Cry For Tomorrow (4 page)

“Hey, where’d all the ghosts go?” I whispered in surprise. The phantoms were the epitome of curiosity and seemed fascinated by any gathering of the humans. It was not characteristic for them to leave.

“Into hiding, I’m afraid, and if I’m right, that buzzing we’re hearing at the back of our minds means that someone out there is using an electronic mind-warp to disrupt the freaks’ defense. Even the ghosts don’t like it,” Jake whispered back. “I don’t like the looks of this. I’m afraid this isn’t just a raid.” He grabbed my hand and tugged at it, trying to get me to follow him. “Halie! Come on, we
really
need to get out of here, ‘cause things are about to get really nasty.”

I managed to nod my head, and I really did try to follow him, but I couldn’t seem to make my feet move—and then it was too late to run without being spotted.

“Oh damn, I was afraid of something like this.
Get down!
” Jake jerked me and the snarling dog down behind the barrier of trash cans.

“They’ve brought in a Reaper!
”
Jake gasped.

I didn’t need Jake’s warning, I could feel the hair on my arms and at the back of my neck prickling and the throbbing pain at my temple that told me what was riding the hover-cycle bearing down on us long before my eyes could confirm it. With every fiber of my being, I wanted to run away, but I could only stare, mesmerized, at the big, black cycle swooping into the light of the bonfire.

The hover-cycle spun to a stop that left the rider’s back turned to us, but it was easy to see that he was huge. Dropping his feet to the ground on either side of the cycle, the rider turned so that the firelight reflected against the black leather clothing he wore, but the dull, platinum-grey of his helmet and matte-black visor shrouding his face seemed to swallow the light.

“He must be seven feet and weigh-in at an easy four hundred pounds,” Jake whispered faintly, “and I’ve never seen anything like that sword strapped across his back.”

Still straddling the rumbling machine, the giant reached up with both hands and jerked the helmet off his head. Shaking back the mane of thick, raven-black hair that had tumbled from the helmet in ebony waves, he slowly turned his head and surveyed the cluster of freaks trapped within the circle of bikes.

The biker to the giant’s right leaned over and spoke to him in a hushed voice. When the biker stopped speaking, the giant removed his dark glasses and turned his head so that his face was exposed to the light of the bonfire, revealing a visage more horrible than the worst nightmare I’d ever had. Dominated by large, bulbous eyes with bright red irises outlined in bruises of purple and green, his face was heavy-boned with a square jaw, hollow cheeks and a complexion as ashen as a corpse.

“We
really
need to get out of here,”
Jake whispered in a quivering voice, “that thing’s not even human!” He dropped back into the shadows and tried to draw me with him, but I couldn’t move.

Some part of my mind was shrieking at me for having been foolish enough to look into the black depths of the giant’s bloody eyes. I wanted so very much to break that horrible contact.

“
Halie!”
Jake jerked insistently on my arm until I finally blinked and focused my eyes on him. “Are you okay?” he demanded anxiously.

“Y-yeah, I guess.” I nodded uncertainly, but I couldn’t seem to stop shaking. I’d never been this close to one of the dreaded assassins before.

Almost as if he’d heard my thoughts, the reaper’s head swung in our direction and his evil gaze focused on our alleyway. Still shaking from my first eye contact with the ghoul and terrified that we’d been seen, I gave in to my fear. Jerking my arm from Jake’s grip, I stumbled to my feet and tried to run— and tripped on the dog suddenly pressing against my knees. Unable to catch my balance, I fell to the ground, frantically trying to free myself from the tangle of feet and furry animal. I’d nearly escaped when Jake’s surprisingly strong arms tightened around me.

“
Easy Halie, he didn’t see us. We’re okay.” His whisper was urgent and breathless as he struggled to keep me from running. When I finally stopped fighting his greater strength, Jake dared to loosen his grip, but he kept his arms around me, holding me down and out of sight.

“Th-thanks,” I stuttered when I’d regained enough control to keep my voice from shaking. Tightening my arms around the dog, I leaned against her and whispered, “You too, Dusty,” into the soft fur. The dog panted in acknowledgement and we both returned our attention to the drama being enacted before us.

