by Geri Glenn
Rushing up to the side of the bed, I visually look her over for any other injuries, aside from the obvious, but I find none. My heart pounds and I can feel the hot flush of anger wash over me. But, seeing no other wounds, I lean forward and look into her eyes. “What happened? Who did this to you?”
She stares at me, eyes wide as she shakes her head. Rushing towards the door once more, it takes me into a small bathroom, but there’s another door that leads to the hallway that’s been left open. He’s long gone now. Motherfucker.
Taking a deep breath, I try to calm my nerves enough that I can reach out to Joey. “Joey?”
She answers immediately. “Jesus. This is like texting, only better, don’t ya think?”
I look back into the bedroom where the blonde girl is crying. “I need you to get your ass upstairs. We got something.”
“Be right there.”
Moving back to the bed, I reach out to wipe away her tears, but drop my hand when she flinches. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m not going to hurt you.” She turns her head away as more tears spill down the side of her face.
-
Joey
-
As soon as I hear Cyrus say he needs help, I take off towards the stairs. I don’t know what to expect, but if he’s asking for backup, I know it’s big. I make it up about three stairs when a body blocks my path to my brother and whatever the fuck is going on upstairs. Who I find, standing there in dark clothing, has me livid.
“Miss me, baby?”
I don’t have time for this shit. “Get out of my way, Val,” I explode, barely containing my frustration as I try to sidestep him.
He steps with me, blocking my path once more. “Ah, don’t be like that, baby.”
God! What is this guy’s problem? I move forward, ready to just plow right through him, but he misinterprets my move, or maybe he doesn’t, and uses it to his advantage. Snaking his arms around my waist, he pulls my body closer, his lips puckering as he lunges for my face as he attempts to kiss me. My skin crawls as I curl my lip and pull away, leaving his lips to miss their target, landing sloppily on my neck. He doesn’t let that little detail stop him though. His lips latch on as he sucks my exposed skin deep and runs his hands down by back, squeezing my ass painfully.
Fuck it. I’m done playing nice. Pushing him away with a little more force than needed, Val’s lips disconnect as he falls backwards, catching himself just before he lands on his ass.
“You bitch!” he seethes. I watch with raised brows as he pulls his arm back and lets loose with a brutal smack. It’s hard enough that my head whips to the side, and I immediately taste blood in my mouth. My pal Val doesn’t know that I can withstand much more force than that.
Turning my head back towards him slowly, I smile. He looks furious and ready to hit me again, not seeming affected at all by what he just did. Guess hitting girls is no big thing for this piece of shit.
The party rages around us, and nobody seems to even notice what just happened, but no matter how bad I want to, I can’t kick his ass right now.
Intending to put him verbally in his place, I open my mouth to rip him a new asshole, but Cyrus yelling in my mind snaps me back to what’s really important, and it’s not this shitbag in front of me.
Joey, hurry the fuck up. We’ve got problems!
Forgetting Val, for now, I shove past him to get to my brother. I make it up two stairs before Val grabs my arm and tries to yank me back. I’m done with this shit. Using the momentum, I curl my hand into a tight fist and whip around, landing a hard punch directly to his face. I feel his nose break from the force, and blood sprays us both. I don’t stick around. I jump away from his sobbing form as I make my way up the stairs, the sounds of his loud crying following me as I go. Nailed ya, you fucker.
Sensing my brother in the farthest room, I rush down the hall and shove open the door to find him kneeling beside a bed, soothing a woman who is sitting there crying with a busted lip.
“What the fuck?” I say, more to myself, but as soon as Cyrus hears me, he turns his head to answer and stops dead in his tracks when he sees me.
“What the fuck is right! What happened to you?” I feel the anger and concern coming off of him, but we don’t have time for me to explain, or for him to worry about me right now.
I took care of it.
“Hey. What’s your name, honey?” I ask her in a quiet, soothing voice.
“Vicki,” she answers through her busted lip.
