Dead Village

by Holly Copella

  Tyson stopped behind Vander, eyed the casually seated corpses, and smirked. “Maybe he just likes his kills neatly arranged.”

  Vander glared back at Tyson. He wasn’t humored by the callus, tasteless remark.

  “What?” Tyson scoffed then shook his head. “No sense of humor.”

  Vander looked away from him with disgust and approached the two bodies out of place lying on the bus floor. He saw the discarded gun sticking out from beneath one of the bodies, appeared alarmed, and picked it up.

  “This is Novak’s gun,” Vander announced with concern and looked around for any other sign of his partner.

  Tyson picked up the dart gun and stared at it. He eyed Vander from behind while holding the gun. Vander turned and looked surprised to see the gun in Tyson’s hand even though it wasn’t aimed at him. Vander’s finger tightened on the trigger of Novak’s gun still at his side.

  “What sort of gun is this?” Tyson asked breaking the tense silence.

  Vander relaxed his finger on gun’s trigger. “It’s a dart gun,” he replied while apparently putting the pieces together in his head.

  “You mean like a tranquilizer gun?” Tyson asked with a look of surprise.

  Vander nodded and stuck Novak’s gun down the back of his pants. “That must be how he subdued his victims and was able to kill them at his leisure.”

  “That explains how he got Darlene on the horse,” Tyson remarked then chuckled and shook his head with disgust.

  Vander casually removed the dart gun from Tyson, surprising him. Tyson was about to protest then watched as Vander emptied the remaining darts from the gun. He tossed the dart gun aside. It landed with a clatter. He deposited the darts into a glass of water setting alongside one of the dead men.

  “What the hell did you do that for?” Tyson demanded and conveyed his disapproval with his expression. “I wouldn’t mind having a weapon myself, you know.”

  “Not that weapon,” Vander replied.

  Tyson shook his head with disbelief. “You don’t trust me, admit it.”

  Vander casually shrugged. “Okay, I don’t trust you.”

  “That’s cold,” Tyson muttered.

  Vander’s silence signaled the discussion was closed for debate. Tyson remained offended then looked around the bus. He indicated the scattered bodies and several overturned objects on the otherwise neatly arranged display.

  “Looks like there was a struggle,” Tyson informed him.

  Vander was frustrated by more than just the disturbing scene as he looked around. “We should see which way that blood leads.”

  “We’re running out of daylight fast,” Tyson informed him. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not exactly thrilled about being out here after dark.”

  “My friend could be out there bleeding to death,” Vander growled lowly while facing Tyson.

  Tyson raised his brows and glared sharply at him. “No offense, but your friend could be hanging from a tree.”

  Vander stared at him with surprise then sneered and shook his head. “It’s difficult to like you.”

  “I ain’t exactly sweet on you either, G-man.”

  †

  Dino stood in the massive kitchen behind the counter and opened a large can of fruit with the industrial sized can opener bolted to the counter. He dumped the contents into a large plastic container, being careful not to spill his dinner. Harris hurried across the kitchen, stopped before Dino, and appeared alarmed.

  “I can’t find anyone,” Harris suddenly announced. “Where the hell did everyone go?”

  “What do you mean you can’t find anyone?” Dino asked and stared at him. “Did you check the spa? Sonya and Gemma were planning on taking a soak in the hot tub after we’d left.”

  “I didn’t feel like exploring alone,” Harris informed him. “I don’t like this, Dino. It’s too quiet. We should go to the spa and look for Sonya and Gemma.”

  “Absolutely,” he replied while wiping his hands on a dishtowel. “I told them to lock the spa door, but I should make sure Sonya’s alright.”

  Dino suddenly froze and stared past Harris with a look of horror on his face. Sonya stumbled toward them while holding her bleeding cheek. He ran toward her and helped her to the table. She slowly and painfully sat.

  “Sonya, what happened?” Dino gasped. His look was somewhere between concern and rage.

  She sobbed softly while clinging to her face. “It was Ravin. He attacked me.”

