We beamed at each other, then howled with laughter.
“What does it all mean?” She gasped for air.
I guffawed. “I don’t know. What good is the gods’ knowledge if you don’t know what it means anyway?”
We couldn’t stop laughing.
“I wonder what the other cavemen think of Nando’s gold lamé coveralls.”
“Ha, ha. And my buddy Monkey Man, where does he buy his cigars?”
“They could be from some strange plant on another planet.”
“They smell like a giant gas planet.”
We began to touch each other as we laughed, and when our eyes met, our laughter died to a solemn silence.
“But it’s not funny, is it? Not when people die and you have to carry a gun to survive. And the magic works for a reason that’s probably really not a joke. You saw chameleon refugees to our planet, a tribe of red-eyed creatures you’re afraid of, and that demonic Beelzebub who looked hungry for you.”
I glanced towards the window.
“It’s not over, is it? Whatever Doctor Steel put in motion two years ago, it’s still after you for whatever reason.”
“I don’t know what to do.”
“I do.” And she lifted my hand and led me into the bedroom.
Our passion transported us to another time in another universe where the gods murmured their approval, pouring elixir into our hearts and sweetness into our souls. Every touch felt true, perfect, and forever.
Afterwards, I lay in bed smoking a Kool. “When I was inside you, it seemed like I was lost in my own shadow, while at the same time, standing in my own light. Yet I knew there was another, a purer light, surrounding me.”
Teresa giggled mischievously. “Far out, but only one part of you was standing, and I was having a great time with that part.”
We lay quiet, letting the reverberations of sex hum and relax us.
“The black feather was sculpted by the Shadow Creature, using the fireplace in your dad’s cabin.”
“You didn’t tell me that.”
“I watched the Shadow Creature shape it. From nothing, it seemed.” I blew some smoke rings towards the ceiling. “Hmm, pure light and pure dark outside our own bodies and worlds. It’s nice to know there’s light. My footsteps don’t seem to find their way unless I’m blind.”
“I can tell you have to leave again, don’t you?” She flopped one leg over mine as if pinning me to stay beside her.
I didn’t say a thing. In answer, I climbed onto her, spread her perfect lips, and we fucked each other hard like we were hungry strangers, getting the most of what we could for the moment as we rolled over and under each other, trying to chase away that time when we would never see each other again.
“Will you show up again out of nowhere?”
“I’ve been thrown on some strange path. Why would Santa have written the check out to you? They’re playing another hand, using me. I would have come to you anyway. Why the money?”
“You’ll need money. In Venezuela, everything was paid for. Maybe it’s something simple, like you don’t have identification, the police are looking for you, and we should buy you a car in my name.”
“A car sounds right. Let’s split the bread.”
“Thanks, but the money’s yours. Just a little bit of it will be fine for my needs.”
“Okay. I’ll have to chance driving without a license until I feel it’s safe for my name to show up in the establishment’s system.”
“You should be off the radar in another state. From what you say, the Feds are just poking around, and the attack on the nurse isn’t going to raise any alarms in, say, California.”
“The money’s a weird twist. It’s not like the gods pay everybody’s way.”
“The devil might.”
We exchanged gentle, lopsided half-smiles. “I’ve thought of that, but whatever, I just have to survive and do what seems right.”
She rubbed one of her nipples, looking at it instead of meeting my eyes. “I know you’re going to look for Sam. It’s what you would do next if you still have a soul.”
“It’s not her. But the baby... Man, maybe I should just go somewhere and draw instead.”
Her eyes flashed back to mine. “Ha, ha. You mean the gods would be your patrons.”
“Why not? Take the money...”
“Whatever you choose, Doctor Steel will come knocking.”
“Yeah, somebody will. I’ve got no clue what’s next. Knowledge that gods exist isn’t the same as gaining wisdom. How do I know what’s required of me?”
“You didn’t as you climbed the mountain, yet you were rewarded on the other side with the keys to the portal. Do you think Pan and his gang are preparing you to do a full-fledged portal jump?”
