Kissing Trouble (39 page)

Julie’s insides went cold.

The figure roared like a cornered animal and lunged for her.

W
ith a scream that seemed to tear from somewhere deep in the center of her very being, Julie shot back. The light in her hand fell. It hit the ground with a noisy clatter that went unnoticed, even when the beam flickered and died, casting her into absolute darkness.

She grabbed the bat with both hands and swung blindly. It connected with something, but when there was no sound of pain, she realized she’d hit a row of boxes.

Struggling with the panic welling up inside her, Julie blindly threw herself back the way she’d come. The figure charged after her like a bull through a china shop, knocking aside boxes, and plunging blindly on her heels. There was a thud, a loud, snarling grunt and then scuffling.

Julie didn’t wait to see what happened. She took the steps two at a time, hand still fisted tightly around her bat. Somewhere below, a snarl ripped through her heavy breathing. More boxes hit the ground.

Julie fell into the laundry room. Her hip and side took most of the blow, but the pain was fleeting. She barely felt it as she scrambled the rest of the way in. Her bat rolled out of her hands, but she left it as she twisted around and kicked the door shut behind her. Half sobbing and half panting, she crab-crawled backwards, away from the flimsy bit of wood standing between her and the knife wielding maniac below.

Limbs numb and barely in control, she pushed to her feet and ran into the kitchen. She grabbed a chair from the table and hauled it back. The headrest slid perfectly under the knob and the back feet caught the grooves cut in between each square piece of laminate.

It wouldn’t hold him forever, but it would hold him for a while.

Snatching up her bat, she hurried out of the tiny room and closed the door behind her as an extra obstacle. For a moment, she stood in the dark hallway, surrounded by the howls of wind and crashes of lightening feeling shaken and sick.

Her momentary feeling of triumph was shattered when a scuffle had her entire body going rigid all over again. Her head snapped in the direction of the sound. The grip on her bat tightened.

The shuffle continued, getting closer. Then there was a grunt, the heavy thud of a body hitting the ground, and a low groan. It took all her willpower not to call out. She did, however, inch towards the kitchen; if she could get to the terrace doors, maybe she could make a run for it, get help.

“Hello?” The voice was low, weak, and full of tremors. It froze Julie to the floor. “Mason? Julie?”

It was Luis. He gripped the railings on the stairs and hauled himself to his feet. There was something long jutting from the side of his head.

“Luis?”

She heard his sharp intake of breath. “Julie?”

She hurried towards him. “Oh my God, Luis! Are you okay?”

The bar was his arm and he was holding a blood soaked rag to his brow, which, even in the darkness, glistened where a deep gash had been opened from hairline to cheek.

“What happened?” she demanded, taking his arm and helping him into the kitchen.

“Shaun...” A sound between a wheeze and a sob escaped him as she eased him onto a stool. “He ... there’s something wrong with him. He attacked me.”

Leaving him there, Julie set her bat down on the counter, grabbed a clean dish cloth, and dampened it in the tap. She returned to him and replaced his rag with hers. He hissed and jerked, but didn’t pull away.

“What do you mean he attacked you? I thought you guys were going to get help.”

“I don’t know what happened. I remember us leaving and walking up the road ... then everything went black. I woke up in the garage. Shaun was holding a knife and ... and there was blood dripping off it, and him. He was covered.” Luis shuddered, his voice wavered. “I ... I asked him what he was doing, but he came at me, screaming. I hit him with something ... I think it was a car jack, or something. I don’t remember. Then I ran. I came here and couldn’t find anyone. I was upstairs when I heard a bang. I thought at first it was Shaun, coming back to finish the job, but ... well, it was you.”

Applying a bit more pressure to his wounds, Julie shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would Shaun—”

“I told you I thought something was off with him,” Luis hissed, keeping his voice low.

“No, this doesn’t add up...”

“Where’s Mason?” Luis asked, interrupting her.

