He paused for a moment, confused by her reaction; it was not a typical reaction. She seemed confused herself. Then he scoffed. “Why don’t you come a little closer, huh?”
She was hesitant but walked over, not with fear, but with uncertainty. She leaned down next to Abraham. “This looks so…wrong,” she said, staring intently at the cadaver. “She’s…” Her eyes fixed on the woman’s face and her breath seemed to snag in her throat. Mechanically, she reached her hand up toward the woman’s hair to brush it away.
Abraham caught her wrist before she could finish. “Don’t.”
Without looking at him, she brought her hand down. Her head fell with it. He watched her as she wrung fingers, silent.
Abraham wracked his brain for a connection until he recalled Suzette’s mention of knowing Franklin Stein. “Did you know her?”
Standing abruptly, she cleared her throat. After taking in a shaky breath, she replied, “I’m going to go look around a bit.” With that, she walked out of the room, head lower than usual.
Curious, Abraham stared after her. Maybe that was just enough to keep her out of all of this. He gave once last glance at the scraps that remained of Liza Stein. After a moment, he made his way back out into the foyer and glanced at the small stack of mail under the slot on the front door. He walked over and examined them. When he saw the name of a popular bank, he gingerly grabbed the edge and lifted it up. He slung his crossbow over his shoulder and pulled out the letter’s contents. It was a document of all Jekyll’s account information over the month, and across the top was a hefty withdraw.
That information was useless at the moment. He couldn’t work with that.
But under that was a payment to an airline company.
Perfect. All Abraham needed now was to take the statement back and further investigate. The account information would be helpful to keep an eye on the doctor in the future. Finished, Abraham shoved the paper inside his jacket and brought the crossbow back up.
“Pssst!”
He turned to the small noise.
Suzette stood at the top of the stairs, peaking around a corner. When they made eye-contact, she motioned for him to follow her and disappeared once more.
His interest returned to the monster. He hurried up the stairs until he was behind the girl, who bounced her foot impatiently. He could hear, plain as day a deep, ragged breathing from down the hall.
“The monster’s in a room down the hall,” she whispered.
“I know. I can hear it.” He slung his crossbow back over his shoulder.
Her eyes widened under her mask. “Really? I almost waltzed in on the thing.”
He sighed. “It didn’t hear you?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. It was too busy looking at something.” When she saw Abraham reach into the holster on the back of his belt and pulled out a tiny dart gun, she set out her hands and furrowed her eyebrows. “Weren’t you going to have me try to talk to it?”
“If that were the case, you could’ve just waltzed in on it.” Abraham tapped the weapon. “I’ve got this loaded with a tranquilizer strong enough to put down an elephant. Once the thing is out, I’ll restrain it. When it wakes up, you can talk to it. I’ll tell you what kind of questions I want answered and you can use your obnoxious social abilities to make them sound more appealing to the monster.”
She rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. “And if this goes south?”
He tapped the strap of his crossbow.
She pursed her lips and gave him an apprehensive look. “Does that thing have more than one arrow?”
He huffed and pulled his coat-flap back, flashing her his leg quiver filled with arrows. Without another word of acknowledgment, he stepped around her and started his way down the hall.
“Wait!” she hissed quietly.
His ears caught it with ease and he stopped short, giving her an impatient look.
With her hand clutched over her heart, she slowly shuffled into whispering distance, her full lips curled up in discomfort. “I have a bad feeling about this all of the sudden. Maybe you should just…” She shook her head, her eyes lost.
“Kill it?” he suggested.
She shook her head again. “Talk to it. Without the dart.”
It sounded like a question of his judgment, and he felt his anger start to rise. For a long moment, he stared at her, hoping she would change her mind. Yet, she still wore that torn look as she stared directly at him. “It’s a monster,” he grumbled. “You trust it to not jump up and rip your head off? If you don’t know why it knows your name, as you claim, then you’re lucky it didn’t do so yesterday.”
