LRR Hood

by Cassandra Johnson

  “Those for me?” His brows arched up some as he took in the two bags of food.

  “Yup.” Chelsea nodded putting the bags down on the counter.

  “Gimme your number,” Gaerik said waiting for a response from either one before Lindsey supplied her cell number before her phone started ringing.

  “Save that contact. You ever need anything, give me a call.”

  Slapping the flip phone closed before disposing of it into his pocket, the universe once again feeling complete know that he was wired again. Grinning at the two of them he knew the owner of this place, so he knew exactly what they were getting paid, not only that but when the boss said there would be something extra in your paycheck it meant five bucks a piece. Taking his wallet out, he laid down two, one hundred dollar bills before he took the bags off of the counter and made his way back out of the shop.

  Chapter Twelve

  A single beam of light illuminated her in a circle of protective white light. However, all that surrounded her was nothing but inky blackness. Turning as she looked around, afraid to step out of the light her feet felt sticky on the floor like she’d stepped on spilled syrup, but something in the pit of her stomach told her that it wasn’t. Elle wasn’t in her kitchen. Finally, she made a full turn in the warm sticky pool at her feet, and the scene around her was changing.

  After a second she’d made a full three-sixty turn and was now facing the way she’d begun though the scene before her had changed.

  Blinking gently, she wasn’t sure what she was real until her vision cleared and she found herself in a type of bunker. The ceiling was slightly rounded with recess lighting casting a ghostly blue glow over the steel walls and concrete flooring. The cleanliness of the room reminded her of a sterile laboratory though the things that belonged to the room were nothing of the sort. There were chairs and a dais, but there were no tables or instruments of any kind that she could see.

  Stepping from the light, her bare feet padded along the floor looking for other signs of life in this otherwise empty space.

  “Hello?” Her voice bounced off the walls and vibrated around her, getting louder and louder until the sound itself hurt her ears and her hands came up to protect them. Reaching the dais, she scanned around looking for a door out of this room, perhaps she needed to go back to get out, when she’d come here there was nothing until she turned around, perhaps it was sort of like Dorothy’s ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz she needed to turn instead of tap to get back home.

  The echo of her voice was still lingering as she turned slowly, something on the floor making her pause as she tilted her head looking down at her feet. Her feet were red, very much so and there were foot prints leading to where she now stood. Elle was leaving tracks as she cast her blue-eyed gaze down the other end of the room.

  Her scream ripping from her throat so suddenly that it felt as the roar had forced blood into her mouth.

  Bodies laid everywhere, crumpled in death, a hand, a torso laid separated from their collective body. Blood painted the walls as she clamped her hands over her mouth to silence her scream however the sound remained, shifting as the room itself replayed the sounds of carnage as tears began to spill from her eyes.

  What happened here and what business did she have in this room? Gasping she’d been standing in a puddle of blood when she entered but it seemed that it wasn’t coming from the bodies that were scattered around her, warmth dripping on her feet as she closed her eyes, squeezing them shut and trying to block out the fear and the pain that was stabbing through her as her hands moved to the knot that had grown in her stomach.

  “Please, take me away from this place. I don’t want to be here anymore.” Elle whimpered as she felt down her abdomen her eyes slitting open as she stared blankly at the spear protruding from her mid-section.

  Snarling erupting out of all the other noise in the room, her head snapping up as the darkness she’d known before re-entered the room in the form of a black wolf leaping towards her. Sharp teeth directed towards her throat as she screamed throwing her hands up to shield herself.

  ~

  Crying herself awake she panicked looking around her bedroom and fighting with the sheets as before a soft grunt from the side of the bed caught her attention. Gregory had finally come and climbed up in bed with her. Sighing with relief, she reached down rubbing the dog’s head gently before she fell back into the pillows. She was only dreaming.

