by M J Hutto
“Whatever, we saved the good stuff for tonight. Those were warm up presents.”
They insisted on helping me clean up and I sent cake home with them. The food was gone, and I kept the ice cream as spoils. I walked them out and Karmine said she’d bring the butterfly by tomorrow afternoon if she didn’t find her charm. I told her to bring it either way, I’d make her a new one if she wanted.
Jekyll was waiting at the door when we walked out. He nuzzled me and walked with me to the greenhouse. I sang to the plants and danced around while I did. Jekyll watched it all from the doorway. I told him one of them needed to stay on watch tonight and he said it would be done.
I gathered four leaf clovers, sage, and night-blooming jasmine. The moon flowers were open, so I gathered a few of those as well. I kept a few baskets in the greenhouse for collecting. I checked the blueberry bushes and picked enough of those for breakfast. I was so lucky to have a greenhouse of this size. I checked the tea; it would be ready in the next few days. That would require more than just me to get it picked and prepared. I’d ask Reva and Maxine to help. Maybe Karmine and Dorian too. I looked around, maybe Axle and Roze too.
I was maybe gonna have to hire a couple more employees. Maybe Axle and Roze wanted part time jobs. They were getting old enough, fifteen I thought or maybe almost fifteen. I’d ask Reva.
I shut the door behind me snugly and walked back to the house. Jekyll accompanied me to the door. He waited for me to get inside, then went back to his area. He and Hyde would work out a schedule. I locked the door with the deadbolt and went to check the other doors too. I was feeling a little insecure about safety tonight.
Thibbs was floating lazily around, he’d gotten into the sweet tea again. He was singing drunkenly about the bayou. Something about the moon shining and full in the bayou over his lady love. It would’ve been lovely if he hadn’t been slurring so much. It was almost midnight and he’d be leaving me soon. It was almost my birthday.
Despite the shittiness of the lead up, this day had been pretty good. I’d learned a few things about myself, grown a little and gotten wonderful gifts from my wonderful people. I heard the grandfather clock begin to strike midnight and smiled.
Then, I heard a noise behind me but before I could turn to see what Thibbs had knocked over, something hit my head. All I could think was, What the fuck? They got the mother-fucker! And then, I guess not.
27 Thirty and Done?
So, here we are. Back to where we started. Need a refresher? No biggie. Not much has changed at this point.
It’s still my birthday. I’m still strapped to a damn hospital bed with leather restraints. And let me tell you, in case you don’t know, these things need a key or a locksmith to get out of. I’m no Houdini, okay?
The sock? Yeah, still sweaty and gross and still there. I’m still in this damn basement room and I’m still stuck. My new friend hasn’t come back yet, and I still don’t know who it is.
My tooth is still wiggly, my head is pounding, and my vision is so blurry I can barely make out the stuff in front of me. It clears every now and then but then right back to blurry. So, I know the ceiling is stained and the walls are cement, but it seems to be getting worse instead of better, the vision.
My stab wounds are oozing, and the bite is surprisingly painful. The other stuff is minor. I probably wouldn’t be so worried about the concussion except for the other stuff from a few days ago. I don’t think concussions and recent blackouts from suffocation and drugs go well together.
I tell you; I am WINNING for this birthday. I wish I could tell you I at least finally know who this asshat is, but I don’t. I do know it’s a guy and he’s a lighter skin tone. He’s not Orokkian. So, I can rule out Dani, and Jim since he’s dead, but who the hell knows who else it might be.
The coloring doesn’t match Achlys so I can at least finally say it isn’t him. Isn’t that good? So, now as I lay here waiting for a maniac to come back, I can think about how I have consistently pushed away a guy who seems to genuinely care about me and how I have been suspicious of him for horrible things and did not once give him the benefit of the doubt. You know, thinking like this, I kinda deserve something bad. Maybe not this…-Uh, oh. I hear footsteps on the stairs.
I need to get out of this shit. I’m pulling desperately against the restraints and the footsteps speed up. Shit, shit, shit. He knows I’m awake. He always stops when I’m unconscious. Like I said, it ain’t fun to torture someone who isn’t screaming or yelling or feeling the full effects of the torture.
