by Jada Turner
Ren nodded.
Shayne began to fidget. Her skin was burning.
“Couldn't you say something? I mean, are you ok with this?”
“Well, to be truthful, I must inform you that I already knew of your true nature.”
“What? How?”
“There is an interesting collection of obituaries on the internet. I found yours this afternoon. You said it was for you to know and for me to find out. So, I found out.”
“I worried for nothing.”
“Yes, I am afraid you did.” He bent and lifted her in his arms.
“Is there anything you don't know about me?”
“Only the number of organisms I can give you.”
“You mean orgasms, right?”
“Is that not what I said?”
Shayne smiled. “I stand corrected.”
******
END
Fallen Angel
Chapter 1
Willa’s heart did a somersault when the young man entered the diner. He was tall and broad, and walked slowly toward the counter, as if unsure where he was. Willa caught a flash of his deep blue eyes as he glanced up from beneath his baseball cap. They were bright as sapphires, soulful and lustrous.
“Hey hun, what’ll it be?” Gemma, all frizzy blonde curls and big teeth, pounced on the man before Willa could make a move.
A look of uncertainty crossed the tanned, boyish face, and the man gave the waitress a shy look. “Coffee,” he said in a voice of draped silk. “Black.”
Gemma caught Willa’s eye, and they both silently communicated their mutual appreciation for this unexpected piece of guy candy. Willa felt a mixture of relief and resentment that Gemma had got to him first. Even the very thought of speaking to him had transformed her tongue to lead.
“Go take a seat, hun, and I’ll bring it over,” Gemma said.
The man nodded stiffly, and headed toward a booth at the far end of the half-empty diner. Night had settled outside, and the start of the graveyard shift had officially begun. Willa had expected another slow and boring night, but now things had become much more interesting.
She made a show of wiping down the counter, while tracking him like a big game hunter. Though he’d been a frightened rabbit when he’d talked to Gemma, he moved with assured graceful movements, and his whole body seemed to radiate with a primal strength that made him even more sexy and mysterious. Willa sincerely wished the oversized jacket he wore didn’t block out her view of his butt.
“You wanna pick your jaw up off the counter,” Gemma drawled next to her. “Drooling ain’t very ladylike.”
Willa scowled in mock irritation. “I wasn’t drooling.”
“Please, you had the hots for him as soon as he came in,” her friend said. “Not that I blame you. Boy, he’s making my ovaries tap dance just looking at him.”
“Gemma!” Willa exclaimed, giving her a playful slap on the arm. “You can’t say things like that! You’re a married woman!”
“I can still window shop, hun,” Gemma said. She gave Willa a sly look. “But you’re a single gal. You wanna take his coffee over to him? He might let you handle the goods while you’re at it.”
“Quiet!” Willa hissed, feeling the heat in her face. “He’ll hear you.” She shot a covert glance his way. He was sitting hunched over the table with his head down. Her gaze lingered on his honey dark neck and the curls of white blond hair that peeked from beneath his cap. “You go. I’m officially off men.”
“Hunny, you must be crazy,” Gemma replied. “You can’t live like a nun forever.”
Bitter memories gnawed at the edge of her mind, and the allure of the handsome stranger faded. “Just take his coffee over,” she said in a serious voice. “I’m not interested.”
Gemma offered her a sympathetic smile and nodded. “Okay, hun, I was only kidding. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“I know,” Willa replied, brightening up. “It’s okay.”
As Gemma headed off to the man’s table, Willa moved to the other end of the counter, hoping that a greater distance from him would calm down her over-excited hormones. She couldn’t deny she was very attracted to him, but what she’d also told Gemma was the truth. Men were strictly off-limits at the moment. After what happened with Alec, men could well be strictly off-limits for good. Besides, the blond Adonis with the dazzling eyes and shy smile hadn’t shown her even the slightest flicker of interest.