  Either from lack of sleep or simply because it was freezing cold in the house as if the heat had been turned off, Elle was shivering as she stuffed her arms inside of her robe and shuffled from her bedroom, sleep boogers clustering the corners of her eyes as she tried to keep them open. It didn’t take very much for her eyelids to spring open like they were hard wired at what she saw standing in her kitchen.

  Marik was still wearing the black jeans from the night before, but he was shirtless with his well-defined backside there for her eyes to admire for a full twenty seconds before he turned from the kitchen island and the cup of coffee he was enjoying. Men that looked that good early in the morning should have been branded criminals on sight. It wasn’t fair.

  When he turned the first thing he saw was her little red nose, like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, following the sight of her nose a loud snort of snot was sucked up into her nostrils.

  “Wow. You look like shit.”

  Her eyes instantly narrowed at him, Marik had the feeling he had said the wrong thing, but he wasn’t sure exactly what it was. Maybe it was the ‘You look like shit,’ comment because it looked like all the wind had just left her sails and she was preparing to retort with something snotty. Elle snorted again before her hand came up, running the sleeve of her pink terry cloth robe under her nose, cleaning the mess from the top of her lip.

  “I’m sick.”

  “I can see that.”

  “It’s your fault.”

  “How’s it my fault?”

  Elle rolled her eyes making her way across the kitchen, retrieving a clean cup from the cabinet and nudged him away from his station where he was hogging the coffee pot.

  “If you hadn’t shown up at my house last night like the big jerk-face that you are I wouldn’t have been out rolling around in the freezing snow wearing nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of old sweat pants. That is how it is your fault. You jerk.” All the while as she spoke her voice was growing more irritated as she filled her coffee cup with cream and sugar.

  Marik knew that this wasn’t an argument he was going to win, and she was right, it was partly his fault that she was sick; however, no one put a gun to her head and made her run outside without her shoes on and tackle a grown man in her front yard.

  Sniffing she took a sip of her coffee, and her face immediately pinched lightly as she reached up rubbing her throat slowly before setting the cup back down. Maybe the coffee wasn’t the best idea right now. Tea would probably be better but with the way she felt she didn’t think she was up to putting the kettle on and looking through her cupboard to see if she had any peppermint tea in the house.

  “I suppose you’re right,” Marik said finally.

  “You bet your sweet ass it is.” Elle croaked sniffling once more.

  “Is all that really necessary?”

  “I’m sorry. I know that I am grouchy, but it’s only because I don’t feel good. My body hurts, I’m freezing, my throat feels like I swallowed an active Volcano and my nose won’t stop running.”

  “I understand.” Nodding he pulled out a kitchen chair and took her shoulders within the embrace of one naked, muscled, lightly tanned arm and brought her to the seat which she promptly fell into with a small thump of her ass hitting the hard-wooden seat.

  After last night Marik was confident that he had her on his side, whether she wanted to believe that Gaerik was a killer or not he at least had convinced her that he was stalking her and made her the promise that as soon as the roads were open that he would take her to Gaerik’s apartment and show her the file th
at he had on her, however right now it didn’t look like they were going anywhere.

  “Do you have any cold medicine?” Marik asked as he folded his arms over his chest, carefully examining her. Where she looked as white as a ghost in one area, she was beet red in others, namely her cheeks and nose. She was definitely running a fever.

  “Yeah, it’s in the bathroom cabinet.” She sniffed motioning in the direction of the bathroom.

  Nodding he took her coffee cup and poured it out, rinsing it before placing it back down on the table as he made himself busy filling the water kettle and putting it on the stove. While she slept last night, he wasn’t embarrassed to admit that he had gone snooping around her cabinets looking for something to eat. She slept like a dead person because he’d scrambled himself some eggs, made toast and even the guardian had warmed up to him enough to move from the door way of her bedroom where he was doing security detail. Marik assumed it was so he didn’t get any crazy ideas like crawling into bed with the woman, which never once crossed his mind. Marik, of course never once thought about going into her bedroom. Not even when he heard her crying in her sleep.

