there’s a fire.

Rio wiped the tears from her face and pulled on the locking bar inside the bulkhead doors. Her hands shook, so she paused a moment before trying again. She winced as the metal scraped against metal, and the bar released. She eased one of the doors up, peeked out through a slit, and lowered it again.

Toby—

Rio yelped again when the cellar door was forced off its hinges, and it tumbled down the steps with parts of the door’s frame still attached. A creature roared from the doorway, and Toby leapt before Rio could grab him. She tucked her body tighter into the wedge-shaped bulkhead. Toby raced up the steps and beyond Rio’s sight. His vicious snarl was followed by a sharp yelp. Rio didn’t hear another sound from the dog, and she stifled a sob. She wanted to go after him, but she couldn’t fight one, much less a group, of the creatures.

She opened the bulkhead door, glancing around as she pushed it up, and bolted for the trees.

2

Emma Kaiser turned the radio up as she drove home. She shifted in her seat to remove the bank slip from her pocket. With a glance at the numbers, she smiled. Emma’s new programming contract came with a nice bonus that would allow her to take Rio back to England and Scotland to visit their friends in the winter. The binder in the passenger seat contained the details of her project, and she was eager to go home and start on it.

Her thoughts shifted when the song on the radio ended and the news update began. The report mentioned the Dublin community during the short newsflash, and Emma stuffed the bank’s receipt back into her pocket.

This is the third instance in a week of coyotes attacking livestock at a few of the Dublin farms. Wildlife biologists for the state are attempting to trap the coyotes to test them for rabies, the announcer said.

Strange, Emma said with a mutter.

This was a big deal for the station in Bangor to carry the story about Dublin’s tiny community. When she got home, Emma would tell Rio that she and Toby needed to stay close to the house for a while until the issue with the coyotes was resolved.

Her phone rang, silencing the radio’s weather forecast. Her friend’s name appeared on the caller ID, so she made the exception to take the call now instead of waiting to call her friend back once she returned home.

Hey, Shell, Emma said.

Are you home? Are you OK? Shell asked.

Uh— Emma blinked a few times, startled by the second question. Not home yet. I’m fine.

Is Rio home?

Yes. Why?

A rustling sound came through the truck’s speakers while Shell spoke with a muffle to someone else.

Stop covering the speaker with your hand, Shell, and talk to me!

We’re on our way, Shell said.

Where? Emma swore at her friend. Tell me what’s wrong!

How far out are you?

Emma glanced at her surroundings. Fifteen, twenty minutes maybe. Stop asking me questions and tell me what’s going on. She pressed her foot on the truck’s gas pedal, and the engine surged the vehicle forward.

Fire department has been dispatched to your road.

Emma swore again and pushed the pedal to the floorboard. Did you call her?

No answer.

Rio was the rare teen that refused to keep her phone with her. It often stayed on the kitchen counter instead of in her pocket. Typical. Pete?

He’s on his way from the Crosby farm.

Who called the fire department, Shell?

Joyriders on ATVs. They saw a lot of smoke and called it in. We’re assuming it’s your house.

Emma didn’t care about the house. Let it burn. She needed Rio to be OK. Can you beat me there?

Yes.

I’ll be there in ten.

Don’t—

Emma disconnected the call and wished she could push the truck harder. She didn’t bother to look at the speedometer. Part of her mind told her to drive slower; it wouldn’t do any good to kill herself on the drive home. The other part of her mind screamed that Rio was possibly in danger. The last time she felt such gripping fear was last year, when she and Rio were trapped in another world with flesh-eating creatures that hunted them with a relentlessness Emma never witnessed before.

She pulled her mind from those thoughts and tried to recall the events this morning before she left the house. Rio planned to hike in the woods, so there was a chance she was still out hiking, climbing, collecting leaves, and whatever else she did while romping through the trees.

Without much fear of other vehicles, Emma drove faster than she should on Maine’s rural roads. She braked hard, taking the truck off the paved road and turned on the long gravel road that would take her home. She slowed enough to slide the truck almost sideways on the gravel before straightening then lunging forward. Rocks sprayed from the rear of the vehicle when she stomped on the gas pedal.

The truck’s back end threatened to swing around in the turns, so Emma was forced to slow the vehicle. She tried looking over the tops of the trees when she topped a hill as she hurtled along the road, ever closer to home. Black smoke rose in the distance, and she couldn’t swallow.

She pulled her eyes from the smoke and focused on driving. The trees broke to reveal the open fields in front of the house. Fire trucks sat in her yard, and the house belched thick, black smoke from both levels of the home. A sheriff’s car and Nate’s truck were in her drive with a few vehicles she didn’t recognize. Sometimes it was quicker for rural, volunteer firefighters to meet the trucks on site instead of going to the station first.

Emma bounced the truck into her drive and after slamming it into park, jumped out. Her head swiveled as she sprinted for the house, calling for her daughter.

Where is she?

