Caterpillar, a Paranormal Romance With a Touch of Horror (34 page)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

He clucked his tongue.  “I don’t want you listening to all that, Catherine.  It might give you ideas,” he said, walking back to stand between me and the door.

I caught the faint hint of smoke once more.  Once again, clicks resounded in my head as pieces started falling into place.  Everything Tegan had just explained instantly made perfect sense, especially when the djinn had a face—the face of Mayor John Scruggs.

Alarm bells sounded in my head.  Red flags dotted the landscape of my mind.  I suspected, strongly suspected, that I was in the presence of the djinn, but I had to be sure before I tried to do something heroic.  So, before I lost my nerve, I reached out and grabbed the mayor’s hand and held on tight. 

Dark images drifted through our connection.  I was seeing and feeling things from the djinn’s perspective.  I felt the thrill of his power when he heard Megan’s summons, her exaltation like beautiful fire raining down on him.  He would grant her request then toy with her for a while before killing her.  She was quite striking and quite twisted, two things he loved in a human.  I felt his momentary thrall when his dark spirit entered the mayor, the soul already black and decayed from the mayor’s corruption.  I felt the invigoration of taking on a human form, the glorious high of sensation, touch and taste his favorite.  A djinn had no physical sensation until he was inside a human body and he reveled in it.

As hard as I could, I pushed through the link to move through the mayor’s mind and find out what I wanted to know.  I saw the djinn look into the mirror, into the reflection of his cold, dead eyes.  He was pleased with his human form.  He’d picked a persuasive human, one that could lure women to him through his lofty position.  I pushed further, deeper, burrowing into the mayor’s memory. 

Like blood in water, slowly the images dissolved into a red haze.  Like flipping through the pages of a magazine, I saw the mayor choking his wife then I saw him stuff her lifeless body into a freezer.  Next, I found what I was looking for: Mistee Long.  I felt his pleasure at killing someone who’d been so close to God, someone who was falling away.  He could sense the fires of hell on her, like the edges of her soul were singed. 

I broke my hold on the mayor’s hand and stepped back.  When I focused, he was smiling at me, an evil, mirthless show of teeth.  “Find what you were looking for?  I know I did,” he said, stepping closer to me.

As he stepped forward, I stepped back, not able to think clearly yet for all that I’d witnessed via our connection.  “What do you mean?”

“I agreed to help Megan because of her bloodlust and greed.  She has an amazing capacity for it, especially for a human.  It’s a shame I’m going to kill her, but I can’t let Amon loose to possess her.  So, her death will be sweet, but not as sweet as yours.”

“W-why is that?”  I asked, thinking that if I could keep him talking I’d eventually come up with a plan, figure out what to do.

“At first I didn’t know who you were, but the longer I was in a human form and the closer you got to your birthday, to your ‘unveiling’, the more I felt drawn to you, to your blood.  That’s when I decided to make the deal.  After all, your soul is quite coveted in my circle.”

“The deal?”

“Oh yes.  When I deliver you, my position will be…well, let’s just say much improved.  I’ve never had a bargaining chip quite like you before.  I see now why they hunt your line so fiercely.”

He was so matter of fact, so cold, talking about trading my life as if it were a nice antique he’d stumbled upon on E-bay.  I felt the beginnings of panic rise in my throat.  “What are you going to do?”  I knew I probably shouldn’t have asked that question, but it crept out before I could stop it.  I was functioning more on emotion and less on intellect as the minutes ticked by.

“Patience, Catherine.  Inspiration can’t be rushed. Yours will be the most dramatic scene yet, the crown jewel.” He looked at me through squinted eyes, like an artist surveying his subject.  “Let’s do some writing first and then we’ll see.  ”

“Writing?”

“Yes.  And we’ll need an instrument,” he said, his tone when he said “instrument” causing a rash of cold chills to break out down my arms.  Then I saw what he was referring to—a wickedly curved knife.    

Adrenaline rushed through me the instant I laid eyes on that blade.  My only thought was escape and the closest path was through the French doors behind him.  As hard as I could, I pushed the mayor then darted around him toward the door, toward safety, but he barely moved.  He was strong.  And quick, quicker than a regular human.  His hand snaked out and latched onto my wrist, giving it a yank that nearly pulled my shoulder out of socket and bringing me careening backward to land on my back at his feet. 

It knocked the wind out of me.  All I could do was lay there, struggling to breathe, looking up in the smiling face of pure evil. 

“Ah, ah, ah,” he clucked, squatting down beside me and giving my cheek a light slap.  “Let’s not try that again, shall we?” 

I said nothing, trying to remain calm and coherent.  I could feel the terror and hopelessness of my predicament trying to claw its way past rational thought. 

“I know what you need,” he declared.  “Incentive.  That always seems to work well with you humans.  And lucky for you,” he said, taking a fistful of my hair in his hand, “I have just the thing.” 

The mayor rose and began to walk toward one of the rooms I had yet to see inside, dragging me along behind him.  Pain shot through my head and I reached up to pry his fingers loose, but it was no use; they were like steel vises.  I moved my legs under me, trying to walk backward in hopes of easing some of the excruciating pain in my scalp.   But that wasn’t necessary; we weren’t going far. 

He opened the door to a utility room and hauled me inside.  He gave my hair one last hard yank and let it go.  I saw stars for a few seconds, the pain was so intense.  When my vision cleared, I looked up and saw that someone, my “incentive” no doubt, was tied to a table in the center of the room. 

