“I think there’s a cemetery a few miles from here,” Grady replied, never once turning around.
“You honestly think that I am going to stay in a damn graveyard?” D`nae asked grabbing him by the arm and turning him around.
“Listen, if you have a better idea then speak up, because you have about thirty minutes before the sun comes up over that hill, and then you’re going to go up in flames.”
“Can’t we just fly back to my house?”
“Can you fly, D`nae?” Grady asked, then started for the truck again.
“Can I, Danny?”
“Ah hae nae idea. Ah found oot when Ah went o’er the side o’ the loch.”
‘So, how’d it work?”
“Ah cannae tell ye that, luv. Twus a thin that just happen. Aw Ah dae know wus me body felt like a feather.”
“Are you guy’s coming or are you going to stand around until the sun comes up?” Grady called from the truck.
“Come on, babe, before he has a cow. But we are going to teach me how to fly as soon as we get up tomorrow night.”
The cemetery was about three miles down from the elderly couple’s home, and it had exactly what Grady was hoping for: a large standing mortuary. It was a more modern style and looked like it hadn’t been there for a long period of time. Grady drove the truck up as close as he could get and the four got out of the truck. Tabitha had a very worried look on her face, while Danny and Grady pried the double iron doors open. D`nae noticed and took her by the hand, walking her a few feet away before asking what was bothering her.
“Will I be allowed to stay inside with you, or will I be told to go with him?” Tabitha asked with a fearful look on her face.
“You have a will of you own, but do you really want to be awake all day inside a place that’s filled with nothing but the dead?”
“You will be there, no matter your state of being,” she smiled.
“Would it really bother you to spend the day with Grady? You could help him figure out what we will have to do when Danny and I wake up… whatcha think?”
“I would stay with him if it were something that you wish wished of me to do, but I do not feel comfortable leaving your rest unprotected.”
“There’s one way to look at it. They have to sleep during the day just like we do,” D`nae laughed. “Plus, you can kick his ass.”
“Then I will help him while you rest, but I too will slap him in the head if he does not watch his words.”
“If that does happen, just make sure the truck is off the road. You can’t drive, can ya?”
“I have never tried, but I understand the mechanics of the metal horse.”
D’nae laughed out loud at her description at the truck, prompting another confused look from Tabitha. “Then one day, or should I say night, we’re going to teach you how to drive, but for now I better get in there. Sure wouldn’t want to get my first sunburn so soon.”
They walked back to the front of the mortuary and the boys were already on the inside. There were no windows to be seen and it seemed to be a very secure place for D`nae and Danny to rest the day away. The inside was almost completely white, and looked like it was made of marble. The name plates were dark brass with small sconce flower hangers on each side. They were stacked five high, and at the back were four larger encasements that apparently had more than one family member inside. Tabitha actually hugged D`nae before stepping out with Grady, who was now having a hard time pushing the door closed. She grabbed it with one hand and slid it shut with ease, keeping her eyes on D`nae’s until the door cut her view.
“We can get a room in the next town,” Grady said leaning against the door.
“I would rather stay near here, if you don’t mind,” she replied making no eye contact.
“I have to get a hold of my men. I need them to fax me some papers.”
“And this would take leaving them alone in here?”
“Yeah, but we can come back and check on them. I really need to get some sleep. All of this is just going to keep getting more out of hand the deeper we get.”
Tabitha didn’t know what to say, because it was the first time in her adult life that she wasn’t being told what to do. Instead she was being asked her opinion about her thoughts and wants. She decided to walk toward the truck and let the day go as it may. Grady opened a tool chest in the back of the truck and took out a small chain and a master lock then walked back over and made sure the mortuary door was secure. He then hopped in and waited for her to open the truck door. He watched her turn around and look at the building where they had left the other two, then she turned and got into the truck, only to hurry and turn back to look at it again.
“They’ll be fine here, Tabitha. I wouldn’t leave them in a dangerous place.”
“You left her. It was how I found her, or did you wish for that to happen?”
“I screwed up,” he admitted, starting the motor. “I used a dear friend for bait and now I’ve lost her forever.”
“Her heart was with him from the beginning, but you are right, you should have not used her,” Tabitha retorted.
“No one will ever know how much I wish that I had never come to Austin when I did.” Then he drove out of the driveway.
They drove around the town of Cedar Park for several hours before Grady finally pulled into a motel. He paid for the room then drove back out. He asked Tabitha if she wanted something to eat, then rephrased the question and asked, “Are you hungry?”
She nodded once, keeping her gaze out the side window as they drove down Main Street. Grady pulled through a fast food drive, and got a couple of hamburgers and fries, and two soft drinks before heading back to the motel. He had to tell Tabitha to get out of the truck before she would open the door, because she just sat there with a dull expression on her face. Only when he told her to do something in an order type fashion, would she move with haste.
