Out of breath and utterly exhausted she smiled in his direction, watching as he once more pulled his legs up and dug them forward towards her direction. He was so close, she could feel him more powerfully now than ever before. The pain in her head from his presence stalking closely and coming for her was radiating through her skull. She couldn’t help but smile, she relished in this sweet agony, knowing that she’d never be able to have it all, even if she was given a small taste. A small taste of this dark paradise would never be enough for her, she wanted to rule it, she wanted him to fall to his knees and beg for her lips in confidence; for all the dark and twisted adventures that he enjoyed thoroughly, and completely alone.
“Even after all this time, you still don’t trust me?”
Jess watched as Kyle’s eyes glowed and his sinister smile curled as he started to laugh under his breath. Still digging towards the snow and thrashing his limbs faster into the layers of fresh powder, watching as she defied all logic and reason. She should’ve been out like a light, Sara should’ve easily bled out by now, but beyond all understanding he watched as she stood and walked dragging her left leg alongside her, screaming as she picked Sara up, her agony echoed as she started to drag them both towards the horizon.
“Agh! How the fuck can I trust you, it’s obvious you’re trying to save her, you’re throwing away everything we’ve ever worked for, sacrificing yourself once again for the wrong fucking one!”
Kyle’s voice echoed in the chambers of her mind, rattling and bouncing off of every doorway in her haunted mind. Jess gauged the distance to the side of the cliff, it was only a few hundred feet away, and Kyle was closing in, at the same distance to their left they heard his voice echoing against the rocks nearby. Sara laughed out loud, it was obvious that the blood loss had done its damage, she was slowly losing her mind, and Jess had the unsightly privilege of watching this horror show unfold right before her very eyes.
“Sara, stay with me my darling, remember the time we made love in the cemetery after we first met?” Sara started to smile and focus on nostalgia, “Mmm, it was incredible, it was snowing that night wasn’t it Mistress? Just like it’s snowing now.”
Jess turned around just in time to feel the sailing of an arrow slicing into her forehead before she gasped fiercely and bolted towards the Cliffside, she looked down to see Sara dozing off, slowly falling asleep.
“We’re almost there my darling, stay with me, we’ll be together for eternity, very soon; trust me.”
Sara was barely breathing, she knew better than to turn around anymore, she could hear him now a mere hundred yards away. The sound of his violent yells as his limbs forged his path towards them. In her mind’s eye Jess watched as Kyle threw down his bag and moved incessantly quicker. Darkeel was flooding his mind with images of bloodlust and torture, he couldn’t play this game anymore, there was no pretending, in the heart and soul of this brilliant man, lied the heart of a killer, there was no mercy on this mountainside. As they all made their way to the highest peak of Royal Gorge, Jess watched through his eyes, she saw her backside, saw that it blocked and protected Sara completely and could feel the impending arrow’s arrival closing in on his mark.
“Argh! Move! I don’t want to do this, you’ve given me no choice…”
Kyle knocked another series of arrows, all seeping thick liquid, these were never meant for Jess, they were meant for the kill. Jess leaned forward and woke Sara one last time;
“My darling it seems as if our road has come to an end, what do you say? Want to spend eternity in my arms?” Jess leaned over Sara and smiled, Sara’s eyes opened one last time as she smiled the snow fell around Jess’s expression leaving her glowing face to appear divine to this nearly dead woman’s eyes;
“You are an angel Mistress, take me to our paradise.”
Jess leaned down and cradled Sara in her arms. “I love you, no one in this world will ever possess the power to change that… No one.”
She leaned down and kissed her passionately on the lips, she felt Sara reaching for the back of her neck, moaning and swooning into her warm life force. Jess stood lifting Sara with her, both embracing one another as they continued to drag themselves towards the cliff. It wasn’t much farther now before they could say goodbye to all of this, once and for all.
