by G A Chase
Colin Malveaux stepped out of the shadows of the open truck bay and faced Sanguine. “You think maybe I didn’t expect you? Those two are the laziest animals I’ve encountered in my hell. The snakes, however, are far livelier.”
“Makes sense that he relates to snakes since he is one.” Myles’s attempt at humor almost made Kendell laugh, which would have given away their location.
“Now, where are your compatriots?” Colin asked. “I don’t for a minute believe you came here all on your own.”
Sanguine patted the two gators’ scaly heads. “I think you underestimate my friends.” As she moved toward him, her guardian gators kept pace.
“She’s not talking about the swamp creatures,” Kendell whispered. “She meant us.”
Colin casually swung his iron cane. “I wouldn’t come any closer. Even if you can control the animals here, I’ve got quite a few snakes slithering guard around those hellhounds. Took me longer than it should have to realize they’re connected to that she-wolf. If I were to take a guess, I’d say they must be that old, overweight lapdog and the bitch’s bastard offspring. Hell has a way of changing people and dogs.”
It took all of Kendell’s strength to keep Cheesecake from attacking. “Not yet, girl. He’s just trying to get under your coat.”
Sanguine sauntered closer. “Not a bad guess, and I won’t insult your intelligence by pretending the dogs don’t matter to us all. We’re just looking to get them back.”
He leaned on his cane with both hands. “So we’re up to the negotiation stage.”
“Good,” Myles said. “She’s got him thinking he has the upper hand by playing into his business skills.”
Kendell clamped her hand to her mouth to prevent a scream when a black snake slithered across her foot.
Myles patted Cheesecake’s haunches. “I think Sanguine may have sent us a guide to where the puppies are being kept. Let’s see what door the little guy slinks under.”
All she could envision was some horror story involving a building filled with snakes. “How do you know this one’s from Sanguine and not Colin? Seems like the kind of trickery he’d dream up.”
Myles nodded at the black silhouette of the VW bus as it crept up the street. “Have Minerva back the van to the warehouse door. I’ll slip in with Cheesecake and our little slithery friend. If that snake is two-timing us, you’ll be able to rescue me. If not, I’ll bring the puppies out.”
“I don’t want you to leave me.”
He leaned in to give her a heartfelt kiss. “I’ll only be a minute.”
* * *
Kendell watched Cheesecake follow Myles as he crept up a loading ramp after the undulating black serpent. Having them both face potential danger made her freeze in place. I could still chase after them.
“There you are.” Polly had snuck up behind Kendell.
Grateful not to be alone, she hugged the bandleader. “We think the puppies are in that warehouse. Sanguine has Colin distracted for the moment, but we don’t have long. What’s with the silent bus? That thing can usually be heard from a block away.”
“Minerva found a stealth mode on that old jalopy. She pushed the light button in too hard, and the thing went silent. Apparently, Delphine made some changes she didn’t tell us about. We can sneak it right up to the loading bay.”
Worried as Kendell was about Myles and Cheesecake, she was glad to know that they had the support of the band. “Get in position, and listen for Cheesecake. If there’s a problem, send someone to get me. I need to check on Sanguine.”
Kendell stayed hidden next to the corrugated metal wall until she saw the black shadow of the VW merge with that of the neighboring warehouse. One conscious human snake is worse than a hundred mindless ones. They’ll be okay so long as Colin doesn’t know what we’re up to. The rationalization gave her enough strength to turn her attention to helping Sanguine.
As she peeked back down the alley toward the river, though, both Colin and Sanguine had disappeared. Fucking great. Now I have to go after her. She began to understand why Myles made lists of things to do. He wasn’t so much trying to make sure he didn’t miss something as steeling himself for the tasks ahead.
She kept low and ran across the short open space between the two buildings. Even the two monstrous alligators had vanished, though Kendell wasn’t worried about them. Great lumbering beasts with jaws that could crush her motor scooter weren’t nearly as frightening as coiled black ropes in the shadows pretending to be snakes, ready to strike.
