by Aiden James
“Are you sure? Maybe you heard it all wrong,” said Tyreen, reaching for her Blackberry, intent on verifying this.
“Go ahead and check,” he said, pointing at her handset while scowling. “You’ll probably find it on Channel 4’s website—”
“He’s right,” Peter interrupted him, holding out his android device for Tyreen to see. The murder news story and curfew sidebar were prominently displayed on his phone’s screen. “So, that nixes the movie idea…but do we have to go to class?”
This time my head whirled around. His offer to play hooky without any real reason to do so surprised me. Impish excitement danced in his eyes, and I believe my heart skipped a beat. This was a side of him that I hadn’t seen. Now…we just had to find something fitting for the four of us to do, and kill time until tonight.
“So, what do you have in mind?” Tyreen’s tenseness lessened at the prospect of something to take her mind off of all that had transpired the past two days.
“Well, there’s the theatre room in my townhouse, that ya’ll really haven’t had the chance to check out yet, and a shitload of Blurays. Johnny’s checked it out once, and Txema and I watched Avatar in 3D a couple of months ago,” Peter suggested. He shrugged his shoulders with raised eyebrows when she didn’t respond right away. “We can all climb in the hot tub for a while. Plus, there’s plenty of booze in the fridge!”
That got her. Or, it was more like it nailed Johnny’s interest and he practically begged her to forgive him and say ‘yes!’ to Peter’s offer, dropping to his knees next to her seat.
What could she honestly say without coming across as a royal queen bitch?
“Don’t you have a roommate that’s a little stuck up around people he doesn’t know?” she asked.
“Stephen just sent me a text, while you two were going at it. He’s getting an early start on his trip back to Nashville today,” said Peter, smiling wryly. “That’s how I knew to look on the web and see what was up, since he mentioned the curfew restrictions would be in place before his original planned departure at six o’clock.”
“What do you say, baby? The hot tub could be a helluva good time, you know?” said Johnny, lowering his voice to just above a whisper, an obvious ploy to coerce Tyreen into giving her consent. For a moment, he looked as if he might cry, his gray eyes misting. He must’ve needed a drink, or a lay, badly.
“All right,” she agreed, glancing at all of us. “But if this shit gets any worse, then we immediately come back to the dorm. Okay?”
“Sure,” said Peter, looking over at me. “We won’t let anything happen to either of you—I promise!”
The two guys shared mutual looks of relief, as if this had been their plan all along. Tyreen noticed it, but let it go, as did I. We all could use some fun while the sun was still shining. With only five hours left before it got dark, we would have plenty to worry about, soon enough.
Chapter 7
“I think you waited too long to do this—really I do!”
Tyreen stepped in front of the door to our room as she said this, for the moment effectively blocking my escape from our dorm room. I had already showered and changed into my favorite jeans—torn on both knees—and bundled up in a warm knit sweater Peter bought me for my birthday. He had wanted to buy me something flashy and expensive, but it seemed too early in our relationship for that sort of extravagance. Besides, I have plenty of jewelry, and the sweater would serve me well on a night where the temperature was supposed to dip into the low teens.
“I’ll be careful, I promise,” I assured her, picking up my duffle packed with everything I’d need that night and in the morning. I grabbed my backpack and threw it over my shoulder. “Peter will meet me at the library, and we’ll walk to his place together.”
I offered her a warm assuring smile to sell my confidence.
“All the way to Laurel Ave, huh? Are you both out of your frigging minds?” Her concern shifted easily to disgust. She looked so much like my mom right then, with her arms folded across her chest. “Peter should be picking you up right outside the dorm tonight in his car and not having you walk anywhere on campus to meet him!”
“He offered to meet me here, but I preferred he wait for me at the library,” I explained, seeking to avoid direct eye contact with her, as I sought to move around her to reach the door handle. “The short walk could do me some good. Besides, there’s still a little daylight, and it won’t be dark for at least the next half hour.”
