In This Skin (39 page)

    

    Benedict West ran hard. The man who had rescued him was none other than Nathaniel Lockram, the son of old Benjamin Lockram. Here, running effortlessly on big muscular hands instead of feet, was the adult of the baby who'd been abducted all those years ago.

    Benedict perspired. His throat narrowed from the exertion of the chase.

    Breathing grew harder and harder. His heart pounded. What's more, running through the gray forest wasn't easy. The rug of fallen leaves was slippery. Knots of roots erupted from the ground to form sudden obstacles that he had to leap over. Here, branches hung so low that he had to stoop double to run beneath them. And then there were the Skinners. Yes, the Skinners. The nickname came easily enough when he thought how they'd peeled the guy alive. The Skinners followed at a full-blooded run, easily weaving around tree trunks, their eyes gleaming, no doubt lusting after Benedict's epidermic covering.

    ”I… I.. ”I can't run much farther were the words he was aiming to pant out to Nathaniel, only exhaustion robbed the air from his lungs.

    The big guy didn't appear to notice the broken start of Benedict's sentence. Instead he pointed to a screen of undergrowth.

    ”Go through there. Keep running forward. Don't stop for anything. Don't look back. Don't fall.”

    Jesus Christ. That's a tall order. It's all I can do to keep my footing on this slippery mush.

    On glancing back now, he saw that the Skinners were only fifty yards behind. And, boy, were they coming on strong. They'd got the hunter's fire in their hearts now. They would not stop until they had their fingers under his face, ripping… peeling…

    Benedict put his head down to charge through bushes into a clearing.

    Before he could even interpret what he saw, a block of mist standing in the clearing engulfed him. Cold and warm air currents moved the air in turbulent twists. Drizzly rain wet his face. There was a sense of the ground being dropped away beneath his feet, so like one of those cartoon characters sprinting over a cliff edge, suddenly his feet paddled air, not solid ground. Immediately his balance was shot. He felt himself stumbling. What's more, he could see nothing but pearl-white mist pouring against his face. Then his feet slammed against a surface. Not spongy, not uneven, but still slippery as hell. Arms flailing as he tried to regain his balance, he spun, fell butt first, then looked around. Absolute dark. He saw nothing. Heard nothing. And yet, he knew immediately where he was. The warm dry air bearing a smell of dust gave it away. The Luxor.

    ”Give me your hand.”Nathaniel's voice was evenly balanced. No sign of exertion.

    Benedict held up his hand and felt another close around his.

    ”Stand. I'll lead you.”

    As well as freaky feet, the guy had perfect night vision, too.

    ”Where are we going?”

    ”The apartment. I know your friends are there.”

    ”How do you know that?”

    ”We've been watching.”

    Benedict allowed himself to be led through absolute darkness that pressed with velvet softness against his eyes. ”I know something, too,”he said.

    ”Oh?”

    ”Your name is Nathaniel Lockram. Your father once owned this place.”

    ”You're right,”Nathaniel agreed. ”I have plenty to tell you, too…

    Careful of the door. We're moving into the lobby There, do you see?”

    Benedict saw. The security boards didn't quite cover the glass panels over the front entrance. Here and there, morning sunlight formed rods of gold that shone through cracks to illuminate areas of carpet or fragments of tomb paintings on walls. Benedict saw Nathaniel pause to look at the reproduction mummy painting, then raise his head to gaze at the eye of the sun god on the ceiling.

    ”What about those things following us?”Benedict regained his breath.

    ”They'll catch up soon enough.”

    ”No. I closed the doorway as soon as we passed through. They'll still be running in circles in the clearing and screaming at each other, wondering where we went.” He shrugged, then added, ”Like I say, they're not very bright.”

    ”But very dangerous?”

    ”Yes.”

    ”What if they reopen the doorway?”

    That they can't do.”

    ”I'll see if I can raise my friends.”Benedict walked to the door that led to the apartment. He knocked.

    ”Before I share information with you, perhaps there is something you can tell me…?”

    ”Benedict.”

