by Rachel Lee
The pencil traced erratically over the paper at first. But then, patterns began to emerge. Those same eyes she had drawn so many times before. Larger, though. The pupils tiny dots. Eyes. Always eyes.
She slashed with the pencil, the tip snapping as it dug into the paper. The tearing sound seemed to fill the room as the pencil slashed again and again at those eyes.
And he knew.
He reached out and touched her.
"Wendy. Darling. Come back to me."
The slashing continued, savage rage wrought on the paper until the eyes were unrecognizable.
"Wendy!" He shook her shoulder. "That's enough!"
She let out a cry and shook, the pain obvious, as she tried to wrench her consciousness free.
Aarrrrgh!
This was not the joyous screams of pleasure-pain they had explored earlier. This was real pain, without any hint of love or tenderness behind it. He had to break through it. He could think of only one way.
He reached for her cigarette, took it from her hand, closed his eyes, shaking with desperation and horror, and pressed the tip to her arm.
"Wendy!"
She recoiled, her face snapping around to his, eyes still distant for an instant, before she drew a deep, shuddering breath and collapsed to the floor. In an instant, he was beside her, holding her, stroking her face, murmuring words not even he would remember.
Finally her eyes found his.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you, too."
"You have to tell him," she said. "It's her that Annie wants. It's…"
"I know," he said, glancing over at the shredded paper. "I know."
* * *
Kato sat at alert, standing guard, as Markie plunged the shovel into the dirt. She could tell by his posture that he knew what was coming. More than that, she could read it in his thoughts.
There was no longer any question of the connection between them. It was there for the asking, freely given, freely shared. The wolf seemed to want that, to need it. And that, she realized, made perfect sense. It was the way of his kind, and he was separated from that. She owed him more than food and warmth and shelter and love. She owed him that connection, that bond that transformed a group into a pack. She owed him family.
"Yes, boy. I know."
His eyes flicked over to her, and, for an instant, the corners of his mouth turned up. A smile. Then his focus returned to the night sky and the darkness they both knew was coming.
Racing against time, she hefted spadeful after spadeful of earth, widening and deepening the hole. She had no idea how far down she would have to go. Two hundred years of wind and rain had moved a lot of earth around. Not to mention the army bulldozers that had graded out the gridwork of streets in old Martina Town. It could be only a few inches. It could be halfway to China. All she could do was dig and let Kato stand watch.
* * *
Gary Morgan's words had hit Dec like a cannonball, plowing a hole through his heart.
Annie wants Markie!
Adrenaline surged through him as he lowered his head, hoping that by doing so he could gain just that fraction more speed that would get him there in time. The moon was dead overhead now but hidden behind clouds. Except for the glow of his headlights, he could just as well have been driving through ink.
Racing to kill the woman he loved.
Hoping that, by killing her, he could save her.
If he had done everything right. If the chemical brew he had concocted would work fast enough. Tetradotoxin normally took effect over a period of hours. He knew he would not have that long. It would have to work within seconds. Otherwise, Annie would have her.
Even if it did work, then came the other nightmare. What if he had given her too much, or the interaction of chemicals did not work as he had imagined? He was no molecular biochemist, no pharmacologist. He was a medical doctor, a trauma surgeon, floundering around in an area of science about which he knew far too little and in which he had to trust far too much. Even the tiniest mistake would mean a nightmare from which he would never recover.
Markie would be dead.
And he would never, ever forgive himself.
On the horizon, he saw the faint glow of the town lights. Almost there. Almost time. He would have to make a decision. A decision that could very possibly kill the woman he loved and ruin his life forever. He couldn't schedule a consult for a second opinion. This would be his decision. His responsibility.
And her life.
27
As Markie's shovel struck metal, the night gasped. It was as if the air had been stolen, stilling the breeze, silencing the night sounds, muffling even the distant beat of the surf.
