PANDORA

by Rebecca Hamilton

  “It’s all right,” I said. “I’m going to get you and your family out. Can you stand?”

  He nodded. His gaze moved to his daughter, and he began to cry. “What have I done?”

  “Don’t think about it now. Let’s worry about getting out of here.”

  I cut the ropes. He landed on his feet and rubbed his wrists. I moved to his wife and touched her shoulder. Like the daughter, her clothes were ripped. A purple bruised covered the left side of her face. Her head lolled to one side.

  “Can you help me with her?” I asked.

  His hands shook as he lifted her up. I cut her ropes, and he cradled her in his arms, kissing her on her forehead as tears poured down his cheeks. She stirred, moaning, and her eyes fluttered open.

  “Bob?” Her voice came out in a whimper.

  “Shh, it’s okay, baby,” he said.

  “Can you walk?” I asked her, and she nodded. “Good. Bob, carry your daughter and follow me.”

  I led them outside and along the side of the house. An old blue truck sat parked close to the house. Bob lay his daughter in the passenger seat as I held open the door. The yells and gunshots could be heard from the front, but the cabin blocked my view. Tres backpedalled into my view followed by two of the bikers. A shot rang out from the trees, and one of the bikers dropped to the ground.

  I yelled to Bob over the cacophony of battle. “Take the truck, and get out of here. Call the police.”

  I pulled my sword and knife as I sprinted to the fight. Tattoo and two of his minions faced off with Marge on the porch. The bikers swung their knives at Marge. She dodged the man to her left, but the one on the right caught her in her arm. Tattoo slammed his fist in her stomach. She doubled over, coughing. She looked up at him, grinning. The first biker had his back to me. I brought my knife low for a hamstring. My sundang caught across the back of his upper leg. The man tried to turn, but the wounds had bitten deep and he couldn’t stay on his feet. His head slammed against the porch as he fell.

  “I want him alive. Don’t go using your pretty sword swings,” Marge said.

  “No playing around,” I said.

  “Ah, the little girl with the sword, claiming to be my death. You weren’t that last time.”

  My hands flowed as I struck. My blade sliced into his upper bicep. This demon was too dangerous to engage in banter. I planned on keeping him on the defensive to prevent him from using his powers. He grabbed for me, but I sidestepped him, hitting him in the side. Marge spun to his right, swinging her leg in three blurring kicks. Tattoo flew back and hit the ground. She grinned and took a step back, bouncing defensively as he stood back up. From the side of the house, the truck’s engine gave a grinding whine, sputtered, and died.

  The other biker came at me with his arm reaching to pull me in. I blocked his arm with my knife and dragged my sword across his stomach. Tres touched one of the bikers. Blood burst from the man’s skin where he was touched. Adrian stood beside his brother with a smoking gun in hand. Three bodies lay around them, dark pools spreading out before them.

  A howl rode in on the wind, rising over the roar of the fire. The hellhound bounded from the woods in its wolf-man form. Its muscled hind legs propelled it in the air and onto the hood of the pick-up truck. Bob’s eyes widened, and he worked at something behind the wheel of the car. The lights blinked and faded, but the engine did not start.

  I hopped the railing on the porch and ran towards the truck. The hellhound smashed its hand through the windshield and crushed Bob’s head. His wife screamed, her wail filling the night air. It ripped the top of the truck off and slammed the jagged metal piece into the cab. The screaming stopped. I stopped short at the bloody mess inside the truck. The hellhound grinned at me, drool dripping from its pointed teeth. It took off into the woods.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  I raced through the forest after the hellhound. Branches cracked and snapped under the creature’s bulk. The orange glow of the blaze behind me and the moon provided enough light to navigate through the forest. My heart pounded in my ears. If anyone could see me now, they would have been disconcerted by the wild look in my eyes and the grin I knew was on my face. I didn’t care. This is what I lived for. The hellhound wouldn’t escape. Tonight we would meet in battle, and he would die by my blade.

