I rolled my eyes as Seth and Alec tried to top the other’s jokes.
“See what you started,” I smiled and pointed at Brendon.
The diner became busier as it got later, so Brendon had to leave us to go help in the kitchen. We thanked him, and then headed for the party we told him we weren’t going to. Halli reluctantly started for home, after one more attempt to persuade us to take her, too.
he party was held at the home of one of the football players—with no parents in sight, of course. The home was just a little bigger than average but the backyard was large and bordered on a thick forest of trees. A fire blazed in a fire pit on the huge covered patio, which also housed two enormous barbeque grills, granite countertops, a stainless steel fridge and sink, plush patio furniture, and a granite-topped bar that seated twelve. Much nicer than most indoor kitchens I’d seen.
By the time we arrived, the party was going full blast. There had to be over a hundred kids there. We’d all vowed not to partake of any food or beverages offered—not that any of us, except for maybe Johnathan, could have forced one more bite into our mouths. In order to not look conspicuous, Alec and Seth picked up a drink and pretended to sip from it occasionally, careful not to let the contents so much as touch their skin.
I was more than shocked when I spotted Ashley, the window-breaking girl, over by a big canopy-tent set up in the corner of the yard. I’d been sure I would never see her again—sure that she was either locked up in a special home for the insane somewhere, or at least that her parents had the common sense to remove her from the psycho school, and all things related to it. Yet, there she stood, as zombie-like as ever, a drink pressed desperately to her lips.
I walked over to her, stopping a few feet away.
“Hey, Ashley,” I said. “How have you been? I haven’t seen you at school this week.”
Three long seconds passed before she brought her gaze to mine. Her eyelids remained half closed, over unfocused red eyes. She tilted her head to the side, as if trying to place me.
“Hey … you. What’s up?” she slurred.
“Just got here, ready to party. What’re you drinking?”
Another long pause. Ashley’s gaze focused on the cup in her bandaged hand, then her eyes widened like she was surprised by its presence there.
“Oh … umm … not sure … exactly. I think … a … I got it from there.”
The liquid sloshed over the sides of her cup as she gestured to the canopy-tent. She turned pale, wavered back and forth, eyes closed. I carefully took the cup from her, led her to a chair, and helped her sit.
I made my way around the corner of the three-sided tent, then stopped dead in my tracks. The chemistry-set-on-steroids contraption Johnathan and I had seen at the school that night sat right there in the middle of the tent, right in the middle of this packed party. Standing on either side of it, coiled hoses in hand, were Big Lips, Zitface, and Snicker. They filled cups with the blue-tinted liquid that came through the hoses from the large tanks. It smelled like a dark combination of charcoal and watermelon. I stepped back around the side of the tent, out of their line of vision, and listened.
“What’s this stuff supposed to do? Why’s it any better than the beer over there?” a boy asked.
“Are you kidding me? Sentience is way better than beer.” That was Big Lips talking. “For one thing, it works a lot faster. Just one small cup and you’re on your way to la-la land.”
“Ya, and plus it gives you special powers,” said Zitface.
“Shut up, Scott! I do the talking,” Big Lips said.
“What’s he mean by ‘special powers’?” the now curious kid asked.
“No more questions, do you want some or not? Believe me, you’re missing out if you don’t try it at least once.” He sounded like a used car salesman.
“Ya, dude, I’ll try some—if you’re sure it’s better than beer,” the kid said.
Big Lips laughed. “There is no comparison, dude. No comparison.”
I didn’t know what to do. Should I try to stop the kid from drinking it? Should I go tell Johnathan I found what we were looking for?
The kid came out of the tent with the cup. I remembered a little spell I’d perfected by performing it frequently on Alec.
“Tangle pedicus,” I whispered.
The boy tripped, sending his cup, with the liquid inside it, flying. He swore quite proficiently as he went down, and a group of jocks near him laughed like only half-buzzed teenagers could.
I didn’t wait around to see if he got back in line for another drink. I needed to find Johnathan. After a few minutes of searching, I couldn’t find him anywhere. He shouldn’t have been hard to spot—he was one of the taller guys there and was without doubt the best-looking one. I figured he’d be surrounded by girls. I found Alec and Seth with several football players, re-telling game stories. I tapped Seth on the shoulder. “Have you seen Johnathan?”
