He walked over to where Alicia was lying and looked across the table at Sarah, this whole thing had been her idea. From chasing the wights to the car chase, and the kidnapping.
“So, what’s your next brilliant idea, because these two have gone just swimmingly.” He was seething, his car was ruined, his shoes were ruined, and no one was going to pay him back for his losses.
This whole situation was just a big fat cluster fuck and he was tired of being just a wing man. Someone needed to man up and figure out what the end conclusion to this was going to be. If Sarah was not going to do it, he may as well.
Sarah stared at him, her anger evident. She was tired of his constant barbs and questioning her ideas. It is not like she had planned for Bertha, Jared, and Kali to come running to the rescue over a simple human.
When Sallie had called Sarah from the police station saying that a human was going to represent Jen, Sarah knew that she had to do something.
She had gotten in contact with Dante and Jessica- the only other council members that she knew were in the anti-human terrorist groups. They all ran in different circles as they were different races, but the goal was the same. Humans and supernaturals should not associate. They hated the fact that their little community was tainted by humans.
They all felt no humans should be allowed within a twenty-mile radius of a supernatural community but they had been vetoed. Therefore, they moved to more drastic measures. The humans in the supernatural communities were often the target of robberies, vandalism and occasionally rape. They had never actually murdered a human but that may change with Alicia, especially now that Kali had seen them. They would probably have to kill not only Alicia, but Bertha and Kali also.
Kali looked over at Bertha, she still hadn’t regained consciousness. From what Kali could see however, the large woman was breathing normally. They had tied her in much stronger restraints than they had Kali, in fact it appeared as if she was hog tied and secured to a tall metal pole.
She had numerous chains and ropes looping across her body, holding her upright. Her knees were bent and from what Kali could see they were chained together at both the knee and ankle. Bertha’s arms were also double chained behind her back, one set of chains around her forearm, the other looped around her wrist. There was no way the large woman was going to move anywhere outside of a miracle.
Kali was not tied nearly as completely as Bertha. She had been wriggling her wrists behind her in an attempt to loosen the ropes and had successfully managed to get one wrist free. Now all she needed to do was change without being noticed. Unlike common folklore, a Wampus’ feline abilities were a bit different.
In Cherokee folklore, an “ewah” or wampus cat would cry when provoked. Anyone who heard their cry would die within three days. The story was an odd one, a Cherokee woman disguised herself in furs to spy on the men of a tribe, the medicine man had found out and punished her by transforming her into half human and half cat. This was also false, a Wampus cat was a spiritual being with the powers of earth and death. Much of the story was myth and the cry thing, was definitely a myth.
Unfortunately, that was just not how it worked for a wampus cat. They had to physically touch their victim and speak words into their ears. The words were a simple line in Cherokee that stated the person was doomed to suffering and death. Once the words were uttered, if followed or preceded by the wampus cat touching the victim, they would die and generally it was an excruciating death. Nor did it take three days, it was immediate.
However, the damage that it did to Kali was extensive.
The more a wampus cat used their power, the shorter their lifespan would become, perhaps that’s how the fable of a cat's nine lives was inspired.
Kali was as old as she was for a reason, she had only used her powers twice in her life, which had shaved about twenty years off of her natural lifespan. Ten years per death is what it seemed to average out to. It was impossible to really know how long she had left, there were diseases, illnesses and things associated with age to take into consideration.
The only reason she had a general idea of how much was taken from her, was that she had used her powers before. The changes had been very quick, she noticed crow’s feet around her eyes, greying hair, wrinkles she had not had before. These were little things, things that no one else seemed to notice, or at least had the common courtesy not to comment on.
Kali looked at the group of people around Alicia, there was no way she was going to be able to do this alone. Killing them all would certainly kill her, and then there would be no one to free Bertha, or Alicia. Kali’s eyes flicked over, seeing movement, Bertha was starting to stir. She was blinking slowly, trying to fight back the last of the drug’s effects. She struggled for a minute the chains, squealing as she pulled at her arms, the metal scraping them over the pole.
She opened her mouth to say something and Kali shook her head, mouthing “Don’t draw their attention.” Bertha nodded, her face contorting into an angry scowl as her eyes focused on the bruises and blood decorating Kali’s face.
Kali looked back to the group of people standing around Alicia, they were talking in hushed voices and Kali couldn’t make out what they were saying. She leaned forward, pushing her feet in front of her and using them to scoot forward. It was harder than you would think with her ankles tied together.
They really had been lenient in how they tied her in comparison to Bertha. This was probably due to their assumption of the difference in physical strength.
She called out to Sarah, “if you kill her, you will end up in jail- or executed. She's going through the change; Joseph is sure of it.”
Sarah turned and looked at Kali, stunned. “You have got to be fucking kidding me!?”
Kali shook her head as best she could, “No, we don't know what she is- but she is definitely one of us. You know the sentence for killing one of our kind, is much more stringent than that of killing a human. especially if they have done no wrong.” Kali stated bluntly, hoping the fear of the sentence for killing one of their own would help all of them out of this situation.