It was obvious that the aura of doom projected by the reaper had penetrated the detached minds of even the most distant of the mind-warped, for there were murmurs and soft cries of despair when the giant dismounted and walked toward the circle. Even from where I was watching, I could see the tell-tale shaking of hands and knees, the frightened blinking of eyes that were focused upon the thing approaching them—and the deadly sword clasped loosely in his hands.

When the reaper came to a stop at the outer fringe of the cycles, a biker, not as big or imposing but nearly as savage to look upon with his scraggly orange hair, black sun-shades and death’s head face, strode forward to stand at the reaper’s right-hand side.

“You freaks have been warned! This block is now, officially, part of the Red Demon’s domain, and we don’t want to see your skanky hides around here no more!” He kicked the nearest man in the gut with his heavy black boot, making him double over, gasping in pain.

As if that were the signal they’d been waiting for, the bikers charged the cluster of freaks, riding their bikes into their midst, swinging billie-clubs against heads and kicking boots into faces.

My fingers were white where I was gripping the side of the trash bin we were hiding behind, and my whole body was shaking with rage and helplessness. This was more than my mind could comprehend. It was not possible for anyone even vaguely human to behave so brutally toward another creature. Even as my stricken mind reminded me that the reaper did not seem truly human, I realized that he had not made a move yet. My stomach heaved in rebellion, but I forced my eyes back to the giant where he stood, perfectly still, like a hawk waiting to strike—and he moved
.

Like the dark hand of death, he struck without warning, and six men and women lay convulsing on the ground, blood and guts oozing from their torn bodies.

The pure brutality of the reaper’s attack sent the freaks scrambling in every direction, trying to escape into the night. Those whose mental ability allowed them to think beyond their own need tried to reach the children, who were too frightened or young or damaged to scramble to safety.

As if fueled by their fear and pain, the reaper showed no pity as he strode on into the churning mass of humanity, the bloody sword he wielded swinging to and fro, slashing through throats or unprotected bodies. Relentlessly, he pursued these damaged young people and with the swift stroke of his blade took their heads and their lives, laughing evilly with each that he took.

Helpless to stop the slaughter and afraid of drawing attention to ourselves, Jake and I could only huddle together, staring in horrified silence. A lone woman with three small children clinging to her skirts suddenly surged way from the confusion and toward the shadows of the alleyway that we were hiding in. As she drew closer we saw an awareness and consciousness unusual for a freak in the woman’s eyes as she desperately tried to drag the children to safety.

Jake and I hurriedly pushed the trash cans aside to make way for the woman. It seemed that her frantically churning legs were moving in slow motion and the distance seemed to grow with each labored step. She was finally drawing close, only a few yards more, when the agonized scream of a dying man echoed off the wall of the building we were hiding beside, filling the alley with his pain.

The reaper’s head snapped about and this time his attention was focused on the dark mouth of our refuge. I could see the flames of hell shimmering in his eyes when they locked onto the woman and children scurrying away from him. Swinging the sword in a menacing figure-eight he took a stride after her, but a man garbed in rags of bright red and yellow leapt to block the reaper’s path. A single sweep of the great, serrated blade left the man’s torn body twitching on the ground.

The woman stopped in mid-stride, a look of total devastation washing over her face, unable to move on, failing to take advantage of the distraction his sacrifice was meant to gain her. Helpless, the terrified children could only cling to her skirts, trembling as the reaper stepped over the man’s bleeding body and strode purposefully toward them. His intent was plain in the harsh lines of his face.

“No! You must not do this terrible thing!” sobbed the woman as she bravely raised her head and faced the monster bearing down on her.

He was there, looming over her, faster than the eye could track or the mind could believe. The ghoul paused and his bloodless lips drew back in a mirthless grin of pure evil as if he was savoring these moments of his victim’s terror. Something that might have been laughter, cold and harsh, made all that heard it cringe as the reaper slowly drew his sword arm back to strike.

“
Oh Gods! No!
”
I couldn’t let him do this. Twisting away from the hand gripping my arm, I lurched to my feet and took a step toward the reaper. “
Stop!”

