“You are the path.” Moreno spoke softly, reverently.
“What?”
“You are the way.”
“Ummm. What?”
“You are the one who shows the way. To faith.”
Sydney had no idea what to say to that. She wanted to argue with him. Deny the label and accusation, but her gut stopped her. Maybe, I can use this to my advantage in some kind of way? She took another deep drink of wine and looked to the waiter to refill her glass. The server was there immediately. Unintentionally, she caught his eye and he gave her a strange look. She couldn’t be sure, but he almost looked like he was trying to subtly ask if she needed help. “If that’s the case, wouldn’t I be more helpful?”
Moreno chuckled. “You are the test.”
“Ah,” Sydney tried to give him a sly smile, but she had no way of knowing if it was successful or not. It must have worked for Moreno regardless. He cut another piece of steak and shoved into his mouth.
"And you think I'm the way? Why?"
"You haven't questioned why you are so different?"
"Well, yeah."
"The Dyians, in their hosts, seek you out."
"But they have tried to kill me," she told him flatly.
He waved her away. "The hosts are confused. Their bodies do not know how to respond to the power inside them. The Dyians are not ready. They can't guide their hosts."
"So what do you think you will do with them?"
"Oh," he breathed. "So many things."
Syd made a note to research this Santeria or black magic or whatever Moreno was into as soon as she could. It was the closest thing she had to a plan. It was the best shot she had to stay alive.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Moreno didn’t pay for the check. Instead, he suddenly jumped to his feet and held out his hand for Sydney. When she took it and he pulled her from the table, leaving one of his men scrambling to pay the bill for them. She tried to catch up to Moreno, but even though he wasn’t much taller than her, she had to almost jog to keep up. She didn’t know why he was in such a hurry, but she went along with him. She really didn’t want to hear him talk more. Besides, she told herself, the less I talk the less chance I take at ruining whatever illusions he has about me.
Moreno, ever chivalrous, put her in the SUV and they waited in silence for his men to return. Once Big and Bigger, as Sydney came to think of them, climbed inside Moreno gave them directions. “Humboldt Park,” he instructed.
“Why there?” Sydney asked.
“There was an attack attempt last night,” he stumbled over the English.
Damn. “OK,” she croaked.
She studied Big and Bigger. They were both South American and Sydney wasn’t even sure if they spoke much English. She had never heard them say anything.
She wondered why and how some got caught up in other people's insanity. How did people like Hitler, Charles Manson, and Jim Jones successfully get people to swallow their bullshit? In Moreno's goons' case she assumed it was money. But is money enough of a motivator to convince people to follow others into dangerous and crazy situations? Of course it is, she sighed. And if you add in even a kernel of belief in Moreno's nut job theories...She sank low in her seat. There were so many elements she had to contend with that she had to fight to not feel hopeless. The Gringos, Moreno, his men...all of them. She had to give them exactly what they wanted if she hoped to survive.
Headlights behind them reminded her that Gary and Jason were following them. She searched the darkness hoping Zak and ET were also still with them, but she had no way of knowing for sure. There was still too much traffic out to discern if anyone else might be following them. Her stomach rolled but she was grateful for the wine that kept her from having an all-out panic attack. I’d kill for some weed right now. She almost considered asking Moreno for some, but had no idea how he would react to that.
The drive was long and uncomfortable. Moreno remained quiet for the longest amount of time since she had known him. She stole a glance and was surprised he had his eyes closed and his lips moved. She had no way of knowing for sure, but she suspected he was praying. Sydney ran her hands over her face and tried to come up with a plan. Not only did she have to worry about not finding hosts, she had to worry about finding them. While Humboldt wasn’t the worst neighborhood in the city, it wasn’t the greatest. Especially, this late at night.
