by Renea Taylor
From someplace deep inside, I recognized that Dante was kneeling beside me, and I began to scramble backwards, the movement somewhere between a crab walk and a backstroke as I shrieked, “ge…get away from me!”
However, he continued to follow me wherever I crawled until my back was resting against a wall, his large frame preventing any further escape, my body shaking as though having just been pulled from the frozen depths of a river.
I wanted to deny what I’d seen, but I couldn’t, couldn’t deny what seemed to be burnt within the eye of my mind, couldn’t get away from the image of the dead man, nor the skill Dante had used as he'd accomplished it.
Slowly I wrapped my arms around my balled frame, my limbs quivering with reaction as I stuttered, “you…you…holy fuck…you killed him!”
The only sound to be heard in the room was my own harsh breaths of fright as Dante snapped “it was that or be killed Kira!”
Part of me wanted to look, to assure myself that everything I'd seen and been through was nothing more than a bad dream. A nightmare that would end just as soon as I awoke…but I was afraid, afraid to look, because I knew to do so meant I could no longer deny that the man whom I had known since I was twelve, the man that I loved and adored...was a killer.
Finally, with a shuddery breath, I slowly lifted my head to gaze at Dante, and found myself looking into the depths of his eyes, eyes that bore out no softness, nor understanding, in fact were again, the eyes of a stranger, and jumping to my feet, needing time, space to come to terms with my own uncertainty as to whom stood before me, I found that my legs had not fully recovered from being ill, nor of the shock I’d endured, and I stumbled.
Unsteady and uncoordinated, I lost my balance and fell, a whimper shuddering out from between my lips as I verged on the edge of tears. However, as I sucked in a breath to hold them at bay, the door flew open and Arreon skidded to a halt just inside the entrance, his eyes falling upon the figure across the room, then swinging back in our direction, a lopsided grin curving up the edge of his lips at my squeaked words of, “where the hell have you been” before I fainted.
* * *
We were lost, or so I suspected, as I had no clue where we were!
We'd been traveling for hours, and I was weary. My mind exhausted from the battle within my heart at what I now knew of Dante for, unlike most normal humans that would have found his unusual strength enough in itself something to fear, I, on the other hand, found that part of what had occurred somewhat comforting.
Though different from my own ability, I could easily accept the oddity. It was the other that had me unsettled, nearly sick with confusion, for though I’d had enough time to analyze what had happened, enough time to realize that it had been an act of kill or be killed, it was the ability I had witnessed in Dante as the deed was done, that had my heart and mind struggling.
Finally I just gave up, as I could find no way to appease either, and found, for the moment, I had no other alternative but to accept what I couldn't understand, or go insane trying.
Neither brother had spoken more than half a dozen words among themselves, or to me as the miles passed, and within the interior of Arreon's pickup, the atmosphere was wrought with tenseness.
However, that silence was finally broken when my stomach, finally giving up on the light hunger pains it had been sending in my direction for the last hour, rather emphatically stated that it couldn't remember the last time I'd put anything in it. Letting loose with a loud roar of insistence, it caused both men to glance simultaneously towards me, where I sat, squirming uncomfortably between the two.
With an embarrassed shrug I muttered, “okay, so I’m hungry.”
A look of irritation flashed across Dante’s features, and Arreon, a small smirk curling up the edge of his lips murmured, “you’ve always had rotten timing Kira!”
With a small smile of my own I breathed, “well, anyway, that can wait, however, there is a…uh…more pressing matter that I don’t think will!”
Jerking the wheel, Dante let loose with a curse as he swung the pickup off the road, and after several moments of bouncing and jarring across the rougher terrain, which didn’t help the situation any for me, he stood on the brakes and roared, “just hurry the fuck up okay” as the pick up came to a shuddering stop. Smarting from the heat of his tongue, I hissed, “a person can only pee so fast you know” then shoving on Dante’s arm, I growled, “now get the hell out of my way!”
Hastily he swung the pickup’s door open and, with every move clearly expressing his irritation, Dante ripped himself off the seat and out of the truck as he stood, arms crossed and lips pulled taught, waiting on me to exit the cab as well.
I was stomping my way through the tall grass and weeds of the ditch grumbling to myself when I heard Dante bark my name, and jerking around I saw something come flying through the air in my direction.
Reflexively I raised my arms in an effort to keep from having it smack me in the face, and felt the thud of the items impact against my palms.
However, the object bounced backwards and hit the ground, rolling several inches before I got the chance to see what it was.
When it finally came to rest, partially covered in the overgrown grass, I found myself gaping in stunned surprise before I began to giggle as I laughingly exclaimed, “you carry toilet paper in your truck Arreon, really?”
With an embarrassed shrug, Arreon muttered defensively, “it was in there when I bought it!”
Still giggling to myself I dipped forward, snagging the roll off the ground before straightening and turning, I continued my excursion deeper into the bushes.
Several moments later I was kneeling, uttering a soft moan of relief as I emptied my bladder, and another of frustration for no matter how I tried, I found it nearly impossible to deafen my ears to the bickering between Dante and Arreon.
