Council of Peacocks Read Online Free PDF

out of
this alive.”
    Everyone looked to the back of the SUV
without saying another word. Matt stared at his empty hands, tears
falling freely down his face. His mouth moved but he made no
sound.
    “Last question.” Brian looked out his window,
studying the woods. “Any connection between your father’s work and
those things with wings?”
    “I don’t know,” Josh said, his voice
cracking. “Can’t see how. Just more bad luck or something. Can you
look at the map and find the next town? We’ve been driving forever
and we’ve only got a half tank of gas. If those guys are following
us I’d rather not meet up with them while we’re still in the
woods.”
    “Sure.” Brian bent down to the pouch on the
door where the maps were held. His hand stopped before reaching in.
“What the hell?”
    “What is it?” Rebecca leaned forward and put
a hand on the back of Brian’s seat.
    Brian sat back up. In his hand was a single
piece of white paper.
    “Where’s the map?” Josh took turns looking at
Brian and the road.
    “It’s gone. All the maps are gone. This was
the only thing in there.”
    Brian reached over and held the piece of
paper out by the steering wheel. Josh looked down at it and hit the
brakes.
    It was a crude drawing, like something a
grade school kid would do. A jet black peacock with glowing eyes.
Beneath the drawing were two words written in red crayon.
    “No escape.” Josh read the words aloud, icy
prickles jabbing into his skin.
    “How the hell did that get in here?” Jan
reached forward and grabbed the paper away from Brian. “Is this
someone’s idea of a joke? Brian, did you do this?”
    Josh turned around slowly. “If you keep up
like this we’re all going to die. We need to stop the hysterics and
focus.”
    Jan crumpled the paper and threw it on the
ground.
    “I didn’t do this.” Brian turned to look at
Jan. “You know that. It was one of them. When was the last time
anyone saw the map?”
    “At the creepy gas station.” Jan crossed her
arms across her chest. Tears formed in her eyes. “I put it away
because Josh was having trouble folding it.”
    “Right.” Josh tried to think beyond the fear
he felt. Despite his father’s training, he realized he was out of
his depth. “So we had the map then. That’s when they took the maps
and put this little note in there.”
    Brian wiped sweat off his forehead, turned
around and looked out the back window. “If they’ve been tracking us
that far, they’re not going to stop now, are they?”
    “Worse.” Jan laughed and bit her lip. Tears
flowed faster down her face. “We didn’t see any cars pass us,
right? They went ahead of us and set up a trap.”
    “Either that or there’s more than one set of
them.” Brian wiped the sweat away again. “Josh, we need to get off
this road. Fast.”
    Josh clenched the steering wheel. Up the
road, a white van appeared. Impossibly fast, it shot up the road.
It’s engine roared, dirty and loud.
    Rebecca screamed.
    Before Josh could react, the van slammed into
them. He felt a sharp crack as his head hit the steering wheel.
    Then there was nothing but blackness and
pain.
     

 
    Chapter Four
     
    July 31 st
     
    When Josh awoke, he was in a concrete cell.
He blinked something – blood – out of his eyes. Blood-stained
leather manacles bound his wrists spread-eagle above his head. His
eyes traced chains from each manacle to thick metal hoops in the
ceiling.
    ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’
    His shirt, shoes and socks were gone, his
bare chest covered in bruises and abrasions. The floor was stained
with red and brown smudges. Dried blood.
    The cell reeked of spoiled hamburger. Two
bare bulbs swung gently on short wires from the ceiling. They
splashed cold light in puddles. He shook his head, trying to clear
the fog in his brain. The only result was pain. Every part of his
body ached. Although he knew it would be futile, he tried to pull
his arms free of the manacles. He clenched his jaw as