“Have you looked outside, Txema?” She moved over to the window and pulled the drapes back. Only the last vestige of daylight was visible, and the sun had already set below the western horizon. “It’s gonna be dark in just a few minutes—you can’t go out there!”
I understood her worry—really I did. And, she had tried in vain to get me to leave Peter’s townhouse with her at three o’clock that afternoon. But everyone—her included—was having such a great time in the hot tub that I didn’t want to be the party-pooper. So, it wasn’t until almost 4:00 p.m. that we got out of there. Peter dropped us off at Massey Hall by four-fifteen, and Tyreen and I raced to the fourth floor. You would think she’d cut me a little slack, since I let her win the foot race to our room.
“I can still see some sunlight beyond the tree line, and it’s less than two blocks from here,” I retorted, praying my smile seemed warm and unpretentious…and hard to detect my growing irritation. If we kept arguing, soon enough she’d be right, and there wouldn’t be a way to beat the encroaching darkness. “I’ve still got some time before things get creepy outside.”
There, I said it. I’m sure this was what had her in a tizzy, and by then we had finally learned more about the previous night’s latest victim. The girl this time was slightly older than me and the other victim. She was a graduate student, named Mary Pervalus. It took a little longer to identify her since there were less body parts to work with than the original victim. Not to mention her closest living family member lives in Reno, Nevada, more than two thousand miles away.
“The hell you say!“
“Just trust me, damn it!”
In the only stare-down I’ve ever won with Tyreen, it gave me a brief upper hand. I pushed past her to leave the room.
“Hey! You really shouldn’t do this—Txema, wait!” she called after me as I moved quickly to the elevator. I caught her running toward me, blocked momentarily by Jenny Faye carrying a load of clean laundry back to her room. I stepped inside the elevator and pushed the lobby button.
“I’ll be all right—I promise!” I called back to her. The door closed as she arrived. I heard her say ‘call me!’, but the elevator was already descending before I could respond. I whispered ‘I will’ as I considered her warning, along with the sparse facts surrounding the second confirmed ‘slasher-hacker’ murder. I also thought about the night of wanton fun I hoped to have with Peter. I needed it, and prayed he had already finished his physics homework to be ready to deliver, later on.
On the way outside, I noticed a campus cop standing in the lobby with a Knoxville policeman. No doubt, this was the result of the recent curfew orders. Papa would be so happy…. At least I could count on no boogeymen jumping out of the bushes on the way to the library, since there had to be other policemen patrolling our campus.
I was wrong about that.
In the fading daylight, the brisk evening air chilled my face, forcing me to pull on my hood and fully zip my parka up to my neck. Tyreen was right…it was getting dark quick.
I walked fast…as fast as I could without running. Thankfully, the security lights were on throughout the area, and Hodges Library sat just a block away. If it had been any farther, I might not be writing this now.
As I reached the lawn in front of the Tyson Alumni Center, I heard something. It was a growl, low and guttural. The hairs along the nape of my neck stood on end, and it sounded as if it came from near the Alumni Center’s entrance. A pair of glowing eyes studied me from the shaded alcove…almost yellow in color. Or, m
aybe it was just some weird lights, and my heightened uneasiness made them look like something alive and dangerous.
But, then the strange yellow lights disappeared, and I saw a hulking form move out onto the lawn, hovering near the hedges by the center’s walkway. It seemed careful to avoid the bright security light high above, on the building’s exterior.
I was less than twenty yards away and starting to freak out a little. I couldn’t afford to keep guessing whether or not the thing was real or just some trick played by my imagination.
So I ran. Ran like hell. Ran like hell despite lingering stiffness from my September injury and a muffled scream stuck in my throat. I may never know for sure if the thing pursued me, but I could’ve sworn I heard something scampering across the lawn, its clawed hands and feet tearing at the frost-covered grass already dead from the coming onset of winter.
