Wild Keepers

by Dee Bridgnorth

  Standing in front of him was Eric. An older version of him. Eric as he had always imagined he might look, if he had have lived long enough. The same green eyes, glittering like a cat’s. The same floppy brown hair that hung over his eyes. Only now, instead of torn jeans and leather jacket, this man wore a sharp business suit.

  “I don’t understand,” stammered Shay, staring at him.

  Eric’s smile widened. “Of course you don’t,” he said. “You thought that I was rotting in a casket in the ground all these years. It must be quite a shock.” He studied Shay carefully. “Unfortunately for you both, I am very much alive. Although not quite as I once was.”

  Shay looked at Tess, standing silently beside him. Her face mirrored his own confusion and disbelief. How had she found Eric? Or had he found her?

  “I will answer all your questions,” said Eric, as if reading his mind. “In time. For now, though, could you take off that stupid wig and fake beard? It’s very distracting, and it doesn’t suit you.”

  Shay automatically obeyed, tossing the disguise to the ground.

  “That’s better,” said Eric, smiling broadly.

  Shay could feel the growl rising in his chest, as he watched Eric calmly standing there beside Tess. The wolf was threatening to take over.

  “Don’t bother,” said Eric, calmly. “If you change, I will kill her instantly.” He revealed a gun that he was pressing into Tess’s side. “And I will kill your canine alter ego, as well.”

  Shay tried to suppress the growl. This was not the time to do it. He had no doubt that Eric was as good as his word, and he couldn’t risk Tess’s life. He would have to pick his moment, very carefully.

  Two guards suddenly descended into the room, walking over to Shay and securing him.

  “Are we ready?” said Eric, turning his head from Tess to Shay. “Good. I will give you the grand tour. Not the official one that my party guests get. No, you two are very lucky. You are both going to get the unofficial version. One that I save for those who I hold very dear to my heart.”

  He pushed Tess forward, into the room. “This way.”

  ***

  Eric led them both through the gallery, pausing to admire certain works.

  “Ah, Dali,” he said, sitting on one of the plush benches, in front of a painting. “I’m not usually a big fan of the surrealists, but this one is special, don’t you think? Like looking at the inside of a dream.”

  Shay stared at him. He could feel hatred coursing through him like poison, as well as millions of questions. It was hard to know exactly where to start.

  “Who died that night?” he said, abruptly. “Who is in that coffin?”

  Eric glanced at him. “No one. No one is in that coffin, and no one died that night. It was all a ruse, so that I could fall off the face of the earth and become reborn.”

  Shay swiftly inhaled. “Reborn as what? A demon?”

  Eric started laughing. “Why, yes, of course! The fire was a necessary conduit. I walked into the flames and was consumed, emerging as I am now. It confused the police, of course. One panicked and shot at me as soon as he saw what I had become.”

  Shay paled. “But why? How did they get to you?”

  Eric studied the painting for a minute then turned to Shay. “You must have noticed that I was changing in that last year?” He smiled. “You probably put it down to usual teenage rebellion. And at the start, it was. Until I was approached by a Vilgath, who showed me that I could tear down the world another way. A way that would allow me to live forever and have unlimited power.”

  Tess sobbed. “You put us through all that? You let us live with the guilt, and the shame, thinking that we had both deserted you and left you to die?”

  Eric’s green eyes flickered over her. “It was necessary,” he said. “Well, it wasn’t exactly necessary, but I needed fire, and the Grady house seemed as good as anything to burn to the ground.” He studied her. “I thought it would be a fun way to go out. Have a last night out with my best friend and a hot babe, before I left that life forever.”

  “How could you?” whispered Tess. “I…I…thought I loved you. I thought you died that night!”

  Eric grinned. “Puppy love, Tess,” he said slowly. “And you didn’t know me, anyway. You fell in love with a character, a rebel in a leather jacket who rode a motorcycle. And I wanted to be so much more.” He paused. “I needed to be so much more. And as you can see, I am living beyond my wildest dreams.”

  “By stealing the world’s masterpieces?” barked Shay. “How is that living beyond your wildest dreams?”