Sarah turned back to the rest of the group as they stood over Alicia. This changed everything. They would be committing an act that could get them executed. The sentence for killing a human was just prison time, and not even that much. A maximum of ten years, but to kill another supernatural in cold blood, that was a death sentence.
Which is probably why they had done nothing with Kali and Bertha yet, they were waiting for the last of their group, Richard. The vampire while seeming to be an upstanding member of the council was not only a terrorist, but the most skilled of the memory wipers within the entire supernatural community. He could not only wipe the memory of an errant human, but also that of the strongest supernatural. As much as they wanted to see Kali and Bertha gone, it was not something they could do easily and certainly not when there were people who knew that Alicia was with them. Two dead council members, and a dead human? It was basically like laying down a brick path right to their tombstone.
Richard put on a good front, he was a playboy who would sleep with anything that was still long enough, but he was an upstanding member of the council. While he would be late to a meeting occasionally, he never missed one. He had Kali convinced that he was one of the good guys, and Sarah had been looking forward to seeing Kali’s face when he walked in the door.
No one expected the Spanish Inquisition, and that was the kind of reaction Sarah had been hoping to get. However, once Richard walked in and sauntered over to stand in the group, Sarah had gotten nothing but disappointment. Kali had looked anything but surprised, almost as if she had expected it.
Sarah looked over at Kali, God did she want to wipe the smug look off the old bitch’s face. Kali looked over and gave Richard a benign smile.
“About time you showed up, I was beginning to think you were going to bail.” Sarah turned her head to look at Richard but she was too late- in the time that she had been watching Kali, Richard had
rendered both Dante and Jessica unconscious.
He was looking at her with a smile. “Chippie, you didn’t really think I was on your side, did you?” Sarah’s face fell spectacularly and she turned in an attempt to escape, running for the door.
It did not even dawn on her to use her powers on him. There would be no chance at her winning anyways, Richard was one of the strongest council member. Not only was he skilled with his own powers of mind control and memory wiping but he had age, experience, and was physically stronger than most.
Richard moved- Sarah couldn’t believe his speed- one moment she was running for the door, the next she was yanked backward by a fistful of her hair and slammed into a wall. She shrieked, her scalp to burning, only to grunt as the wind knocked from her upon impact. Her eyes widened as she stared up at Richard, firmly holding her in place by her hair.
She looked down, lowering her eyes from him. He couldn’t catch her with mind control if she didn’t look him in the eye, or so she thought. Richard tossed his head back and laughed, the sound unnerving. Sarah could feel a little urine seeping from her. God, please don’t let me piss my pants in fear in front of him and Kali, she thought as she squeezed her abdominal muscles tightly.
Richard looked down at her, the scent of her fear was intoxicating. It was just what he had needed after a long, stressful day. He dragged his fingers through her hair, oh, yes, he was going to play with this one- long and slow before he finally got down to business and wiped her memories. However, he could not do this in front of Kali or Bertha- he needed to get them out of here before he took care of Sarah.
The other members of Sarah’s little group were already taken care of- it had been quick and easy, just a touch to their temple and poof, everything about the past month was just… gone. The only one they really needed was Sarah, she had the information that they wanted.
Richard gazed back to Sarah and dragged her by the hair towards Kali.
“Come along my naughty little Bruja,” he purred in her ear as he pulled out a small slender pocket knife.
He cut away Kali’s bonds and gestured towards Bertha with the knife. Taking the remaining rope, he used it to bind Sarah. The wraith wasn’t going anywhere, not only because she was tied but also because she was too scared to move, he could tell by her scent.
Kali looked at Richard, thinking Sarah’s reaction to him was odd. She could smell fear and a bit of urine emanating from the woman. She was terrified of him for some reason, what did Sarah know that Kali did not? She shrugged it off, let him have at the girl, she had earned it in Kali’s opinion. He knew what he needed to do to her, anything else he chose to do was not Kali’s problem. She had only instructed that he wipe her memories, and not kill her.
They had made the plan hastily, Kali had known that it was Sarah who organized this thanks to Richard, who had told her shortly after the end of the council meeting. He was one of the few people that Kali knew she could trust. Years ago, when the council went from a dictatorship to a democracy, Richard and Kali had sat down for a long talk. The terrorist groups had been active for years, a plague on the council and the communities Kali had wanted someone to on the inside to spy for her, and Richard had volunteered.
Richard was not what anyone would expect of a spy, he was too easy going. No one expected him of betraying them, so he was the perfect, harmless candidate- though he was far from harmless. Richard was over two hundred years old, no one truthfully knew the extent of his powers except Richard himself.
Kali had finished removing the chains and ropes from Bertha, it had taken her a minute as she had to locate the keys.
Bertha stood, rubbing the feeling back into her arms and legs as she scowled over at Sarah, “what are we going to do about her?”