He shook his head. The kid standing next to him said, “That big kid you guys walked in with? I saw him leaving a few minutes ago. The cheerleaders had him surrounded, all of them flirting like crazy—he looked über uncomfortable, like he was ready to bolt. And, that’s pretty much what he did—bolted right out into the trees.”
“Ugh. Seth, can I talk to you for a second?” I said through clenched teeth.
“Uh, yeah, sure.”
We walked a few steps away. As loud as the music and raucousness was, I didn’t think we’d be overheard.
“What’s up, sis?” Seth said.
“What’s up is that I found the device we’ve been looking for. It’s here, it’s making the drug, and they’re handing it out like candy on Halloween. We need to figure out a plan before more kids get poisoned. Now is not a good time for Johnathan to pull one of his disappearing acts.”
“By device I assume you mean the chemistry lab thing you and Johnathan saw outside the high school?”
“Exactly.”
“Let’s spread out and look for him, I guess. Todd said he went into the woods, he’s probably just in there chillin’. I don’t want to make a move unless we all discuss it first,” Seth said.
“I agree. Find Alec and meet me over behind the canopy-tent.”
I waited a long two or three minutes for Alec and Seth.
“Okay, guys,” I said, once we were all together. “I’ll take this end. Seth, you enter the trees at about the center of the yard, and Alec, you take the far end. Meet back here in fifteen minutes whether you find him or not. If not, we’ll have to make our plan without him.”
I entered the trees at a spot that looked like it could be a trail, but it was too dark to know for sure. The trees and vegetation were thick, making for difficult progress. I stumbled every few steps because I couldn’t see where I was going, and I swore I would throttle Johnathan when I found him. I tried to think of this from his point of view—he was probably overwhelmed by the scents of the hormonal teenagers surrounding him, plus all the noise, alcohol, and other substances that were being passed around. It quite possibly could have caused him to go over the edge, so he left before that happened. I was still mad, even though I figured I knew why he’d left without telling any of us. We needed him now, and he really needed to figure this thing out, gain some control of himself. I still felt too worried and angry to be understanding.
If I hadn’t been preoccupied with my thoughts, I might have noticed I was being followed. By the time it finally registered that I heard noises behind me, it was too late to do anything about it.
“Johnathan?” I whispered.
Big Lips and his stooges burst through the trees behind me.
Before I could utter a sound, Big Lips clamped one hand over my mouth while the other hand encircled the back of my head—his two hands pressed together like he was trying to squeeze my teeth out through my eye sockets. For a moment, I panicked, forgetting I could still breathe through my nose when my mouth was no longer an option. I started to fight him, but they knew my tricks this t
ime and his two buddies stepped up close, grabbed my arms and swept my feet out from under me with perfectly synchronized kicks to my legs.
I landed so hard on my tailbone it rattled my teeth. A sharp pain shot up my spine and exploded in the back of my head. Big Lips was able to follow me down without letting up hardly any pressure from the grip he had on my mouth. I lay on my back, my head pushed up tight against a tree. My legs were tangled in the lower branches of a pine tree, the right one twisted at such an angle I was sure it would snap. I was close to being bent in half at the waist. Pain became secondary to fear as Big Lips straddled my torso, Zitface held both my arms pinned against the tree my head was pressed against, and Snicker sat on my legs, pushing them and the branches they were twisted in down a couple of feet. I twisted and bucked my hips, trying to throw Big Lips off me.
They’re going to rape me. Terror raced through my veins and I tried to scream, only to have the hand over my mouth clamp down tighter. A tear escaped and rolled down my temple into my hair.
Breathing became difficult through my nose as I tried to gulp in more air to fuel my struggle. I couldn’t inhale enough through the narrow passages, I was suffocating. I stopped resisting, my nostrils flaring with the rapid intake of breath.
