21

'There's going to be an earthquake. This is an earthquake. I'm going to die buried under this house. All of this for nothing. I'm going to die anyway. And actually I'm glad.' Spencer thought he was talking to himself as the building around him began to rattle. Faintly from upstairs he could hear things falling over and smashing to the ground.

'Well before you do that can you get me up the stairs Spence?' A small croaky voice coming from Sam.

It was obviously impossible that Sam was talking to him. The face looking up intently at him couldn't have blinked or licked slightly pink lips. It was Sam's face and Sam was dead. He could see… he could see bruises… he could now hear a sound coming from Floyd which was less of a manic howl and more like someone suffering from a deadly slow acting poison. Spencer didn't want to look at Floyd though. He was still attempting to block out what he'd seen and heard and trying now not to look at Sam and ignoring the fact that Sam was talking and wriggling on his lap he wrapped the blanket around him again and stood. He began a wobbly walk towards the steps leading back up into the house. He felt something snatch at the leg of his trousers but pulled away quickly as he muttered. 'I'm going to die. I need to get out. I'm going to be crushed.' And cautiously Spencer walked up the steps leaving the screaming banshee behind him crouched in a pool of blood and surrounded in bits Reid didn't even want to begin to think about. Spencer carried Sam through the shaking house and out of the front door. He paused and looked at the snow still falling and then walked to the van. He dropped Sam into the snow, opened the passenger door, picked Sam up again and threw him across the seats. 'Just don't move.' He said. And he meant it. He thought if Sam moved and spoke out here, out where the ground was only slightly trembling, Spencer thought that he'd run screaming and hurl himself off the cliffs. As it was Sam said nothing. And that was how it should be. Sam was dead after all. Spencer then slammed the van door and walked back to the house muttering that he needed his bag and he needed Sam's bag. The front door of the house was ajar. The door frame seemed to be out of line with the door by quite a few degrees. Spencer stood and looked at it for a while and wondered if that door had been actually holding the hole of the house up and now that he'd opened the door there was nothing left to support it. He thought that could be true, but he still had to go upstairs – Spencer let out an small laugh at the very idea – and he needed to get the bags. If nothing else the keys to the van were upstairs. He ran. He took the stairs two at a time and he hurtled down the short passageway and into the main bedroom. He grabbed up Sam's bag, Floyd's bag, crossed to his own room, snatched up his own bag and then ran back to the stairs again. They didn't look quite right. They looked as though they were just out of sync with everything else. They looked like some kind of optical illusion but Spencer couldn't figure out what was wrong with them. He charged back down and stopped in the hallway. There was something on the floor which hadn't been there previously… A long smear… a trail even… of blood, hair, slime, globs of stuff and the trail headed in a line from the cellar door out of the front door.

Spencer did something very rare. Something which would have made anyone who knew him stop what they were doing and turn to look.

'Fuck.'

Spencer swore.

'Floyd…' He hissed between his teeth as the house wobbled and rattled around him. '… out there… with Sam… at the van.' He tried to take deep breaths but was finding each sticking in his chest and refusing to co-operate. '… don't panic. Everything is going to be good.' He comforted himself and forced his legs to move forward and out of the door. Floyd was hunkered down next to the van with arms wrapped around his head, throwing up into the snow. For a minute Spencer stood and just looked at him. It had at last stopped snowing and so the trail of blood in the snow wasn't being covered. Reid walked over to the van and pulled open the driver's door. Now he wasn't sure if he should attempt to get Floyd in the van too or if he should leave him hunched over puking in the snow. Reid walked back to Floyd though and crouched down in the snow next to him.

'I cant drive.' Floyd mumbled. 'But we have to get out of here fucking quickly. The whole place is going to… implode and tumble… into the sea. It'll take us with it if we don't get the hell out of here.'

Reid tentatively put out a hand and rested it on one of Floyd's shaking shoulders. 'It's not possible to drive in this. We will kill ourselves on the roads if we can even get the van out of the driveway.'

'Well Spence if we stay here we will definitely die. I'm up for that if you are. Where's Sam?'

