The blond man said, "I don't want to harm you. I need you and the disc." He held up his hands, "I am unarmed, Dianna." He held out one of his hands. "Come with me. Bring the disc. And the meat-bag lives."
He smiled again, a wide smile. His face and features with a smile should have been charming. Instead, I felt the menace of it deeply. My stomach clenched, and my head felt a slight pressure.
"Why would I believe you, blondie? Would the Shadowed Man ever leave anything alive?" I wanted to look over at the Professor, but something intuition kept my focus on the blond man.
"I know you don't know me. You are uncertain."
The Shadowed Man's screeching voice said, "The maze maker fools you, unchild. Follow our king."
The human looking monster kept his wide grin.
"What and who are you?"
He stopped smiling. Holding up a hand he said, "The brightest light that fell from the host." His strange eyes implored me, "Come with us, and join your rightful place."
Adrenaline kicked in. The world shifted to gray hues. "What are you?"
He dropped his hand, "You really should come. You aren't the first to be created, used, made to suffer, and then cast aside." His voice sounded sweet, "Come. I can tell you everything. All the things your creator won't."
"You are the biggest liar I've ever met."
His face lit up, and he blushed, "Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"I hunger. Feast now?" the Shadowed Man asked.
The man kept eyes on me and asked, "Well, Dianna. Does the, what'd you call it, the Shadowed Man, consume the human?” The way he said human was the way I said maggot. “Devour his very soul? Or are you brave enough to come with me?” He held his hand out, palm faced up. “You can stop this soul from meeting a true death?"
I hated this. If I fought, the Shadowed Man could possibly kill Samuel with one bite before I could close the distance. If I surrendered, they would surely kill Professor Olson and probably me as well. I had no reason to believe they wanted me alive. Except the Shadowed Man's words, that repeatedly told me to come to its side and join in some feast.
"If your creature comes with us, and remains with us. Not harming anyone. I will follow you."
"Done. Now take my hand."
I shook my head, "You don't touch me. I know what Kian's touch can do. You seem cut of the same cloth."
He laughed deeply. "Kian, hmm. Yes. We are both what your kind finds attractive."
He posed as if on a fashion shoot.
What the fuck was wrong with him?
His hand reached for mine, "But you drop your weapons, you take my hand, you offer no resistance, and the disgusting flesh bag continues to live a pointless existence."
My gloves weren't on. I let the tonfas fall. Gritting my teeth, I put my hand in his. Touching his flesh made my skin crawl.
"See? That wasn't hard, was it?" He looked over at the Shadowed Man and said, "Naniloukh." He pulled me close.
The Shadowed Man started to shake, its jaws expanding.
Unsurprised, I lifted my hand held by the man and used my free hand to grab his wrist holding me and then twisted that hand while moving my hips. It moved the golden-haired stranger away, while I flung myself back towards the Shadowed Man.
The man staggered forward and banged off the door frame. Apparently, the extra boost from Kian was still in full effect.
Luck had it, I landed on the left side of the Shadowed Man. The creature that had plagued my nightmares for years had my body in a cold sweat and my heart pounding so hard felt like it would burst out from my rib cage.
The Shadowed Man's body felt soft but textured, almost like papyrus. It oozed, so it was hard to get a solid grip. Angling to avoid its teeth, I grabbed it under its arms with my legs, which didn't make it around his body. At the same time, I squeezed my thighs as hard as I could while ripping two tendrils from his body.
The noise made a sickly pop. Dark purple and grayish fluid seeped from the ripped limbs.
Screeching, the creature stopped its deadly transformation and focused on removing me. All its tendrils and arms grabbed at me; they pulled hard enough to cut and bruise. I remained on its side my legs holding firm. Bits of papery flesh stuck to my skin where it attacked.
It didn't seem to want to bite me, yet. I tried to move more towards its back.
Samuel sat motionless with an absent gaze.
"Run!" I shouted.
All at once, the black wisps stilled on my flesh. I took the opportunity to yank out two more tentacles.