    ”Benedict. I'm concerned for my friend. I haven't seen her in a while.”

    ”Oh?”

    ”You might have encountered her here.”

    The blood drained from Benedict's face as he realized what the man would say next.

    ”Benedict. I'm looking for a woman called Mariah Lee.”

    

    

    Logan had considered blasting the two men into the hereafter as they crossed the dance floor. Only when he fired next, he was keen that Ellery Hann would be the numero uno in his sights.

    The first he knew about the arrivals was a scuffling sound, as if one had fallen. He chose not to use the flashlight; instead he relied on a dim light that came from a source he couldn't identify Strangely though, there looked to be a mist on the dance floor that just for a second glowed with its own radiance. Then it had gone, returning the building to darkness. Logan couldn't see anymore, but he'd glimpsed enough. One big guy built like a pro wrestler along with his smaller amigo. Logan had recognized neither. Unless they were armed he didn't see that they posed a threat. And at that moment Logan had no fear of them using a cell phone to contact the cops. They were up to something freaky. No way were they going to bring the forces of law and order here.

    Soon those two, along with Eh-Eh-Ellery's buddies, would know the feel of red hot metal boring holes through their bodies. Logan kissed the barrel of the submachine gun, then settled down to wait some more.

    

    

    Opening the door to a man with blue-white skin, the same smooth shining texture of marble, and who stood close to seven foot and weighed perhaps in excess of two-fifty pounds, came as no surprise to Ellery. He'd seen him before. He'd even seen that his muscular legs, clad in denim, ended not in feet but hands. Ellery had believed he'd watched the man during an excursion into imagination, only now he knew differently. The man and the gray forest he, Ellery, called The Place, and the shining city on the hill were as real as the skyscrapers of Chicago.

    Benedict spoke softly, ”Don't worry Ellery. He's with me.”

    Ellery stood back to allow the giant to enter through the doorway ”Are-are you all right?” Ellery asked Benedict, seeing his clothes and face smeared with dirt and fragments of dead leaf.

    ”Fine. Nathaniel here got me away from some guys who were really bad guys.” Benedict nodded upstairs to the apartment. ”Are Robyn and Noel here?”

    Ellery nodded.

    Benedict rubbed his jaw, thinking hard. ”Nathaniel here is going to tell us something we need to know. I put the emphasis on need. He's also here to find Mariah. But before he goes upstairs, I have to reassure Noel, and make sure he stows the gun. The last thing we need is any more shooting.”

    For no reason that Ellery could determine, he shivered with that goose-that-walked-over-my-grave sensation. The last thing we need is any more shooting. Crows gathered on the roof. Foreboding cast long shadows inside his mind. Death stalked through the Luxor's dark heart. At that moment Ellery Hann sensed there would be more shooting. And dangers worse than they could possibly imagine.

    

    

    Robyn had seen enough visitors from The Place not to be fazed by Nathaniel. With the exception of hands for feet, he could have mingled easily in any gathering of gold-medal-winning athletes, while his face framed by soft curls of hair could be described as handsome by anyone's standards. Perhaps the only giveaway of his otherworldly origins would be the bluish tan of his skin.

    I have a monster in my kitchen, she thought. There is a monster sitting at my table.

    The thought didn't send her giggling insanely or gasping with shock.

    After tending to the injured girl with the red blossom mouth and being attacked by three creatures that had burst from the supernatural netherworld, this was… well, this appeared mild in comparison. Even Noel accepted the facts as they were. After being reassured by Benedict that Nathaniel was one of the good guys, Noel left the handgun in the bedroom and pulled up a chair to the table as if the big blue-white man was simply another houseguest.

    So here we are, she thought matter-of-factly. Sitting around the table with cake on the plates and coffee in the cups. First of all they introduced themselves, then they exchanged recent experiences: Robyn, Ellery and Noel being attacked on the dance floor by creatures that they now referred to as Skinners, after hearing of Benedict's encounter.

    With their surreal visitor accepting a glass of water, but politely declining food, they reached a point of psychological acceptance of the situation they found themselves plunged into.