Self-consciously, she checked out her appearance in the window. At twenty-two, she was round and curvy with elegant features and large, dark eyes. Her face was a perfect oval and her dainty nose and cupid bow lips complimented each other. Her jet black hair was tied back into a ponytail, and though she thought the lemon yellow waitress uniform Big Al made them wear made her look dowdy, Gemma assured her it showed off her large breasts and ample ass. Willa wasn’t so sure. She didn’t feel as pretty as other people told her she was. Worrying about her appearance had undermined her confidence all her life. That was why she ended up in such a mess, dropping out of college and ending up waiting tables in the back of beyond. How could any guy be possibly interested in her?
Nevertheless, she couldn’t stop herself from looking back and checking out the dreamboat. Gemma had poured him his coffee, and he was taking tentative sips from the cup. She found herself looking at his hands. He had gorgeous hands, sleek with long elegant fingers. They were a far cry from the grimy, calloused paws that belonged to most of the farmers and truckers that came in here. She started fantasizing how those soft hands would feel slowly caressing her body, trailing across her breasts before slipping down into the moist heat between her legs.
“Waffles!” a thick guttural voice called, shattering her fantasy.
Willa jerked back into reality, and let out a deep breath. She looked around guiltily, as if afraid that people could read what was going on in her less than saintly mind.
“Waffles!” the horrid voice yelled again. “More waffles!”
Willa brushed a strand of loose hair off her face and turned to where the voice was coming from. In one of the booths near the washroom, the three goons who had come in a few hours ago leered over at her. The one who had demanded more waffles, a bulky red-faced man built like a refrigerator and with jagged yellow teeth, grinned. “Waffles, girly,” he said in a sneering tone. “What’s the matter? You deaf?”
His two companions sniggered at this. They were smaller than him, but just as unpleasant. The small ratty one had been ogling her all night, when he thought she wasn’t looking, and the scrawny one with the face like a horse had spent most of the time scratching at his balls and picking his pimply nose. Like the young blond man, they weren’t locals, a rare occurrence indeed in a town like Moon Creek. Few people came here by choice, and those who did live here yearned to escape.
Willa looked at the three men and forced a bland hostess smile onto her face. “Of course sir,” she said politely. “Coming right up.”
She headed into the kitchen to get his order, wondering where the big lummox was putting it all. He’d done nothing but stuff his face since he came in here. When she headed back to their table with the food she wrinkled her nose against the smell of sweat and sour milk that oozed off them. She quickly put down the plate in front of the big man and made her retreat.
Before she could get away though, he reached out and grabbed her arm. His clammy hand was as strong as a vice.
“You’re a pretty little girl,” he said in a slobbering voice. “Why don’t you stay around and keep us company.”
Willa tried to pull herself free. “Let go,” she snapped. “I got other customers to look after.”
The big man yanked her closer, until she was almost bent over him. His stale breath lapped over her face and neck. “We’re customers, bitch,” he said menacingly. “You better look after us right, or you’ll be sorry.”
“Yeah,” Ratty piped up. “You tell her, Flick.”
Willa tried to pull away from him again, panic
slicing at her nerves. This wasn’t the first time a man had power over her, and she wasn’t going to take it quietly. “Let me go!” she yelled, her voice on the edge of hysteria.
At that moment, Gemma came over to the booth. “There a problem here guys?” she said sharply, all her warm cheer turned to ice. She’d been in the job long enough to know how to handle trouble makers. “Do I need to get the manager? Or maybe my husband, he’s the deputy.”
Willa turned to her in gratitude, and she caught someone looking at them at the far end of the diner. It was the young man she had the hots for. For the briefest of moments, their eyes met and an electric shock went up her spine. His face was a stoic mask as he watched the scene unfold, but his eyes seemed to burn with a wild fury. His gaze both terrified and excited her.
While she was looking at him, Flick released her. Dragging herself away from those fierce eyes, she returned to the matter at hand. Rubbing at her arm she quickly backed away from the booth. Flick’s squinting black eyes glittered with malice.