Kyle quickly removed the arrows from knock and through them down into the snow. He reached into his coat and pulled out a long piece of metal affixed with grip hooks, he aimed it high above their heads and launched the hooks high into the trees, as he gripped his hand firmly on the trigger he watched it sail through the air, the steel line instantly retracting with a touch of his fingers, hoisting him into the air and sailing him towards the Cliffside of Royal Gorge. He landed ahead of them and turned around with a violent force that sent them both into shock, instantly leaving these two shaking souls to stiffen and pause silently as they watched as the sound of his boots echoed on the rocks just before them.
“This is how you repay me? After all that I’ve done for you? For us?! This is the thanks I get?”
His voice changed into that demonic tone that she heard ages ago in the dead of night when Lupin came to visit without warrant or formal invitation.
“You’re not the only one who enjoys playing the long game. We’ll see if you have the strength to watch me as I reveal my final masterpiece.”
In that moment Jess’s feet shuffled and slipped, the rocks starting to give out beneath them, in that final moment she looked Sara deep in the eyes and with one final whisper of her hearts deepest sentiments escaped, “I love you.”
She looked over her shoulder for the final time to see his arrows knocked and waiting to fly, the sun started to rise over the horizon. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen before in her entire life. She smiled into his eyes and turned towards Sara, she shoved her off, watching her eyes widen in shock and fear, seeing her beautiful body flying and falling over the cliffs of Royal Gorge she turned to Kyle one final time and said…
“A girl must do what she must, someday you’ll understand.”
Her final words echoed in the chambers of this dead man’s heart, filling his mind in a swimming ecstasy of truth that he’d never been struck down with until now.
Without warning Jess closed her eyes covered her chest with crossed arms as if she was already a beautiful corpse, heels against the very steep edge of Royal Gorge, she fell back serenely; Calmly over the edge towards the snow covered graveyard of The Slaughterhouse Hills Hunter still resting below.
“NOooooooooooo!”
Kyle’s voice screamed in sheer terror, his arrows flew and struck Jess in the shoulder, hip and front of her left thigh, reaching for his batter rang Kyle instantly dropped his equipment and flew through the air down after Jess, watching her soar like a skydiver without a shoot to her impending doom. She opened her eyes and smiled wickedly, turning a full one hundred and eighty degrees she started to soar towards Sara like a speeding bullet. She caught her in mid-air as they continued to soar to the bottom of Royal Gorge. Sara reached for her Mistress and clung to her body, the two women wrapped in one another’s embrace. Sara’s lips parting in sorrow;
“I’m so sorry my love, will you ever forgive me?”
Jess started to cry, tears of blood seeping down her face in time to join Sara’s as they warmly kissed. Holding one another a flurry of gray, green and white flashed by as they sped faster and closer to the ground. She felt their bodies turning her now resting beneath Sara, looking up in the sky she saw the dark cloak slowly moving farther and farther away, unable to reach them anymore. Kyle’s ominous silhouette stood along the side of the cliff haunted by the image before his eyes.
“It was never supposed to be this way, how will I ever replace you? No one can compare to you. I love you Jess, you’re the only one in this world that’s ever captured me.”
Kyle’s voice echoed in her mind, Sara and Jess’s bodies con
tinued to spin in a surreal state of suspension as they continued to plummet towards the frozen river below. This frozen terrain was covered in rocks and layers of fallen trees that were pushed there with calculated intent, she knew this had to be it. There was no conceivable way she was ever going to survive this. The odds were completely against her. As the ground came closer and closer, the tree line passed by and she knew that upon impact neither of them stood a chance;
“Take me, take me away from all this pain.”
Sara in her final moment positioned herself beneath Jess and smiled knowing she’d made the ultimate sacrifice to the one who sacrificed it all to rescue her, even from herself all those years ago. The ground was solid, and the snow kept falling, suddenly for these two star crossed lovers it all went black. The horrifying sound of two bodies thudding to the ground was the only haunting sound that filled the gorge and the sun kissed horizon on this cold dawn in Colorado during the first day of snow fall. The crows fled and cawed overhead, Kyle watched mortified as the love of his life lie down below in a heap of bodies that he relished throwing away like last night’s half eaten meal.