  Eric shrugged. “It’s fun.” He studied the Dali painting again. “Thinking that millions of people are staring at copies of these paintings in galleries around the world, assuming they are real. A massive hoax.” He started laughing. “The joke really is on humanity. So gullible. I am very glad that I decided to leave it when I did.”

  Shay’s eyes narrowed with loathing. “Yeah, a giant joke. Only you are the giant joke, Eric. A pathetic imposter who sacrificed his own soul and the people who cared about him most.” He took a deep breath. “You are beyond contempt.”

  Eric’s green eyes seemed to burn like embers as he stared at Shay.

  “You don’t get it, do you?” he hissed. “I don’t care about your good opinion, or hers. I don’t care about anyone’s opinion! I have power and wealth beyond your imagination. Who wouldn’t sacrifice my stupid human life for that? It must be something you understand, Shay. You aren’t fully human, either.”

  “No, I’m not,” Shay agreed. “But the part of me that isn’t human works for good, not evil. I protect humanity from demons like you. And I am going to destroy you, along with the rest of your kind.”

  Eric started laughing again. “You talk as if you are the one in control here. You are on my turf, Shay. And I am the one holding a gun to your precious Tess.” He pressed the gun into Tess’s side to emphasise his point. “So, I would be very careful about what you say.”

  He stood up, pulling roughly at Tess. “This is only part of my operation,” he said, smiling brilliantly. “I have so much more to show you!”

  He pushed Tess forward so that she stumbled. Shay growled again. The two guards pressed against him.

  Eric laughed. “This way, please. Time is ticking.”

  ***

  Eric led them through the bowels of the mansion, talking to them as if he were a tour guide in a museum. Shay felt as if he were in a nightmare. If he pinched himself, would he suddenly wake up, and all this gone?

  His best friend who had died violently years ago was suddenly alive. And had turned into a demon. A demon of unimaginable wealth and power, who had thought it would be fun to play with them both like pawns on a chessboard. For his own amusement. Just because he could. Shay felt like he had entered the world depicted in the Dali painting Eric had been so intent on in the art gallery.

  He had walked into a surreal parallel world, where nothing that he had thought was real actually was.

  They entered a small room, which was filled with computer monitors. Shay could see that they were monitoring the mansion. Some panned in on the party goers, still revelling upstairs. But there was also a line of monitors of other buildings, and rooms within them. Eric turned to them both, his face jubilant.

  “My empire,” he said, stretching out his arms. He turned to Tess. “Do you recognise your own studio, where you have been working so diligently on your masterpiece?”

  Tess nodded, her eyes narrowed. “I knew I was being observed, and that there were cameras everywhere. But not that it was you doing the observation, of course.”

  “Of course,” said Eric, beaming. “Did you like my little trick of leaving Mr. Gee’s laptop on the bench, with all that incriminating information about Shay? I knew you couldn’t resist it. You were like Pavlov’s dog, Tess. I just had to show you your doggie treat and you behaved accordingly. Classical conditioning always works.” He turned to Shay. “Same with you. The only unlocked
door and you couldn’t help yourself. The thrill of thinking that you were onto something blinded you.”

  Shay felt his fists tightening. “When did you discover who we were? Before or after you hired us for your operation?”

  “I thought you’d never ask,” said Eric, sitting in a seat in front of the monitors. “You were a surprise, Shay. But Tess was deliberate. As soon as my man Walker told me about you, Tess, I knew I had to get you on the team. It was just too delicious an opportunity to waste. In fact, I was so keen that I got Walker to pull you out of your training.”

  Tess paled. “I knew it! That was why Frank Walker was with you at the gallery tonight, and why he took me off the case as soon as I gave him that flash drive. He’s working for you.”

  Eric laughed. “Indeed he is. He runs the investigation into the art forgery, and always manages to foil it, so that I can keep operating. Walker gets paid very handsomely for it. But with Shay suddenly appearing, I couldn’t resist framing him.”

  “And keep operating as usual,” said Tess, her mouth twisting. “While Shay is rotting in a jail cell, you slowly keep running your business. By the time the FBI have worked out they have fallen for a patsy, it’s too late.”