  The beast’s bulk crashed through the underbrush, and it growled. It uprooted a tree and sent it flying at me. I threw myself to the side and tumbled between two trunks. The wooden missile crashed through its siblings with a cacophony of shattering branches. The hellhound laughed as I came up panting. It took off again. I grabbed my sword and dashed after it. No way in the Seven Thrones of Hell was I letting it get away again. I cleared the trees into a graveyard and had to duck as a rock flew at my head.

  I laughed. “You missed.”

  The hellhound glared at me amongst the crumbling gravestones. In its hybrid form, it towered over all of them. I scanned the cemetery, huffing to catch my breath. The civilized world had forgotten this place. Grass grew over the tombs and mausoleums with tattered remains of ribbons blowing in the slight breeze. The moon shimmered in a lake encroaching on the graveyard. The hellhound ripped the head from a stone angel and tossed it up and down.

  “The seer wants me to bring you. I hope you fight.” Saliva flew from its mouth as it growled that out.

  “Tonight I will answer that hope before I send you to your death.” I drew my knife with my other hand.

  It growled and threw the head at me. It leapt at me as I dipped down to avoid the flying stone. I spun around a tree, letting him crash into it, and continued around to come upon its side. My blades flashed in the moonlight, and blood gushed from his wounds. It laughed a deep rumble until its flesh began to sizzle.

  “Silver compound,” I said.

  The hellhound snarled at me and hopped back, kicking the tree. It toppled in my direction, and I jumped forward. The mutt was trying to distract me and run. I rolled and came up to slash him in the front of the leg. It hunched over in pain. I raised the blade in an arc over my head and slit its throat. The beast brought its paw across my bare flesh. It sent me flying back several feet, and I landed hard with an “oomph.” It made a gargling growl as it clutched its neck and toppled to the ground.

  The snout disappeared as the hellhound’s form shrank. The fur shortened, revealing the tanned flesh of the man I’d first seen at the bar. His eyes stared up at the stars, now blinded in death. I hissed as I poked at the long cuts in my shoulder. Luckily, no arteries had been hit. I wrapped my arm with the remains of my shirt. I would be all right. I moved to pick up my sword from where I had dropped it while flying through the air. A high-pitch whistling sound filled the air, and I jumped back. A small knife embedded itself in the corpse.

  “Oh, no. I can’t have you armed with that again.” Malantha stepped out of the trees.

  She wore a yellow sundress with two thin straps holding it up and no shoes. Her hair was pulled back from her face and hung loose around her shoulders. Her feminine appearance hid the evil that squatted in her. She held her hands behind back and rose on her toes to peer at the body behind me.

  “You have slain my hound,” she said. “I think I’ll make you regret that.”

  “He wanted me to regret things as well. You see how that turned out,” I said.

  She giggled a light airy sound. “I thought you would be taller.”

  “I thought you wouldn’t be so damn girly. It looks like we failed each other’s expectations.”

  “You can’t win this. I’ve already seen it.”

  She swayed from side to side, digging her toes in the dirt. I needed to get to my sword. I blinked at the blurriness in my eyes and swallowed at the roiling in my stomach. My arm still bled, but I could manage to fight. If only I could read what she planned. Did she have a knife behind her back? If I jumped to the side, I could grab the sundang and avoid anything she threw at me. I took a step closer.

  “I’m sure your visions have shown
you lots of things. Not all have come true,” I said.

  “You’re referring to London? I learn from my mistakes.”

  “You never did try to go after the Harkers after that. Imagine, a human oracle could best you. But it still wasn’t enough. You’re still playing this game with me after ten years. I’m winning.”

  “Are you?”

  “You never found the Van Helsings.”

  She tittered. “Not until you brought them here, wrapped in a pretty bow.”

  I went for the sword, but she was on me in seconds. She grabbed me and tossed me into a gravestone. Each of her fingers was covered in a metal claw that extended several inches beyond the tips. She wagged her index finger at me.

