Page 55 of So Insane

The killer leapt.

Faith fired.

The killer cried out, but Faith wasn’t sure if she had hit him or not.

“Come to me, Frankie!” she called. “Come—”

She saw a flash of movement and narrowly avoided a blow from the killer’s knife. Her original shot must have missed. Faith swore as she dodged another blow, the killer swinging wildly as he tried to take out this new threat.

Faith heard Shawna screaming behind her, Frankie screaming in front of her, Turk snarling as he came to her aid. She dodged another knife blow and aimed her weapon at the killer, but he knocked the gun from her hands before she could fire.

He lunged at her, but Turk reached him first, grabbing his ankle and pulling him to the ground. Faith steadied herself and aimed her light at the killer.

Then she gasped in horror.

Benjamin Diller barely looked human anymore. His skin was gray and so pale it was nearly translucent. Faith could see the network of veins underneath the surface. His feet were wide, the toes splayed, and heavily callused. His hands were callused as well, the knuckles gnarled and hard as stone, but it was his face that was most disturbing.

The skin had pulled back around his cheeks and eyes, giving him a sunken appearance and making his eyes and teeth seem unnaturally large. The eyes themselves were filmy and gray. He wasn’t completely blind because he was focusing on Turk and slamming his fist into the dog, but Faith imagined it had been quite some time since he’d been out in the sunlight. Decades of living underground had warped him, hunching his neck and back and making his limbs disproportionate.

Faith wasn’t a believer in the supernatural, but she wouldn’t have been surprised to pull his lips back to reveal fangs instead of teeth.

Turk, however, had actual fangs, and though Benny put up a valiant fight, Faith could tell that Turk would soon have him subdued.

“If I were you, I would calm down right now,” she said. “You’re only making it worse for yourself.”

The killer looked at Faith and snarled, “You’re stupid.”

His voice was thick and raspy from decades of minimal use, but his tone was childish, so much so that Faith had to stifle a laugh. “All right, then,” she said. “Try fighting and see how that goes for you.”

She regretted that statement a moment later when Benny managed to get his legs under Turk. With a cry of rage and pain, he kicked Turk backwards. Faith lunged for him, but her fingertips only brushed his fur as he sailed past her.

Turk twisted in the air and managed to land on his feet, though it was a moment before he could regain traction. When Faith was sure that Turk wouldn’t fall into one of the shafts that occasionally interrupted the smooth floor of the tunnel, she turned back to Benny.

Just in time. While Faith was distracted by Turk, Benny had grabbed his knife and was rushing toward Frankie.

Shawna shrieked and sprinted after Faith. Benny lifted his knife, but just as he brought it down, Faith tackled him. The knife crashed into the floor of the cave, missing Frankie by inches. Shawna grabbed her girlfriend and pulled her backwards, away from Faith and Benny.

Faith tried to hold Benny down, but he swung the knife at her, and she was forced to let him go to parry the blow. That gave him a chance to roll onto his back and kick her off of him. She lunged again, but another knife blow forced her back.

He continued to swing at her as she backpedaled, but once more Turk came to her aid.

Then a shot rang out. Benny cried out and vanished into the tunnels.

Faith steadied her light but found no sign of Benny. She heard skittering coming from above and swung her light just in time to see his feet disappear upward into one of the ventilation shafts.

She rushed forward, but when she reached the shaft, Benny had already disappeared.

A moment later, Michael arrived, his weapon drawn.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

“No,” Faith said. “I’m okay. We need to get the girls out of here. We can’t fight him as long as we have civilians to protect.”

They started forward toward the entrance. Michael led the way, weapon at the ready. Faith took the rear, and Turk flanked the two young women as they headed forward to freedom.

They rounded a corner, and Faith caught a glimpse of starlight beyond. She relaxed and said, "All right, girls. We're almost home free."

She reached for her phone to call Jones and tell him to meet them at the Spirit Cave entrance, but before she could dial, she heard Michael shout. “Hey!”

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