The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels

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The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels Page 75

by Travis Luedke


  “No child! You will not feed or do anything else until you feed from him!”

  She cried and continued with that pathetic wailing sound, pawing at the doctor’s feet like a starving dog. It was the most pitiful thing I had ever witnessed.

  The doctor watched her without emotion. Merciless bastard. After another moment of watching her whine and beg he ordered her back into the cage. She stood and walked back to her cage like a puppet on strings, unwillingly following his commands. She begged and whined all the while. The doctor locked her in and did an about face to march up the stairs leading out. “Until tomorrow!” He sang as he left the room.

  The scene jump-flashed again to the same dungeon-like room, but some point later in time. Nadia was in the cage as before with Mikhail still chained to the wall. All looked exactly the same except for the fact that Nadia was pacing back and forth, little growls and grunts and snarls coming from her at every turn. She spotted Mikhail who watched her with trepidation, and she lunged, hitting the bars of the cage in a bone-jarring slam. She screeched high and shrill, enraged at the barrier blocking off her food source. Nadia was no more. This creature was pure hunger, nothing but animal instinct.

  Mikhail tried talking to her before the doctor arrived to unleash her on him, but it was pointless, she didn’t acknowledge him. Mikhail’s words made me sick to my stomach, “Natasha, my beloved Nadia, my bride to be, my love, my life. I know you. I know this beast is not you. You must get ahold of yourself.”

  His words fell on deaf ears.

  The doctor came down the stairs as usual, the key to the cage in hand. He surveyed Nadia approvingly; tonight was it. “The fifth night – truly amazing. Personally, I never abstain for more than a single night. I am thoroughly impressed. You have remarkable will power for such a young girl. You must have loved him very much.”

  He spoke of Mikhail in the past tense.

  Nadia watched the doctor’s every move, anticipating the moment. She panted like an animal, crouched and ready to spring. The doctor swung the door wide and leapt out of her path as she raced out of the cage to land on Mikhail with a vengeance. Sitting in his lap, she bit his shoulder and sunk her claws into his torso to clamp down like a cat pouncing on its prey.

  Mikhail screamed. “Nadia!” His cries soon became incoherent expressions of agony as she unwittingly tore through his body, engorging herself on his blood.

  She couldn’t seem to get enough.

  She bit him three more times on his arm and shoulder and then finally settled on his neck, sinking her teeth into the juicy arterial flow. Her arms and legs wrapped around him intimately, much the same way she had lain with me in my bed. The similarity was unmistakable, I shuddered involuntarily and my stomach heaved as I witnessed the morbid yet intimate slaughter.

  Mikhail’s head flopped over sideways with a sigh, he finally lost consciousness. In his condition it was a mercy. Nadia didn’t stop, she gripped him tight, sucking for all she was worth. Like a lock-jawed pit-bull, her golden eyes stared without recognition as she held on.

  * * * *

  Chapter 16

  Wednesday, October 27th, 11:15 p.m.

  I jump-flashed back to the here and now, on the beach at the south end of Moses Lake. I was on my back, in the sand, twitching and convulsing in shock. I rolled over just in time to hurl on the sand, emptying my stomach. Nadia crouched over me, looking more or less the same as she had in that dungeon where she had torn into poor Mikhail like a rabid dog.

  To her credit she looked concerned, but that didn’t help the situation. I scrambled up and away from the Nadia-thing. My earlier bravado and sympathy evaporated with the horrifying scene I’d just witnessed.

  I shoved my finger at her in accusation. “Murderer! You killed Mikhail! You mutilated him! I saw it all. I was there!” Emotions flowed across her face, shock, surprise, shame, grief, and then pain. She behaved like I had pulled out a gun and shot her. She looked so tortured, miserable.

  Tears rolled down her face, tears of blood. Surprising, but creepy as fuck. I took a couple more steps back away from her.

  “Yes, it’s true, I did.” She advanced on me in a blur, much faster than a normal fourteen year old girl should move. She grabbed my hands and went down on her knees. She looked eerily similar to when she had begged the doctor for Mikhail’s life.

  “Don’t you see? I’ve been given a second chance. A chance to make it right. I won’t make the same mistakes. I will never hurt you again Misha, I promise! You have nothing to fear from me.”

