Alyssa was right there with Gary on the whole getting the hell out of here thing. Though their weekend had failed to turn up any ghosts, she felt haunted just the same.
“I think we can just leave everything in the lobby for the night,” Jeff said from the second floor landing. “We’ll take our time and load up in the morning.” He and Melinda were already on their way up to the room, which meant if Alyssa didn’t get her butt in gear and fall asleep before they started up, she’d be sleeping out in the van tonight.
“All right, I think we’re good here. I’m calling it a night, too. ‘Night, Gary.” Without waiting for Gary’s response, she high-tailed it up the stairs to her room.
But sleep was the last thing on her mind as she stared at the bed, remembering what had almost happened there last night.
“You promised me that you were going to leave her!” Uh-oh, looked like Sextober Fest was going to take a backseat to a spurned lovers’ quarrel. “I filed divorce papers last week, Jeff! This is utter bullshit!”
When she read the news, Melinda’s voice was smooth as butter and as calming as a lullaby. But as soon as the cameras turned off, that woman had only one volume setting: loud and obnoxious. Alyssa tried not to listen, but honestly, in a place that might as well have rice paper for walls, it was hard not to. For fifteen minutes, the verbal volley continued until Melinda had apparently reached the end of her rope. “Screw you, Jeff! I’m outta here!”
The door to their room slammed with enough force to rattle the walls of Alyssa’s room. Melinda stomped down the hallway, the echo of her angry retreat following her all the way down the stairs. A few moments later, the lobby door opened and slammed as well, the pane of glass rattling with the impact.
“Hey, Aly?” Her producer’s words followed on the wake of a knock to her door. “Are you awake?”
Alyssa closed her eyes and sighed. Of course she was still awake. Did Jeff really have no clue that you could hear a pin drop in the next room? She should stay out of this, it was none of her business. But he knocked again and her shoulders slumped in defeat. Damn it. “Yeah, hang on.” She crossed the room and opened the door a crack hoping that Jeff wouldn’t stay long.
“Hey, uh, sorry to bother you, but Melinda took off. She’s having one of her tantrums and it’s really too dark for her to be out tromping around in the woods. Can you go out and see if you can find her?”
Seriously? If Melinda had any brains in her head, she go crawling back to her husband because apparently Jeff didn’t even have the balls to go after her. How charming. “Yeah, I’ll go.” Alyssa slipped her shoes on and grabbed a jacket. One thing was for sure: as soon as they got back to Boise, she was looking for another job.
“Thanks, kiddo.”
What a douche. “No problem.”
Seven
BY THE TIME Alec made it to the fence, he was too late to stop Alyssa from disappearing into the dense outcropping of pines. The anger he felt over his utter helplessness was enough to cause the entire hotel to shake on its foundation, and he didn’t give a good god damn who he frightened in his rage.
There had to be a way he could protect her…but how? It had been decades since he’d tried to cross the boundary of the fence, but Alec was stronger than he’d once been. And though he’d never had a reason to venture past the hotel grounds, he realized that now he had no choice but to try. If anything happened to Alyssa he’d never forgive himself and eternity was a long damned time to live with that sort of guilt.
He pulled open the gate, fully expecting some sort of dramatic reaction. His strength flagged, but not to the point he expected. Anticipation tingled through his body as he took one step, and then another past the boundary of the fence and as though he’d experienced a mild shock, he felt the sizzle of power dance over his skin. His physical body dissolved and it took him a moment to gain his bearings in this new form. He didn’t know how long he’d last outside the grounds, but if he could stop Alyssa before she got too far, it would be worth any punishment he had to endure.
In all of his existence, Alec had never considered the possibility of sacrifice until now. She was worth whatever he could give to her. And he was ready to fight.
#
One thing Alyssa wasn’t going to miss was this freaking cold wind. It chilled her to the bone, almost unnaturally frigid, as though attacking her systematically in an effort to slow her progress and bring her down. If this is what fall in the mountains was like, she had no desire to experience winter. Using her phone as a flashlight, she let the soft glow of the camera light guide her way through the tangles of brush and trees. She followed a path of smashed down grass in the hopes that she’d find Melinda huddled under a branch somewhere while she cried her eyes out over a guy who really wasn’t worth the trouble.