“We was only having a joke with the girly,” he said to Gemma, his voice thick with contempt. “No need to get heavy.”
“Willa, hun, get back to work,” Gemma said in a much friendlier tone. “If you gentlemen need anything else, I’ll be only too happy to oblige you.” Her tone made it crystal clear that they were not to bother Willa again for as long as they were here.
Flick shrugged his mountainous shoulders and started shovelling the waffles into his mouth. “Sure,” he grunted as he chewed noisily at his food. His two cronies shot venomous glares at Gemma and Willa, but said nothing.
Her heart fluttering, Willa forced her legs to work again and tried to walk nonchalantly back to the counter. When she looked back toward the blond young man, his booth was empty, save for the money for the coffee. Willa looked out the door, but he was nowhere to be seen.
CHAPTER 2
A chill wind knifed through her as Willa headed over to her car in the parking lot behind the diner. Usually after their shift was over, she and Gemma would leave together, or Big Al, the manager, would walk with her. Tonight though, Gemma had to go early to see to the babysitter, and Big Al had passed out in the back office again. He’d started drinking when his wife left him, and the diner was suffering as a consequence. Willa had the sinking feeling she’d have to look for another job in the near future.
As she walked past the boarded up buildings frowning down at her, she realized that was easier said than done. Willa had been in Moon Creek for six months now, and the town was slowly dying. The big steel mill had closed down a couple of years ago, taking with it most of the jobs. The smaller businesses had suffered as a result, and most people scratched a living on the farms out of town, or in the local stores, gas stations and bars. Everyone was more or less hanging on by the skin of their teeth, and Willa didn’t rate her chances of finding work quickly. Landing the job at the diner had been a stroke of luck. Big Al had taken pity on her when he’d heard her sob story and Gemma and taken her under her maternal wing. She owed them a lot, but severely doubted she’d ever be able to fully pay them back.
That meant going back on the road again. Willa didn’t relish that prospect much either, but deep down she had known it was somehow inevitable. Alec was sure to be still looking for her, and she might have been forced to leave even if the work was steady. She’d given up all hope of having a settled, normal life now. The only way to survive was to stay on the move.
The sound of footsteps roused her from her brooding. She had reached the parking lot and was zoning in on her beat-up Datsun, when she realized someone was close by. The parking lot was dimly lit, and tenebrous shadows stretched all around, oppressive and full of menace. Willa recalled the unpleasant encounter with Flick and his nasty gang and her heart beat faster. She never wanted to run into those freaks ever again, especially on her own and in the dark.
Scolding herself for freaking out, Willa calmed her nerves, and got her keys out of her handbag. She started to unlock the doors of her car when she heard the footsteps again. This time they were running. She turned round in panic just as someone grabbed her round the waist.
Willa let out a terrified scream, but a sweaty hand clamped over her mouth. She recognized the bad odour that was assaulting her senses and thrashed wildly. Whoever was holding her did not budge and several frantic moments flew by as she was dragged out of the parking lot and down a nearby alleyway.
An overhead neon sign cast the alley in a hellish red light, and she while she was still struggling, she was suddenly shoved hard against the back wall at the end of the alley. She hit it with enough force to knock the breath from her body. It brought tears to her eyes.
“Now, little girly,” said Flick. “There’s no-one around to interrupt us.”
Willa wiped her eyes and looked up at the big man and his two cronies. “Leave me alone,” she said, trying to hide the terror in her voice. “You’re making a big mistake.”
“You’re the one that made the mistake, bitch!” Ratty hissed. His eyes were roaming all over her. Willa fought the urge to throw up.
“I’ll scream!” Willa threatened. “The manager will hear me! He’ll call the police!”
Flick barked a laugh. “Scream all you want, it’ll only make us hornier.”
“Tight little bitch,” Ratty said. He came up to her and ran one grubby finger down her cheek. “We’ll make you scream.”