Nate caught her as she tried to move past him to get closer to the home. He gripped her shoulders and forced her to look at him. We’re still looking. Firemen are suiting up to go in.

The firefighters prepared to enter the front of the house, but the door was likely locked. Emma wrenched herself from Nate’s grasp and darted for the house. He shouted at her as he chased her, but Emma didn’t slow. If he got his hands on her, she wouldn’t get free again. Firemen barked orders and tried to stop her from entering the house, but Emma swerved around them, skipped up the back steps, and ran inside.

3

The searing heat blasting through the rear of the house caused Emma to shield her face with her arms and take a step back. Half-expecting Nate to snatch her out of the house, she glanced behind her, but the firemen had caught him before he could follow her into the home. Emma squinted through the heat and smoke, calling for her daughter.

Her heart beat faster when she got no reply. Emma crouched to avoid some of the smoke, but she still couldn’t see much. The upper level of the house was engulfed, and flames rippled across the ceiling above her. She didn’t have much time before parts of the house began collapsing. Emma crawled through the rear area of the house to the kitchen. Her continued calls for Rio remained unanswered.

She moved toward a heap lying on the floor that was too small to be Rio. Upon recognizing the dog, she pulled him into her arms.

Toby, she said with a cough.

He lay in her arms, bleeding, but he flicked his ears when she spoke to him. He was alive, for now.

Severe heat sent Emma scrambling away from the flames when a portion of the ceiling fell. The air was too hot to breathe; she needed to escape the flames or die. Another part of the second story of the house crashed down, filling the living room with fiery debris. The framing around the front door buckled, and the firefighters’ garb reminded her of spacemen as they forced the door open. She couldn’t reach them without going through the kitchen or living room.

Emma noticed the gaping hole where the cellar door used to be, and she rushed toward it while carrying the dog. She started down the stairs to reach the basement but had to stop. The lower half of the stairs was blocked by the broken door. With no other choice, she jumped the obstruction and the remaining five steps. She landed with a grunt, and Toby yelped with the jarring impact of her feet on the concrete floor. Sorry.

The heat was less intense in the basement. She glanced around, still looking for her daughter, and froze. A half-burned Tuar emerged from behind the cellar stairs. Its eyes glowed yellow, and areas of the creature’s fur still smoldered. The stench of burned hair and flesh turned her stomach, but she didn’t have time to get sick.

Though injured, the creature lunged at her, and Emma sprang away from her attacker. She held Toby tighter and searched for a way out. Burning debris blocked her retreat upstairs so she turned to her only remaining exit. The bulkhead door leading to the back yard was open, so she raced up the four short steps to reach the back yard. Without looking back, she dashed for the front of the house.

A menacing growl from behind caused her to turn her head. She changed directions mid-sprint, almost dodging the creature’s claw. She cried out as its claws tore into her shirt and upper arm. Shell rounded the corner of the house, spotted Emma, and shouted for help. Emma didn’t know what else to do but go to her friends though doing so would also bring the creature with her. She glanced back at the Tuar as it leapt to tackle her. She curled her upper body over Toby and allowed her back to take the force of the creature’s impact.

The Tuar’s weight shoved her forward, and Toby’s cry was obscured by Emma’s grunt when she struck the ground. She coughed as air tried to enter her lungs, and she lay crumpled and clutching the dog, waiting for the creature to slash her with its claws. She peeked her eyes open when the attack didn’t come. The beast lay still, but she was pinned under its mass.

Emma squirmed from beneath the Tuar and regained her feet. She stared at the motionless creature with wide eyes, expecting it to rise and come after her again. Toby’s blood seeped through her shirt, and Emma’s attention refocused on the dog in her arms. The creature’s body twitched, and Emma turned to run away again. Her feet halted when she collided with what she expected to be another Tuar. Instead, the familiar face of a man looked at her, his hands clasped firmly on her shoulders to keep her from falling.

What the hell is that thing? the officer asked. He continued to aim his service weapon at the dead animal on the ground, ready to shoot again if it moved.

Nice shooting, son. Come on, Emma, Pete said with a calm voice as he steered Emma away from the creature.

Emma’s knees wobbled, but her neighbor kept her up. She tried to speak, but her sore throat, damaged by heat and smoke, hindered her efforts. I couldn’t find her. Pete, I couldn’t find her!

He didn’t answer her and kept her feet moving. Emma closed her eyes, trying to think.

Nate and Shell joined them, and Emma’s mind refused to function. Pete held her upright while Nate inspected her wounded arm. Blood soaked the sleeve of her shirt, and Emma wondered why her arm didn’t hurt.

Give me Toby, Em, Nate said.

She did as she was told, and with the seventy-pound dog out of her arms, her hands trembled. I couldn’t find Rio.

Shell flinched with the news but remained calm. We’ll find her, Em. We will.

Emma drew in a ragged breath. Those things escaped, Shell.

Shell placed a reassuring hand on Emma’s back. I know.

