Alex froze for a moment, her heart in her throat. What was going on in Florida? Her thoughts flashed back to her conversation with Max the day before. No, she thought to herself, this was some crazy drug fad. She was not going to be like her father, and make a conspiracy out of everything she saw. Shaking her head slightly, she looked back at the cashier. She was a young woman, small and petite. She smiled at Alex, with no concern on her face.
“Weird news huh?” the cashier said.
“Yes, strange,” Alex replied quietly, looking over at Billie and Henry who were in a debate over what the colors of their slurpees were. She exhaled slightly, glad that the kids hadn’t noticed the scary report.
Alex finished her transaction and moved the kids out to their van. As she strapped them in her phone vibrated in her pocket. Getting into the driver's seat, she pulled her phone out. A text from Blake had come through. Really? I’m sure the airport is safe. Love you. Kisses to you and kids. She felt better after hearing from him. If there weren’t any changes to his flight or warning from the government, then it must be an isolated situation.
Setting her worries aside, she turned up the radio and she and the kids sang and danced back to their house. As soon as the kids were loose in the house, they were screaming and running. Alex wasn’t sure what game they were playing, but at some point she heard duck, duck, goose and Marco Polo at the same time. Listening to their laughter put Alex at ease and she moved easily through the house, with positive thoughts of her husband coming home finally the next night. She pulled out all the makings for the kids’ favorite dinner of baked mac n’ cheese with cauliflower on the side.
After dinner was bath time, which was always a welcomed playtime for Henry, but Billie absolutely hated taking baths, or showers for that matter. Alex didn’t know what her obsession with being dirty was, but she had to be practically thrown into the shower. Over the years, Alex and Blake had tried so many different things. Toys, colored water, water paints, letting her wash her own hair. However, nothing made bathing ok to her. Tonight was no different, and Alex prepared herself for a fight.
Once the screaming and floundering was over, Alex was only half drenched and the bathroom was only half covered in water. Billie was clean, and that was the goal, so Alex took that as a win. While she towel dried her hair, Billie’s blue eyes peered from under toward Alex’s face. Alex smiled at her, and stopped drying.
“Mommy, Billie is a boy’s name,” Billie said.
“It can be,” Alex said. It seemed such a random statement, it reminded her of the way Max talked sometimes. That made Alex smile again.
“Why did you name me a boy’s name? Alex is a boy’s name too. Why did Gramps name you that?” Billie asked.
“Gramps started it baby. When your Grandma was alive, and I was born, she and Gramps couldn’t agree to a name. Gramps did not like any girl names, but Grandma wouldn’t let him name me a boy’s name. So they made a compromise, you know what that means right?” Alex asked, and Billie quickly nodded her head.
“Ok so, the compromise was this, Grandma got to choose a girl’s name that could be shortened by Gramps into a boy’s name. So after Grandma passed away, Gramps never called me anything but Alex,” Alex finished.
“So your whole name is Alexandria?” Billie asked.
“Yes. And your Auntie Max is Maxine.”
“But my name is only Billie,” Billie said frowning.
Alex thought for a second. She remembered talking to Blake when they found out she was pregnant with a girl. Alex was so happy. But when names started coming up, not one girl name appealed to her. Blake, somehow recognizing that she didn’t know what to choose, came up with Billie. Alex immediately agreed, feeling it was a perfect name for their daughter. She was also happy she was keeping the tradition that her father had started, girls with boy’s names.
“That’s true. Daddy and I decided to continue what Gramps did. And Billie can be a name for a boy or girl,” Alex said.
“Ok. I like my name,” Billie said.
“Why wouldn’t you? Did someone say something to you Billie?” Alex asked.
“Well a boy at school told me I had a boy name, so I was a boy,” Billie said quietly.
As a mother, Alex’s inside began to fume. She kept her face controlled so Billie wouldn’t know what she told her made her angry. Kids could be so mean, and what would be the reason to tell Billie she was a boy. Also as a mother, all Alex could think of doing was turning this into a teaching moment.
