Burkheart Witch Saga Book 2 (6 page)

"
B
reathe deeply
," Joy instructed, trying her best to comfort Kayla over the phone. "Are you sure that you don't know another Lou?"

"I am totally sure."

"Maybe it's just a sick joke."

"Who would do something like that?" Kayla asked, pleading for reassurance.

"I have no idea, but we'll try to find out. Are you going to be ok?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Like you said, it was probably just a bad joke. Thanks, Joy."

"Call if you need anything at all," Joy said again in her motherly tone that made Kayla feel safe and cared for.

Kayla hung up the phone, feeling a little bit better. She snuggled in close so David could put his arm around her.

"What did Joy say about it?"

"That it was probably a joke. A bad one."

"She's probably right," he reassured, spooning in closer. Kayla drifted into a troubled sleep that included dreams of full moons, Arizona highways, and a black Impala driven by a monster.

"
A
ny day now
, Kayla!" Dr. Leslie Whitaker told her patient excitedly as she removed her purple nitrile gloves.

"Ugh! I feel like I am going to explode," Kayla replied, pulling down her t-shirt and sitting up on the table.

"Are you having any discomfort at all?"

"Not really. I just have to pee all the time, and some days I feel like I'm hauling around a linebacker, but other than that, I feel good."

Dr. Whitaker scribbled something in Kayla's chart, and she looked up almost absent-mindedly.

"That's all pretty normal for your eighth month. That little baby of yours is getting ready to make an appearance in the world!" Dr. W., as Kayla called her, was a sweet woman in her thirties, who looked to be in her late twenties. She had a studious look that let you know she was serious, but there was also a little twinkle that let Kayla know she was young at heart. She wore thin-rimmed glasses and wore her hair up at work, but you could tell that after the day ended, those glasses came off and her auburn highlighted hair came down. Kayla thought the doctor might possibly be a wild woman after hours.

"So, everything looks good?" Kayla asked, smiling at her vision of Dr. Whitaker's wild side.

"Everything looks great. You seem to be right on schedule. Are you prepared?"

"Can you ever really be prepared?"

"Well, Nurse Frazier will give you some information that you can take home. If you have any other questions, please call the office. I'll see you in a few weeks!" As Dr. W. walked out of the exam room en route to her other patients, Nurse Frazier walked in with a handful of books and pamphlets.

"Hey, Kayla. How are you today?" The nurse flashed her usual bright smile.

"Good, Sarah. How's business?"

"Busy as ever. People never take a break from making babies." Sarah laughed jovially. She was Kayla's favorite nurse here at the office. She looked so young and seemed to have a glow about her. Truth be told, they were probably about the same age, but Sarah was so youthful in look and spirit that Kayla was even a little jealous at times.

"So, these are checklists of things that you should have packed for the hospital, and things you'll need at home for baby's first week." She handed Kayla a little stack of reading materials. "If you're planning on breastfeeding, there is some info on that, too."

"I'm a little scared." Kayla couldn't believe that she had voiced her fear to anyone but David.

"Oh, honey. It's ok to be scared. This is your first one. You should be a little scared; that means you care." She put a consoling hand on Kayla's. "I have three myself, and I was petrified with my first."

Kayla nodded her head, grateful for the camaraderie.

"You better get going now. I called the car service for you. They should be here soon. Where's David today? Doesn't he usually bring you?" She gave Kayla a warm smile while helping her off the table.

"He stayed home to work on the backyard. Today was the only day the landscaper could meet with him."

"Remodeling
and
a new baby?" Sarah raised an eyebrow.

"Just a little work. We put up a small wooden shed and a compost hut. David wants to start an organic garden."

"Health nut?" Sarah laughed.

"A little bit. He hates it that I love bacon cheeseburgers. The work is all but done. We're just finishing the garden."

Kayla grabbed her sweater, and the two women left the exam room. She waved to the rest of the staff and made her way out to the front parking lot to wait for the car service. The wait wasn't very long.

The maroon sedan pulled up, and the driver jumped out to help her get into the car. Her Stingray was parked and covered in the garage at home because she couldn't fit in either side of the car. Her next purchase was going to be a bigger car, maybe even a minivan. She squeezed herself into the backseat and thanked the driver for his help.

The Meatloaf song that had been playing on the radio ended, and the DJ announced a non-stop rock block starting with a classic by CCR. "Bad Moon Rising" came pouring out of the speakers.

"Can you turn that off, please?" Kayla asked urgently.

"Yes, ma'am," the older, gray haired driver said. "Not a Creedence fan?"

"Used to be, but not anymore." She stared out the window in silence for the rest of the ride home, lost in her own thoughts.

A
s he watched
her get out of the maroon sedan in front of the two-story brick house, his mouth watered. He had to stop himself from bolting out of the shadows and eating her right there. She looked so tender and juicy, especially carrying around that sweet little one. He stopped himself, wanting to savor the experience. He wanted to make her suffer and plead for her life and the life of her baby.

It was going to be such sweet revenge. He found himself getting aroused at the thought of ripping her limb from limb. First, he would kill her pussy husband, and then rip that little piglet out of her and eat it in front of her. After all of that, as she begged for death, he would eat her piece by piece, keeping her alive to watch him dine on her flesh.

