Dark Heart (12 page)

T
ina sat in the wreck of the car, shivering in horror. She’d pulled herself into a small corner on the floor, wrapping herself up in Zack’s letter jacket. She felt disconnected, as though she was watching herself from outside her body, from a great distance away. The pain from her bruises had receded to some distant point barely visible on the horizon, and she was beginning to wonder if she was in shock, so muffled were her sensations. As if she were wrapped in cotton.

Zack was sprawled across the hood of the car like some grisly hood ornament. She was certain he was dead. She’d seen what had happened to him, but not who had done it. Not really. A great dark shape had been all she could make out through the fogged-up car windows. But she could hear, even if she couldn’t see, and the thing that had killed Zack was still out there.

Her only hope was that the killer, whoever he was, was through with his killing. When the creature had taken Zack, she’d locked the car doors. That was before she realized she’d played right into the killer’s hands. Then the car doors had warped with the force of the killer’s blows, trapping her inside. She was trying to work up the nerve to crawl into the front seat, see if the car would still start, try to get away.

But she felt the first move she made would attract the killer’s attention, might even be her last move. And she knew that she owed more to herself than simply giving up and getting killed.

The tears began again and she swallowed. If she gave way to them, she was afraid she might never stop. The pain was coming back as she tried to plan, tried to save herself. She hurt all over. She hurt where Zack had beaten her, when the night had turned from love’s young dream into some twisted slasher movie nightmare. She hurt where she’d slammed herself into the car doors, trying to get away while Zack was killed.

She could climb out through the broken back window, but there was glass everywhere, and her clothing was shredded, destroyed. It would be a slow, bloody, and dangerous process, and she’d be vulnerable to the killer every step of the way.

She was currently entombed in this car. She could only hope and pray that it was not what the killer intended. Wiping a hand across her eyes, she tried not to think of anything at all.
Please, just let it be over soon.

“
Precious Tina…” The voice was low and rumbling, and it came from behind her.

Tina squealed and spun around, looking through the shattered back windshield of the Camaro into the darkness of the night beyond. The city park outside the car’s windows was dark, empty, deserted. She could see nothing, no one. But she knew he was there. She could hear him. And she could smell him—a strange odor like badly made Chinese food hung in the air. Rain spattered on the roof of the car, dripped off the chrome trim, and fell to the ground. A few trash cans stood at crooked attention against the wall encircling the lot, separating it from the children’s playground. Beyond that was blackness. Fear and unexpected curiosity held her still, breathless.

Finally she could stand it no longer.

“Who’s there?” she asked in a quavering voice.

“You would not know me, precious one, though I have watched over you for a very long time now.” It was a man’s voice, a rough, deep bass.

All the hairs on the back of her neck seemed to be standing on end, but Tina did not give in to terror. She was oddly reassured by the voice—at least the shadow she’d seen
seemed
human. Big, but human. She’d not been completely convinced of that when she’d seen it looming over Zack through the fogged-up windshield.

“Where are you?”

Slowly the darkness of the night…parted. The owner of the voice did not step out of the shadows, but rather the shadows seemed to melt away from him. Tina’s eyes grew wide at what was revealed and she shrank back.

Jewel-like ruby eyes sparkled in a long, flat, reptilian face. Smooth, square scales glittered like emeralds in the darkness, covering his entire body. Thick muscles rippled under the gem-like skin. The creature’s shoulders, biceps, chest, and stomach were so heavily muscled that the masses of those muscles met each other in starkly defined crevices. Its long, green wings pierced the night around it, then folded together behind it like some terrible parody of an angel’s wings. Its wide mouth was solemnly held in a very human expression. Unless she had gone mad under the stresses of the last few minutes, she saw sadness, even concern there.

“Oh, my God…” she breathed out. Her hands gripped the Camaro’s leather seat. “What…who are you?”

“Perhaps something of a guardian,” the gravelly voice replied. “I wished to keep myself removed from your daily life. I did not think we would ever meet face-to-face. After tonight, I cannot in good conscience remain anonymous. Pain for you is pain for me.”