Time was not on her side, and her fears—rational and otherwise—would just have to bugger off. Focusing as much energy as she could on picking up any random sound, she worked her way under the raised loading dock.
“I’m going to ask you again: where are your friends? And don’t get smart with me this time.” Colin’s tone of command from inside the warehouse confirmed that Sanguine had gotten herself into a mess.
“You and your little pet worms can just fuck off.”
Apparently, she either hadn’t been bitten or didn’t care. Kendell thought the latter more likely. Having lived out in the bayou, Sanguine would have dealt with more than the occasional water moccasin.
“You won’t give in to fear. I can respect that. Your grandmother taught you well. I wonder how you’d feel about seeing one of those hell puppies tortured.”
“Death is a part of life.”
Kendell knew Sanguine well enough to detect the slight waver in her voice, indicating a bluff.
With Colin focused on interrogating Sanguine, Kendell climbed onto the concrete bay for a better look. The two gators lay against the walls on either side of the roll-up metal door like marble sentries. Each shook its head in warning at her approach.
Fuck you, Sanguine. I’m not leaving you alone in there. Kendell crept close to the left side of the opening, away from the voices, and rounded the wall. The full moon shone in the building’s skylight, illuminating her friend, who was secured, spread-eagled, to two metal beams. The ropes around her wrists and ankles never stopped moving. Fuck you and your snakes. Kendell imagined that if Colin ever escaped his hell, he’d add serpents to his calligraphy monogram.
The rough, scaly texture of a gator’s coat of armor scratched Kendell’s arm. The creature gave her an appraising stare as it took up its position at her side. The look was the same Sanguine often had just before cutting to shreds one of Kendell’s plans.
Though Colin had his snakes and his iron cane, Sanguine didn’t look as if she’d been harmed. Assuming the serpent that had guided Myles to the puppies had been the swamp witch’s doing, the devil had even less power than he thought.
Kendell stepped into the moonlight cast through the opening overhead. “Let her go. You’ve lost.”
Snakes coiled around Kendell’s feet before she heard Sanguine mutter under her breath, “Damn you. I had this under control.”
The slithery creatures worked up Kendell’s legs like compression socks with raw elastic tops. “Get them off me!” Her fear was getting the better of her.
Colin turned his back on Sanguine and faced his new play toy. “You can’t imagine how long I’ve waited to have you at my mercy.” The second alligator joined his companion at Colin’s side. “The swamp witch and I were just having a little tug-of-war over who could control more creatures. Thanks to your interference, I guess I’ve won.”
Sanguine let out a yelp of pain while the snakes around Kendell’s feet tightened their grip. Kendell knew she’d made a mess out of Sanguine’s plan, but it wasn’t as if the young woman had bothered sharing her ideas.
“You’re never getting out of this hell,” Kendell said. “You must know that. We’ll never give in to you.”
“Yes, yes, and next you’ll tell me you’re not alone. What you’re not getting is that I welcome you to my hell. How else am I to learn how to use my new powers if there aren’t people to control? I can hardly be a god in life if I don’t first learn what that means.”
“Yo
u did all this just to trap me, didn’t you?” Kendell asked.
He walked slowly around her as though appraising a whore for his brothel. “You’ve proven to be a challenge. I find so few truly worthy opponents.”
“Then let Sanguine go. She’s just a distraction.”
Colin gave a flick of his hand, and the snakes that bound Sanguine slithered away. Kendell knew her friend’s natural instinct was to stay and fight, but not all battles were won on the front line. With a quick nod toward the door, Kendell hoped Sanguine would figure out that she wasn’t alone.
* * *
Myles knew he was greatly outnumbered by his own allies. Every female—human and canine—wanted to rush into the warehouse in some foolhardy attempt to save the women. The debate had grown from frustrating to tiresome.
“We have to leave this to Kendell, but there is a last-resort plan. I can funnel all our energy into her.”