What a serious pain in the ass.
The weekend had wound up to be a total fail. No ghosts, no real story, and she’d learned way too much about her boss and his sexual prowess. Not to mention the hot guy who turned out to be a huge disappointment. Ugh.
A scream that would have peeled paint from the walls rent the quiet night and Alyssa picked up her pace as she headed toward the sound. The wind picked up in intensity, nearly knocking her off her feet.
“Oh my god! Ohmygodohmygodohmy goooooooood!” If she didn’t sound so terrified, Alyssa would have sworn that Melinda was in the middle of the world’s best orgasm. Gross.
“Melinda!” Alyssa shouted over the roar of the wind. “Where are you?”
“Oh my god, Aly?” Her frantic response was as quiet as a whisper as Alyssa changed course and veered to her left. “Help! Help me!”
Running as fast as she could in the dark, Alyssa tripped over an exposed tree root and fell to the ground. Her cell flew out of her grasp and landed near a stack of fallen trees. She narrowed her gaze as she tried to discern just what it was she was looking at. When realization dawned, her mouth fell open in shock. How in the hell…
“Aly?” Melinda sobbed from somewhere in the tangle of fallen trees. Upon closer examination, it wasn’t exactly a crazy pile of broken limbs and logs, but rather, a carefully constructed cage, as though some giant used the fallen trees like giant Lincoln Logs to cage Melinda in.
“Are you okay? How in the hell did you wind up in there?”
“Oh, god, Aly, hurry!” She was beginning to think the only words in Melinda’s vocabulary were oh and god. The teleprompter was definitely the best thing to happen to that woman. “It might come back! Get me out of here!”
What was she talking about? “What might come back?”
“Oh, come on, Aly! Quit asking stupid questions and get me the fuck out of here!”
There was the Melinda she’d come to loathe. She was giving her two weeks’ notice on Monday whether she had another job lined up or not. “Okay, but I need a second here. It’s not like I have super human strength or the Force or something.”
She picked up her phone, but it didn’t offer much in the way of light and most of the fallen trees were just too heavy for Alyssa to move. Another gust of wind nearly knocked her off her feet. “You know, a little help might be nice, Melinda. Maybe you should push one of these logs with your feet while I pull? Ready? One…two…thr—”
An invisible force knocked Alyssa off her feet, reminding her of Alec’s football tackle the previous night. The wind died down to a breeze and from the depths of the makeshift cage, Melinda whimpered, “Aly, are you all right?”
“Just peachy,” she groaned, rubbing at her shoulder. Her skin crawled with the sensation of being watched and out of the darkness, a pair of glowing red eyes studied her. What. The. Hell? Whatever it was, the creature was way too big to be a bear, and as far as she knew nothing in nature had eyes like that. A low, hungry growl issued from the creature’s mouth and the wind picked up with a force that rivaled tropical storm intensity.
Over the cacophony, Melinda’s chorus of oh my gods started up again, this time higher pitched and more frantic if s
uch a thing was possible. She didn’t have time to deal with the other woman’s insanity, though. Right now, Alyssa was more concerned with her own racing heart, labored breath, and the fact that she was about to become some terrible beasty’s midnight snack.
From the cover of trees, it stalked toward her and Alyssa’s breath caught in her chest. She had to be imagining what she was seeing, because the thing coming toward her was a creature straight out of a nightmare.
“Holy shit.” For once in her life, Alyssa actually envied Melinda. For now, she was safe inside her cage.
#
Alec never would have imagined he was capable of such a feat. But in the past twenty-four hours he’d begun to believe a great many things to be possible. The elation he felt upon leaving the hotel grounds came second to his concern for Alyssa’s safety, however. And though he’d lost his corporeal form the moment he stepped past the wrought iron gate surrounding the hotel, Alec was relieved to find that he could use his essence to manipulate objects—or in this case, a person—with a strength greater than that in his solid form.
