by Tammy Turner
“Who’s there?” she asked, kneeling to pick up the change. Her eyes darted quickly from door to door along the dim hallway. “Hello?” she called out, listening for another footfall.
A door squeaked at the other end of the hallway. “Is somebody there?” Her voice echoed along the floor.
The elevator had still not arrived.
“That does it,” she fumed to the closed doors. “I’m taking the stairs.” She scrounged the last of the fallen quarters from the base of an aluminum trash can.
Rising to her feet, she noticed a beam of light shining from under the door of room 401 across from the elevator. Placing her ear against the cold metal door, she listened quietly to the faint beeping of a monitor on the other side. Cracking the door open, she poked her head inside the room and saw the girl still deep in sleep on the bed, her face illuminated in a fluorescent glow.
“How could that light have come back on?” the nurse wondered aloud. Nudging the door open wider with her shoulder, she heard another footfall squeak in the hallway behind her back. “Who’s there?” she called in a quivering voice as she backed into the room and shut the door.
Stepping warily toward the girl on the bed, the nurse studied her face, frowning at the pained expression etched across a row of freckles. On a nearby table was a clear plastic bag with a stained and tattered prep school skirt and black Mary Jane shoes.
Standing over the girl, the nurse brushed a lock of auburn hair from her face. Studying the bandage on the girl’s chin, the nurse remarked, “You poor thing—you’re no older than my daughter. If only you could tell me what happened to you.”
“No,” Alexandra moaned in her sleep. “I won’t go.” Her legs kicked the blanket from her body, revealing the bandages covering her legs.
“No one is going to take you anywhere,” the nurse assured her. “You’re safe now,” she said, pulling the blanket back over Alexandra’s trembling body.
Tucking the covers around Alexandra’s shoulders, the nurse heard another noise behind her. Jumping away from the bed, the nurse turned around and searched the room’s shadows. In the far corner by the window, a police officer moved toward her and stepped carefully into the light.
“No one told me you were waiting in here,” the nurse explained, studying the chiseled lines of his face.
“My apologies for startling you,” he offered.
Alexandra continued to sleep undisturbed.
“I believe I heard the elevator stop for you,” he told the nurse, nodding his chin toward the door. “Take your break. I’ll stay with her.”
“You don’t know her name?” asked the nurse. “She didn’t have any identification on her when you found her?”
“No,” mumbled the raven-haired police officer. “I already told the doctor in the emergency room that I found her in the street. A car hit her and fled the scene.”
“What kind of animal would do that?” the nurse said.
He suddenly looked at Alexandra’s neck and realized that the necklace was gone. He shuddered.
“Where is it?” he demanded.
“Where is what?” the nurse asked, backing closer to the door. “I don’t understand.”
“No, of course you do not understand,” he said, scowling and leaning closer into Alexandra’s face. “Where is her necklace? What have you done with it?” he asked accusingly.
“Everything she came in with is in there,” the nurse stammered and pointed a shaking finger toward the plastic bag on the table by the bed.
“Leave,” he said, snatching the bag. The door slammed shut.
His hands fumbled through the clothes in the bag and located the medallion. “It is here,” the man sighed to Alexandra. “You will never be without it again.”
“Help me,” Alexandra whispered softly in her sleep, her legs flailing under the blanket as if trying to run.
“I am trying,” he answered her calmly. “You are not alone anymore.”
He held his face close to her face, listening for her voice. Her lips parted gently. Her eyelids fluttered and opened while a smile crept across her face.
“I know,” she spoke and opened her eyes. She placed her cold palm against his cheek, looking into his troubled face. “Don’t go away again,” she said. The next moment her eyelids closed again over her weary, green eyes, and her hand fell limply across her chest. At least asleep, she did not hurt.
Kraven reached out to touch her face and let his fingertips lightly rub the side of her flushed cheek. Turning her head toward his hand, she nuzzled her face inside his warm palm.
