Shades of Deception

by Piper Dow

  They parked the car on the cross street and watched the house for ten minutes. Nothing moved. A car sat at the side of the house, but David knew that it hadn’t been driven since the guys had trashed it the night they’d followed Sam home.

  “Give me a few minutes, I’ll see if there’s anyone inside,” David said, opening the car door before Mark could object.

  There was no point in staking out the house if there was no one home, and David would rather use the time finding Kelly rather than watching an empty house. He strolled down the street toward the house, nodding his head as though to music in his head as he glanced at other houses on the road. It looked like there were a few kids in the backyard in the house at the end of the street, but he couldn’t see anyone in the yards or windows of the homes closer to the Griffin’s house. He chanced a glance behind him toward Mark in the car, then walked up the driveway toward the house. As he flitted a look toward the houses on either side of the Griffin’s, he stepped off the driveway and took a step toward the first-floor window. No one. He walked to the next window - again, no one. Glancing back to Mark’s car again, he took a deep breath and rounded the corner to check the windows on the side and back of the house.

  “Not home,” he said, as he opened the car door and dropped into the seat again.

  “Want to give it a few minutes?” Mark asked idly. He was tapping to the beat of a song on the radio, his head relaxed against the headrest on his seat.

  David sensed the test rearing its head again. He paused, then shrugged.

  “Your call. I think we’d spend the time better checking at the school, but you’re the one driving this bus,” he said.

  Mark’s head bobbed forward and back, then side to side to the beat. Finally, he nodded and turned the key again. “Yeah, you’re right. Besides, I want something to eat. The cafeteria’s probably got cheaper food than anywhere else.”

  David pulled the shoulder strap down to buckle the seat belt around his waist and tapped his hand on the car door near the window. If things were going his way, they’d run into Kelly and be able to quickly and smoothly convince her to turn over the book to them. If possible, he might even be able to talk to her without Mark right there and convince her to just go with his suggestions to keep her family safe. Things were so close to being closed down, it could jeopardize years’ worth of tenuous and fragile inroads if Kelly balked. David pulled out his cell phone and opened his GPS. Searching for colleges, he located a community college to the west and a state college to the north.

  “You’ve got about 20 minutes before lunch,” he said, cranking up the volume on the phone’s media player and putting the phone in the cup holder between the two seats.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Kelly stood and slid her sewing kit into her bag as the rest of her classmates filed toward the door. She’d been tacking a hem and hadn’t noticed the time until the professor announced midterm projects would be due in another week. She joined the end of the line to exit the classroom, then headed for the bathroom. She’d been living on coffee and coffee for the past couple of days, which meant frequent trips to the bathroom. It wasn’t doing much for her nerves, either, she acknowledged to herself.

  After a quick trip through the bathroom, Kelly glanced at her watch. Nearly lunchtime. She wasn’t really hungry, but she knew she should grab something. Maybe a cup of soup would be comforting - and better for her than another cup of coffee. Slinging her bag over one shoulder, she made her way out of the building and headed across campus to the student government building. She glanced at the windows of the bookstore as she passed. The reflected version of herself looking back at her looked harried. Kelly knew the dark surface of the tinted window gave a sharper edge to the shadows on her face, but still, she grimaced at her reflection and turned her face resolutely away. Mid-terms, Sam, and trying to keep her mind focused while all the while, at the edges of her thoughts, nibbled the ideas of shapeshifters and drug users and smugglers of various wares - she was having trouble sleeping, as well as eating.

  The smell of lasagna and fresh bread baking scented the air as soon as she walked through the cafeteria doors. Kelly lifted her nose in appreciation. Maybe she would be able to stomach something for lunch after all. She turned toward the line, then surveyed the tables. She saw Maria, a girl she had worked with on a few projects in psychology class, with an empty seat beside her. Kelly lifted one hand in greeting, then froze. Rising from a table just behind Maria, staring at Kelly with a cold, hard stare, was Mark.

