Bloodlines: Everything That Glitters (4 page)

“Seems like you had a surprisingly long conversation in here, what were you talking about?”

I saw her stare out of a nearby window and search the trees for answers. “The weather, it’s such a beautiful day outside,” she replied sharply.

“What have I told you about conversing with the customers? You do this every time and you leave me no choice.” He reached over the counter and grabbed her dreaded hair and pulled her around to stand in front of him inferiorly. “Your job is to collect payment, not talk about weather.” He lashed out one of his huge fingers and dug one of his long nails into her chest.

This is why she hates it here so much
, I thought. She stood there cowering below the seven-foot giant, too afraid to speak another word.

I shifted and looked out the glass doors and calculated the amount of time it’d take to run from the door and to the car.
Since you can hear me, I know what happened while you were outside. I need you to use that to get us out of this mess.
Looking into his eyes, I felt like this was my fault, getting us caught in a situation we clearly hadn’t bargained for when stopping to put gas in the car.

He looked away from me and outside at the sky then crossed his arms over his chest.
Then you should know how much that shit really hurts. Besides, the first time it was involuntary, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do it again.

Don’t be such a coward
, I mentally judged.
Plus, nothing beats a failure but a try. So try until you have nothing left, only then will we move on to plan B.

He rolled his eyes then sulked for a moment.
Why can’t we just run out of the doors?

Do you know anything about this? We can’t leave Corey; look what she’s already going through. I’ll owe you a solid.

Fine, here goes nothing.

I briefly watched as he began to split, another version of himself ripping from his body, tugging and pulling at his head and then eventually his mid-section. Watching him had my emotions crossed between disgust and horror. I turned my attention back into the store where Corey and her father still stood. Amazingly there wasn’t much he was thinking, his thought waves like very still waters.

“I need this entire store clean before I get back from poker,” he grabbed her face and threw her down, her body making a small thud as she hit the ground. “Get to work, and if you even think about trying to run away again, your legs won’t be the only thing that I break this time.”

I gasped and instantly covered my mouth praying the giant hadn’t heard me.

“What was that?”

I heard him take a single step forward but I couldn’t tell in which direction. Turning to look at Ash, my heart skipped a beat when two identical forms crouched next to me. I reached up slowly and pinched the one closest to me.
Did you feel that?
I saw a reply of agitation in his eyes before he began to make his move as decoy. Ash-2 stood, fighting to gain his footing.
I don’t believe this, you’re trying to have us killed. Get your spawn under control!

The real Ash ignored me and focused his energy on the clone. We both peered up through the rack at Corey’s dad while the thing walked around us and walked up to him.

“I’m sorry sir, I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping but I couldn’t help but notice why your daughter hates your stinking guts.”

Corey scrambled to her feet and stood between her father and Ash-2. “Don’t listen to him father,” she pleaded, giving me a slight signal of her hand, wanting me to run out. Instead of jumping up and running out of the store like she wanted, I couldn’t leave her here, not for him to continue treating her like a human punching bag. While some called it heroism, in the back of my mind I labeled it plain stupid.

“Is that so, young man?” The man’s voice was low almost like he understood. That lasted all of about a second and a half before anger replaced understanding. “Guess I’ll have to teach you not to eavesdrop on other’s people’s business then,” he smiled

A split second later, the real Ash and I were invisibly snatched from around the racks and the old man towered over us. He was even larger up close up, small hairs covered his entire body and his red tangled hair and beard came down to the buttons on his oil stained over-all’s. He looked like a red bear standing on its hind legs.

“Well hello there?” He flashed an evil smile that showed his rotten, yellow and disgusting teeth.

Ash’s failed decoy faded to dust as we stood motionless in front of the man. “I’m sorry sir, we’ll be leaving now.”

“Awe what’s the rush? I’m sure you can stick around a little longer?” he grabbed my arm in the same manner he grabbed Corey’s and held it so tight my body slowly began to go limp. I peeled and twisted his hand off of my arm and tried to make a quick escape toward the door, I got several inches away before he stood in front of me again blocking the exit.

“Not so fast little lady, I haven’t dismissed you yet.”

Hoping for a savior, I turned slightly expecting to see Corey cowering at the counter but luckily she had at least found the strength to run away and hide. “I stick my neck out for you and this is how you repay me, coward?” I spoke loudly, hoping she could hear me from wherever she was.

When I turned back around the large man slapped me. Air caught in the middle of my throat as I hit the ground, landing on the left side of my stomach with the side of my face burning. I turned to look at a my reflection in the silver part of the ice cream freezer, a large purple hand mark appeared then slowly faded right before my eyes, taking the pain right along with it.

I slowly looked up at Ash who still stood frozen. “So I guess it would be too much to ask for a little bit of help right now then?” I spat sarcastically.

My time on the floor was short-lived; I was back up and on my feet within seconds. Every fear particle in me vanished, rage and agitation now taking its place. An intense red-orange danced across my vision as I stared at the giant. His nasty yellow teeth were showing through his parted lips.

“I like you, you’re tough. That being said, I won’t hurt you that bad.”

Get away from
the door.

From where I stood, facing the glass doors, I faintly saw Corey hop into a red pickup truck and start it. I wondered momentarily how the truck had manifested from nowhere, because nothing was outside when I’d walked into the store.
Stranger things have happened
, I thought with a new sense of power.

“I’ll try to return the favor, won’t make any promises though,” I replied, giving him a sarcastic smile. “You should probably get away from the door before something bad happens to you.”

