Hell's Hilltop

by J. A. Dennam

  Suddenly, the wind stopped, granting them a small reprieve from the noise. On perfect queue, Danny said, “So, you admit you have feelings for Ty.”

  With a groan, Rena put her face in her hands. “I have never sympathized with Derek more than I do now. What it must have been like to have you for a sister.”

  “I knew it.”

  A calming breath as Rena turned away. “I only meant that I care for him. He did help me and I’ll always be grateful.”

  Danny laughed. “Heaven forbid if Rena Hellberg were to possess feelings for another man besides my husband.”

  “She does,” said a new voice from below.

  Both girls jumped.

  Rena nearly lost her seat when the shape of a man slowly rose over the Hilltop’s curved summit.

  CHAPTER 18

  There was no denying that build, the hair, the gait as he swayed with each rising step.

  “Rafferty,” she whispered in horror.

  Yes, even the white eye-patch now stood out against his bruised skin. Back in his trousers and casual dress shirt, it was as if the last few days never happened. He opened his mouth with a snarl. “She belongs with me.”

  Both women stood on wobbly footing as terror settled around them. Danny’s phone fell from her lap and bounced off the platform. Since she was closest to the approaching threat, Rena’s first thought was to get her and the innocent life she carried out of the way. While she stepped in front, she thought of Ty and whether or not he had suffered at Rafferty’s hands.

  “I thought you said you killed him.” Danny’s statement reeked of accusation. “You were playing me, weren’t you?”

  To Rena, the possibility she’d been played slowly sank in to a horrifying degree. “No,” she rasped. “He should be dead by now.”

  But Rafferty was clearly, physically there, having topped the summit with his signature predatory grace. “You can’t escape me, Rena,” he said, going for an air of calm, though his hands were noticeably shaking. “You’re mine. You know that better than anyone.”

  “Please tell me you didn’t hurt Ty.”

  He answered with a mean chuckle.

  Rena clutched the railing and choked, “Oh, God… you were dying when I left you!”

  He closed the distance until he stood mere inches away. “I would be dead if Frost hadn’t stopped you from driving those scissors through my chest.” His square jaw clenched and shifted. “Unfortunately, our chemist may die for his sacrifice.”

  Danny looked at her with accusation. “What?”

  “It was an accident,” Rena sobbed. “I was aiming for your heart!”

  “Which proves how sick you are,” he cajoled with outstretched hand. “You need me, Rena. Getting friendly with this woman isn’t the answer. She’ll turn you in. I’m the only one left who cares about you.”

  Danny broke in with a stern, “He’s wrong. You know that.”

  Rena nodded as if to convince herself. “Yes, I do. Thanks to Ty and Derek, I’m very clear. I’m in control, now. Not you.”

  “And what is your definition of control?” Rafferty challenged, his composure slipping a notch. “Spreading your legs for another man so he can take pleasure in what is mine?”

  As his words confirmed the worst, Rena’s entire body grew heavy with dread. Ty either had already, or would soon fall victim to Rafferty’s fury.

  “You practically begged him to fuck you,” he continued, “just as you once begged me.”

  Her heart thumped loudly in her ears. “The difference is he didn’t have to drug me first. I wanted Ty.” She slapped a hand to her chest. “Me! Not your chemical whore!”

  “I drugged you per Sophie’s orders. She demanded that I fix you!”

  “But you’re the one who broke me in the first place!”

  “You accepted me easily enough. And why wouldn’t you? I made you stronger. I taught you skills. You needed me!”

  “No!” she snarled, stepping forward with fiery wrath. “You needed me as your revenge against Sophie!”

  He hesitated, his features softening with something akin to amusement. “Yes, and you knew it. You liked it. You hated her just as much as I did. We were good together and I want that back.” Out of nowhere, something appeared in his hand. “I want you back!”

  Danny grabbed her arm. “He has a syringe.”

  “I see that,” Rena ground out.

  Both women backed away as he advanced.

  “You’re coming with me,” he said in that hypnotic tone of his.

