by Sasha Cain
“Maggie, this is Jeff. He’s another hunter. He’s friends with Evan and Darrios. Where have you been anyway? We haven’t seen you in ages.”
“Yes, well I’ve been busy.”
“Oh, silly me, Jeff, this is Maggie. She’s Darrios’...ah, friend.”
Jeff stared at me boldly, making me increasingly uncomfortable, but my mouth went dry when he spoke.
“Maggie and I have met before, haven’t we doll?”
I gasped as he dropped the cloak, revealing the charred, blackened remains of his arm. Sandra screamed and staggered backward.
“Jeff, my God, what happened to your arm?”
“It’s not Jeff,” I said weakly, terror creeping into my voice.
Sandra, unable to take her eyes off of the burned, crusty stump, shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s Podredo. He’s after Darrios.”
He laughed that wheezy laugh, sending chills up and down my spine.
“Actually, I’m here for the two of you. That way Darrios will come to me, and so will his sidekick...perhaps not as challenging a chase, but definitely easier. Two for one.”
He laughed again. Panic threatened to take over. My breathing became shallow and gave way to lightheadedness. I thought of Podredo torturing Sandra and the bile rose in my throat. I would not let him hurt her.
“You don’t want to do that, Podredo. Think about it. The last time you tried this, Darrios almost killed you himself, but along with Evan, you don’t stand a chance.”
He advanced on me, closing the distance between us. He grabbed me by the arm and yanked me toward him, close enough for him to feel me trembling with fear. I turned my face away from his putrid breath. Sandra covered her mouth with both hands and backed against the wall.
“I will not fail this time, you sneaky little witch. I’ve planned everything to a tee,” he snarled.
He turned to Sandra and motioned for her to come over and stand by me. She didn’t move. He yelled at her and she stumbled over.
“Here’s how this is going to work. You two are going to come with me. We’re going to Midland”—he grinned at me—“to the house where we had our last party.” He took my chin in his hand and made kiss noises.
I recoiled. Memories of my last encounter with this degenerate filled my brain. The thought of Sandra having to endure that caused me to snap, and suddenly rage flooded over me. I shoved Podredo and pushed Sandra behind me. “We’re not going anywhere with you!”
Podredo laughed, not even fazed by my outburst. “Then I’m afraid little Eva will have to pay the price.”
A strangled sob came out of Sandra’s mouth.
“Eva’s not even here,” I said through gritted teeth, trying to remain strong.
“I know that,” he whispered. “She’s sleeping soundly at the house in Midland...in fact on the very same bed I shared with you.”
“You’re lying,” I accused, remembering how he’d tied me to the bed and praying that’s not what he did to Eva. My stomach turned.
“I speak only the truth. She’s wearing pink tights and a frilly little pink shirt.”
I paled. Sandra cried out and dropped to her knees. “No! My baby! What have you done with her?”
“I watched you take her next door. I waited awhile and then I changed into her daddy and picked her up. Told the neighbor we had an engagement you’d forgotten about. Go check if you like...but hurry back. She might be frightened if she wakes up alone. Midland’s not safe, you know. If she wanders outside and happens upon a scabra or a viocomen...”
Sandra cried out again, pulled herself up, and bolted out the door.
“Why are you doing this?” I shrieked. “Sandra has nothing to do with this.”
“Anyone who is involved with Darrios has to do with this, guilty by proxy. He’s a murderer.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it. You’re out for blood because he killed your mate. He hunts monsters and she turned into a viocomen. He thought he was killing a monster.”
Podredo backhanded me, rattling my jaw and sending me reeling.
“Don’t you dare call my Evella a monster,” he snarled.
Sandra came running back into the house sobbing out of control.
“She’s gone, Maggie. Eva’s gone! He took her! Where is my baby?” she screamed hysterically.
“Shall we go?” Podredo asked calmly, as if we were going on a lunch date instead of him placing us, against our will, into a potential hostage situation.