Suddenly I felt my senses go on full alert at the rapid and abrupt halt of the heated words between them, and within a matter of seconds I heard Dante’s voice blast across the airwaves as he roared, “we need to go…now Kira!”
Hastily jerking into a standing position, I’d just managed to pull my panties up onto my hips, and was preparing to do the same with my shorts when I heard something coming through the bushes.
I barely had time to register the fact it was Arreon hurtling in my direction with a speed that matched superman's, before I was grabbed around the middle and swung over his shoulder as he did a one eighty.
Dried leaves kicking up behind us, he shot back the way he'd come before shoving me, and none too gently at that, into the pickup.
My butt cheek had just had the chance to come to rest against the smooth vinyl upholstery of the seat before I found myself being shoved sideways as he quickly followed me onto the seat, slamming the passenger door shut behind him he bellowed at Dante, “get this heap moving!”
A cloud of debris shot out from behind the pickup as the tires grabbed for purchase. Then the motor let out a belch of black smoke, coughed, wheezed, threw a temper tantrum, showing it for exactly what it was, a cranky old man, before it finally responded with amazing vigor as it shot down the road, but not before Dante roared, “ what is wrong with this pile of shit!”
“How the hell should I know, I’m not a blasted mechanic!” Arreon roared back.
All the while this shouting match was going on to either side of me, I was embarrassingly trying to pull up my shorts. Which thanks to the elbow that was digging into my left side from Dante, as he adeptly maneuvered the pickup, and my right by Arreon, as he bounced around trying to see behind us, the task was failing miserably!
Finally with a near wrestling match going on inside the cab, I managed to pull my shorts on as Arreon sat back, then gaze jerking toward Dante he hissed “I don’t see them behind us. Think we’ve lost them?”
The cab grew silent, all except the roar of the engine as Dante, never letting off the gas, softly muttered, “don't bet on it” then jerked his head in a sort of nod as
he growled, “you know what to do.”
Struggling to turn, wanting to see what they were referring to, I found myself being halted as, with a frown of apology, Arreon laid two fingers against my temple and muttered, “sorry Kira, but this is for your own good!”
Chapter 12
Noise! So much freaking noise! What in the hell I wondered, slow to gather my wits about me as, with eyes closed I listened, trying to sort out the sounds.
Crash, bang…boom! Holy hell, I thought, shooting into a sitting position at the ferocity of the sounds.
Then, eyes wide and panicked, they swept about the room, securing my safety within the confined space, and finally, with alarm becoming less flagrant in its strength, I glanced down at the couch I was sitting on, a somewhat relieved breath escaping from between my lips, yet finding myself not the least surprised at the latest circumstances I found myself in, for it seemed with every second that passed, things were becoming more and more bizarre as the number of incidents continued to climb to astronomical proportions.
In the last several weeks, I’d been nearly strangled to death by an invisible entity, involved in a car accident that had tossed me about within the car’s interior as if I were a rag doll, then only a short time later found myself somehow become the target of, and then attacked by, a beautiful crazed man.
Regaining consciousness days later to learn that I'd been wallowing in the shadows of death, as he’d sliced into the meat of my shoulder with a blade tipped in some poisonous concoction, of which I was still feeling the side effects, and now I found myself to be indulging in the unsettling familiarity of coming to, in yet more unfamiliar territory.
Territory that carried with it a noise volume that was nearly deafening, as it continued to escalate on the other side of the closed door, causing me to wonder why in the hell anyone had even bothered at pulling the door shut to begin with, because it sure as hell wasn’t having any effect on controlling the din in the other room, for the sounds practically blasted their way through the wooden structure.
Something hit the wall in the other room, causing me to jerk, and found myself up and off the couch, hurrying towards the doorway before I slowed, hesitating.
God only knew what was going on, on the other side of the door, and the arm I’d stretched out towards the knob hovered in mid air, wavering undecided as another loud burst caused my eyes to widen again, rounding and giving my face somewhat of an owlish appearance.
What was going on out there!
Slowly, summoning what bravery I could, I cracked the door open and dropped hastily to my knees in an effort to dodge the chair that came hurtling through the air in my direction.
It smashed against the door-frame, way to close to my head for comfort as it shattered into a dozen pieces that cascaded down in a hale of wooden confetti.
Still hovering close to the ground, I gazed out at complete bedlam. Fear shuddered through me at what appeared to be a major clash ensuing within the room as tables, chairs, as well as bodies were being tossed every which direction.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a human projectile hurtling in my direction, and with a scream I dropped even lower, covering my head as the body of a man slammed against the wall, not an inch away from where the chair had impacted a few seconds earlier.
Panicked, I bolted off the floor and suddenly found myself in the thick of things, surrounded, and no way to go backwards.
I couldn't do anything but move forward, and beginning to inch my way within the mass, I found myself dodging, dipping, and weaving my way past shattering debris and flying bodies, my heart thudding madly within my chest like a caged bird in fear.
I’d barely made any headway at all though, when with a movement that left me stunned at the speed it occurred, I was laid flat out, my back plastered against the floor as I stared helplessly into the terrifying face of a giant who murmured “well, well…what is this?”