“Hi, Vicki. My name is Joey. Why don’t we go into the bathroom so I can take a look at you...is that okay?” I ask. She nods, so I help her up and walk with her until we’re enclosed inside the room.
After cleaning her up in the bathroom, I check her over for any other wounds. Her clothes are a little stretched out, probably from someone trying to rip them off during her struggle, and her neck is a little red from possible choke marks. But other than that, she’s okay. Heading back out into the bedroom where Cyrus is waiting, I help her sit on the bed and kneel down in front of her.
“Vicki? Can you tell us who did this to you?”
She squeezes her eyes closed and tears fall from her eyes. “I don’t know...I’ve never seen him before. He was here at the party and we started talking. He seemed nice, and was really good looking.” She shakes her head and takes a deep breath before meeting my eyes. “I don’t remember coming up here. I don’t remember anything other than talking to him in the kitchen. When he smacked me in the mouth, it’s like he woke me up from a daze, you know?” Her body trembles as she tries to keep from sobbing.
I look to my brother. "I'm going to take her home. Why don’t you stay here and look for that friend of yours?” He knows what I mean. He needs to stay behind to look for the guy who did this, and we need to find out if he’s human or something more. The fact that he got Vicki up here without her being aware of it tells me that we’re most certainly dealing with a demon.
“No,” she cries. “I don’t want to go home. I need to go to the police and tell them what happened.”
“Honey, I think you should go home and rest. Then, tomorrow, we can go to the police.” I insist, hoping she’ll agree.
“Maybe I should take you both, that way you can go home too,” Cyrus interrupts, probably still worried about what happened to me, but he shouldn’t. I took care of it and I’m fine. We need to get Vicki home so we can be sure she’s safe while we hunt this fucker down.
Before I can answer him, Vicki yells, “NO!”
Cyrus and I both gape at her in shock. Her body trembles and her face is full of fear, her eyes locked on Cyrus. Is she afraid of him?
“I won’t hurt you,” Cy says, shock clear in his voice.
Vicki swallows and takes another deep breath, looking Cy up and down warily. Her face changes then, looking maybe a little embarrassed. “I—I know. It’s just, I’d feel more comfortable with her. I know you helped me, and I really do appreciate it, I do, but after what just happened, I don’t feel all that comfortable around any man. It’s not just you. I’m sorry, I’m not making any sense.” She blows out a long breath. “I’d just feel better if Joey walked me home—I mean, to the police station. I want to go there first. Could you please take me?” she asks with desperation.
I can’t let her go to the police. Not wanting to mess with her more than she’s already been messed with, I focus on her and tell her what she needs to do.
You already went to the police station. They said they would check it out, and they would call you with any new updates or questions. There is no need for you to go back or to call them again.
At first, I’m not sure if it’s going to work, afraid she’s too far gone, but she seems to shake her head and looks at me sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I forgot we already talked with the police. So, could you take me home now? Please?”
Nodding my head, I move to lead her out of the room. “Come on, honey. Let’s get you home.” She follows me willingly. Turning back, I pin my eyes on Cyrus.
<
br /> Find this fucker.
It takes us twenty minutes to walk back to her dorm. After doing a quick sweep inside her room to make sure no one is hiding, I leave her and head back outside.
I still don’t know what to make of what happened tonight. It’s possible that a human did this, but then again, the reason we’re here mimics human behavior too, or it could. It’s the carvings and presentation of the bodies that are the most suspicious. I still want to find who did this to her, human or not, and make sure it never happens again. If he is human, he’ll wish he never did such a thing when I’m through with him.
When I think about taking this aggression out on a human, even if they deserve it as Val did, I can’t help but think that it’s wrong. I know it’s wrong. Shit, Father Martin spent the last nineteen years drilling into us that we should only use our powers on demons, or our lethal weapons anyway. He said that if a human was in the wrong, we should let the law handle it. That’s what they are there for. It’s their job to hunt down and punish the humans, and it’s our job to take care of the problems that are supernatural. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting to punish the person who caused harm to that girl. That fucker deserves it, and I would definitely teach him a lesson the law wouldn’t.
