Vision of Serpents

by Vincent Morrone

Something shifted in Scarlett’s face.

  “I didn’t want to hurt either of them,” she said. “I was glad Aunt Breanne made it. She wasn’t a McKnight by blood; she just had the bad taste to marry one. I felt bad that she lost her son. And I liked Bryan. I really wanted that blast to take out his father, but Bryan stayed behind. He didn’t even remember that I had him play with the gas line.”

  “Scarlett, why?” Dante asked. His voice cracked as he wept with grief. “How are you—?”

  “She’s one of them,” Balthazar said. “She’s a no good, rotten Blackburn.”

  Dante looked stunned. His knees nearly buckled as he listened.

  “We’re no good?” Scarlett asked. She turned on Balthazar, completely unconcerned with the fact that he was armed. Or, she was at least pretending not to be concerned. “I heard all the stories from my father before he died. How you people were responsible for hurting our family. When he died, I waited until my chance to come and fight for them. I know about family loyalty!”

  She spun to face me now.

  “You’ve made friends with our blood enemies, and I’ve tried to keep you alive. I really have. I liked you. I thought it would be great to keep you around. There are so few Blackburn women, and those things are scared of you; I figured you must be powerful. They told me you could live, as long as you and Payne broke up. I offered to have him killed, but they told me he couldn’t die. They wanted you dead, but I convinced them to spare you if I could get you away from Payne, and make you fall for Dante. But you just wouldn’t break, would you?”

  “You tried,” I said. “Every time I see Payne, I get this flash of anger. That’s you, isn’t it? You did that?”

  “That’s me, all right,” Scarlett said with a laugh. “It should have been easy, but you fought it. You’re afraid of being in love, aren’t you? I get a sense of your feelings when I touch you.”

  She looked at Balthazar with disgust.

  “That’s something he can’t do. I pushed Payne to pressure you to give him what he already wanted. Just to say that you loved him. I pushed you, too. I pushed and pushed and you still wouldn’t just break away from him. Even when you saw Payne and Priscilla together, you still wouldn’t tell him to go to hell. I’ve never had someone resist me like that.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you,” I said.

  “I sent old Balthazar here on you the first time to try and scare you,” she continued. “Thought Dante here could ride in to rescue you, but that wasn’t enough. I sent Balthazar for a second time, but you were never in any real danger. I forbid him to hurt either of you or Dante. But then Payne showed up to play the hero. So when little ol’ Balthazar escaped and found me, I came up with this plan. Grab your nerdy cousin and his pathetic girlfriend and force you and Dante to work together to get them back. He wasn’t supposed to tell you about me.”

  “She had it all figured out. Make me do the dirty work. Have me take the fall.” Balthazar pointed the gun right at Scarlett. She didn’t flinch.

  “Oh, please,” she said. “You can’t kill me, and you know it. But give me your hand. Let me touch you, and I’ll let you kill Bristol. That’s what you want, isn’t it? You can hurt her to your little perverted heart’s delight.”

  Balthazar laughed at her. “Oh, I plan on having my fun, but you need to die first. The way I see it, if you’re dead, all those little pushes that keep messing me up will lift.”

  Now Scarlett laughed.

  “And how do you plan on killing me?” she asked. “You can’t do it, can you? Go ahead. Pull the trigger. I dare you!”

  Balthazar aimed the gun again and for a moment, it seemed like that’s what he was going to do. The gun trembled and finally he gave up.

  “No,” Balthazar said. “I can’t. But she can.”

  He looked at me.

  “Me?” I said. “I’m not a killer. Even after all she’s done, I can’t kill her in cold blood. Especially not when you just want to turn around and kill me anyway.”

  Scarlett laughed. Dante looked ready to cry.

  “Well,” Balthazar said. “You’re right. I do plan on killing you. But there are different ways to do it. There’s the quick and easy way, and then there’s the slow and fun way. I give you my word that if you kill her, I’ll make yours quick. You won’t feel a thing.”

  “Oh, gee,” I said. “What a swell offer. Let me think about that a little bit. I think I’ll decline.”

  Balthazar laughed.

