by Kim Faulks
Adley scanned the rearview mirror, making sure he hadn’t hit the woman. She stood in the middle of the road behind him, waving her hands wildly and making her way toward the car. Adley dropped his gaze to the thing in the backseat, searching his eyes for any sign of recognition, any sign this was a setup. But there was nothing. Edric didn’t turn to look at the woman. It seemed like he didn’t even care. All Edric seemed interested in was staring at Adley.
“Don’t worry, detective, she’s not my type. I like them younger, much younger.” Edric laughed.
Adley hit the automatic window button and stuck his head out the window. He wrenched his head back over his right shoulder and looked behind the car as the woman made her way over to them. The sun blinded him and cast her silhouette into a shadow, obscuring her face so he couldn’t get a good look.
“What the hell is she doing? Do you see a car anywhere?”
Adley ignored the nit-picking questions from his partner and concentrated on the woman and what sat in the back seat. “Protocol says we can't stop for her.”
The shape moved in front of the sun and reached for the boot of the car. Adley was already reaching for the radio, ready to call another unit until he saw the smeared blood her hand left behind on the back passenger’s window where Edric Hasting sat.
Adley stared up into amber brown eyes, only now seeing the splattered blood across her chest. She reached for him with crimson-stained hands, Adley made out her words by the movement of her lips as she spluttered. “Please, help me.”
“Jesus, are you okay? Are you hurt?” Adley fumbled on the door before he realized his duties and jerked his head toward his partner. “Call through to VKR.”
He was out of the car in a second, reaching for the woman, who started to slump against the side of the car. Her eyes fluttered and her body sagged. He reached her just in time to break her fall.
Rachel’s nagging voice bombarded him from inside the car. “What’s going on? What’s happening?”
“She’s fainted. Just give me a freaking minute.”
He reached for her wrist and felt for her pulse. Her eyelids twitched, and then her eyes flew open. “Are you okay?”
“My boyfriend is hurt… we had an accident. I think… he might be dead.”
He glanced back at Edric and then to his partner. “Jesus. We can’t stop… we have to….”
“Please, you have to help me! He might be dying!”
Adley scanned the melaleuca trees alongside the road, searching for any sign of a break in the tree line. “Where did you crash?”
“Somewhere over there, I think.” She pointed at the spindly grass trees which lined the road. “I was knocked out and when I woke up, Mark was hurt bad. There was blood, so much blood. I tried to help him, but I passed out.” The woman glanced toward Rachel and then to the backseat. Her sobs sounded painful and sincere. “I don’t know how long I was out. It could’ve been hours.”
Adley eyed Hasting in the backseat. The murderer stared at the woman in a way which made his skin crawl. If they needed to give this woman a lift, there was no way he was letting Rachel share the back seat with this thing. As much as he hated the idea, he’d rather sit back there than risk having either of these women next to someone like Edric Hasting.
He leaned over and grabbed the first-aid kit from the glove box. “Stay here and keep an eye on the prisoner. I'll go look.” He motioned for the woman to lead the way.
Adley followed her down the road. She crossed the black asphalt, which disappeared into the blazing horizon, and he breathed deep. The air was humid, cooling with the evening.
“Just over here.” She stepped off the road and headed toward the spindled trees. Adley followed, using his momentum to run up the small bank.
Something struck him.
Adley stumbled backwards, waving his hands through the air before a sickening thud echoed in his ears. He fell backwards, rolled, and came to his feet at the edge of the road. He reached to touch his head and then lowered his hand to stare at the blood which coating his fingers.
“What the hell?” The haze of white struck him again. Pure instinct forced Adley to hold his hands up, defending not his face, but his chest and neck. A loud crunch made him gasp for breath as pain became a torturous song, reverberating through his body.
Pain and the sickening sound of his tearing flesh told Adley he was about to die. Sharp teeth slashed at him. The woman in white was almost a blur around him, ripping into his body. And somehow, amidst the pain, he wondered why something so beautiful would be trying to kill him.
Blood splattered his face as he absorbed another blow, sending him staggering backwards. He vaguely registered the fact it was his blood. The warm substance soaked through his shirt and ran down his stomach as he fought for his life. It all happened so fast. Adley fell to his knees as the sound of gunfire rang out.