“I wish with all my heart that I could destroy the terror stalking your dreams. What must I do?” he confessed to her. “I have so much to ask you,” he whispered. Above his head, the steady, rhythmic blips of the heart monitor spiked and steadied again and again. “You are in no danger now,” he told her. “I will protect you. Now you must rest and heal.”
Gently pulling his hand away from her face, he placed the pillow beneath her head and walked toward the window. Opening the blinds, he stared out into the stormy night. The red lights of an ambulance parked on the street below illuminated the window, turning his blue eyes into scarlet.
Closing the blinds, he found a chair in the corner of the room. Waiting for her to wake from her dreams, he sat quietly in the shadows, his eyes locked on her restless face.
21
Escape
The farther and faster she ran through the thick woods, the more determined the young woman became not to look back at the path behind her. She was old enough to know that she could not close her eyes and make the evil that followed her go away. But she did believe that she could try to outrun it.
Though the sun had already started to set, there had been no other choice but for her to flee into the cover of the woods. Twilight loomed and dark shadows were forming. Dry twigs snapped loudly beneath her bare, battered feet as her pace quickened in the dying light. She gritted her teeth in pain, but her footsteps fell certain and swift upon the faint, rocky footpath.
Wiping at the sweat on her brow, her soot-stained fingertips smeared black marks across her face. She let herself think for a moment of the flames that had consumed her home and driven her into the woods. Rage and fear boiled in her gut as her legs kicked furiously against the ground. Her long, auburn hair whipped madly around her face while she raced deeper into the forest.
Around her neck hung a strap of leather from which a medallion dangled and swung wildly. With her heart pounding violently in her ears, she reached for the pendant. It was a bronze medallion, etched with the picture of man’s head on top of a dragon’s body. She clenched it tightly against her.
Limbs and brush cluttered the path, so she struggled to push them aside as she ran. Fearing she had strayed from the faint trail, she stopped and studied the ground under her feet. Except for the panting of her breath, the trees stood still and silent while her eyes darted in every direction, searching for any sign she was not alone.
Shadows danced upon the forest floor as heavy, dark clouds scurried across the sky. Raising her eyes to the towering treetops, her wobbling legs buckled beneath her. When she collapsed, her cheek smacked hard against a stone. Stunned and in pain, she lay on the cold ground. A single tear rolled down her face.
Thunder rumbled from the clouds gathering above her. With as much courage as possible, she picked herself up from the damp forest floor. Wincing, she held her jaw tenderly in her hand. Lifting her skirt, she saw that her legs had bloody scrapes and scratches.
With relief, she saw the rolled parchment map still tied snugly to her thigh. She tightened the cord holding it in place. Her father, a mapmaker, had been here before. But he never dreamed that his daughter would be the one to need his map. And it was needed for this reason: to find her way from the lands of Kilhaven. She must flee to safety from a monstrous beast. Sighing deeply, the girl begged her legs to find the strength to carry her forward.
She thought that she saw a clearing in the trees ahead and tre
aded warily toward the light. Hiding behind a sturdy, soaring tree trunk, she peeked carefully around its great width. Her heart sank when she saw the edge of a cliff looming beyond the border of the tree line.
A black crow perched upon a rock overlooking the cliff’s steep sea wall. He squawked madly at her and soared into the sky as she approached from the trees. Stepping to the edge of the cliff, she peered cautiously over the side and down at the murky sea raging far below.
Disturbed by her weight, the slippery gravel beneath her bare feet loosened and shifted. Recoiling from the cliff’s edge, she watched tiny pebbles slide and fall over the side toward the churning sea and jagged rocks waiting far below.
Ahead of her, an endless ocean spread across the horizon, where the last rays of the day’s setting sun danced across the water. Looking back toward the woods, she shivered at the thought of the cold shadows within the forest. These shadows waited for her to return to their grasp.