The creature waited until the end of my motion and used all its limbs at once to yank me from its back.
I heard my arm pop, at the same time I felt the ripping of muscles. I flew into the air, smashing into the metal clock. It was open-faced, and the hands cut my arms and legs. I slid down the wall to the ground and rolled away.
My left arm hung uselessly. Blood oozed out from the cuts.
Scanning the room, I saw the man that came with the dark beast was nowhere to be seen.
The Shadowed Man’s arms reached out to hold me up like a rag doll by its jagged maw. "Dead Red Girl! Join or die!" It threw me again, but I latched on to another wispy tendril.
The tendril ripped apart as I flew to the other side of the room. My head hit the stone fireplace, and it looked like two shadowy figures swaying in front of me. I tried to stand, but my feet failed me. I couldn't get up. Everything grew cold.
The man's long braid hit my cheek as he looked at me upside down. "What is it with his creations? Everything has to be so difficult?"
He reached back and punched me in the face. I grabbed his arm with my one good one before he pulled it back to hit me again.
I yanked him to me and bit his inner wrist. Hard. Blood poured into my mouth, and I felt my muscles knit together. That hadn't been my plan, but it worked.
His movements stopped. He didn't try to move away. Instead, he bent down and held my head, letting me drink from his hand. He put his entire body weight on me; sitting on my chest as he held me to the ground.
Okay, biting him had been just a dick move to make him hurt for punching me. I pushed away at his hand, but the weight of his body held me in place. His blood tasted like cardamom and lime. It was bitter and spicy. Only seconds had passed, but I felt the wound on my head healing as well as my other injuries.
His grip was unforgiving and hurt my hair. Finally healed enough to use both arms I pushed at him. It was like hitting the side of a mountain. Pain tingled up my arms when the blows landed.
He smiled; that wide grin.
I shivered as our eyes met.
Inside his eyes lay the promise of infinite pain.
I shoved at him, holding nothing back.
"If you swear allegiance to me, everything you want will be yours," his voice was seductive and reverberated throughout my head. This close the flecks of gold in his dark indigo eyes were visible; the flecks resembled tiny stars.
He leisurely pulled his hand away. The smile was gone replaced by a look of contemplation as if he weighed my worth. "Swear it, Dianna, and all your dreams come true." His hand reached for my cheek.
I rolled away to where my tonfas lay on the ground. Grabbing them, I stood. My vision was no longer distorted, and no longer gray. Instead, everything seemed brighter.
Laughter echoed off the walls. "You are certainly not boring." His smile was sinister. The taste of him lingered in my mouth. He brought up his hand and licked it with his tongue while holding my gaze. He moaned looking at me. "You make me want to commit all the sins with you."
I peeked at the Shadowed Man. He waited in the corner behind the smiling man, away from Professor Olson.
"Whatever you are, leave this place," I demanded.
His laughter sounded again, and it felt like it was pounding into my head as the migraine came back worse than before. "I could stand before you in all my glory, girl, and you would weep. Instead, I request one last time, join us."
<
br /> I fell to one knee, holding my head. Blood oozed from my nose, ears, and eyes. It felt like my insides were liquefying. I moved awkwardly to stand in front of Olson; desperate to protect him from what was happening.
"Who are you?" my words were harsh and broken.
"The name I prefer is Beleth.”
The name tickled my memory, but I couldn’t place it.
Beleth seemed disappointed. "You have until the next new moon. Call my name three times, and I will come."
Pain had me on my knees, but I remained guarding the professor.
Beleth went over to the Shadowed Man and said something I couldn't hear, handing it the baggie with the disc.
The creature withdrew, and the absence of his presence felt like a release in pressure.
Beleth stared down at me and frowned. His hair and clothes had splatters of my blood on them. He bent down and cupped my chin.
I hit at his hand and arm, but it didn’t budge.