  “Attacked you?” Dino demanded.

  Dino gently pulled Sonya’s hand away from her face. Her swollen nose and cheekbone were already black and blue. There was little doubt she had some fractured facial bones. A decent sized gash ran along her cheek and bled freely.

  Dino placed the dishtowel to her cut then glared at Harris. “Get her some ice. Keep an eye on her, and don’t let her out of your sight.”

  As Dino started to walk away, Harris stared after him with surprise. “What are you going to do?”

  He didn’t bother looking back at him. “Kill Ravin,” Dino scoffed. “Keep my niece safe or it’s your ass, Harris!”

  Harris watched Dino storm from the kitchen then looked back at Sonya and became sympathetic. He hurried to the freezer, removed some ice, and returned to her with the bag. He wrapped the ice in a dishtowel and handed it to her.

  “What happened to Gemma? She was with you, wasn’t she?” Harris asked.

  “After Ravin attacked me, she ran away,” Sonya said while sniffing and gingerly applied the ice to her bleeding, bruised cheek. “He took off after her. I guess he thought I was dead, so he left me there.”

  “Did you want me to walk you to your room?” Harris asked timidly. “You can lock yourself in for safekeeping?”

  She sniffed, managed a smile, and uncertainly nodded. “I’d like that,” she said softly then hesitated. “Although, I could use some painkillers.”

  “We’ll drop by the infirmary on the way to your room,” Harris replied. “We should be able to find something in there to help with the pain.”

  †

  Harris rummaged through the drawers in the infirmary while Sonya cleaned the cut on her cheek with antiseptic solution. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and cringed. The left side of her face was swollen nearly twice the size of her right and the dark bruising was only getting worse. The cut wasn’t deep but it would definitely leave a scar. She looked at the dishtowel on the counter before her, set her bloodied cloth aside, and carefully opened the dishtowel to reveal a dart gun. Harris turned with a bottle of pills in his hand.

  “Found some heavy-duty painkillers,” he announced and seemed pleased with himself.

  Sonya turned to face him and aimed the dart gun at him. He stared at the strange gun with surprise and possible horror.

  “What the hell--?” As he stared at the gun, he let out a relieved sigh and shook his head. “You scared me for a minute there. Where did you find that? What is that? A BB gun?”

  “This?” she asked while grinning. “No, this is a tranquilizer gun. The darts knock you out in minutes--sometimes seconds.”

  Harris stared at her and his concern quickly returned. “What are you doing with it?”

  “I’m going to shoot you with it, Harris,” she casually replied while smiling sweetly. “It’ll be lights out, so you won’t squirm when I cut you open.”

  “You’re joking, right?” he suddenly gasped. “There’s no way you’re behind this. You wouldn’t kill people. That’s not who you are.”

  She laughed lowly. “Who do you think poisoned all those people in the dining room? I’ll admit I had a little help slitting the wrists of all those people in the pool area before joining the others in the lounge. A can of knockout mist only lasts so long. You can’t dillydally or they’ll wake up before you’ve finished.” She playfully frowned. “And we didn’t want anyone feeling any pain. That would be cruel.”

  The look on Harris’ face conveyed his fears. “Sonya, please,” he said gently. �
�We had a moment together. You don’t want to kill me. I could make it worth your while. I have money.”

  “It’s not just about money, Harris,” she said while groaning then raised her brows. “And our moment? Please!” Her smile mocked him. “That was just a two-minute distraction for appearances. I have my sights a little higher.”

  Sonya squeezed the trigger. Harris dove from the dart’s path, narrowly avoiding the little dart. The dart hit the glass on the medicine cupboard and pierced it. Sonya aimed again. Harris shoved the rolling cart across the room and struck her in the legs, throwing her momentarily off balance. He ran from the infirmary and along the corridor with Sonya several yards behind him. As he approached the lobby, the elevator door stood open. He bolted into the elevator and hit the close button several times. Sonya appeared as the doors closed, shutting her out. Harris leaned against the elevator wall while breathing heavily. He snorted a soft laugh of relief then looked at his arm. A little dart was embedded in his lower arm.

