I focus on the pounding pulse in the side of my neck. I have to stay calm. I begin to count. Rocks will be out for eighty or ninety minutes.
Close to thirty minutes later, a car door slams and softer footfalls enter. The men explain that I’m not cooperating, and a voice as cold as steel laughs. A thinner set of legs in black jeans start down the stairs.
Squinting in the harsh light, Tony, Mullins and … the creep from the colony that knows Scarface.
“What are you doing here?” I can’t help myself. It’s the Hispanic guy from the colony. His mirrored aviators are still on his head. He swears colorfully and loudly before twisting around and grabbing Porky Pig by the throat.
“It’s not her, you stupid bastard.” His fingers tighten around the pudgy flesh. Camazotz are lean and strong. Their hands and arms the strongest parts of their body from the workout they get flying. Tony gurgles and turns slightly purple.
“Hey man, you said ‘it’s her,’” Mullins states.
“I said it isn’t her!” He growls. “This is not Sophia Escari. Don’t you buffoons read the papers?”
He lets go and Tony’s coughing fit is the only sound. Joey paces in a circle around his henchmen.
“She’s just like the photo, and how come she knows you?” Mullins is slow, but he can at least join the dots.
Tony interrupts, not listening at all, and Joey finally orders them both to go and get the photo they keep mentioning. Their footfalls leaving the house make me shiver. I don’t like them one little bit, but I trust this bat even less. Why is a Camazotz connected to my father? What are the chances?
“How did Rockland’s little pet end up in the middle of all of this?” He stops in front of me, and his eyes wander down my body. “Where’s your boy, huh?” Immediately, his eyes go to the open window. “Oh, no, he won’t.” He leaves my vision and I hear the window creak closed.
I need to create a diversion, but I’ve got nothing. “Who are you?” I scream over my shoulder. I still can’t see him. I need him to focus on me. “Answer me. I know they’ve got the wrong person. What are you doing here?” My voice is harsh and loud.
Cold laughter sounds directly behind me. I pray.
“What do we have here? Oh, it’s little lover boy.” My emotional elevator has broken free and is plummeting into darkness.
I watch Joey looming over Rocks. “How convenient for me.” His evil eyes meet mine for a split second before he lifts a boot and stomps on Rocks’ right wing.
My scream is useless. He steps away, laughing and walks around the boxes to stand in front of me again.
“No rescue for you.”
I can’t take my eyes off Rocks. His wing is crushed.
“You broke his wing?” I screech. My gut heaves at the thought of the pain he’ll be in when he wakes up. It’s all my fault.
“Ah, well, they won’t be able to charge me with murder this way, even though it’s a death sentence,” he sneers.
“What?” I gasp. My eyes flick from him to Rocks and back again. “What are you talking about?” I half whisper. Fear is snaking its way up my spine, and I know, in this moment, I have to be strong. The predator in him will eat me alive.
“Look at you sitting up tall,” he taunts. “Appears you don’t know all there is to know about your boyfriend, does it?” Joey says. A smug smirk replaces his earlier sneer. “You know he’s all that’s coming for you, right? There are no reinforcements.”
My lips purse together. He shakes his head. “You think his friends like you, don’t you? You think your golden locks dazzle them. That they’ll worship you too.” He points in Rocks’ direction. “He’s almost been kicked out because of you, and that suits me just fine.”
The men return and Joey doesn’t say another word about the colony. He studies the photo and frowns.
“See?” spits Tony, rubbing his neck.
“Who are you?” Joey moves closer and shoves the photo in my face. I see myself—but not quite. Her hair is shorter but also up in a high ponytail. Thinner lips smile with an uncanny likeness. She’s possibly a size smaller in the waist, but her chest is identical.
“Who is she?”
“Sophia Escari.”
I blink and my mouth falls open. “Tell me what you know!” he roars, making not only me but the other two men flinch as well. Without waiting, Joey moves around behind the boxes again. “Tell me or he loses the other wing.”