“Go ahead and eat, I need to make a few phone calls. Do you need the restroom? I may be in there for a while,” Grady asked, taking out a little black book and his cell phone.
“I have no need of it at this moment, no,” she replied, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
Once Grady closed the door, she stood quickly and grabbed the bag of food, taking it back to the bed. She looked at the fries and set them aside, then unwrapped the burger. After examining the sandwich, she took a bite, wrinkling her brow for a second then raising both and widening her eyes. “Mmm, how strange,” she said then took another bite. She looked down at what she thought were pieces of straw that stood in the little cardboard box, then picked one up and smelled it, popping it in her mouth right away. She took in a deep breath and grabbed several more, shoving them in her mouth all at once. She reached over and picked up the cup and gave it a funny look then flipped the lid off. By the time Grady came out of the bathroom, the bag was empty and the end of the bed was covered in open containers and deli paper.
“Did you eat it all?”
“Yes, it was amazing. Have you always eaten like that?”
“Well, yeah, I guess. How about we go get some more. I could use a few of them myself,” he smiled, laughing inside that she had eaten both meals.
“Yes! I mean, if you would like,” she excitedly stood.
Tabitha was sitting up as close to the dash as she could get, trying to see the big lit up sign as Grady pulled up to the ordering speaker. This time he got her a foot-long chili dog and himself two double meat hamburgers, along with two large chocolate shakes. He handed her the shake, then asked her what she thought.
“It is cold in my hand.” He laughed and told her to take a drink out of the straw. When she asked how it worked he spit shake all over the steering wheel and part of the dash, cracking up. He pulled a red rag out from under the seat and started wiping it off.
“You have to suck on it to get the ice cream to the top of the straw,” he explained, as they waited for their food.
She gently put her lips over the straw and drew air, t
hen gave it a small suck getting a mouth full of cold cream. Her head went back and her lips puckered up, while she slowly looked over at Grady. He took the burgers and drove back, smiling the whole way back, watching her enjoy her first chocolate shake. Right as they pulled into their parking spot, she grabbed her head and moaned out loud.
“Brain freeze?” Grady laughed.
“It is a sharp pain in my forehead!”
“That happens if you drink a frozen drink too fast.”
“Was it not something that you could have told me?”
“I’m sorry, I never thought about it until I saw you grab your head,” he replied, holding back a snicker.
Once they were back in the motel, she began eating the rest of her food. She was about halfway through when Grady asked, “How do you like the chili dog?”
She held it out, tilted her head, and replied, “It doesn’t taste much like dog. Maybe it is the brown stuff on top?”
Grady once again started choking on the bite of hamburger, and Tabitha simply continued to eat. They were about finished with their meal when his beeper went off. He wiped his mouth and got to his feet.
“I have to make a quick run, but I won’t be gone long. You can watch TV, or get some sleep if you want. Do you need anything while I’m out?”
“Another one of these, if that is alright, of course?” she said and held up her shake cup.
“I’ll be back within an hour. Lock the door as soon as I leave, and if anyone knocks just pretend you’re not in here.”
“I believe I can take care of myself, Mr. O’Brian,” she smiled, revealing a glob of chili on the side of her mouth.
Grady walked over and leaned down, picking up a napkin and gently cleaned the side of her mouth. Her head began to lean back as her eyes rose to meet his. His fingers brushed her cheek and her breath caught in the back of her throat. She shied away, practically turning her back on him so that he couldn’t see the rush of blood filling her cheeks. She heard the door close and hurried over to slide the chain in place. She took a deep breath and smiled, going right back to her meal. She started to take a bite, then sat it back down on the table. She got up and walked over to the mirror on the dresser. She pushed her hair back and leaned in close to inspect herself. She lightly placed her hand on her face, and smiled at her own surprise of the way she looked. She rushed to the window and watched as he drove away, then went back and completed her second meal of the day.
D`nae lay curled up in Danny’s arms on the cold marble floor of the mortuary, neither noticing how truly uncomfortable it was. Their bodies were as dead as those that surrounded them, not even the slightest movement in the veins. If anyone were to open the doors, they would think that someone placed two dead bodies in here then left them to rot, only when the sun went down, these two would wake and become the creatures they were before they laid themselves down. If someone actually opened the doors, both would burst into flames and never wake again, but Tabitha had made sure that Grady locked the outside with one of his own locks before she would even leave with him. If only by the look on her face.
When Grady returned to the room, Tabitha met him at the door. He could tell she had been lying down by the way her hair was messed up on one side. “Didn’t mean to be gone so long. It seems my men and I are on the outs,” he explained, setting two more bags on the edge of the bed.
“The sun will set soon. Shouldn’t we be getting back, before they wake?” she asked, still standing by the door.
Grady looked down at his watch. “We have a few hours. Mind if I use the bathroom for a while?”
“Of course not. But I would like to be there when my… she wakes.”
