"Get the chains and bag. Load her up, and then Marty takes down the wards."
"Okay," said the skull-man called Marty.
One of them chuckled, but I was stuck looking at the dumpster. Unable to move or blink as burning pain filled my eyes.
The orange skulled one lifted me gently and wrapped a chain around my body. It was thick and hurt where it touched.
"Man, he is going to be happy after getting laid!"
They all chuckled at the remark.
I hoped whoever their boss was killed them.
Metalic laughter joined them.
"What? Hey, you are supposed to stay away from us beast!" Shouted one of the men.
The man quickly put the chains around me and started to drag me towards the van.
Darkness spread forth with puddles like ink with bits of dried peeled flesh floating in the air.
The screeching voice continued laughing, "Unchild." His distorted voice hurt. "Always a feast around you."
Skull-man dropped the chain.
I lay immobile, my body wracked with pain. I landed facing the dumpster again. My eyes open to the nightmare playing out behind me.
I could hear the Shadowed Man. The bones and joints breaking under its teeth and limbs. The demon's fighting the darkness and losing. The screams quickly faded to crunching.
And the feasting continued.
Chapter Thirty-Five
It took a short time for the Shadowed Man to consume them. However, as I heard every cry for help, every wail, gulp, crunch, and slurp I prayed for the ability to move.
Vomit poured out of my mouth. Luckily I was on my side and didn’t choke.
Long after the sounds faded of the Shadowed Man gorging himself, my arms and legs started to have feeling return to them. It was stabbing fiery pain but gave me hope. If I could regain my feet, I had a holy weapon and a chance to best the beast. However, a taloned papery hand cupped my head, lifting me upwards towards its grin.
"Join us and feast, Dead Red Girl."
Crusty skin from the shambling nightmare and bits of flesh and organs clung to my hair and face where it had cradled my head and pet me. It put down my head with a gentleness that it'd never shown before. Whatever magical composition made the creature twisted and folded its dark form back into the black.
Too late. The thing was gone.
Crawling, using my arms, I pulled myself to a wall and propped myself up. I could feel bits of the things, skin clinging to me, infecting me. Wiping at it, I surveyed the damage it had wrought. My heart sank.
Puddles of blood, pieces of uneaten bits of things I tried not to identify, and the arm of one of the men lay near me. How could I alone stop such evil?
I grunted as I pushed the dumpster to the side to grab the lost blade. I pulled the small dagger out. It fit in my hand; the blade barely past my fingertips. The tiny silver blade didn't glow with magic, nor empower me once held. How could such a small item stop such evil?
Chapter Thirty-Six
It took over about a half-hour to stop vomiting and for my body to move again with me falling on my face. Although no more skull-faced men had shown up, I went up the fire escape to avoid neighbors or the police.
My lights were on. Just as my tired brain thought, oh shit, Kian opened my window.
He frowned and tutted at me, "You really do not know how to take care of yourself." As my legs gave out, he lifted me inside. He was talking on the phone in German.
I couldn't move.
He hung up, tossing the phone on the couch. He took me to my bedroom. Cradling me on the bed, he took off his top.
I pushed and fell off his lap landing on the hardwood. The stupid chemicals still affected my movements. A cramp hit my middle, bending me over as I puked again.
Kian got the bedroom trash bin in time, so I didn't ruin my rug. He held back my hair.
As the cramps faded, he scooped me up and put me on the bed. He pulled a quilt around us and held me. "Let my warmth heal you. I meant what I said. I won't rape you."
His words sounded hollow. He'd said he'd leave me be unless I came to him. He was in my apartment. My body wasn't warming up. Cramps hit my calves and back at the same time. I stiffened, resisting the pain that felt like sinew tearing apart.
Kian sniffed at my hair. "Your body carries slight stench."
"You say the sweetest things," I said.
I tried to push at him, but nothing happened. A warm wet tongue lightly licked my neck. I tensed.