“Not much of fighter now, are you?” Big Lips sneered. “Someone evidently thinks you’re special. I personally don’t see it, but I’ll enjoy carrying out my orders anyways. Now, I’m gonna take my hand off your mouth, but if you make any noise I’ll use my fist to knock all your teeth down your throat. I hope you do decide to make noise, because I’d love to see you choke to death on your own teeth and blood.”
He removed his hand and I took a deep breath through my mouth. What I really wanted to do was to spit in his face, but I determined that to be an unwise decision, based on the situation. So, I swallowed down my defiance borne of fear and anger, and kept quiet when he removed his hand.
“Hand me the stuff, TJ,” he said, holding his hand out to the thug that sat on my legs.
TJ dug a small plastic bottle from his jacket pocket and handed it to Big Lips. “Here ya go, Bubba,” he said.
Bubba twisted the top off and the smell—charcoal and watermelon—instantly hit my nostrils. Only, this was much stronger than the odor that had come from the tent.
“This is a super-dose of Sentience, Miss Spurlock.” Bubba’s big lips twisted into a demented smile. “It oughta mess ya up real good.”
A fresh wave of panic flooded through me, sending my heart rate soaring higher. A collage of zombie-like teenagers flashed through my head. I forgot all about staying silent.
“No!” I screamed and then clamped my mouth shut tight as he brought the bottle close to my face. I bucked my hips and twisted my head side to side.
Bubba clamped his free hand around my jaw and squeezed, forcing my mouth open. He was so strong.
“Away!” I yelled.
All the helplessness, anger, fear, and disgust inside me, came roaring out in a tangible force.
A strangled yell escaped Bubba’s mouth as he took flight. The small bottle he held fell to the ground beside my head, and several drops of the liquid it contained splashed into my open mouth. I swallowed by reflex.
My attack had been so focused on the thug trying to pour poison down my throat that it hadn’t affected the other two at all. They looked from me up to where their leader was flying through the air, eyes wide and mouths open. They still held onto my arms and legs.
I drew in a breath to form another attack, but before I could unleash the magic an enraged roar pierced the night. I turned my head just in time to see Johnathan emerge from the trees.
At the same time, I felt my brain disconnect. I wanted to call out to Johnathan, but the words became lost somewhere on the way from my brain to my mouth. My throat worked frantically to speak, but nothing came out.
Johnathan grabbed both boys by the front of their shirts and lifted them into the air before slamming them into each other face-first. I watched as the teeth that were knocked free of their bloody gums flew in slow motion, and before they had a chance to hit the ground, they turned into soaring cockroaches that disappeared into the air.
I blinked with eyelids that weighed ten pounds.
“John … what …” My mouth betrayed me still. The screams inside my head were stuck there.
Johnathan released his grip and the two boys slumped to the ground. Zitface tried to crawl away.
An angry animal growl issued from Johnathan’s throat right before he slammed his fist into the back of the whimpering kid’s head and knocked him out cold.
In slow motion, I willed my eyes to look at Johnathan’s face. For the flash of an instant I saw my John. I found my voice and screamed as his face morphed into an unrecognizable mask of fury. He stared back at me, eyes blazing red, with the face of a wolf demon. I turned my head to avoid the smoldering venom dripping from his canine teeth. I tried to scoot away as maggots fell from his matted fur. A hole gaped in his chest and where his heart should have been was an empty cavity of darkness that went on for infinity.
I screamed, the horror was enough to break the barrier between my brain and throat. I squeezed my eyes closed to shut out the monster Johnathan had morphed into. He was still there, in my mind, even with my eyes closed. My eyelids flew open and my blurred vision landed on Bubba, entangled in the branches of a tree. The branches turned to snakes and wound themselves around him, crawling in and out of his mouth as he opened it to scream. The maggot infested beast noticed him at about the same time as I did. He jumped an impossible distance and grabbed Bubba by one dangling arm. Bubba’s terrified eyes bulged from their sockets as he fell to meet the pounding fists of the Johnathan Wolf-Demon.
I closed my eyes for a second and when I opened them, Bubba had changed into an Ogre—a mewling, pitiful Ogre that cried like a newborn kitten and begged Johnathan to leave him alone. He didn’t. He was in a rage.