To Reid this sounded like the Floyd he knew. This was his Floyd again. Though whether he would remain like this he didn't know and he wasn't sure if he wanted to travel in a van with Floyd driving, or himself driving even. 'Well get in the back of the van and I'll give it a go.' Reid stroked the top of Floyd's sticky head and then wiped his hand clean in the snow. He climbed back into the van and turned the keys and listened for the groaning rattle of the engine. Once Floyd had dragged himself to the rear of the van and was secured inside out of sight Spencer reversed slowly, very slowly out of the drive way. The effort of moving away from the house was making his eyes water and there seemed to be small groaning sounds coming from Sam who Spencer had squashed down into the passenger seat well. It also seemed that the further from the house they went the more the ground shook and rattled beneath them. He'd been hoping that it would lessen, but as the van crawled down the high street Reid could see that the buildings here, which were mostly still shut up for the summer, were rattling and shaking too. He wanted to ask Floyd how far they had to go to be safe. He wanted to ask Floyd what had happened, but he'd have to stop and go around the back of the van to do that and he just needed… desperately needed to escape this place and go Home. He wanted to curl up in his own bed and stay there forever never having to move or think again. He wanted someone to arrive with some kind of magical device and wipe his memories clean of the things he'd seen and was trying to pretend he'd not. He drove much slower than Floyd had done on their arrival, but still skidded around corners making the thing on the floor whimper and the thing in the back crash against the side. The rumbling of the road slowly died back though. It seemed to have been at its worse just as they left the village. Reid heard an almighty explosion from behind him and he was tempted to stop and have a look, but he even managed to avoid looking in the wing mirrors. Whatever happened back there was no longer his problem. His problem was what he was going to do with Sam and what Floyd was planning because he was sure Floyd must have been planning and plotting something. He drove until he was beyond the snow clogged village which seemed even more empty today if that was possible than the day he'd walked into the village and been given the book. The snowfall didn't seem so bad once outside the village boundaries either and so Spencer pulled over, dragged a bag out from behind the seat and ran to the back of the van to see how Floyd was managing.

Floyd was being very sick. He'd thrown up and crawled through his puke and then thrown up some more. He wasn't shaking so much as he had been, maybe, but the man looked like he was dying and as Reid stood there looking at him he wondered now if he even cared. He wanted this nightmare to be over, to wake up in his bed in his apartment realising that he'd got dreadfully drunk and had slept through the whole of the festive season. He pushed the bag into the back of the van and Floyd looked up at him.

'You did good Babes.'

Reid didn't feel like he'd done good. He'd let Sam die (?) and he'd allowed the priest to be devoured and had done nothing to stop him. He'd sat and watched (or tried not to watch) and had allowed that dreadful thing to happen. They would find his body. He would… Spencer would be arrested and incarcerated. He would be blamed and Floyd would walk away and let it happen. 'Is there anything you need?' Spencer asked him though.

'Just keep driving for a while. An hour maybe. Got any drink packed away anywhere?'

Spencer shook his head. 'I'll get you something when we stop over.' He partially climbed into the back of the van so that he was kneeling. 'We will be arrested. They will find the remains there and questions will be asked. A lot of questions. I was wondering if it would be better to hand ourselves over.'

Floyd dragged his bag towards himself. 'Are you sure there's no drink in here?'

'Not unless you placed it in there… Floyd… we have to have a plan. We have to know what we're going to say.'

Floyd pulled out a jacket from his bag and slipped it on over the bloodied clothing he was wearing. 'We will need to say fuck all Spence. There'll be nothing left of the place. It'll be like it never existed. You don't need to worry. Keep driving for a while. Stop over if you see a café or motel. I could do with a long sleep.' He held his hands up to look at them closely. 'What I did… what I had to do… I didn't start that shit. That wasn't me. The only way to expel filth is to clean it. I had to clean it out of my head. You understand that don't you? Like washing out a shit smeared toilet with industrial cleaners. No point in using water, even if it's warm. You need the real stuff. Don't get things because they're cheap. They don't work as well. What was needed there was a man who honestly had the passion and the belief. I had to flush out the bad with the good. Now that means effectively that I've poisoned myself. It's like drinking radioactive mercury. Not good… very not good. So get back in the van and keep driving.'

'Floyd.' Spencer slipped back out of the van again. 'You were infested by something… is it gone?'

