With her voice a harsh whisper, Ann called out “Where are you!”
Still there wasn’t a sound in the room. Her boots crunched on the littered floor as she made her way toward the flashing sign.
A sound on the cool evening breeze drifted in to land softly in Ann’s straining ears. It was the sound of a light click in the room just above her.
The ceiling above her upward bent neck suddenly began to shake and groan as the sound of a radio blasting an old Elvis tune called “A Little Less Conversation” filled the night. Theodore yelled from the above the roar, “Ann, will you come on! Damn, this is an oldie, but a goodie. I love this song!”
It sounded to her straining ears as if he were dancing, swaying and moving in some type of demented spirit dance causing the floor to groan and moan beneath his feet.
Ann burst through the exit door with her heart slamming in a rapid tempo in her chest, a single flight of stairs to her right lead to the room in which Theodore danced his manic dance. As abruptly as it had began the pounding beat silenced in mid-cry, leaving the already silence building in deeper more anxious silence as she quietly climbed the stairs.
Ann’s breath escaped in slow, croaked pants. She fought a tense inner battle for control of the raising tide of fear tormenting her and that threatened to engulf her.
After an endless time, she reached the second floor landing where a single door stood ajar. She approached it on unsteady shaking legs. With the tip of one thick covered boot she pushed open the door to reveal an empty apartment.
Her heart beat in a single monotone beat against her fragile rib cage. Ann feared its loud rapid pulse could be heard clearly in the still, now humid space. The apartment was almost aseptic in its blandness. On careful quiet feet, she moved cautiously toward an open window leading to the fire escape. Then Theodore’s darklight eyes floated in the space in front of her.
“Hey you, I see you,” his voice drifted down to Ann from somewhere above, “come on up! You should hurry we’ve got company coming.”
Ann wanted to howl with rage at his amused tone. With an abrupt cry, she climbed out on to the slippery fire escape. She climbed the stairs in frenzy as the wet soles of her leather boots continually slipped delaying her progress to the top.
The cloudy night sky above her cleared in hushed calm. She could see a thin pale band of flicking light changing the hue of the city sky line just to the east.
The rooftop appeared still and vacant of life as Ann hopped down on the black tar gravel surface of the roof surveying the scene with rapidly moving eyes.
It appeared to be empty. Theodore was no where in sight. She held her taz pistol down toward the ground, but ready for action as she walked across the endless space toward a thick stone enclosure that lead back into the building. She tested the silver grey doorknob. It didn’t budge.
“Damn, you show yourself!”
There was no answer, merely the sound of a dozen footsteps striking the sidewalk below. She ran to the roof’s edge and peered down. From the west, a Kien round unit with their human counterparts approached split into two four man teams on each side of the street.
“God, help me” she murmured. The unit was a few blocks away and gaining on the building. Ann ran toward the northern edge of the roof to glance at the building next door trying to spot Theodore’s hiding place.
“Damn you come out” she screamed.
A hushed voice came from just behind her, “Ok, I will.”
Ann’s eyes registered a blurred form materialise and sail across the space between the buildings to slam into her heavily. It was Theodore knocking the pistol from her hand. It sailed across the roof’s gravelled surface away from her.
Theodore settled his full weight on her, trying to pin her to the ground. With a strength born of savage anger and fear, Ann fought like a wild cat. Theodore was in fully darklight mode as his flesh body appeared and disappeared during their battle. Ann panted with strain as she struggled to free herself from his harsh hold.
“My goodness, Ann you’re strong” Theodore panted above her. “But, I’m afraid I’m a bit stronger than you.”
Pinprick multicoloured spots swam in front of her eyes. Ann knew that if she didn’t break free from his cruel grip he would most certainly kill her.
The naked, bitter rage on his face burned her with its intensity as she hovered on the edge of passing out. Then, as clear as a soft musical bell Brian’s beloved face leapt into her mind.
“Remember, Ann” he’d told her one day as they practiced escape movements at home, “a human can’t match a Kien in physical strength alone. You’ve got to use your whole body and mind in a fight.” He’d taught her a method that could pierce a Kien’s darklight armour for a few brief seconds if the human fighting them was close enough to do it.
Ann went completely still under Theodore’s weight just as Brian had shown her. She focused all of her will and might on his solar plexus where the Kien were said to be attached to the physical world and most vulnerable. As his grip loosened in bewilderment, she drove a heavy, hard knee into his midsection.
“Oh, Damn” Theodore said landing on his rump beside her. As he rocked back on his knees groaning with his injury, his pain filled eyes met hers in the dim light. Slowly, his eyes darkened to the colour of navy blue storm ridden seas.
She backed away from his warily knowing he was preparing to strike. With a savage, roar of fury, he sprang to his feet running at her with all the power and fury of a desert dust devil. With a mere split second in timing, Ann grasped the lapel of his jacket and wide black belt as she fell heavily backward with a twist.
The speed and unexpectedness of her move threw him off balance carrying him over the arc her body made to the edge of the building where he stumbled a mere faction of a step on his already weakened knee, then fell like a broken rag doll to the solid pavement below.
Ann had struck her head on the tar-black surface of the roof. Tears swam before her line of sight. Her head and back ached with a powerful steady throbbing as she grasped the stone edge of the building and hauled herself to her feet carefully looking over the side.
Theodore lay in the middle of the wet sidewalk below. His limbs were spread apart limp and still. He was dead.
The waiter, Josh stood over the prone still body glancing down at it in disbelief. His eyes swept upward scouting for any signs of movement from above. Ann crouched down behind the low stone wall in an effort not to be seen.
“If you’re still here,” he yelled, “you better get out of there!”
In that moment, a silence unspoken understanding passed between them. They both knew that from that point on they would never see their worlds quite the same. Both, the slayer and witness had disappeared from sight as the prisoner unit arrived and walked on quiet feet to stand in a circle above their fallen comrade.
At the corner of 36th and Broadway, the witness and slayer arrived on opposite sides of the street surveying each other with surprise.
Ann gave Josh a silence acknowledgement that was not returned. As the sun continued gaining the sky, they parted. Josh moved on foot west toward his home while she moved east toward Redclass. As her boots continued to beat on the hard sidewalk, Ann quietly whispered to herself, “Brian, I’m coming home.” Then, the lights went out on Broadway.
The End
SHORT AUTHOR BIO:
Arizona Native, Tara Newlands currently resides in the United Kingdom with her husband Bruce and daughter. A graduate of Pima College, Tara has always been amazed and inspired by a book’s ability to take readers to different worlds. As well as writing novels, she has contributed various articles to several well known paranormal research sites.
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Forever Tonight Page 4
