Symphony of Blood, A Hank Mondale Supernatural Case (25 page)

The main floor had many lights on, and many windows to look through. There were several humans walking on the first floor, moving quickly about, some cleaning dinner plates while others carried boxes. None of them were of interest, at least for the time being. The second floor had a handful of lights on. Some of the windows were curtained, others were exposed. It didn’t sense activity there.

On the third floor, there was only one light on. The windows were curtained, closed about halfway, and the curtains were pink. It flapped its wings, and lifted off the ground ever so slightly. Then lost its strength and sunk quickly back down. It tried again, this time getting almost ten feet off the ground, before giving way, and allowing the ground to grab It.

Determination fueled It, and It made a third effort at flying up. The wings fluttered, then whipped, then flapped. Again, It lifted off the ground. As It felt its strength begin to give way once again, It leaned towards the wall, sinking its claws into the wood frame of the manmade tree. It scratched with its claws while flapping its wings the best It could, not letting go of the wall. It passed the second story, then reached the lit-up window on the third story.

It looked in through the half-shut, sheer, pink curtains. She was in there. Just her and her dog. Mackenzie lying on her belly on the bed, talking loudly into a speak disk, making loud joy-noises. The dog was nuzzled up under her chin.

Rage: the humanlike emotion was strong, almost impossible to contain.

The wings were flapping, but It couldn’t hold on. It felt itself slipping. It clawed at the edge of the window, trying to get a hold, but again, the ground seemed to pull at Its legs. It fought to hold the edge, scratching one last time, this time missing the edge and scraping the window instead. Then, It sank, at first quickly, but It spread its wings fully, no longer flapping them, instead using them like sails to slowly coast to the ground below.

Once down, It turned to look up. Mackenzie, head poking out the now-opened window looked down, and It looked back. Could she see it in the dark?

Neither said a word, and It quickly ran towards the lair.

* *

It reached the lair, but passed it by. It needed food not shelter. The tall stone walls quickly came upon It, and again It made a weak attempt at flying. It took off, but the ground’s pull was too strong. Resolve was stronger than the weakness of its body, and It scaled the wall with a combination of clawing and flapping.

Once at the top, It looked back. Its eyes, their senses heightened, could see much farther and clearer than before. Its focus was deliberate, and direct. Over the brush and straight through the treetops, It could see her room, the light still on. It would return. But first, It jumped off the wall, spread its wings, and landed softly on the ground below.

Through the brush and trees It marched, the pit of its stomach calling out for food. It felt weakness, but not like before. There was no desire to shed. The body now behaved quite differently. The rough outer shell shriveled and clung tighter to its bones, becoming denser and harder than ever before. But the flesh was also dryer than before.

It needed to eat. The body needed to be fed. The symphony needed to play.

Familiar lights came into focus up ahead: the blue lights of a sign that hung on the side of a silver manmade tree. The sounds of teenage humans filled the air.

It crept closer. The humans sat atop their wheeled boxes and put lit torches in their mouths. They talked loudly, blowing out smoke in their joy-noises. There were many of them, more than ten. It listened.

“Come on,” one male shouted. “I’m hungry.”

“Yeah,” called another. “Let’s go.”

Several of the young humans started towards the entrance to the silver manmade tree. Three stayed behind.

“You coming?” the loud male asked.

“In a minute.” A female responded. She stood over a male, and just behind the two of them stood another female.

The male stood hunched over with his hands on his knees.

“Are you okay,” the female asked, rubbing his back in a soft, circular motion as she spoke.

“Fine,” he grunted. “Go on. I’ll be in in a minute.”

The second female breathed sad-noises, then the first female turned around and faced her. “You can go if you want.”

“No. It’s okay. I’ll wait for you.”

The male’s throat sang out. His face turned red. He straightened himself up, then said, “You both go on. I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay. Feel better.”

“I’m fine.”

The two girls walked towards the silver tree, the one looking back, but not saying anything else.

The soft song of sustenance kept It company.

Once the girls were out of sight, the male crouched down behind a wheeled box, and his throat continued to sing a hoarse tune. Chunks of wetness flew from his mouth. It could smell the strong aroma of the boy’s last meal mixed with stomach juices.

It stepped out of the brush and onto the small strip of green, soft ground that separated the woods from the hard ground. It stepped down, onto the hard ground. The boy continued to gag and spit, the chunks now gone and only liquid spew from his mouth.

All was quiet, other than the boy and the symphony. It was hungry and weary but the song grew louder, fueling It on, urging It to satisfy the inner orchestra that had waited through countless days of cold to once again be nourished.

