The cut the Glamour had made in Celeste’s thigh was deep and bleeding badly. DL grabbed a piece of rope laying on the ground next to the table. He wrapped it around Celeste’s cut thigh, tightening it into a tourniquet and tying it off with a strong knot.
While DL was busy tending to Celeste’s wound, Grace bent over and pulled on the ropes tying her to the table. She used one hand, holding her pistol ready in the other. They were resistant to her tugging, and she growled in frustration. She gave up on trying to force the ropes.
Instead, she reached down and pulled the knife from her boot, avoiding the bloodied knives left behind by the Glamour. She dashed from one corner of the table to the next cutting ropes loose while keeping one eye on the surroundings.
Grace was distracted from her efforts by a change in the shouting and Danny’s frightened voice crying out “Holy shit! Mrs. Frankenstein is moving!”
She glanced up. The monster was now animated and grappling with Anthony. It caught him by the throat in both hands. In response, Billy shot it. All the while, the Glamour danced in a frenzy just outside the pentagram, cheering on the chaos.
Grace jerked her attention back to Celeste. DL had already removed all the ropes that had been tying her down.
“We need to get Celeste to safety so I can help Billy and Anthony.”
“Help me lift her so the tourniquet doesn’t come loose. I’ll carry her over to the crates to get her out of the way.”
She helped DL shift the unconscious body to the edge of the table and pull the girl into his arms. He grunted as he shifted her weight, and Grace followed him as he moved at a rapid shuffle to the wall of crates they hid behind earlier.
“Sabra!” Grace shouted which caused the ghost to appear next to her. “How do we stop the thing?”
“Fuck if I know,” Sabra said, fear clear on her face.
“How did they stop Frankenstein’s monster?” Danny prompted.
“They didn’t,” Grace said. “The monster got away with a promise to burn himself to ensure his destruction. We’ll try that. We’ll see how this thing deals with fire.”
Chapter 31
“Do you have your lighter?” Grace looked down at DL as he knelt by Celeste, checking on her wound.
“Lighter?” He turned to her with a distracted look. “Yeah sure, right here in my pocket. Why?”
“Give it to me. I need to create my own diversion.”
DL dug through his pockets for the lighter he always carried. Finding it with a satisfied grunt, he handed it to Grace before turning his attention back to Celeste.
“Get Celeste to the car,” she told him. “I need you safe and out of the way.”
“Danny, go with them.”
“Got it!”
Not waiting for DL to follow her instructions, she headed around the crates to the chaos on the other side.
Across the floor, the Glamour shouted encouragement to the monster as it continued its strangle hold on Anthony, who was turning blue. Billy had stopped trying to shoot the thing, which was having no effect, and was angling to get past the monster. As Billy approached him, the Glamour turned from the monster to grin and waggle the knife in his hand at Billy.
With the Glamour distracted, Grace scooped up a piece of discarded clothing as she passed the torture table and headed toward the others. She stopped a few feet from the monster and lit the lighter, holding the flame to an edge of the blouse. It refused to catch at first, and Grace’s frustration rose. Forcing the flame against the material, she glanced over at Anthony, his dark blue face and futile kicking and punching against the thing slowing.
Finally, the blouse caught fire. Grace moved in as close to the monster as she dared and tossed the burning shirt on the back of the thing’s head. She positioned it as far away from Anthony as she could and still start the monster on fire. The flaming material landed right on target, and the hair caught first, forming a halo around the grotesque, half-human face. The creature turned its empty eyes toward Grace, although no sound came from its gaping lip-less mouth.
“No!” the Glamour screamed.
Turning, he dropped the curved knife he had been using to threaten Billy. He went to the creature, beating his hands against the flames, only managing to fan them and burn himself badly.
The flames now engulfed the entire head of the creature and were progressing down its body, but it did not try to quench the flames. It stood in eerie silence, continuing to throttle Anthony. It was oblivious to its own destruction, ignoring the smell of burning flesh growing stronger by the minute.