Nearly an hour later, Big pulled the SUV into a spot near the park. Gary and Jason parked a few spots behind them and they all climbed from their vehicles. Sydney felt the weight of her situation heavy on her shoulders. She felt like she was breathing underwater. “I still don’t know if I can do this,” she whispered. She didn’t realize how close Moreno was to her until her spoke over her ear.
“Let your instincts guide you.”
She clamped her mouth shut and shifted her weight. “I don’t suppose I can have a gun or something?”
Moreno laughed. “You will not need it.”
She sighed and turned to face the park. “What do I do?”
“Just go for a walk. We will be watching you,” Moreno nodded towards the stretch of grass in front of her.
Sydney flinched when Gary gripped her shoulder and pulled her against him. “Don’t try anything stupid like running.”
Something scratched at her lower back and Sydney froze. Now seemed like a really inopportune time for Gary to feel her up, but he was clearly rutting around her waistband. Her breath caught in her throat and it was only her shock that stopped her from asking what the hell he thought he was doing. When his hand pulled away and she felt something hard and cold inside her jeans she realized that he had stuck something there. From what she could tell it was some kind of knife or stick. Her breath whooshed out in surprise and relief.
“No worries,” Moreno grinned at Gary. “She knows her purpose.”
“Sure,” he growled and moved away from her. His absence left a cold void behind Sydney.
She ran her hands down her side under the pretense of gathering her courage, but it gave her a chance to smooth her shirt over the weapon in her waistband. She didn’t entirely understand why Gary was helping her—the weapon as well as allowing her to keep her phone—but she wasn’t going to take it for granted. “How long do I have to be out here?”
“Until you find someone,” Moreno smiled at her, showing lots of teeth.
Syd closed her eyes for a second before taking a deep breath and stepping off the curb. She refused to look back at any of them. She wouldn’t give the benefit of seeing her fear. The further she moved away from them the more conflicted she felt. On one hand she was relieved, on the other she felt utterly alone and exposed. She wanted to pull the object out of her pants to inspect it, but she had no idea how far behind her Moreno’s men were following. She didn’t want to risk them seeing it and taking it from her.
A self-preserving voice screamed at her to run while she could. Run until she found a cop, or a payphone (do those still exist?) or to flag down a cab and take it back to Heather and Richard’s house. But she resisted. She knew that would only make things worse. That would not only put her at risk, but guarantee her friends would be hurt. They would probably be dead before she was even able to make it to them.
The sounds of the city seemed far away as she wandered the bike and jogging paths through the park. Every little noise caused her to jump and her arms were covered in goosebumps that had nothing to do with the chilly weather. She assumed it would take hours before she found anyone or anything. But it was less than an hour. And a host found her. Ahead of her, a figure stepped from the bushes and stopped on the path. The most logical assumption would be a mugger or rapist. But the hunched posture and predatory stillness warned Sydney something worse was blocking her path.
She forced herself to drag in a ragged breath. “Hi.” The figure was huge and hulking. Clearly, it was a male and he was dressed in bright colors. She narrowed her eyes and could make out athletic logos on his shirt and shorts.
He looked like he had been out for a jog before he went feral.
The man chuffed like a bear trying to take in the scent of his prey. He was about thirty feet away, but she could hear him panting before he made a high pitched keening sound and her heart sank. There was no longer any denying this man was a host. “It’s OK,” Sydney held her hands out trying to keep him calm.
“Guys? If you can hear me, this is what you are looking for.” She didn’t know how far away Big and Bigger were. She didn’t want to turn to check if they were close because she didn’t want to take her eyes off the jogger. She resisted calling for Zak and ET since she had no way of knowing if there were even still tailing them, let alone close enough to hear her. “Any time now. You can come get him.”
The jogger jerked and shuffled a few feet towards her. “No. No. It’s OK. Just stay there. We’re here to help you.”
