Dark Knight of the Skye (10 page)

“I’m gonna go see what I can’t find. Alasdair told me it was useless to try to get out of here, but I have to check it out for myself. I’ll find you something to eat if there’s anything around.”

“He has the lower levels locked down and there are humans that work for him who watch his day-rest from the upper level. You must do as he says, or he will make you pay for your deeds,” Tabitha explained.

“He bought me from my clan more than thirty years ago. At the time, it was the hardest thing that I had ever dealt with. I was put on a chain and treated like this ever since.”

“I have friends that have been trying to stop him for some time, Tabitha. I won’t leave you here if you’re willing to get out of this place,” D`nae said, gripping the bars of the cage.

“I have no other place to go; besides, he would not stop until he found us.”

“I don’t care what happens, he can hunt till the cows come home, but you’re coming with me. I have a place we can go to, and the person there will help protect us from the likes of him.”

“Why? Why would you do this for someone that you don’t even know?” Tabitha asked coming closer, placing her hands next to D`nae’s on the bars.

“Because this is bullshit, and we girls have to stick together. We all need a person we can depend on, sweetie, and I know that if things were different, you would do the same for me. Now, I’m going to go, but I’ll be back soon.”

Tabitha put her hand on top of D`nae’s, smiling for the first time and it was beautiful. D`nae smiled back and patted her hand before standing to exit the room. She looked out and turned quickly to look at Tabitha’s cage, knowing she had to find a way to get not only herself out, but also the woman-beast who had initially scared the life out of her, to a safe place where Alasdair could never harm her again. She knew what was at the bottom of the stairs so she took the ones that led up, in hopes of finding fresh water and maybe some food for Tabitha, the whole while looking for an escape.

The top landing opened up to a long hall that had several closed doors and one double wide one that appeared to lead up another short flight of stairs which ended at a metal door adorned with a huge padlock. She took to the right first, but all the doors were locked, so she went back to the left. The first door she tried was open and the room held four coffins that could only be what she figured was the day-resting place of Michael, Ramous, and the other two that would no longer need it.

* * *

His eyes flew open as soon as the sun set in Scotland, and the sound of rage tore its way from his throat. Danny knew that D`nae had been marked by another of his kind. The fire that burned inside his body was overwhelming and the pain that shot through his heart, knowing she had been touched by another, was unbearable. He sat up on the side of his dungeon bed, resting his head in his hands, wondering how he would make the trip back to the states… back to the only reason that he survived.

“Ah’ll ne’re let ye doon agin, me luv,” he said, fighting back the tears that were forming in his eyes. “Nithin wull stop me fae findin ye.”

He stood and started pacing the stone floor, doing his best to think of a way to get back to the U.S. in his new condition. “Tae hell wi’ it,” he said and picked up his black leather jacket, heading for the stairs. Once his eyes saw the night stars, his body leapt into the air and in no time at all, he stood outside the airport terminal in Scotland.

He stayed his distance from the crowd, knowing his very appearance would set the place into a frenzy of looks and questions that would eventually bring a nosy officer his way. Something going around the building on a carrying cart did take his interest from the growing crowd to a possible means of travel; it was the remaining normality of his thoughts that made him cringe at the visions that were floating around in his head.

The crate carrying the casket looked long enough for his build and the markings on the crate said it was headed for the states, but what lay inside was the thing that was getting to him the most. Questions popped in and out of his mind, like how big the body would be and how bad of shape it might be in, knowing the whole time he would be stuck laying on top of whoever occupied the space for several hours, many of which he would lie awake, at least until the plane took flight. He slipped into the loading dock when the workers left for their break and broke open the casket seal.

He closed the lid after peeking inside, then looked to the heavens and said out loud, “Cud ye no be fur givin a wee bit of a break here.” The body inside was the remains of an old withered man that looked like he had died weeks before his body had been found. He slowly opened it back up, shaking his head in disbelief. “Fit? Tis gaun tae be a much langer flight fur meself. Yer deid an wull ne’er ken a thin.” He climbed in on top of the very mushy corpse, and vampire or not, the stench was enough to make Danny gag several times. At one point, when he was getting himself in a position that might be somewhat comfortable, his hand went right through the old man’s chest. Before he could make so much as a complaint, he heard the heavy doors that led back into the loading area swing open, so he placed his face next to the corpse and closed his eyes, becoming as still as the dead man beneath him.

Hours past with Danny stuck in the same position before he heard the loud sounds of the jet motors come to life. The flight would be a long one, but at least he could sit in the cargo area throughout the night hours. He pushed his back against the inside of the casket to open it, but the thing wouldn’t budge. He now had both hands full of the remains of his new companion, trying his best to get the lid to pop open. With each force of his strength, the body beneath him became more disfigured and still Danny stayed trapped in the gruesome encasement.

It was black as coal in the unmovable space and nowhere near enough room for him to turn to his back without sliding the remains up against one side, smearing even more of the putrid gore over his upper body. He held himself up until his teeth clenched and his arms trembled, but soon after, turbulence made the choice for him. Danny rolled to his side pushing one hand down the front of his own chest over and over, trying to remove what had burst out of the man’s suit, when he was bounced into what he now considered the fruits of his labor, only making it worse by rubbing it in, he just closed his eyes.

The flight was long and being in the position that he was, he had plenty of time to think on what he had done in the past years, the years of walking through the dark side, taking life like it was a gift given just to him. Now understanding that he, too, could have been nothing more than a rotting corpse, it also brought to light that he had placed death in a box and this was his justice. How could he place someone to rot when he was no God, but simply a creature not of his choosing?