  “I thought you might. Let me sweeten the deal. See this?” He was holding a cell phone in his left hand. “Now take a look behind you, in that cabinet there.”

  I turned and saw a metal cabinet behind me. Slowly I approached and opened the door. There was a hunting knife on a metal shelf, big enough to gut a deer. There was also a small TV with no picture on it.

  “Turn it on,” Balthazar said.

  I pushed the power button. The screen flickered to life and I saw Simon and Skyler in a small room, tied back-to-back in two chairs. They were gagged. Wherever they were, it was a small, dark room. The room was filled with junk and behind them was a desk. On top of the desk, I saw a digital clock, but instead of displaying the time; its red numbers were counting down towards zero. There was less than thirty minutes left.

  “That’s ten pounds of C4,” Balthazar said. “It’s hooked up to a cell phone. If I send this call, they go boom. In a half hour, if it’s not defused, they go boom. So you see, I’ve got the ace up my sleeve this time.”

  “No,” I begged. “Leave them alone. They have nothing to do with this.”

  “Don’t they?” he asked. “Your cousin may not be much of a threat now, but who knows what he’ll be in five years. The girl’s just along for the ride. Of course, I don’t really care what happens to them. Hell, I don’t really care what happens to the rest of my family at this point. I plan on leaving this town and bringing a world of hurt on anyone I feel like. But in order to do that, you need to kill Scarlett. You know you want to. She killed your cousin. You want her dead. Pick up that knife and gut her.”

  I stared at the picture of Simon and Skyler. I was terrified for them. I looked up and saw Eric. Nobody knew he was there but me. He signaled me to hang on. I just needed to stall.

  Balthazar grabbed me by the back of my neck. “Pick it up!”

  I knew he was using his ability on me, but I couldn’t stop myself. The words kept repeating in my head, urging me to grab the knife. I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

  Fight it, I said to myself. Resist.

  But my hand reached out to take the knife. Only then did I feel relief from the push. I held it like I’d hold a dead fish.

  “That’s a good girl,” Balthazar said. “Now kill her.”

  I shook my head. The suffocating feeling returned,

  “C’mon, girl,” he urged me. “I know you can do it. I imagine she’ll put up a fight, but I think you’ll win.”

  “Oh, she’s not going to kill me,” Scarlett said, looking at me with disgust. “She doesn’t have it in her. She’s weak. Falling for a McKnight—she’s weak and stupid.

  “But I’m not,” she said, and snapped her fingers.

  Someone emerged from behind Balthazar. It was Mr. Underhill, Dante’s father, with a handgun trained on Balthazar.

  “So,” Scarlett said. “Here’s what’s going to happen. My stepfather here is going to kill all of you, except maybe Dante. I think I can push him to remember today differently. We’ll see. I’ve been pushing my brother for so long, I don’t even have to be touching him for it to work. After he’s done here, he’ll take the cell phone and walk over to rescue the kids, except the bomb will go off and kill all of them. What a pity. Sorry, Bristol, I’d let them live, but with all the talking he’s just done, I’ve got no way of knowing how much this idiot said in front of them.”

  “Dad,” Dante said. “What are you doing?”

  But Mr. Underhill didn’t respond. He just kept t
he gun aimed at Balthazar. His eyes were glazed over, much like Dante’s had been when he was talking on the phone, before. Only more so. His face was devoid of an emotion.

  “Don’t bother,” Scarlett said as she took the gun and cell phone from Balthazar. “He can’t hear you. I’ve got him well trained.”

  To prove her point, she touched her stepfather’s arm and whispered something into his ear.

  Mr. Underhill nodded walked over to his son. In one quick movement, he slammed his fist into Dante’s gut. Dante fell to his knees, gasping for air. Then, Mr. Underhill pulled Dante up and aimed the gun at his own son.

  “He’ll do it,” Scarlett said. “He’ll blow you away. He’d never be the same again, but he’d do it if I tell him to. I don’t want to tell him, Dante. I’ve gotten used to you being in my life. I can make you forget that you loved her. Just come over here and let me.”

  Dante shook his head.

  “No,” he said. “You can’t kill Bristol. I’m not going to let you.”