The wind howled and screamed, whistled and shook, the snow started to fall in a silent flurry, it was as if the entire forest cried for the magical being that was now resting for eternity down below. A single tear fell from Kyle’s face as he climbed up the cliffside thousands of feet in search of his equipment, and now his horse. In that moment he remembered a night when Jess and he were curled up by the fire and talking about secret places they both have kept to themselves all these years.
“I wonder, would she? No. It’s not possible, she’s dead, there’s no way she could’ve survived the fall.” He paused, “Is there?”
Kyle stood at the top of Royal Gorge and remembered telling her in detail about his hidden cabin, a shack really that he’d kept even after all these years, which not a single soul in the world knew of, until that night. When he told Jess in detail about its remote location. Realizing he was still without equipment or resources, and still searching for a missing horse, he knew it would take hours to get down there and then back to the house before the entire manor was worried wondering where he was this time of day.
He reached into his jacket and for the first time ever he broke his own rule, never before during his dark rituals had he ever used a cellphone or even had one on him but this time was different. He needed somebody to count on and the one he usually relied on so heavily was now a pile of blood and broken bones at the bottom of this cliff.
“James, please see to the house, staff and children today, I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He instantly hung up before he could even respond Kyle turned the cell phone off immediately. In the distance he saw his bag, arrows and quiver, everything he possessed still in the spot he left it. A few hundred yards to the east the horse was still standing nearby the tree line, picking at bits of grass here and there completely absorbed in his own world. He walked towards it and easily leapt onto his back, marching him towards his equipment he dismounted and secured all of his belongings to his newfound transportation and started heading down the trail towards the bottom of Royal Gorge, he had to see for himself if she was crazier than he’d ever given her credit for.
The sun started to rise above the snowcapped hills, the only sound in the world was the footsteps of both steed and killer slowly descending to the bottom of the most treacherous gorge in all of the Rockies. There was a rich history of death at the foot of this densely forested hell. So many had tried to conquer it, never expecting to freeze to death before nightfall. Every thousand feet Kyle descended he felt in the pit of his stomach for the first time a sickness that permeated through his soul.
He’d always had a taste for this life, one filled with solitude and dark indulgences that most in this world would be incapable of on such a palate. Usually this ritual this planned and calculated cadence towards his deepest primal release was met with a cathartic satisfaction, leaving him hungry for life once more, thirsting for the sweet juices of many beautiful women, but without her he felt lost, empty and hopeless inside, the procession towards her final location felt like a funeral for one lost soul in this expansive terrain, leaving him to feel more alone in life than he’d ever previously remembered.
The cold morning air bit at his neck, even the horse started to slow his pace, shivering every so often and trying to find the courage to continue moving forward. It wouldn’t be much longer now before he could hold her in his arms for one last time before she made him say goodbye. The rocky mountainside trailed twistedly into a ravine below, as Kyle circled the trail around a very familiar corner he saw a light glowing nearby in that cabin that not a single soul in this entire world knew of, except her.
“How is this possible?”
He stood there for a few moments silenced by the mystery beyond this impossible circumstance. Darkeel tingled through the back of his skull, slithering up towards his spine he leaned into his mind and spun a tale to mind fuck his chosen vessel one last time.
“How long has it been since you’ve been down there? It’s been more years than even I can remember…”
Kyle stood there frustrated by this cryptic piece to a puzzle that was no closer to being solved, at least not by standing here.
“What the fuck are you going on about now? Nobody, not a single fucking soul has ever ventured down there, ever. I have alarms everywhere, even the smallest creature would trigger it and let me know immediately that someone was in my cabin.”