  “I’m not Misha, quit calling me that. He’s dead! You shredded him, remember?” I tried to remove my hands from hers, but she had a wicked strong grip, and she wasn’t ready to let go.

  “Yes, you are Mike. There can be no denying who you are. But you don’t have to worry, you’re safe with me. What happened with Mikhail was so long ago. I was a child with no control. I will never, ever hurt you, Mike, you must believe me. I have control now. You can trust me.”

  She stood up and stepped in close, tears of blood trailing down her cheeks, her golden cat eyes focused unwaveringly on mine. “I will never let anyone hurt you, not Tommy, not Rachelle, no one! This is my promise to you.”

  It hit me like a physical blow to the abdomen, robbing me of air to breathe. The significance of her words and all my suspicions speared past the denial. The epiphany of realization brought on the vertigo all over again.

  “Fuck, not again.”

  I dropped to my knees in the sand as I jump-flashed to the parking lot of Michael’s on the Lake. I clearly saw myself, in my tux, standing next to Anita. But from my angle, I noticed things I had not seen the first time around.

  Nadia. She had followed me.

  The outline of her black hoodie and stretch pants was barely discernible from the shadows where she stood behind a large pickup truck. She was stalking me, a predator lurking.

  She watched as Anita and I exited the restaurant, Tommy issuing catcalls from behind. Tommy was such a goof, teasing me, waving Rachelle’s hand around. I could see Nadia’s face twist up with malice. She hated Tommy. She hated him for interfering in my homecoming night.

  Just as I started to worry what she might do to him, the vision jump-flashed to the Moses Lake High School parking lot.

  I could hear the music blaring out the doors to the gym as a handful of students in formal dress entered. Homecoming night was in full swing, the parking lot filled with vehicles.

  Nadia was there too. She must have been stalking me all along.

  I watched with increasing anxiety as Nadia slipped through the shadows, sliding past several cars to sneak up behind a blond kid.

  Tommy.

  Tommy was making his way through the parking lot to his parent’s Lexus, clueless to her presence. He marched right up to the car, popped open the door with his wireless key ring, and mixed himself a cocktail. Though already blitzed on liquor, he made another drink.

  Nadia watched from the shadows a few feet away. Tommy downed his drink in two huge gulps, his head tilted back. Kid could put it away. After polishing off his drink, he slipped the remainder of the pint of vodka into the inside pocket of his tuxedo jacket and turned to head back to the dance.

  Nadia made her move.

  She came in hard and fast, a barely distinguishable blurry streak. She nailed him hard in the back of the head. I could actually hear the thud.

  That had to hurt.

  He dropped face first, KOed. Nadia dipped down to dig through his pockets and after a second found what she was looking for. With a click of the wireless keychain the trunk of the Lexus popped open a few inches. I felt a surge of envy for that Lexus. There was nothing electric in my Geo, not the windows, not the locks, and certainly not the trunk latch.

  With the trunk open, Nadia did what I thought she would, but it was still unnerving to see her in action. That little waif of a girl picked up Tommy’s unconscious body off the pavement and slung him over her shoulder with a slight grunt. She walked c
asually around to the trunk, lifted the lid, and dumped him in like an airport baggage handler tossing luggage. She closed the trunk lid behind him and then threw his car keys all the way across the parking lot.

  She giggled girly and walked off with a sickly sweet smile of triumph.

  But this roller coaster wasn’t finished. I jump-flashed to another scene, just outside the propped open door of my trailer. My Geo sat in the driveway, passenger door also wide open, as Nadia grunted and cursed in Russian. She was struggling with someone in the passenger seat.

  Me.

  Oohh sooo careful, she scooped me out of the seat, unconscious and bloody. She carried me right up the front steps into my trailer.

  And she hadn’t lied about this one detail. Nadia walked right past my Dad asleep on the couch. But she wasn’t helping me walk in. She carried me, cradled in her arms like an oversized baby. She laid me down on my bed slow and careful. And there it was again, that super creepy thing when she cried – tears of blood ran down her cheeks. She cried softly as she brushed the hair from my forehead.

  God, I looked like shit.