I hear the door open and make myself lay still. Fuck, fuck, fuck. What is he going to do? He hasn’t said a fucking word. He just comes in and starts doing shit. He doesn’t seem interested in my body, not sexually anyway. My vision is a little clearer at the moment, maybe I can see something. I hear him whistling and my stomach twists.
He’s walking towards me, a blurry sort of blob until he gets to about five feet away. Unfortunately, that is close enough for him to reach me with whatever he’s brought. I feel a sharp sting on my abdomen where it cuts me. A whip, maybe? I can hear him snap the damn thing again and there is a resulting sharp pain in my leg. Yes, it’s a whip, I can see it now.
He’s wearing something over his face but not his hair. Its dark. Not really winning any detective contests here, am I? I doubt Sherlock Holmes will be after me to be his partner any time soon. The snapping is coming faster, and the sharp stings are pretty much nonstop until I feel one on my chin.
Tears stream from my eyes now despite my attempts to stop them. The burning in my nose and throat it’s causing makes the feeling of not being able to breathe that much worse. I close my eyes to try to get myself together. I can hear him walk closer.
Maybe I can see his stupid face if I time it right. When his footsteps stop, I open my eyes to a bright light shining in them. He’s holding a flashlight or something and now he’s holding my eyelids open. That is absolutely terrifying. I jerk my head the small amount the strap will allow, which is to say none. I hear him chuckle and bile burns the back of my throat.
I wish I could throw up on him, I hope I don’t drown in my own vomit. Why didn’t I get a gun? Why do I think that would have helped me? Every one of these damn cowards has come up behind me. How did he even get in my house?
I stop moving and let him shine the light. He’s afraid of me, or he wouldn’t have snuck up on me. I need to get my thoughts together. The light disappears and I guess he is okay with what he finds because he starts hitting me again. The back of his open hand to my face, then the open palm. Over and over.
He finally stops and I whimper. I can’t string two thoughts together at the moment. My bladder released somewhere in there so now I’ve pissed myself too. How stupid, that’s what I’m worried about?
He’s walking around my feet, and I relax a little. At least he’s not hitting me. I feel his hand on my foot. Oh no please, not that…fuck, fuck, fuck. I feel the bile again and then nothing. Blessed darkness.
***
Jaylin is sitting in my kitchen. She’s dressed in a white dress, like something you wear under your cap and gown for graduation. She looks worried and scared and drawn.
“Jaylin, I’m so happy to see you.”
“Oh, God, Kable. He’s got you. He’s killing you. What are we gonna do?”
It all comes back to me, and I look around. “Am I dead? Is this heaven? Or the InBetween? Is this hell?” I finish in a whisper, chin tucked and looking up at her.
She rolls her eyes and jumps up to pace around the room. “No, no and no. It’s a dream chat like the one we had before. I guess technically it IS the InBetween but not like you meant. You aren’t here, here. You are there and I’ve pulled part of you here.”
She groans and flaps her hands around. “You know what the fuck I mean.”
I’m laughing and she’s staring at me like I’ve got two heads; her eyes are wide with white showing all the way around the irises, mouth hanging open. “You’re laughing, why are
you laughing right now? Lil says I can’t do anything else. She says my part is done and she’s lived up to her part of this. Fuck, Kable!”
“What do you want me to say? I can’t do anything either. I’m currently tied to a bed very securely and am unconscious and talking to my dead best friend in a place that may or may not exist. I’m fucked.”
“You are Kable Maybelle Mother-fuckin’ VonSable. And you don’t quit. So, what are you gonna to do?”
Sighing deeply, I flop onto a kitchen chair. “I don’t know. I don’t have a lot of choices. What do I have? Me. I think I’m wearing one of my bracelets, but it hasn’t been very protective so far.”
I shake my head several times. “I had a couple of potions in my pockets unless he took them off me. By the way, do you know who it is? I can’t stay conscious long enough to figure it out. Think Kable, shit.”
