It was Lupercus!
Chapter 8
Later, in the woods…
He looked like hell.
Dried blood stained his face, his five o’clock shadow had stretched into two days, and he had nothing to wear but his brief flying suit and a pair of formidable-looking giant wings that stretched up tall and wide along his back. He didn’t know when he would need them to make an escape, and his wings were part of his protection, so until he felt more comfortable, they stayed on his back.
He didn’t know how he felt about this new world.
Being a stranger in a strange place, he had to assume that everyone was his enemy and couldn’t let himself be seen. He hid behind trees and bushes, watching people come and go along Gypsy Reef, while feeling lost and alone. He had nothing, no money, clothes, or food, so he had no choice but to make his home in the woods and eat anything he could find. The woods offered soft grass and leaves where he could lay his head for a few hours, but he was exposed to the cold nights with only his wings for cover. He needed to find a den, a cave, anything that would shield him from the elements.
He was always hungry, a new and strange sensation for him. In Hell, everything he needed was provided, but here he had to fight and scratch to stay alive. It wasn’t all bad, though. The stream where he washed was cool, and the winds stretched out a calm hand to stroke his brow while quenching a thirst deep inside his soul.
He especially liked the rain, the storms that seemed to frequent this part of the country. The dark clouds reminded him of the Black Heavens, where the gods resided, but those black clouds didn’t remain above as these did, they dipped down, their smothering billows surrounding you with heat that singed your skin, and soot that whirled around you like black snow.
Since the woods were dark and gloomy, the daylight didn’t bother him, but he knew he couldn’t stay hidden forever. One night, while rooting around in several garbage bins, he found a pair of discarded sunglasses that shielded his sensitive eyes from the sun and also hid his scar. He felt better wearing them and could feel his confidence returning. Now, for the first time, he decided to go out among the people. Leaving his wings behind, he walked along the Reef’s promenade, enjoying its many unusual sites. He didn’t realize that his thick mane of blond hair, deeply tanned skin, and rippling muscles were creating quite a stir among the women until they crowded around him and began to gently tug on him to come and join their beach party. He had always enjoyed the attention of women and was tempted to go with them until he happened to look up and saw a full moon in a dark sky.
Something inside him gave a jolt, and he looked around. Was it night already? The Reef was so lit up he hadn’t even noticed the setting of the sun. Where the hell had the time gone? He had to get to Sugar!
Leaving the Reef, he hurriedly made his way toward the mansion, but it was getting late. Was she supposed to dance that night? He couldn’t remember. Taking the chance that she would be there, he turned and made his way toward the club.
The minutes seemed to fly by, and the moon rose higher and higher. He had to hurry. When he arrived, he was stopped by a sign that said, No shoes, no shirt, no service. He looked down at his brief flying suit and sandals with straps that wound all the way up to his knees and knew he must look like some mythical creature in a fairy tale. Damn! Why the hell hadn’t he thought of clothes? He couldn’t worry about it now, so he hurried toward the woods to get his wings and begin searching the strip from the air. Suddenly he saw a helicopter, and a moving figure running along the beach.
* * * *
Spice, covered with the blood of another kill, stumbled along the sandy stretch, frightened and out of breath. She heard a faraway sound, looked up into the sky, and saw a helicopter circling the area.
They had spotted her!
Her eyes darted around. Where would she hide? She tried to run, but the sand was too deep. God, what was she going to do? They were close, so close they were beginning to bear down on her. And then from somewhere far away, laughter and gay, musical strains grabbed her attention.
Not the Reef, no, not the Reef!
She needed the darkness of the woods, so she turned away from the promenade and tried to run faster, but her steps were slow and awkward in the sinking sand. The helicopter lowered, drawing closer and closer, the sound hurting her ears. She hid her eyes from the giant spotlight that scraped the ground erratically. She tried desperately to hide from it, but it followed her. A flood of fear engulfed her. Her chest heaved. Her eyes watched the monster in the air as she scurried along the shore. Desperate for someplace to hide, she looked out at the ocean, wishing she could lose herself in the waves. She fell repeatedly, becoming bogged down again and again in the sand. She needed to get to the woods, to the animal dens and caves where she could hide.
The beast was so close she could feel the hot air of the motor blowing down on her and choked on the oil and gas fumes that gushed toward her. With the putrid breath of the monster breathing down her neck, she couldn’t go on much longer, and looked around.
Oh, God! she thought and suddenly stopped. I’m going the wrong way!
She turned, but the helicopter swooped down again, blocking her way. She was forced to turn and continue the way she had started. She looked ahead and saw the Reef’s promenade. If she went there, she’d have nowhere to hide, but she couldn’t stop. She had to try to get lost in the crowd. It was her only chance.
Finally, her feet met the pavement. The speed of her pace picked up, and she broke through the crowd, looking for somewhere, anywhere, to go. Her eyes anchored on the Rock Candy Club only a few yards away. She had to try to reach it, but when she tried, she found herself surrounded by tourists who blocked her way. The spotlight surrounded her, highlighting her bristly red hair and her mutated face and body.