Releasing me, he stood back up and stretched. "The day rising after the new moon you become my prey." He smiled still. It lacked any warmth or humanity. "Protecting a pathetic human too weak to do anything."
"Olson is not weak," I managed to get out from my clenched jaw. The pain increased. I fell on the ground writhing in pain.
Standing over me, Beleth said, "Never contradict me again." His heavy boot hit me in the face, and everything went black.
Chapter Thirty-Two
This week was definitely in the running for the worst of my life. With my track record, that was saying something. I'd blacked out or fainted a few times before this week in the entire time I'd been alive.
But now, it seemed like my modus operandi. I wondered if I’d suffer brain damage. How would I even know? Going to a doctor wasn’t a good option. Maybe Doctor Yamada could help.
Moving slowly, I noticed nothing hurt except my face. Opening my eyes, I looked around. Olson was alive and had a bucket and a large sponge. He was scrubbing everything.
The room had taken some damage, but two black plastic bags held all the broken remains of furniture, clock, and various items. Olson was still zoned out. He finished scrubbing the spot by me on the fireplace, and the smell of bleach and soap filled the room.
I put my hand over my nose. Standing up, I looked around the house. The disc was gone. Whatever Beleth was, he'd helped the Shadowed Man take the disc.
Why was that disc so important?
The man I'd gotten it from must have been the mule to get it to Beleth or the Shadowed Man.
That explained the creature’s appearance in the parking garage. The attacker had been waiting to deliver it to the Shadowed Man. But why did he want or need it?
And why had something so powerful teamed up with whatever Beleth was?
Beleth was beyond anything I'd ever faced. The Shadowed Man took orders from him. Beleth's powers hurt.
Touching my nose, I wiped the blood off with an unused rag. I staggered and grabbed the couch to gain my balance. My entire head still ached. I shook it off and looked for my things.
My bag was still there. I put it on over my left shoulder, and let it fall on my right hip. My tonfas were neatly inside my bag. Obviously, I wasn't considered a threat.
I checked my phone, more texts and calls from Roth, Kian, and Dominick. I sighed. What the hell should I do?
I rubbed my temples and walked over to Olson. I waved a hand in front of his face.
He ignored it like it wasn't there and kept scrubbing the blood off the stone.
I frowned. If Beleth could order, or mind-control this professor, he might have told him to clean up and then harm himself. I really wanted to chase after the disc, but Olson had tried to sacrifice himself for me. That was a rare gift. I didn't plan on ignoring it.
I grabbed the two garbage bags and took them out the back. Sure enough, a large dumpster was tucked in the alley behind the row of homes. I tossed the bags in and hurried back.
Professor Olson still scrubbed at the mess.
I decided to help him finish. His kitchen had another bucket and long-handled mop. I mopped the floor's blood spots and streaks with dish soap and water. Perhaps once the chore was done, he would return to himself.
"Dianna, why didn't you run?" Brad came through the kitchen wall. "Do you want to die?" His hands were balled into fists.
"No. I don't want to die, Brad. I am done running."
Brad made a rude noise, and said, "Dianna, that thing works with the Shadowed Man. It is dangerous."
I thought about that. "He called himself Beleth. What does he look like to you?"
"Do you remember Halloween our freshman year?"
A smile tugged at my lips at the memory. "We did a dead from studying for finals theme."
"Right, and remember Max's costume?"
I nodded. "Yeah, the grim reaper, with huge black feathered wings."
Brad nodded, "That is what the new guy looks like to me. Stay away from him."
I didn't respond.
"What's with the professor," he asked.
"I think he is under some kind of magical compulsion."
"You mean like a spell?" Brad moved away from the professor.
"Yes. Exactly like a spell." I rinsed out the mop. "Maybe once he's done cleaning he'll return to himself?"
"Or he'll blow his brains out," Brad said.
Worried, I continued to to tidy while keeping an eye on the professor for signs of self-harm.
We finished scrubbing, and I took the buckets and emptied them outside in the yard. Returning inside, the professor had already sat down on a chair at his kitchen table.