With a rather tormenting cackle Darkeel’s voice responded to tease him when he felt the most devastated. This was a torment Kyle was used too, but a type of sadism he wouldn’t tolerate in mental anguish.
“Perhaps a girl must do what a girl must.” Kyle enraged, clinching his fists, he slammed them against his chest and said:
“Stop. Now! I won’t hear any more of this.”
The voice vanished and a cold silence returned as he continued to travel downwards towards the bodies, now probably frozen beside his cabin that still had the light on.
The horse started to bump into Kyle as the steep incline was far too much for him to take anymore. Realizing that he needed to get him to the bottom to rest, he pulled him by the bridle behind him and doubled his pace. The horse started to trot and slide side to side, the eerie clouds overhead transformed the entire world into a white canvas, and the only color was that of the green trees peeking out under oceans of snow. The slate stone of boulders, rocks and cliffside marbled with deep salmon and red. He was only a few feet from the bottom of Royal Gorge, and already he could see them lying there. In that moment a murder of crows flew overhead cawing, making the only declarations of what had just taken place before their haunting eyes. He never realized just how quickly he fell for her, how deeply his love went, and down to the very core of his soul he felt as if Darkeel had hollowed him out. Carved him out whole, yet for once he had so little to do with this death.
“I can’t believe I won’t be able to give her the world, how can this be? How is she just gone?”
Those words were met with shock, wonder and awe, as he stepped towards her he saw Sara’s dead body heaped on the bottom of Royal Gorge. The beautiful woman was smiling, blood trickled down her face, cheek and from her nose, eyes and lips, yet never could he recall not even once in his life ever looking that content. Her body was positioned onto the frozen ice, face nestled onto the snow like it was a pillow and she was still warm in her bed. Curled up in such a serene position, her body wasn’t mangled, broken, shattered or disfigured she appeared as if she was finally at peace.
In that moment, Kyle did all that he could to turn his eyes towards her body and look at what was left of her. Jess was just a few feet away from Sara, her hands still reaching up towards her direction as if they were holding hands upon impact. Her eyes were closed and her body lie facing up stuck with arrows and as he started to
approach her, he saw the snow falling all around her corpse, the white light illuminating her porcelain skin, leaving her glowing, radiant even. Her lips were gently smiling and her eyes were closed as clotted blood pooled all around her. He stepped around the frozen ice and pile of tree limbs that her body now rested above. Walking around her body he stood at her feet, the tears streamed down his face as he fell to his knees.
“What have I done?!”
An ocean of rage and sadness filled the ravine with echoes and cries of grief and tumultuous sorrow. Kyle covering his face and falling apart, didn’t realize that the stolen steed had noticed something about Jess that he hadn’t the time in his heartbreak to notice. The horse walked towards her right hand, still gently resting to her side. He slowly nuzzled her fingertips and the palm of her hand as her fingers started to move gently and slowly at first before suddenly in violent spasm, back to life.
With a gurgled gasp, Jess suddenly cracked her eyes open to see the snow falling from above and the tree line surrounding her like a halo from nature’s most sacred temple. She couldn’t move. The sheer pain alone would’ve probably killed her. As she struggled to breathe she slowly moved her eyelids open and shut, trying to focus her vision. It was blurred still from the levels of atropine still coursing through her veins, tinging her arteries with purple striations that revealed to Kyle that she was already in overdose. As he lifted his eyes, he was without words, all he could do was crawl towards her on the heaping pile of broken trees, scraping his knees, and tearing towards her as fast as he could. He watched her trying to breathe, he could tell she’d punctured a lung, it was the same horrifying sound that he heard and the despair he felt just to breathe that he’d suffered himself in his youth so many years ago.
She smiled, she was in far too much pain to move. “You really got me good with that last shot. Right in the bone.”
Her voice rang clear as a bell in his mind and Kyle started laughing, his eyes tear stained.
A Scarlet Collection of Monsters and Madmen Page 49