Dumb and Dumber make a move to join Joey’s side to see what he’s talking about. He commands them to stay in place. “This doesn’t concern you idiots.”
“Leave him alone, asshole.” My brain is in gear. I won’t be responsible for any more injuries to Rocks.
The story spews from my lips. How I ended up at Josie Hendersens’s house after Thanksgiving. I don’t realize I’m crying until I taste the salt on my lips. “I think that’s my sister,” I finish.
Joey smiles and the angle of the overhead light makes his teeth appear pointy and sharp. The men leave and I’m left alone. My head is swimming. I have a sister. It’s the only explanation of why we look so much alike. A memory stirs of Dad reading about a key witness—a daughter. She works for Enzo so has to be older than me. How did I not put this together before? A daughter with his wife—the baby in the photograph wasn’t me. Josie’s warning rings inside my head. I’m the secret. I’m who she was trying to protect by putting me up for adoption, and then insisting that I don’t go in search of my biological father when I came of age.
Enzo Ascari doesn’t know he has a second child.
I stare at the steps as Joey trudges down them. He’s holding a small metal cage, and white feathers flutter to the floor when he dumps it next to my phone. I watch as he picks up Rocks and throws him in the cage, securing the door with four cable ties. His body is on top of his crushed wing. Joey notices my stare and laughs. “You really don’t know shit. He can’t flip now.” He takes a bow and leaves.
Rocks can’t flip if he’s in a cage? I don’t know anything about the boy I was making out with this morning. This morning? It seems like days ago since I was sitting on the bench surrounded by pancake batter, kissing Rocks. My brain is too scattered to concentrate on counting. He’ll be conscious all too soon.
I listen to the muffled voices above. Someone else is coming to decide. I think to decide what to do with daughter number two. It dawns on me that my value has dropped. I’m not the witness they were after.
High-pitched screeching prevents me from eavesdropping. Rocks is awake and trying to straighten out his wing from under his body. It’s heartbreaking to witness.
“Don’t move,” I whisper. “He broke your wing. I’m so sorry. He’s knows about you.” He pants on the bottom of the cage and slowly lifts his head to look at me. “Oh, God, I’m sorry. It’s my fault.” Tears make tracks down my cheeks again. My sweater is still a little damp from earlier. The cage rattles as his other claw hooks onto a cross bar on the side. He’s trying to lift himself off his wing. His screech feels like it rips my chest open. The pain must be unbearable. He drops down onto his broken wing again and closes his eyes, panting harder.
“Are you okay?” It’s a stupid question.
EEEK!
His answer makes me cry harder. “I know you’re not,” I sob. “I know you’re not.” I turn my head away so he doesn’t have to watch me cry. My tears will pain Rocks as much as it pains me to witness his agony. When I finally get control, I face him. “I’m going to calm my mind, if you want to tell me anything.” Why didn’t I think of this sooner? He’s probably yelling at me, and I haven’t heard a word.
I close my eyes, ignore the biting pain in my wrists and start to count the seconds. It requires all my focus and after six minutes it works.
Decker.
Jeremiah.
Outside.
By now.
“No! They have guns.” I hiss at him. “Can you tell them from here?”
Three squawks. “What?” The choice is yes, no or …
“You don’t know?”
EEEKK!
I nod. Rocks confirms he can’t flip while in the cage, and I tell him that Zabreena knows the Camazotz involved with my kidnapping.
More cars arrive overhead. It’s late, but I’m wide awake. The bigger fish has just entered the pond. I expect a conversation, but the footfalls indicate he’s coming to me directly.
“I don’t blame you, Joey,” he says, entering the basement. “But this doesn’t help my brother or Ramirez get out of the slammer.”
A group of six or so men crowd the basement. I stare at a middle-aged man in a suit. The fabric pinches around his belly, but I wouldn’t describe him as overweight. I soak in every feature, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary. He could be any man at my dad’s workplace. He doesn’t scream criminal and that makes my hands sweat.