Sanguine took his arm. “Could you do the same for me? I nearly had control of all of Colin’s little pets. With enough spiritual power, I could turn them all to our side. Once those snakes let go of Kendell, all Colin would have is his metal cane. At that point, the dogs could rush in and save her. What good would funneling our energy into Kendell do, really? She and Colin aren’t engaged in some philosophical debate.”
Polly had been occupied cleaning and dressing the scar on Muffin Top’s jaw. “She’s right. We don’t need some spiritual-whirlwind disembodied fight between those two. Kendell needs to get out of there so we can finish up the seven gates and get our asses back to reality. Powering her up only gives Colin the playmate he’s always wanted.”
Myles was well aware of Colin’s interest in Kendell. “Funneling all our energy into Sanguine is a bigger risk. Kendell and I have experienced the deep waters together. I know her in ways that transcend life. There’s a reason we kept this option as a last resort. Don’t forget, we’re in hell. If my attempt at uniting us all goes wrong, we could be trapped here forever—especially considering the nonexistence of time in this realm.”
Sanguine held his hand. “I trust you.”
Polly gave Muffin Top back to Cheesecake and sat next to Sanguine. “I trust you too.”
One by one, the remaining members of the band joined the circle and professed their belief in Myles and his abilities. Losing his sense of self came easily enough, but doing it with five open-minded women bordered on a sexual experience. Myles tried hard to keep that aspect of the experience out of his imagination. He gathered the band members as though forming a bouquet of flowers.
Lynn’s spirit was soft, kind, and playful, with an innocence that couldn’t be faked. Much as she might want to be the opposite of Lynn, Polly’s firm resolve was a shield to protect her inner child, and she understood the keyboard player all too well. In his mind, Minerva stood bare for his inspection. Unafraid and unapologetic, the woman raised by hippies wouldn’t turn away from any self-realization, even her attraction to her fellow rhythm-section bandmate. For all of her brashness, Scraper was the hardest to read. The tough, anti-feminine image she presented to the world was only a game she played while she figured out who she truly wanted to be.
To each woman, Myles presented his truest self—a misunderstood daydreamer desperate for acceptance but wary of people’s assumptions. Though Kendell united them all and was his heart’s desire, Myles turned the inner mirror that directed their spiritual laser beam toward Sanguine.
The swamp witch wasn’t as open as the rest. He understood. After being alone for so much of her life, trusting others didn’t come naturally for her. The band members had each other, and though Myles wasn’t a part of the music, they accepted him as if he were. We’re not taking anything from you, but you must open your spirit for us to become a part of you. He hoped she would understand.
Begrudgingly, she allowed him a glimpse of the curious little girl who wanted to spend all her time in the swamp with her friends, the animals. People frightened her and still did. Letting anyone close, as she had with Kendell, brought a calculated risk to her independence. Every human connection was one more step away from her beloved bayou.
With the mutual baring of souls completed, Myles felt Sanguine turn her attention to every animal in the vicinity—from the two massive gators all the way down to the dozen mosquitoes that were hatching out of the stagnant water in a fifty-five-gallon drum behind the warehouse. She wasn’t calling to them but seeing life through their eyes. The bloodsuckers had a yearning tempered by caution—instinct combined with stealth. The snakes, of which there were far more than Myles had imagined, reacted with aggression to any stimulation, positive or negative. They displayed a need to survive and distrusted all living things, including themselves. On and on the catalogue of animal helpers went until he had an understanding of Sanguine that went far beyond that of any of the women he offered her as helpers.
The four animals Sanguine didn’t connect to were Cheesecake and her pups. With his senses at a distance, Myles only dimly noticed the dogs heading off for their part in the rescue. Much more noticeable were the two canebrake rattlesnakes. At five feet long, they had wrapped around Kendell’s legs and were squeezing her warmth into their cold-blooded bodies. Sanguine didn’t command them as Myles had expected. Instead, each picked up the aroma of a longed-for squirrel. They eased out of the pant legs of Kendell’s jeans. Being so close, Myles considered trying to get a message to her, but he feared the idea of a snake hissing out his message might have unwelcome consequences later on for their love life.
