“That’s quite an uninspiring weapon, Gabriel. Just what do you intend to do with that little stick?” he asked.
Gabriel did not speak. Instead, he met Eugene’s gaze, fully prepared for confrontation.
“What’s the matter Gabriel? Have you nothing to say to me?” Eugene taunted shaking his head from side to side. “And here Terzini thought you were his masterpiece, his opus. And what did you do, Mr. Crowning Glory? You fell in love.”
Eugene paused. A wicked laugh escaped his compressed lips.
“With an insignificant human!” he finished sarcastically.
Eugene and Gabriel slowly circled each other.
“Where is she, your precious Melissa? I can smell her. Her scent is so thick in the air,” Eugene menaced as he sniffed the air dramatically. “But it moves farther away,” he said closing his amber eyes. “No worries though Gabriel, I will be able to catch her before she gets far. My only regret is that you won’t be around to see her die; you’ll already be dead.”
The sound of a rapidly accelerating car engine and tires spinning on dirt interrupted Eugene’s rant.
Snapping his head immediately toward the sound, Eugene’s features expressed realization that he had been outwitted.
“Clever,” Eugene hissed.
Gabriel launched the aluminum baseball bat he gripped at Eugene, striking him in the temple. The blow, though ineffectual, further incensed Eugene. Gabriel turned to run as the bat was released from his grasp.
Racing toward the paved parking area in the rear of Harbingers High School, Gabriel did not think of his safety or survival, but of Melissa’s.
Engaging in battle with Eugene would be futile. Gabriel did not stand a chance against the trained killer who outweighed him by nearly two hundred muscled pounds. He needed to live. Without him, Melissa would die.
Racing through the bushes, the parking lot came into view. Behind him, Eugene’s murderous stride was gaining momentum.
He advanced with inhuman speed quickly closing the distance between him and Gabriel.
Gabriel pushed his body to its limits, tested the boundaries of his muscles and surged ahead, adrenaline supplementing his speed.
As Gabriel passed the phantasmagoric scene of mangled bodies, the corpses of Kevin, Chris and John, he averted his eyes and pressed forward.
Eugene’s vicious gait approached rapidly. Gabriel did not turn to see the monster behind him.
Gabriel’s feet finally landed on asphalt just as he spotted Melissa behind the wheel of the late Kevin’s black Infiniti G37 Sport Coupe. The car was stopped and the passenger side door stood ajar.
Gabriel did not break stride but shouted at Melissa, “Go! Go! Go!” as he slid into the passenger seat. Melissa stomped on the gas pedal. Tires fought the rain-slickened blacktop, struggling for traction and protesting Melissa’s haste as she simultaneously slammed the gear shift from park to drive and depressed the accelerator as far as it would permit.
Eugene appeared at the edge of the woods. He stepped on to the pavement and ran toward the car.
As the car finally found grip on the wet pavement, the powerful 3.7-liter V6 engine of the Infiniti roared to life at Melissa’s command responding at once, moving them rapidly out of harm’s way.
Gabriel glanced behind him and saw that Eugene’s powerful engineering was bested by the powerful engine of the sports car. Thoroughly vexed, Eugene would not relent. He continued his pursuit, crossed and riled.
“Go! Go! Go!” Gabriel continued to prompt.
“I’m trying!” Melissa screamed as she looked up at the rearview mirror.
“Don’t look back!” Gabriel cautioned too late. He saw her horrified reaction when she stared rearward at the creature threatening from behind. He knew the mirror reflected an image more frightening than neither literature nor Hollywood could produce, that the image of Eugene’s face would be etched in her mind’s eye forever.
When Melissa finally tore her eyes away from him, Eugene produced a guttural din, ferocious, savage.
Eugene hoisted his fists high into the air and brought them crashing down on the trunk of the sports car. Enormous, balled hands descended with a deafening boom as metal caved beneath his strike.