  Leaving the water to come to a boil he went into the bathroom where she directed him to find her medicine. Marik reminded himself that he wasn’t doing this because he was a compassionate being, he had an agenda and to go through with his plans he needed her well for the ride along. Elle was his ticket to finding his brother.

  “Where’s my dog?” Elle croaked, her voice hoarse as she spoke, her vocal cords squeaking they were so raw which made them hurt worse as she slumped into her seat, idly kicking her feet out somewhat.

  “I let him out.” He called back as he examined what she kept in her bathroom cabinet. There was mouth wash, q-tips, tooth paste, tampons, cramp relief, Advil and finally to his relief there was a half full bottle of NyQuil on the third shelf half hidden by a product called Anal Ez. Slapping the tub away he grabbed the bottle of cold medicine and strolled back out of the bathroom. He had not imagined she was the type of woman who went for that kind of kink, but it wasn’t any of his business.

  “How long has Gregory been outside? He probably wants to come in by now.” She murmured, her hand clasping her throat, gently rubbing as if working the muscle would help to alleviate the soreness when she’d been through a lifetime of colds to know that it wouldn’t, the action was merely an instinct.

  “Couple of hours ago.” Marik mused slowly as he read the instructions on the back of the bottle. He’d never needed to use cold medicine in his life, but it appeared she was to take one cap full of this green stuff and it would help relieve her symptoms.

  “A couple of hours ago!?” Elle snapped up from her seat, coming to her feet a little too quickly because she had a sudden head rush and she had to sit back down to regain her bearings. “I need to go look for him.” She sniffed feeling her head starting to pound as she attempted standing once more, this time cautious of the effects if she moved too fast.

  “You’re not going anywhere. You’re going to take this medicine and rest for a little while. It’s still early. We have a whole day ahead of us, and I need you at peak performance.” Unscrewing the cap he pouring the plastic tumbler full and held it out for her to take from his fingers.

  “That’s the night time formula,” Elle said wrinkling her nose up, the cup was a few inches away from her, but she could already smell the green death from that distance, and the effect made her spine crawl. “It’ll put me to sleep again, and I can’t sleep right now. I need to go find Gregory, I just got him back.”

  “This is all that was in there,” Marik said pushing the tumbler closer to her only to watch her flinch away from it like it was kryptonite.

  “Then I am probably out. Gregory shouldn’t be out in this weather.” Groaning softly, standing made her back ache and her knees felt weak as she moved to push Marik and the NyQuil out of her way, a thin layer of sweat coating her top lip and her forehead.

  “You’re not going anywhere the way you look right now, kitten.” He told her with a smirk, pushing her back down into her seat and holding the tumbler out to her again.

  “I told you, I can’t take that right now. I’ll be asleep in five minutes and who knows where my dog is. I don’t want him getting sick too.”

  “He can take care of himself, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for you.” She was going to be stubborn about this, a trait she seemed to have that he’d picked up on the night before just from talking to her on the phone. Elle was not going to make this easy for him, maybe he should just let his brother kill her. A dark and slightly humorous thought but he knew he didn’t really mean it. Rolling his eyes, he grabbed the back of her head, pushing the plastic cup against her lips trying to force them open to take medicine.

  Sealing her lips shut Elle glared up at him as she grabbed his wrist trying to push his hand away from her mouth without spilling the syrupy liquid all over herself.

  “Take it.” He ordered, his voice dropping several octaves. Marik's tone did very little to frighten Elle into swallowing the swill as she pushed against his torso, climbing to her feet once more.

  “I don’t want it.” Snarling as she began making her way across the kitchen floor. Before she made it three paces, Mark grabbed her around the waist hauling her backwards as he sat down in the chair and pulled her into his lap, one arm wrapping around both of hers as he brought the cup to her lips again.

  Elle yelled, fighting with him as she was caught and trapped in the steel vice of his grip.

  “Let. Me. Go!”