“So you’re the sister,” he states. “But Enzo doesn’t know about you, does he? Makes you not worth my time.” I freeze. He’s confirmed that not being Sophia is deadly. “Mullins, take care of this for me. Send me photos so at least I can remind that Ascari pig who he’s dealing with.”
“Could we ransom her?” Joey asks.
“He doesn’t even know she exists. She’s worthless.”
“But—” Joey is silenced by his boss’s outburst.
“I said no! I don’t want his money. I want his number one daughter’s silence!” His neck has turned bright red. He wipes spit off his chin.
I watch as they file up the stairs and the light clicks off. Darkness swims around me. I’m blind.
Don’t worry.
“I want to believe you.” My voice is weak. “Whatever happens, I’m sorry, Rocks. I’m sorry about your wing and getting you mixed up in my mess.”
I hear the cars drive off and know it’s only a matter of time. By the sounds above, only Tony and Mullins are left. They argue and I try not to listen since the topic is how and where I should be taken care of. The more the men argue over my demise, the more I want to tell them not to worry. My lungs have gone on strike, my throat is imitating a roadblock, and the white dots in my peripheral vision are turning into shooting stars. I won't be alive long enough for them to kill.
I picture Mom, Dad, and Mini. I remember our Christmas dinner, all around the table together with Rocks. “Rocks?” I can’t see a thing, but I look vaguely where he should be. “I-I love you.”
His squawks fill the darkness, and I hear his claw hitting the metal. The cage rattles and the cry changes to ones filled with pain. “Stop moving. It’s okay. Please don’t hurt yourself,” I whisper and he settles.
Raucous yelling and stomping booms above our heads. The men are either fighting for the honor or dancing a polka in concrete shoes. The house creaks, and I duck out of instinct.
“Get away,” Tony screams.
“Ow, shit.” More cries and then two earsplitting thunder cracks ring out. My chair jumps at least three inches in the air and I nearly fall. “You nearly shot me, you fat bastard.”
The herd of stampeding bulls head to the door. I listen harder searching for a hint of what is causing the chaos. The muffled yells and cries fade away.
“Connie?” A voice sounds inches from my face.
“Shit!” I yell, blinking at the darkness. I know that voice. “Decker?”
“Where’s the light switch?”
Light floods the room, blinding us all. Jeremiah half falls down the stairs. “Come on. I’ve locked them in the shed but not for long.”
Once I’m released, I grab my phone and the cage and follow the boys through the house. They flip the second they’re outside and start screeching, flying back toward the shed. The van door is unlocked, and the universe definitely wants me to reach nineteen because the keys are hanging from the ignition. Rocks squawks in pain when I dump the cage on the passenger seat.
“I’ll get you out as soon as I can, but we’ve got to get away from here.”
* * * * *
Rocks is lying across our couch. He’s hugging his right arm to his chest with his eyes shut. I’ve wrapped all the bags of frozen vegetable we have in tea towels and placed them over the swelling in his arm and hand.
The trip home took half the night. Once we were far enough away from the chicken farm to reach civilization, I pulled into a gas station. The boys showed up out of the darkness soon after and helped me free Rocks from the cage. Cable ties hold better than I would have believed. Decker placed him gently on the seat and spread his injured wing out flat. Rocks never made a peep, but my fingernails nearly drew blood across my palms just watching.
The boys decided it was safer to have an aerial escort, than to ride in the van and agreed to meet me back home. The looks I caught them give each other did nothing to alleviate my fears.
Rocks flipped not long after I found the highway. His groan of pain and scrunched up face caused me to veer onto the wrong side of the road. There was not a single thing I could do to help him. After several minutes, he slouched back; blowing air out of his mouth in short gusts, and positioned his arm across his chest.
I asked him why he didn’t stay as a bat, and his answer almost forced me to pull off the road. Driving and crying do not mix.
“I couldn’t wait any longer to tell you that I love you too,” he said. He reached across the console to give my hand a quick squeeze. In the madness of our evening, I’d forgotten my declaration. More tears leaked down my face, but the accompanying elevator was definitely going in a positive direction.