As the demon stalked toward them, Alec placed himself in front of Alyssa, creating a barrier that he hoped the beast would be unable to breach. He couldn’t kill it, only Jacquelyn could do that, he just hoped he could hold it off until she showed up, or it abandoned the hunt, or the sun rose, whichever came first.
Alyssa tried to get up but Alec knew that if she ran it would only excite the demon and encourage it to give chase. He pressed against her, forming an invisible barrier that he hoped would keep her put. The inability to use his voice frustrated him. How could he communicate to her that he was trying to help her? Don’t move, damn it. Stay still and don’t make a sound.
Behind him, Alyssa froze. “A-Alec?” she stammered just louder than a whisper.
He didn’t have a chance to contemplate whether or not she’d actually heard him. The demon lunged, crossing the twenty or so feet that separated them in a single leap. Alec refocused his energy, sending his ethereal form out toward the demon, wrapping his essence around it in an effort to bring it down. Oblivious to the hard ground, the rocks and branches that jutted up from the forest floor, he rolled with the demon held firmly in his grip.
For the first time in his existence, Alec felt powerful.
“Jacquelyn, this way!”
A man’s voice called out from the trees, and Alec couldn’t have been more relieved. From out of the shadows the diminutive hunter raced through the dark as though the absence of light didn’t affect her ability to see where she was going. She held a dagger tight in her fist that glowed blood red as if in anticipation of impending violence.
Alec had never seen the Waerd in action and watched in awe of her prowess. He released his hold on the demon the moment she launched herself at it. The speed and fluidity in which she moved was unlike anything he’d ever seen and he knew for certain that the hunter couldn’t be entirely human. Once she had the upper hand, she drove the dagger into the demon’s chest and it released a pained cry that shook the ground with its force. The red hot glow of the dagger spread through the demon’s body, hot and angry under its skin. Jacquelyn pulled the weapon from its body and the jumped back as the demon burst into flames.
“Booyah!”
Her victory shout was answered by a round of laughter from her partner who’d caught up in time for the dramatic climax. “Is that what a respectable demon hunter says?” Though he’d never met Jacquelyn’s new Bearer, Alec had a feeling that he’d like him. “Booyah?”
“After what we’ve been through the past few weeks, I think it warranted a booyah, don’t you?”
Eight
ALYSSA FORGOT ALL about Melinda who cried and muttered to herself under the pile of logs as she watched the scene before her, speechless.
This was something straight out of a superhero movie. She recognized the brunette as the woman Alec had been talking to the night before. Up close, she looked like a Navy SEAL or black ops specialist crossed with someone on vacation from Hogwarts. Dark blue fatigues, black long-sleeved shirt, gun hanging below her left arm in a holster. And she was holding a crazy-looking, jewel encrusted dagger that pulsed with a dull orange light. Maybe there was some sort of toxic swamp gasses out here in the forest because Alyssa was convinced she was hallucinating.
“Hey, are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?” The brunette walked toward her, and she shrunk away. Her gait was predatory, and just like the—monster? Creature? Beast?—she’d just killed, Alyssa sensed that she was more dangerous than she looked. And she looked pretty damned dangerous. “Micah, can I get a hand over here?”
Out of the shadows, a man approached, obviously belonging to the teasing voice she’d heard just a moment ago. Despite her shock, Alyssa couldn’t help but take him in. She was pretty sure the term tall, dark, and handsome had been created for him. What was it with this town? It seemed to be stocked with good looking guys. She was surprised women didn’t migrate here in flocks. Whereas the brunette seemed to emanate danger, this guy made her feel instantly at ease. Comforted.
“Are you hurt?” he asked. When he said it, it felt more like a concerned query than an anxious command.
“No, I’m okay,” Alyssa said. A low whine reminded her that she wasn’t out there alone and she added, “I don’t know about Melinda, though. She’s trapped under those fallen trees.”
“On it,” the brunette said. Alyssa watched in awe as she carefully removed the logs and large branches with ease. She exerted almost no effort whereas Alyssa could barely get the fallen trees to budge. That’s it. She was hitting the gym first thing Monday morning.