  Kelly took a couple of steps backward, then turned and jostled through the students who had joined the line behind her.

  “Geez, make up your mind - you getting food or not?”

  Kelly apologized, pushing blindly through. What was he doing here? He had clearly seen her, and recognized her - what should she do? She knew he was here for her - why else would he be here? Panic rose in her throat, threatening to choke her. She reached the sidewalk in front of the building and stared wildly around. Where? Where? She stumbled up the stairs of the building next door. Dashing into the hallway, she saw a few students clustered around a poster on the wall. She murmured another, “excuse me,” as she barreled past. The hallway opened into a foyer with stairways opening off of two sides. Kelly grabbed the railing and whipped around the newel post, taking the stairs two at a time. She needed to get away - but she needed to know if he was following her. Her blood was pounding in her temples, her hands trembling as they grabbed the railing and helped her to keep from tumbling.

  At the top of the stairs, she darted to the right, taking the corridor above the hallway she had just come down. There was an open study area at the end of the hall - she could look out the windows there to see what was going on outside. As she neared the end of the hall, Kelly risked a glance back toward the stairs. A couple of students stood watching her, naturally curious as to her quick steps, but no one was chasing her. She slowed, trying to catch her breath.

  Kelly stepped to the side once she reached the study area. The hall basically opened into the large, open space. A few stuffed chairs were spaced out with some tables and chairs clustered here and there. Kelly glanced around. The two girls in the area were sitting at one of the tables discussing a video they were watching on a laptop. Glancing back over her shoulder toward the stairs, Kelly walked across the open area to the windows. She stood to one side and peeked out around the curtain, not wanting to be seen from below. She didn’t see him. Campus wasn’t too busy - people were milling about, but not so many that she would be unable to spot him if he was there, which meant one of two things. Either he hadn’t followed her, and was actually not there to try to get to her, or he had followed her, had seen her enter the building, and was already inside, where she couldn’t see him.

  She darted another glance back at the stairway and froze. Mark was walking toward her, with the guy Sam had called David. Kelly glanced at the two girls with the laptop. They were laughing over something that was happening on their video, oblivious to the fact that Kelly was standing behind them, never mind that two men were ready to inflict heavy damage on her. She looked back at Mark. He wasn’t even breathing hard. He walked calmly across the study area until he was close enough to reach out and touch her, then stopped. David stood just to his side, partially turned so that he could see the girls at the table. His face was impassive, his hands tucked into his pockets in a loose way that should have been friendly but made Kelly very aware of her shortcomings.

  “How is Sam?” Mark asked, a note of concern in his voice. “We stopped at the hospital to see her, but they said she had already been discharged, to a rehab - shame how many kids these days are turning to drugs, isn’t it?” The concern had disappeared from his voice, leaving it taunting and dangerous.

  Kelly tightened her grip on the strap of her backpack, glancing again at the girls watching their video. Surely they would look up, would see she was in trouble! Mark’s gaze followed hers.

  “Let’s take a walk, hey
?” he said softly.

  Kelly shook her head and tried to back away, but her backpack bumped against the wall behind her. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” she bit out. Anger and fear warred in her head and made her voice shake.

  Mark stepped closer. He put one hand on her arm and squeezed. Kelly felt hot pain in her arm and glanced down, alarmed. The fingers on the hand Mark gripped her with looked strange - twisted, with long, sharp nails he was digging into her. In the seconds she watched, dark hairs grew on the back of his hand. Her eyes flew back to his face, which wore a satisfied smirk. “You will come with me unless you want a lot more people to get hurt,” he said.

  “Hey! Are you okay?”

  The girls with the video had finally noticed that they were in the room. Kelly glanced back over at them. The girls were looking at Kelly pointedly, their expressions supportive. Mark’s fingers squeezed Kelly’s arm again. If she tried to get away from him, what would happen? What would he do to these girls? What could he do to them - what was he? Suddenly his hand was gone from her arm.