I slam my hand down on the table and realize I’m dressed in what I’m actually wearing, and I’ve got all my things on me. Okay, so I’ve got my charm bracelet with Jaylins charms, a couple of half-used charms, a couple of completely used up charms and a couple of really nice mundane charms.
I have a Placement Potation, a Leave Me Be, and a Focus Please in my left pocket. I have a chaos reservoir amulet and a luck amulet in my right pocket. Everything seems to be intact. I check the foot with mostly unbroken toes, the toe ring is still there, so I have a power-up too.
I can use it. I can make this work. But I have to talk it out.
“Jaylin, Jaylin, shut up and listen. I have a few things. I have a power up on my toe, I have my bracelet with mostly stuff that won’t help but I’ve got my jade bead that should be mostly full of luck, my shark’s tooth about half full of strength and my wolfs head for clarity.”
“I’m sorry to tell you this, Kable, but those things can’t be half full. They are either full or empty. There is no try, there is only do.”
“Okay, Yoda. I realize that, but they’ve been on there a while, and I don’t think they’re at full strength. I don’t know how much juice they have so I’m guessing half strength.”
She’s nodding. “Okay. Following.”
“So, I have those and a few things in my pockets. I’ve got a chaos reservoir and a luck amulet in my pocket. I’ll need them touching skin to get them to work but if I can activate my other stuff, I might be able to break free of the restraints to run.”
I growl. “But there are SO many unknowns. I don’t know if he leaves the door unlocked. I don’t know who the hell he is, and I really need to know. And I don’t know where I am. What if I’m in the middle of nowhere and I get out just to be in the middle of the woods in Canada?”
She’s shaking her head. “The what ifs are gonna kill you. Get your shit together and take it a step at a time. You’re gonna have to choose your moment carefully. You can’t wait till you’re too weak to run but it’ll be easier if he’s not in the room.”
Her attention is drawn away from me towards the windows. Last time, that meant something bad was happening to real life Kable. I don’t really want to go back to that, but I need to save her. I’m the only one who can. Also, she is me.
I put my stuff back in my pockets and resolve to go back. “See ya on the other side kid.”
Jaylin is holding my hand when I will myself back to reality.
The room is fuzzy. I can’t see anyone, so I close my eyes, I don’t hear anyone either. I can just barely make out the sound of talking upstairs. There’s a little light coming from a maybe open door.
“Now or never, Kable,” I whisper.
I can feel the ring on my pinkie toe, so I close my eyes and say the words to activate it. I feel the power rushing through me. I pull on the restraints and nothing happens. I say the words to activate my lucky jade, my shark’s tooth for strength, and pull again against the restraints. This time the bar on the stretcher breaks and the restraint comes free on the right hand.
This makes it possible for me to unbuckle the others to free myself but only after I get my head free so I can sit up. I rip the disgusting sock out of my mouth and shove it in my pocket. My head hurts so bad when I move, I almost throw up. Thank goodness there isn’t anything in there to vomit up.
I engage the wolf to help with clarity to help stave off unconsciousness. I pull the Focus Please out of my pocket and drink it down. I only have thirty-six minutes total for the power-up and I used five just trying to get out of the damn restraints.
I pull out the reservoir for chaos but decide to hold on to it for later. I might need it, so I put it on the charm bracelet. That way it’s next to my skin if I need to engage it.
I put my feet on the floor and nearly pass out. There are a lot of things broken in that foot, not just my toes. I think he did something to it after I passed out. I think he might’ve burned the bottom of my feet too. They hurt like hell.
I take a second to center myself, stand up straight and limp to the stairs. I can’t walk up them, so I crawl on my hands and knees. About halfway up, the room spins, and nausea takes over. I vomit as quietly as humanly possible while I hold on to the steps to keep from falling. I almost pass out my head hurts so bad. I let my head clear and then I finish crawling up the stairs.
I drag myself up to a standing position, the door is shut and locked. Sagging against the door in frustration and despair, I feel the skeleton key in my back pocket. I’d forgotten about it.
“What the hell, can’t hurt to try it.”
It goes into the lock smoothly and clicks. The door is open. I tuck it away and hobble out the door trying not to make a sound. I have no idea where I am, so I just need an exit. I open a door and it’s a bathroom. I quietly close the door and keep walking.