As if he could sense her lie, the jogger bolted towards her and she didn’t have time to scream as he slammed into her with the force of a linebacker. The breath was knocked from her lungs and she was stunned as her head slammed into the pavement. The man was on top of her and she struggled to push him off but it was useless. There wasn’t even a chance she could get her hand on the knife at her back. He was too heavy and her limbs felt like jelly. Her vision spun and she croaked nearly biting into her tongue as she tried to cry out.
As her adrenaline kicked in, Sydney’s vision cleared enough for her to see the man’s eyes roll back into his head so far she couldn’t see anything except the whites. Blood dripped from his nose onto her face and she flinched away. She pushed at his head with all her strength but it didn’t loosen his hold on her. He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled. Her head came off the sidewalk and slammed back down with enough force to make her vision go black. Before her brain blinked off her last thought was, I’m going to die here.
Xander
Xander finally stopped pacing after Shay threatened to punch him. He knew she would do it too. His mother and father had been on the phone with Uncle Harry off and on for the past couple of hours making arrangements. He still couldn’t believe they had managed to convince them to go to Canada. None of them were sure they would be able to get there without being followed, but it helped that Harry was a super paranoid hippie that had a few contacts to help get them across the border incognito.
“Come on,” Shay swept into the kitchen and motioned for Xander to follow her into the garage.
“Where are we going?”
“Nowhere, right now. But you and I both need to calm down.”
He finally noticed she was carrying a wooden pipe. “Bah! Did you get into Mom and Dad’s stash?” he laughed, surprising even himself.
“Yeah,” Shay snorted. “Not like they won’t have plenty with Harry.”
Leaning against their mom’s Prius, Shay lit a zippo and hit the pipe, Xander almost laughed. “You look like Sherlock.” Xander had always hated the pipe that belonged to his parents. But that didn’t change the fact that it was older than he was and it was the first pipe he had ever smoked out of.
“Didn’t someone make this for them?” Shay blew out a cloud of spicy smoke.
“I think so. Probably Harry or someone else on the commune.”
“I’m so glad they are leaving.”
“Me too,” he nodded. “We don’t need to worry about them too.”
“Nope.”
By the time they finished the pipe and returned to the kitchen Heather and Richard were sitting at the table making final preparations on their laptop. “Hey!” Heather barked, almost seriously. “Where did you get that?”
“From your dresser,” Shay laughed.
“Which drawer?” Richard drew up, wide eyed.
“I said ‘dresser’ not ‘nightstand.’”
“Oh,” Richard looked relieved.
“Yeah, we learned that lesson before we got out of high school I think,” Xander grimaced.
Shay shuddered. “Yep. Only made the mistake of going in there once.”
“There’s nothing wrong with sex,” Heather narrowed her eyes at them.
“Not at all. But I don’t want to see your…accessories,” Xander shook his head and leaned against the counter. Heather and Richard laughed and she sat next to him and learned her head on his shoulder.
“Speaking of,” Heather looked up. “When this is all said and done, you need to bring Sydney by for dinner.”
Xander was silent for a moment. On one hand, his heart thumped excitedly at the prospect of bringing Sydney to a family dinner. He was touched and comforted by his mother’s readiness to accept her into their patchwork family. He was also relieved at her confidence everything would eventually be “said and done.” But, on the other hand, he was reminded where Syd was. And of how much danger she was in. And of the very real possibility that some or all of them wouldn’t make it out of this alive.
He looked at his mom and her steely eyed confidence reassured him a little. “Absolutely,” he nodded and they all ignored the break in his voice.
The front door opening and slamming shut, made them all jump. Xander was the first to reach the hallway and was both relieved and disappointed to see Zak and ET. “What’s going on?”
“Zak!” Heather exclaimed and pushed past Xander.
She hugged him hard, causing him to make an “oof” sound. “Hi, Mom.”
“You must be ET,” Heather let go of Zak and moved to the kid next to him.
He flinched a little as the woman’s embraced him just as fiercely. “Hi,” he said awkwardly.
“Get in here,” Richard waved them all back into the kitchen. “Tell us what happened.”