She lunged forward, trying to get away from the light, but couldn’t. She whirled around and around. The sound of the rotors, the angry shouts from the hunters, all mingled with the screams and murmurs in the crowd. With her heightened senses, she could hear their voices.
“My God,” whispered the murmuring accents. “What is it?”
“Some kind of animal,” came an awe-filled answer.
She was cornered, trapped.
Sobs choked her. Tears streamed down her face, blinding her. She turned and ran one way, then another, but there was no place she could hide.
With a dramatic sweep of one arm, a uniformed man in the ‘copter threw a lasso that fell down around her shoulders. Fear renewed itself within her, and she fought like a wild animal. Before she could get out of it, the helicopter rose, tightening the rope around her, and lifted her from the pavement. She struggled, her legs flailing as she squirmed furiously. Finally, a car with a screaming siren and squealing tires skidded to a stop. Three men jumped out and advanced on her slowly. Fear rose in her while her heart thrashed in her chest. She watched as the line of men came closer and closer, guns pointed at her, and on their belts hung hatchets and flashlights.
Suddenly a pair of strong arms caught her from behind.
She kicked and growled, her twisted, claw-like talons scratching through the air while the others closed in and held her fast. She struggled, trying to hide her face from the light, but it was too late. She stood exposed in its hated brightness. While she thrashed about, another group of men came forward carrying a crudely built cage. It took several of them, but they managed to throw her in and lock it.
When she was at last contained, the crowd on the promenade applauded and circled the cage. They stared at her while she growled and flailed her taloned hands through the bars. Still under the influence of the moon, she had a wild-woman look about her. Blood smeared her hands, breasts, and face, and her body resembled that of an Amazon warrior, strong and extremely voluptuous. Her wild movements caused her hair to fly around her head, partially hiding her penetrating eyes that glared through the thick, red, bristly strands. She glared at them as they talked about her.
“Look
at her eyes,” one man whispered. “My God, she has something of a nocturnal look about her, almost as if she were created from the night. I’ve never seen anything so wild and beautiful.”
“You know who she reminds me of?” the other man asked.
“Who?”
“You know the gal that does that act in the Rock Candy Club? You know the one. They bill the act as Sugar and Spice. This thing reminds me of Spice.”
“Good grief, Cal, get a grip. This thing, whatever it is, means business. Spice is nothing more than a beautiful little she-devil that can chew me up any day, or night.”
“I agree, but wouldn’t it be interesting if this was one of those situations where life imitates art?”
Spice stiffened at the words, icy fear dancing down her spine. They were only guessing now, but soon they would know. She went wild. She grasped the bars of the wooden cage and shook them violently, but they wouldn’t give. The crude, well-built cage was meant only for the temporary capture of an animal. Later they would put her in an iron cage, a jail, and examine her. She would be punched, prodded, and stuck with needles. She had to somehow get out, but knew that only a miracle could save her now. She looked up at the moon. The effects of the rays were beginning to fade, her strength leaving her. In only a matter of minutes, the mutation would reverse itself, and she would be exposed for who she really was.
She couldn’t let that happen.
But how could she stop it?
* * * *
With the crowd’s attention focused on the creature in the cage, no one noticed that the storm, still distant and threatening, had hidden within its turbulent clouds a lone figure. Except for his blond hair, his black leather clothing helped blend him into the darkness as he circled above them. Looking for a place to land, his searching eyes anchored on a church that stood adjacent to the Reef’s promenade. The church had a graveyard that stretched long and wide, the haunting sight disturbed only by a pair of angel’s wings, one broken, the other cracked. Their ragged beauty reached upward into the black sky, providing shadows that stretched across the dry grass. Dead leaves littered the ground, and flowers stood in cracked vases, dying on the graves.
The vivid colors of autumn had painted a lovely picture of death.
He flew past the excited crowd and managed to swoop down and land behind the church. After tugging at his wings and hiding them in the brush, Judas crept out from behind the church and made his way toward the Reef’s promenade. Darting from one gravestone to the next, he finally hid behind the crumbling angel’s wings. After several minutes of watching the spectacle, he planned a very careful strategy. He slowly separated himself from the shadow and crept around the sidelines of the crowd, trying to stay undetected. He saw that the cage hung slightly above the ground, the back of it against a grove of trees. He quickly crept into the trees, getting as close as he dared.
“Sugar!” he whispered loudly.
In the midst of her threatening growls, Sugar cocked her head as if she’d heard something.
“Sugar!” he called out again.
This time her head turned toward the sound, but still saw no one.
“Over here!” Judas called out.
She whirled around quickly and looked down, her eyes anchoring on two glowing green eyes that stared out at her from within a clump of bushes.
“I’m here to help you,” Judas whispered as loudly as he dared.
Her gaze darted around at the crowd of men who had captured her. They were unfurling a rope to wrap around the cage to hoist it up on a truck, so they weren’t watching her. She turned back toward the stranger and hissed loudly, “How do you know who I am?”
“It doesn’t matter. Just do as I say and you’ll be safe.”
“But, why would you help me?”
“Later! I’ll tell you later! As soon as you get free, run into the woods!” Deciding he needed a diversion, Judas looked up at the lowering sky and began a soft chant.