“Please, please don’t hurt her,” Sandra begged, clutching his good arm.
“That, my dear, is completely up to you. Although, I do suggest you pull yourself together if we’re going to pull this off.”
“Wait, how are we going to get through the gate? How did you get through it?” I asked warily.
“Jeff helped me out.”
“Jeff would never help you get into Inland,” Sandra sobbed.
“Well, no, not willingly. And normally I’d never go after a hunter, but today was my lucky day. Poor Jeff had the misfortune of getting ambushed by two scabras. They usually don’t hunt together, so I think it must’ve been a male pursuing a female. They were working him over pretty good when I came along. I changed into a particularly scary viocomen and chased them off.
“Jeffy didn’t want to talk to me at first, even when I changed back into myself. Can you imagine? But when one has deep puncture wounds in his chest and abdomen, and somebody plunges their fingers into those wounds repeatedly, one tends to be more willing to provide certain information to make that stop happening. He gave me the code after I wiggled my fingers around in his insides about five times.”
My stomach rolled. Sandra teetered, and then grabbed the back of a chair to steady herself.
“What happened to Jeff after that?” Sandra asked tearfully. “Is he okay?”
Podredo made a tsk, tsk, tsk noise and patted her on the head. “No, sweet pea. He’s actually quite dead. And don’t worry. I’ll take care of the gatekeeper when we get there.”
Sandra sucked in a breath and then several more.
“Sandra, are you all right?” I asked, concerned about her and her unborn child.
She looked at me and shook her head tearfully. “Please, let’s just do what he says. I want my baby back.”
“By all means. Let’s go,” Podredo replied, motioning for us to go first. As we headed out, I desperately wished for Darrios and Evan to come around the house right then, but that’s one wish I didn’t get granted.
My legs, rubbery at best, did not want to cooperate. It was as if they knew this was a bad plan and they were trying to stop me from going through with it. Unfortunately, I had Podredo prodding me from behind, pushing me forward.
I watched Sandra like a hawk, worried how all the walking, along with the stress of the situation, would affect her and the baby, but she had calmed down and now with her eyes fixed in front of her, she just seemed determined to find Eva. I doubted she’d thought past that. I, on the other hand, had all kinds of “what if” scenarios bouncing around my head.
What if Evan and Darrios didn’t get back until dark? What if Evan went ballistic when he realized what had happened and did something crazy? What if he and Darrios didn’t figure out what happened? What if Podredo really had thought out a superior master plan and Evan and Darrios were in danger? One thing I was certain of, the more time we had to spend in Podredo’s company, the more likely something terrible would happen.
Thankfully, when we arrived at the house where Podredo had Eva held hostage, the same place where he’d held me, she hadn’t awakened. I assumed he’d given her the same drug he’d given me, but I thought it best not to mention that to Sandra.
I knew Sandra wanted to run, snatch up her daughter, and flee right back out the door, but even in her “protective mother” state of mind, she knew it was far too dangerous, and Podredo knew she knew. I hated feeling powerless against him...again.
“What makes you th
ink Darrios and Evan will figure out what happened?” I asked, hoping to get a glimpse into his plan.
“Oh, that’s easy. The minute Evan walks through the door of his home and finds his wife and child gone, he’ll go directly to the neighbor, who will be puzzled and confused, because wasn’t he the one who came to get precious little Eva in the first place? If he doesn’t figure it out right then, Darrios will. He’ll nose around and discover I brought you all here.”
I glanced around the room, trying to block out the memories of the only other time I was in this house. Nausea crept up on me and I had to will myself not to vomit.
Sandra stared at her daughter from across the room. “Why isn’t she waking up?” Sandra asked, her voice becoming shrill. “She’s a very light sleeper. She should be waking up. What did you do to her, you bastard?”
I put my arm around Sandra to comfort her and hopefully calm her down. I did not want her making Podredo angry. God only knows what he could be capable of. Darrios hadn’t gotten into specifics, but he most definitely stressed that Podredo had some twisted and perverse tastes. I, for one, did not want to know anything more than that.