“Well that doesn’t sound very nice. But are you a boy Billie?” Alex asked her daughter.
“No. Henry is a boy. I’m a girl,” Billie said in a seven year old matter of fact way.
“Exactly. So what that boy said to you, does it matter?”
Billie thought about it. She did something Alex could be caught doing sometimes, chewing her bottom lip. She wrung her hands together, contemplating what her mother was telling her. Alex waited with her in the wet bathroom, letting her work it through in her own mind. She liked allowing her kids to make their own opinions when the opportunity presents itself.
“No it doesn’t,” Billie said as she straightened her shoulders.
“Good girl. I agree. Next time someone tells you that you say Billie is a girl’s name too, because it’s your name and you’re a girl. Ok?”
Billie nodded her head and hugged her mom around the waist. Alex wrapped her arms around her daughter and enjoyed the feeling of her being close. She was growing so fast in front of Alex’s eyes, sometimes she seemed to be more like seventeen then seven. For a moment, Alex allowed herself to worry and feel the stress of being a good mother. Without a mother in her own childhood, she felt she was figuring things out daily, and she was afraid that wasn’t right for her kids.
Alex took her time tucking the kids in. With no school the next day, she read the second and then third book requested. She made all the voices that made the kids giggle. She tucked Billie in first, kissing her nose, chin and forehead. Billie clung to her neck for a moment, whispering her love yous into Alex’s neck. Alex hugged her tightly for a moment, before tucking the blanket to her chin. Repeating the process with Henry, she quietly got both kids to bed without a fight.
In her own bathroom, she started the process of getting herself ready for bed. Getting older was really no fun she decided. Not that thirty was old by any standards, but as she leaned toward the mirror, she could see the wrinkles starting to show up around her dark eyes. Before she climbed into bed, she brushed out her long perpetually straight hair that fell to the middle of her back. It was the one feminine feature she always wanted to keep, as her body was not distinctly womanly. Even after having both of the kids her breasts were on the small side, but they fit in with her 5’7” athletic frame.
The next morning she was awoken by a kick to the ribs, which happened to be Henry who had climbed into her bed sometime in the middle of the night. Alex wrapped her arms around her son, snuggled in, and snoozed until he was ready to wake up. Shortly after Billie climbed into the bed and cuddled Alex as well, a weekend tradition they shared often. As they woke up little giggles would start, then the tickling, while Alex pretended to sleep through it all. Once they all rolled out of bed, they agreed to spend the day out and about.
Alex loaded the kids into the van before she realized she hadn’t even checked her phone yet for messages from Blake. She was thankful when she glanced at her cell the only messages were from him boarding his plane, and then arriving into Orlando. He had a bit of a layover before he would be heading home, so he texted that he was going to work a bit and maybe catch some sleep. Alex drove the kids to their favorite breakfast place and they ate well.
The restaurant seemed empty for a Sunday morning, but Alex didn’t mind. They were out earlier than usual. The server they had seemed to be in a very big hurry though, and Alex asked where their normal server was.
“She’s out with some flu. Too bad too, because she was out yesterday after she was inju
red or something. So now we are short staffed and trying to keep up,” the server said as she walked away. Alex wondered how she was injured, but of course, there were a number of ways to hurt yourself in a restaurant. Though the server didn’t say it happened there. Shrugging her shoulders, Alex let the train of thought crash and turned her attention back to the kids.
After the full breakfast the kids deemed the day a park day, so that was their next stop. While the kids swung and ran, Alex sat in the shade of a tree watching. Sometime later, Alex realized something felt wrong. Again, it seemed there weren’t many people out for a Sunday. Glancing around, Alex was startled to see a lone man standing about 50 yards from the park, staring at her. Alex, not one to be easily intimidated, stared back. However, even with that, the man did not stop staring. Alex thought he might be homeless. What was creepy to Alex was he didn’t move a muscle, and it was enough that she stood and told the kids it was time to go. As she buckled the kids in, she kept an eye on the man, who still hadn’t moved from his position.