Tina looked at Zack, winced, “Did you do this?”

The wide, flat head nodded.

She sobbed aloud. “I didn’t want this to happen.”

“I know.” The hard, metallic edge to his voice caused Tina to look up again. The ruby eyes danced with inner fire. Tina rubbed her chilled arms and simply stared at the creature. It was frighteningly beautiful, so sleek, so shiny, so powerful looking. It reminded her somehow of the childhood fairy tales she’d read of dragons. How could something like it exist? It didn’t move like a real thing, didn’t speak like a real thing. Perhaps it was an angel of some sort, or a devil.

“Are you going to kill me?” she asked.

The big mouth smiled. “I would sooner kill myself. You have nothing to fear from me.”

“Why should I believe you?” she asked, in spite of herself. She rubbed her arms again, warding off the chill of the night.

“You are cold,” he said.

Suddenly she felt warmth on her arms. It was as though someone had brought the sun out in the night, though she could see no evidence of such a heat source, only feel the effect. The warmth coursed over her arms, her bare legs, and ended by warming her body.

She let out an astonished breath and looked at the creature. Her mind, though still hazy from shock and the events of the night, finally made the connection. This was a killer. Zack’s body was still draped across the hood, and this…thing…had killed him.

She stared at his hands, which were not hands at all, but claws. They were wet with something. Blood. Zack’s blood.

Tina screamed and fell back against the seat. The thing moved toward her, faster than she thought anything living could move. She scrambled around in her corner, trying to escape. Suddenly the scaled skin did not bring to mind sparkling gems, but bloody armor. Tina’s terror struck her to the heart. She gasped, trying to get air. She couldn’t breathe. Slowly the dark interior of the car faded away. Everything faded away. Even the dragon man faded away.

Tina regained consciousness slowly, in small increments, like drops of water falling into a pool. First she noticed the feel of the leather upholstery. She wasted a moment’s thought to wonder why she was sleeping in such an uncomfortable place. That first fuzzy awareness was followed by a flood of sensation, sensation she nearly lapsed back into unconsciousness to escape. She hurt. Hurt all over.

It was when she asked herself why she hurt that everything came rushing back to her—the memories of what had happened that night. She was in the backseat of Zack’s car. But Zack was dead and she was trapped here. The horror of it all smashed over her like a wave. She had no idea how long she’d been unconscious, or if the dragon man was still out there.

Then she heard a scraping sound. She sucked in a breath and pushed herself back against the seat, trying to merge with it, become invisible.

Again, the scraping sound. She searched the darkness surrounding her, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise.

Then she saw it—a figure approaching the car.

She cowered in terror.
Oh, God,
w
hat now?
she asked herself. The figure, silhouetted against the dim light from the moon, was right outside the smashed driver’s side door, working away at it.

“Oh, no…oh, please God, no…” she whispered. Was that thing coming after her now? It had finished with Zack. Was it going to kill her now, despite its promise to let her live?

After a final, horrible screech, the door came free. She shrank away from it, as far from whoever was out there as she could get in the tight confines of the car. The figure wasn’t the thing she most feared, that much she could tell for certain. He was human. In the scant light, she could see that his skin was dark, his hair and eyes black.

Tina had almost let down her guard enough to beg for help when she caught the look in the man’s eyes. His expression didn’t promise compassion or safety. His eyes were the eyes of a hunter. And at this very moment they were fixed on her as prey.

“So you’re not dead yet?” the man said in a thick middle-eastern accent. “How careless of my friend. But much more amusing for me.” He smiled, and his teeth shone white against his dark skin.

“Oh, my God…” Tina prayed as she never had in her life, trying to push herself back through the seat again. “Why me? What do you want?”

“Your pretty little head on a plate,” the man replied. “I want to finish the job my
mentor
was too squeamish to take care of. Kalzar wants you dead. That’s good enough for me.”