Once back home, the boys had taken the van to the park and left it in the handicapped space.
I brush the hair out of Rocks’ face. He’s burning up and soaked in sweat. Grabbing a wet cloth, I lay it over his forehead.
The boys are standing together mumbling in hushed tones. “I’m going to take him to the hospital.”
“You can’t,” Decker says. Rocks opens his eyes, and the pain is too great for even him to hide from me. “If he flips, that’s it. Game over.”
I look back at them. “He needs a cast.” They look away. The fear that I felt in the basement has returned tenfold. I don’t understand the defeat on their faces. I leave the boys and return to the kitchen. The peas have defrosted. I bag up crushed ice from the fridge dispenser. The first aid course from school is coming back to me. The girls and I laughed more than not, and if I had have known I’d be using it for real, I would’ve paid better attention.
Leaving the kitchen, Jeremiah slips out the front door and when I enter the living room, I understand why.
Decker is crying. He’s not doing that guy thing where they pretend they aren’t crying and being tough. He’s openly sobbing. A sharp pain cuts down my center at seeing his anguish. Tears are running down his face, and he rubs them against his sleeve.
He kneels on the carpet and grabs Rocks’ good hand. “Goodbye, brother.” He looks down and sobs into his chest for a moment. “I love you, man. I just don’t know what I’ll do.”
“Decker, look at me.” The pain in his voice is breaking my heart one beat at a time. I have to get him to the hospital. “Look after Zada and keep an eye on Moonshiner. We’re all he’s got. Make sure the other boys don’t tease him too much.” Decker nods his head. “You’ll make a just leader.”
“No, I won’t. That’s your job.” He sobs loudly and covers his mouth with his hand.
Why are they talking like this? Has Rocks been kicked out like Joey said?
“No, it’s up to you now.” Rocks winces. “I’ve only ever been a disappointment to Strickland. You can live up to Judge’s expectations. I know you can, brother.” Rocks closes his eyes and breathes slowly for a couple of minutes.
Jeremiah sticks his head around the doorway. His eyes are red as well and that makes me really start to panic. I can’t even imagine Jeremiah feeling enough to laugh out loud, let alone cry. “Decker, we need to be home before dawn,” he says softly.
Decker’s face crumbles under the words. He moves and gives Rocks a half hug even though he k
nows he’s hurting his brother with the contact. And then he strides out the front door.
I follow them onto the porch.
“Decker, I swear I’ll look after him. It’ll be okay. You’ll see him soon,” I say, resting my hand on his forearm. He wipes his eyes and looks at me. The tears I’ve been holding inside spill over when I witness his sorrow. His pain becomes mine mixed with fear of what I don’t understand is happening.
“No, I won’t. You don’t understand. He’s not going to survive this.”
“Don’t give up on him. I can help. It’s going to be okay.”
“Connie, Rocks isn’t going to make it back to Blood Mou—”
“Decker, what the hell? What are you doing?” Jeremiah interrupts. The tension between the boys changes to something I don’t recognize. I don’t think it’s about Rocks right this second.
“I can drive him back to the market. That’s easy.”
“I’m not talking about Sanguine Mountain Market. That’s closed now till spring anyway. I’m talking about—”
“Decker, don’t!” Jeremiah grabs his arm, and I can see from the white outline of his hand just how firm his grip is on his friend.
Decker rips his arm free. “She has a right to know where the attack is going to come from. And you know as well as I do that she’s going to pay in blood for this.”
Pay in blood … I sway on my feet. I can’t worry about what that means until Rocks is taken care of.
They stare at each until Jeremiah turns his back on us and walks out onto the lawn.
Decker meets my eye, and I can see the worry on his usually calm face. “Rocks needs to return to the real Blood Mountain, Connie—our roost.”
Glossary
Aeronaught: an ordinary human that cannot fly.
Camazotz: a human with the ability to shape-shift into a vampire bat. Any offspring born of a Camazotz will also have the ability to shape-shift.
Sanguine Mountain Page 30