His words came to a quick halt, and suddenly finding I was freed of his weight, I began scrambling backwards, small breathy sounds of fright escaping between pale lips in the eerie silence descending about the room. Apprehensively I began to look around, my eyes widening abruptly in recognition of just what had brought about the silence.
The man who had tackled me now hung suspended in the air, his feet dangling uselessly beneath him as steel bands for fingers gripped him about the throat and jawbone, as Dante stared up at him with a frigid gaze hissing, “She's. With. Me.”
Then as if some silent communication had occurred between them, Dante relaxed his grip and slowly lowered the man towards the floor, his feet having barely touched the smooth, hard surface beneath him before he reared back and planted his ham sized fist in Dante’s gut.
Dante’s loosened grip slipped uselessly off the other man's throat as he went hurtling through the air backwards. His head nearly touching his knees as he bowed over from the blow, covering ground at a rapid pace that had bodies flying every which direction in his wake as he plowed through them, impersonating a bowling ball striking pens before he crash landed on his butt, sliding several more yards before coming to a stop.
In an instant though, Dante was back on his feet and with a huge bellow leaped at the other man, both tumbling backwards as those around them hastily stepped aside, jogging this way and that in an effort to stay free of the two men that battled before us.
A sheer coat of rage covered me as I took in the fact that no one was making even the slightest effort to put an end to the fight. In fact, most were staring avidly, bumping each other with their elbows as they hooted and jeered the fight on.
Disbelief staining my cheeks red, I found myself screaming, “somebody stop them!”
Never had I felt more helpless, useless, and angry than I did at that moment, and grew even further incensed when I heard laughter issue forth from a female standing slightly behind me.
Whipping around to where my back was facing the ensuing battle, I glared at the offender, my fist balling at my side as I considered the consequences of punching the pale blonde beauty’s face, even swung a little as a hand fell upon my shoulder, hearing Arreon mutter, “easy there slugger!”
In the process of turning to face Arreon, I shrieked, “Jesus Arreon, what kind of brother are you, stop them before that huge beast kills Dante!”
However, my jaw dropped as I finally managed to complete my turn, for standing just to the left of Arreon, appearing not the least battered for the battle he'd just fought, was Dante.
He wore a mocking glint in his eyes as he gazed down at me, then leaning forward he whispered, “thanks for the confidence Kira that I might win.”
Then, eyes shifting, Dante glanced behind me as pleasure infused his features.
Suddenly becoming aware of the presence that had come up behind me, the man he’d been fighting with sidled up next to me, and then stepping past me, turned to where he too was facing in my direction as he tossed an arm across Dante’s shoulders.
My mouth popped open, nearly coming unhinged, and seeing the stunned expression clearly written across my features, a quirk of amusement curved up the edges of Dante’s mouth before he murmured, “Kira this is Sirrus, one of the biggest assholes you'll ever meet, but…nonetheless…I owe a dept of gratitude!”
With the sharp sting of fear and shock having rapidly dissipated, I only felt a continuous ripple of anger, and glaring at Dante I snapped, “I beg to differ, because from where I'm standing, you fit the description of an asshole better than anyone!”
I heard the man called Sirrus choke, almost sounding like a laugh that he tried to cover with a cough, but as I wasn’t finished with Dante, I paid little attention and instead hissed, “and what pray-tell, was going on in here, it looked as if war had been declared!”
Straightening, and with a glare in Arreon's direction, Dante snapped, “he was told to behave himself!”
“Wait a minute…” then glancing around at the destruction around us, Arreon glared at Dante an
d snapped “wait just a damn minute…are you blaming me for this?”
Dante crossed his arms over his chest and raised a mocking eyebrow at Arreon, daring him to continue denying he was at blame.
Arreon glowered at Dante, and Dante glowered back, however, in the end Arreon, and with lips pulled taut, Arreon remained silent.
Sirrus, on the other hand, eyeballing all six foot four inches of Arreon, a mere two inches shorter than Dante, filled the growing hole of silence with “hmm, looks to me Dante that, though little brother might not be quiet as tall as you, nor as broad, he just might be able to whoop your ass!”
Then choked back another laugh at the petulant look that came over Dante’s features, and the snicker that came from Arreon before, eyes forming a myriad of unasked questions, he murmured, “so, what my friend has brought you this far out…”
Rubbing the back of his neck, Dante interrupted Sirrus by loudly clearing his throat then muttered “can we talk…in private?”
Sirrus glanced toward me, then back at Dante as he murmured, “problems?”
With a blast of a sarcastic laugh issuing from his mouth, Dante penned me beneath his gaze and hissed, “you could say that!”
* * *
Thirty minutes later, I apprehensively stole glances around me, uncomfortable in the room full of people I didn’t know.
I was alone within the crowd, for Dante had left a little earlier with Sirrus, however not before making me feel as though I were somehow to blame for his troubles with that blasted glance!
Now, huddled within my chair, I stewed over the look, worrying it like a dog with a bone. So I sat, piqued, frustrated, and overly emotional as I griped and whined to myself, then wondered heatedly, where the hell was Arreon!
He’d said he was going after something for us to eat, had it been necessary that he go hunt it down and kill it first!