    Robyn found herself asking Nathaniel the question that she guessed the other three had been thinking: ”In the last few hours so much has happened to us. On Sunday I learned I was pregnant, even though…” She felt a blush heat her cheeks. ”Even though Noel and I were careful and took precautions. The fetus inside me can't be much more than a fertilized egg, and yet over the last couple of days I felt something fluttering and moving inside of me. That happens months into pregnancy, not within a few hours of conception.”Nathaniel had been looking her in the eye, but he slipped his gaze away as she spoke, as if he couldn't bring himself to make eye contact. He knows something is going to happen to me, something connected with this weird pregnancy. Even though the revelation sent a flood of ice through her veins, she didn't allow herself to falter as she spoke. ”On discovering I was pregnant, I was forced, due to family circumstances, to find a new home. By instinct I was drawn to the Luxor with Noel. We wound up meeting Ellery who suggested we stay in this apartment. Poor Noel must have figured I was off my head. Only for me it seemed the most natural thing in the world to make my home here in this sixties throwback apartment, in a redundant dance floor, in the middle of nowhere. But of course I didn't know then that there were other forces here at work, did I?”Pausing only to note Nathaniel's nodded agreement, she surged on. ”We know from what Benedict told us after watching your father's video that the Luxor has exerted a compelling influence on men and women before. That on the dance floor there is a doorway to another world filled with m-” She stopped herself finishing the word. ”Filled with individuals who have been physically reworked by forces we don't understand.That
may be those same forces compel us to come to the Luxor?"

    ”And some of those individuals believe
that their real home lies through that doorway?" Benedict added. ”Beyond the
gray forest.”

    Robyn continued, ”So, what is happening here? What is this place-this city on a hill-some people think is their real home? Why is there something moving in my womb when it should only be a pinhead of cells? What happened to Mariah Lee to change her anatomy? Why do Ellery and I feel as if we can't leave this building? What's so special about it? How can Ellery's injuries heal so fast in the other place? Why are creatures leaping out from the supernatural doorway to attack us? Why Nathaniel, why?” She finished the questions in a rush, her heart beating hard.

    Calmly Nathaniel considered the outpouring of questions for a moment, then: ”Robyn. The answer to all those questions, and more, is…” He pointed a massive finger at her.

    ”Me?”

    ”You.” He nodded.

    Noel stirred, angry, wondering perhaps if Nathaniel planned some stunt.

    Robyn noticed Benedict leaned forward, listening hard, while Ellery nodded, too, as if that was the answer he'd expected. Outside, the morning sun shone bright, while more crows glided in to join their black-as-midnight comrades.

    Me? I'm. the answer. Robyn took a deep swallow of coffee. The fluttering started in her stomach again, as if butterflies beat their wings against the walls of her womb. There was a sense of tightness, too. Something in there was larger than before. A something that grew fast.

    

    

    ”Me?”Robyn Vincent held the coffee cup tightly. Her hand shook a little, raising concentric rings in the dark liquid. ”Me? How am I the answer to the questions I asked you?”

    Nathaniel brought his large soulful eyes to rest on hers. They were an intense electric blue.

    There are secrets there that involve me, she told herself. He's finding it difficult to broach them. He doesn't want to frighten me. But, dear God, what truth can be that frightening? ”There are worlds that run parallel to this one,”Nathaniel told them.

    ”In the past, different cultures had different names for them: Elysium, Valhalla, The Happy Hunting Ground, Hades, heaven, hell.”He spoke gently mingling the manner of a priest and schoolteacher. ”Christians believed that between heaven and hell there was a third place called purgatory.

    This is where the souls of the dead could be cleansed by suffering. That is to say if they suffered enough torment and pain, their sins would be erased. Then they would be free to continue to heaven.”

    Robyn made the link. ”You're saying the gray forest through the doorway is purgatory?”

    Nathaniel shrugged a muscular shoulder. ”I don't have the wisdom to make that pronouncement. But it is a kind of holding ground for people who are emotionally damaged in some way. They are prevented from passing to the city on the hill.”