by I. T. Lucas
Dalhu was taking every precaution he could think of.
Amanda made a face as he rushed her to the passenger seat of the small car. “You are really taking me slumming. At least the Mercedes was something I was comfortable being driven in. This car is just blah, and it smells.” Amanda resumed the nonstop complaining she had started as soon as they left the motel, probably hoping he would grow sick of her annoying company and decide she wasn't worth the trouble.
Oh, man, had she had it wrong. He couldn't imagine anything that would detract from how much he wanted her. She could've sung for hours, off key, while farting, and he would've found it charming.
“It's not going to work, Professor. I know what you're trying to do.” Dalhu smirked.
“Stop calling me Professor. Why do you do that anyway?”
“Because I can't believe how lucky I got. My woman is gorgeous and smart—a professor no less—it makes me proud to say it.”
“Well, I don't like it. Call me Amanda, you sound condescending when you say, professor.”
“How do you figure that?”
“You say it as if I'm stupid despite being well educated.”
Dalhu glanced her way before returning his eyes to the road. “Guilty as charged. You are being stupid if you think this constant nagging will change my mind. I just tune it out.”
“Insufferable man…” she spat.
CHAPTER 35: KIAN
“We checked all of the clubs; she wasn't at any of them. And William couldn't get a signal. He said her phone is history,” Onegus delivered the dire news.
Kian was going slowly insane.
Syssi had gone from sleeping to losing consciousness, and now this. Frantic with worry, he paced the small room, feeling like his world was crumbling around him and he was powerless to do a damn thing about it.
Maybe I should pray. Kian's face twisted in a sardonic grimace. If only I could think of a deity I could pray to… He stopped in his tracks and pulled out his phone.
“It's Kian, put my mother on the line, please. It's urgent.” He resumed his pacing.
“What happened?” Annani came on line, her melodic voice instantly providing him with a measure of relief.
Sighing, he felt like a small boy again, when sharing his troubles with his mother had always managed to make him feel better. “I met a girl, Syssi, and she is a Dormant.”
“I know all about her.” Kian heard the smile in his mother's voice.
“How?” he asked, awed by her astounding powers.
“Nothing profound, Kian, we do get texts and phone calls up here. The news traveled through the grapevine.” She chuckled at his misconception.
“I see… Anyway, Syssi is transitioning and is not doing well. She lost consciousness a little while ago, and we don't know what to do. And to top it off, Amanda is missing.” He waited for Annani to say something.
“I am flying over. I will be there in a few hours,” she said after a short pause.
Kian was torn between wanting his mother's support and keeping her safely away. “No, Mother, you can't come. It's too dangerous. With the Doomers here in LA, we can't risk your safety like this.”
“My daughter is missing, my future daughter-in-law is unconscious, and you think I will stay here twiddling my fingers? I am coming, whether you like it or not. Have the helicopter ready to pick me up from our airstrip.” She waited for him to say something. “Kian, this is where you say yes, Mother,” she supplied.
“Yes, Mother… but it's thumbs. Not fingers.”
“What?”
“The expression is twiddling my thumbs.”
CHAPTER 36: DALHU
“So, now you added stealing to your list of crimes, along with kidnapping.” As soon as Dalhu was done loading the car with the last of the supplies, Amanda resumed her incessant nagging.
Driving on a dark and deserted mountain road, he'd found a small shopping center. Closed for the night, with no soul for miles around, the decrepit wooden building housing a general store and a donut shop looked creepily like something one would expect to find in a ghost town. But it was exactly what he'd been looking for.
The simple lock had posed no real challenge for Dalhu, and as he'd suspected, the store had no alarm system.
He'd piled on canned foods, loaves of bread, and drinks. Looking around for more items that were not too difficult to prepare, he'd grabbed several packages of ramen noodles and, some spaghetti, along with canned spaghetti sauce. His own expertise in the cooking department was limited, and he had no illusions as to Amanda's willingness to prepare food for them.
There were a few racks of garments for both men and women at the back of the store, and he'd picked sweats for Amanda and himself. Luckily, he'd found some XXL sweats. They were cheaply made, not to mention too short, but beggars couldn't be choosers. They would have to do.
Despite her loud protests, he'd left Amanda cuffed in the car while he'd gathered the supplies. She'd retaliated by making him go back time and again for towels, blankets, toiletries, and other things she'd figured they would need.
She was right, of course. They had no way of knowing what they would find in the deserted cabin he planned on breaking into, wisely making sure that they would at least have the bare necessities.
So why the hell was she suddenly throwing that in his face when only a few minutes ago she was sending him for more things?
His gaze cut to her. “If these were the sum of my crimes, I would be a happy man,” he grated, then seeing her shrink away from him added in a softer tone,. “If it makes you feel any better, I left three hundred bucks on the counter to cover what we took. I may be many things, but I'm not a thief.”