He huddled over, the flats of his feet on the ground with his knees almost touching his chin. He spit and rubbed his chin, groaning. Saying two words over and over:

“Never again.”

The song was no longer soft, no longer concerned about being heard. It rushed towards the boy.

“Never again. No more
Yager
.”

The symphony struck the man from behind; his balance already precarious, he fell immediately. It wrapped its tail around the male’s torso and constricted.

It heard noise. Humans leaving the silver tree and coming towards It. It rushed into the woods, dragging the boy by the tail.

“Did you see that?” a woman said.

“I think so,” replied a man.

“That was too big to be a raccoon.”

“Come on. Let’s go.”

Doors slammed and a wheeled box came to life and quickly left. It stayed deep in the brush, watching the red lights from the ass of the wheeled box as they faded. Then, It turned to the boy, whose face was already white from his illness, now was completely colorless. He wasn’t moving.

It opened the boy’s mouth, and launched itself inside. The taste was delicious; the song was glorious.

Power filled it. Its pores relaxed. Its tight skin loosened with vibrant moisture. For the first time since It awoke from its extended slumber, It felt good.

* *

It devoured what it could of the boy, but humans kept coming in and out of the manmade silver tree. So, It left the carcass by the nature trees, and spread its wings. This time, they lifted It off the ground instantly. Effortlessly, It was airborne. It rose high up, and flew fast. But It didn’t like the cool rush of wind It felt when It went too fast, so It slowed to coast gracefully back to the property, over the wall, landing softly in front of the small entrance to the lair. Using its claws, It widened the opening slightly, and poked its head in. All was safe in the lair. It covered the opening with fresh sticks and brush.

It flew up, and towards the long, manmade tree. The darkness would be leaving soon. The delightfully warm light from the sky would soon come.

The third floor looked dark. It sailed over to her window, and looked in. It could see nothing. It pushed up close to the glass, hovering, but couldn’t see in. Something was blocking its vision. But she was in there, It could smell her even through the tightly shut window.

It touched the window, then pushed it. A cold breeze tingled its wings. Suddenly, the temperature was dropping rapidly. Despite the meal and the energy It had stored up, the sudden coldness was very unsettling.

Had It arose too soon? It would have to retreat to the lair and wait out the cold spell there.

It flapped its wings and soared over the trees, then settled easily onto the ground.

Chapter Three

“Oh God!” she screamed, then dashed towards a hallway.

I followed her, and we bolted underneath the stairway. Marty turned towards us and I heard him yelp. I couldn’t help but look back, and I saw him reaching out towards me as something yanked him backwards: it was the creature’s tongue. He’d been lassoed like a hog at a rodeo and he was helpless as the creature sucked him back. Marty cried out, but all I could hear was a muffled grunt as the creature tightened its grip.

Mackenzie ran down the corridor, her pink sneakers seeming like roller blades, she moved so fast; I followed so closely behind I practically knocked them off her ankles. She threw open a door, then descended a flight of steps, two at a time. I slammed the door but didn’t slow to lock it.

The steps were plain, unfinished wood with no carpeting. Halfway down was a landing, then the stairway twisted and continued downward. I heard the door smash open above us. The creature didn’t use the knob, simply knocking it aside. The steps led us out inside a garage. Mackenzie hit a button on the wall and the garage door loudly began to open.

“Hurry!” she yelled, but she didn’t have to. She was hustling towards the driver’s side of a pink Jeep Wrangler with oversized wheels and no roof. I was leaping over the passenger’s side door before she even finished getting the word out of her mouth.

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” I yelled as the creature appeared at the bottom of the steps.

Apparently, I didn’t need to tell her anything either. The key was already in the ignition and the gas revving before I finished my first “Let’s go.” She gunned the engine then quickly had the Jeep in reverse. Before I could snap shut my seat belt, she had us out in the open air, then hit the remote control for the garage door and it was on its way down. For a spoiled brat, she was showing impressive poise under pressure.

She cut the steering wheel hard and the car fishtailed around, then she corrected and straightened out the wheel and the Jeep was facing in the right direction. She floored the gas pedal as I looked back to see the garage door settle to a close. I could see the creature through a row of square windows on the garage door, its big eyes glistening in the light, but it wasn’t coming after us.

“It’s not coming!” I yelled out.

She looked in the rearview mirror and said, “He will.”

“What do you mean, he will?”

