“Do you think mocking a man who has been near fatally injured and disfigured amusing?” Howard lectured in a booming voice.
Impervious to Howard’s scolding, Lester smirked and said, “I have a question.”
“Yes,” Howard replied impatiently. “Go on.”
“Where’s your claws and red striped sweater?” Lester taunted then laughed before cringing in pain.
Tired of the man’s insolence, Howard approached the side of the bed and handcuffed Lester’s free hand to the bedrail. He did not concern himself with the other as it had been wrapped in a cast from shoulder to wrist. With both of Lester’s hands immobilized, Howard shoved a rag in his mouth so quickly the injured man did not have time to react. He then grabbed Lester’s arm, the one protected by a cast, and slammed it against the bedrail. Lester tried to howl out in pain, but the cloth in his mouth muffled the sound.
“Now,” Howard began. “I am going to remove the cloth from your mouth and you’re going to tell me what I want to know, or things are going to become very unpleasant for you.” Howard removed the rag, sure that his threat had been sufficient.
“Who the fuck are you?” Lester demanded.
“I am a servant of the Lord, and I need to know who did this to you.”
“Okay, I get that you’re a fucking nut job, really I do, but I’m still not tellin’ you shit.”
Howard, undaunted by Lester’s words, shoved the rag back into his mouth. He reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a scalpel. The blade was long and deadly sharp and gleamed when it caught the light of the overhead fixture, flashing just before he slashed at Lester’s stomach. In one quick motion, the instrument sliced through his gown and flesh. The cut made a wide wound just below his navel, wide and deep. But not so deep that it caused immediate death. Ruby-red blood spilled from the gash immediately and began collecting near his groin.
Lester’s eyes grew wide and his face contorted in anguish. He tried to scream, but the gag prevented the sound from leaving his throat.
“It seems as though you have a rather serious injury, Lester,” Howard said calmly.
Lester began to thrash wildly searching for the call button near his bed, desperate to alert a nurse or doctor. But twisting caused the blood to flow faster soaking his gown from the waist down and falling to the mattress below.
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Howard warned and pointed to the expanding pool at Lester’s lap.
Lester could not respond, but the desperation in his eyes conveyed every sentiment he wished to convey.
“Such a pity, you with this gaping wound in a hospital full of doctors and nurses who could help. Of course, they’d need to get here in time to save you,” Howard paused and allowed for the gravity of his words to sink in. “And I could arrange for that, if you tell me what I need to know.”
The bleeding man nodded eagerly. Howard issued a final warning before removing the rag. “If you scream or disrespect me, you will die from that wound; make no mistake about it.”
Lester glanced at the lower portion of the mattress he rested upon, now saturated with his blood. His brows knitted together in worry and he bobbed his head up and down. Howard removed the cloth from his mouth.
“Now tell me who did this to you,” Howard ordered him.
“A teenage girl,” Lester said hurriedly. “My friend and I jumped her and her friend in the alley, just wanted to have some fun with them.”
“You were going to sexually assault them,” Howard said evenly.
“Whatever,” Lester dismissed. “Anyway, it never happened. One of the girls, she changed. One minute she was scared shitless, then she went dead calm. Next thing I know, I’m flying across the alley and getting slammed into a brick wall. After I hit the wall, a force pulled me away then slammed me into it again. That’s the last thing I remember. When I woke up, Rick was dead and I couldn’t move.”
The “force” that Lester had referred to confirmed that dark powers had been at work in the alleyway the night of the incident, powers darker than the ones that lurked inside of Lester.
“What did she look like?” Howard asked.
“Brown hair, dark eyes, maybe eighteen and fucking hot,” Lester answered.
“What was her name?”
“I don’t know.”
“What was her friend’s name?’
“It wasn’t a date, man. I don’t know. Are you going to help me now? I told you all I know. I’m getting dizzy here.”
Lester’s words had confirmed what Howard had sensed all along. The Sola had been in the alley, had maimed one of the men and killed the other. And she remained nearby. He needed to find her and kill her before she got away, but not before resolving matters with Lester Vice.
He looked at the bleeding man and spoke. “You are a wicked and foolish man,” he charged. “In that alley, you actually attempted to rape a soldier of the devil.” Howard trained his gaze on Lester who looked unbothered by his words. “And no one is coming for you,” he said then shoved the rag back inside his mouth.
Lester’s eyes widened in horror for a second time, but a look of arrogance never replaced it as it had earlier. Howard stared long and hard at him, at the panicked look etching his features. He wondered how many times Lester had caused others to make the exact face he made now. A swell of satisfaction jolted through his core and he realized that his decision to purge the world of an awful man like Lester was the right one. God would have wanted it.
Howard Kane walked out of room four-hundred-twenty-eight on the fourth floor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Hospital and ordered his men to block anyone from entering Lester Vice’s room for at least half an hour. Lester would bleed to death, a slow and painful death deserving of a being as despicable as he. But Howard did not feel remorse for his death. Instead, he took hope in the fact that he had done work God would approve of, that his Maker would have had him carry out the task eventually; he’d simply taken the initiative and done it sooner. He had rid the earth of one more sinner.