“I’ve wondered. Does it frighten you that I came back to you?”
“Of course it does. I’m terrified. Not only because of the possibility of violence against me but because I’ll never disentangle myself from you and your path. Our dreams have been sewn together.”
“Will you go with Dan to England if I go to look for Sam?”
“I may, even if you don’t. My life has been peaceful, except when I read about you, heard rumors of you, or visited you in a hospital. You worry me sick. And now that we’re making love again, I think about how you’ll run off into danger, or sleep with another woman, and what I’m going to do about Dan.” She was running her hands through her pubic hairs in her old bedtime talk habit. “Are you going to jump into a portal, end up on Mars, shoot yourself out of some absolutely insane nightmare, then land back in Monster Alley and drop by for a pizza and a fuck? C’mon Deets, it would drive me nuts. We deserve better.”
“A pizza and a fuck? Don’t you understand I died for you in those mountains a thousand times, and no matter what I do, I’m crazy for your love?”
“You’re blessed and brave, and I know you love me, but did you think we’d live happily ever after? You knew when you came here that you’d be gone soon. You should have just told me about what happened in the Andes, and we should’ve left it at that.”
“I know, I know. But I’m glad we didn’t. Is it Dan?”
“No, you idiot. Where have you been for the last few hours? I love you and feel it’s the most natural thing in the world to make love with you. Dan and I are either through or if I go back with him, I’ll probably feel like I’m cheating myself. Whatever happens, I’ve got to try my hardest to dismiss you.” She sighed. “It’ll be impossible.”
“Are we breaking up again?”
“Let’s go buy a car. You can’t stay. I’m already getting caught in a heavy trip with you, and by tomorrow there’ll be monkey rapists at the door, or you’ll bump into alien warriors from the future. I’m going to flip out, Deets.” She lay into my arms and sniffled back tears. “You’re my heart. It’s so hard to live without my heart.”
Chapter 8
The red VW Beetle ran smoothly, had an easy feel, and looked hip.
Leaving Teresa horrified me. To be without her wrenched me apart, but the thought that the carload of demons had traced me to her door left me with little choice. By exiting the city, I hoped any evil entities would follow me and leave her alone. I believed Betsy had been struck and Johnny killed because of their willingness to help me. Teresa had survived one attack already and was deeply intertwined in my enigmatic encounters. It was her dream I had followed into the steaming jungles and cold ridges of the Andes, but, thankfully, no calamities had befallen her here in New York.
She had been happy while I was far away from her. I was relying on part intuition, part guesswork, and part hope, but I was betting separating again lessened her chances of danger. Let the demon car find me on the road, or in L.A. or San Francisco. My immediate objective was to lure whatever wickedness stalked me, away from her.
&n
bsp; I downshifted as I approached the last traffic light before the Holland Tunnel.
Could I be learning how to deal with the evil that haunted me? Was I so enmeshed in the game of the gods that I was becoming a player and not just a pawn?
Not everyone I mix with is attacked. There are innocents like Maureen, Cecilia, and Lola. Brenda and Pumpkin were probably part of the whole mess I’m dealing with. There’s just no telling what triggers the harmful situations.
Hey, wow, there’s Audrey.
Wearing the same red dress she had escaped from Bellevue in, she stood on the corner with her thumb out.
Red light. I slowed to a stop.
“Hey, man, get me across the river.” She was glassy-eyed, her words heavy and dull.
“Hop in.”
She didn’t recognize me as she bumped clumsily into the seat.
“Cool. Thanks.”
“Where you going?”
“Pittsburgh.”
“Far out. I can get you there tomorrow. I gotta make a stop near Philly.”
“Can I crash with you?”
“Yeah. Remember me, Audrey?”
“You know me?”
“Yeah. Look, the heater in this car is kind of weak. Do you want me to buy you a jacket?”
“Are you going to want to fuck me to pay for it?” There was no emotion to her question.
“No, just thought it’s a long ride, and you look cold in that skimpy dress.”