  “I’d rather jump than go anywhere with you,” Rena returned just as smoothly.

  His attention moved to Danny. “The only person going over this edge is the one standing behind you.”

  Rena slowly looked over her shoulder and saw Danny watching her with wary caution. It was becoming clearer by the moment how Rafferty expected this to play out. She’d be blamed for Danny’s death one way or another. Only this time, Danny may not be so lucky.

  “He’s right,” Rena said pointedly, facing the other woman with sorrow. “It’s the only way.”

  Danny backed away slowly, carefully. “Bull shit.”

  “He’s a ghost and he’s unstoppable.” Rena prayed Danny would get the hint. If she were going to exercise her super-duper climbing skills, now would be the time. “I’m sorry. I tried. But, even Plan B didn’t work.”

  Danny looked down the seventy-five degree drop that used the natural slope of the hill to plunge much further than the lift hill would suggest. There were no steps or handrail to flank the tracks on that side, but Rena could tell Danny was willing to try it.

  A huge arm clamped around her neck and Rena was violently hoisted against Rafferty’s chest. While she struggled, the syringe sank deep into her arm. He increased the pressure on her windpipe so that it was suddenly her main focus, not what was going into her muscle tissue.

  His body jerked behind her and he suddenly let go. Rena dropped to the platform, gasping and choking the air back into her lungs. The syringe lay right in front of her… completely empty.

  “That’s exactly how you should be, bitch,” Rafferty snarled. “On your back and at my mercy.”

  In despair, Rena looked up, but it was to realize he hadn’t been speaking to her. Danny was sprawled out over the tracks, groaning in pain while Rafferty hovered over her, verbalizing his plans.

  When the pieces came together, Rena realized what had happened. Austin’s pregnant wife had actually attempted to tackle a man—a ghost—three times her size. Damn her, why couldn’t she just leave?

  As Rafferty’s foot came down in a ruthless attempt to pin her to the tracks, Danny sprang back to her feet just in time to avoid it. They squared off, facing each other.

  “You’ll die this time,” Rafferty growled, “now that I’m not watching from a distance.”

  A moment of tense silence followed as Danny allowed him to back her closer toward the point of no return. “So, you were there when Rena attacked me at the river?”

  He stopped suddenly, as if pondering the wisdom of answering. “Just keeping watch. She was a bit over-medicated, which may have been my fault. But if I didn’t have to rescue Rena from that flooded river, you’d have died that night.” Rafferty broke into a sick laugh. “I thought surely you would. But you’re a tough bitch, aren’t you? Think you’re invincible, just like your brother. You’d have made a good recruit, possibly even loved the gifts enough to remain loyal.” He took another step toward her. “And, oh, I would have loved taming your mouth.”

  Danny backed further down the dangerous side of the hill, past the summit’s platform where the train would be released to make the first, heart lurching drop. She was balancing only on the flat metal surface of the tracks without even the benefit of the handrail to steady her.

  “No-no,” Rafferty crooned, “you won’t go down that way.” He jerked his head. “Over the side where there will be nothing to get between you and the ground.”

  Distraction. It was Raff
erty’s favorite weapon and something Danny desperately needed.

  Rena knew there was only one thing to do at that point. For some reason, it didn’t seem so daunting anymore. Her head was still clear, which made her decision her own. There was no unearthly voice telling her to do it. No backseat point of view. No drug-induced confusion. With clear intent, she climbed onto the handrail and slowly stood, using her outstretched arms to counter her balance.

  “You mean like this?” Rena asked with an innocent lilt to her voice. The wind pushed against her, sending her hair into a wild dance. The ground below, barely visible in the moonlight, promised to provide a quick and painless end.

  “Rena, get down!”

  When Rafferty came toward her, she held out a hand, teetering dangerously on top of her narrow perch. He lurched to a stop, begged her once again to come down. As she slowly, precariously turned toward him, she felt the drug begin to kick in with a slight sense of euphoria. Her focus blurred for a moment, and when it sharpened again, Rena saw only the two of them. Captor and captive. Tormentor and victim. Pedagog and pupil.

