Blood Creek Beast

by Jay Barnson

Barnaby glanced at Jenny, and then clenched his eyes tightly shut. “She’s just one of us. Lives up the road a bit, sir.”

  With a flicker of movement, Zainus drew his sword and held it under Barnaby’s chin. The older man’s beard draped over both sides of the blade, and his eyes snapped wide in fear. Zainus made a clucking noise. “Come now, Barnaby. Do not lie. My scout saw her come into this village only two hours ago.”

  Jenny stepped forward. “Don’t hurt him. I’m Jenny. I’m just visiting.”

  Zainus lowered the blade. “Ah, that is more like it. Well, Jenny who is just visiting, you are a very pretty girl. And you have convinced me not to hurt dear Barnaby. In fact, Barnaby, I am inclined to take these two carts and call it a complete tribute.”

  Barnaby was breathing rapidly now. “You... you will?”

  “Certainly. As I said, we are not unreasonable. And, as this girl is not of your people after all, she won’t even be your loss. But she will be worth a considerable sum to us.”

  It was time to do something stupid. Jack launched himself at Zainus, drawing his blade clumsily as he charged. Zainus grinned gleefully and the six crossbowman fired. Jack didn’t flinch or even feel the impact as the bolts bounced off the protective spells around him.

  The bandit leader’s grin fell as he raised his blade again. “Sorcerer!” he yelled as Jack swung at him. Zainus easily avoided the blow, but Jack’s sword struck the horse. It made a terrible sound and leaped away, tossing Zainus into the air. Zainus landed lightly upon the ground but his injured horse fled.

  Jack charged at the little man, swinging the sword like a machete. Zainus spoke words in a foreign tongue, and the air around Jack seemed to compress, but Jack ignored it. Zainus dodged backwards, and recited some other short phrase, but aside from the making the hairs on Jack’s arms raise, nothing happened. Twice more the little man dodged Jack’s blows while speaking quick sing-song phrases.

  Suddenly, the rest of the horses went crazy. Four dumped their riders onto the ground as they fled, with one bandit screaming as his foot caught in the stirrup and was dragged across the field toward the treeline. One lieutenant in fine leathers howled when Vanya hurled a rock into his head, but clung on the saddle of his fleeing horse. Three other bandits tried and failed to regain control of their mounts as they scattered in different directions.

  Zainus turned and ran at a speed that rivaled the horses. Jack couldn’t keep up. After a few seconds of giving chase, Jack gave up and returned to the group. One fallen bandit escaped into the woods on foot. Three other bandits lay on the ground surrounded by angry villagers holding rocks and sticks.

  Jenny was all smiles. “I used Grandma’s spell to scare enemies away. I didn’t know if I could make it stick to the bandits, so I frightened their horses instead.”

  Jessabelle ignored the lunch they brought to her chamber, but by dinner time, she was ravenous. Hunger trumped her despair, and she devoured the cheeseburger and fries. When she finished, the guard came to take her dishes and asked, “Would you like ice cream or something?”

  Jessabelle didn’t feel like talking, but she looked at the guard in confusion. “Ice cream? Y’all don’t do nutrition around here?”

  “Yes ma’am, but for now we’ve been instructed to bring you any food you want.”

  She didn’t answer. After a minute, the guard said, “If you do want anything, just call our office on the phone.” He took her dishes and left.

  Jessabelle barely slept the first night. She hid in the bathroom where the camera couldn’t see her, and cried. She had run out of tears before Susan and two armed guards arrived to bring her breakfast. It was somewhat more nutritious: an omelet with fruit and orange juice. An hour later, they returned to take her from her cell.

  Jessabelle went with them reluctantly. She didn’t see the use in fighting. “Where are we going?”

  “The infirmary,” Susan answered. “It’s standard procedure for processing. We need to run some baseline tests. We want to make sure you stay healthy and safe while you are staying with us.”

  They went past the security checkpoint they’d passed through the previous day. After Susan used her security badge, the guard buzzed them through. Instead of heading up the ramp to the parking garage, they turned right down the hallway and into a room that looked and smelled like a hospital.

