Wilder, J. C. - Shadow Dweller 1

by OneWithThe Hunger(lit)

  "How would I know? Get your behind down there ASAP." With that, Mariah hung up the phone.

  She dropped the phone into the cradle and hurled herself to the closet. She had a feeling this wasn't going to be pretty. But horrible things like this were best taken like medicine.

  Quickly.

  The requisite crowd was crammed around the police barricade when she arrived a half-hour later. She approached the nearest police officer and asked that he direct her to Detective Henry.

  Henry waved her over as Shai started down the dim alley, skirting piles of rotting garbage. She noted with amusement that his hair was more rumpled than ever. That and the rings under his eyes told the story and she knew this case was wearing him out. He wasn't the only one.

  "Another one?" she asked without preamble.

  He nodded slowly. "Sure is. Another beautiful girl, slain and thrown aside like yesterday's rubbish."

  "Why did you call me down here, Henry?"

  "I think you can help me on this one, Shai." He was watching her carefully. "I want you to take a look at this young woman and tell me what you see."

  Sweat broke across her brow and her palms went clammy. She rubbed her hands against her worn jeans. "Okay."

  He led her to where a small knot of police detectives stood. She caught a glimpse of bright red hair between their suit-clad legs and polished shoes. A wave of dizziness hit her and she paused, placing her hand on the damp brick wall to get her bearings. Henry ushered the men away and waved her closer.

  One look told her more than she wanted to know about this victim.

  The corpse's hair was tangled about her head and trailed into a puddle. Her vivid green eyes stared accusingly into Shai's and she had the feeling she was found guilty. Her eyes closed as she tried to block out the merciless vision of death that danced against her eyelids.

  Why is this happening?

  She forced her eyes open, fixing her gaze on the woman who lay before her. This beautiful woman was dead because she'd failed her and the killer was still on the loose gathering more victims each day. She blinked her tears away and swallowed the lump in her throat. She wouldn't make that mistake again. Bracing herself, she avoided the woman's face and tried to view the scene impartially.

  Perfect pale skin and full red lips were parted in a death grimace to reveal even white teeth. Diamond earrings glinted in her ears and a heavy gold chain remained on what was left of her throat. Her nails were long, painted pale pink, and her toenails matched.

  Her breath locked in her throat. The world spun wildly and she wondered why she didn't fall to the ground. Henry continued to speak, but she could make no sense of his words. It wasn't the woman that shook her, it was her clothing.

  She was wearing the blue silk chemise that had been cut off of Shai's oh-so- willing body not twelve hours ago by a man she barely knew.

  She turned away as tears burned her eyes and bile churned in her throat. Henry caught her arm and led her away from the body to settle her on a battered fruit crate. She caught her breath as he moved in front of her, watching with a concerned expression on his face.

  "What did you see?"

  "Ummm..." Shai frantically scrambled for something. Anything. "She isn't like the others, is she?"

  "No, she's not. What's different about her?"

  Her hands shook as she rummaged in her bag for a mint, anything to quell her restless stomach. "You're the cop here. Don't you know?"

  He snorted. "Of course I do. I want to know what you really know about this."

  Defeated, she gave up her search and pulled her cotton jacket closer around her. "I tried to tell you what I knew but you wouldn't listen to me." She shot back.

  "Shai-"

  She was suddenly freezing cold. So cold that nothing would ever warm her again. "She has good teeth," she mumbled into her jacket collar. "Diamond earrings, gold chain. She isn't a prostitute." She raised her head to look at Henry. "That's it, isn't it? She wasn't a prostitute at all."

  "Exactly. This young woman was a SUNY student by the name of Rebecca Leigh. She and her sister, Maeve, were reported missing early yesterday evening. Since rigor mortis hasn't set in, she's been dead less than a few hours. What could have happened in that twenty-four-hour period?"

  Shai stood and looked him straight in the eye. "I have no idea, Detective."

  "You told me yesterday that you'd met the killer of these young women last night, and this was hours after she was reported missing. What did you do after you left the police station?"