  Harris groaned softly. “That’s just perfect.”

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Several candles flickered and burned around the exam room in the vet’s office, brightening the small room. Novak sat on the exam table with his shirt and pants off while Monica stitched his arm. The cut on his thigh was already stitched with what appeared to be ‘M’ stitches. Novak grinned while appearing overly sedated, obviously feeling no pain while Monica stitched his cuts. He pointed at the ‘M’ stitches on his thigh and laughed.

  “M for Monica,” he teased.

  “You got that all on your own? Good for you,” she announced with a smirk across her face. She seemed more alert now than she had less than an hour ago. The effects of the dart were obviously wearing off.

  “I’ve been branded,” he chuckled then held his head. “That’s some pretty serious shit you injected me with. What was in that syringe?”

  “Local sedation--for dogs,” she replied. “And apparently, I gave you too much.”

  “No, it’s good stuff. I’m so lucky to have such a smart, sexy, and lethal girlfriend.”

  She cast a glare at him. “Who the hell said I was your girlfriend?”

  He gave her an innocent look and seemed offended by the question. “The guy who tried to kill me.”

  Monica rolled her eyes then finished stitching him. She dressed his wounds with fresh gauze then washed his blood from her hands. Novak’s look turned serious despite his sedated state.

  “You know, I was drugged last night,” he announced boldly. “If I performed poorly--”

  Monica dried her hands then casually tossed him his pants, startling him. Novak caught his pants and eyed her.

  “There was nothing wrong with your performance,” she informed him with little interest.

  Novak made an effort to slip into his pants from where he sat on the exam table. He kept missing the pants leg with his foot despite several attempts.

  “So then what’s the problem?” he asked.

  Novak finally got his feet into the pants, attempted to pull them up, and fell to the floor with a thud. Monica casually looked at him as he lie on the floor, face down.

  “Ouch--”

  Monica groaned and helped him to his feet. He finished pulling his pants up and looked at her.

  “I never said there was a problem,” she remarked without looking at him.

  “Certainly seemed like there was.”

  Monica glared at him and cleverly raised her brows. “I’d spent the last eight years running with the big boys in the military. If I wanted to be taken seriously, I needed to prove I was one of them,” she remarked. “There’s little room for emotion when the man you’d just screwed is blown apart the next day.”

  He stared at her and was surprised. “The man you loved was killed?”

  “I didn’t love him,” she retorted tersely. “I was just screwing him.”

  Novak stiffly slipped into his shirt and glanced at Monica, who now avoided looking at him. Her stern look turned serious and possibly angry.

  “He died because of me,” she announced hotly. “If he hadn’t been following me around like some lovesick schoolboy, he wouldn’t be dead!”

  “The way I followed you--?”

  She suddenly turned to face him and stared into his eyes. “I didn’t need your help! I didn’t ask for your help! You nearly got yourself killed. And for what?” she suddenly demanded. “Because we slept together?”

  “Going after bad guys and protecting people is kind of what I do, in case you’d forgotten,” he lashed back at her. “And maybe you need to be reminded from time to time that you’re not a one-woman commando unit either.” His anger seemed to boil over. “If you trusted me to cover your ass, maybe I wouldn’t have needed to follow you in the first place.”

  Monica glared at Novak with a look of annoyance. He stared back at her without flinching. Monica suddenly grabbed him by the face and kissed him passionately. Novak was momentarily startled but quickly returned the kiss. Without warning, she threw him down on the exam table and jumped on top of him.

  †

  Vander and Tyson entered the lobby from the outside entrance while bickering at one another. The argument had apparently been going on for quite some time, and neither man was too pleased with the other. Sonya leaned against the wall next to the elevator with a bloodied rag in her hand. She stared at them with a look of fright. Tyson immediately saw her battered face and ran toward her. She clutched the bloodstained rag as he approached. He gently touched her face and looked at her injuries.