Pete guided Emma to an ambulance she didn’t realize was at her house. She didn’t know when it had arrived, but she turned and sat on the bumper, refusing to get in the back for fear of being closed in and taken away.

A paramedic examined Emma, and Shell lifted Emma’s uninjured arm while the medic wrapped a blood pressure cuff around it. Shell held an oxygen mask to Emma’s face and talked to her friend, but Emma’s eyes remained on Toby as Nate and another medic helped the injured dog.

Emma spoke, her voice muffled by the mask on her face.

Yeah. He’s a tough guy, Nate said with a smile and patted the dog’s side.

Whatever she said made enough sense for Nate to answer her back. Emma’s mind remained fogged, and she startled when a loud crash erupted from the house. Half of the second story caved in, crushing the area of the home beneath the impact. Flames leapt from the rubble, and smoke billowed from the debris where water from the firetrucks’ hoses met fire.

I should have stayed in there longer to find her, Emma said.

The medic cleaned the deep slashes to Emma’s arm before wrapping it with gauze.

Shell remained with her friend. You need stitches and antibiotics for your arm. I’ll go with you to the hospital. Nate will stay here, and Colin is on his way.

Emma shook her head and closed her eyes. She forced her mind back to when she arrived at the burning house. She recalled running from Nate and the firemen. The barn wasn’t on fire in the field behind the house, and the horses were gone. Where were they? she thought. More memories returned with better details. When she had stepped through the back door, she stepped on the door as she entered the house. Did the firemen kick it in before I arrived? Heat. Fire. Smoke. Rio’s book about trees was on the floor with some of the leaves from the pages next to the book and curled from the heat.

Gouges had been torn into the walls, doorways, and furniture. She’d crouched to make her way through the house. An area of the ceiling collapsed, and Toby was on the floor. There was an indentation in the wall matching the dog’s size above where he lay. One of those things threw him into the wall.

The firemen entered the house through the front, and the heat forced her into the basement. The cellar door was gone, torn from its frame like the back door. The firemen didn’t do that.

Holiday decorations and other stuff in the cellar lay strewn across the floor. The firemen didn’t do that either.

Em?

Emma ignored Shell’s voice and kept her eyes closed while she searched her memory. The burned creature was behind the stairs. Did only one Tuar attack the house? The creatures ate flesh, and the one in the basement didn’t have any blood on it except its own black blood oozing from the burns. Did others take Rio and leave this one behind? Emma didn’t have that answer yet. She had left the house with Toby through the bulkhead door. Wait! She didn’t have to open the bulkhead. One side was already open. The creatures were too large to pass through only one side. Emma snapped her head up and pulled the oxygen mask off.

She got out!

4

Nate’s voice wavered as he spoke. Once the fire is out, they’ll check the rubble.

Emma understood his fear; he loved his niece like a daughter, but Rio wasn’t in the house.

She won’t be in it, she said.

Nate responded with a look Emma recognized as a mix of sympathy and pain. He was assuming she was in denial about her daughter’s possible fate in the fire, and it made her angry.

She stood and tightened her hands into fists. Listen to me!

The medic reached for Emma to have her sit again. Shell waved him off, and he relented with a frown.

Em, what is it? Shell asked.

Rio got out. What I saw when I was in the house was enough. I mean, it took me some time to figure it all out, but— Emma shook her head to clear the rush of thoughts in her head that were coming out of her mouth. She was home when the creatures arrived. I saw her tree book—the one she keeps with her when she’s wandering the woods—it was on the floor. Plus, Toby was inside. He was hurt when I found him, but Rio left the house through the basement. Same as me.

How do you know? Shell asked, her tone soft and questioning, not challenging.

Only one side of the bulkhead door was open, and it was already open when I went through it. The creatures could never fit through one side. They’re too big, Emma said. She recalled the sound of the other bulkhead door crashing open as the creature behind her slammed into it as it pursued her. She suppressed the desire to shiver with the memory.

Both doors could have been opened but one had fallen back by the time you went out, Shell said.

It was a possibility if Rio had opened the twin doors and one side didn’t latch to hold it open. The mechanisms on the bulkhead to keep the heavy doors open were sturdy. Emma was certain Rio had slipped out through only one of the doors. No! No way. Every door I saw in that house was ripped from its hinges. The bulkhead was intact. Rio left the house and won’t be in the rubble. She got out, but they still may have grabbed her once she left the house. We need to find her.

Yes, we do, Pete said as he rounded the side of the ambulance with a shotgun draped over his forearm, double barrels pointed to the ground. He carried a black, nylon belt that had a long row of red shells filling cylindrical ripples designed to hold shotgun ammunition.

Emma stared at her neighbor.

I believe you, Emma. Let this young man do his job first, Pete said with a wave at the paramedic.

Emma nodded and allowed the medic to finish assessing her while one of Nate’s fire department friends left with Toby to take him to the vet. Shell