"Beleth's venom." He cursed. "You are poisoned. It is live or die time." He said, "Choose life. I would mourn you eternally, Dianna." He sighed, "Well, desperate times."
I moved away, falling off the bed. I heard a crunching noise. Spasms hit my arms. I said in a weak voice, "Screw you."
As I lay sprawled on the floor our gaze met.
The blue and green made me think more of the jungle than the ocean. Lit by those strange yellowish-gold spikes, danger swirled inside them. While his eyes held mine, I didn't notice he had moved.
I was pinned to the floor, my arms held above my head by one of his hands. His body trapped mine. His other hand tilted my head as he plunged his tongue into my mouth. It held a piece of something.
Reflex kicked in, and I swallowed it to not choke, while he pushed it down my throat. As it hit my stomach the soreness from the drug and electricity felt like acid trapped inside my ligaments and tendons.
Whatever Kian had force-fed me burned in waves as it shook my body. He put a hand over my mouth as I twisted and turned from the pain. The feeling of shriveling changed into growing pains. Muscles mended too quickly.
I kept crying and screaming as jerks of involuntary movement made me thrash under Kian's embrace.
His lips replaced his hand. He kept kissing me, muffling the cries. After what seemed like an eternity, he let go.
Kian gazed down at me. His expression neutral. Lips smeared in blood from me biting at him.
I closed my eyes, silently praying for the end of pain to come. Eventually, the spasms died down.
I moved cautiously, nothing hurt. Whatever Kian had done left me far from whole. He might have saved my life with whatever he'd forced on me, but he needed to leave.
"Kian, you need to go." I opened my eyes and my breath stopped.
Everything was brighter. Deeper in hue. Like the difference between a photo and an edited version. Everywhere I looked was a Kodak moment. Overly saturated hues.
The large African Violet in my room had a green halo around it.
And Kian, he made me ache. A pale yellow halo surrounded him. His skin was still that gorgeous natural light bronze, begging to be touched. Locks of blue-black hair framed his masculine face.
His glowing irises searched mine as he examined me. He looked like his normal too perfect self again. The light behind him faded. Tilting his head, he said, "You'll find I've once again opened your eyes to the truth." Shrugging, he smiled and said, "You need to get that hideous smell off you."
He got up and put back on his top. His tight-fitted, white shirt complemented his bronzed body. His black pants fit every inch of him perfectly.
My body started to thrum. I wanted to feel Kian's skin back on mine. I reached out to him.
Kian turned away, "After the effect wears off, call me."
"I don't have a phone," I said.
He turned to me, his green and blue eyes filled with amusement. "Just whisper my name, Dianna. Awake or in sleep. That's all you ever need do."
He sat and put on his shoes, and then he leaned over and kissed me. His tongue lightly licked my lips.
As he grabbed his coat, he sighed, "Damned angels." Looking back at me with his hand on the doorknob of my bedroom he asked, "Will you be alright alone?"
So much for staying away. He was looking for opportunities to not leave. I didn't shout no, even though I wanted to. Pushing down the fierce carnal desire to go to him, to give myself to him, I clenched my teeth. "I'm fine."
Kian sa
id, "Never expect me to do this again. Until you are mine by your own words, this is the last aid I will offer." He strode over and picked me up holding me. Everywhere he touched felt like the start of a flame, engulfing me with its hunger.
I moaned, pressing into him.
He put me on the bed. Leaning over me he rested his head on my forehead. He let me go.
As he left, I barely stopped myself from running after him. To beg him to stay.
I threw myself on the bed in frustration. Tears escaped my eyes while my body waited for him. After what felt like hours of writhing on my covers and repeatedly stopping myself from chasing him, my brain returned.
What the hell had happened? Kian had healed me. What had he given me? Another unsolved mystery. One I planned on staying the hell away from.
I filled the tub while pondering. As I scrubbed I cursed Kian. My body started to grow warm. Touching my breast, I wondered what it'd feel like to have Kian touching me while I bathed. Shaking my head, I kept scrubbing. Apparently, the effect he had on me was still in full effect.