'Very gone. It might one day return my beloved but not to me. I'm fully flushed and have a bleach block in place. It'd choose Sam next time perhaps but more likely go someplace else and torment people who don't know how to get rid of it. Sam's OK is he? There was a smudge of doubt in your mind that I could fix him.'

'Sam's dead.' Spencer moved right back now and held onto the van doors. 'I'll keep driving.'

'Sam's not dead. Check up on him. But yes… keep driving sweets. Find me a warm bed and find yourself something to eat.'

Reid didn't think he'd be eating again in a long while. 'Fine. Are you warm enough?'

Floyd though didn't answer. He curled back up on the icy floor and waved a dismissive hand at Reid who quickly closed and locked the doors and went back to the cab to find Sam sitting on the passenger seat looking out of the window at all of the snow.

'Please get back down where I put you. By sitting there you're forcing things to be how they shouldn't be. For me Sam… please.'

'I was going to help you navigate.' Sam ran a lazy finger over the misting up window.

'We can talk whilst I drive then.' Spencer decided. 'But I feel I'm in a nightmare…'

'I have nightmares. Do you want to hear one of them? Might take your mind off the horrors playing in your own head.'

Reid ignored Sam. His brain was not going to accept that the young man was sitting there chatting as though nothing had happened but it didn't stop Sam from babbling on about how he'd been burnt alive and how he'd felt his skin bubbling and his eyes popping and his heart exploding as his insides boiled. Spencer stopped the van again and turned to look at Sam.

'OK you can talk. I accept that you're talking. I don't know how and I don't want to know how, but I will ask you to stop saying things like you are. You cannot die and come back to life again. It's not possible.'

'You know it is.' Sam hissed at him. 'You know full well it is… so why the denial. Were you glad that he did that to me? Are you happy when you thought I was gone for good?'

Reid shook his head. 'I've no time for this now. I need you to be silent. If you cant be then you'll have to get in the back with Floyd. I don't want to talk about what happened or what may have happened or what certainly didn't happen. I want you to be quiet and let me think.'

Sam shrugged. 'Want a blow job while you wait and do your thinking? I wont charge you. Not this time anyway.'

A small pale hand slipped over Reid's lap which he pushed away. 'Don't. Just don't touch me.'

'It was fine when you wanted to fuck me though wasn't it? You didn't mind using me then like Floyd uses you did you? That was OK, but when I want something I get fuck all.'

'I'm driving.' Spencer excused and started to pull away and down the slightly less hazardous looking street.

'Just a quicky? Or you can blow me.' His hand slipped onto Spencer again. 'I'll pay you. Will you whore for me Spencer? Just once. Get a feel for how good it is to deliver something like pure sex and then get paid for it. It's a good feeling.'

'It's called…'

'Whoring. I know what it's called. What makes you so special that you wont join in? You let Floyd fuck you and in return he pays your rent and bills, so in a way you're his private little whore aren't you? You already fuck which needs to be paid for I cant see that one little gobble is going to make any difference to your moral…'

'Shut up.' Spencer snapped and ignored the rest of Sam's whining requests for sex.

They stopped off at the same place – Spencer thought – as when on their drive down. This time it would be Spencer though getting out and slipping through the snow to get them a warm drink. He wasn't so sure that he could drive for all the hours Floyd had done. Actually he was certain of it. The cold air seemed to wake him up for a bit though but Sam's constant talking was wearing him down even as he walked to the back of the van to let Floyd out to play. Floyd had cleaned up as best he could, which was the first surprise Reid got. Floyd had changed his clothes into something slightly less blood soaked and vomit covered. The three of them walked slowly over the snow towards the café which was set back from the road and looked rather picturesque in the snow. It looked warm and inviting too. Reid just wished that there were rooms here too. Floyd and Sam slipped into an empty booth whilst Spencer went and put in an order of proper food and some coffee. He also asked the man behind the counter if there were any motels nearby. He was promptly directed to something a couple of miles further down the road.

'You don't want to leave it too late though. Not in this weather. You might find yourself stuck here the night.'