Chapter 7
Hours had passed since Arianna had called for Desmond in the woods, and in those hours her thoughts had continually returned to their discussion, to his words. He had attempted to explain away his disregard for Lily by saying his mission was to protect her, and only her, the Sola. That hadn’t been what she’d wanted to hear. She’d wanted to hear that her friend was okay, to have her worries allayed and questions answered. Yet, she had left their meeting with more questions than she’d arrived with, questions that nagged at her brain.
She needed answers. And if Desmond did not have them, she would find out for herself. After a night of restless sleep, she awoke and decided she would ask Luke for yet another favor. She would ask him to go with her to Rockdale, back to the town she’d fled with her mother less than a month ago. With all the help he’d given her already, she felt like an ingrate asking again. Of course, he had offered to repair her motorcycle, as well as taking her to school each morning until the work was finished. But she had accepted. Accepting help had been foreign to her then, was foreign to her still. Though she liked Luke and he seemed more than willing to help, motivated by his own unique set of reasons, she did not like feeling indebted to anyone. A thin smile touched her lips as she recalled Luke telling her he was helping in hopes of someday bedding her. He had been blunt, almost to the point of offense, yet completely charming all at once. Yes, she liked him. And he liked her.
After showering and dressing, Arianna waited outside her trailer. Before long, she heard the faint rumble of Luke’s pickup truck. Within seconds, it came into sight then wheezed to a stop in front of her porch. She noticed that Stephanie was not with him and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Sorry, Miss Personality will not be joining us today,” he said as he climbed out of the driver’s side. He walked around the front of the truck and opened the door for her.
“Not giving up on the whole wooing thing, huh?” she teased.
“Not until I g
et what I’m after,” he said and patted her backside playfully.
He shut the door and rounded the truck then climbed behind the steering wheel.
“Is Stephanie all right?” she asked and tried to mask her concern.
“No need to worry about her,” he said picking up on her worry. “I’m sure that the stick up her butt bothers her some days.”
He laughed at his own joke and she smiled.
“Seriously, she’s okay, right?”
“Yes Arianna. She’s fine. Just has a cold, that’s all.”
“Oh good,” Arianna blurted accidentally.
“Well, not so much for her, I’m guessing,” he said and quirked a dark brow at her.
“No, no, that’s not what I meant,” she began.
“I think you did mean it,” he kidded. “I think you’ve been trying to get me alone for a while to, you know, have your way with me. You probably even planted a sick person’s snotty tissue in her purse, all part of your elaborate plot to claim my virtue.” He’d used a feminine, sugary Southern accent she didn’t know he could possible produce with his deep voice as he’d said claim my virtue and she laughed out loud. She laughed so hard, tears sprung from her eyes.
“Hey, it’s not that funny,” he pretended to pout.
She found a rumpled tissue in her purse and was about to blot her eyes with it when she paused. “Should I be worried about this tissue?” she asked him.
“No, why?”
“With the rash of snotty tissue droppings, I just want to be sure I’m not a target,” she said and started laughing again.
“What?” he asked with mock indignation. “Are you suggesting it was me who planted the snot bomb? Little ole me?” he finished with his accent again.
Arianna laughed so hard her sides ached. She doubled over clutching her stomach and could not compose herself until they were nearing the driveway of Herald Falls High School. It had felt good to laugh, to truly let go, even if just for a few minutes. Luke had a knack for making her forget her problems, for making her laugh; for making her happy.
“Let’s take a road trip together, you and me. Let’s skip school for a day and go to Rockdale,” she heard herself say and couldn’t believe the words had actually fallen from her lips.
Luke slid her a glance, his silver eyes dancing with delight.
“What’s in Rockdale?” he asked casually.
“My friend Lily. I lived in Rockdale before I came here,” she began.
“Yeah, I heard you telling Mike and the gang when you first met them. Why not just call this Lily?”
“I’ve been trying since I got here. I can’t get in touch with her. I’ve tried her house phone, her cellphone, sent her text messages and emails, and haven’t heard a word from her.”
“Maybe she’s pissed at you, you know? Maybe she just doesn’t want to talk to you,” he said gently.
Arianna was quiet for a moment, thinking about what he’d said. The possibility existed that what he said was the case; that Lily was simply done with her, their friendship terminated. But something inside of Arianna, a feeling she could not explain, niggled. She had known Lily well, as well as she could in the nine months she had spent in Rockdale. Cutting off all contact so abruptly was not Lily’s style. She was not like that. She was not rude or cruel. In fact, there did not seem to be a mean or vindictive bone in her body, which is likely why Arianna had felt so protective of her, not the theory Desmond had suggested.
“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” Luke said and broke her concentration. He reached a hand across the console and placed it on her hand tenderly. He had clearly misread her silence as sadness.
“You didn’t,” she replied. “I was just thinking about her. She wasn’t like that. She wasn’t the kind of person who would do that, I think. And if I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I’ve just been worried about her and wanted to see her with my own eyes. At this point, I’d be happy to get there and find out she’s blown me off. At least I’d know she was okay.”