Kali looked over and then back to Bertha, “we are going to do nothing, we are leaving, Richard is going to take care of Sarah after he puts Alicia in the car.” She looked to Richard, “you did bring a car right?”
Richard laughed. “The whole damn cavalry came racing to the damsel’s distress call, well at least Jared and Joseph did.”
Richard picked Alicia up and carried her out of the building, walking towards the car where Jared and Joseph stood beside Bertha’s car.
Richard gently put Alicia in the car and Joseph quickly got another IV line running into her arm. Kali and Bertha followed and got into the front seats. Joseph got into the back with Alicia and Jared got on his bike.
Richard walked over to the passenger side window and leaned in towards Kali. “So, to make sure this is clear, I can do whatever I want as long as her memory is wiped, and she’s not dead?”
Kali looked up at Richard and sighed, “don’t do anything too permanent or obvious, or we’ll have a lot of questions by the rest of council. If she comes back and is unable to perform her duties because of whatever it is you did, we can’t protect you.”
Richard sighed and nodded as he moved away from the car “Yea, I got it, I can do what I want… no disfigurement, maiming, broken bones… Man, you sure know how to ruin a guy's fun,” he frowned. “You’re leaving me with only a few options, I can beat her up a little, rape her, cut her some, bite her… but wraith blood is disgusting. It’s like drinking curdled milk in blood form.”
Kali did not want to know how Richard knew what wraith blood tasted like and just shook her head. “You know the rules Richard, follow them, we need just to get Alicia out of here and find a new place to hide her where she will be safe while she recovers.” Richard did not reply, already walking back to the building- and Sarah.
Kali did not want to think about what he was going to do to Sarah, knowing whatever it was, in the end Sarah wouldn’t remember- like so many of his victims.
Richard walked into the building cursing under his breath, Goddamn that Kali, she had reduced his options to nearly nothing. She really knew how to kill the mood. He stepped into the building and shut the door, thinking ‘What to do, what to do.’ He could rape her, but that was so expected, he wanted to torture her- humiliate her before he finished.
He walked up to Sarah, sitting on the floor with her arms tied behind her. She looked away from him, not wanting to lose her memories, or get her mind wiped. She shuddered as he stepped closer, the scent of her fear was like an aphrodisiac and it gave him a raging hard on. He looked down at her, grabbed her once again by a handful of her long dark hair and yanked her up into a stand. She snarled at him, bones popping in her face as she lost control and began to transform. Her lower jaw disappeared, tongue flapping loosely making wet slippery sounds.
Richard could not help but laugh, the stupid wraith seemed to think that this change in her appearance would deter him from his plans. It wasn’t like he hadn’t dealt with wraiths before.
He leaned into her, pressing his cheek against her misshapen jaw, a finger sliding down to tap at her hanging tongue. “You always did have a loose tongue, Sarah. Now look at all the trouble it’s gotten you in.”
He laughed softly as he grabbed onto the tip of her tongue and yanked. She reeled back in pain, a wail coming from the back of her throat and bubbling out of her esophagus. Richard bent, looking down her throat as she screamed, watching her uvula as it bobbled back and forth with the power of both her breath and the sound vibrations.
“You know, as old as I am, I have never figured out the point of this dangly thing in the back of people’s throats. Do you think that it serves some purpose? I wonder what would happen if we cut yours out?”
Sarah drew in a deep breath and let it out with a whimper, Richard continued to watch the little fleshy extension in the back of her throat wobbling back and forth tantalizingly. He stood, tied her struggling form to the pole and walked over to the bag he had placed beside the door as he had entered. No one had paid him enough attention to see him put it down. He was quite pleased with that fact. After all, it contained all the lovely things he used to torture people.
He hefted the bag upwards and walked back towards Sarah, her eyes were w
ide and tears streaming down her cheeks, leaving little dirty stains. God, he was going to enjoy this, but where to start? He really wanted to cut her uvula out, he didn’t think it would really be too much for Kali to let him do this one thing… it wasn’t really maiming Sarah, after all. Who couldn’t stand to lose a little bit of useless flesh?
Sarah tried to scuttle backwards, but it was pretty hard to get away when you are tied to a pole. She looked at Richard pleadingly, her eyes welling up with tears. “I will tell you whatever you want to know, just please … don’t hurt me.” Drool and blood soaked her chin as she struggled to beg him with her torn up jaw.
Richard just smiled serenely and caressed her cheek as he dropped the bag to his feet. “Oh, Sarah, you naughty little Bruja, I know you will. I am going to make you sing like a delicate little song bird. It will only hurt a little bit,” he laughed menacingly. “Who am I kidding, I am going to make you scream, you back-stabbing bitch.”
Chapter Eight
I was falling, it felt like some dark abyss was sucking me downward. I was so hot, I could feel the sweat soaking my clothing, clinging to me like a second skin. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. I felt like I was going to crawl out of my own skin, itchy, like insects crawling on me.
Broken Glass: An Alicia Jacobs Novel (The Alicia Jacobs Chronicle Book 1) Page 10