Reid agreed with him and changed his order to sandwiches which maybe he could get the other two to eat as he drove. However when he sat down he was overcome by such tiredness that he was tempted to ask Floyd to drive for a while. The temptation was only fleeting though. They didn't talk here. The things they wanted to talk about couldn't be talked about in such a public place. Floyd ate his ham sandwich with reluctance. He moaned that the ham was rubbery and the bread tasteless. Sam tore his sandwich apart and after inspecting it closely ate it in small finger sized pieces. Spencer was a bit more hungry than the others and ate his with pleasure. Untainted food. Nothing in it which shouldn't be. It was a delight actually. He sipped on the coffee and then got them all some donuts and they sat again in silence looking out at the van parked at the other side of the parking lot.

'Florida next time then.' Floyd suddenly said. 'I don't know what the fuck we're doing out here.'

Spencer smiled. 'You like this part of the world. You love the forests and open spaces.'

'I don't though.' Sam added. 'I'm more like you Spence. I like the bright lights and night life. I like to see that there's other people in the world besides me.'

'I love the forests. You're right Spence… but not with the pair of you and not in the middle of winter. I wanted to treat you. It's not really been much of a treat has it? It was meant to be your Christmas gift.'

Reid nibbled on a donut and smiled again. 'I'm still hoping I'll wake up and find this was all a nightmare.'

'That bad huh?' Floyd drank back on the coffee.

'That bad. We can get rooms maybe at a place a couple of miles down the road. I think we need to book in somewhere and just sleep.'

Floyd nodded. 'You'll let me fuck you though? It's one of those things I've really missed. Coming in from and hunt and seeing you sitting there looking all dejected and unhappy and fucking you until you pass out.'

'That's not dejection you see on my face Floyd. It's something else altogether. Are we all done here? I want to move on before it's dark. Driving in this stuff isn't my idea of a fun day out and you're not in any condition to drive and Sam…'

'I can drive actually, but I've never driven in snow. I don't know if I'd be safe. Plus masturbation and driving might get us pulled over.'

With that decided and the bill paid they walked back to the van. Floyd this time climbed in the front and squashed Sam against the door. He didn't want those little hands having a grope when he couldn't stop them. He then changed his mind and allowed Sam to grope all he wanted and as Spencer struggled to find the small motel they seemed to be enjoying whatever it was they were doing and Spencer was ignoring. Again he pulled over in the parking lot at the side of the road. The motel was a single storey building which had been constructed to look like a long log cabin. Reid waited to see if Floyd was going to get out and deal with the booking and when he didn't Spencer let out a long sigh and still avoiding looking directly at them he climbed out. 'I'll sort us out a room then?' There was no reply. He thought maybe mouths were too busy to voice an answer and though the image of what they were doing there in the cab of the van was implanted firmly in Spencer's thoughts he shrugged it off. He knew that if he was going to travel or sleep with these two people then he was going to have to put up with their antics. Ten minutes later he was back again and tapping on the window to let them know that it was time to go. 'I've got a room.' He waved a key. 'Room Twelve.' He said and collected his bag where he'd previously stuffed it behind the driver's seat. 'Wouldn't that be more comfortable in the room?' He was beginning to feel snappy now.

'Spence Babes, yes. You're right. Just let Sam finish up what he's started and we'll be right there…'

If more was said Spencer didn't know. He slammed the door and crunched away to find warmth and a bed to sleep on. The room had a double bed and a twin bed in it. There was a small clean bathroom and a telephone so that Spencer could order in a few provisions. He made the call and ordered a pizza and more coffee and then lay back on the bed he assumed he'd be sleeping in – alone – and left the larger double bed for Floyd who arrived through the door just as Spencer had decided that he was going to sleep for a thousand years.

'What a shit hole. Couldn't you find somewhere better than this?' Floyd moaned and chucked his own bag down. He then pulled Sam through the door and muttered something to him. Sam nodded and walked to the bathroom where Spencer heard the shower start up. 'You can have a shower after Sam's done.' Floyd told him.

'I'm good as I am actually. I've ordered in pizza and now I just want to sleep. You two just carry on. Have fun. Don't let me stop you.'

Floyd could hear the annoyance in Spencer's voice and went to sit down next to him on the bed. 'It's not that I don't adore every fibre of your body Spencer. I just need to make sure that Sam's not going to reject the help I gave him. He's still mending.'