CHAPTER 37: AMANDA
Reminded of who and what her kidnapper was, Amanda's bravado faltered. He was a Doomer, for goodness sake, by definition a coldblooded, professional killer. She must've been out of her mind pushing him the way she had. She should tread lightly around him and shut up, instead of antagonizing him.
The smart thing to do was to wait patiently to be rescued. Except, how would anyone find her? Had they even noticed that she was missing? Kian and Syssi were probably still on their date, oblivious to her fate. Only Onidu would know something was wrong. It was sad, really, that the only person waiting for her to come home wasn't really a person.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
Kian and Syssi would be worried sick about her just as soon as they found out. And so would be the rest of her family. They'd do everything in their power to get her back.
“Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?” Dalhu studied her face in the dim illumination of the dashboard lights.
“I thought my nagging was annoying you,” she said without looking at him.
“Nah, I like the sound of your voice… even with the whiny undertones.”
Forgetting her newfound resolve of only a moment ago, she hazarded, “You sounded like you have regrets, are they for all the killing you have done?”
Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Why can't I keep my mouth shut?
Dalhu pinned her with an unreadable look before turning his eyes back on the road. “Regrets are for those who had a choice and made the wrong one. I didn't have a choice. So no, I have no regrets. That doesn't mean, however, that I'm happy with the way my life has turned out.” Dalhu paused as if deliberating whether to tell her more.
Amanda's silence eventually prompted him to continue. “My mother was a slave and a whore with no say in her life either, and yet she loved me despite the way she came to have me. Which could not have been said for the rest of the women at the harem; some hated the children that were forced upon them. After all this time, even though I can't recall her face anymore, I still remember her crying when I was torn from her arms and taken to be activated and raised as a warrior in a cold and cruel military training camp. That camp and its teachings of hate and war became my whole life, and I never saw her or my sister again. I could feel sorry for myself and indulge in wishing that m
y life's circumstances were different, but that's all it would be—wishing. It would change nothing.”
Chewing on her lower lip, Amanda reflected on what he'd told her. He was right. She grew up pampered and sheltered, never having to face the things he had since he'd been a young boy. Could she blame him? Judge him? Not really. But the fact remained that after a lifetime of hatred and killing, Dalhu was no doubt broken beyond repair, and to think differently would be wishful and naive. It was exactly as he had said; wishing would not make it so.
Glancing at his hard profile, Amanda felt a mixture of pity and grudging respect for him. Somehow, through all that he'd done and all that had been done to him, he'd managed to keep a tiny bit of himself out of the darkness, and with that flickering flame, he still hoped and struggled to feel something other than hatred and rage. It made her curious. The scientist in her hankered to discover how he was able to do it after centuries of living in what must have been a damn close approximation of hell.
“So what now? Did you really leave the Brotherhood just for me, or did something change?”
Dalhu didn't respond right away. Staring at the dark, winding road ahead, he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “A lot has changed. I'm almost eight hundred years old, Amanda. I got tired of the fighting and the killing… and I learned. This new era of easily accessible information opened my eyes and made me realize that we were being brainwashed and lied to; pretty much about everything. From the moment I figured it out, I began planning an exit strategy and buying this ridiculously expensive jewelry so I would have something to trade for money when the time was right…” He lifted his hand off the stirring wheel, showing her his Rolex and his ring. “When I saw you, I knew I'd never have another chance like that. It was time to take the plunge and run. And here we are…” He smiled and patted her knee.
“That's nice, Dalhu, but what happens when the money runs out? What then?”
“I'll worry about it when the time comes. There is always a market for my kind of skills. I'll find something. Don't worry, I'll take care of you.” Dalhu squeezed her knee reassuringly.
“I bet you will.” Amanda could just imagine the type of skills he'd been referring to. “I guess you're not talking about becoming a lumberjack, or a professional wrestler.” She chuckled with a sidelong glance at him.
“If that's what turns you on, why not? But for some reason, I can’t imagine a woman like you managing on a lumberjack's pay or coming to cheer me on at a wrestling match…” He gave her outfit an appreciative look-over. “Even I know that what you're wearing must have cost thousands.”
“Seeing you shirtless and covered in sweat might be worth the slumming…” Amanda just couldn't help herself. She was used to saying whatever was on her mind, and once the image had formed, she hadn't stopped to think before blurting it out.
“Happy to oblige, ma'am. I'll gladly take my shirt off right now.” He chuckled. “If that's all it takes to turn you on, I'm a lucky, lucky man.”
“Nah, it's too cold for sweating, and it's not the same without.” Amanda shrugged, her lips twitching in an effort to suppress the urge to smile.
“I can think of a surefire way you can make me sweat… you can take your shirt off.” Dalhu regarded her with a leering grin.
CHAPTER 38: DALHU
Dalhu was enjoying the lighthearted banter they had going on. He'd never experienced that with a woman before, and besides providing a pleasant respite from the shit-scape of his mind, it was turning him on.
Tonight, he hoped she'd let him take care of her the way she had begged him to do before. She might need a little coaxing, but he had a feeling it wouldn't take much to seduce her. Amanda was forward and lustful, and she'd already admitted that she found him attractive.