In a daze, he forced his head to the side. He didn’t want to take his eyes off the woman in white, yet he needed to find the source of the shot. Oh, God, no! Rachel stood in her practiced shooter's stance, holding her upper body rigid. Still the bullets went wide. He could see she was panicking. Her gaze jumped from him back to the woman and she fired at his attacker.
The virginal, blood-soaked dress was shredded with the impact of the bullets. Flesh and blood rained on him and part of her intestine smacked him in the face. The creature laughed. Her eyes glinted with a murderous gaze. She turned from tearing into his thigh, stalking Rachel now, until their silhouettes blended into one.
The woman never flinched as the forty-five caliber Glock gouged her body with hot lead fragments. Her dress bloomed in the back like red roses as the bullets hit their mark. Rachel's scream pierced through the fog in his mind. His eyes were heavy. Sleep called to him, sleep where there was no pain and he wanted to drift away. But something inside him held on. He could just hear the click of the trigger as it found the empty chambers of Rachel’s gun. Adley tried to speak, tried to save Rachel’s life. Keep fighting. Don't give up….
He rolled carefully on to his side. Pain lashed his body. Adley ground his teeth together to stop from screaming out. The drive to save another cop outweighed his pain and fear. He needed to help her. He needed to do something to give her the chance to fight back.
Adley pulled at his holster. He drove down the release catch and jerked out his gun. He took aim, praying he’d find the mark as this bitch now lowered her head to Rachel’s neck. He fired two shots. The woman in white stumbled forward. The back half of her head now decorated the silver Commodore in flecks of red and white.
She staggered and twirled like a drunken ballerina toward Adley, hissing like an enraged animal. The sound made his blood run cold. His blurred vision ran red. That animal wore his blood, and his partner’s blood. He wouldn’t let this be the end. Again, shoot… her… again! He took aim, but his hand wobbled and his eyes failed to focus. Shoot her! He had to try. Please God... don't let... me.... Movement was a battle of his will against his body. Adley tried to focus for one more second... one more shot... but he just didn't have the strength. His view of his partner dulled. He forced his eyes open.
The bitch snarled and turned back to Rachel. Shoot! He screamed inwardly, panic filling him, but it was too late. He just didn’t have anything left in him. Their attacker lifted his partner high.
His eyes closed… darkness. He forced them open.
With one hand, the creature tore his partner’s head from her body. His heart skipped, losing time like an old watch.
Darkness. He forced his eyes open.
His partner’s headless body buckled and fell before the creature. A wig sailed through the air in an arc toward him… no, not a wig.
Adley prayed the darkness would come again. This time he wouldn’t open his eyes.
Rachel’s brown hair parted as her head came to rest in the gully next to him. The bloodless orbs that were once hard, critical eyes stared at him in a ghastly game of peek-a-boo. Her mouth hung open, laughi
ng… screaming… Adley whimpered and tried to move away, but his body no longer obeyed his commands. Instead, he stared at the blood and mucus seeping from her neck, and shivered in the hot Australian sun. His skin burned under the glare, his sweat-stained shirt stuck hard against his back.
The pain started to fade and he wanted to find peace... and yet somehow his senses sharpened in one last-ditch effort to scream with life. One final ‘fuck you’ to death. The hysterical screams from Edric Hasting filled his ears and he couldn’t help but smile. The image of Nathan, Luke, and his Matthew accompanied the sound. He felt a twinge of guilt his best friend would never know how much it hurt him to leave things the way he did.
It won’t be long now, whispered a voice somewhere inside his mind, Edric scorching wails serenaded him. It wouldn’t be long for either of them.
I hope you’ve enjoyed a taste of End of Dreams. If you would like to purchase this book, please select the link.
End of Dreams
Table of Contents
Titlepage
Copyright
Dedication
Confinement
Merciful Misery
Masquerade and Madness
Needful Things
Drug of Choice
Hangman's Noose
Casket and Cravings
Ladies Man
Tourniquet
Louder Than Words
Reflections
The Right To Be Scared
The Beast of Burden
The Secrets Room
Daddy's Girl
Deadly Dreams
Moment of Faith
The Scret Door
The Deal
Sweet Sacrifice
Into the Light
Preview Immortal Destiny - End of Dreams
Chapter 1 –Edric
Chapter 2 - Eve
Chapter 3 - Adley