Thinking it would be a good idea to take a look around to make sure everything is okay before heading home, I make my way around the building. Nothing looks out of place, and I haven’t seen anyone around that doesn’t look like they belong. So, with my job done, I make my way back towards the front of the building, only to see something out of the corner of my eye.
I stop to scan the area and see that it’s not something, but someone hiding in the shadows of the trees, off to the side of the building. It looks like they’re watching the front door, or maybe a specific room? It’s hard to tell from where I’m standing, but I know they’re not supposed to be here since they’re obviously hiding. Maybe it’s the fucker that roughed Vicki up. God, I hope so. I’ve been itching to have a fight with a moving target.
Making my way closer, I make sure that I stay in the shadows and remain very quiet. Even though I know I could take whoever is out there, I don’t want to let on to my presence, at least not yet.
When I’m a few feet behind them, I decide first to reach into their mind. Maybe that will give me a better idea of who they are and what they’re doing here.
Letting out a quiet breath, I concentrate on the person in front of me, who I now see is a man, and clear my mind as much as possible.
At first, I don’t hear anything, not even tones or choppy thoughts. But just when I’m about to give up and go about this the hard way, I finally hear something, and I instantly recognize who the thoughts belong to. Merrick.
Where the fuck is she? She should be here by now.
Who the hell is he waiting for, and why? He can’t be the guy who did that to Vicki, because for one, I already dropped her off. If it was him, he’d know she was home already. Second, she’s on the other side of the building, so if he was watching for her, he wouldn’t be over here.
I need to find her. Zearron will be pissed if he finds out I’ve lost her.
Who the hell is Zearron? And who the hell is the girl he’s looking for? But more importantly, why? I swear I didn’t get any evil vibes from him, but now I feel like I should rethink my earlier reservations. Could he be the one raping and killing women? Even if he’s doing it for this Zearron, he’s still doing it, which means he needs to be stopped.
I should head home and tell Cy what I’ve found out, but dammit! It doesn’t feel right. He can’t be the evil we’re here for, but he’s up to something, and I’m going to find out exactly what it is.
Suddenly, laughter permeates the air. Off to the right, a small group of girls, loaded down with armloads of books, come walking up the sidewalk. I watch them from a distance as they make their way towards the dormitory, unable to hear their conversation. Once they’re safely inside, I turn back towards the tree, ready to find out once and for all what Merrick is up to–but he’s gone.
Chapter Four
Cyrus
-
My blood pressure goes through the roof as I watch Joey lead Vicki from the room. The fact that someone, or something, had assaulted that girl with Joey and I in the same house has me seeing red. I look around the room and again at the bathroom door. Then, seeing my sister walk into the room, her own clothes bloody?
I pound my fist into the wall, leaving a large jagged hole. “Fuck!”
I take a deep breath and try to calm my rage. I need to focus if I have a hope in hell of figuring out what the fuck went on here tonight. I need to find this fucker before any more girls get hurt. The memory of Vicki, sitting on the bed with a tear streaked face and a split lip, cowering from my touch, flashes through my mind. Clenching my fists tightly, I shake my head. Focus, Cy.
I walk out of the room. People are still standing around in the hall and along the stairs, laughing and gulping down their foul-smelling drinks. How the fuck did these assholes not hear her scream? t doesn’t make any fucking sense.
As I walk back through the house, I concentrate on everyone’s auras. Nothing looks suspicious about any of them. They’re all just drunk, and I mean really drunk. Rolling my eyes, I keep walking and turn into the kitchen.
“Whoa, dude. You look like you could use a fuckin’ drink.”