There was no place left for her to hide. She did not want to jump, but she would not allow herself to be captured. As she stood and stared into the abyss below, a blast of wind hit her back. Pushed forward, she stumbled to regain her precarious toehold upon the earth, until she realized that her body was being lifted into the air.
Higher and higher she soared, until the cliff disappeared beneath the clouds. A mighty grip held her ankles and dragged her upside down through the heavens, like a hawk returning to its nest with a trophy. Her arms twisted and fought the beast’s grip, but she could not turn herself upright to see its body or face.
“Let me go!” she screamed.
The grip slackened, and she kicked her free legs wildly through the air. Her chest heaved, but she did not panic. Falling ever faster, she closed her eyes and waited for the water to shatter her bones and swallow her body.
“I wish I could fly,” she whispered softly to the wispy clouds floating past.
Her pounding heart thumped bittersweet in her chest. A smoldering fire sparked in her gut and raged though her body. She felt as if she was burning from the inside out. The fire’s flames burned hotter than she could bear.
At the end, just before the waves rushed up to meet her, she thought of his face. Closing her eyes tightly, she smiled.
“I will love you forever,” she whispered. “And some day I will see you again.” The sound of crashing waves drowned out her last weeping gasps.
22
Awakening
Alexandra’s eyes opened when she turned in her sleep and fell off the bed. Her body slumped to the cool linoleum floor. She saw a pair of tall legs standing over her crumpled body. Trembling in her loose hospital gown, she slowly raised her head, studying the sturdy figure of a police officer before he reached down and lifted her delicately in his strong arms.
“Where am I?” she asked, gazing into the stranger’s deep, brooding eyes. When she found herself lingering on his rugged face, she turned away, blushing.
Laying her down gently, his arm grazed her bandaged legs, and she winced in pain. “What happened to me? Where am I?” she asked him again, looking at her legs as he covered them with the blanket.
She wheezed, and he jumped backward into the shadows. “Shall I get the nurse?” he stammered, hesitating in the darkness by the door.
“No, please don’t leave me,” she called to him. “Can you come closer?” she asked, her voice clawing its way out of her dry throat. There was no response.
“I’m waiting,” Alexandra pleaded, staring deep into the shadows. “What’s wrong? Can you tell me if I’m in some kind of trouble?”
His face emerged first, and she gulped deeply. With a single stride, he stood at her side again. “I’m sorry,” he said shyly, looking at the floor. “You are in no trouble. I have disturbed you and you need your rest. We shall speak when you are ready.”
“I don’t want to go back to sleep,” she said, sitting upright in the bed. “I was dreaming, I think.”
“I was watching you,” he told her. “You looked like you were in pain.”
“It actually felt more like I was remembering something,” she explained to him, looking into his eyes and clutching the blanket tightly around her body. “It felt so real, like it was actually happening. You know what I mean? I was running, falling, and then I drowned—I think!” she said, shaking her head. “No, I don’t want to go through that again.” Her eyes glanced up at the heart monitor beeping steadily by the bed and then down at the plastic bag holding her clothes. “Are those my clothes?” she asked, pointing to the table beside the bed.
“Your name is Alexandra?” asked Kraven, lifting the bag to her fingers.
“Yes,” she said, as the bag slipped from her fingertips to the floor, “Alexandra Peyton.”
Kraven grabbed the bag by kneeling on the floor, so that she would not see his face. He felt both pain and joy. “I have found her,” he muttered softly while he rose to his feet. “She is as lovely as the mapmaker’s daughter, my Iselin.” He handed her the clothes, and she thanked him politely.
Opening the bag, she took out her uniform, caked with dried mud, and laid the skirt and button-down shirt across the top of the blanket. “My mom is going to be furious,” she whispered, shaking her head as she ran her trembling fingers over the blood stains.
“You do not remember?” he asked her when he saw a single tear fall down her cheek.
“No,” she said, closing her watery, green eyes. “Why am I here? Please tell me.”