  They were alone on the summit of her special place. He was an unwelcome intruder… and she was ready to take back her dreams.

  Rena dared a look upward, into the star-strewn sky. Yes, they were still there despite Rafferty’s presence. Her and Elsa’s dreams, exactly where they’d left them. Among them, she found just one more to add to the hundreds they’d conjured long ago… that her last choice be her own.

  “This is my hilltop,” she whispered, a small smile curving her lips. And she slowly tipped backwards.

  “Noooo!”

  Rafferty’s roar followed her in slow motion past the point of balance. The sky tilted as her feet left the railing.

  A hand wrapped around her ankle and her graceful descent jerked to a painful stop as she flew into the structure instead. There she hung, upside-down while Rafferty’s grip on her tightened. When she curled upward to look, there he was. Straining to hold on with both hands. Putting all his efforts into ensuring she didn’t succeed.

  The collar of his shirt trembled with his exertions while engorged veins darkened his complexion. Sweat began to bead and glisten against the moonlight. Knowing Rafferty could easily pull her to safety with the strength he possessed, Rena used all of hers to reach up and uncurl his fingers. She clawed, scratched, pried, until his face contorted with pain.

  “Stop!” he screeched, “I can’t hold on!”

  “Then let go!” she ground out, prying off one more finger.

  His expression morphed into shock as she further slipped from his grasp. “Rena, what are you doing?”

  “Taking my life back!” she ground out and grabbed hold of his thumb. As she levered it backward, her ankle slipped free, but another hand came out and wrapped around her wrist before she could fall. Her body came to another jarring stop and her feet swung below her like two pendulums. Whoever held her groaned with the strain… and it was a very familiar groan. She looked up in surprise.

  Ty! Her own eyes widened in horror as Rafferty loomed above the man who’d come to her rescue once again. How could he put himself in such a vulnerable position? “Ty, behind you!”

  “Just grab my other hand!”

  “No! He’ll kill you!”

  “No, he won’t!

  “Let go!”

  “Rena, just fucking trust me for once!”

  Oh hell. To be expected of such a feat at a time like this was asking way too much. But the stars were still twinkling and her last dream was still up there. Her decision was still her own.

  Why the hell not?

  With a burst of strength, she launched her other hand up into the air. Ty caught it on the first try, adjusted his grip. His upper torso seemed to double in size as he hauled her up with pure determination. In no time the railing was beneath her arms and suddenly Danny was there, helping Ty pull her back to safety.

  Soon, Rena was once again on the platform. Exhausted and woozy, she collapsed against Ty’s chest. He lowered her down, his massive arms wrapped around her. Danny knelt beside them, and they all watched as Rafferty recovered on the opposite side of the tracks.

  He held his mangled hand, glaring his hatred for them all. Then he straightened his spine, cracked some joints in his neck. “Isn’t that sweet,” he sneered, his focus resting on Rena. “Your new hero. You know I’ll never let you have him.” Rafferty flexed his fingers before he held out his hand to her again. “But for saving your life, I’ll let him live if you come to me. Now.”

  When Rena tried to rise, Ty’s arms tightened around her. “Stay here,” he murmured against her hair. “He can’t do anything to me.”

  “She knows what I’m capable of,” Rafferty countered with a stern challenge. “I can do anything. I’ve survived every attempt to end my life. Even your precious Derek couldn’t do that. I’ve been on Nexifen so long Sophie’s poisoned pill couldn’t even kill me. I’m unstoppable!”

  His speech began to take on a maniacal tone, but Rena’s attention was shifted to a dark shadow slowly rising from the ether behind Rafferty’s squared shoulders.

  “I’ll give you this,” Ty growled, “As much as I’d like to kill you right now, I can’t.”

  “Because nothing can kill me!”

  Ty waited for the echo to die before he jerked his chin and said, “No, because he called dibs.”

  Rafferty spun around. He had only a moment to absorb that there was an unexpected presence behind him before his body jerked, curled slightly inward.