She froze and glanced toward Kato. He'd risen to his haunches, his ears pricked forward on high alert. His lips fluttered a bit as he silently tasted the breeze.
Trusting him to alert her, she dropped to her knees and began to dig with her hands. Rotting scraps came away, probably ancient leather. Then her hands touched the cold of metal.
Annie's treasure.
She pulled handfuls of it from the earth, dumping it on the grass, amazed that even in moonlight shrouded by clouds, even covered with earth, its sparkle called to her. Gold. Lots and lots of gold coins. Probably worth more now for archaeological value than the weight of the gold itself.
According to the oral histories, the islanders had buried it because they feared its taint. Feared it would draw Annie's evil attention even though she was dead. It had drawn her attention, all right. And Markie was suddenly, perilously, aware that she was holding it in her hands.
As if it burned, she dropped the coins she held onto the growing pile on the grass. It was enough that she had found it. She didn't need to dig it out.
Kato huffed, and his lips drew back, baring his teeth. Markie looked up from her hands, wondering if it was clouds that covered the moon or something more. A whisper of cold teased her neck.
Instinctively she reached for the pouch Jolly had hung around her neck only hours ago. It was gone.
Panic flared in her, then a vague memory of feeling something tug and snap as she had helped lift a two-hundred-pound mastiff into the back of a Jeep.
But her cross was still there. Finding it with her fingers, she gripped it tightly and whispered to the night, "No."
* * *
The island wasn't that big, but as Dec barreled toward town and Markie's house, he began to feel it was doubling in size with every mile he rode. Either that or time had slowed to an impossible crawl.
He looked up again at the sky, wondering if those were clouds obscuring the moon or the blackness he had seen behind Markie's house. He accelerated even more, hoping he could keep the damn hog on the upcoming turns. Because he dared not slow down.
* * *
Kato's growl deepened. Markie eased away from the hole, away from the pile of gold coins she had unearthed, away from what Annie Black wanted. She thought of trying to run but knew she couldn't out-distance the threat. Visions of Alice's macabre final dance reminded her of the horror she was facing.
"Take it," she said to the deepening shadow. The world still seemed too silent, too far away, as if she and Kato were encased in some kind of bubble.
Kato snapped his teeth in warning. His fur stood on end from his nape to his tail. He was crouching now, lowered into position to launch himself in attack.
"Kato, no," Markie said, her voice thickened by fear. Her mouth had grown so dry her lips were sticking to her teeth. "Please, Kato, don't get yourself hurt. Let her have the gold."
Kato looked at her. His thoughts could have been flashed on a Times Square marquee: You don't understand.
She pushed herself back even farther from the treasure. With one graceful move, Kato leapt over the hole and planted himself between it and Markie. He snapped at the air again, once, twice.
Markie wondered if she were losing her mind or seeing things through Kato's eyes. Because she could have sworn the darkness before her
was thickening, taking on shape of some kind. And when Kato snapped at it, she could almost see it shudder and regather itself.
She gripped her cross again, praying soundlessly, as Kato nudged her backward with his rear while snapping at the coalescing shadow. It was as if he could force it back with the threat of his teeth but not grab onto it and tear it as he would any other threat.
"Just take your gold and go," Markie said again, crying the words out to the shadow. "I don't want it. I never wanted it!"
Shock shuddered through her as she felt the first terrifying tendrils wrap around her mind.
It didn't want the gold. It wanted her.
* * *
The lights of Martina Town were now visible. Another mile or so. The road widened finally, heralding the approach to the hospital, government and school complex. Almost there.
He clung to the thought, although he wasn't sure what he was heading toward. Killing Markie? Or saving her? He didn't know. The vials and syringes in his pocket seemed to be growing heavier, and his conscience took that moment to start quarreling with him.
He shoved it aside, stepped down on it firmly. This was no time to be questioning his ethics. He had seen what Annie could do to a person if she wanted them dead. If Markie were going to die, his way was one hell of a lot less horrifying.