  Jessabelle hated hospitals, especially once she had discovered her ability. She was always terrified they’d learn her secret and keep her for study. As she entered the infirmary with its hospital-cleanser smells, depression crashed over her. It had all happened as she’d feared. She didn’t resist as they weighed her, took her temperature, and sat her down to take her blood pressure. When the security guards moved closer to her chair, she grew alarmed. When the nurse appeared with a needle, panic hit.

  “We’re just getting a blood sample,” the nurse said in a soothing voice. Jessabelle shrank back in the chair, looking at the flanking security guards. As the nurse came closer, she pulled her arms back and hugged herself. The guards grabbed her and forced her into position.

  She fought the urge to transform, but couldn’t resist screaming as the nurse forced the needle into her vein. Somewhere nearby, Susan spoke in her calm, businesslike voice, trying to reassure her. Jessabelle couldn’t hear anything over her own screams.

  Tears were harder to come by over the next three days. At first, she expected Hattie or her mother to appear, demanding her release. Or maybe Jack, shotgun in hand, boldly taking on the entire Coven with his ability to shrug off their witchcraft, protected by Jenny’s magical shield. Never mind that he was trapped, in another world, probably fighting giants and witches and whatever they did out there. He wouldn’t be her knight in shining armor.

  On the third day, she lost hope that anyone would come to her rescue. She was alone and trapped, maybe forever, at the whim of a madman who had killed one of the most powerful witches Jessabelle knew at a glance. The tears stopped entirely, though not from lack of despair. She had nothing left to cry.

  Susan checked on her twice a day, always accompanied by the big guard. Jessabelle hated Susan.

  Elise, the other girl who came by to check on her, was good company. While Susan was professionally courteous, professionally attentive, and professional everything, Elise was younger and more unprofessionally sociable. Jessabelle was on guard against deceit, and Susan gave off cues of being full of it. However, Elise seemed genuine.

  On the fourth night, Elise brought her dinner. Like all the meals served at the Coven, it looked like it had been prepared for a photograph, and it smelled and tasted delicious. As Jessabelle sat the food down on her desk, Elise pointed to the stuffed chair. “Is it okay if I join you?”

  Jessabelle shrugged. She plopped down in the desk chair and waved her fork at the plate. “I reckon. You want some of this?”

  “No, thank you. I just finished my dinner break.” Elise sat down on the edge of the chair. “You know, if you promise to behave, you could have dinner with us in the cafeteria. I could get permission.”

  “Aren’t y’all afraid I’ll turn into a panther and tear y’all apart on my way out of here?”

  “Yes, we are. You wouldn’t succeed, though. There are too many guards. Do you know we have a chart of all the guests here? You are the only one in red.”

  “I ain’t a guest. I’m a prisoner. What does red mean?”

  “It means you are considered both hostile and very dangerous. We haven’t had a red guest since I started working on this level. I’m pleased they trust me enough to work with you.”

  Jessabelle stabbed her food with the fork. “Or maybe they don’t like you.”

  Elise laughed. “Well, maybe there’s that.” She quieted her laughter when Jessabelle didn’t join her. Did Elise realize that this wasn’t a joke? “I’ve worked for the Coven for two years. I wasn’t much older than you when I started.”

  Jessabelle grew grumpier as she took another bite. Why did evil people have to have such good
food? Between mouthfuls, Jessabelle asked, “What made you work for the man in the white suit? Did they kidnap you, too?”

  “Oh, wow. Him? Mr. Longrave? You know, I’ve never really met him. I know he’s the founder and principal owner of the organization, and we’re not that big, but I don’t really think of myself as working for him. Susan Hirsch is my direct boss, and then there’s her boss, and then the site manager, and then the director of operations, and then there’s Mr. Longrave.”

  Jessabelle took in this information. It was a little like being a spy. Could she do that? Could she work inside the Coven and sneak the information out to ... whom, exactly? Who would be able to do anything with that information and bring it down? Who would be able to kill or arrest the man in the white suit? Certainly not Hattie. Even if her grandmother was still here, she’d be no match against him. Again, there was no hope. No rescue. Jessabelle squeezed her eyes shut against the returning despair.