After washing up, and getting dressed in my usual tee, hoodie, jeans, and boots, I wondered about the copper disc.
The Shadowed Man had it. The skull-men had mentioned a true king. Summoning the Devil. Was it all somehow connected? It sounded bizarre, but it felt right.
The buzzer sounded on my apartment, pulling me out of reverie. I went to the security panel and saw the image of Alec. Could my bad choices just let me be? Just for one twenty-four hour period?
"Dianna, are you alright," Alec asked into the speaker. He sounded anxious.
Just as I was about to go see what new evil had arrived to roost, darkness rose behind Alec.
Alec said, "Pardon me."
As Alec moved, blackened tendrils lifted him off the pavement. A perpetual wicked grin, full of grotesque teeth moved towards his face.
Alec's lips moved, but I couldn't hear what he was saying.
I ran.
I grabbed my old wooden tonfas from the computer desk and dashed to the fire escape. I jumped from top to bottom. I rolled, landing hard and bruised, but with no other injuries.
Everything, even at night, seemed overly bright. Like a doctored photo with saturated hues. Everything alive had a gentle glow surrounding it like the light Kian had briefly. Even the dormant trees and plants seemed luminous under the powdery snow.
With this new sight, a gentle golden halo surrounded Alec. The creature seemed even darker, a puddle of black oil at its feet as it glided through it.
Alec stopped moving as the beast clawed his throat. Blood began to pour out. A twisted tendril shoved itself in the wound, stopping the bleeding.
The Shadow Man’s torso unfolded and stretched wide, opening. The inside was revealed to be a pale grey-violet with an iridescent glow.
As I rushed towards Alec, the Shadowed Man pushed Alec's body into his own. The tendrils wrapping around him like an askew mummification ritual.
Legs pumping I rushed to save Alec. My muscles sang at a burst of speed pushed me forward.
The tendrils finished their work and closed. They encased Alec inside the darkness as the Shadowed Man’s tendrils shielded his torso.
"No!" I dodged the odd long arms and lashed out with a spinning tonfa and kick.
The creature blocked the attacks. A giant misshapen hand backhanded me across the face.
As I flew through the air towards the empty street, I curled up so that I landed in a roll. One of the tonfas clattered on the ground as I lost my grip.
Its screeching metal voice said, "Come to where your heart lies broken. Come alone."
While it spoke, I moved in for another attack.
The creature spoke again, "The flesh knight travels the brambled path with me, Unchild."
I had to save him. Holding nothing back, I reached out for a tendril and ripped it off as the Shadowed Man reached out to grab my waist.
Hope kept me moving; I would save Alec.
"Come alone," it said. "Come to watch the true king rise!" It shouted the last as it fell into the puddle it stood on.
"Alec! No!" I leapt inside the black well into a void of nothing.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
A copper taste filled my mouth as I opened my eyes. I was surrounded by impenetrable darkness. It felt like I was falling through water.
I could breathe, but my movements were slow and took greater effort.
Suddenly, it ended as I landed on what felt like sand. I sat there for a second before standing. Something sticky kept hitting my face. Like snow without the cold. In the distance were faint voices.
"It is done," the rough voice of the Shadowed Man said.
"Take the human to the grave. He will be the sacrifice to restore our King," said a masculine voice. "Bright shining soul. Hope it doesn't get eaten."
I moved to the noise, as they grew closer.
"She followed you," said the male voice. Recognition filled me. Beleth!
The black was pierced by twin flames of blue light. They grew closer.
I turned to run and fell into what felt like tar. It covered me completely as I sank into the ichor. Filling my nose, mouth, and ears.
Trying to gag the sludge out I started to choke. Suddenly, I tumbled through the night’s sky, descending towards the ground.
I landed without injury. My boots were planted on blackened earth. The smell was of burning flesh overwhelmed my senses making me gag.
Screams of agony and pain echoed in the bleak landscape. The sky was full of dark purple and black clouds, blotting out the stars. Cries and shouts of people suffering and dying filled the night. Although I couldn't see anyone, I ran towards the closest sound of someone in need of help. It was hard to make out what the shapes were.