By the time Melinda was freed from her makeshift prison, she was a blubbering puddle of goo. She couldn’t support her own weight, just crumpled on the ground, sobbing. The brunette turned to her partner and said, “I think this one’s going to need your special kind of help, Micah. I’ll take care of the other one.”
The other one, being Alyssa. It’s not that she said the words with any disdain, but it was obvious that Melinda was in the worst shape, ergo, she’d need more care. Alyssa had no idea what they thought they’d be able to do for her. A Xanax and a stay at a mental institution might be a good start. “Is she going to be okay?” She wasn’t a huge fan of Melinda, but she didn’t want to see her like this, either.
“Oh, she’ll be fine,” the brunette said with a rueful smile. “Micah is very good at helping people get through traumatic situations like these. I have a feeling you’re not going to need anything from him, though. You look tough enough to handle it. I’m Jacquelyn, by the way.”
She reached out and Alyssa took her hand. A quick tug had her on her feet and Alyssa dusted herself off and took a couple of deep breaths. “I don’t suppose you can tell me what the hell just happened here? Because I’m either hallucinating, or you guys grow some mutant bears up here.”
Jacquelyn laughed. “Let’s just say I hunt big game. And that I bagged a trophy tonight.”
Alyssa deserved better than the brush-off she was getting. “I saw you talking to Alec last night and I’m sorry, but no one hunts for elk, bears, or anything else in the middle of the night with a weird, glowing dagger.”
“You know Alec?” Jacquelyn asked, her tone wary.
“Yes,” Alyssa answered slowly. Which reminded her… “I could have sworn he was out here, too. I heard his voice, but…”
“Oh, boy.” Jacquelyn let out a long-suffering sigh. “I think we’d better have a little chat.”
#
Alec didn’t envy Jacquelyn the task of explaining to a nosy, skeptical news crew just how their star anchor had wound up caged under a stack of fallen trees and almost eaten by what could only be explained as a mutant bear. On the other hand, her Bearer, Micah, had done a wonderful job of calming the news anchor down. She seemed to be all right now, and was agreeable to the bear story, though how anyone could confuse a demon with a bear was beyond him.
Of course, Alec supposed
he had a much more awkward and unbelievable conversation to tackle than the existence of mutant bears ahead of him. He should just let Alyssa leave and be done with it. There were still too many unanswered questions, though. A feeling he couldn’t shake that she was meant to stay here with him. It was selfish, but he couldn’t let her go. Wouldn’t let her go. Not without an explanation of his own.
“You were out there, weren’t you? When that thing tried to attack me you kept it away.”
Alyssa’s soft voice cut through him like a knife. The truth was so unbelievable. How could he possibly expect her to understand? “I was.” He stared out at the grounds from the double French doors, unwilling to face her. “How did you know?” The commotion downstairs was all but forgotten in this room and her packed bags sitting by the door was a painful reminder that no matter what he told her, she was leaving just the same.
“I heard you. Sort of. It was your voice, but like a whisper on the wind. Or in my mind. How did you do it? Jacquelyn says you’re bound to the hotel and property and that you can’t ever leave it.”
What else did the hunter tell her? And what sort of light did she paint him in? “I thought that was true as well until tonight. I had to do whatever I could to protect you. And I’m sorry that it wasn’t enough.”
“Wasn’t enough?” she replied with a sad laugh. Her footsteps whispered across the wood floor and he felt the heat of her body at his back. Of all the things he’d lost with his life, he missed that warmth most of all. He wanted to bathe in her heat, soak it into his skin and hold it there. “Alec, you saved my life. You did more than enough.”
She placed her hands on his shoulders and Alec’s eyes drifted shut. His days would be even more empty and meaningless when she left. It was a cruel twist of fate that he would never find peace. “Then why do I feel as though I failed you somehow?”
“Jacquelyn said that sometimes…” She paused as though the words were too impossible to say. “…ghosts confuse memories of the past with the events of the present. Maybe you feel that way because of something that happened a long time ago?”
Haunted: A Sentry of Evil Short Story Page 4