“I merely gave her a little something to help her sleep, so she wouldn’t be frightened.” He gave us a mock hurt look. “Where’s the trust?”
“If she doesn’t wake up soon, I swear I’ll—”
“Sandra, is it?” Podredo asked, interrupting her. “Let me be perfectly clear. The little, go-to-sleepy cocktail I gave your daughter was an old family recipe, made from herbs and roots. It’s perfectly harmless...but I am not. If you continue to make threats and test my patience, I’m afraid I’ll have to prove that fact to you. Do we understand each other?”
I held my breath as Sandra, her bottom lip trembling, nodded. Podredo smiled.
“Good. Now, Sandra dear, I’d like you to sit down in the chair next to your daughter and place your hands behind you,” Podredo said.
“Why?” I asked.
He turned to me and answered. “Because I have to step out for a bit and while I don’t think you’re foolish enough to attempt to leave, I don’t entirely trust the two of you not to try to set some sort of trap for me. So if you don’t mind...”
“Leave her alone,” I hissed. “She isn’t going to do anything. She can barely move with that belly. Haven’t you made her uncomfortable enough?”
He laughed at me. “Listen to you. I’m giving her the more comfortable option. She gets the chair. You, I’m going to tie down to that cot next to the bed.”
I’m sure I blanched. Podredo stepped closer to me and leaned in, rubbing his crotch in an exaggerated manner. I gagged at the sight.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I find pregnant women repugnant. I couldn’t get it up even if you got naked and started touching yourself...not with her in the room with that big, distended baby-belly. Eck.”
Granted, it was not a flattering statement to Sandra by any means, but at that moment I was eternally grateful he’d made it.
Once he’d tied us both up, he removed all of his clothing, shamelessly. I began panicking, thinking he’d lied to me regarding his intentions, but then his skin started rippling and sprouting fur. A popping noise followed by some sort of crunching sound unnerved me as I watched in wide-eyed fascination Podredo changing himself into what I can only assume, based on Darrios’ description, was a plicken.
Icy fingers of dread took hold of me. I grunted in frustration as I struggled against my restraints, but they wouldn’t budge.
“I know what you’re planning to do and it’s not going to work,” I said, trying not to sound desperate.
He turned slowly to face me.
“It isn’t going to work. He’s going to know. One of them will know it’s you and it’ll be a lot easier for them to kill you when you’re this small. You’re not going to get away with this.”
He gave me a smug grin and flipped me the finger as he scurried out the door. I twisted and writhed, desperately trying to free myself, praying Darrios would notice the burned up arm. The problem was that plickens had very tiny arms. He could conceal it easily if he got creative.
“Why are you bothering? It isn’t going to happen. You’re wasting your time and your energy,” Sandra said, dejectedly.
“I have to get loose. I have to warn Darrios.”
“Are you insane? Even if you did get free, that disgusting animal has a head start on you, and what makes you think you could even get back to Inland by yourself? Not only could you get lost, have you forgotten about the viocomen and the scabras? You wouldn’t last five minutes out there without Darrios.”
I stopped fighting and blinked back tears. Sandra was right. I’d barely made it to Inland with Darrios, and even then, I didn’t come through unscathed. My neck still throbbed.
“What are we going to do?” I asked. “We need a plan for when he comes back.”
“I hate the thought of Eva having to see him,” Sandra replied. “We have to get out of here, I just don’t know how we’re going to do it.”
“Evan and Darrios will find us. Podredo’s right. Darrios will know exactly what happened and then they’ll come.”
Sandra’s eyes met mine. “And that’s precisely what he wants,” she said flatly. “He’s planning on it. If anything happens to—”
“Don’t say it. Nothing is going to happen.”
“You don’t know that. What if he gets the jump on them? What if they never come?” Sandra started to sound panicky. “Then he’ll come back and...Oh God! We’ll never get out of here.”