“Oh my God!” Melissa screamed as the Infiniti Sport Coupe tore out of the long driveway leading to and from her high school and onto Shelton Road. Without hitting the brakes, she directed the vehicle through a reddened traffic light fearful of oncoming traffic that continuously flowed along the busy residential street.
Both Melissa and Gabriel were met with the sound of rubber opposing wet pavement as cars were forced to break unexpectedly, abruptly. Horns honked indignantly. Drivers issued curse-laden directives and threats. Some offered obscene gestures while others merely raised an irate hand.
Despite being angrily greeted by fellow motorists with their sudden entrance into the flow of traffic, Melissa and Gabriel were grateful that they had momentarily dodged Eugene and being plowed into by the movement of onrushing cars along the main thoroughfare.
Melissa began to cry, softly at first then at once quiet tears gave way to uncontrollable sobbing. She struggled to maintain control of the powerful sports car.
Wiping her eyes and composing herself slightly, Melissa spoke.
“Gabriel, what the hell was that thing?”
“That was Eugene,” he said simply.
“This can’t be happening. I feel like I’m in a nightmare. I mean, he killed them all! I thought it was just me he was after.”
“He’ll kill anyone who gets in his way, Melissa. He will not stop until we are dead,” Gabriel said solemnly. “We need to get you as far away as possible.”
“He’ll go to my house,” Melissa declared. “My dad will be home from work now. Gabriel, we have to go back!” she panicked. “We need to get my dad!”
“Melissa, we have to keep moving.”
“And what? Let this Eugene kill my dad?”
Gabriel paused before offering, “Call your house. Have him meet us.”
Melissa removed one hand from the steering wheel and fumbled in the front pocket of her jeans. After retrieving her cellular phone, she handed it to Gabriel. He quickly touched an image of a house on the illuminated screen labeled “home.”
He waited, listening intently for a ringing sound. Instead, he heard an incessant buzzing repeated at regular intervals.
“It’s busy,” he said. “We’ll try back again in a minute.”
“Gabriel, you don’t understand! We have call-waiting! There should not be a busy signal!”
Melissa pulled on to the shoulder of the road. After checking for approaching cars, she promptly made a U-turn.
Heading back toward Melissa’s humble home on Blackstone Drive, Gabriel’s mind raced. Gripped by panic and fear he was unfamiliar with, he struggled to remain calm, but he knew he must do so for Melissa. He was now charged with saving her and her father, an insurmountable task. He silently vowed to protect both of them. He would fight to the death if necessary.
Chapter 22
Gabriel burst through the front door of Melissa’s home on Blackstone Drive with her at his side. Instantly, he was greeted with an eerie silence. Stillness had settled over the house like a thick layer of freshly fallen snow, stifling and silencing the hum and buzz of machinery. Ordinary household sounds, the ticking of the clock, the whirring of the refrigerator, the purring of the heating system, were muffled, deadened.
He noticed Melissa was alarmed as well and immediately began calling out to her father.
“Dad! Dad!” she shouted, but was answered with silence.
Gabriel scanned the space before him. A long hallway leading to the living-room area was ahead. From where he stood, he had a clear view of the living room.
Melissa’s father was not in the hallway or living room
He decided to search the house. Something or someone was responsible for the unnatural silence. Gabriel feared the worst; that Eugene had beaten them to
the Martin home and murdered Christopher Martin and that he remained, lurking in the confines of their home waiting for the moment to strike. Unwilling to waste another moment and possibly prolonging an inevitable confrontation, he cautiously turned to his left and moved into the kitchen. Melissa followed, silent and anxious. Gabriel rounded the corner into the kitchen and quickly inspected the area fearing that at any second he would unearth Christopher Martin’s lifeless form crudely positioned as both an affront and preview of things to come for both of them.
No corpse was visible. The room was empty. However, atop the wooden dinette, various articles of mail and flyers were strewn. Such evidence suggested that her father was home but not answering his daughter. Gabriel’s concern grew.
Prompted by the silence that filled the house and a profound worry for Christopher Martin’s life, Gabriel moved faster.