“Dae ye thin it wud be tae late tae say Ah’m sorry Lord?” he paused trying to remember how to pray. “Ah dinnae ken, Faither, why Ah am fit Ah am, an Ah wisnae planin on this tae be me life. Ah ne’re should hae done tae thin’s Ah did, but somethin cam ore me that Ah cud nae control. Ah wull be askin for yer forgiveness. Noo, Ah wud nae blame ye, Lord, but Ah’ll only tak fit Ah’ll be needin tae survive, ye hae me word.” Danny’s thought went to the first backpacker that he took the life from, remembering the cries of despair and pleads for mercy. “Ah deserve tae be deid fur fit Ah’ve done Lord, an Ah dinnae ken how Ah cud even hae ask fur yer understandin, but me lassie needs ye mair then err. In yer Son’s Name.”

Danny laid there with nothing more to do but think about his past, wonder where his beloved was and who had marked her. He knew it had to be done by a powerful force, because he knew their love was far too strong for D`nae to betray him. He also thought on what it would be like to come face to face with another of his kind. If the beast had not placed harm on his woman, he may have had a chance to learn more about the new creature that he had become. Now all that he wanted to do was find her and take the head of the one who laid claim to her. In his eyes, it would be no sin to kill one like himself, for he knew he was already dead to the world that lived and breathed as he once did.

Danny fell into darkness with many thoughts running through his mind as the sun made its appearance while the plane made its way into the view of the good ole USA. The crate carrying the coffin was placed on another plane in New York and sent to a small town in Idaho. It was close to sundown when the mortician found his way down into the basement of the mortuary where the casket had been placed, waiting for its final preparations. The mortician was a bald man in his late sixties, with a good sized pot belly covered by a white plastic apron. He was standing by the sink when Danny thrust the casket lid open so hard that the top broke off completely. Neither was more shocked than the other; Danny thinking he was in a loading dock somewhere, figuring by the silence that the coast was clear, and the poor mortician thinking he was just going to check over a clients body, like he had done for over thirty five years.

Both were frozen, Danny still on top of the old man in the casket and the mortician standing with his mouth slightly moving like he was trying to make sound but nothing was coming out. “Wud ye mind if Ah get oot?” Danny asked.

“Well… well… not at all, son. Is Mr. Johnson in there with you?” he asked in a shaky voice.

“Aboot that, he’ll be in yer box alright, but aw Ah can say is he’s a wee on the awfu side,” Danny explained, jumping down from his morbid prison.

“Yeah, I heard they found him in pretty bad shape. What on God’s green earth are you doing in there with him, son?”

“Tis a long story, an Ah hae tae be aff.”

Danny stepped over to the morticians sink and washed his hands. He looked over at the man who was turning a little pale, and decided to keep the unexplainable to himself. He reached over for a paper towel, and the mortician dropped like a rock. Danny looked down, shaking his head. He stepped over the unconscious man and headed up the steps to the main floor of the funeral home. He walked in the first room and turned on the light, finding a room filled with flowers of just about every type and one silver coffin, right in the middle of the far back wall. Out of pure curiosity, he stepped up and opened the lid.

“Yer a wee bit of bonnie comparing ye to me last look-see.”

He closed the lid, snickering at his own statement as he walked out, deciding to go up to the second story, where he figured he would have better luck finding at least a clean shirt. He was halfway up the stairs when he heard a woman humming a tune he didn’t know, but found pleasure in. It had reminded him of the way his mother used to hum when she was doing chores around the house, only this was not his Mum, nor was this his house. He was about to turn and go back down the stairs when he heard the sound of water splashing, stopping him and changing his mind altogether.

He used the gifts that came with the enormous change to glide across the hallway. He listened at the door that was slightly ajar to make sure the woman was still in the tub. He looked across the room and saw another bedroom and with silent speed, disappeared inside, closing the door behind him. He found what he was looking for in the closet and started taking off his stiff saturated coat, dropping it to the floor. As he was unbuttoning his shirt, the woman walked in with towel wrapped around the center of her body.

Her gray curls trembled as her mouth dropped open to make a possible cry for help, only giving an inaudible gargle. The closer he got, the tighter she held the towel, until he towered over her short plump form. He gazed down in her eyes and immediately she began to relax. He placed his fingers to his mouth and gently eased out, “Shhh…” touching the side of her hair. Her body leaned back on the door facing and her face went blank of all emotion, as if he had wiped away not only her fears in that one touch, but any thought she might have had at all. He ripped the shirt open he was wearing and threw it across the room. He reached in the closet, pulling out a white button up and a black suit jacket, then dashed out of the room, down the stairs and out the front door.

* * *

D`nae searched every room, finding nothing in the way of escape, but she did find a refrigerator that had bottled water and some fresh fruit inside. It wasn’t much, only one orange and handful of grapes, and she figured it must have been the snack for one of Alasdair’s daytime helpers. She took the fruit and all the water she could carry, quickly making her way back to Tabitha. When she pushed the door open, Tabitha was crouched close to the back of the bars. When she saw D`nae, she moved to the bars, shaking her head.

“I cannot believe you came back.”

“If I say it, then I mean it,” she smiled, handing her the fresh cold bottled water. “I didn’t find us a way out, not yet. I don’t know what we’re going to do, but I won’t stop until we get out.”

“I will fight at your side, even to my death,” Tabitha replied reaching out, taking D`nae’s arm. “You have given me something that I haven’t had since I was a little girl.”