I whip my head around and see a tall guy, about my age, holding out a red cup to me. I narrow my eyes at him. He’s tall, though not as tall as my six foot three frame. His dark hair is full of product and expertly messed up. He’s surrounded by a large group of men and women, and he’s looking at me with a wide grin stretched across his stubbled face. I can’t get a lock on him to know if he’s human or not. The part that shocks me most is, he has no aura. Not even a glimmer of one. What the fuck? This is the second guy today that doesn’t have a damn aura.
I look at the cup and give my best Dean Winchester smile. “Nah, but thanks, man. I’m not a beer drinker.”
“Well, you’re in luck.” He turns, parting the crowd of people behind him as he wades through them to the counter. “I brought along my good buddy, Jack.”
I stare at the bottle of Jack Daniels for a moment, my mind racing. I don’t want to drink, but I decide that if I want to know why the fuck this guy doesn’t have an aura, I’m going to have to suck it up and have a drink with him.
“Perfect.”
He nods and pulls out a clean cup. “What do you take it with?”
I freeze, not knowing what he means. He chuckles and waves his hand along the counter, showing me several large, two-liter bottles of soda. Watching movies whenever we weren’t training, I knew that most people drank their rum with Coke. “Coke,” I say, a lump forming in my throat while everyone in the room watches our exchange.
He fills the cup and hands it to me. “Name’s Trent.”
“Cyrus.” Putting the cup to my lips, I take a small sip. God, it burns! Schooling my features, determined to hide my reaction, I lower the cup and look around at the others while Trent goes around the room, introducing them to me. Knowing I’ll never remember them all, I nod at each one and force a smile.
Trent lowers his head and whispers into the ear of a busty brunette who looks up at me from beneath her lashes. Slowly, she moves towards me and runs her tongue slowly across her lips. I can’t take my eyes off of them. When she reaches me, she presses her enormous tits up against my chest and whispers in my ear, “Drink up, baby.”
My eyes shoot to Trent, who wags his eyebrows and raises his glass. Grinning, I nod back and take another swig of my rum and coke. One drink can’t hurt, can it?
Groaning, I attempt to peel my eyelids apart. My head is pounding and my mouth is dry. When I try to sit up, I struggle a little against the heavy weight pressing down on my chest. My vision finally clears, and I look down to see the brunette from last night sprawled on top of me, wearing nothing but a pair of tiny thong panties and a bra. My shirt is
missing, and as I look around the room, I see several others from the party in similar stages of undress. Sunlight beams in through the living room windows of the trashed frat house.
What the fuck happened last night? Gently, I slide the half-naked girl, whose name I don’t even know, off to the side so that I can crawl out from underneath her. Searching for my shirt, I try to remember how I ended up like this. I remember drinking with Trent and his friends, and I even remember agreeing to go in the pool. The last thing I remember though, is someone suggesting a game of strip poker. Everything is blank after that.
After wrestling my shirt out from under the ass of another half-naked blonde girl, I slip it on and start for the door. Just as I reach it, a hand lands on my arm. Spinning, I pull back my fist, ignoring the protesting pain that is stabbing through my skull.
“Whoa, dude. I come in peace.” Trent stands before me, his hands raised in surrender with a cocky smile on his face. Even after last night, I can’t get a lock on the guy. He’s funny, charismatic, and people seem to flock to him, but something’s not right. Besides his lack of aura, or no aura at all, he’s almost too charismatic...too friendly. That makes me think he’s trying too hard. He’s hiding something, I have no doubt about that.
Lowering my fist, I rub my temples and groan. “Sorry, man. You caught me off guard. I need to get home.”
He smiles, and that’s when I notice he looks freshly showered, and not the least bit hungover. Considering the rest of our little party is still passed out around the room in various levels of drunken nudity, I find this suspicious. “No problem. I just wanted to catch you before you left. I wanted to ask you if you were interested in going out for drinks again tonight?”
Groaning again, I rub my chest as the bile starts to rise at the thought of more alcohol. “No thanks, man. I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”