Swiftly, he continued the length of the vacant kitchen and proceeded into the dining room. The chairs were unoccupied. Only a laundry basket filled with cleaned and folded clothes rested on a chair.
Gabriel looked to Melissa. Her face was filled with worry. She did not utter a word, but her eyes spoke of panic, of dread. He reached out and took her hand in his, gave it a reassuring squeeze. She accepted the gesture and returned the grasp then smiled thinly. Gabriel knew it was a halfhearted attempt at feigning confidence; that it was done for his benefit. He knew she feared for her only family member’s life.
Gabriel’s hatred of Dr. Terzini intensified. Terzini was responsible for Eugene, for him, and, for Melissa’s pain. Whether or not Christopher Martin lived, Gabriel was uncertain. But he was certain Melissa would. Standing in her dining room, he silently pledged to not fail her as he imagined he had failed her father.
From the dining room he swiftly led Melissa into the family room at the rear of the house. The otherwise cozy living space stood uninhabited. As Gabriel suspected, her father was neither seated at the desk, nor did he rest on the sectional in front of the flat-screen television.
“Gabriel, let’s check the basement, see if my dad is working out or something,” Melissa said, her voice breaking with emotion.
Then she paused and reconsidered as if thinking aloud before adding, “Wait, we should look in the garage first and see if his car is there. I mean, there’s a slight chance he had to run out or something.”
Taking her lead, Gabriel dashed down the hallway. Directly across from the doorway to the basement lay a short corridor. In this passageway, straight ahead stood a door to the laundry room and lining both sides were ingresses as well. One led to a small half bathroom while the other led to the garage.
Melissa rushed to the entryway of the garage and opened the door. A black Toyota Rav 4 occupied the bay, her father’s SUV.
“His car is here,” Melissa said quietly.
Gabriel did not speak. He did not have the right words to soothe her, if such words existed. Instead he stared into her emerald eyes wordlessly willing her to be strong and know that he loved her, that he would protect her. He believed she received his psychic message of love as she tipped her chin up defiantly, refusing to accept the possibility of her father’s death. She shut the door to the garage and left the short hallway. Melissa stepped into the main hallway with him following and opened a door along the wall. Beyond the entryway was a painted, wooden flight of steps leading to the basement.
“I’m going first,” Gabriel said, leaving no room for argument.
Melissa did not fight him but moved out of the way and followed him.
Gabriel stepped gingerly from each tread to the next and held fast to the guardrails on either side of the partially finished staircase. His heart pounded as the silence of the house grew thicker the deeper they descended into the basement.
Stepping off the last rung of the staircase and on to the black linoleum flooring, Gabriel felt colder. He placed his arm out protectively in front of Melissa with his hand at waist level. He found the light switch and turned on the overhead fixtures then quickly surveyed the room. Furnished with a weight bench and an array of free-weight plates and bars, a Bowflex exercise machine, a treadmill, an elliptical trainer and a power cage that provided safety for her dad when he lifted heavy weights, the underground room was a shrine to physical fitness. During several conversations, Melissa lovingly referred it as her dad’s “man-cave” teasing that when she stepped into the room, her voice dropped an octave in response the high levels of testosterone present. Gabriel smiled sadly at the loving anecdote.
Melissa looked warily at Gabriel.
“He isn’t down here. Let’s look upstairs,” she said meekly.
Gabriel’s stomach churned nervously. He had inspected the main floor of the house and the basement. Only one level remained. He was convinced that it was on the top floor that they would find her father’s corpse, and possibly Eugene. He switched off the lights and both he and Melissa ascended the staircase.
After shutting the door behind them, they strode down the longer corridor past the front door and began climbing the steps slowly at first, then faster, more resolutely. Gabriel raced up the staircase with Melissa behind him.
“Dad! Dad!” Melissa shouted again.
No one answered immediately. Overhearing movement from the master bedroom, Gabriel paused at the top of the steps.
“What? What’s going on Gabriel?” Melissa asked.