  “Let me?” Scarlett laughed. “Sweetie, you can’t stop me. You’ve never been able to resist anything I wanted you to do.” She moved closer to Dante and put her hand on his face. “Turn around and face her.”

  Slowly, Dante turned. His eyes were moist with tears that wouldn’t fall. I could feel him trying to fight her.

  “Kiss her,” she said.

  I started to move away, but Scarlett wagged her finger at me. If I did, she’d have Mr. Underhill kill me instead.

  Slowly, Dante leaned in and kissed me. It was gentle and sweet, and it was the first time I’d ever kissed him, or kissed anyone other than Payne.

  When the kiss ended, I looked into his beautiful gray eyes. He was fighting Scarlett, but losing.

  “Stop it,” I said to her, once Dante pulled back. “Don’t make him do this. You’re hurting him.”

  “I know,” Scarlett sighed. “And it’s such a shame. Dante always tried to be a good brother to me. Even when he was upset over his mother being killed, he was kind to me. That’s why I had Dante’s father kill his mother. So we could be one, big happy family. I didn’t like it when Dante left to go stay with his mom. He belonged with us. It’s going to be hard to get him to forget that I was responsible, but I can do it.”

  She slowly smiled. “I can get him to do anything. Dante, slap Bristol in the face. Hard.”

  I tried to prepare myself for the slap, but it didn’t happen. Dante just looked at me. His eyes went from sad to angry; his face contorted in pain. His hands were balled into fists, twitching in resistance, but he didn’t move.

  Scarlett seemed genuinely shocked.

  “Dante,” she said forcefully. “Slap Bristol’s face. Now!”

  I could feel the struggle within him. He was fighting her. Slowly, his hand rose in the air. It came towards my face. I braced for the blow.

  His hand lovingly touched my cheek.

  “Well,” Scarlett said. “This is the first time he’s refused to do what I say. You’re an even bigger threat than I thought. No wonder those shadow things want you out of the way.”

  She grabbed Dante’s arm and pulled him away from me. Shoving him aside, she grabbed her stepfather’s hand and whispered something in his ear.

  Mr. Underhill raised the gun, aiming it at my head. I closed my eyes, and waited for what seemed like forever.

  A deafening gunshot filled the air.

  - eighteen -

  Three Little Words

  I fully expected that blast to be the last thing that I heard, but it wasn’t. There was a crash, followed by shouting, and lots of noise all around me. I slowly opened my eyes, assuming that I had just become one of the ghosts that I’ve been talking to all of my life, but I quickly realized that I was still alive.

  It was Payne. He had tackled Mr. Underhill just as the gun went off. They were on the floor, rolling around and fighting for control of the weapon. The gun went off again as they struggled and Payne was shot in the shoulder. He was bleeding badly, but already healing and fighting with everything he had.

  They struggled with the gun, wrestling around the empty office, breaking through moldy, decayed drywall and kicking up dust as they fought.

  Mr. Underhill had over fifty pounds on Payne. He was also built like a brick wall. However, there was a difference in how they were fighting. Mr. Underhill was in a trance state. His movements were almost mechanical. No emotion was displayed on his face.

  Payne was fighting for someone he loved. Fury was etched on his face as he pounded at Mr. Underhill.

  Scarlett backed away from the brawl. Her stepfather was her ace in the hole and Payne was taking that away. Balthazar was fixated on his son. I grabbed Dante and pulled him away from Scarlett.

  There was a crash as Mr. Underhill and Payne hit into the window on the far wall. I watched what was left of the glass crack. Mr. Underhill tried to re-aim the gun towards me. Payne grabbed him. They both fell back into the glass again and fell through, plummeting ten stories down.

  I ran over, screaming Payne’s name. Both of their broken bodies lay broken on the ground below, blood pooling around them. By the angle of his neck, I knew Mr. Underhill was dead. The only reason why Payne might not be is because he’s Payne, but he wasn’t moving yet. Could this be the one time that his power wouldn’t work?

  I could hear the distant sounds of sirens. My uncle was coming, and I was guessing he wasn’t alone.