From the snake’s awareness, he felt her shake her foot to remove the final coil. The serpent nearly lost control and bit her, but Sanguine persuaded the creature that more enticing prey lay elsewhere. As the two slithered toward the shadows, he got a fleeting impression of the squirrel Sanguine had tempted into the warehouse.
Had there only been the two snakes, Myles was certain Sanguine would have sent them after Colin, but for every animal she could entice, he would control three more. Her gentle nature with wild creatures was no match for his authoritarian commands.
With the snakes safely pursuing their dinner, Sanguine turned the gang’s attention to her two favorite gators. The lazy creatures liked thinking they were in charge of any domain they inhabited. The monsters, though, were merely Sanguine’s eyes.
From the open loading-bay door, four fearsome creatures entered like a well-trained military squad. The much larger leader took her command position in front of Kendell while the three attack commandoes formed a skirmish line in front of Colin. From the gator’s perspective, the animals were far too energetic, but warm-blooded creatures had a habit of working too hard.
The alligators lingered by the open door as the woman morsel was escorted out by the strange dogs, who must have wanted to save their meal for later.
15
Sanguine knew where the final two gates needed to be, just as she knew who had to guard them. Letting the others discuss their ideas was a distraction, but one that proved useful in not opening a debate.
As everyone climbed back in the VW, she took Kendell by the hand. “It’s down to the two of us. Like Delphine said, we’re the two halves of the cage. You have to provide the seventh gate, and I the sixth. There’s no other choice. My grandmother’s hell isn’t nearly as secure as she led me to believe. With these gates, you and I can be more proactive at containing Colin. Much as I admire my grandmother, being here in the hell she created, I can see how naïve she was to think Colin would just accept his banishment.”
Much to Sanguine’s relief, Kendell was becoming more amenable to her ideas. “Your grandmother’s old shack out in the swamp wouldn’t be the worst place for a gate. Even though Colin’s been there before, it’s not the easiest spot to get to.”
Before Sanguine got in the van, she called to Minerva in the driver’s seat. “Head out to Highway 55.”
With everyone saddled up, Cheesecake stood a good six feet from the door. At first, Kendell tried to entice her into
the bus, but the she-wolf wasn’t having it.
“It’s okay, girl. You and your pups keep an eye on Colin. Just don’t get caught. We’ll be back to find you as soon as we can.”
Sanguine was never sure how much of Kendell’s ramblings the dog understood. The animal gave Kendell a slight nod before trotting off toward the river.
Polly jumped out of the van. “I’m going with her. You don’t need me out in the swamp. I’d just be bitching about the demonic mosquitoes.”
Lynn jumped out too. “I was hoping someone would give me an excuse.”
No great loss. Sanguine kept the thought to herself. At least Minerva and Scraper, who remained in their seats up front, looked like they could handle themselves in a fight.
Kendell, who tended to humor her bandmates, said, “Okay. Just be careful. Colin’s a wily devil. Once we’re done in the swamp, we’ll be headed for Scratch and Sniff. It only makes sense to make that the last gate. Delphine can be my lookout. If you manage to contain Colin in his penthouse, we can meet up at the shop. If not, we’ll find you once we’re done.”
Polly gave a quick “Sounds good” before breaking into a run to keep up with Cheesecake and her puppies, who were already half a block ahead.
Sanguine moved from the crowded back seat to the empty middle bench. “I left a canoe hidden in the reeds, but it will only carry three of us.”
Even with her rough exterior, Scraper didn’t appear to be the swamp type of woman. Fortunately, she volunteered to stand guard at the bus. “I don’t imagine Colin will escape the four hell beasts, not to mention our fellow harpies, but I for one am done with surprises. From here on, we watch our backs.”
It wasn’t the worst idea Sanguine had heard lately.
She suppressed her enjoyment of the ride out to her grandmother’s swamp. The old VW had character, as though it ran as much on magic as gasoline. But Sanguine resisted being seduced by such conveniences, which had a way of dulling her edge, especially in hell.