  “I’m sorry,” Elise said. “What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”

  Jessabelle shook her head. “No. No. I just want to be alone right now.”

  Elise nodded. “I’m sorry. I guess I shouldn’t have... you know...”

  Jessabelle opened her eyes. In her imagination, the whitewashed cinderblock walls crushed in toward her. “It’s okay,” she said quietly. “I appreciate the visit. I know you’re trying to be nice and all, but I just lost my family and everyone else I care about.”

  “I’m sorry.” Elise stood up and walked to the door. The guard stepped to the side to let her use her card and punch in a security key. The door buzzed and unlocked, and the guard opened it, keeping one hand near his weapons as he did so.

  Elise stopped before stepping out and turned to face Jessabelle. The guard immediately half-shut the door, bringing his free hand to touch the end of the stun gun. Elise ignored him and said, “I never did answer your question, did I? My mother is a witch. She’s worked with the Coven since she was my age, too. I don’t have her talent, but she prevailed upon them to hire me anyway.”

  Jessabelle nodded. “Thank you, Elise.”

  “Don’t mention it. I know you probably hate them for what they did, and maybe they deserve it. But if I could suggest, try giving this place a chance. They aren’t all bad. We’re all just people.”

  Jessabelle felt a tiny smile appear for the first time since her birthday. She couldn’t say anything or make any promises, but she offered a non-committal shrug. Elise smiled back and waved, and then she and the guard left.

  The following evening, Susan entered the cell with two guards. Wearing her pasted-on smile, she said, “Elise has prevailed upon us to invite you to dinner in the cafeteria this evening. I told her we would do so if you would agree to return to the infirmary for tests without raising the sort of scene you did last time. What do you think?”

  “Will there be people there?”

  “Of course. Elise thought you might like to socialize.”

  Jessabelle considered. She’d thought they’d completed all their tests on her first visit, in spite of her freak-out. Could she control herself next time? Did she even want to meet anyone else? They would do the tests with or without her cooperation, as they’d demonstrated. “Okay,” she said slowly, drawing out the last syllable. It felt like a commitment and surrender. She mentally calculated when she had last bathed. “Can I clean up first?” she asked.

  Susan nodded. “Of course.” She kept smiling. If the guards approved or disapproved, they didn’t show it. “We’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”

  When Susan and her guards left, Jessabelle entered the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. Her black hair was a mess, and her pale skin seemed even paler in the fluorescent lights. She was well on her way to looking like a feral child. In school, she rarely worried about what the other kids thought of her. That had only changed in the last year. Was that something that came with turning sixteen? Did the self-consciousness fairy hit her with a magic wand and make her start caring about her appearance, even among her enemies?

  In a flicker, she transformed into Jessabelle-the-cat. She hadn’t transformed since she’d arrived, and she’d almost forgotten how good it felt. It was liberating, which felt much sweeter to her now that her life was about the absolute lack of liberty. She wanted to stay in cat form forever. After several seconds, she regretfully changed back to Jessabelle-the-girl. Her clothes remained rumpled, but her skin was clean and her hair straight and orderly. She ran the brush through her hair a few times to give it a touch of style.

  When Susan and the guards arrived, Jessabelle waited for them in fresh clothes with a fresh appetite. Transforming did that to her. It healed her, cleaned her up, and made her hungry. She assumed it burned up a ton of calories, but she was baffled as to how. It was a tiny piece of a much bigger mystery.

  “It looks like we’re all ready,” Susan said.

  “I reckon so,” Jessabelle said.

  The route to the cafeteria went past another security checkpoint where a woman in the same drab-gray uniform of the other guards required Susan to run her security card through an electronic reader before she’d open the steel-reinforced door. Once outside the secured area, the hallways were decorated with plastic plants and paintings on the walls. Jessabelle saw no windows, which suggested they were still underground. Before they reached the corner, Jessabelle heard the clinking of plates and silverware. The smells of an amazing array of food couldn’t hide from both of the cat-Jessabelles inside her. Her stomach growled.