“Why aren’t you still watching Sydney?” Shay asked as Heather, Richard, ET, and Zak sat at the table. She leaned with Xander against the breakfast bar.
“We lost them,” Zak sighed.
“How?” Xander would have snapped, maybe even shaken Zak a little if he wasn’t currently high as a cloud.
“They stopped at a restaurant. When they came out they were in a hurry. There was a bunch of traffic. We just lost them. I’m sorry man. We were afraid of getting too close. We didn’t know what they would do to her or us or you guys if they saw us.”
“Shit!” Xander pulled out his phone.
“I know,” Zak apologized.
“What are you doing?” Shay asked Xander.
“Trying to call Syd.”
“Don’t!” She pulled the phone from his hand. “If they haven’t taken the phone from her yet, you calling could get it taken. Or get her hurt.”
“Shit!” he said again, resisting the urge to kick something. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Trust Sydney. Wait. Just like the rest of us.”
ET was messing with his phone and a crackling, static, startled them all. A voice came through the speaker and Xander struggled to understand it. “…240. Reports of a 240 in progress at Humboldt Park…”
“What’s that?” Heather asked.
“It’s a watch dog app. I made it myself. It monitors police radios for specific codes in specific areas. I have had it set for assaults, murders…stuff like that.”
“What’s a 240?” Xander leaned over ET’s shoulder trying to get a look at the phone.
“Assault.”
“Do you think it is relevant to us?”
“Who knows?” ET shrugged. “But it might be.”
“Got anything better to do?” Zak asked him.
“Hell no.”
“Let’s go,” Shay pushed away from the counter.
“Wait,” Richard spoke up. “What are you going to do?”
Xander shrugged. “Go see if it is a Dyian. If it is, it might be the proof we need to go to the media.”
“Or,” Shay pointed out. “It could be Sydney.”
Xander nodded at her, unwilling to say out loud he had been thinking the same thing. “You guys stay here,” he told his parents when they stood up.
“We aren’t just g
oing to not help!” Heather tried to move around Richard’s chair.
“Yes. You are,” Shay told her.
When Richard pulled her back into her chair she scowled at him.
“Zak and ET could use some rest and dinner. They need mothering,” Shay grinned at her. Zak and ET seemed to pick up on her intent and didn’t argue about being left behind.
“Let us know if anything else comes through,” Xander called to ET as he pulled on his boots and hurried towards the door. He nearly fell but managed to stay on his feet.
“I’ll send you the app!” ET promised.
“Thanks!” Shay called over her shoulder.
“Be careful,” Heather called after them as they raced for the door.
Chapter Twenty-Four
When Sydney’s vision returned, the jogger was squeezing her head like he was trying to pop it. One hand gripped her jaw, causing her teeth to grind against each other painfully. The other hand pushed from the top causing pressure to build at her temples and bright white orbs flashed across her field of vision. She gave up hoping Big and Bigger were going to help her. She wiggled and pushed against the man but couldn’t get enough leverage to get him off her or to get to her weapon. Deciding to go for the man’s eyes, she hooked her fingers, and dug her nails into the soft eyelids.
The man kept growling and pushing her head into the ground and she dug her nails in deeper. Doing so, she felt something give way and if she had been able to, she would have gasped. At first she thought her fingernails were ripping off, but instead, it felt like they exhaled. What the fuck? The man jerked away with a yelp and fell backwards off her. Not wasting a second, she rolled to her knees and pulled the object from her waistband. It was, indeed, a knife, she discovered. She nearly sobbed in relief as she hurried to the man.
The jogger was thrashing around clawing at his own face. He didn’t even notice when she leaned over him, dodging his flailing arms. Between his fingers she could make out ugly red welts where she had clawed his eyes. But there was something else too. The half-moon cuts were her nails had broken the skin, were swelling with fluid. The blisters were yellow and looked like they were going to burst.
Show No Fear (The Dyian Series Book 2) Page 14