Movement caught my eye. Eva. She stirred and stretched. She was waking up.
“Sandra, look at Eva. You have to get her attention. Maybe she can get us untied.”
Sandra nodded, chewing her bottom lip, watching her daughter anxiously. Eva sat up and glanced around the room. Her mouth spread into a wide grin when she saw Sandra.
“Mommy,” she squealed, scooting off the bed. Sandra laughed, tears streaming down her face.
“Yeah, baby, it’s me. You’re okay.”
“Why are you crying, Mommy?”
“Because I’m so happy you’re awake.”
“Why do you have ropes on your hands?”
Sandra shot me a look and then turned back to Eva.
“Maggie and I got caught up by a man who isn’t very nice. He tied us up.”
“Why? Is he here?” Eva asked nervously, moving closer to her mother and glancing around the room.
“No, honey, he’s gone, but I was hoping maybe you could try to untie me. Do you think you can do that?”
“Sure, Mommy, I’ll try.”
Eva ducked behind Sandra’s chair and began tugging at the knots. When she couldn’t get them undone she blew out a frustrated breath.
“I’m sorry, Mommy, I can’t. It’s too tight.”
“It’s okay, baby, try Maggie’s.”
Eva skipped around the bed over to the cot and went to work on my ropes. I guess all of my pulling and thrashing around had loosened them some, because after a few minutes, Eva grinned and triumphantly hollered, “I got it!”
As soon as she pulled the rope away from the rail it was tied to, I shook my hand free. Between the two of us, we undid the other one. I sat up and tore at the ropes holding my legs.
“Thank you, Eva. You must be very strong.”
She smiled proudly, tipping her chin up. I hurried over to Sandra and began working on her restraints. It took some doing, but I finally managed to get her loose. She rubbed her wrists and then outstretched her arms to Eva, who practically leapt into them. Sandra hugged her tightly until Eva started squirming to get down.
Her attention was drawn to a small cage in the corner housing several small, furry rodent-esque creatures. I jumped when they moved.
“Jesus, I didn’t notice those before. What are they?”
Sandra waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about them. They’re harmless. I can’t imagine why he’d even keep them.”
“We were going to make a plan?” Sandra reminded me.
“He mentioned setting a trap. Why don’t we try that?” I suggested.
“Good thinking.”
I looked around for something we could use to capture him or immobilize him, but came up with nothing. Sandra went into the kitchen area and came out carrying a very scary-looking knife in one hand and an equally threatening cleaver in the other.
“You are an incredibly resourceful woman,” I said. “Disturbing, but resourceful all the same.”
“I don’t know if I can kill him, Maggie, especially in front of my daughter.”
“What if he threatened her?”
“You think he’d hurt a child?”
“In a heartbeat, if it got him what he wanted.”
“Then we have to stop him.” She glanced at Eva. “We have to.”
“The problem is we can’t capture him because he can change into anything and get away. We have to surprise him,” I said.
“We are going to have to try and kill him, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, I think we are. It’s the only way, Sandra. It’s him or us.”
“I choose us.”
“Me too. Give me the knife.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“We need to act like we’re still tied up and make sure Eva pretends to be sleeping, you know, with her eyes shut tightly?”
Sandra nodded.
“I’ll mouth off to him, get him all riled up. When he comes after me I’ll stab him. Once I do that, you hit him with the cleaver from behind.”
Sandra visibly paled. “I don’t know if I can do this, Maggie. Just envisioning it makes me woozy.”
I checked to see if Eva was listening to us, but she was still riveted by the furry, little creatures in the cage. I took a step closer to Sandra and placed my hand on her shoulder.
“Sandra, we don’t have a choice,” I said barely above a whisper. “If we don’t do something we’re sitting ducks. He will kill us, probably you first, being pregnant and all. Then he’ll do God knows what to me and Eva and once he gets bored, we’ll be dead too. We can’t wait for Darrios and Evan. How do you think Evan is going to feel if he bursts in here and finds you and Eva dead?”