  From one of the dozen round tables in the clean, brightly lit cafeteria, Elise waved at her. Jessabelle mustered a smile and waved back. Susan pointed out the location of the trays and silverware and what was served at different stations. “Get whatever you want. I’m sure you must be quite hungry.”

  Jessabelle hesitated. It was a strange comment. They’d fed her well over the last several days, and this was earlier than they’d normally brought her dinner. Ordinarily, she’d not be that hungry. Susan’s comment suggested the woman knew how Jessabelle had cleaned up so quickly without leaving her hair damp, and what that did to her appetite.

  Jessabelle turned and faced Susan. “What do you mean by that?”

  Susan’s mask cracked. In that instant, Jessabelle didn’t see embarrassment over having been caught in a faux pas, but actual fear. Then the mask snapped back into place, and Susan forced a laugh and waved her hands in the air. “Just making chit-chat. I’m feeling a bit hungry myself.” She walked off. The guards stayed with Jessabelle.

  Jessabelle grabbed a tray, napkin, and utensils and chose some lasagna from one of the stations. Susan had known not only that she’d transformed to get ready so quickly but also that she grew hungry after changing. How would she know that? Jessabelle piled on some meat loaf and some weird bean dish from another station and found some chocolate milk to drink. Her mother would shriek at her food choices. But then, her mother had given her up to the Coven, hadn’t she?

  She sat down across from Elise. One guard stood a few feet away, and the second took a position near the wall. Jessabelle glanced at them and frowned.

  Elise gave her a sympathetic smile. “You are still considered a red-level threat, Jessabelle. Protocol requires at least two guards outside of the security zone, plus at least a beta-class witch on duty.”

  Jessabelle looked around the cafeteria. Twenty other people were in the room, and although they all cast furtive glances at her from time to time, none seemed to be paying that much attention. “Who’s the witch?”

  Elise shrugged. “Even if I knew, I couldn’t tell you. She—it’s usually a she—is probably in the security office. There are cameras everywhere. Someone is always monitoring us, making sure we are safe.”

  Jessabelle glanced around the room. She was used to looking for organic threats in the woods and watchers from windows in town, but not cameras. Getting caught transforming on video humiliated and infuriated her. Modern cameras could be hidden anywhere. How coul
d she possibly avoid them? She stared at her food, her appetite fading. She didn’t want Elise to see her face while she regained her composure. This time, instead of hiding tears, she hid her rage.

  Jenny prodded the scorched grasses with her foot where Jack had been attacked by Zainus. “Are you sure you aren’t hurt? I saw him launch some impressive magic at you.” Jenny could see magic. It was part of the “Sight” that she and her grandmother shared.

  “Nope. Hardly felt a thing. I just figured he wasn’t nearly as powerful as you witches.”

  Jenny shook her head. “The colors were totally different, but what I saw was much brighter and stronger than anything I’ve seen before. I was worried about you. You aren’t completely immune to magic.”

  “You don’t have to tell me. I think I done scared him pretty good, though.”

  “Yeah. You did.”

  “Not as good as you scared them horses, though.”

  Her grin widened. “I did, didn’t I?”

  Barnaby approached them. “Do y’all think they will they be back?”

  Jack shrugged. “He’s a bully. I reckon it depends on whether or not he thinks he can get a cheap shot in and get revenge. He might try and spring his buddies, too.”

  “At least we have their weapons,” Barnaby said, shading his eyes with his hand and staring at the forest where the remaining bandits had fled. “If he does come back, it won’t be openly next time. I fear we need your continued protection.”

  “We ain’t really protectors. We need to let Annie know what’s going on.”

  Lowering her voice so only Jack could hear, Jenny said, “She’s got to watch the crossroads.”

  “Can you do that?”

  Jenny hesitated, wrinkled her nose, and shook her head. “I think we’re better off right now if I assist Annie.”

  Turning back to Barnaby, Jack asked, “Can you contact the police? I mean, the authorities? Whoever?”

  “The sheriff in Dane’s Point can deal with the bandits and take the three we captured back to face judgment. But Dane’s Point is a day’s travel down the road. We have no one to spare.”