His arousal became too much for him, and he let out a lustful whimper. Covering his mouth, he ducked back further into bush and shadows. The woman turned around and surveyed the dark corner where he hunkered down in hiding. She had a suspicious look on her face, and even from his far away hiding spot, he could smell the fear dripping off her like sweet dew from the skin of ripe fruit. Dismissing the noise, she made her way into the safety of her home.

It would happen soon. She was going to pay for everything she had done. He was going to make sure of it. Sulking away into the approaching darkness, he was impatient for his revenge but vowed to bide his time until the perfect moment presented itself.

That baby would be a nice, plump mouthful for sure.

"
O
w
!" Kayla yelled and bolted upright in her bed. David awakened with a start and turned frantically toward his pregnant wife.

"Wha...what is it?" he asked, still groggy from his peaceful sleep.

"Just a kick, I think."

"Do you need anything? Are you ok?"

"Yeah, go back to sleep."

"Are you sure?" He asked again, not totally convinced.

"Yes, honey. Go back to sleep. I'm sorry I woke you." Kayla kissed him goodnight and laid herself down to try and rest.

Just as they were both sinking back into a comfortable, pain free sleep, they were awakened once more by a loud crash coming from the backyard.

"What the fuck?" David shouted as he got up out of the bed and stepped into his slippers.

"Where are you going?" Kayla asked, worried.

"I'm gonna go see what the hell made that racket."

"Let it wait 'til morning."

"It could be raccoons or dogs or something. If they get into the compost hut it'll be a huge fucking mess."

"Just be careful."

"Yeah," David said off-handedly as he slipped on a hoodie and grabbed a baseball bat from the corner of the room.

Kayla got up and slipped on her robe while David headed downstairs. She followed a few minutes behind, not wanting to rush down the steps, and not wanting to piss him off any further.

She walked to the sliding glass door that opened onto the backyard and looked out.

David stood next to the overturned compost hut shining his flashlight around the yard. Kayla caught glimpses of the spilled banana peels and rotting vegetables intermingled with the remnants of the straw building that was now toppled over.

"What the fuck?"

"What is it, David?" Kayla asked from the doorway, tightening her robe against the cold air.

"No raccoon did
this
," he said, flashing the light across the section of pavement in front of the destroyed straw hut.

Even though she was in her bare feet, Kayla walked out to stand by his side.

"Get back in the house," she said, looking down at the mangled body of a white rabbit lying next to words written on the concrete, obviously in the poor bunny's blood.

She shuffled back inside with David close behind her.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked no one in particular before she locked the door and they headed upstairs.

K
ayla and David
sat at the table in the kitchen, drinking hot tea. The events of last night had been buried, washed away, and cleaned up.

The silence between them was like a thick curtain. Each of them knew the other was there, but neither had any idea what to say. Kayla knew she would have to be the one to break the silence.

"David…," she began, not sure of how to finish. She wanted to apologize for getting him into a magical mess once again, but Kayla wasn't even sure what this mess was.

"It can't be him, can it?" he asked with a hopelessness threatening to overtake him.

"He's dead. I watched him get shot in the desert. I watched the old lady's grandson head out with a shovel to bury him."

"Did you see the burial?"

"No, but…." She trailed off again, suddenly very unsure of what she actually knew to be true.

"So it could be him."

"It could be," she replied, feeling defeated.

"Why would a werewolf send a
silver
rattle of all things?"

"If you knew the special kind of arrogant dick Lou is, you'd know he would probably see it as a message. He's telling us that he's not scared of anything, even silver."

"I don't want you to be alone until we figure this out. Can you get Gus or Mooney to come and stay with you when I'm not here?"

"Where are you going?" she asked, feeling like one of those weak women that she had always pitied.

"I have to go out for the book signing on Monday. I can't cancel it, or else I would."

Kayla had forgotten all about David's book signing. He had written a how-to book on organic gardening that was becoming really successful. When he tried to read it to her or tell her about it, she was bored to near unconsciousness, but he was trying to secure their future and she loved and respected him for that. She would never dream of denying him or standing in the way of his success.

"Yeah, sorry. It slipped my mind with everything going on around here. I'm sure that one of them can stay with me. I'll call later and ask."

"I'll only be gone for the night. I'll be back Tuesday afternoon," he tried to reassure her. "California is just such a huge market."

"Yeah, honey, I know. I'll be fine. One of the guys will come and stay with me. No worries." She smiled what she hoped was a convincing smile. He returned one that was not so convincing at all.

"If you don't want me to go, I'll cancel it."

"No. Absolutely not. You can't put your life on hold because there
might
be a monster on the loose."

"You could put a protection spell–"

Kayla stopped him mid-sentence with a wave of her hand.

"No magic. I don't want the baby exposed to anything that might be harmful. I functioned for thirty years without magic, so another month or so won't hurt."

David could see that she had made up her mind and there would be no changing it.

"Okay, just call Gus. Right away."

"Yes, dear." She gave him a big smile, knowing he had let her win this little spat.

"Well,
dear
, you call and I will pack." He got up from the chair, gave her a kiss on the lips, and then knelt down, putting both hands on her tummy. "Hi, my little man."

"What if it's a girl? You are going to cause gender confusion!" She laughed, glad to be distracted by such normalcy.

"Naw, if it's a girl, then I'll just teach her to like baseball and hate boys."

"Go pack, Daddy."

David kissed her again as he ran up the stairs to get his bags ready.

Kayla picked up the cordless phone and dialed Gus's number.

"Hey Gus! I need to ask a favor. What are you doing tomorrow night?"