As the flames progressed, the thing seemed to register pain, and it dropped Anthony to bat at its own head.
With Anthony released, Billy raised his pistol. “Stop!”
Shit! Damn Billy’s sense of justice. Getting the Glamour’s attention was the last thing he should have done.
Grace bent down and grabbed Anthony’s limp form under his arms. There were several gunshots from the other side of the creature as she retreated to drag Anthony away. The pentagram was marred during Anthony’s attack, and now it was almost obliterated. Setting her pistol beside her, she checked for his pulse and, finding none, started CPR.
As she kept up her rhythm on Anthony’s chest, the monster went up in flames all at once, despite not being clothed in obvious flammable material. As the creature fell to its knees, a sinking pillar of flame, two figures struggled beyond the smoke and light cast off by the fire.
Grace turned her attention back to the still unbreathing body beneath her. “Damn it, Anthony! What the hell were you thinking? Come on, idiot! Breathe!” She continued working on him as the seconds stretched into minutes, trying to maintain an even rhythm despite the distractions.
At last, he let out a weak cough and tried to roll over onto his side.
“Stay here!” She grabbed her pistol and jumped to her feet.
She dashed toward the creature. It was now a burning heap on the floor, its movements like a dying bug trapped on its back, scrabbling but finding no purchase. There was only a single figure on the ground behind it, unmoving.
Shit!
While she was working on the unconscious Anthony she left Billy with no protection from the Glamour’s mind controlling ability. She raced past the burning creature to find Billy lying unconscious with a piece of concrete next to his bleeding head. Grace cast about, searching for the Glamour. But he was gone.
Chapter 32
Grace stared helplessly down at Billy. She jerked herself back into motion and pulled off her shirt and knelt beside his bleeding head. She tried to keep his neck as immobile as possible while making sure the cloth covered his whole scalp. The material was soon saturated on the right side of his head where she felt a sickening dent in his skull. She applied as much pressure as she could without doing more damage to the area.
“Danny, I need you!” The tears rolled freely down her checks.
“Coming!” His voice came from a distance near the crates.
Danny appeared at Grace’s side, a gasp escaping him. “Oh my god! What happened to Billy?” He dropped down beside her.
“The Glamour hit him in the head with that piece of cement.” She motioned with her head to the brick a few feet to the side. “He got away after knocking Billy out.”
“Shit, Gracie. What are we going to do?”
Grace stopped her crying and focused on her brother. “Look at me, Danny.” She waited for his eyes to move off Billy and meet hers. “There’s not much time. Billy needs to get to a hospital and get stabilized. He’s losing lots of blood. There’s no telling what damage the Glamour did when he hit Billy.”
Keeping one hand to the side of Billy’s head, she held out her other hand to Danny.
“I need you to manifest and take the knives the Glamour was using. Hide them somewhere in the building where they’ll be safe. Ask Sabra to help you find a place, or make a place.”
“But the ghosts will see I can manifest—” Danny started to object.
Grace i
nterrupted him. “There’s no time to argue. I need the knives in a safe place. I can read them later to find the Glamour. I can’t do it myself and help Billy, too. It’s our only connection to the Glamour, and I don’t want whoever shows up next to take them. We have to be the ones in control of them. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Gracie.” Danny grasped her hand.
With his acknowledgment, she concentrated on their clasped hands. Like when she charged the crystals at home, she imagined her energy flowing from her into Danny. In an instant, Danny went from a ghost only she could see to a corporeal boy.
“Hurry! I don’t want Anthony to wake up and see you. I think we’d better try to keep you a secret for a bit longer.” She put both hands on the bandage around Billy’s head.
Danny rose to his feet and scooped up the curved knife the Glamour dropped in his efforts to save the monster. After grabbing the first knife, he ran back to collect the rest of the weapons from where they lay on the small table.
Grace glanced up to see him speaking with Sabra. He looked over to her, and she gave him an encouraging nod. After few minutes of talking, they disappeared behind the crates together, becoming lost in the dark shadows.