  My head swam, and my vision blurred. Pain shot through my shoulder. I shook my head and stood, keeping my grip on my knife. I’d lost my main weapon, but I refused to lose this one. She came at me, her fingers aimed for a strike at my throat. I evaded to the side and aimed a slice to the tendons of her right arm. She caught the blade one handed with the tips of her claws. Her other claw slashed at my abdomen. I tore myself away from her and back-pedaled. She was already behind me, moving in for another attack. I spun and just managed to parry her with my knife.

  “I can see you. Every move you make,” she sang.

  “It doesn’t matter. You can’t kill me.”

  She laughed. “I think I will test that theory.”

  I swallowed hard, panting. My chest ached from the lack of oxygen. My stomach roiled. The adrenaline had faded.

  She stepped and waved her fingers at me. Your move, the gesture said. She wore that easy smile I knew I sometimes wore. I needed to end this. My sword still rested several feet away. I ran for it. She slid in front of me, going low, and her claws raked the back of my calf. I stumbled. Her leg tangled with mine, and I tumbled into the water of the lake. I splashed about, trying to right myself. She stepped into the water, her dress floating about her. Her hand snaked out and clasped my throat.

  “You know murder is a sin. Let’s wash it away,” she said.

  She lifted me into the air and slammed me into the water. My back hit the ground, and all the air rushed from my lungs. The water covered me, filling my ears with that muted flow. I wrapped my hand around her wrist, but she held me down.

  I was trapped. No way out. The darkness filled the edges of my mind. My lungs screamed for air. She smiled down at me, her face disturbed by the surface of the water. I jammed the knife in her throat.

  Her eyes flared with yellow light like the funnel I’d seen. Her grip tightened around my throat. The blood flowed down her dress and clouded the water around me. I kicked and slammed my fists against her. She didn’t even move. I couldn’t hold back any longer. My mouth opened, and water filled my lungs. The clouded water continued to spread, darkening to match the blackness in the edges. I saw nothing.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  I kneel before the altar. My hands clasp together as my arms rest on the pew in front of me. Where there would be a statue of Cristo instead is a naked woman. She has a slew of other men and women embracing her legs as her hands rest on two heads. Along the walls stained-glass windows depict men and women in various lewd acts. Incense drifts in the air.

  She walks to me, a red light shining down on her from the windows. The nun’s habit clings to her curves with the skirt shifting against her thighs as it moves. Her face is perfection, high cheekbones and a tapered nose on flawless skin. She kneels beside me and places a hand on my thigh. Warmth spreads between my legs.

  “You are lost again, my daughter,” she says.

  I blink. How did I get here? I gasp, the air freezing in my chest. Somewhere far away I hear water lapping around me. I start to choke. She places a finger on my lips, shushing me. I sigh and resist the urge to lick her finger.

  “I know you’re tired. You have done much.” She holds her arms wide. “You don’t have to fight anymore. Come and rest.”

  My eyes grow heavy, and my head nods. Her bosom invites me like soft pillows. My son’s screams fill my ears, and I squeeze my eyes shut, but the tears still fall. For so long I’d fought and bled, trying to hold my tears back, yet the wound in my heart continues to ache. It can all end if I just say yes.

  I look into her reddish purple flaming eyes and stop myself from touching her. The beauty and peace are wrong. I blink, covering my face with my hand to block her out if just for a moment. I’m forgetting something important. The water laps louder.

  Her lips pinch together. “Why do you continue to deny me?”

  The image of a boy’s twisted grin flashes through my mind. The demon inside him eviscerated me with knives. My fists clench. “Do you really need to ask that?”

  “It only ends in misery for you. Like your last lover.”

  Dimitri’s face fills my eyes. He lays bleeding and dying at Allegra’s feet. My last hunt with him. The world crashes down on me, and my shoulders slump under its weight. My eyes flutter. I long to close them. What was the point of all this? I would never win against Allegra or this woman. The waves crash in my ears.

  I stand and move to the water basin near the double doors. The liquid is still and dark. A man’s voice calls my name, a tenor filled with sarcasm, but not now. Adrian. I step towards the door.