Professor Olson had the same blank look.
I sat down across from him. I waved again, and again he didn't respond. I stood up and slapped him.
His head moved. His eyes seemed to shift slightly before he returned to staring at the wall.
Brad lifted his arms and moved around like a zombie making grunting noises.
"Not helping," I said. For all I knew, this was permanent. Taking out my cell, I called while bitching at myself for doing it.
Dominick's voice answered on the first ring, "What the hell, Dianna? Where have you been?" His voice was filled with anger.
"Dominick, I don't have the time to explain." He started with the swearing in that language again. Cutting him off, I said, "Listen. Some big bad put the whammy on a nice professor up here at the arts college in Cecilia. I'll text you the address."
I could hear Dominick's angry breathing.
"I don't know how to help this man." I felt the whine creep in my voice and hated myself for it.
"Got it." He hung up.
I looked around as my headache faded. My stomach wasn't growling. After I fight, meat was my go-to for faster healing. Then I remembered the spicy and bitter taste of Beleth's blood.
It tasted like his smile. Whatever Beleth was, his blood was inside me. There is no way Beleth was human, no matter what his skin-suit looked like.
If I were a monster, I'd try to blend in and resemble the native's ideal of hot man or woman too.
It had been too long to purge his blood, so no finger down the throat. Hopefully, however I regenerated took care of whatever awful things were inside Beleth’s blood. Deciding to be productive, I looked at the other missed calls.
One was from a person in the human resources department for AXAS offering me a permanent position. Cursing Kian, I deleted the message.
I checked out the text message from him. Another lewd selfie from Kian. He was on black sheets, his hand on his bare chest. My body thrummed as fear filled me. How long would he wait before that got boring?
Brad saw the picture and hissed, "Max is alive?"
"No. Max died. He calls himself-" searing pain filled my throat. I grabbed at it, and fell to the ground, the phone dropping. As it fell, Brad caught it in reflex.
Thinking about Brad catching the phone, I held my throat and croaked, "Holy shit!"
Brad looked at his
hand, and the phone fell through him.
I caught it. "Talk about a breakthrough!"
"I can touch things," Brad said. He did a happy dance and went around touching everything with his pointer finger. "I can feel things again, Dianna!" Frowning, he cursed. "They aren't moving!" He kept at it.
I decided that whatever Kian had done, it prevented me from talking about him. Even to a ghost.
Roth had left a text that read, “I’m here if you need me.”
Resting my forehead on the phone, I sighed. I had no idea what to do. No way was I going to ask Brad for his input.
The last text and call were from the same unknown number.
It read, "Tag."
The world was full of weirdos. I deleted the messages and figured it'd take Dominick at least forty minutes to arrive, so I found some printer paper and a pencil and sketched the man named Beleth. At least it was something to do.
Brad was still roaming around, poking everything.
Professor Olson stared at the wall.
Waiting was boring.
Finally, the doorbell rang. As I answered the door, Brad was rolling around on a rug and singing some old children's tune.
I opened the door, and Dominick came in. As he shut the door, I turned away to lead him to the kitchen.
Dominick had other plans and grabbed me from behind. He hugged me like he hadn't seen me for weeks. He held me tight enough to hurt. The scent of sandalwood surrounded me.
"Don't ever do that again." He rested his cheek on my head. Then let go, "Where is he?"
I led him to the kitchen. Dominick seemed to not notice Brad. Brad sat up and checked out Dominick. "So is this is the new guy who has your panties in a bunch?"
I flipped him off behind my back while Dominick took the professor's pulse.
Brad moved in front of Dominick and said, “Boo!”
Dominick didn’t respond at all and walked through him.
Brad shrugged at me.
I sighed as we reached Professor Olson.
Dominick asked, "Tranquilizers?"
I shook my head, "Some guy, looking like a blond movie star for a Vikings movie did this. He brought the Shadowed Man too."
"Who was this man?" Dominick was frowning.
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