Spencer closed his eyes. 'Well maybe I need some help too. Had that occurred to you? I might not be physically in pain as such, but I'm hurting none the less.'

'You want comforting? You want me? After what you saw me do?'

Reid rolled over onto his side. 'Could you cope with a rejection Floyd? Will you do something for me?'

Floyd was now kneeling on the bed and his fingertips were lightly touching the back of Reid's neck. 'Anything. Just ask. Just ask and I'll sort it for you. Whatever it is.' Though Floyd hoped it wouldn't involve leaving Sam alone. 'What's it you want me to do?'

'Clean your teeth. Do that for me and I'll try to forget what I saw you eating.'

Floyd stood and turned his back of Reid. 'You think I enjoyed that? Did you order any drink by the way. I gagging for something to…'

'Well I'm sure if you're gagging then Sam needs further lessons on how to please you.'

'You've got a filthy mind sometimes. I assume you didn't order whiskey for me.'

Spencer rolled onto his back. 'I've got a filthy mind? Me? I wonder why that is? I wonder why when you say something in seeming innocence I take it and twist it to mean something else. Could it be because you meant something else in the first place? Clean your teeth and whilst you're doing that I'll see if I can get you a drink, but please don't get drunk. It's in my own bed in my… in our apartment that I want to die, not out here in the middle of no where.'

'You're not going to die Spence. I'm not going to let that happen to you. And you have to remember that though what you saw was likely very vile and not good for your pure soul, it had to be done and it's made me feel sort of fucked.'

Reid nodded slowly. 'Well the same goes. I don't want to die here Floyd.'

And Floyd shook his head. 'Well good. Let me go sort out Sam and you order in that drink to go with the pizza. And before you get some sudden strange fancies in your head I'm just going to check he's recovering and not fallen into a dastardly relapse on the bathroom floor.'

The rest of the evening was spent sitting with Sam watching the television and Floyd attempting to get back into Spencer's good books again. He didn't want to have to beat him into submission, but he was also not going to let the man get away with excuses to keep away from him. He didn't like the way Reid had planted himself on the single bed and refused to move onto the larger one. 'Sam can have that bed.' Floyd kept insisting and eventually Spencer gave in and moved over to where Floyd was sitting.

'You scared me.' Spencer admitted.

'Good. It's good to be scared sometimes.'

Sam looked around at the pair of them. 'It keeps you alive. If you're never scared you die. It's what fear is for. You see I know what when I do drugs… are you listening to me?... when I do drugs that I have to be aware that the spike I stick into my arm, between my toes or in that fold of skin under my balls might be my final spike and that makes the drug work all the better. Lethargy is a killer Spencer. You need to keep your body alert.' This little speech made no sense to Reid. How can you be alert if you're drugged? You cant be and Spencer knew that only too well.

'If that's how you want to feel Sam then that's good. I don't though. I don't want to spend the rest of my life terrified. I've spent the past year or so living peacefully. I've gone to bed at night not wondering if I'll wake up or where I'll wake up but in the knowledge that I will wake up. At least I'm far more likely to than if I'm drugging myself.'

'Yes… but… you see if I don't – and if I just let life drag me along behind it what will I become?' Sam asked Spencer.

'A junky whore slut cocksucking cuntmuncher.' Floyd let him know. 'And you've done that even with the help of drugs. When we get back you're going to have to sort your fucking life out boy. Spencer and I don't want you hanging around us night and day.'

'I've no where to go!' Sam stood and walked towards the bed.

'Don't make me snap that pretty little neck again Sam. There's hostels and…'

'They wont have me! I've been banned from them all because I'm not clean and dry. You have to help me and find me a place.'

'I'll find you a fucking crematorium if you don't fucking stop moaning. I'm in recovery from a nasty poisoned meal which I had to eat to get rid of the thing inside of me… now let me rest. Turn that fucking TV off and lay down and sleep.'

A look passed between the pair of them. Spencer saw it. He saw that quick greedy glance Sam gave and he saw the small hardly noticeable nod of Floyd's head. He wasn't sure right then what Floyd had agreed to, but he soon found out.