  “If they ever figure it out,” said Eric, winking at her. “I have friends in very high places, Tess. Walker isn’t the only one. They are more than willing to turn a blind eye to my operation if they get their regular kickbacks. And with so many forged works out there, money is always rolling in.”

  “You are a megalomaniac,” hissed Shay. “One of the worst demons I have ever encountered. And I have met quite a few.”

  Eric swivelled in the chair, studying him. “You have worked hard all these years, Shay,” he said. “Trying to forget what happened. Battling demons, so that you could put it all behind you. The memory of that night. And the one that got away.” He laughed slowly. “You think I didn’t know that you were in love with her? That you’d always been in love with her? That was why I invited her that night. Oh, sure, I thought she was hot, and I wasn’t averse to a little action if I could get it. I was just a teenage boy, after all. But the main reason was to torture you.”

  Shay couldn’t move. He felt like he was rooted to the spot. Tess stared at him, her eyes wide.

  “Shay,” she whispered. “Is it true? That you’ve always loved me?”

  Shay couldn’t look at her. Of all the things that Eric had done—the deception, the betrayal, what he had turned into, and what he was doing to them now—this was the worst. To casually tell Tess of his love for her like it was a piece of trash to be thrown away. Just one more thing for him to play with.

  He had dreamed of the moment when he would finally tell her. He had tried to tell her before this, but the moment had never been right. And now, his love for her had been exposed in the worst possible circumstances. As an object of ridicule and pity.

  “What does it matter now?” he said, still staring at the wall. He couldn’t look at her. He didn’t want to see the pity in her eyes.

  Eric started laughing. “Oh, I’m sorry, did I spill the beans? Hadn’t you worked up the courage to tell her yet?” He doubled over, leaning against the counter. “I shouldn’t be surprised! You didn’t have the guts back then, and you don’t have the guts now. A man who lets his best friend make a move on the girl of his dreams and does nothing is hardly going to sweep her off her feet twelve years later.”

  “Stop it,” said Tess, her voice like a growl. “Just stop! Leave him alone!”

  Eric wiped the tears of mirth from his eyes. “So protective, Tess! You have turned into one tough cookie. A pity you are so boringly righteous. You could have been an asset to my team.”

  Shay turned to him, his eyes fierce. “You are the one who deserves pity,” he hissed. “A boy who had nothing to live for sells his soul to the highest bidder so that he can be a success. Because you didn’t have the skills or the qualities to ever make anything of yourself the normal way.”

  Eric glared at him. “I could have done all this if I had kept my humanity!”

  Shay laughed, tossing his head back. “You know that’s not true, Eric. That’s why you made your pact with the demons. You were going nowhere fast. You would have ended up in a jail cell somewhere or living your life as a petty thief dodging the law. Poor and miserable. And we know why you were like that, don’t we?”

  Eric kept glaring at him. “Don’t you dare.”

  “Really?” Shay’s gaze was contemptuous. “Can’t take it, Eric, even though you love dishing it out? How is your father, by the way? He acted like a regular guy at your funeral. Even shed a tear or two. I almost felt sorry for him, if I didn’t know what he had done to your mother.”

  Eric stood up, approaching Shay. His eyes were glittering, and his face pale. “Don’t ever talk about my father.”

  Shay turned to Tess. “His father was a drunk. He used to beat up on his mother, making sure that no one knew. A pillar of the community to everyone else. Except Eric, of course, who witnessed it. And told me.” He turned back to Eric. “That’s why he was running bad and in trouble with the police. And why he was ripe pickings for the Vilgath.”

  Eric snarled. “You think you’re clever, Shay? Think that you will hit my soft spot, talking about all this? How mistaken you are. I don’t have any soft spots, anymore. None. That’s the beauty of becoming a demon—you don’t have all that crap swirling through your brain anymore. No more confusion. No more doubt. Just intention.”

  Shay stared at him. “No? Then tell me why your eyes softened just for a moment when you thought about your mother?”