“That’s my Symphony. I told you he’s very conservative. He doesn’t want to show himself when someone might see him.”

“Your Symphony?”

She shrugged.

“You also said he was five feet tall and very timid. That thing wasn’t very timid.”

“I don’t know what happened to him.”

“You don’t know?” My voice was cracking from the frustration.

“He’s different.”

We approached the edge of the property and she hit another remote control button that opened the front gates. I looked to the security hut, and it was empty.

“He left early today,” she said as she waited a few seconds for the gates to open fully.

“Lucky day for him.”

The wrought iron gates opened, and she accelerated onto the main road. The tires squealed, then we drove over a decorative boulder at the corner of her driveway, bouncing twice then coming roughly to a landing.

“Different, huh? I’ll say.”

“You believe me now, Hank Mondale?”

I didn’t know what to believe. But I know what I saw. “Yeah. I guess I do.”

“You believe me now, Hank Mondale!” she repeated, but her volume raised. Then she turned her head away from the road and yelled, “Well! Do you? Huh!”

I looked down at the digital speedometer and it was flipping rapidly somewhere above eighty miles per hour. The road was windy and narrow, and she was looking at me, not the road.

“I said I believe you!” The open air was blowing loudly. We had to speak up just to hear each other, but with the stress of the moment, we were both yelling well louder than necessary. “Would you look at the road…please!”

She finally looked back at the road, then pushed the engine even harder. We came to the parkway and she directed the Jeep onto the entrance ramp. We bounced up and down and the underbody of the car scraped the roadway. Mackenzie merged aggressively into traffic; a man in a gray minivan honked, but quickly backed away as we flew by on his right, then left him in the dust.

“Okay, what do we do? What do we do? Shit! What are we going to do?” The grace under pressure she showed earlier apparently was left behind along with her furry little dog.

“Just relax. We’re safe for now. It’s not chasing us.”

“Yes, but he will. He’ll find us.”

“Please relax.” I looked at the speedometer and it was fluttering in triple digits. “And slow down.”

She kept a heavy foot on the gas pedal and held the wheel with one hand while running the other hand through her hair. “My dog. My poor
pookie
.”

“Your dog will be fine. We’ve got bigger problems right now than your dog.”

A tear ran down her cheek. “He’s never been without his mommy before.”

“Mackenzie, please. Please slow down.”

She weaved between the two lanes of the parkway, passing slower cars so fast I could hardly make out their color. She shook her head back and forth.

“We’re fucked. We are so fucked, Hank.”

“Relax, Mackenzie. We need to think this out.”

“There’s nothing to think about. Symphony is going to find us and he is going to fucking kill us!”

“There must be somewhere to go where we’ll be safe.”

“There is nowhere to go. He can track us. He will track us. He will find us and he will kill us.” Then she took her eyes off the road again, without slowing down. “And don’t think you can leave me, Hank Mondale. Symphony will find you, too. He knows you saw him. He knows you know he exists. He will find you and he will kill you.” The lone tear that was in her eye was suddenly joined by others, and they ran down her cheeks, dragging black mascara down with them. “And he’ll kill me, too.”

I looked ahead and saw the rear bumper of a giant SUV approaching. Mackenzie was sulking, hand rubbing her temples.

“Mackenzie! Slow down!” My palms were so sweaty, I rubbed them on my pants. I looked at her, then the road, then back at her. She wasn’t paying attention. We were gaining ground on the SUV, about to kiss its rear end. “Mackenzie! Slow down!”

She looked up and swerved into the left lane, then around the SUV, then back to the right lane. The tires squealed with misery and the smell of rubber stung my nostrils.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Mackenzie. Slow down.” I clenched my teeth and fists simultaneously.

“What’s the goddamn difference! We’re dead anyway.”

“Enough. Slow down.”

“Fine!”

She slammed the brake pedal with both feet while looking at me with a devilish smile that reminded me she’d never had a real problem in her entire life. The Jeep shrieked to a stop. The SUV quickly came upon us and swerved.

“Stupid bitch!” the guy yelled as his truck cut off an old Ford whose driver was minding his own business in the left lane.

The driver of the old Ford slowed and looked at us with wide eyes. Mackenzie shot a nasty look back at him, and he shook his head then continued on.

We came to a complete stop in the right lane of the parkway. Traffic shot by, some without slowing, others slowed and honked and shouted obscenities. Mackenzie sat still, both arms on the steering wheel at ‘ten and two’ position. She looked straight ahead.