As she pulled from the parking lot, she glanced in her rearview mirror and was startled to see the man pulling his statue routine right next to the play structure. She could see another mother running to grab her child from the slide to avoid the homeless man. That’s Las Vegas for you, Alex thought. Returning to the streets, Alex felt back to normal as she hit traffic and saw people walking to and from a bus stopped on the side of the street. The kids were both pulling the sleepy routine in the car, so she decided going straight home was the best bet.
Pulling onto her street, Alex didn’t see Gary outside in his customary robe. Maybe the water company had finally told him to stop his watering on days it wasn’t allowed. She couldn’t imagine what his bill looked like, but she would swear he was watering his grass every day. She couldn’t understand why he didn’t get desertscape like the rest of the neighborhood. He parked his old RV next to his house, and Alex took that as an indication that he really enjoyed the outdoors. Maybe that’s why he liked the green.
Once she pulled into her driveway, Alex had to carry Henry in as he had fallen fast asleep during the drive. Billie wasn’t far behind, as she willingly climbed into her bed and took a nap. While the kids napped, Alex set up the office bed, as was habit when Blake came home late from overnight trips. His time would be all messed up and he wouldn’t want to disturb Alex. She fluffed the pillows and tucked in the sheets with a smile, she had missed her husband, he’d been gone for more than a week.
Evening rolled around, uneventful except for the two little ninjas that were roaming the house. Billie seemed to think Rambo was a thing of the past and now both children were clad in their darkest clothes, with masks from past Halloweens. While Alex prepared dinner, she was also busy dodging invisible ninja stars that were chucked from across the dining room. After dinner, the three of them turned up the music on Alex’s phone that was linked to a speaker, and together they cleaned the kitchen while dancing.
Later that night, Alex was awoken by a bump downstairs. She laid quietly in bed and listened, hearing the telltale signs of Blake entering the office. She crept downstairs to tell him goodnight, but all the lights were out, which she found odd. Normally Blake would take his time getting settled back home, but even the office was dark. Quietly Alex peered into the dark office, and could just make out the shape of her husband under the covers she had laid out for him. She smiled and walked up to the side of the bed.
As she was going to reach down to kiss him, she realized he was shivering. Strange she thought, as she touched his forehead. He was on fire. Well damn, she realized, he must have gotten sick on his trip. Alex wondered why he hadn’t mentioned it to her. Probably didn’t want to worry her, as his travel home was so long. She softly tucked all the covers around him and left him to his sleep. She didn’t notice the blood stained suit he had discarded into the corner of the room.
Chapter 3
A scream ripped Alex from her sleep and she bolted upright in bed. Throwing her arm out, she felt for both of her children, who had climbed into bed with her hours before. They were both sound asleep, snuggled together on Blake’s side of their king size bed. Light poured into the windows, making her think she had overslept again. However, Alex waited, not sure she heard a scream after all, and maybe it was a dream. Then, it came again. And it was in her house.
At the sound of the second scream, Billie awoke rubbing her eyes. She looked around and saw Alex reaching for her biometric gun safe in her nightstand. With a hushed click, the safe opened and Alex palmed her 9 mm.
“Mommy?” Billie said, causing Alex’s head to whip around. She held a finger to her lips and told Billie to be quiet. She motioned for her to stay in bed. Alex didn’t know what was happening, but it wasn’t coming near her children. She thought of Blake and her heart froze. If someone was screaming downstairs, where was he?
“Baby, stay with your brother. Do not leave this room. Understand?” Alex asked. Billie nodded slightly, beginning to look very awake and very scared.
Alex wasted no time putting on clothes, as she tiptoed from her room, and took the stairs quietly. She knew where they creaked and did the best she could to not make a sound. She tied her hair away from her face as she descended, not wanting it to be in her way. As she came around the turn in her stairs, her mind could not comprehend the part of the scene she was seeing. There was red, on the floor, on the couch, and spreading. She couldn’t see what the red was, in some places it looked black. It was sprayed, as if something had been dropped and splattered across the room. As she stepped down a few more steps, she stopped dead in her tracks at the foot of the staircase. The red, it was not paint, it wasn’t spilled food, it was blood.