“Understood.” Then he picked up one of the bags that he just brought in, and his personal one.
He went into the bathroom and Tabitha walked over to look out the window. She knew the time by feel, not by looking at a band on someone’s wrist, and knew it was getting close to the time for what she thought of as her master to wake. Grady opened the brown leather bag and took out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, then started drawing a bath. He then opened the smaller black bag and took out a bottle of peroxide, ointment, and a roll of gauze. He stood there looking at himself in the mirror, realizing that his eyes were sunk in, and his flesh was a tint of red. He pulled his shirt over his head, making a hissing sound the moment his arm lifted above it, then turned to witness the herd of red lines marching from the once small scratch to the center of his back. The wound was now seeping a puss-like liquid that was starting to smell like dead flesh. It had become twice the size that it once was, and the itching and pain was almost unbearable.
Grady finished undressing and slid down into the warm water. He leaned his head back about the time Tabitha knocked on the door. “The sun sets, Mr. O’Brian. You must make haste.”
He closed his eyes and laid the washcloth over his face, whispering, “Women.”
“Being a woman has nothing to do with anything, and there is no need to speak if you wish not to be heard,” she snapped, then walked away from the door.
He sighed, only then remembering that Tabitha literally had the ears of a hound. He sat up and washed gently over the wound on his shoulder, then stood and finished with a quick shower. Once he was finished and dried off, he placed some of the ointment on his shoulder, taping a piece of gauze down to keep it clean. He still thought, or wanted to think, that it was just an infected scratch from a branch in one of the scuffles on the riverbed. He opened the door to find her holding the other bags and waiting at the door.
“Can we go now?” she asked tapping her foot lightly.
“Mind if I put my boots on first? Ya know, they may want a little time alone,” he smiled, tying the first boot.
“I have no cares about matters such as that. My concerns are on others that rise as they do, or have you forgotten about those that are taunting you?”
“Okay, I get what you mean,” he replied, standing up, gathering the rest of his stuff. “You have no cares about matters such as what?”
He stumped her so bad with the question that she just stood there. He walked over, leaning down close to her, almost face to face then dropped the bag that he held in his hand and took the keys out of his pocket and open the door. When he leaned back down to retrieve the bag, his eyes never left the ones that were following his every move. He stepped back and held the door open far enough for her to go out first.
She swallowed the lump that had crept into her throat and walked past him, lowering her head as she went by. Grady had a smile on his face the whole time her back was turned, and was starting to become very happy that she was around. He knew his love for D`nae was one that he knew he could never fulfill, because of her love for Danny, and here stood a beautiful woman, one that had no idea how amazing she really was, and every time she spoke, his blood seemed to heat up like it had never done with another female. He found himself drawn to her scent, as if she were wearing a perfume that had the power to draw the strongest of men to her side. She was intoxicating, and he was starting to feel her poison, a drug she was clueless of having.
D`nae’s eyes fluttered as her limbs filled with the life of her former self. The first thing she felt under her hand was the faint beat of Danny’s heart. She raised her head to see him smiling back down at her, then she remembered where she was. She sat up, trying to focus her eyes in the pitch black death chamber.
“I want out of here, right now!” Then she quickly got up and started feeling her way to the double doors. Danny stood, reaching in his pocket and brought his lighter to life, giving the already eerie room an even more morbid feel. The pale yellow glow of the lighter made the room look like something out of an old Alfred Hitchcock movie.
“Danny, the doors stuck… I want out!” she panicked.
“Nae need tae worry, luv. Ah’m mair then sure yer frein lock it up tight.”
“I know, but I want out. I don’t wanna be in here anymore.”
“T’wull be a’ rich
t,” he softly said, taking her into his arms, letting the lighter go out.
“I know what happens when we go to sleep, and being in here just…” she fell silent, hiding her face in his chest, while pulling her arms up to her own. “Where are they?”
“Dae ye hear that?” he asked.
“What?”
“Tabitha be runnin,” he laughed.
“Open the door,” D`nae yelled, releasing Danny, and pounding on the door. “Tabby, please. I want out!”
“I am here, master!” she yelled back and ripped the incredibly heavy iron door clean off its hinges. “I told him you would be awake… stupid human.”
“Oh, thank you,” D`nae said, practically falling out of the door, wrapping her arms around Tabitha. “Never again. I don’t care if I fry like bacon, I ain’t never going in another one of those.”
Danny stepped out grinning, trying his best not to laugh out loud. Grady sprinted up, completely out of breath, sweat dripping off of his chin. He leaned on a headstone, dangling the keys out in front of himself. “Guess you don’t need these?” Then he started laughing, mixed with a few concerning coughs.
“Grady, are you alright?” D`nae asked, walking over to him and placed her hand on his bad shoulder.
“Sss!” he hissed in pain. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You sure sound fine. What the hell did you do to your shoulder?”
Dark Knight of the Skye Page 14