“Mackenzie?” I asked, my tone soft and somber as if we were in church, in spite of the racket from the cars scrambling to get around us. “Put on the hazard lights.”

She blinked and took a deep breath. “What?”

“The hazard lights. I don’t want to get hit.”

She nodded. “Yeah. Okay.” She reached towards the dashboard and pushed the small red button for the blinkers.

“How about if I drive?”

“Asshole!” came a shout from a passing motorist. We didn’t look over to acknowledge him.

That sinister smile returned to her face. Then she climbed out of her seat, hopped onto my lap and said, “Sure, Hank. You drive.”

“Okay. If you’d get off me, I’ll drive.”

Mackenzie grinded her ass into my groin and began lightly rocking back and forth. I couldn’t help but notice what a great ass it was.

“Please, Mackenzie. Would you let me get up.”

She leaned backwards and the smile disappeared. In my ear I heard her whisper, “I’m scared, Hank. Please protect me.”

I patted her shoulder with about as much emotion as my fifth grade science teacher used to describe Darwin’s theory. It was crucial to maintain a business relationship, and keep my senses sharp. She wasn’t making it easy.

“It will be okay. Don’t worry.”

“Symphony is going to kill us, Hank. I know it.” She brushed her cheek against mine as she turned her head. It was soft and wet. She smelled good. She pushed her face into my chest and the wetness sunk through. She wasn’t bawling, just sniffling and tearing.

Another car honked, and I shook her off.

“Let me get up.” I twisted my body and she rolled off me. I climbed over the gearshift and sat down in the driver’s side, then flipped off the hazard lights and put the Jeep in gear.

* *

We drove in silence for about half an hour, heading south, towards the city, but with no real destination. She tried to call her father on her cell phone a few times, but got no answer; other than that, she hardly moved. I kept the speedometer steady at fifty-five and it was a good thing too, as we passed not one but two New York State Troopers, tucked in neatly behind the pine trees.

Someone had to break the silence. When I looked over her way, she seemed dazed. She was staring out the side of the Jeep, a whipping wind blowing her shoulder length hair around wildly. I guess she was thinking. I was too. But I was tired of thinking. I needed a plan.

“Where should we go?” I asked.

“Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters.”

“Symphony can find us. He can find us anywhere.”

“Then maybe we should get far away.”

“It took him weeks to find me after he’d first seen me. But he did. He found me, alright.”

“When did he first see you?”

“At a fair in Queens. That’s where I saw him kill Bobby.”

“You saw him kill Bobby?”

“Yeah. That’s why he came for me. And that’s why he’ll come for us.”

“Why didn’t you say anything when he killed Bobby?”

“Like what? And to who?”

“The cops, I guess.” We laughed together, the punch drunk laugh of futility.

“Yeah, right. Excuse me, officer, this monster just ate my boyfriend.”

“I guess that would have been a tough sell.”

“They’d lock me up like a mental patient.”

“Yeah, they probably would.” I looked in the rearview mirror, half expecting to see the creature gaining ground on us. Instead, I just saw cars and the trees passing by on the side of the roadway. “But you told your father.”

“Eventually. Yeah, I did.”

“What do you mean, eventually?”

“It doesn’t matter now.”

“It does to me. I need to know what we’re dealing with. That…that thing is after you. I saw it too. I heard it. It is after
you!
Not me. Not the world. You. It said your name. It chased you.”

“I told you. It knows that I know it exists. If humans know it exists, then it’s in danger. Symphony knows that.”

“You’re not telling me everything, Mackenzie. I am a detective, you know.”

“Whatever.”

I looked at her sideways. There wasn’t any point in pressing her now. It was more important to find a safe place to hole up for a bit while I figured out a plan.

“Do you know somewhere that we can go?” I asked.

“How about your place?”

“I don’t think so. There are going to be people looking for us. They are going to want explanations. People are dead, Mackenzie.”

“Poor Wes, and Marty. Oh God, and Horace too.”

“Yes, they’re all dead. In your father’s house.”

“Oh, God. My dad.” She tried his cell phone again. “He’s not answering. Oh, shit. I hope he’s okay.”

“Your dad is resourceful. I’ll bet he’s fine.”

“You’re just saying that. You can’t be sure. Symphony may have gotten him.”

I tried to stay positive. “I’ll bet he’s fine.”

“I have to try again.” She tried again, and got no answer again. Then, she turned towards me and said, “I know a place we can go.”

“Really?”

“We’d be safe there, at least for a while.”

“Good. A while is all we can ask for right now.”

“Okay. Keep going south.”