“
Oh, damn!
Now you did it!” hissed Jake as he too, came to his feet, ready to make a run for it before the reaper or his minions could react.

Startled by our sudden appearance, the reaper paused. It took only a moment for him to decide that we were of no consequence and turn back to his task, but in that moment two of the male freaks swooped in, grabbed the children and woman, and were making a hasty retreat in the opposite direction.

The reaper’s roar of fury brought three of the bikers rushing to his side.

“
Kill them!
”
he growled, and pointed with one gloved hand.

Without question, the trio of bikers leaped to obey, striding on silent feet toward the alley.

“Run for it!” Jake was already dancing away from me to give the bikers a more difficult target.

I didn’t need to be warned twice. Shrugging my backpack to my shoulders, I tightened my grip on the thick piece of wood I was holding. I could feel the dog tight against my side and heard her soft snarl as we began backing away into the shadows of the alley.

The first biker to reach the alley set eyes on Jake and moved after him, slapping the billy-club he was carrying against the side of his leg. “What are you doing out here, boy,” he growled. “You getting your jollies watchin’ the freakies, now are you?”

Jake dodged nimbly out of reach and darted onto the debris-mined sidewalk. The big, over-weight biker immediately gave chase. I saw the second biker pause a moment, as if deciding which of us would cause the most trouble before following the first biker, but he only made it as far as the corner of the first building before a large, red and black blur of a man smashed into him. The two men hit the ground and disappeared into the deep shadows and piles of debris.

The dog’s growl of warning brought my attention back to the third biker, who was slowly stalking towards me. I felt the icy fingers of fear crawl across my skin as I tried to decide what to do. There was no way I could outrun him, even in the alley with all its obstacles. My hands twitched and my nails dug into the soft wood of the stick I still gripped. I fought for control of the pain that was throbbing against my skull as I gathered the energy I would need to stop this man.

“Hey there, little girl, guess what I’ve got for you,” the biker leered as he tried to corner me against the pile of old furniture. “Maybe you and me, we’ll have us a nice little party before we
eat your damn little doggie for dinner!”
he growled as he dodged out of reach of Dusty’s snapping teeth.

That small moment of distraction was all I needed. I swung my stick as hard as I could and was rewarded with the resounding
crack
of wood against bone as it connected with his shins before I darted deeper into the alley. I didn’t dare look back until I was safe behind the rusted hulk of an old car.

“Yeah, and maybe my cute little dog will just bite that nasty thing off for you!” I jeered.

Cussing and limping on his injured leg, the biker lunged around the side of the car, reaching for me again, but I swung my stick, managing to smack him across the shoulder this time before ducking behind some more trash. Dusty sank her teeth into his hand before running after me.

“
Son-of-a-bitch!
You are
soo
going to pay for this!” Totally enraged, he leapt over the top of the rusted-out freezer that lay between us and grabbed my arm.

Frightened, I released the full charge of electrical energy that I’d been gathering.

The biker screamed and convulsed as sparks jumped from his hair, hands and even the bottoms of his boots. His whole body was alive with sparks of light before I was able to shake him off me.

“Damn, girl, you didn’t have to fry the poor bastard to take him out.” Jake laughed as he carefully took my arm. He tried to lead me away, but I twisted in his grip and kicked the twitching body in the rib-cage again.

“Yeah, poor bastard my ass! He really scared me, you know.” Still shaking in reaction, I bent down to stroke the dog clinging to my side. I
hadn’t
meant to expel so much energy, I might need it again before the night was over. With a final shiver of reaction, I allowed Jake to lead me away and into the cover of another abandoned auto.

The harsh hoots of the bikers calling for their missing companions sent us ducking deeper into the shadows. The voices grew closer, and footsteps echoed from the end of our alleyway but stopped short of exploration, and when there was still no answer, the pack moved off without their missing comrades.

Long moments later the night air was shattered by the sound of revving engines and hiss of compressed air-jets.

Jake and I stayed where we were, listening until we could no longer hear the rumble of the chopper engines before daring to come out of hiding. I waited at the end of the alley when Jake returned to the place the biker had fallen and kicked the blistered and blackened body a couple of times to be sure he wasn’t moving.