  Made me want to cry too. My nose was busted open, blood all over my face. I hadn’t really known how bad it was. Watching Nadia cry while she removed my shirt, I reached up to feel my nose, looking for some evidence of my injuries. It had only been three days since this happened.

  My nose didn’t have a single mark or scar, and didn’t even hurt anymore.

  And then bam, I jumped-flashed to another scene, a place that was almost as familiar as my own home – Rachelle Werner’s house. Nadia was there, climbing in Rachelle’s window.

  Shit, this couldn’t be good.

  I followed her, cupping my hands against the window to see inside as Nadia slinked around Rachelle’s room, silent as a cat burglar.

  Being here gave me a sense of nostalgia. I recalled the countless times I’d been in her room when I had lived down the street. Some of the décor was new, but I recognized the sleeping beauty in bed, her golden hair fanned out across the pillow. I stared at Rachelle for a few seconds, wondering if she might wake up, but she slept soundly. I watched Nadia, dreading what I suspected would happen, had already happened.

  She reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out a small glass vial of clear fluid.

  The little demon popped open the top of a lotion bottle on Rachelle’s dresser, and dumped the entire contents of the vial into it. Nadia capped the lotion bottle and shook it up vigorously, ensuring a good even mixture throughout. I shook my head in denial. Why did she do it? Acid?

  Though I knew it must have happened exactly like this, I still found it hard to believe.

  Another jump-flash hit me all too soon. Sand dunes, a campfire surrounded by teenagers sparked and smoked into the cool night air. Several vehicles and motorbikes were parked nearby where Nadia stood blended into the shadows. She was stalking Tommy and some of his wrestler buddies clustered around the fire, drinking and chatting. Justin was there too, beer in hand, running his mouth as usual. They spoke loudly over the top of the music blaring from the stereo in Tommy’s Jeep Wrangler.

  Justin yelled towards Tommy, “Forget about her dude. She’s not worth it. She’s been playing you all along. Rachelle’s nothing but a dumb-ass blonde, a cheerleader! I bet she’ll be calling and texting by tomorrow, begging you to take her back. Give it a couple days. I got it! Her friends, dude. Go screw all her friends. Bang the whole cheerleading squad. Shit, have a couple threesomes! That’ll show her she’s nothing special! I’ll give you Lindsey’s number, you can start with her. She doesn’t mean anything to me, and she’s one of Rachelle’s best friends.”

  Justin looked eerily demonic with the flickering light of the fire dancing across his malicious drunken face. This was a side of Justin I had never seen, his drunken asshole side. Justin was always obnoxious, but this went above and beyond.

  Completely sloshed, Justin rambled on and on. Tommy ignored him for the most part, sitting and staring into the fire, nursing his beer. I did a double-take on Tommy, he looked like hell: black eyes, split-scabby lips, one of his lower front teeth missing, a scabbed cut above his left eye. I must have rocked his world.

  I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride. Tommy had needed his ass kicked. He deserved every lick of the beating I had given him.

  A wrestler, Derek, yelled at the top of his lungs, “Fuck Rachelle Werner and her big tits!” They all chuckled and snickered.

  Tommy threw his hands in the air. “I can’t believe that bitch broke up with me.”

  Justin was right on top of it. “She ain’t shit, bro. I’m telling you, tag all her friends, that’ll show her!”

  Tommy snapped, “Yeah, fuck it!” He leaped up from his seat atop the beer cooler, downed his beer and headed for a Yamaha dirt bike leaned up against his Jeep. He pushed the bike out into the sand a few yards away from the fire, closer to the darkness where Nadia waited.

  Tommy kicked down hard to bring the dirt bike to life, revving the throttle. Must be nice to have real estate agent parents who can afford brand new toys for their son. Tommy had a Yamaha dirt bike, Kawasaki Jet Ski, Jeep Wrangler, and even a snowmobile.

  Nadia flowed across the sand straight for Tommy. He was far enough away from the fire that no one else could see her. Tommy revved the bike a couple more times and reached for his helmet in the sand.

  Nadia kicked the helmet out of his grasp and growled in his face. “I have a message from Mike Evans. Fuck off.” She lashed out across Tommy’s bruised cheek, leaving two red slashes from ear to nose. Her wicked little nails drew blood. Then she laughed. “Catch me if you can!”