I didn’t chance a look behind me as I sprinted across the street to the library. No cops, campus or Knoxville’s finest, were in sight. And most everyone else had the good sense not to be outside. Just one dumb ass…me.
Thankfully, Peter was there. At least his Camaro sat in the parking lot. The custom cherry-red paint and white racing stripes glistened under the streetlights. I started to slow down, but something else joined the chase from my other side.
I saw this one, at least peripherally. And this time I did scream. Something huge and hairless ran on all fours as it pursued me. Its eyes were orange, like two offset burning fires, and long fangs protruded from the sides of its mouth—like a saber-tooth tiger.
I thought it might veer toward me and try to cut me off, but the head start I had proved enough. I raced up the stairs to the entrance, which unlike the Alumni Center was well lighted. Before I stepped through the front door, I looked back at the parking lot. It was deserted. A cool breeze brushed against my face as I listened carefully. But, I heard nothing…nothing beyond my labored breaths and thudding pulse.
I was still listening intently when someone grabbed my arm.
“Whoa! Hold on there, girl!”
Peter feigned injury when I punched his shoulder. I must’ve hit him pretty hard the second time, since he grimaced. It served him right for sneaking up on me.
“Hey, I thought you were just standing here, waiting for me to finish my physics research,” he said, backing up in case I hit him again. “I just now came downstairs, since everybody else has already left for the night.”
“You scared me, asshole!” I scolded him, sort of playful…sort of not.
“Well, are you ready to get going? What in the hell were you looking at anyway?” He looked out into the parking lot.
“Nothing…I’m ready to go.”
I took a cautious step down the stairs. There was still no sign of my pursuers. Maybe it was just a couple of wild dogs on the loose, although larger than any I’d ever seen, and the rest of what I saw had been added by the wild thoughts circling around in my head the past few days. I offered a silent prayer that it wasn’t some predatory mutant vampires searching for a certain female of unusual Basque descent.
“Would you mind if we took your car to your place, instead of walking?”
I poured on the sugar, since Peter wanted to leave the car on campus to avoid the vehicle searches that began this afternoon. We already went through one such search that afternoon, and luckily the patrolman and his female partner didn’t notice that his tags had expired in October. His excuse that he was too busy with his studies to get it done wouldn’t garner much leniency if he got caught. When dealing with the local police, privileged college rich kids have to suck it up like everyone else.
“No, babe…not at all,” he said, after looking toward the Alumni Center. His brow furrowed for a moment, and I wondered if he sensed something glowering at him, too, from the shadows across the way. But, then he shrugged his shoulders, his concern giving way to a generous smile. “Let’s get you warmed up. I’ve got wood in the fireplace already, so you can relax with a glass of wine in front of a warm fire while I get dinner ready.”
He grabbed my duffle bag and wrapped his free arm around my waist, guiding me to his car. I felt so safe with him, more than I ever had before. I didn’t even bother casting a nervous gaze around us. Peter would protect me. Nothing could go wrong as long as he was here with me, I just knew it. I hoped he understood that’s what I felt while we kissed and embraced outside his Camaro.
We soon headed north to his place, after coasting through the police roadblock. It went easier than either of us expected, and I took it as a good sign. Maybe, any other menace that seemed determined to get me would prove just as easy to avoid.
***
“Now, babe, just get comfortable. I should have everything ready in twenty to thirty minutes,” said Peter, once he and I finished getting the fire up to a full blaze.
A glass of zinfandel in hand, I looked around the living room. Even though I’d been here many times during the past two months, it felt different that night. Was it more of a haven? Perhaps. At least something that went beyond the amenities we shared with Tyreen and Johnny earlier. After all, a theatre room and hot tub wouldn’t mean squat if what I glimpsed earlier on campus somehow found its way here.
Better to be there than back in the dorm, even though Garvan and Armando endorsed Massey Hall as their version of a protected refuge. I guess I could say the advanced security system in the townhouse swung the pendulum to Peter’s place as the preferred locale. Looking back now, the prospect of unabashed sex with my man, who was right then putting the finishing touches on a delightful birthday dinner, further enhanced that sense of security.