The truck was already at the door by the time the man turned his body slightly to see what I was talking about. I leaped toward the back of the store just as glass and broken wood flew everywhere.

Rising from the debris, I couldn’t help but let an all-out smile wipe across my face- that was, until I saw Ash laid out on the floor under the debris. Kneeling down and slapping him several times, I rolled my eyes at him when he finally came around.

“Was all of that really called for?” He asked while rubbing the side of his face.

“That was for leaving me to fight for myself you coward,” I replied, slapping him just one more time.

“If I could have moved, I would have. It was like I was bound in place.” He wiped the dirt from his face then slapped me back, not caring that I was a girl.

I started to slap him back but he gave me a stern look. “Don’t slap me again.”

“You don’t tell me what to do,” I countered. “Besides, I’m trying to toughen you up, Ashley.” I should have known calling him Ashley would start something, he hated when I did. We wrestled madly, rolling over the sharp glass and shards of wood.

“Get off of me!” I yelled when he had me pinned. A thin splinter dug into my flesh as I pretended to give up.

“My name is NOT Ashley!”

“Whatever. Get off of me before I intentionally burn you alive.”

He looked into my eyes and knew I was not kidding. Much like what’d happened to him when his body began to split the first time, my fire reaction was much the same. Unintentional. But it was a good enough threat for him to let me free.

I jumped up from the ground. Corey looked dumfounded as I walked over the broken shards of glass and stood over the man, who was amazingly still out cold after all of that.

“Are you alright?” She asked before reaching up to take a shard of glass from my hair.

“We fight all of the time. Get used to it,” I replied nonchalantly. “Thanks for coming through, literally,” I said smiling.

“Let’s get out of here,” Ash announced while pulling me away from Corey.

“So, Corey, do you want to go and get some of your things? You have two minutes and counting,” I replied before reaching into my pocket and pulling my keys out.

I don’t know about this, if he’s not already dead do you think he would come looking for her or us for that matter?
 

I looked at the lifeless man, I couldn’t really tell if he was breathing or not and I wasn’t going to be the one to walk over and check.

Minutes later Corey rounded the corner with a few bags and some food- I hadn’t even noticed her leave. She stopped in front of her father’s body and walked up to the side of him. “Ash can you give me a hand with something?”

I watched Ash as he slowly walked up and stood beside her, daring not get to close to either Corey or her old man.

“What can I help you with?”

“Can you lift this truck off of his legs and move him behind the shed in the back?” Corey beckoned.

“You’re kidding me right? I’m 125 plus, and he’s at least 300. You’d have to find yourself another fool to even attempt that one,” he replied while shaking his head.

Corey placed one hand on his shoulder and turned him to face her. “You’re the only fool within a thousand miles, plus how will you know if you don’t try?”

I looked at her with one eyebrow raised. “In only a thousand miles? I’d thought the territory would be bigger than that. But Ash has a point, I strongly advise against this, bro.”

Ash looked over at me and rolled his eyes, choosing not to reply to me. “So you don’t think I can do it? Challenge accepted.”

“Fine, $20 says I’ll be driving you to the hospital within two minutes from now.”

I watched him effortlessly lift the truck up off of the slimy old geezer and place it on the side of what used to be a store. I awkwardly turned to Corey, “What the, how the…” I stuttered.

“You owe me $20!” Ash called behind him as he headed around the corner of the building with the geezer straddled on his shoulder.

Corey stood in the mist of the debris and fumbled through the broken wood and glass with her feet.

“What are you looking for?” I asked walking up to her.

“I keep a picture of my mother hidden here, if my dad had ever found it he would have burned it for sure.” She walked over to the broken wood counter and pulled out a black and silver box. “Here it is,” she announced.

“Why do you keep it in a safe?” I mumbled to myself as I stared in her direction while she put the code in the keypad of the box then lift it open. Pictures fell from the overstuffed box and gently landed on the ground.

I shook off my blank stare and noticed Ash hadn’t made it back yet. “Hey Ash it’s time to go!” I called around the back of the store, deciding to remain normal for the moment. I walked around the corner of the shack and stopped in sudden fear, my heart rate spiked and my feet wouldn’t let me make another move, Ash lay on the ground near the shed with a small wooden spear plunged in his chest.

I sprinted to Ash’s side, if I had known the emergency response time in this area; I’d have been calculating it. I wasn’t trained in this type of stuff but I knew that if it absolutely came down to it, I would have to be the one to save him, and I would, even if killed me.

I stared down at him; he was losing blood fast and slowly slipping away right before my eyes. I looked for any sign of Corey’s father then knelt beside Ash- tears had already begun to burn fresh paths down my cheeks.

“Where did he go?” I cried, looking down and touching the side of his face. The mist that’d disappeared earlier was back, cooling the air and sending a chilling breeze over us.

“He took off into the woods and disappeared.” Ash pointed towards the tree line, and I twisted to look, half expecting to see the huge man waiting to pounce, but thankfully nothing was there.

I looked back down at Ash, and my thoughts began to bagger me.
What have I done? I let him to take the bastard around the back by himself- I should have walked with him.
The thoughts echoed through the hollowness of my mind as Ash reached up to grab my hand and gave it a light squeeze.

“Don’t blame yourself Aliza,” he comforted.

I stared blankly into his vibrant emerald green eyes, “We’ve been through tougher stuff than this. You’re going to be fine,” I tried to smile, I needed to, but my mind wouldn’t let me. I felt horrible.