A body was laying in the middle of her living room, the throat torn out. Blood oozed from the very recent wound. The eyes of the body, stared straight at the ceiling, unblinking. Alex focused on those eyes for a moment, until she realized with sick horror that it was Lucy laying on the ground. Alex’s stomach revolted at the sight of the woman that had been like a mother to her the past five years, torn to shreds on the floor. But it wasn’t that which kept her from moving to her friend. It was the person that was bent over her. The person whose hands seemed to be inside Lucy’s stomach cavity. A person with an eye tattooed on his left shoulder blade, the same tattoo Blake had on his back.
A small sound came out, and it took Alex a moment to realize the sound had come from her. She clapped her free hand over her mouth and tried to process what she was seeing. But as soon as the sound left her throat, the man who might be Blake stopped moving and his head raised. As the face turned to her, Alex gagged. Blake’s face looked at her, but his eyes were no longer blue, they were pitch black. His skin, a normal healthy ivory color, was gray and black in one spot on his arm. Alex could not stop staring at him, or the flesh that was hanging from his teeth. He had been eating Lucy. The screams that had woken Alex, they were Lucy’s.
“Blake?” Alex asked. She immediately realized talking was the wrong thing. His black eyes focused on her and he got up. The way he moved, wasn’t Blake at all. It seemed uncoordinated, as if all parts of his body were moving on their own, and not as one. A growl left his bloody lips, and immediately Alex knew she had to run.
Turning to the stairs, Alex sprinted taking two stairs at a time. Her long legs trying to eat up the space between her and the top of the landing. She could hear Blake bouncing off the walls as he tried to catch her. As she reached the top step, Blake grabbed her ankle and she fell hard on the top landing. Her gun bounced away from her and Alex cursed at her stupidity. She wasn’t sure she could shoot her husband, but at that moment she was convinced he wasn’t her husband any longer. Kicking, she freed her ankle before Blake was able to pull her down the stairs. She ran into her room, and found Billie with Henry against her on the bed.
“Get in my bathroom. Lock the door!” Alex yelled. She dove for the edge of her bed and pulled out the bowie knife she had sheathed under the mattress. Blake ha
d known she kept the knife, but he never really knew how good she was with it. Learning to fight with your bare hands and with a knife were requirements of her childhood, lessons by none other than Mitch Duncan. As she grabbed the knife the kids scrambled from the bed, tears were streaming down Henry’s cheeks. Alex hustled them into the bathroom and crouched to Billie’s level.
“Billie, you do not open this door for anyone but Mommy. Do you understand? No one. No matter what you hear,” Alex said. Then she quickly kissed both of her kids, locked the door herself, and slammed the bathroom door shut. She tested the knob to ensure that was between them and whatever their father was now. What was he? Alex couldn’t wrap her mind around what was happening. All she knew was her husband Blake, would never hurt anyone, let alone Lucy. That thing she saw, couldn’t be her husband.
Putting her ear to the door, Alex listened to the shuffling thing in her hallway. It seemed he didn’t know where to go, only adding to Alex’s conclusion that it wasn’t Blake. He would know she and the kids were in their room. Alex waited, listening, until she heard a crash, which she was sure was a plant sitting at the opposite end of the hallway. She stepped out of the room to face what had invaded her home. Her children’s home. Their safety was her number one priority, always, and that priority just got harder.
Wielding her bowie, Alex glanced down, spotting her 9 mm five feet to her left. Not wanting to take the chance of leaving the bedroom door unprotected, she waited for the thing to notice her standing there. She waited, in nothing but her nightshirt, for the thing that was at some point her beloved husband, to attack her again. She didn’t have to wait long. As soon as the bedroom door shut behind her, his head snapped around and he lumbered back toward her. Alex felt bile rising in her throat. Her desire to protect her children warred with the emotions she felt toward her husband.
Sundown Series (Book 1): Prepared Page 2