A false sense, as it turned out.
While waiting for Peter’s return to the living room, I turned on the TV, hoping to find something funny to take my mind off everything. I stumbled on CNN, which just happened to be running their report on the latest news regarding the Knoxville killings. I should’ve kept going, but couldn’t resist lingering for a moment.
Another missing girl had been added to the list, and this one had likely disappeared two nights earlier. Another off-campus resident, this one lived less than three blocks away on 11th Street. Just like that, I didn’t feel quite as protected from harm as I assumed.
“Dinner’s ready, Txema!” Peter announced. He looked adorable in his apron and still wearing an oven mitt. Of course, I didn’t tell him this, fearing he might never dress like it again if I did. “Please follow the chef to your table, madam!”
I followed him into the dining room, where he had laid out a four-course meal. The filets looked delectable, along with potatoes, asparagus, and a bean casserole that was a recipe of his mom’s.
“Have a seat, darlin’, and we can dig in!” he beamed, and after pulling my chair out for me, he scurried over to his seat, throwing the apron and mitt on a table near the kitchen on his way. Before I got settled in my chair, he had already dug in, leaving me to fend for myself.
What a guy, huh? Well, at least the romantic thought was there for a moment. I guess his raging hunger and the close proximity of food turned him back into a typical male. Maybe that aspect would come in handy later.
“So, what do you think?” he asked, once he finished. I still had a little ways to go with my filet.
“It’s really good,” I told him, motioning the ‘okay’ for a refill in my wine glass. “I’m touched, hon’. This was really nice!”
“Thanks, babe,” he replied, and I could tell he felt just as touched by my sincere compliment. “There’s still dessert…and more to come after that.” He raised his wine glass in salute.
There was that smile again. My man’s dreamy eyes told me there was a lot more ‘niceness’ to come.
“I can wait for dessert,” I told him, smiling coyly. “But what else have you got in mind?”
“Are you sure you can wait for some devil’s food?”
“I’d rather save the devil for later tonight…as for the cake, maybe in a little while.”
Th
e seductive wink I added brought an immediate effect. His smile faded slightly, but the twinkle in his eyes told me his arousal would soon match mine. Everything was heading for the night of passion I hoped for…needed. After clearing the table, I motioned for him to grab his wine glass and the half-empty wine bottle and follow me back to the living room. We had just stepped out of the dining room when the lights suddenly went out.
“What in the hell?” he murmured, worriedly, setting his glass and the bottle on the coffee table—my first clue that the lights weren’t a romantic touch on his part.
Shit!
This was an unfortunate development, though likely just a fuse went out. It seemed logical when I glanced out the window and saw that Peter’s neighbor’s had electricity. But then, none of the appliances were working either—anywhere on the main floor. Luckily, the fire burned brightly in the fireplace, with plenty of wood to get us through the night.
Peter moved into the kitchen and grabbed a flashlight from the pantry. Before he rejoined me by the fire, I heard the first creaks upstairs. Someone was moving around in Stephen’s bedroom.
“Nobody’s up there…right?” I hoped the softness in my voice didn’t give away my rising panic.
“Yeah, Stephen left this afternoon. Remember?” He looked worried—definitely not a good sign.
He moved quietly over to the stairs and pointed the flashlight up to the second floor landing. I moved up right behind him as another footstep resounded…whoever was there was still in Stephen’s room. He started to climb the stairs, but suddenly a terrible feeling washed over me.
“Don’t do it!” I whispered, with enough harshness to sound like a hiss.
Before he could turn and respond to me, a similar hiss resounded from upstairs, followed by a low growl.
Just like earlier tonight…shit!
My mind went blank. Stark fear will do that to you. Only continual bombardment can condition a person to function in a state of unease and terror—which I’ve learned firsthand since. But at that moment, I felt paralyzed.