Her hearing was not as sensitive as his. She had not heard the sound of footfalls coming from the room down the hall.
“Melissa, leave. Now!” he commanded.
As the footsteps grew closer, Melissa heard them.
“Run!” Gabriel shouted.
Suddenly, from the master bedroom, Melissa’s father emerged.
“What’s all the yelling about?” he grouched. “Can’t a man use the toilet for heaven’s sake?” he asked, gesturing to the small bathroom off his bedroom.
“Gabriel,” he nodded in recognition. “What the hell is going on with you two?”
Relieved, Gabriel smiled. “Hello Sir,” he said.
“Dad, I was calling and calling. Why didn’t you answer me?” Melissa began.
“I was in the bathroom with the fan on. I didn’t even hear you. Besides, last time I checked I’m the parent and you’re the child,” her father began lecturing.
“We have to get out of the house!” Melissa interrupted impatiently.
“What’s with the attitude, Missy?”
“Dad, just listen to me! There’s no time to argue! We have to leave right now.”
“Why? Is the house on fire?” Christopher asked with concern.
“No, Dad. Something much worse is happening. You’re going to have to just trust me. We have to get out now!” she urged.
“Calm down Missy and tell me what the hell is going on!” her father demanded uneasily, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“Dad, don’t you hear what I’m telling you? We have to leave now!” she pressed.
Gabriel watched as Christopher Martin embraced his daughter, how the safety of his embrace allowed her to crumble. Emotion engulfed her fully. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she began to sob.
“He killed them, Dad. He killed them all! We have to get out of here.”
Her father’s jaw flexed as he tried to process his daughter’s cryptic statement. He held her back and looked directly at her.
“Who is ‘he’? Who did ‘he’ kill?” he asked, his voice laden with confusion and alarm.
Before Melissa could answer her father’s question, the sound of the front door slamming redirected their attention.
From the top of the staircase, Gabriel, Melissa and Christopher glanced over the balustrade to the landing below.
“What the fuck!” Christopher screamed.
At the bottom of the staircase, a hulking and familiar presence loomed. Eugene had arrived at the Martin household.
Gabriel saw Christopher Martin hesitate at the sight of Eugene. He recoiled in horror briefly before a
n intense instinctual inclination compelled him to act. He did not need further instruction but knew that the beast intended to harm him and his home’s inhabitants. Heeding the inherent warning, he responded instantly, running back into his bedroom to retrieve his Remington shotgun that remained loaded and waiting on a rack on the interior wall since the night that he intended to imperil Kevin Anderson.
When Melissa’s father returned to the hall, Eugene was at the top of the steps, but froze as Christopher Martin pointed the barrel of the shotgun at him.
Christopher shouted to his daughter without taking his eyes off of Eugene.
“Missy, get in your room and lock the door! Don’t open it at all, for any reason! Do you understand me?” he yelled.
“Yes Dad! I do!” Melissa cried.
With no other exit route available, her father stood, ready to defend himself and his daughter.
Eugene slowly advanced taking a tentative step forward.
“Don’t take another fucking step!” Christopher shouted.
Eugene halted and raised his hands, his giant palms turned outward in a mock show of cooperation, of surrender.
“Gabriel, go! Go with her,” her father commanded.
“No sir. I am staying with you,” Gabriel said in a level, voice.
Though he had no plan for exactly how to protect Melissa and her father, he intended to fight. He would not run and allow Christopher Martin to stand alone against Eugene.
As if he understood Gabriel’s commitment to both he and his daughter, Melissa’s dad did not bother trying to discourage him. Instead he ordered Gabriel to remain where he stood. Gabriel, of course, would not stand idly by. He would defend the Martins. For the moment though, he did as her father told him.
He was forced to observe the wide-eyed gaze of Melissa’s father as he seemed unable to look away from Eugene. Then unexpectedly, Melissa’s father exchanged a mysterious message with her, stole a furtive glance in her direction as he called out, “Missy, remember the tree! I never did what I said I’d do!”
Planet Urth Boxed Set Page 96