“Oh man, yeah, doesn’t matter. What’s your name?”
“Deets. Why are you going to Pittsburgh?”
“My mother lives there. How old are you?”
“Twenty.”
“You look older. Like you’ve been in a war or something. Your head looks all smashed in and scarred.”
“It was a sort-of war.”
I bought her a jacket and a pair of wool pants in an Army-Navy store in Hoboken. She stopped in front of some canteens and a soldier’s helmet and told me that her dad was in Vietnam.
“He had to go to get away.”
“Uh, yeah, I guess we all do that, but man, Vietnam?”
As we pulled onto the turnpike, she hiked her dress up to slip on her new pants. I caught a view of her cunt crack beneath the patch of her pubic hair as she tugged and bounced in her seat. Suddenly a long ride to Pittsburgh had just become tantalizing.
Far out.
The familiar guilt crept back. I had just had sex with Teresa a few hours earlier.
Damn.
She settled back and sighed. “Thanks, I was cold.”
“Hey, you remember when we were in that basement together, don’t you?” I couldn’t help myself. Her temptation had a less depraved feel now that we were free of Bellevue’s aura.
“What? No.”
“Oh.” It was an ego-deflating moment to realize she didn’t remember masturbating in front of me.
“This jacket’s warm. You’re really kind.”
“How are your feet?”
“Fine. These boots have a lining.”
“Cool.”
“I’m going to see my baby in Pittsburgh.”
“Baby? How old is it? You’re like, eighteen, right?”
“How come you know that and my name? My baby’s two.”
Synchronicity, man. We’re both trying to reach our child. I’m pretty sure she’s not a ghost like Hank.
I shook out a cigarette, stuck it in my mouth, and offered Audrey one. Her mouth opened in a scream that split my head and wrenched my heart up into my throat. She grabbed at the steering wheel, her hands slapping down onto mine.
“Hey. What? Cut it out.” I elbowed her arms away with a quick jab. “You nuts? We’ll get killed.”
She shrieked again, clamored with both hands at my sleeves.
“Audrey, cool it. Don’t grab, or we’ll get killed. I’m going fifty. Man, just tell me what’s wrong. Christ.”
“It’s those demons. Didn’t you see them? That car with the creepy person with red glowing eyes in it? We’ve got to get off the road.”
“Red eyes? Where?”
“That car that passed us.”
Trying to drive, keeping Audrey calm, spotting the demon car, and stemming my own panic became even more difficult every time an eighteen-wheeler pushed past my window. Hands, arms, stomach, and sphincter all clenched in emergency survival mode as the undercarriages of the huge vehicles rumbled at eye level alongside me. The trucks towered over the VW, rocking it, blowing it to the side, forcing me to wrestle the steering wheel to stay on the road while Audrey gibbered and squirmed, her eyes rolling around in wide-eyed fear.
“Okay, hold on.”
I was leaning forward, my chin jutting over the steering wheel as I focused on how to maneuver to my right and catch an upcoming exit when a heavy roar shook the highway beneath us.
A frantic look into the rear view mirror revealed a Buick moving up quickly, solid and menacing, with as much metal in its front hood and panels as covered my whole Beetle. Crazy guy was going to run us over.
I shot to my right. The Buick swerved in behind me, inches from my tail. I spotted the demon car ahead of me. Shark fins, missile taillights. Sure enough, it was the same black Cadillac that had first appeared after the battle with Filomena in the stream near Santa Paloma. This asshole behind me is in on it too. Oh man, I think that’s Doctor Steel himself driving. So he’s not just depending on his flunkies any more.
The Buick started to honk furiously. The demon car’s rocket-shaped lights, jutting from its giant tail fins, brightened as it braked.
“They’re trying to sandwich us.”
“An exit.” Audrey pointed at an opening in the guardrail.