Turning toward the window so that she would not see his face, he bit his lip and opened the blinds. The rain still poured while lightning strikes illuminated the late night sky. “Let me get you a cup of water from the bathroom,” he offered and turned into the shadows.
Pulling the blanket around her like a robe, Alexandra slid delicately from the bed and walked gingerly toward the window. Looking through the blinds, she saw the lighting illuminate the tops of the sleeping city’s buildings and listened to the rain pelt the window.
“Drink,” he told her, handing her the water.
“Thank you,” she said and gulped down the whole thing. “My throat feels like it’s on fire,” she explained, handing the plastic cup back to him.
When he walked to the bathroom for more water, Alexandra grabbed the cords of the window blinds and yanked them open for a better look out the window. “What are you doing?” Kraven asked, returning with a full cup, his eyes darting over her reflection in the wide glass pane.
Alexandra poured the water greedily down her throat while he tried to take the cords from her. “No,” she told him, hiding them coyly behind her back. “I have to show you something.”
Stepping closer to the window, she tapped it with a finger. “Over there,” she said, pointing to the left. “I think my school is somewhere just past that tall bank building. You’ve heard of Collinsworth Academy?” she asked, turning her eyes back to Kraven, who was standing behind her.
“Of course,” he said, nodding his head.
“And over there,” she continued, pointing to the right, “past that hotel with the white lights on top, is my apartment building. My mom and I live there.”
Alexandra’s face suddenly showed shock. “My mom!” she exclaimed, dropping the empty cup to the floor. “Is she okay? I haven’t talked to her since . . .” Her voice trailed off as she stared into the night.
“She has not been notified,” Kraven told Alexandra as her grip on the cord slackened.
“Oh,” she mumbled, stumbling back toward the bed.
“Let’s close this for now,” he told her, yanking the cord. Once returned to the bed, Alexandra folded her uniform delicately and slid it into the plastic bag.
“What time is it?” she asked, reaching for her neck, her fingertips grazing the bare skin.
“It is after midnight,” he answered. “Is something wrong?” he asked while she patted the plastic bag with her hand.
“I have to go school in the morning. I have to go home,” she said, her voice sha
king while she looked around the bed. “My necklace,” she mumbled and shook the bag upside down, her Mary Janes falling to the bed. “There it is,” Alexandra sighed, unhooking the necklace from a shoe buckle.
“Let me help you with that,” Kraven offered, calmly hoping that she would not notice the tremble in his fingers as she lifted her hair from her shoulders. “Iselin,” he whispered to himself, tying the leather strap around her slim neck.
A knock at the door startled them, and Kraven wrapped his arm around Alexandra. The night nurse returned and stepped warily inside the room, pushing a cart.
“It’s you again,” noted Kraven when the nurse walked toward the bed.
“I have to take her temperature and blood pressure, sir,” the nurse said, noticing his arm around Alexandra’s shoulders. “If you would excuse us,” she told him, holding the thermometer out toward Alexandra’s mouth.
He withdrew his arm and stalked into the shadows, his eyes following every movement of the intruder. The nurse shook her head when the thermometer beeped and placed her hand on Alexandra’s forehead.
“What’s wrong?” asked Alexandra, trying to read the temperature.
“Darn thing is broken,” the nurse explained. “It spiked to 115 degrees and shut off on me. You do feel a bit warm, though. How about some ice chips? I’ll be back in a little while with some.”
In the dark, Kraven laughed softly to himself. “There is nothing you can do for her,” he mumbled when he opened the door for the nurse.
“What did you say?” she asked, as he closed the door on her face.
He returned to the bedside. “We cannot stay here.”
“I know,” Alexandra said calmly. “I have to go home.”
“You cannot go there, either,” he replied.
“Are you going to take me to jail?” Then she suddenly recalled the hot breath of the wolf. “What happened tonight?” she asked. “What was that thing that attacked me?”
Bending over her, he took her trembling hand. “I will protect you, Alexandra. That is my duty.”