“Just try,” she said. “I just really feel like you should just try.”
“Oh, and the body downstairs?” he asked. “That doesn’t change your mind in the slightest?”
“I know it sounds weird. But I think this is part of my ability.”
He stared down his nose at her, taking in her shifty, uncertain stance with contempt. “Fine, I’ll ask him how the tranquilizer feels.” Before she could protest, he turned and continued down the hall. When he made it to the second door on the left, he stopped. The deep wheezing from within confirmed his destination. With great care, he readied his weapon.
—
Frank sat on the floor of the room, staring at the large picture frame he gripped in his malformed hands. His beefy finger ran enviously over the three smiling, happy faces. The man on the left had fiery hair and bright eyes. Henry. Frank snarled at the name, knowing it didn’t bring good feelings. The man in the middle left Frank confused, with dark hair and dark eyes. Looking at the face in the photo, he touched his own face and felt lumpiness where he thought it should have been smooth. The differences between himself and the picture left him feeling a bit sick. This man was part of him somehow, though he couldn’t quite place words to it. But the woman on the right in the photo drew his attention the most.
Liza’s smile looked so alive in the picture, as if she truly stared back at him. As beautiful as her smile was, it didn’t capture the warm memories of the real thing—a distant, contorted recollection. He still had a difficult time trying to sort out his foggy memories and place her in them. It frustrated him. If Liza could be next to him now, she would have helped him remember everything, for he recalled her kind smile and knew it was for him and him alone.
Or would she have helped?
In a rush, the vision of her beautiful eyes filled with horror as she stared at him flowed in and disappeared in a flash, her scream a distant echo in his ears. She was gone. Because of him.
He wheezed in anger, every hard breath seeping with hatred toward himself. He roared and threw the picture against the wall, looking into the window at his own reflection. His eyes were two lopsided, glowing orbs against a mutilated face. No wonder Liza had been frightened. Disgusted at the sight, he yelled and ran his fist through the reflection.
It disappeared.
Relieved, he sighed. His knuckles ached and oozed a glowing blue for a brief moment, but the pain quickly went away.
Another pain shot through the back of his neck. His clammy hands gripped at the spot until his fingers closed around something small. Instinctively, he yanked it out and stared strangely at the sharp little object.
Furious, he looked up at the source of the attack.
A large man stood there with something small in his hands. The man’s eyes held confusion, but in them was no fear. No, there was a sense of power and bravery that unnerved the monster. Frank felt something he had not felt since he had been completely submerged in flames: fear.
This sensation was strange to Frank in his new body. Both Henry and Liza had been stricken with horror by his monstrosity. And there Frank stood, terrified of a human, because the man before him showed in his eyes that nothing would stop him.
A small creature stepped into view next to the man, half of its face concealed in darkness. It looked like the shape of a human, but on the u
pper half of its face, the darkness pointed out in two tips like horns. Humans didn’t have horns, right? The small thing hurried in front of the brave man and started talking really fast, but Frank didn’t understand. Then it crept forward slowly toward Frank, hands out in front of it. The faceless-ness of the creature reminded Frank of an evil that had surrounded him before being brought back into this confusing world. It frightened him more than the fearless man. He stumbled back as it drew closer.
No.
The single-word thought made Frank pause. Back when pain and torment had surrounded him, there had been nothing he could do about the evil. But in this world, he could fight back until he found a chance to run.
Frank clenched his fists.
—
Abraham watched as Suzette slowly moved toward the monster.
“Do you remember me? It’s Suzette!” she babbled, clearly scared. She set her trembling hands out and sunk a little lower.
The monster shuffled back, its eyes wide as it took in the small woman.
“Suzette,” Abraham hissed under his breath. “What are you doing?”
Her head perked in his direction, but she continued toward the beast. “Don’t be upset! I know he just shot you, and that was very rude of him, but you don’t need to worry, now!”