“Vulcan, god of land and sea
Loose thy mystic energies!
Open wide thy doors of blight
And loose a storm upon this night!”
The storm sprang forth like a crouching tiger, and Sugar was thrown from one side of the cage to the other. A deluge of rain fell quickly, and the people on the promenade began to scatter. With everyone running for cover, Judas hurled a sizzling spear of lightning, stabbing the rope and burning it through. The moment the cage slammed to the ground, the door flew open and she tumbled out. Quickly scrambling up, she took only a split second to look around. With a quick movement she jumped into the woods and became lost in the trees. She ran for several minutes until she was grabbed from behind. She screamed.
“Quiet!” Judas hissed as he clamped his hand over her mouth. “Do you want to bring the whole fucking military down on us?”
Suddenly he felt an elbow in his stomach and all the air knocked out of him. By the time he recovered, she was lost in the trees. Although blinded by the downpour, he finally managed to find her again. This time he whirled her around and gave her a left-handed slap, causing her to sink to the ground. He quickly hoisted her up on his shoulder and started for the edge of the woods where he saw the back of a string of buildings. He ran for them while the wind and rain still caused chaos on the promenade.
Hurrying down a narrow alley, he concealed himself in shadows, hid behind trash bins, and crept stealthily along fences until he finally reached the Rock Candy Club. Since the club was open, the back door was unbolted, and he slammed in, finding a forgotten old prop room that was ideal for looking out on the promenade. After propping her up in a corner, he pushed her wet hair out of her face and gave her cheek a few gentle slaps to bring her around.
She woke up fighting.
He quickly grabbed her hands and clasped them securely by the wrists and held them. “Look, lady, I’m trying to help you, but I can’t if you keep fighting me. If you’ll be still and do as I say, we might get out of here alive. Any sound you make could call all those MPs down on us in a hurry, and I don’t think you want to do that.” He watched her for a moment to make sure his words sunk in and then slowly released her hands. He was rewarded with a stinging slap across his face. With anger boiling over in him, he reached for the hand that hit him and bit it hard.
“Ouch! You bastard!” she yelled and began beating his chest.
“Look,” he said, holding her down. “I know you don’t know what the hell’s going on, but I don’t have time to tell you right now. You’ll just have to trust me, so sit here, and be still.”
She slowly ceased her struggle while watching him with sullen, angry eyes.
When she didn’t move, he turned and crept to the window.
As soon as his back was turned, she jumped up and headed for the door, but he was quicker and caught her around the waist.
Holding her tightly against him, he whispered in her ear, “Look, I don’t want to have to tie you up, but I will if you don’t do as I say.” He slowly released her, watching every move she made with his electric green eyes. While he was hesitantly creeping back toward the window, she reached up to turn on a light.
Seeing the flood of light, he turned quickly and slapped her hand away from the wall. “What the hell is wrong with you? You want to get caught? No lights, see!” With a quick movement, he grabbed some masking tape nearby and wound it around her wrists.
“No!” she cried out, struggling.
“If you won’t do what I say, then I’ll have to force you.”
While in the heat of struggle, Sugar reared back her head and spat on him.
Judas lifted his hand, wiped it off, and glared at her. “You little witch!” Pushing his soiled hand in her face, he said, “How do you like it?”
Sugar sobbed softly as he continued to secure her hands.
Thinking she had become unusually quiet, his gaze darted up and saw her staring at him, at his face, his hair. “Why are you looking at me that way?”
She said nothing.
“Answer me! What the hell’s wrong with you?”
She still said nothing, only glared at him.
“Fine, don’t say anything. First female I’ve ever seen that didn’t run off at the mouth.”
While keeping an eye on her, he edged slowly back to the window.
Chapter 9
Sugar, shifted back to her human form, watched him while he crouched on the floor, at his blond hair falling in thick strands that hid a lot of his face and at the mountain of muscles that rippled as he moved. Her breath stopped when she saw a wound around his eye. It was raw, raw enough to tell her it had been done recently. She could tell it pained him. She could see it in his eyes, his vivid green eyes that continued to gaze out the window. Who was he? He’d come out of nowhere to help her. Should she trust him enough to put her life in his hands?
Judas heard her struggling and shifted his gaze toward her. Her eyes met his with a look of pain in them. He lowered his eyes to her wrists and saw the red marks. “Would it do any good to ask for your promise to stay quiet?”
She said nothing, only nodded.
Before he could get the masking tape off, a light from the helicopter swept over the building, and he quickly pushed her down and covered her with his body.
When the danger passed, Sugar felt him slowly lift his head, but he didn’t move. Finally she shifted her gaze, and saw him staring down at her with a hungry look in his eyes.
“It seems the danger is over,” she whispered.
“I see you can talk.”
She began to get nervous. “I think it’s all right to move now.”
“We need to be careful,” he whispered. “We’ll give it a few more minutes.”
Sugar knew she was in a helpless position if he decided to rape her. She tensed, wiggling to get from beneath him.
“Be still,” he said, his breath labored.
“What are you waiting for? Untie me. The danger is over.”
Sugar and Spice Page 6