  She sucked in a startled breath. "You don't think I..."

  Henry held up his hand, stopping her flow of words. "I'm not accusing you of anything, Shai. I've known you for many years and I know better than that. I'm simply saying, if you did indeed speak to the killer last night, why would he single you out?"

  She didn't answer, her gaze remained fixed with his.

  He remained silent for a few seconds. "Do you realize that this young woman resembles you? Is the killer obsessed with you? Why did he suddenly change his MO after all this time? Before, it was prostitutes only, now he's reached into mid-suburbia."

  She scowled. "Does this make it an even more hateful crime since it's no longer prostitutes? Once it hits the lily-white public, they'll go ballistic. Is this what you're saying?"

  "That's not what I said at all. The bottom line is that I want some answers and I think you're the only one who can give them to me."

  "I don't happen to agree." She turned away and walked toward the end of the alley to make her escape. Frustration and anger rolled in her gut, tears stung her eyes. She needed to get away from the police, from the stench of death. The cops had felt the same way about her mother. She was just a whore, they'd said. Did it really matter? Yes. It mattered then and it mattered now.

  Henry grabbed her arm and forced her around to face him once again. "Talk to me, Shai. Talk to me now or I'll have you hauled in."

  She pulled away from him. "Henry, we've known each other for years, so please trust me now. If I knew what was going on, don't you think I'd tell you? Believe me when I say that I have no more of a clue than you do."

  Henry looked doubtful. "Then why did this guy meet you last night?"

  "I don't know why this psycho singled me out. All I know is that he did and now I have to deal with his actions. I swear to you that I'll call you immediately if he attempts to contact me again. I honestly think he's a crackpot and he won't." Shai turned and walked away from him once more.

  "I'm assigning you twenty-four-hour protection," he bellowed after her.

  She shot a smile over her shoulder and continued walking. "It won't help, Henry," she whispered under her breath. "Not this time."

  He'd come for her tonight, and this time she was ready for him.

  Stretched out on her battered couch, she was dressed in worn sweats and a long-sleeved flannel shirt. She sighed. Even in the height of August, she was freezing. In one pocket, she had a small silver cross. She'd tucked a two-foot sharpened stake under the front of the couch. In her right hand, she clutched a vial of holy water.

  Maybe she was going insane, she mused as the clock struck midnight. If she were truly insane, she'd commit herself to Bellevue Hospital. But tonight she wanted answers and there was only one place to get them.

  A slight shifting in the shadows drew her attention. The figure of a man took shape in the window, then her lover materialized.

  He stepped through the window and Shai struggled to control her breathing as she followed Val's movement toward her with her eyes. She felt an almost irresistible pull towards him, and it was a physical struggle to remain on the couch and lay perfectly still. Her grip tightened on the vial of water.

  As he reached the foot of the couch, she swung her leg out and hooked him behind the knee. With a quick jerk, she knocked him off balance. She rolled off the couch and, using his momentum against him, knocked him to the floor. She landed on top, her elbow digging into his diaphragm.

 
He was much bigger than she'd remembered, she thought wildly as she struggled to pin him and uncork the tiny bottle. Maybe she should have taken some self-defense courses before trying this. She managed to get it open and spilled a few drops on her stunned lover. He hissed. With shaking hands, she dribbled a few drops on her fingertips and began to chant a traditional Catholic blessing while she drew a cross on his forehead with the liquid.

  "In the name of the mother," she gasped.

  He laughed and shoved her off him and onto the floor next to him. She landed with a thud. "You have that backward. It starts 'In the name of the Father...'"

  She whipped the small silver cross out of her pocket and held it before her like a shield. "Stay back."

  Val burst into laughter and the sound of it sent shivers of desire down her spine. Until she noted that he was rolling on the floor like a child, clutching his sides.

  "You're supposed to be reeling in horror," she snapped.