And perhaps…perhaps…he could save her.
From what, he wasn't sure. Could Annie really fully possess a body and soul? Loleen had hinted at it. Had warned him. Had assured him he would know what he needed to do when the time came.
He hoped the vials in his pocket were the right thing, because he had nothing else. They were it.
The road narrowed as he reached old town. He slowed down because he had to, fighting every impulse to keep speeding. Just a few blocks to Markie's house.
God, he hoped he found her before it was too late.
* * *
An oily coldness seemed to be slithering into Markie's head, between her brain cells. With it came a darkening of her vision. The battle had become internal.
Kato turned, biting at the cloud that surrounded her, though all she could see were his golden eyes. She had to fight. But she was scared to fight. If she fought, she might wind up like Alice. At least, if she didn't fight, she might survive to…
To what? Even as the reptilian fingers of darkness clouded her thoughts, some light that was Markie clung to existence. What did she hope she could do if Annie possessed her? Find a cure? Get an exorcism?
Hell, she was hanging on to a blessed crucifix and it wasn't stopping Annie.
The pouch might have stopped her. Filled with the wisdom of old ways that had met and battled such as Annie before, it might have held her at bay.
But the pouch was gone. And Pedro wasn't here to defend her with prayers and holy water.
And Annie's malevolent essence seemed to be sinking into every cell of her body. She wished she could recoil from the horror of it, felt stunned that anything so purely evil could exist. The merest touch was too painful to bear, and it was now filling her everywhere.
Kato whined and backed away. He sensed it and didn't know what to do. He didn't want to hurt Markie. That least of all.
But Markie was becoming the thing he loathed.
He snarled at her, bit at the air around her with frenzy.
Then, suddenly, he froze.
Markie felt the darkness inside her try to force her to reach out and hurt the dog. There was still enough of her left to refuse.
"Go, Kato," she said hoarsely, from that last bit of her that was still herself. "Run."
But he didn't run. Instead, he came closer, his golden eyes boring into her, holding her. She had to cling to those eyes, she realized. Hang on to Kato's presence.
She felt the touch of his warm, loving mind against her curled-up self, felt it as comfort and strength.
He had become her lifeline.
* * *
Dec squealed into Markie's driveway with a roar of his engine and a shriek of his tires. He braked hard, switched off his engine and dismounted.
Markie's house was silent. No one came to greet him. Kato's head didn't pop up in a window. For a second he had the panicked feeling that Markie had gone somewhere else and he would never find her.
Then he heard a mournful howl from the back of the house. As clear as if the dog spoke in his head, Dec knew Kato was summoning the pack. Was summoning him.
They were here.
He pulled the vials out of his pocket, picked the one with the deadly stew of tetradotoxin, and drew a cc into the syringe. He didn't bother recapping the needle. He might need it too fast to fuss with a cap.
Moving with caution now, he walked carefully around the side of the house. Dec's heart beat heavily with anxiety and fear. The last time he'd felt this way had been before his first solo surgery. But then he'd had backup nearby. This time he had no backup at all.
And he might well kill the woman he loved.
Except, he realized as he rounded the corner of the house, she was no longer the woman he loved.
Standing in the middle of the yard, arms thrown wide in celebration and triumph, a stranger looked back at him from Markie's eyes.
And then she started to laugh.
* * *
He watched, his skin crawling, realizing he now faced a tactical problem: how to get close enough to administer the injection without alerting the thing that had taken over Markie.
The answer struck him almost as soon as he considered the question. Act like he thought it was still Markie. Annie was famous for her hunger for men. Lovers. Maybe she would let him approach.
"Hi, honey," he said, smiling.
Her head tipped down, and she looked at him. Kato, however, had other plans. He leapt at her, knocking her to the ground, putting his nose to hers and giving a shrill whine.
To Dec's amazement, even in the darkness, he could see Markie's gaze focus on the wolf. On the wolf's eyes.