  She stands in the aisle, looking sad. “Why do you do this, daughter? You should accept you are mine.”

  “I’m not your daughter.” I turn my back and open the doors.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  The moon came into focus first, sitting bloated in the night sky. Adrian sat beside me. He cleared his throat and stood when I turned my head in his direction. The waters lapped over my numb legs. He’d pulled me from the water. I sat up with a groan, half-covering my face with my hand. My whole chest ached, like I’d been coughing too much. Smooth skin replaced my wounds. My hair clung to my elbows and the small of my back. I’d have to get it cut again. Death reverted me back to the way I was when Allegra had cursed me.

  The other one had come to me again. It happened every time I died. She offered me peace if I would just give in to her. Over the centuries, the scenes had changed, yet the face remained the same and I never knew her name. No, that was wrong. I suspected her name but I didn’t even want to contemplate the consequences if it was true. The one thing I knew, if Allegra was the demon who cursed me, she received her power from the other female. I put her from my mind and scanned the graveyard.

  “Did she get away?” I asked.

  Adrian pointed to the body still floating in the water. I stood and rested my hands on my knees as I waited for the dizziness to fade. Coming back always took hours to adjust to. I’d never gotten used to it, even after all this time. I dragged the body onto the shore and rolled her over. Her eyes were glass, and her face frozen in a look of shock. The girl, Brianna, must have come back to herself to feel her death. Malantha was petty enough to hold the girl’s soul long enough to feel it. Most victims of possession were trapped in their own bodies, able to experience their life but unable to control it. I pulled the dagger from her throat with a sigh.

  “Damn.” I turned back to Adrian. “You came looking for me?”

  “You’ve been missing for a while. Even Esais couldn’t find you. The police are at the cabin. You killed both demons?”

  I pointed to the girl’s body. “She escaped.”

  I moved to the werewolf and pulled my sword from its chest. I had to rest one boot on its chest to get it out. I’d buried it pretty deep. I flicked the blood on the ground and used the girl’s dress to clean both blades. Adrian watched me in silence, his face betraying nothing. I turned to him with my shoulders stiffening in defense.

  “We’re not going back to the monster argument, are we?”

  “Coming back from the dead isn’t natural. I tried to resuscitate you, but too much time had passed.”

  I shivered as I thought of Adrian’s lips on mine. Maybe it was just from being wet in the cool night air. It wasn’t
like I was attracted to him.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “We still need your expertise.” He turned back to the forest. “We should leave before the police make their way here.”

  “How can we get out of here?”

  Adrian pointed to the entrance to the cemetery. The gate hung halfway off the post. “We’re going to have to take the long way around. You think your hike through the woods can get us back to town?”

  I stared down the dirt road leading from the graveyard. I’d passed this way in my search for the hellhound, but the thing looked different in the dark. The road traveled opposite from the way I’d come in my chase.

  I nodded west of the road. “That should lead us back to the carnival. I hope you’re up for a hike.”

  The woods remained silent as we walked except for the crunching of our boots and our heavy breathing. We’d disturbed the natural peace enough tonight that all of the creatures had hidden. The shadows played across Adrian’s face. He kept his jaw set and his mouth a straight line.

  “Where is your car?” I asked.

  “One of the churches across from the carnival.”

  “I guess you didn’t expect to get this exercise when you came here.”

  He let the flashlight he brought with him splay in front of us. “I didn’t expect a lot of things.”

  “You never wanted any of this.”

  “Hmm.”

  He quickened his steps and moved ahead of me a little. I was the one supposed to lead us out. I doubled my pace, giving up on any conversation at all. The lights of the town showed through the trees, and I walked to the edge of the forest. A few cars passed along the road. I waved him in front of me. He moved with quick steps across the street and onto the side walk.

  I slid into the passenger side. “So, where are we headed?”

  “Marge took him back to her hotel.”

  “I guess she plans on moving out after this.”

  “Not with us.”