  He shook his dark head and reached over, plucking the cross from her numb fingers. "I wasn't a Christian when I lived on this earth as a mortal. It certainly has no power against me now. You watch too many movies." He tossed the cross over his shoulder and it landed somewhere in the darkened corner of the room.

  She pulled the stake out from under the couch and pointed it at him. "Come any closer and I'll stake you," her voice wobbled.

  He grinned, his mirth subsiding as he easily pulled the stake from her hands. "I don't eat meat," he quipped.

  She glared and began moving away in an awkward crab walk. Within seconds, he caught her and forced her flat to the floor, his body imprisoning her. "No!" She protested as his lips trailed fire down her throat.

  He pulled back and stared down at her. "Why the resistance now, angel?" he purred. "You weren't fighting me last night. In fact, I thought you were going to tear me apart to get me inside of you." He nipped her earlobe, wrenching a moan from her.

  "I didn't know what you were last night." She struggled to free her arms.

  "And this matters?" He bit the top button off her blouse and spit it carelessly across the room.

  "Of course it matters." She jerked to the left, trying to avoid his oh-so-talented mouth as it descended once more.

  "It won't matter once I've buried myself in you." He licked the vulnerable skin between her breasts before zeroing in on the next button. It bounced off the end table when he spit it to the side.

  Shai groaned. Already her body betrayed her. Her breasts ached and she squirmed against the wonderful/terrible hardness in his pants. "I don't want you," she protested as her desire grew to an almost unbearable level. "I can't want you." She moved restlessly beneath him.

  He chuckled against her plump breast. "You lie to me, beautiful. Your body tells me the truth." He nipped the rosy peak of her breast. "Tell me why you're trying to lie to me." He noisily suckled her.

  She could barely think, let alone speak coherently. "Let me up. I can't breathe." He let go of her nipple reluctantly and gave a devilish smile that curled her toes. He moved off her body and allowed her room to rise. She struggled to pull her rumpled self back together, but it was difficult when most of her shirt buttons had been bitten off. She settled for pulling the two halves together, then crossing her arms under her breasts.

  She looked down at the vampire who still sat on her floor. "I have some questions for you," she announced, then settled on the edge of the couch. She regretted her move when he rose from the floor and sat next to her.

  "I am an open book." He reached out, captured a bright red curl and twirled it about his finger.

  Shai started to rise, but he refused to relinquish her lock of hair. Instead, she scooted herself into a corner of the couch and tried to sit as far away from him as possible. "W-w-who are you?" Her voice trembled.

  He grinned. "It is a bit late for that, isn't it? I think you know me very well by now...Better than most..."

  "Did I have a choice?" she snapped.

  He looked surprised. "A choice? From what I understand, you never wanted a choice. If I remember correctly, your exact words were that you wanted 'a dark, mysterious lover to ravish you long into the night. A man who would force you to give into your body's demands.'"

  She frowned. The statement niggled her brain. Then it hit her. "That night at the Casa Roma. You weren't there when we were talking about that-"

  "I heard you nonetheless. You were with your friends and the pretty blonde asked you what your secret fantasy was. You said you wanted someone to enter your room by the bedroom window and ravish you until dawn. To give yourself completely to him and your desires, I believe." He dropped her curl and captured her hand. "Did I not do this?"

  "I was drunk and you were eavesdropping," she stated baldly. "You can't just break into people's houses..."

  He shook his head as he turned her hand and traced the delicate lines of her palm. "You invited me in. You knew I was there that night and you knew who I was and exactly what I wanted." He kissed her palm.

  Shai tried to ignore the current that tingled up her arm. Oh, how she wanted to give in to him. "No! I didn't know, I thought you were a dream, a figment of my imagination."

  He dropped her hand and sat back with a pained expression on his handsome face. "I've been friends with Jennifer for many years. Surely this will go a long way to reassure you as to my character."

  "She's never mentioned you before."

  "Do all of your friends know all of your other friends?"

  "Well, not really-"

  "Is there anything else?" He captured her ankle and tugged her toward him. "I'd really like to move on to more important matters."