"Kato," she whispered.
The wolf licked her chin, his golden eyes never moving from hers. She reached up a hand as if to pet him, but it turned into a claw, grabbing his scruff and trying to push him away. The dog growled and dug all four paws into the earth, refusing to be budged.
Dec hurried forward, hoping he could get control of Markie's arm long enough to give the injection.
But even as he had the thought, her arm fell limp to her side again. Woman and wolf stared at one another, locked in a struggle for life.
Kato, he realized, was hanging on to Markie's soul, refusing to let it fly. How he knew that he couldn't say. But he felt it with every cell of his being.
He dropped to his knees beside Markie, beside the love of his life, whispering, "God help me…I'm sorry…."
He plunged the needle into her arm and rammed down the plunger.
Markie jerked.
Her eyes fluttered, tried to close, but Kato moved, refusing to let anything break eye contact.
"Dec…"
"It's okay, Markie," he said soothingly. "Trust me."
He just wished he could trust himself. But that ugly thing he had seen in her eyes moments ago couldn't be allowed to take her over. Even if it meant her death.
Where he had struggled before, he was now filled with surety.
Without the tetradotoxin, she was dead for all intents and purposes. She would be nothing but a husk filled with the evil of Annie Black. With it…if Annie thought Markie was dead, she would leave. Leave Markie free. If she didn't die.
He prayed as hard as he'd ever prayed in his life.
Then, with a shudder and gasp, Markie grew still. He felt for her pulse. It was gone. He put his ear to her mouth and could hear no breathing.
He waited for a few minutes, then closed Markie's eyes.
Only Kato saw his tears.
* * *
The man had killed the woman!
It hunkered in the dead body, rage filling it until it felt it could explode into a million pieces. It had
to get out before it died, too. That thought, and that thought alone, gave it control of itself in the midst of fury.
It would kill that man, and then the dog. Yessss.
Slowly it began to disentangle itself from the woman's body, plotting its revenge, already imagining how it would crush each and every cell in the man's body. Imagining his pain and terror. Exultation began to fill it, driving away the rage. There would be other bodies. But this kill would be so satisfying.
He had the last of the gold out of the hole. It watched as it began to elevate above the woman's body, resuming its deathless form. It ignored the dog that watched it, knowing it would have time to deal with the animal later.
Now it wanted the man. It could taste his pain and horror already.
The man grabbed the cloth on which Markie had piled Annie's hoard and tied it up into a bag. He was taking it away.
At least, that was what he thought.
It swept toward him on a killer urge. This was going to be so good. It was going to draw out every single second of the man's suffering to the ultimate.
But it couldn't reach him. It was as if an invisible wall surrounded him. A silent howl of rage filled it as it battered against the barrier. A spell. It was a spell. And when the man moved, the barrier moved with him.
Another roar of silent rage filled it, then it followed him. The chance would come. And it was going to be ready to take it.
* * *
"Guard her," Dec told Kato. Not that he really believed the dog needed the command.
Then, acutely aware of the coalescing black shadow that followed him, he carried the gold toward his bike. Loleen had at least been clear about what to do with that. One step at a time, he thought. He climbed on the motorcycle, gunned the engine and shot out onto the street. Overhead, the clouds had parted to reveal a harsh, stark full moon. That there was almost no traffic was a blessing. That he had miles to go, with a black cloud hard on his heels, was a curse.
Arabica trees whipped past as he turned off the coast road and surged up the winding macadam trail that led into the coffee plantation. The strong, pleasant fragrance of beans ripe for harvest wafted around him, mixed with the acrid stench of Annie Black, the scent of pure, distilled evil. He now realized why Kato and the other dogs had gone on alert. This close, with Annie in her full rage, the stench was all but overpowering. To a dog, with an olfactory capacity hundreds of times more sensitive than his, her presence must have felt like an assault.