  “Sorry!” Mark’s hands were in the air, palms open, and he wore a sheepish grin. “Didn’t mean to startle her, but I guess I did! Her sister’s a friend of mine, and we just found out she’s been sick. I guess my showing up to ask about Sam wasn’t expected, that’s all.”

  Kelly stared at him in shock. He was clearly insane. She glanced at his hands again and froze. His hands looked normal - fingers straight, nails short. She turned back to the girls and was shocked to see them smiling understandingly at Mark and turning back to their video. She faced him again, eyes narrowed. David still stood beside him, his gaze on Kelly steady. Mark lowered his hands as the girls turned away, then shifted his focus back to Kelly.

  “That walk, shall we?” he said. “David here has made me promise you won’t get hurt so long as you help us out.” He nodded toward David, who gave no indication of hearing him.

  Kelly’s hands tightened again on her shoulder strap. She was backed in a corner here, but at least she was visible. If she moved two steps to the right, she’d be in full view of anyone looking up from outside. If she went with these guys, she had no belief that she would escape unharmed.

  It was as though Mark could see her thoughts cross her face. “If you don’t come with me, I can make sure those girls never forget this afternoon. How long do you think it would take someone looking up from outside to figure out something horrific was going on in here - five minutes? Ten minutes? And how long before they would be able to get up here to try to stop it - another minute or two? It took my friends less than five minutes with Sam at the bus stop, and she had an idea of what she was dealing with. What do you think I could do to these girls in 12 minutes, when they think I’m just a friend looking for information about your sister?”

  His quiet intensity was more sinister than Kelly wanted to acknowledge. Glancing back at the girls, she gave a small nod.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Kelly drew back from Mark’s hand on her arm again, but at his tug, she took a step toward him. He smiled toward the girls at their table as he put his arm around Kelly’s shoulders. Her skin crawled and she stiffened, but she took another slow step alongside him as he led her out of the study area. David fell into step just behind her.

  Kelly walked stiffly. When they were away from the girls, she shrugged Mark’s arm off her shoulders.

  “Enough. What do you want?” She demanded, crossing her arms in front of her and lifting her chin.

  Mark glanced around. Grabbing her arm again, he tugged her into an empty classroom and closed the door behind them. Apparently satisfied they would remain undisturbed, he returned his gaze to her face. His mouth twisted into a sneer, and then something more. His jaw seemed to jut forward, lengthening, and short hairs sprouted so quickly along it that his beard rapidly covered most of his face. His teeth snapped twice, his tongue flicking in and out of his mouth.

  Kelly’s limbs were frozen, her eyes wide in horror. She opened her mouth to scream, but David’s hand covered her mouth, his body a solid wall at her back. His other arm slid around her waist and squeezed. “Shh. Hear us out,” she heard his whisper at her ear.

  Mark’s face was sliding back into that of a man. Kelly could feel her body trembling, her muscles tight and unwilling to listen to her brain as it screamed at them to move. Mark smirked as his jaw returned to its familiar shape. She could see his enjoyment at her fear. Somehow the laughter in his eyes made her angry - and that gave her strength. She grabbed at David’s hand at her mouth and worked to separate his pinky finger from the rest, kicking back with her heel to stomp on his foot. She pulled at his finger and managed to twist so that his hand came free of her face.

  “Let go of me!” she demanded, jabbing backward with her elbow. She heard his gasp as she landed her jab and his grasp around her waist slackened. She took one step, then froze. Where Mark had stood smirking now crouched a fur-covered dog baring its teeth. A low growl rumbled from its chest. Kelly scrambled backward, running into the wall of David’s body again. His arm wrapped tightly around her waist again.

  “Stand still!” he hissed.

  She froze, her chest barely moving with her shallow breaths. The dog took two menacing steps toward her, a low and deep growl emanating from between its bared teeth. Kelly shrunk backward into David’s grasp, her eyes squeezed shut - sure the animal was about to rip her to shreds. Instead, she heard a breathless laugh. Opening her eyes, she saw Mark standing just inches away from her, and shoved him away with both hands. Opening his mouth in a snarl, he lunged back toward her with a roar.