  "What could be more important than a dead woman wearing the nightgown you cut off of me?"

  Val stopped and stared at her, his expression annoyed. "What are you speaking of?"

  "Have you been reading about the serial killer here in New York?"

  He nodded, his expression guarded.

  "The police found another body in an alley tonight. She looked like me and she wore the chemise that you cut off me last night." Shai watched his expression turn stony. She was hoping he'd show some kind of emotion that would tell her one way or the other if she were off base. She was sorely disappointed. "What can you tell me of this?"

  "What would I know of dead women and torn lingerie?" His tone was remote.

  "You tell me." She wrenched her foot from his grasp and stood. "You know a hell of a lot more than you let on."

  Val ran his fingers through his hair, causing it to tumble onto his forehead. His expression was exasperated.

  Damn, but he's gorgeous.

  "He will not hurt you, Shai. I swear it."

  She tensed. Now she was getting somewhere. "You know who he is?"

  "Yes, but..."

  "Give me his name," she demanded.

  "No. You cannot stop him. No one can."

  "Is he blond with icy blue eyes? Stands about six feet and built like a wall?" she snarled. "I already know his physical description. I met him last night. All I need is a name and I can get him put away for good."

  His expression turned dark. "You met him? Where?"

  "He called and asked me to meet him-"

  "You actually went to meet him?" He roared as he came up off the couch. His eyes glittered with a strange black light and she wondered if she'd been unwise in letting that piece of information slip.

  "It was in a restaurant and it was crowded. He couldn't have hurt me in public- "

  "You're a fool! He could have killed you and left you to bleed to death in your soup and none would have been the wiser." He paced the floor like a caged animal and she couldn't help but admire the ripple of sleek muscles under his black cotton shirt and black jeans. "You'd have been a number like the rest of them-"

  "I don't think he wants to hurt me. It appears he's playing a game with me," Shai interrupted. "He said he enjoyed the chase and that I was to catch him."

  Val whirled to face her and gripped her up
per arms. "You'll go nowhere near him," he hissed.

  "Indeed!" She tried to pull away, but he didn't release his hold. "Who do you think you are?"

  "Your master, little one. You gave yourself to me, don't you remember?" He smiled. "If you do not have the sense to keep yourself safe, it looks like I'll have to do it for you."

  With a wave of his hand, she felt a prickle of energy race along her skin before surrounding her, scooping her off the floor as if it were a large invisible hand. She gave a stifled shriek as she floated across the room and into the bedroom to land none too gently on the bed. "What the hell..." she squealed and tried to escape as the energy subsided.

  He appeared in the doorway and, with another wave of his hand, white silk ties appeared at the bedposts and tied themselves around her arms and legs, securing her spread-eagled to the bed. Panic fluttered in her chest as she tugged against her bonds to no avail. "Let me go."

  Val entered the room and approached the bed, a warm smile curving his lips. "Not until much later, my love. When I'm sure you will be safe." He settled himself on the edge of the bed and leaned against the footboard. "What do you suppose we should do until then, my angel?"

  Shai struggled, tears of frustration burning in her eyes. She didn't want to give in to him, but already her body was betraying her. An ancient voice from her soul seemed to be calling for her to give herself to him. She was helpless to resist.

  "No," she whispered.

  He shook his dark head. "Give in, my love. You know you will in the end. You cannot resist me any more than I can resist you. We're both helpless against our desires. This is your fantasy, is it not?"

  She squeezed her eyes shut as his familiar touch moved over her, efficiently removing her clothing. Nimble fingers worked their way over her body until they lightly caressed her breasts. Slowly, they parted the buttonless shirt and her eyes flew open when humid night air touched her breasts.

  Val sat unmoving at the end of the bed, his eyes dark with untamed desire, his arms crossing his chest. He smiled as she arched under his invisible caresses. "Do you like that? I can watch you be pleasured by an invisible lover, all the while knowing that I am the only one."