  “Enough!” Eric bellowed. He turned to the guards, standing at the door. “Take them. The tour is over.” He took a deep breath and smiled. “I have guests to attend to, after all. The party is beckoning. I really shouldn’t be a poor host and keep them waiting.”

  The guards grabbed Shay and Tess, pushing them towards the door.

  “You won’t get away with this,” hissed Tess, glaring at him. “I promise you.”

  Eric gazed at her. His mask of composure was back in place. “It seems I already have,” he said. “You’ve put up a good fight, Tess. But no one is coming to save you both. Even if you managed to get information to the FBI, Walker is in my corner. And you have gone rogue, anyway. You are officially off the case.”

  “We’ll find a way,” spat Shay. “This isn’t the end.”

  Eric chuckled. “It is most definitely the end, my friend,” he said. “Although how that will occur I am yet to decide. Swiftly or slowly? And don’t forget Shay that you are still number one suspect.” He paused, gazing at them both. “I might yet deliver you like a sacrificial lamb to them. And then you will have a lifetime of torment behind bars.”

  Tess’s eyes were full of contempt. “You know, you are pathetic. Still hanging onto your past and trying to frame us. What did we ever do to you, Eric, but try to be your friends?”

  “I have no friends,” intoned Eric, gazing at her. “I never did. And the past is ashes like that old house. Take them away.”

  The guards pushed them through the doorway. Eric watched them leave then walked back to the chair in front of the monitors. He sat down. For five minutes, he stared at the cameras without seeing anything. Then he slowly reached into his jacket pocket and took out a leather wallet. He flipped it open, staring at an old photo of a smiling woman holding a toddler, for a moment.

  He threw it across the room. For five minutes he glowered. Then he stood up, picking it up slowly. He stared down at the photo tenderly. She was his Achilles heel, and he knew it.

  ***

  The guards led them to another room under the house. Several cells led off a hallway. They pushed Tess into one first, then Shay into another next to her, locking them securely. Then they left.

  Tess leaned wearily against the wall of the cell. “Shay, can you hear me?”

  There was silence for a minute. “Yes,” he said. His voice was slightly muffled, but she cou
ld hear him.

  “What are we going to do?” Her voice was threaded with pain.

  She heard him sigh. “I’ll think of something. I’m just still trying to deal with everything that’s happened.” A pause. “It’s kind of thrown me, but I’ll get it together soon.”

  The wall was cold against her face. “I know,” she said. “It’s almost too much, isn’t it? Seeing him. Realising that he never died, and that he is behind all this.” She took a deep breath. “I can’t believe how much he hates us.”

  There was a laugh on the other side of the wall, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “He’s a demon, Tess. All his humanity has been lost. To him we are just playthings. Whatever feelings he once had for us are long gone.”

  Tess tried to suppress a sob. “I never knew about his family. I never suspected. They seemed so normal.”

  There was silence for a minute. “I never told anyone,” he said. “Eric begged me not to, and then after he died, there seemed little point. But it all makes sense now—why he was so rebellious, and why he was vulnerable to the Vilgath. They seemed to offer him a way out of it all. A chance at life, when he had none.”

  Tess sighed. “I could almost feel sorry for him if he wasn’t such an evil bastard.”

  Shay laughed. “Yeah. I felt sorry for him back then. It was why I went along with him, even though I could see he was in trouble. I was trying to protect him from himself.” A pause. “Not that it did any good.”

  Tess stared around the cell. It was an empty grey space with nothing in it, not even a bed to crawl into. She fought back a wave of hopelessness. How were they going to get out of here? The place was built like Fort Knox. And even if they managed it, they would be on the run. There wasn’t even the possibility of taking their evidence to the FBI anymore. Walker was a part of it. And for all she knew, Paul Hopkins probably was, as well.

  “How did you get here?” she said, suddenly. “How did you know where to go?”

  He chuckled. “You’re not the only one working this case,” he said. “After you disappeared a woman I’d been speaking to at the gallery asked me to come to this party. She said it was hosted by Atsere. I thought that the guy you were following was probably coming here, so I accepted.”