It wasn’t an official turnpike off-ramp, but it was a way out of our jam. I yanked the steering wheel to the right, braked as I hit a patch of ice on a wide shoulder area. The little car responded by spinning into an out of control, tight circle. My hands gripped the wheel, twirling it, fighting the sudden centrifugal force. Fear-sweat burst out of every one of my pores. Speeding cars and monstrous trucks hurtled towards us. Audrey’s screams filled the interior of the car. Filled me—Christ, I was screaming just as loud. Pure end of the world terror. Suddenly I was facing Doctor Steel’s Buick, front end to front end. The evil creep looked startled, like this ice-slide move of mine wasn’t foreseen or planned by him. He flashed by, missing us by a foot or so as the VW skidded off the highway, bumping onto the rough dirt and gravel of a turnpike maintenance yard.
The lot was surrounded by fencing.
Out on the furious road, Steel’s Buick sped on, disappearing with the stream of traffic.
The demon Caddie was backing up along the shoulder, its fins slicing a path towards us.
We were trapped.
I floored the accelerator, spitting stones, and raced towards a shed that was flanked by a pile of debris and a scattering of oil barrels and machine parts.
Wheeling around the building, I spotted a vehicle exit blocked by a thick chain. On the other side of it, a dirt lane led to an asphalt road populated with houses and lawns where a man walked his dog, and two kids tossed a football. There had to be a way to escape. Audrey looked weak—pale, drawn, and stoned. She could barely stand, let alone get out and outrun the creatures pulling into the lot.
The left side of the chain was attached to a short pole. There was an irregular hillock scrabbled together from old stone and oily dirt, about six feet high, between the pole and the fence. Clumps of grass and a few scraggly bushes were attempting to survive on the pile. A footpath, about two feet wide, traced alongside it and out to the lane on the other side of the chain.
“Fuckers never heard of Bugs before. Hold on, Audrey.”
I rammed the car towards the hill, passenger wheels on the flat, driver’s side climbing the slo
pe until we were on the verge of rolling over. I downshifted, yanked the steering wheel to climb higher until all four wheels were bumping up the incline, then stepped on the gas and spun back to the right. The car didn’t have the momentum we needed to shoot past the trouble spots. One tire smacked into a cement block hidden by shrubs, and I jerked the steering to the left, then punched the clutch as we slid and sputtered towards the pole. With a crunch, we hit and were yanked backwards. The back right wheel well was caught. The tires spun, the engine protested. The demon car came into view around the shed.
“Damn pole’s got a hold on us.”
“Will they kill us?”
Flooring the accelerator in response, our heads jerked backwards, and our hopes soared when a ripping sound was followed by the VW shooting forward. A red chunk of metal flew into the air, then clattered down behind us as we were propelled past the pole, swerved onto the dirt lane, and sped away from the demon car screeching to a halt back at the chain.
“No toll. Didn’t need to pay the toll,” I yelled triumphantly, then beeped the horn as I looked back at the red-eyed creature climbing out of the pursuer’s car.
The thing wasn’t Filomena, but looked to be of the same family as her. Fire and stone skin, alien, dangerous. Its muscular body appeared to smolder with murderous intentions. If it wanted to do violence, it didn’t need a gun like Filomena had threatened me with. As our eyes clashed, I had the impression it was letting me escape—that it could leap across the space between us, if it decided to, and feed on me at will. Like Filomena, it wore a visible, ultra large crucifix around its neck.
Does anybody else see these creatures as I do? Monkey Man, Fish Man, snake-tongued Doctor Steel, red-eyed demons. Maybe Audrey can?
I had bested Steel in the past. Even so, he always appeared nonchalant, unperturbed. I suspected he could foresee the outcome of our encounters, but when I had spun out on the ice and slipped through the guardrail, he appeared startled. My maneuver was not part of the plan. The dynamics of our encounters had shifted since Pan had hosted me in the Valley—and I had discovered my magic symbol. Steel had participated in this attack directly, but instead of his henchmen being dangerous human thugs or poisonous snakes, this time, magical beings that used the god tunnels had assisted him.
Miracles (The Remarkable Adventures of Deets Parker Book 3) Page 6