  “What happened?” Tyson suddenly demanded as his rage increased. “Who did this to you?”

  “It was Ravin,” Sonya gasped softly. “Uncle Dino went after him. I don’t know what came over Ravin, but he beat Felicia to death with a hammer in the spa.” She sobbed softly. “When I tried to stop him, he attacked me.”

  “I knew it!” Tyson cried out. “I knew that bastard was the killer!”

  Tyson violently struck the elevator button. When the elevator didn’t immediately arrive, he grabbed Novak’s gun from the back of Vander’s pants, and took off down the hallway toward the stairs.

  “Tyson,” Vander called after him with surprise. “Come back here!”

  Vander shook his head with disgust then looked at the severely battered Sonya. He stared at her injuries and was almost horrified by her appearance. Vander attempted a soothing tone to comfort the obviously hurting young woman.

  “I need to stop Tyson before he does something stupid,” Vander remarked. “On my way, I’ll take you someplace safe.”

  “Yeah?” she scoffed then laughed softly. “Where’s someplace safe?”

  “You can hole up in my guestroom while I go after Tyson,” he gently informed her. Vander pressed the elevator button and again looked at her injuries. He was curious. “Are you sure it was a hammer?” he asked while studying her. “Your injuries don’t look like they were caused by a hammer. Looks more like a policeman’s nightstick.”

  The elevator doors opened to reveal Harris lying dead in a pool of blood. Vander saw the mangled body on the elevator floor, quickly entered the elevator, and crouched alongside Harris’s body. He’d been stabbed multiple times before having his throat slashed. The kill wasn’t nearly as neat with him as with the others. This kill was a little more personal in nature. Vander shook his head while staring at Harris’ body. Sonya allowed the bloodied rag to fall to the floor to reveal the dart gun in her hand. She raised the dart gun and casually shot Vander, hitting him in the shoulder. He jumped with surprise, looked at the dart gun, and attempted to stand. He clutched his head and immediately collapsed to the floor alongside Harris’ blood-soaked body.

  Sonya removed the semiautomatic from Vander’s shoulder holster, straightened, and aimed it at him while grinning deviously. “Good-bye, Agent Hawk.”

  As she was about to pull the trigger, her wrist was suddenly grabbed and the gun violently snatched from her. She turned to face the badly beate
n and bloody Cody.

  “Daddy,” Sonya gasped with surprise and stared at his bleeding and broken face. “What happened?”

  “Ran into a little trouble with that bitch, Monica, and that prick, Novak,” Cody snarled. He then indicated Vander. “I want this one alive. I need him as bait for his partner. Novak will kill himself trying to save him.”

  “But I want to kill him,” Sonya whined.

  “In good time,” he replied then indicated Vander’s unconscious body. “Help me move him someplace a little more private. We wouldn’t want anyone finding him before we’re ready.”

  Sonya helped her father move Vander’s unconscious body from the elevator.

  “I saw Tyson running up the stairs,” Cody remarked. “Where was that brother of yours going on fire like that?”

  “To kill Ravin,” she replied and immediately appeared concerned. “You won’t let him, will you? You know I want Ravin for myself.”

  Cody rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I don’t know what you see in that one.”

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Devon stood before the large windows within Ravin’s corner suite and looked out across the darkened resort grounds. Her head still pounded, but she was able to stop the images from flashing through her mind for the time being. There was little point to having a gift if it couldn’t be controlled. She felt as if she was free-falling and no one could catch her. She was confused by everything she was feeling. Did she actually help save Gemma? If she opened her mind, would she be able to stop others from dying? Would she be able to see the killer for who he really was? It was almost too much for her to comprehend. And if she did open her mind, what if she couldn’t control it? After the first few seconds, the images no longer made sense. It was just an endless loop of horror scenes and violence. How would turning herself into a basket case help anyone? Ravin walked out of the bedroom, shut the door, and then approached the minibar. He opened a bottle of wine in silence and poured each of them a glass. Devon studied Ravin and gently rubbed her chilled arms.