  “Sometimes the key to what ends you,” Derek rasped as he backed Rafferty into the railing, “is the cure itself.”

  Rafferty’s mouth remained open as he stared at the knife hilt protruding from the center of his chest. “Bennett,” he croaked. “You’re….”

  “Not dead,” Derek finished for him. “And when you check out, it will be with my blade through your heart.”

  Derek’s movements were quick, deliberate, and deathly silent when he simply tossed the man’s body over the railing. It arced high into the air, far out past the mammoth structure where there would be nothing to come between him and the ground. There was no scream, just a brief warble that ended with a distant thud.

  Danny recovered first, jumped to her feet and caught her brother before he collapsed. All Rena could do was stare in wide-eyed confusion as she replayed the scene over again in her head. “What the hell just happened?” she breathed.

  Ty’s chest rumbled beneath her cheek. “Rafferty found out he can’t fly.”

  But he was capable of anything. “He isn’t dead,” she murmured.

  “I’m pretty sure he is.”

  “I won’t believe it until I see it.”

  “Hey.” Ty took her face in his hands and gave her a little shake. “He’s gone.”

  Her drunken smile told him what a silly man he was. “But he’s a ghost. He could be clinging onto the supports.”

  “Nope,” Danny confirmed, glancing over the rail. “He’s a grass stain.”

  Derek recovered from his exertions with a hand clutched to his chest. “Rena, if he were still a ghost he would have been able to prevent you from jumping, or hauled you up without a problem. He would have sensed me coming up behind him.”

  Though his words rang true, Rena couldn’t wrap her mind around it. In fact, her focus was slowly slipping altogether. “But, how…?”

  Ty looked from Derek to Rena. “That’s the interesting part.”

  “Sophie’s Plan B isn’t a killer,” Derek chimed in with a grin. “It’s a cure.”

  “A cure?” Danny’s face lit with pure joy.

  It was too much information to process at once. There was so much to sort out, but the word “cure” brought to light one very important thing. Rena blinked lazily, shook her head to clear it. “That would mean Elsa—I mean, Crystal….”

  But the thought vanished into a shimmering pool of confusion. Before she could form words, the stars above her popped, se
parated into two moving plates of pretty sparkles.

  “Rena?”

  Her name was out there, floating through the air in garbled distortion. A hand touched her face, her hair. Ty’s silhouette loomed above her, then morphed into a misty mirage of waves just before it completely faded away….

  CHAPTER 19

  She’s going under,” Ty said, ignoring the alarm in his gut as he analyzed Rena’s glassy-eyed stare.

  Danny’s brow creased with worry as she bent over for a look. “Rafferty injected her with something. I’m not sure I want to be around her right now.”

  As Ty checked Rena’s vitals, Derek took a look for himself. “You’re right. We don’t know what’ll happen with her and you need to save your fight for the one you’ll have with your husband.”

  Danny stood with a muttered curse. “Where is he, anyway? Rena said he brought her here.”

  A distant clamor of sirens grew closer. Ty looked around and noticed a yellow glow flickering against the trees on the opposite side of the amusement park. Nothing drew attention like a random fire. “Distracting security,” he answered. “But he was supposed to be back by now.”

  “He’s down there,” Derek said from against the railing. “I think he’s more or less poking Rafferty’s corpse with a stick.”

  Danny’s look of horror followed the observation. “What the hell is he thinking? That’s no ordinary corpse!”

  “Says the woman who just spent time on the highest peak around with someone who tried to kill her multiple times.” Derek nodded in answer to his sister’s unspoken question. “You better cover your ass next time Austin comes within striking distance.”

  Danny waved away the notion. “Pfft. He wouldn’t dare.” But her eyes reflected an underlying worry that was probably well earned.

  Derek took his sister by the arm, indicating it was time to go. “Something tells me Bennett-versus-Cahill is alive more now than ever.”

  “Put me down,” Rena garbled, drunkenly fanning the air as she was hoisted over Ty’s shoulder. “I juss wanna sit with her a lil longer.”