  Nadia danced off into the darkness. Tommy yelled in pain and rage, a murderous fire in his pale grey-blue eyes. She had him riled.

  He peeled out, throwing a rooster tail of sand all over the campfire, and raced off to chase her down. He flicked on the headlights to find her off in the distance running fast. Tommy gunned it, opening the throttle up, leaning forward on the bike as he closed the distance between them.

  I flowed right along with him, seeing everything he saw.

  He seemed to catch up with her, but like a Spanish bull fighter, she spun out of the way and took off in a different direction.

  Tommy leaned into a tight turn, adjusting course to catch her again. She was headed up a small sand dune. He laid into the throttle, racing to scale the dune, closing the distance. The two of them topped the crest of the dune almost at the same time. She did it again, dancing out of the way. Tommy ripped past her and went flying into the jump. They were so close in that moment, that she reached out and slapped him across the face.

  Snarling in rage, Tommy flew ten feet and landed in the loose sand. He fishtailed back and forth to regain control of the bike. As he turned, his bike spitting sand in a fan-like spray, he spotted Nadia and yelled, “You bitch! Your ass is mine!”

  Angry and drunk, he never seemed to notice the oddity of this little slip of a girl outrunning and outmaneuvering him.

  Nadia laughed, stuck her svelte little butt out and spanked it in a taunt. She was having a blast with the whole thing. She took off running again and Tommy took the bait. He throttled up the bike to give chase. He followed her for several minutes, tearing through the dunes and out onto the harder packed surface, to a track with berms and a series of low-rise three foot humps. Coming out the berms, he hit the humps and had to slow down to maintain control.

  As soon as he cleared the track he caught sight of her again. She stood about forty to fifty yards away, waiting for him. He seemed insulted that she wasn’t running anymore. Tommy gunned it, leaning down into the throttle. He accelerated fast, easily doing forty some miles an hour. As he drew down on her, and she didn’t move, he throttled back and downshifted. She just stood there, not even flinching. At the very last second, mere inches from nailing her head on, she spun to the side in a flash yelling, “Ole!” A bullfighter to his motorized bull.

  Tommy realized far too late that
she was perched on the edge of a precipice, nothing but open air behind her. He sailed through the air over fifty feet above the pit floor. He looked back over his shoulder at her as he descended into the darkness of the pit below.

  She blew him a kiss goodbye.

  He lost grip on the bike and its weight dropped out from under him. Tommy hit the pit floor seconds after the bike, and tumbled to rest in a broken heap. The bike bounced off to the side to stall out.

  Tommy laid dead – a pile of broken bones.

  The vision ended abruptly with a jump-flash back to the here and now, on the sandy beach a couple miles away from Tommy’s pit of death. I was on my knees, breathing in gasps, trying hard not to hurl again. I looked into the face of the Nadia-thing and spit out the accusation, “Murderer! You killed him! It wasn’t an accident. You killed Tommy Schroeder!”

  She didn’t flinch or look away and she wasn’t crying anymore. No guilt, no remorse. She answered levelly, “I told you I couldn’t allow the situation to continue. He was a problem, a serious threat. He hurt you bad. And he would have done it again if I hadn’t put a stop to it. He’ll never hurt you again.” She spoke insane words with cold, rational, reason.

  “And what about Rachelle? How did she deserve what you did to her?” I picked myself up off the ground and stood on legs shaky from vertigo and the adrenaline roller coaster I’d been riding for far too long.

  “Betrayal? Humiliation? Deception? There are many ways to hurt someone, especially when they hold your heart in their hands. Rachelle was a problem. Her beauty masked the ugliness inside. Now, she’s not so beautiful. A fitting punishment. I could have killed her, but it’s better that she live this way.”

  Her words made me sick. The twisted logic made sense in a perverse way, but there was still no excuse for what she had done. “I don’t want you in my life. I don’t want your help or protection. You’re sick, you’re a murderer. Leave me be. Leave me alone!”

  I threw her locket as if it had burned my hand. She snatched it out of the air with cat-like reflexes.

 

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