I shook my head to try to clear it. Something wasn’t right. I looked back up at the big-lipped Ogre. He had blood streaming from his bulbous, gray nose and from a large cut to the left side of his furry uni-brow. The wolf was now holding him up by the throat and snarling viciously, snapping its teeth.
I should stop Johnathan. No, that isn’t Johnathan. He doesn’t have maggots in his hair.
In my periphery I saw Alec and Seth running toward us.
“Johnathan! Stop, you’re gonna’ kill him!” Seth yelled.
I watched as each of them grabbed a huge, hairy arm and tried to pull the wolf away from the Ogre. I was relieved to see that Alec and Seth looked normal. Except for the little Faeries flying around their heads.
The tree where my legs were still entangled drew my attention. I shrieked when the bark of the trunk started to morph into an angry face, and the tree limbs started to move around my legs like sinuous arms—entangling me even tighter. I kicked and tried to sit up and scoot backwards. Then all of the trees grew faces and arms that grabbed at me. The trees pulled my arms and legs until they ripped from my body; the pain and pressure so strong, I blacked out for a few merciful seconds. Awareness returned as my limbless head and torso lay there helplessly screaming, a detached portion of my mind watched as the trees took my amputated extremities and attached them to their trunks to make new, grotesque branches. I continued to scream.
I screamed for hours. For days. For years. For an eternity.
Then, Johnathan was beside me. My Johnathan, not the Wolf. He touched my face with his gentle hands, searching my eyes, murmuring softly. “Paige, it’s okay. Look at me, look at me. You’re okay, everything’s okay.”
I stopped screaming. I started trembling. Ferocious tears sprung to my eyes and flowed down my face. I wrapped my still-attached arms around Johnathan’s neck and sobbed. I closed my eyes—that was a mistake, the gore returned, replaying on the backs of my eyelids like some sadistic movie caught in an eternal loop of terror. I whimpered—no, I’m not proud of that, whimpering is against my code
of honor and dignity. But, I didn’t scream, and that’s what I really wanted to do—I was afraid if I started again, I would never stop. I would just keep screaming until there was no air left to breathe.
I opened my eyes, afraid to close them for more than a blink, but seriously afraid to look at the trees. I buried my face in Johnathan’s neck. He wrapped his arms tightly around me, his face pressed close to my ear, whispering, “Shhh. It’s okay. I’m here. You’re safe. Shhh.”
He rocked me back and forth, soothing and gentle. I continued to sob.
I twitched when Seth spoke; I’d forgotten he was there. “Johnathan, what happened? What’s wrong with her?”
Johnathan’s arms tightened around me. He moved his mouth away from my ear long enough to answer. “I’m not sure. Just give her a minute. You guys make sure no one’s coming this way. And, keep an eye on our unconscious friends.”
I heard Seth and Alec move a small distance away. Johnathan’s mouth moved next to my ear again, his warm breath a soothing distraction. “Paige, you’re okay. You need to slow down your breathing. You need to slow down your breathing, Paige. Breathe with me.”
He took a slow, deep breath in, and then slowly let it out. In and out, over and over, until my respirations fell into sync with his. I stopped sobbing and took only an occasional shuddering breath. I became aware of Johnathan’s scent, strong and musky. My thoughts turned from monstrous trees and Demon eyes to other, much more pleasant things. Like Johnathan’s lips. That’s when I remembered my promise to him.
I pulled away. Well, I tried to pull away, but his encircling arms held me tight. “John,” I said.
He loosened his embrace just a little, enough for me to look up into his eyes. I fully expected to see the predatory, golden-eyed Johnathan I’d seen in the alley that day. I was more than a little relieved to see just a really worried Johnathan staring back at me.
“John,” my voice rasped, almost gone from the extensive screaming I’d put it through. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. You can let go of me now.” There was nothing in the world I wanted more than to stay wrapped up in the safety of his arms—but, I’d already broken my promise to him and I couldn’t continue to compromise his mental well-being. His words from the alley came back to me: I will leave, if I have to, to protect you.
Five: Out of the Dark Page 14