Luke directed the truck down the drive of their school and searched for a parking spot. The lot was emptier than normal, their arrival earlier than most. Arianna was grateful for the extra time they would have now, without Stephanie, and hopefully on their trip to Rockdale.
“Rockdale, huh?” he said. “That’s what, five, six hours away?”
“I’ll give you money for gas and pay for our motel room,” she offered.
“Motel room? Why didn’t you lead off with that?” he joked and was back on his game.
“We’d have to stay in a motel room,” she flirted. “We’d be leaving after school, today if you want, and we’d need to rest, naturally.”
“Naturally,” he agreed and his cheeks flushed.
“Why Luke, I do believe you’re blushing,” she said leaning across the console and touching the tip of her finger to his chin. “Aren’t you ready to be rewarded for all your wooing?”
She did not give him time to respond. And judging from the expression on his face, she doubted he had a response. She climbed out of his truck and slung her backpack over her shoulder, satisfied she’d intrigued him by turning his tactic on him. She had bluntly offered him exactly what he claimed he’d been wanting. Whether either of them would go through with it remained to be seen. She glanced over her shoulder at him and saw that he smiled his broad, mischievous smile at her from behind the windshield.
“Come on,” she called to him and gestured for him to follow.
He rolled his window down and called back, “Just give me a second okay. I just need a second.”
She laughed and leaned against the passenger side door, waiting for whatever physiologic response he’d been beset by to pass.
After a few minutes had passed, Luke jumped out. “I’m in,” he announced. “Let’s take a road trip.”
“Yay!” Arianna cheered. “When do you want to leave?”
“Let’s go today, after school.”
“Really? Are you serious?”
“Yep. We can miss school tomorrow. There’s a stupid assembly that’s gonna eat up half the day anyway. Let’s do it.”
“All right. Sounds like a plan!”
“We can meet here after school, go back to our houses and grab a few things then leave. Will your mom be okay with you and me going away overnight together?”
“You’re joking, right?” Arianna asked sarcastically. “I’m eighteen, and even if I wasn’t, my mom doesn’t say a word about where I go and who I go with. I’ve been coming and going as I please for as long as I can remember.”
“Sounds like my mom,” he said tightly.
“So it’s settled. I’ll see you here in a few hours,” she said and rose on to her tiptoes. She wrapped both arms around his neck tightly, her body pressing to his and kissed his lips.
She kissed him for several seconds then released him and dashed off.
“Oh, that’s just wrong!” he called after her. She turned to look at him and saw that he held his books low over his waist.
“See you soon,” she called back and smiled.
***
The more than six hours of her school day had seemed like an interminable stretch of time. She’d glimpsed the clock on many occasions throughout the day certain hours had passed only to find that mere minutes had passed. When the last bell of the day finally rang, Arianna felt as though she’d survived a marathon, tired and worn. But once she stepped outside and the cool fall air greeted her, she felt invigorated. As she approached Luke’s truck and saw that he waited for her, excitement stirred within her. Though she was going to Rockdale under troublesome circumstances, she was looking forward to taking a break from her new school, from the idea that she was the Sola, from her life, and hanging out with Luke. He was fun and funny and they got along well. She felt certain that the six hours they’d spend together in the car would be enjoyable ones.
“Hey you,” she said and smiled.
“Hey,” he replied and smiled. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, I’m ready. Where to first?”
“Let’s go to your house first and get what you need then we can head to my little circus tent so I can grab a few things.”
“All right,” she said.
Luke opened the passenger side door for her then climbed in to the driver’s seat. His truck protested twice, sputtering and choking, before the engine turned over, roaring to life grumpily.
“That doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence with a six-hour drive ahead of us,” Luke commented.
“No, it doesn’t,” Arianna agreed.
They drove for less than ten minutes, chatting lightly about their respective days, until Arianna’s trailer park came into view. A depressing display of metal, synthetic turf and plastic ornaments intended for rolling green living lawns, it resembled a junkyard with paths carved though the mountains of debris. Tires of varying brands and sizes littered nearly every front porch, and clothing lines laden with atrociously patterned clothes spanned as far as the eye could see. To many who enjoyed a more lavish lifestyle than she, her community was the material of nightmares, offensive and tasteless. To her, it was home. After years of living in one trailer park or another, she’d grown tired of apologizing for where she lived and what she didn’t have. She’d made peace with the fact that belongings, were just, well, stuff. And stuff was not what made a person interesting or exciting or worthy of respect, character did.
Luke stopped in front of her trailer and turned the engine off. He reached a hand out and was about to pull the lever on his door when Arianna asked, “Oh, you’re coming in?”
He froze for a moment. “Not if you don’t want me to.”
“No, nothing like that. It’s just that this place is cramped and smelly. It belonged to my uncle and he was either a slob or had rented it to slobs.”
“Arianna, you saw my drugged out mother unconscious near a pool of her own vomit. Nothing in your house could be as bad as that,” he said sincerely.
Arianna Rose: The Awakening (Part 2) Page 6