One problem solved. She sighed in relief, sniffing at the tears. Now to get medical help for Billy.
“Anthony!” she shouted.
He’d only had a short time for recovery, but she hoped he had moved from barely breathing to conscious in the last few minutes. She needed his help getting an ambulance there, and fast.
“Anthony, you fucking Paranorm, wake up and get over here!” she screamed at his unmoving form, desperation giving her voice volume.
He groaned and roused himself to standing. After taking a few seconds to gain his balance, he stumbled to her side. “By the powers! Is he alive?” He dropped down beside her to touch Billy’s chest.
“He is for now, but for not much longer if we don’t get him to the hospital ASAP. I’m afraid to move him without the proper equipment, but we can’t risk exposing the Paranorms by revealing what’s happened here. And we need help for Celeste, as well. Can you get help from anyone who won’t put the Paranorms or Billy at risk?”
Anthony hesitated for a second, his hand tightening on the fabric of Billy’s shirt.
“Yes, yes, of course,” he assured her. “There are Paranorm paramedics at the hospitals for these types of emergencies. Let me call Nicco, and someone will be here in a few minutes.”
He pulled a cell phone out of his back pocket and hit the speed dial, rubbing his throat as he waited for the connection. Nicco picked up after a few rings, and Anthony provided the quick and to the point version to get the help on their way.
Problem two solved. Grace followed Billy’s breathing, relieved to see he could still breathe on his own.
Anthony finished the phone call and came to sit opposite of her. He reached out to put his hand on Billy’s arm. “Is there anything else I can do to help Billy?”
“Just help me keep an eye on his breathing and make sure he doesn’t move around. I’ll let you know if I need you to spell me on keeping compression on the head wounds.”
They settled into a more comfortable position to wait for the ambulance.
Now to figure out how to solve problem three—the Glamour.
Chapter 33
Grace rose from the waiting room’s uncomfortable plastic chair when Mrs. Winiarksi and several of Billy’s brothers walked through the ER entrance.
Mrs. Winiarksi spotted her right away and hurried to meet Grace. “Where’s Billy? What have the doctors said?”
“He’s still in surgery, Mrs. W.,” Grace said. “Nothing much has changed since I first called you.”
“Eric, you go to the nurse’s station and find out if there’s an update on Billy,” Mrs. Winiarksi said. “Tim, you and Sam go over to the cafeteria to find something for us to eat. It’s going to be a long night and I won’t have people dealing with this on an empty stomach.”
Grace led Mrs. Winiarksi to a row of empty seats. Billy’s mother sat down in one of the more sturdy chairs and settled her purse in her lap.
“Mrs. Winiarksi, these are my friends Anthony and DL. They’ve been helping Billy and me with the case.”
“I’m sorry we had to meet under these circumstances, Ma’am,” DL said.
“Unfortunately, these circumstances come as part of being the mother of police officers. But it normally happens when they’re on official police business.” She eyed Grace.
“DL, why don’t you go check on how Celeste is doing? I’ll send Jennifer up to her room once she gets here,” Grace said.
He reached out to squeeze her shoulder. “Thanks, Grace. I’d like to be there when she wakes up. Call me with any news about Billy.” DL walked to the elevators at the end of the hall.
Anthony had shrunk down in his chair, but Mrs. Winiarksi turned to him next. “Tony, was it?”
“Anthony, ma’am.”
“Anthony, I appreciate you being here to support Grace and my Billy. Would you mind giving Grace and me a moment alone?”
“My pleasure, ma’am.” He shifted to an open space in the hallway, where he began pacing.
Mrs. Winiarksi turned her full attention on Grace. “You were intentionally vague on the phone. I want you to tell me what happened tonight.”
“I can’t give you many details on the case.”
“I’m not asking about the case. I’m asking you to tell me what happened to Billy tonight.”
Grace took a deep breath to settle her nerves.