“Oh, absolutely, Mayor. I completely understand. I want those things too.”
I don’t believe it. How many people are in this house? I step forward to call out but stop myself. I don’t hear any other voices. It’s a phone conversation. The person talking laughs, a smooth polished laugh I recognize. I shake my head; it can’t be who I think it is.
The room spin uncontrollably. My charm will wear off very soon and I need to be out of the house. I have to move. I push myself down the wall noiselessly towards what I hope is a door. There are footsteps and more conversation a few rooms over. There is a door two feet away. I have to get to the door.
“Hold on, Mayor. Let me get something to write on.”
Oh fuck! I have to get out. He’s going to find me, and I won’t last ten more minutes. I’ll pass out and he’ll just kill me. I see a shadow on the wall and almost pee myself again. I’m screaming in my head. NO, no, no, no!
Jaylin appears in front of me. She’s urging me to keep going as she walks towards the man in the next room. She can only keep lookout for me but that’s enough.
“Kable, you have to fucking go. He’s almost done on the phone. Oh God, Kable. It’s…”
I slip out the door before she can finish her sentence. There is two inches of snow on the ground and I’m barefoot. We are in the middle of a field. I can see a light from something else but it’s a really long way away. But there’s nowhere to hide. I’m going to have to run full out with my poor broken foot. I can feel something moving around in my chest too. I think my ribs are broken. I’m still breathing okay so I have to go.
Thibbs is in front of me with ice on his wings. How the hell did he find me? How did he get here?
“Come on, cher. You gotta run for your life. I’m right here with you. But we gotta run, mon amie. We gotta run.”
28 Run, Girl, Run
I stop thinking and just start running. I stop listening to my body telling me I have to stop. I don’t listen to my legs trying to collapse. The voice in my head screaming he’s going to kill me is pushed away. I only have a few more minutes left of my power up. I have to push. There’s the light just up ahead, it’s only a shed and its locked. Looking around, there’s an open pipe down in the drainage ditch.
The locked shed makes me think m
y luck is running out too. As I slide into the ditch, I activate my chaos reservoir and reach into my pocket for my other luck charm. I’m crawling into the ditch as I activate it and as Jaylin runs up waving for me to hurry. The voice is trying to overwhelm me, but I push it away. Shut the fuck up and let me try!
“He knows you’re gone. He’s coming, Kable. Get in and hide, he’s coming!”
My body is giving out. Please, don’t let him find me. Please, please, please. I crawl further inside, pulling myself along and trying not to make noise. The cold water with ice floating around is soaking into my clothes. I’m so cold my teeth are chattering uncontrollable. I can’t feel my feet anymore. Hey, that’s one positive!
I keep crawling until there’s no where else to go. Jaylin is yelling for me to hurry. She’s so afraid. The pipe isn’t very big, I’ll probably have to back out. I don’t see anywhere to turn around. It’s so cold. I’m so cold. I’m so tired. Is this what dying feels like? Am I dying?
I lay down, it isn’t very far from the belly crawling I was doing. I manage to keep my face out of the water; there’s a pile of trash I use for a pillow. Thibbs is talking to me, but his words aren’t making sense. It sounds like he’s telling me to wake up, but I’m so tired I don’t think I can even open my eyes.
I feel him against my ear, he’s yelling now.
“Wake your little witchy ass up right now! You don’ leave me now. I ain’t done wit you yet, girl. Wake up!”
I open my eyes but its dark and I can’t see. He flies in front of my eyes to pat my nose. His light makes it easier to see but I go cross eyed trying to focus on him.
Jaylin is standing outside the drainpipe telling us to shut the fuck up and praying he won’t look for me in there. Somehow, he doesn’t. Maybe my lucky charms are helping us out. I feel the fear in my belly, trying to claw its way up but I can’t think about it right now.
Jaylin sighs loudly and walks ghost-like through the pipe. She squats down in front of me and tells me to hang on. She and Thibbs are crying. I think I might be crying too but I can’t feel my face. I can’t really feel anything anymore.