  “Stop!”

  It was David, one arm still tightly gripping her around the middle, the other pushing Mark’s chest away. Kelly felt herself pulled off balance as David wrenched her to the side, stepping forward to confront Mark.

  “You’ve shown her. It’s enough.” He bit out to Mark. Turning his face toward Kelly, he shot, “Stop! Don’t you learn?”

  Kelly’s fingers gripped his forearm as she tried to regain her footing. Her legs were shaking so badly she was afraid they wouldn’t support her weight. As she stared wildly back toward Mark, she saw him laughing again.

  “It’s all good, you can let her go,” he said, walking to sit on the corner of a table. His posture was relaxed, but Kelly saw that he had positioned himself between her and the door.

  “Do you want to sit down?” David’s hands were righting and steadying her, his words quiet and calm.

  Kelly shook her head, unwilling to look away from Mark. She struggled to form a coherent sentence. “What are you?”

  Mark threw back his head and laughed. “Right now, sweetheart, you can consider me your worst nightmare. I’m someone you don’t want to mess with - got that?”

  Kelly gave a small nod.

  “Now. You or your sister took a book from the apartment that I need back. You are going to get it for me. I don’t think I need to tell you what I will do if you refuse to help me, but I want to tell you. I don’t want you to have any misgivings. You get me the book, or I will visit your brother, your mother, your father - do you understand?”

  His expression hardened as he stared at her. Kelly swallowed and quickly nodded again as she realized he was waiting for a response.

  He nodded in approval. “Good. The book is a maroon notebook. There are some papers stuck inside - they’d better still be there when you bring me the book. I’m going to give you, what, a day?” He looked at David, eyebrow lifted.

  Kelly felt, rather than saw, David nod.

  “Do you need eyes?” David’s question was directed to Mark.

  He pursed his lips, considering, then nodded. “Yeah, that’s not a bad idea. I have an appointment tonight, but I can be back tomorrow afternoon to pick you up.” His eyes found Kelly’s again. This time, there was no mirth in them. “You find that book. You have until tomorrow - you find it, David will give me a call. If you don’t, well, it wasn’t difficult to track you down. It won
’t be hard to find the rest of your family. I’ve got a pretty good nose for sniffing out problems.” His grin was back, though it didn’t reach his eyes.

  In one fluid movement, Mark was on his feet. He motioned with his head, and David followed him into the hall and closed the door to the classroom behind them.

  Kelly looked around the classroom dazedly, then sank into one of the chairs. She put her hand up to her forehead as a wave of dizziness swept over her. Opening her eyes and looking around wildly, she bolted out of the chair and made it to the trashcan near the teacher’s desk before getting sick. She wretched until there was nothing left of her breakfast. Pushing her hair away from her face, she sat back and leaned against the desk with her eyes closed, tears escaping from beneath her lashes.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  “Here.”

  Something cold and wet touched her face, and she jumped, eyes flying open. David was crouched in front of her, a wet paper towel extended toward her in one hand. Kelly groaned and pushed his hand away. He withdrew the paper towel, but didn’t move away. Kelly looked at him completely, for the first time since she had seen him next to Mark. The sketch she had done of him had been very close, though Sam had been right - his nose was a little wider than she had drawn it, and his lips a little fuller. She had also missed a small scar on his left cheek.

  “So, what are you, my guard dog or something?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not one of them. I’m actually, well, I guess I am a guard dog of sorts - a guard dog is supposed to protect, and that’s my goal. Listen, do you feel well enough to stand? This would be easier for you if you were walking.”

  Kelly raised her eyebrows at him. “That doesn’t make any sense,” she said, but she struggled to get to her feet. The smell from the trash can was threatening to make her sick again. She ignored David’s extended hand and pulled herself up so she was propped on the edge of the desk.