I bounced off a tree destroyed by fire. Landing with a dull thud on the odoriferous rotting earth, I looked up. A dark figure rose from the top of it. It wore a hooded robe, and its white wings spread out as it lifted from the tree to land.
Standing before me, it was much taller than I was. The robes hood made the being's face impossible to see. As he approached me, his hood stayed on. A tanned hand pointed at me.
"Dianna." The voice rebounded in the night. The impact of his words was like standing next to an out-of-tune large church bell being struck over and over. I held my hands to my ears. "More than your fate stands in the balance." His hand outstretched in a sweeping gesture, "On one path, the destruction of man by creatures." Howls and shrieks filled the night. The smell of blood and bodily fluids was overwhelming.
I started to gag again. It sounded like another language was being spoken under the English words. I took my hands away from my ears as he lowered his voice. Ringing sounded in my ears as he talked, but it was bearable. I tried to move to see a face under the plain cloth robe.
The world shifted, slightly tilting. Almost losing my balance, I stumbled as the scenery morphed. Buildings stood, as did trees and the sounds of birds. However, the cries of unseen hurt and dying still ricocheted in the black sky.
"On another path, the destruction of man by the hands of a dark king."
The scene changed again, as it bled away, and reshaped. Now the buildings in the city all were coated in whitewash, with large crosses and banners on all of them. Chanting filled the starlit skies night, oppressing the cries of those in pain. "On another path, the destruction of man by man."
The world shifted back to normal. The screams were gone. Sirens, fighting, laughter, and music filled the city's night. "On the last path, the savior of man by you."
"But no pressure, right?" I said.
The man said nothing. He lowered his hood revealing himself. Long silvery hair framed his face. His skin was without blemish. Suspicion took over. All perfect looking men I'd met were supernatural. The wings made me suspect fallen angel.
I faced him. "Who are you?"
He walked closer, and the smell of roses was overpowering. It was masking something. His perfect wings f
anned out as his amber gaze didn't waver. "I am a messenger. Nothing more. Nothing less."
I frowned. "For who?"
He reached out and touched the side of my neck. A faint burning smell and sharp pain lit the night.
I pushed away his arm and held my hand over the burn. "What the hell?"
He said, "Your choices influence more than you know. Do not let the dark nor the silver god fool you. Stay true to the path. Fight the beasts. Smite your foes."
I rubbed my neck. "So which are you? A messenger for the dark king, the monsters, the order, or the demons?"
His winged image faded as the dream diminished, and the smells of disinfectant filled my nose. My cheek was warm, resting on Dominick’s shoulder. He was nearby, but the odor of roses lingered over his sandalwood scent.
I love plants and flowers, even roses, but I could never stand their smell. This made my opinion the minority. The smell always turned my stomach. Perhaps it was from too many funerals, with the smell of the wreaths and baskets of roses and carnations perforating the rooms where my loved ones laid.
My body felt okay, but I was angry and hungry. My stomach growled.
Dominick glanced over as he drove and said, "Welcome back."
We were in his minivan.
"Dominick, the thing took Alec-" I started. Stopping, I coughed and tried to breathe as black ooze filled my mouth.
Dominick handed over a box of tissues.
Grabbing one, I coughed in it. Spitting out bits of the ichor, the coughs subsided. I asked, "How the hell did I get here?"
He held up a hand, "You were unconscious on the street near your apartment. You had a head wound. I was taking you to the hospital when the wound vanished."
I touched my head. It felt okay. After a coughing fit, my chest had felt better. Lancing and piercing stabs made me grab my stomach and fold over. Looking over at Dominick, I said, "The Shadowed Man took Alec."
He inhaled sharply, "Where did they head?"
"I tried to follow. I entered the shadow it used, but I couldn't see anything. I think Alec is going to be sacrificed in a ritual to bring the Devil to earth."
Dead Wrong Page 23