Something in the monster’s gaze snapped. His ugly lips curled back over his jagged teeth. The bones in the beast’s knuckles popped as it made a fist.
Abraham dreaded imagining the girl in front of him getting ripped to shreds. The idea made him angry for some reason. Slowly, he pulled his crossbow into his hands and readied it.
“Please, we’re not going to hurt you! We just want to ask you a few questions!” Suzette went on. “What do you—”
The monster roared and took a quick step toward the girl.
Abraham let his arrow fly over the girl and watched as it sunk deep into the monster’s skull, spreading the remains of the window in splats of bright blue. It stumbled to its knee as its hands grabbed at the arrow. Abraham gave a quick glance to make sure Suzette was alright before turning his attention back to the beast. Grunting, it ripped the wood out of its face and threw it down. Abraham watched in frustration as the wound knitted itself closed. But the beast grabbed at its head and teetered, unbalanced.
“Stop!” Suzette stayed in between the two. She grabbed Abraham’s arm and tugged, but he stayed where he was, unable to be moved. “Don’t kill it!”
“Don’t kill it?! It just tried to kill you!” he seethed.
“You can’t!” she protested. “I have a feeling! This whole thing—it’s not what you think it is!”
The creature suddenly sprung back to its feet and charged, reeling its fist back, its eyes locked on Suzette.
No! Abraham pushed Suzette aside. The beast’s huge fist rammed into Abraham’s chest and sent him flying backward. The door frame quickly came into view, then the hall. He crashed into something and closed his eyes in surprise.
When he opened them, the world around him had been replaced with utter darkness. He paused, fearing the worst. He brought his hands up in front of his face and flipped them over and back. Relieved at the sight of them, he let out a sigh. But as he leaned up on his elbows, he saw that the house had disappeared. Before him instead was the monster, trapped in a ring of fire. It bore an expression of very human-like terror that left Abraham almost stunned. “Help!” the beast cried.
—
Suzette collided with the side wall. When her head stopped spinning, her eyes focused on the monster. It hurried away from the door and charged the window, shattering the remains of it into bits as he jumped through and disappeared into the night. Suzette waited for the hunter, but he didn’t chase it. Frantic, she jumped to her feet and hurried to the doorway.
The door frame across the hall had been destroyed. The hunter lay sprawled out over the crushed door.
Suzette hurried over to him and knelt down. Please don’t be dead! she begged.
But his wide eyes danced around in the air above him, like he was reading a secret message on the ceiling.
She glanced up and found nothing extraordinary. Leaning back down, she gave his chest a light shake. “Hey, get up! The monster just made a run for it!”
But he didn’t even seem to notice Suzette.
Confused, she waved a hand in front of his face. “Hello?”
No reaction.
Suzette frowned but quickly got up. She needed to get out of there before the monster decided to come back. The hunter was no use anymore; he was totally out of it. She hurried back into the hall and started toward the stairs.
Wait.
She paused and stepped back into the doorway. Her eyes pulled as if by a magnet back toward the room the monster had been in.
Laying on the ground against the wall, hanging loosely in what remained of a nice frame, sat a large picture of Henry Jekyll with Frank and Liza Stein sitting at a table in formal wear, smiling all chummy-like for the camera.
Suzette walked over and scooped the photo up. Why was he studying this so intently? She recalled the creature saying her name. She thought she had imagined it, but there was no denying it now. It was as clear as day. It knew her somehow, but how did it know Frank and Liza Stein? The longer she stared at the picture, the faster her heart beat. Her stomach churned at the possibilities as she recalled Liza Stein’s corpse downstairs. I’ll get my answers.
Photo in hand, she propelled herself out the window and scurried down the drain pipe. When her feet hit the ground, she darted off in pursuit of the monster. She bobbed and weaved through the trees for only a minute before she could hear its thunderous footsteps and loud wheezing. She followed it until she could feel its presence in front of her.