  “Dad?” Dante was coming out of whatever trance Scarlett had put him into. “Is he . . . ”

  He staggered over to the window, where he saw his father’s shattered body. He fell to his knees and began to weep. For a moment, I thought he was going to fall out of the window, himself, but he just collapsed back against the floor and closed his eyes.

  I peered out again. Mr. Underhill was alone. Payne was probably on his way back up.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, although it seemed so inadequate.

  Dante was shaking, obviously trying to comprehend how his life had suddenly just imploded. His father had nearly killed him. His stepsister was responsible for his mother’s death. He had his hands pressed to his eyes. I wanted to comfort him, but I knew the danger wasn’t over.

  I turned around to see Scarlett with her hands on Balthazar. She was whispering in his ear.

  “No problem,” Balthazar said. He took the gun from her and headed my way. “You’ve been a pain in my ass since you came to town. I was going to take my time with you, but now I’ll just kill you quickly.”

  Payne burst back into the room. He was panting from running up from the ground floor after his fall at record speed, but he was here. His shirt was ripped and bloody, and when I looked at him, I felt that anger start to rise in me; the anger that Scarlett had planted in my head. But I locked eyes with Payne and allowed myself to forgive him. I let go of the anger.

  All that was left was love.

  Balthazar’s gun was still trained on me. I don’t think I’d ever seen Payne look so afraid.

  “Dad,” Payne said. “Please. Please don’t hurt her. If you’ve ever loved me, please don’t.”

  Balthazar looked over at Payne and smiled.

  “Hey, son. Say goodbye to Bristol.”

  Payne ran at him, but he was too far away to stop him or protect me when Balthazar fired.

  Something solid hit me. I felt myself falling back, heard Scarlett scream, and looked up to see Dante with a look of astonishment on his face. He was clutching his chest with both hands. Blood was beginning to pool around his hands as his knees gave out.

  He fell back and I rushed over, pressing my hands to his wound.

  Across the room, Payne and Balthazar went after each other with a relentless fury. Balthazar commanded Payne to stop, but Payne refused. He never hesitated as he continued to pummel his father, getting retribution for a lifetime of abuse and torment.

  Under my hands, Dante’s chest wound continued to gush blood, and he was gro
wing paler by the moment. The lively look in his beautiful eyes was growing distant, and his breathing was getting more labored by the moment.

  “Police! Everybody freeze!”

  Uncle Mark rushed into the room, and pulled Payne off of his father. Balthazar collapsed in a heap, barely conscious. Quickly, Uncle Mark moved in and cuffed Balthazar.

  “We need an ambulance!” I yelled.

  Uncle Mark held on to Balthazar with one hand, and used the other to reach for the radio attached to his shirt. “I need backup and a bus to the abandoned office building near the McKnight storage center A.S.A.P.”

  Dante grabbed my hand. “It was real,” he said weakly.

  “What?” I asked. I had no idea what he was saying. “What was real?”

  Dante closed his eyes for a moment. His breath was getting shallow.

  “I love you,” he said, forcing his eyes open again. “I want you to know that. I n-need you to know that it was real for me.”

  He reached up and touched my face. He dried my tears with his thumb and gently traced my chin with his finger. Then his eyes shifted, and he looked behind me.

  “Take care of our girl,” Dante said.

  Payne knelt by my side and reached out to Dante.

  “Stop talking like that. The ambulance will be here in a minute. You’ll be okay.”

  Dante gave me one last goofy grin.

  I leaned in. My face hovered inches above his. From this angle, I saw sweat roll off of his forehead. He was weak and exhausted and slipping away.

  “Please believe me,” he said. “I love you. I only wished you could have loved me back.”

  I wanted to say something to give him the strength to hold on, but it was too late.

  With one last gasp, the life drained from Dante’s eyes.

  “This is all your fault!”

  Scarlett was glaring at me. Hatred poured out of her. She was backing away from us, inching towards the exit.

  “You should have loved him,” Scarlett said. “Why couldn’t you? Why are you even friends with the McKnights?”

  “What are you talking about?” Uncle Mark asked her. When Scarlett didn’t respond, Uncle Mark looked towards me. “Bristol?”