Testing, he slowly moved his hand across her knee to caress the inside of her thigh. Her sharp inhale was muffled. Dalhu's smirked, she shouldn't have bothered to hide her reaction—she forgot he could smell the spike in her arousal.
Well, what do you know? He had been right. Dalhu smiled and returned his hand to her knee.
Distracted by carnal thoughts, he almost missed the turn onto the dirt road leading up to the secluded cabin. As he slammed on the brakes, the car swerved as he made a sharp turn, skidding on the loose gravel before coming to a full stop.
“Nice driving,” Amanda grated.
He shrugged and got out.
The rusted lock securing the simple metal gate at the bottom of the hill required only minimal manipulation to open, and he relocked it behind them before driving up the heavily wooded mountain trail.
It was a little past midnight when he finally parked the car at the end of the long, private driveway.
The place was perfect, just as he had known it would be from the close-up Google image he had pulled up at the motel. With no other dwellings for miles around and no power lines leading up to it, the cabin was completely off the grid. A solar array and a decent sized wind turbine provided its power. And a water-well equipped with an electrical pump took care of the water supply.
The chances of anyone being able to track them to this remote, isolated location were slim to none, as were Amanda's opportunities to run or get help.
Flipping the light switch on, Dalhu was relieved to find that the power was working just fine. He took an appraising look at the cabin's plain interior. The downstairs was one big room, with a simple L-shaped kitchen and a narrow wooden staircase leading up to an open loft-style bedroom. Both rooms were sparsely furnished with old, well-worn pieces that were currently covered with a thick layer of dust.
A massive brick fireplace, flanked by windows going all the way up to the gabled ceiling, was the cabin’s one redeeming grace. He liked the simple, homey feel, but he had to admit that it was definitely not up to his woman's standards.
With a grimace that conveyed her opinion louder than words, Amanda clutched her purse close to her body as if to prevent it from touching the grime. “I'm going to pee and take a bath. You go ahead and start cleaning. This place is filthy.” Without sparing him a second look, she took the stairs up to the loft and strode into the cabin's only bathroom, locking the door behind her.
“Pampered brat…” Dalhu mumbled under his nose.
“I heard that!” she said, flushing the toilet.
“Good!” He answered loudly this time, following her up the rickety stairs and dropping the bags he had carried up on the dusty bed cover. In need of the facilities himself, he waited for her to get out.
But then, a squeak of an old faucet, followed by the sound of water hitting the bottom of a tub, made him realize that the selfish woman had started a bath without considering that he might need to use the bathroom as well.
No big deal; he could take care of business outside.
Once that most pressing need was satisfied, Dalhu finished unloading the Honda and drove it off the driveway, hiding it in the thicket. He made sure it was well covered with heavy greenery, in case someone thought to do an aerial search for the missing car. The keys went under the floorboards of the porch, safely hidden, and out of Amanda's reach.
Back in the cabin, Dalhu took a calculating look at the thick layer of dust covering every exposed surface and the spider webs hanging from ceiling corners and between furniture legs. No matter how dirty the place was, it was small enough for him to have it cleaned before the spoiled princess finished taking her bath. And hopefully, by the time he was done, he would manage to work up a little sweat…
Imagining Amanda's lustful response to his half-naked, glistening body, he felt a surge of arousal. Now that he knew her weakness, he planned to exploit it.
“Game on, Professor.” With a wicked smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, Dalhu took off his shirt and went to work.
CHAPTER 39: KIAN
Outside Syssi's room, Kian found most of the Guardians keeping vigil, sitting or sprawling on the hallway's thinly carpeted floor. The only two absent were on their way to escort his mother whe
n she arrived.
“Any news?” he asked Onegus.
“William is still working on hacking every relevant security camera in the area that's connected to the web. He even mobilized his geek squad to help.”
“His geek squad?”
“You know, the class he's teaching. You should see it, it's like a fucking war room down in his lair.”
“What about the police; did you talk to the chief?”
“Yeah, I impressed upon him that our continued contributions are contingent upon the level of attention he's going to dedicate to this case. Every cop in the state has Amanda's picture by now and is searching for any possible clues. Someone must've seen something, it's not like she could've disappeared into thin air or went unnoticed. Amanda doesn't exactly blend in.”
“That's why I'm so worried. She could disappear into thin air if someone thralled everyone who had seen her getting nabbed. If the Doomers got her…” Kian couldn't finish his sentence. The horrific implications of that eventuality were just too much for him to bear.
He knew he was starting to crack, the fissures becoming longer and deeper with every passing hour without a shred of good news on either front. He held on because he had to; because there was no one else to shoulder the responsibility and relieve him of his burden.
It was absurd, but Kian had the feeling that the moment his mother arrived, he would just let go and shatter to pieces.
And how fucking pathetic was that?
CHAPTER 40: AMANDA
The racket Amanda heard coming from beyond the bathroom door sounded as if Dalhu was tearing the place apart instead of cleaning it up.