“I don’t know!” she cried. “He was here, in the kitchen, looking for a weapon. I went upstairs and when I came back, Mason was gone, the backdoors were open and there...” She broke off when realization suddenly struck her. “Shaun’s in the basement.”

Luis stiffened. “What?”

Julie wet her lips. “There’s someone in the basement. They have a knife.”

“Shaun!” The single name was choked with fear.

A cold tremor passed through Julie. “Do you think he did something to Mason?”

“Oh God!” Luis doubled over wheezing. “Oh God! Oh God!”

Realizing he would be no help, Julie took hold of his wrist. She brought his hand to the cloth staunching the flow of blood running down his face and stepped back.

“I’m going to find Mason,” she said. “He has to be here somewhere.”

Luis rocked his head morbidly from side to side. “He’s dead. Shaun killed him.”

“Stop it!” she snapped. “He’s not dead. He’s here somewhere.”

Luis continued to moan and sniffle. She left him there as she grabbed her bat and set off. But no sooner had she reached the laundry room when Luis staggered after her, looking ashen and scared enough to faint.

“I don’t ... I don’t think you should go alone,” he explained shakily. “Isn’t there a rule about ... about that? Don’t split up?”

Saying nothing to that, she pulled in a breath and reached for the chair. It took some doing to maneuver the thing out with Luis right behind her and about two feet of space, but Luis dragged the chair out and left it in the hallway. Then there was nothing between them and the threat, except a door.

Silence echoed on the other side, which only heightened the terror coursing through her like ice water. Part of her wondered why Shaun hadn’t followed her up. What game was he playing? The gash on Luis’s face said a dangerous one.

Taking hold of the doorknob, she inched the door open and peered down at the thick darkness below. A frosty draft wafted up, laced with the sour stench she now recognized as blood, and slammed into her. She hissed and gritted her teeth.

“Maybe we shouldn’t...” Luis whispered.

Julie ignored him. She started downward, placing each foot gingerly on the steps. Not that it mattered. Luis stumbled down after her like a pack of elephants. She had half a mind to tell him to go back, to wait for her in the laundry room, but she knew he wouldn’t. For which she was glad. Without her light, the basement was the absolute definition of black. It was vast, cold, and silent. They walked into several boxes and furniture before they reached the spot she had last seen Shaun.

It was silent now. No groaning or shuffling. But the rain was louder. The moldy air was colder and swirling. She followed the draft to the open hatch at the very back of the room facing the side of the house.

“Mason said this was boarded up,” she mumbled to herself.

“Not anymore,” Luis croaked.

“We have to get back upstairs.”

The harsh grind of steel skating over stone ricocheted from somewhere behind her a split second before something struck the side of her head and everything pitched to black.

T
he world was buzzing when the veil of darkness finally lifted. A dull throbbing resonated somewhere along her skull and down the back of her neck. It made her muscles scream in protested when Julie tried to sit up. She hissed as bright splotches of light flickered through the darkness. Her stomach roiled. She raised a hand to touch the egg-sized bump protruding from the side of her head. Even without being able to see, she could feel the slick sensation of blood on her fingers. Her hair was matted with it.

Don’t panic,
she willed herself as she blinked, momentarily terrified that she’d gone blind when all she could see was black.

“Julie?” Someone shuffled closer. Firm hands tucked around her shoulders and eased her up against the wall. “Are you okay?”

She tried to generate spit to speak. Her mouth was filled with cotton and tasted like she’d been licking a dirty carpet. She whined and closed her eyes.

“Take it easy,” he told her. “He hit you pretty hard.”

He?
Then she remembered. Shaun.

She struggled out of hold cradling her. “Where—”

“Easy!” Luis stressed. “You’re safe. I got us out of there.”

“What...?” She squinted, trying to make out where they were exactly, but all she could hear was the rain above them and the smell of ocean. “Where are we?”