I struggled to my feet.  The room dipped and swayed this way and that.  When my vision came into focus, I saw her.  And my heart stopped.  It was Rainn.  She was spread eagle on the work bench, her arms and legs tied down with thick, yellow rope.  I could see the edges of white material peeking out from behind the man’s tie that held the gag in her mouth.  Her head was anchored to the table by a piece of duct tape that went across her eyes.  Her skin had an unusual pallor and was slick with sweat.  Her chest heaved.  She’d heard us; she knew she was no longer alone.  And she was afraid.  The air was so thick with it I could almost taste it. 

“Rainn,” I said in an effort to calm her.  “It’s Cat.”

She started sobbing and struggling against her restraints.  The veins in her neck stood out as she tried to lift her head off the table. 

“Now,” the mayor said.  And Rainn quieted instantly.   “As I was saying, we need to do some writing.  We have our instrument…you,” he said, which surprised me.  I thought he’d been referring to the knife.  Confusion permeated my already overloaded brain.  “All we need is some…ink.” 

Like a flash of lightning, the mayor struck out with his knife and sliced Rainn’s arm, lengthwise from her elbow almost to her wrist.  I heard her stifled scream, all her limbs twitching with her efforts to free herself. 

The gravity of our eventuality was like a bucket of cold water in my face.  If we had any chance of survival, it would be up to me; I was going to have to think of something.  Another rush of adrenaline cleared the haze from my mind.  I used the excuse of looking away from Rainn’s wound to take in my surroundings.

The utility room had painted concrete block walls.  The two side walls, in front and behind me, were blank.  The wall to my left had a garage-type bay door, but the one to my right was outfitted with shelves and another table, all loaded with various tools and small pieces of equipment. 

In an instant, my mind had cataloged several useful items, but the closest one was an axe, the sharpened blade glinting in the fluorescent overhead lights.  Scenarios raced through my mind, though many of them were immediately discarded because of the mayor’s proximity to Rainn.  If I could just get him away from her…just for a few seconds…

“What’s say we get to work,” the mayor said in his congenial fashion, like we were planning a garden party. 

“What do you want me to do?”

“Write, of course.”

“Write what?”

“A P.  On that wall,” he said, indicating the blank wall behind me.  “In her blood.” 

I looked at him, looked at the knife then looked at the puddle of Rainn’s blood on the floor.  I took a hesitant step forward then stopped.  “Could-could you back up a little?”  I asked in my meekest voice.  I made a point not to meet his eyes.  I wanted him to think I was cowed into submission. 

With a bone-chilling smile, the mayor took two large steps backward, crossing his arms over his chest.  Despite his casual stance, I could see he still held the knife in a ready position.  Slowly, I crept forward and bent down, dipping my fingers in Rainn’s warm, slick blood.  I rose and walked to the wall, but instead of walking directly across from Rainn, I made my “p” on the wall at the far end, closest to the axe. 

My heart thundered in my ears as I thought about what I was going to do.  My hand shook as I let it drop to my side.  Without looking at the mayor, I asked, “What next?” 

“An H.”

My muscles twitched as I nearly lunged for the axe, but lost my nerve at the last minute.  Instead, I repeated my actions and wrote a large H on the wall. 

“Next,” I asked impatiently.  The mayor/djinn obviously had a flair for the dramatic.  He waited for the longest time before answering me, only doing so when my eyes rose to meet his.  Fortunately, his pause gave me the precious seconds that I needed to steel myself before making my move. 

“An I.”

I turned as if to walk back to the puddle of blood, but instead I shot out to the right and lunged for the axe.  I grabbed it from the wall, raised it above my head and whirled around to face the mayor. 

He was standing near Rainn once more, but otherwise his position was the same.  He looked deceptively relaxed, but I’d experienced first hand how quickly he could move. 

Out of options and knowing we’d soon be out of time, I did the only thing I could think of.  I bent my elbows as if I was about to lower the axe to the ground.  Then I arched my back, stepped forward with my right foot, extended my arms and flung the axe as hard as I could toward the mayor.

I watched it fly through the air as if it were in slow motion.  It tumbled end over end until, with a solid thwack, the axe head buried itself in the mayor’s chest, dead center. 

No one was more surprised than me.  I couldn’t have done that again if I’d tried.

The mayor/djinn looked down at it in surprise, too, his arms falling straight to his sides.  Expecting him to keel over, I felt triumph well in my chest right before he looked up at me and smiled.  “Bravo!”  He began walking toward me, looking down once more at the axe sticking out of his chest.  “That’s a one in a million shot, Catherine.  Your abilities are coming along quite nicely, I see.”

I felt the blood drain from my face as my short-lived victory blew away like dust in the wind.  I stood, dumbstruck and immobile, watching the mayor approach me.  “Wh-wh—” I stuttered.

“Why am I not dead?”  I nodded in response to his question.  “I’m immortal.  Or did you forget?”

A loud crash behind him had the mayor spinning toward the bay door.  An enormous dent appeared in the center of the metal door and then it was gone.  Just gone, ripped away as if by a tornado. 

I watched in silent disbelief as a huge creature, covered in scaly black skin and carried on wide membranous wings, flew through the opening. It swooped down on the mayor, grabbing him by the shoulders.  With a wet crackling sound, the creature’s long talons tore easily through the mayor’s flesh and bones.  I looked up and met its glowing ruby eyes and, for an instant, there was stillness as it hovered, watching me.