  The tiny opening gave him his chance as he chucked the entire tumbler of NyQuil into her mouth so fast that she chocked on it. Spitting and sputtering as she coughed, she hadn’t even been able to mentally prepare herself for the taste. Why was it that the medicine that always helped had to taste so damn bad?

  “You’re an asshole!” Elle shivered, squirming on his legs for a moment as she got the jerks from the taste of it and it took a good five seconds before she could get over it as she swallowed a few times trying to get the taste out of her mouth.

  “Maybe.” He laughed, holding her against his chest.

  “You’re a horrible person!”

  “I’m a horrible person for wanting you to feel better? That seems a little over dramatic, don’t you think?” Setting the empty tumbler down on the table his other hand lightly smacked the side of her bottom as he moved to get her out of his lap. Standing he turned, lowering her back down into the seat as the kettle began to whistle.

  Marik made her tea though their little tussle seemed to have taken some of the steam out of her. She was sulking like a small child now which he found both adorable and comical all at the same time. Grinning he liked her better like this, not sick, but softer, aside from the asshole comment.

  Sniffing Elle blinked up at him, her sleep matted eyelashes stuck together and coated in the crust.

  “I have to find Gregory…he’s all that I have now,” Elle said her muscles relaxing either because she was too tired to fight with Marik any longer or the medicine was already beginning to work; probably a combination of both.

  “I’m sure that isn’t true. He will come back.” Marik smiled somewhat pouring hot water into her mug, dunking a tea bag a few times before sliding the mug closer to her waiting hands, idly he noticed that there were flecks of gold in her azure eyes. There was a very light spackling of freckles over her nose and cheeks, something he hadn’t noticed last night. Her skin was paler than it was the night before too, due to being sick it allowed him to see those freckles and it kind of made him smile all the more. The accent, the freckles, maybe she was a farm girl who’d run away from home to make it in the big city. Little Ellie. Of course, after last night he knew a little more about her than he had when he found her picture in his brother’s apartment but the fantasy still made him smile.

  Bringing the mug to her lips, she took a sip, the scolding liquid moving down her sore throat as she leaned back in her
seat, her ears perking up faintly as she heard scratching at the front door.

  “And that would be him,” Marik said leaving the kitchen with a smug grin and moved through the living room letting the guardian back inside the house. Noticing the package that he carried in his mouth, Marik took his t-shirt from the recliner and pulled it on silently before tugging his sweater over his head and following the dog into the kitchen once more.

  Smiling softly Elle set the mug down her hand stretching out as Gregory came closer before his head dipped somewhat and dropped a dead black bird at her sock covered feet. Groaning she sighed as Gregory looked up at her, wagging his tail just as pleased as punch at the present he’d brought for her.

  “He always brought my grandma some of the grossest gifts.” Elle sniffed as she looked at the collie and smiled slightly, reaching her hand out to rub over his cold, wet nose. “Glad to see you came back,” Elle told him.

  “He’s courting you.” He managed as he leaned against the kitchen island to keep himself from falling over as laughter threatened to erupt from the depths of his abdomen.

  ~

  Pulling into a motel Gaerik couldn’t go any further without some sleep, pealing himself out of the driver seat his Philly girls had done him well, loading him up with enough Red Bull, Tasty Kakes and a Wawa’s sweet tea to fire a rocket into the outer orbits of space. It was the only thing that got him through the night and into the borders of the Lovers state, Virginia.

  The façade of the Alpine Motel in Abingdon Virginia was green, like the color that the grass would be in the spring Gaerik imagined with big red block letters over the roof so that there was no mistaking it from the road. Long before he reached the main office he could hear the crabby banter of two people; a man and a woman, likely the owners.

  “Henry I told you yesterday that new girl wasn’t gonna work out.” the female voice gripped, to the male. Gaerik could smell the scent of fresh laundry as he slung his duffel bag higher onto his shoulder, hauling Wal-Mart bags in the other hand as he traveled the icy side walk. Virginia hadn’t been spared any snow fall by the looks of it.