“Hey!” she shouted.
Its glowing blue eyes appeared, locking onto her. It yelled at her.
She ripped off her mask and hooked it to her belt. “It’s Suzette!”
The creature fell silent.
“Suzette,” she repeated slowly.
It took a small step forward, still quiet.
She held up the photo in front of her. “How do you know these people?” When she couldn’t even see her own hand presenting the picture, she sighed and unzipped a compartment on her belt. She opened her phone screen and held it up next to the photo so they could both see. “How do you know them?” she asked.
The ugly creature’s face came into the light, but it didn’t look at the picture. Its fat, crooked finger lifted toward the phone screen. “Daaaanteeee.”
Her heart froze and she staggered back a bit. She glanced at the phone’s lock screen photo of her and Dante hugging. She took a cautious step closer to the creature. “Yes, that’s Dante. Do you know Dante?”
His eyes trailed up to hers. He nodded.
She pointed to Henry. “You know him?”
The monster snarled and reared further into the darkness.
She set out her hands. “Whoa, okay! It’s okay!” Once the creature settled, she moved on to Frank. “What about him? Know him?”
The beast leaned in close and stared blankly. It touched its face and remained silent.
Suzette waited for a moment for a better reaction. When none came, she pointed to Liza. “You know her?”
To her surprise, a look of sadness touched his soulless eyes. He took the picture from her and stared. “Liiiiiiizzzaaaaa.”
“How do you know these people?” Her fingers twitched with adrenaline. “And me? How do you know me?”
She waited, but the creature seemed lost in some dreary memory.
Finally, she ducked down and caught its gaze. “What’s your name?”
It gave her a quizzical look.
She tapped her chest. “Suzette.” With great caution, she slowly reached out and tapped his chest before gently pulling back.
After her hand fell away, he stared at his grayish skin for a moment. Pointing a finger at her, he said, “Suuuuuuzzzeeeeette.”
She forced a s
mile and nodded. “Yeah, that’s right.”
He groaned and stared down at the picture. His grubby finger fell to the middle. “Fffff-… Fffffrrrraaaaa-…” He wheezed in a heavy breath. “Frrraaaaank-…-lllliiiinnnnn…”
Suzette’s blood turned cold and she almost lost her grip on her phone. She opened her mouth, but her words snagged in her throat. There’s no way she had heard him right. When her vocal chords relaxed, she forced out in a confused manner, “What is your name?”
He turned the picture to her and pointed to the figure in the middle. Franklin Stein’s dark, handsome eyes haunted her from the shiny print. “Frrraaaaaanklllliiiiiin…”
Emotion seized her whole body; it shook her core, burned her throat, and made her eyes swell up. “No!” she insisted. “Frank, I saw you die! They found what was left of your body! We had a funeral!” She covered her trembling mouth and took a minute to breathe. When her lungs leveled, she tried again. “You died.”
He looked so somber at her words. But he nodded.
She stopped, taken aback by his agreeing. That’s not possible! No, she would sort this out. If he didn’t understand this next question, she would set the confusing issue on the back burner and wait for a time he could answer better. She straightened herself and stared him intently in the eyes. “Who killed you, Frank?”
In response, he pulled the picture back to himself and sneered down at it. Pointing, he snarled, “Heeeeennnnnnrrrryyyy.”
Her mouth dropped. “What?” That couldn’t be right. Hadn’t they been best friends? Could she honestly trust that he understood what he was saying?
“Heeeeennnnnnrrrryyyy,” he repeated, angrier.
Suzette remained silent for a moment, contemplating the severity of his words, remembering Jack Blevins’s claims and the hunter’s vague explanations. Should I really be surprised if it was Henry? She took a step closer. “Did Henry kill Liza, too?”
Frank dropped the photo and abruptly shrunk back, unable to meet her eyes.
Blind World (The Onyx Fox Saga Book 1) Page 27