“We were down in the abandoned linen district looking for a kidnapped girl to stop her from being murdered. Billy got into a fight with the perp, and the perp ended up smashing his head with a brick.”
“Where were the rest of you at the time?”
“DL and I were taking care of the kidnapped girl — the perp had stabbed her right when we got there. And Anthony was dealing with the perp’s… uh… accomplice when Billy was attacked.”
“I take it this perp was very strong to have over-come my Billy.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Grace brushed a piece of fuzz from her jeans, waiting for the next question to hit, but she was saved from further interrogation by Eric’s return from the nurses’ station.
“The doctors have finished the surgery. They’re putting Billy into an induced coma. The nurse explained it as a way of shutting down the energy needs of his brain to give it time to heal without the body performing ‘radical triage’ by shutting off blood flow to the damaged parts. It’s supposed to protect the damaged areas as the brain heals and the swelling goes down to a safe level.”
Mrs. Winiarksi paled at the news and closed her eyes a moment. When she opened them, she was all business again. “Eric, you and I are going down to the chapel to pray. Grace, send his brothers to us once they get back with the food. It won’t hurt for God to hear a chorus of Winiarksi’s prayers for Billy.”
“I’ll do that, Mrs. W.” Grace sighed, relieved to be avoiding further questions about the night’s disaster.
“Danny?” She reached out for her brother’s presence as Billy’s mother and brother walked away.
“Right here, Gracie.”
She turned to see him standing beside her with tears in his eyes. “Is Billy, going to be okay? That whole ‘induced coma’ thing sounds scary.”
“I don’t know, kiddo. But the doctors are doing the best they can for him and the whole Winiarksi clan will be praying for him. Why don’t you go up to Celeste’s room and keep an eye on her and DL for me.”
“Are you trying to find something for me to do to keep my mind off Billy?”
“Maybe, but you’ll also be helping to keep my mind off Celeste while I’m here waiting to get the next update on Billy.”
Chapter 34
A nurse came in to check on Billy’s vitals, and Grace got out of the way to let her do her job. She made a quick trip to the restroom and stopped by the vending machine to grab two candy
bars for herself and Anthony.
When she returned to the room, Anthony was releasing Billy’s hand and taking a step further down the bed toward his feet. Guilt passed over his face before it returned to the stoic visage he had maintained all night.
Grace handed Anthony one of the candy bars and made no comment on what she saw. She motioned to the bruises on his throat. “How are you?”
“Doing better,” he said, his voice a rough whisper. “How are you doing?”
“I feel like crap,” she said, looking down at Billy’s still form.
“My mind just keeps going in circles. How I should have never gotten Billy in this situation in the first place. And being pissed off the Glamour got away a second time. And how I won’t ever be able to protect DL’s girls from their predator.” She rubbed her forehead with one hand.
“Round and round again. I can’t help replaying what happened last night in my head. Second guessing myself for every decision, wondering if changing anything would have prevented Billy from getting hurt.”
“Grace, we all decided to go after the Glamour knowing it would be dangerous. Billy, too.”
“Yeah, but he wouldn’t be here now if I hadn’t asked him for help.”
“I understand how you feel. But beating yourself up over it will not change anything. Right now, you need to focus your energy on Billy getting better and put the negative thoughts behind you.”
“Easier said than done. Especially since there’s nothing I can actually do right now for him.”
“The doctors put Billy into an induced coma to give his brain time to heal. We need to give it a little time and be patient.”
Grace sighed heavily. “I’m not good with the whole patience thing, but I guess I can concentrate on that.
“Billy’s family should be back soon,” Grace said. “They’ll want space in the room to be with Billy. But once they return, can you stay outside the door in case the Glamour comes back? I need to get back to the warehouse to see what else I can find out. I’ll introduce you to Billy’s family as a friend of ours and tell them you’ll be staying here while I go work on the case.”
Glamorous: A Grace Bishop Novel (Grace Bishop Novels) Page 15