“Please, somebody help me!” Tina screamed, even though she knew it was useless. After all the screaming she’d done on this night, surely help would have arrived if it was within earshot.

The man’s smile faded. “No use screaming,” he said. “It just makes me angrier. I will kill you regardless, but there are many ways to die. If you don’t play nice, I’ll make sure your death is long and painful.” He reached for her. Before he could touch her, a sound from outside the car caught his attention—the sound of footsteps on the pavement.

“Mr. Omar.” This voice was controlled, and held the smallest trace of a foreign accent, but Asian rather than middle-eastern. The man with the hunter’s eyes pulled himself out of the car so fast he almost bashed his head against the roof. Tina looked out past him and saw a teenaged kid standing calmly about ten feet from the car. There was nothing remarkable about him. He was just a kid, just like the kids she saw at school every day.

But by this time, Tina was convinced that nothing would save her, that this boy was just another in the endless stream of men come to destroy her on this night. She studied him—if he could keep the man he called Omar occupied for long enough, she could sneak out the door. There was enough wild country in the park that she would have a real chance to escape.

But from the looks of this confrontation, it would be over too quickly to allow her to fade into the distance. Omar was a perfect physical specimen: large, strong, fit, ruthless. The boy was small, lightly built, and—to all appearances—completely outmatched.

“How do you know my name?” Omar asked him.

“You’re famous,” the Asian kid said. His tone was scathing. “Didn’t you know? There are posters of you all over the city with your face on them and
Killer
written underneath. Your
advertisements
. Haven’t you seen them?”

As the boy drew closer, Tina realized that he wasn’t as calm as he seemed. He was shaking. His hands twitched a bit as though he wanted to clench them into fists, but he kept them open and loose.

“You’re a hero, huh?” Omar growled. “You like the girl, do you? Seems like everyone wants this girl. Well, if you want her so much, you can join her!” Omar lunged at the Asian kid, clawing for his throat.

What Tina saw next astounded her. Omar moved so fast she thought the kid would be on the ground before she could blink.

But the boy moved faster. Omar’s hand whistled by the kid’s head in a blur. She saw nothing but the wind left by its passing, ruffling the boy’s hair. The kid spun away from the blow in a perfect circle, using the momentum of his motion to power a blow to Omar’s neck as he stumbled, thrown off balance when his target failed to take the hit. Tina could hear the muted smack of flesh against flesh, the brittle crack of breaking bone. With a grunt, Omar crumpled to the pavement like a marionette with its strings suddenly cut.

Silence fell upon the night. The kid stood over the motionless Omar, clearly waiting for something. Then she heard the threats.

“I’m gonna kill you! I’m gonna fuckin’ rip out your throat!” The downed man growled and cursed, tried to look up at the kid, but was clearly unable to use his arms or legs.

“Perhaps,” the kid said. “Maybe one day soon. But not right this minute.”

Tina had clambered over to the open door during the fight, hoping to escape. But it was over so quickly she never even had a chance to leave the car.

The Asian kid turned to her and held out a hand. The look of rage he’d given Omar softened to compassion as he met her terrified gaze.

“Please, allow me.” He held his hand out to her. She hesitated a moment, then took it. “You must hurry,” he said. His voice was as calm as if he were helping her out of the car to attend an opera.

“Y-you broke his neck,” she said, looking down at the growling, cursing Omar.

The kid nodded. “Yes. But it will not last. Even as we speak, he is healing. We have only minutes, perhaps only seconds. Please, hurry.”

Tina didn’t need any prompting. She stepped out of the car and around the fallen Omar.

A small smile crossed the kid’s face as he looked over her shoulder.

“What is it?” Tina turned to see what he was looking at. She could see a faint glow of red and blue flickering above the treetops.

“Police,” he said. “Someone must’ve heard the noise.” The kid looked down at Omar, whose fingers were beginning to move. Omar looked up at them with such venom that Tina took a step back.

“You’re both going to scream until your throats explode when I kill you!” Omar promised. He clawed at the ground, obviously trying to get up, but failing.