Something inside Willa snapped. Being handled like a piece of meat brought back brutal memories of Alec. t was enough to make her anger override the terror that gripped her. Without hesitation, she spat in Ratty’s face and clawed his face with her sharp nails. The little man hissed in pain.
“Whore!” he snapped, and smacked her hard across the side of her head. “Dirty little whore!”
Stars exploded in front of Willa’s eyes and her ears began ringing. She felt her legs crumble beneath her and she collapsed into the garbage and filth on the floor of the alley. Despite the stinging pain, she glared up a Ratty.
“Go fuck yourself!” she retorted.
“Oh, you’re gonna get it now,” Ratty snarled. He looked really mad, and Willa’s new found courage shrivelled up and died.
“Rip out her cunt!” the horse-faced man suddenly said. It was the first time she’d heard him speak, and his voice had a weird buzzing quality to it. His eyes looked glazed over and sticky black slime was dribbling down his chin. Willa stared at him in open horror. What kind of people was she dealing with here?
“I knew you had some fire in you, girly,” Flick said. Unlike the other two he seemed to have remained calm, which made him more frightening. “I could smell it on you. It makes it so much more fun.”
“Please,” Willa’s voice quivered. “Just let me go. I won’t tell anyone this happened.”
“They’ll know soon enough when they find what’s left of your body,” Ratty said nastily.
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Flick said. “I think it’s time we show pretty girly what’s really going to fuck her.”
Willa’s confusion must have been written large on her face, because Flick let out a belly laugh. He was still laughing as he began to change. His skin darkened and scales started to sprout over his face. His teeth thrust forward in his mouth, blackening and sharpening into fangs, and four black horns erupted out of his forehead. His body was transforming too, swelling and bulging with muscle. His grimy overalls began to split, and a pair of curving pincers jutted out of his chest.
His two friends were also undergoing a similar terrifying metamorphosis. Ratty was rapidly living up to the appellation Willa had given him. His features elongated until he looked identical to a rodent, and grey fur spread like wildfire over his bare skin. There were patches in the fur infested with boils and leaking pus. His hands twisted into monstrous black talons.
Next to him, the horse-faced freak had transformed into some kind of grotesque insect with metallic chitin encasing his body. Membranous wings sprout
ed out of his back and his mouth became a gaping hole writhing with bloated maggots.
Willa stared at the monstrosities unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Behind them the mouth of the alleyway was a beacon of freedom, and her whole body screamed for her to bolt for it but she was utterly paralyzed by sheer terror.
“No!” she heard herself whimper. “Please! This isn’t happening!”
Flick’s eyes, now yellow and reptilian, flicked over her in raw hunger. “Pretty little girly,” he crooned in a bestial voice. “Now we’ll make you scream.”
Before she knew what was happening, he lashed out with one huge scaly claw and clutched her throat. The world lurched around her as he pulled her off her feet and thrust his face into hers. Tears streamed down her eyes as he sniffed her with his snout. A swollen black tongue slithered out of his mouth and lathered her face. Foul smelling drool burned her skin. Moaning pitifully, Willa squeezed her eyes shut and prayed he would just kill her here and now.
“Let her go,” a soft male voice suddenly said, drifting down the alley.
Willa’s heart staggered in her chest, recognizing the voice from the diner. She forced herself to open her eyes. The voice had been so low and quiet she thought she’d imagined it. But behind Flick’s seething bulk, a figure was now standing in the alley.
Brusquely, Flick dropped her on the floor. Willa panted hard as she gulped in the air. Her throat burned with pain. She lay like jelly, helpless and exhausted. She watched as the three monsters turned on the figure.
“You dare interrupt!” Flick growled. “We will tear you to pieces!”
The figure stepped into the neon light and Willa knew she’d been right about the voice. It was the blond man who had come into the diner earlier. He had removed his baseball cap to reveal his sleek pale hair, and his eyes seemed to glow like jewels in the gloom.
“Let the girl go,” he said, keeping his tone chillingly low. “She isn’t for you.”