“Your room,” Luis said. “It’s the only room with a lock.”

She heaved herself a little higher and grimaced at having to jostle her stiffened joints. “Why am I on the floor?”

“Uh, well...” He faltered. “This is as far as I could carry you.”

She let it go.

“What happened?”

She felt him position himself down next to her with his back to the wall and his shoulder and hip brushing hers.

“He got the jump on us,” Luis explained. “I don’t remember it all very well. It all happened so fast.”

“Mason?”

She felt the jerk of his shoulder. “I don’t know.”

Woozy, she let her head fall back against the coolness of the wall, only to further agitate the lump there. She jerked forward once more.

“We can’t stay here,” she mumbled. “We need to get help.”

Luis was quiet for a moment. “I could go to the neighbor’s.”

Julie shook her head. “We’ll both go.”

“You should stay here,” he advised. “You just got hit in the head. You probably have a concussion.”

“I need to help Mason,” she said sharply. “Besides, there’s no guarantee he won’t be able to get in. I’ll be a sitting duck.”

With his help, she got to her feet. The room swam dangerously and she swayed into Luis, who nearly buckled under her weight. She shut her eyes as her stomach lurched and the bitter tang of bile flooded her mouth.

“Okay?”

She waited a beat to make certain her legs could support her before giving him a nod he couldn’t possibly see. “Yes.”

Luis took the lead. He led the way downstairs and the double doors standing open to the stormy night.

“Did you...?”

“No.” Luis’ grip on her arm tightened. “He’s in the house.”

“Or he’s outside.”

“We need to hurry.”

She made no argument to that. They hurried to the door. The rain hit their faces, soaked their clothes. Their feet slipped on the porch steps. Then...

“Hey!”

The silhouette was unmistakable. Shaun, hulking, stained with blood and wielding a knife loomed in the hallway behind them. His face was obscured by shadows, but his eyes gleamed like quarters at the bottom of a dark well.

“You’re not going anywhere,” he growled.

There was a slur to his voice and when he took a step forward, it was unsteady.

“Julie, run!” Luis shoved her, knocking her off the steps and into the rain.

The pavement rose up to meet her and tore through her jeans to rip skin. Her hip splintered with pain and she heard the sickening crack of bone where her left arm cushioned her weight.

Julie cried out as hot sickles of fire snapped at the tendons of her numb arm. Her fingers locked into claws, unwilling to move as she twisted onto her back and cradled her injuries to her chest. Rain stabbed her face, blinding her as she willed herself not to throw up.

Somewhere through the agonizing pain, she heard a roar puncture through the air. Someone screamed and then two figures flew off the porch. They landed with a nauseating crash a mere five feet from her in a tangled heap of flailing limbs.

Julie heaved her throbbing frame up and staggered with the effort. Her head swam dangerously and she momentarily saw double before she blinked and everything came back into focus.

Shaun was on top, straddling Luis who had a hold of Shaun’s wrist with both hands as the knife point hovered inches from Luis’s pale throat. Both had their teeth bared like a pair of wolves fighting for dominance.

“Get off him!” Julie screamed over the whistling wind and pounding rain.

Not allowing herself time to think, she threw herself onto Shaun’s back, wrapped her good arms around his throat and heaved back with all her might. Shaun never so much as budged. The muscles across his back bunched and rolled beneath her chest as he pushed harder to impale Luis on the blade.

“Shaun, stop!” she yelled into his ear. “What are you doing?”

He didn’t seem to be listening to her. All his focus was set on kill Luis. So Julie did the only thing she could think of, she gouged her thumbs into his eyes.

Shaun roared. He twisted his massive body, bucking for all he was worth until he threw Julie off. She landed in the dirt and he tumbled off Luis.

He seemed to sway under the attack as though that single act had zapped him of all his strength. He slumped on his forearms, breathing hard through the rain. His back shuddered like he couldn’t catch his breath. The knife lay forgotten inches from him.