Deadly Sin (Cassandra Farbanks)

by Sonnet O'Dell

  “Someone at base called in the order,” he said in a clipped voice, “probably one of the rookies. I can find out who later ma’am.” Rourke nodded and he opened up the top box. I leaned forward to see what was inside. It was greasy and smelly, with not a vegetable in sight. It made my stomach turn.

  “Take one round to the guys,” Rourke commanded. He took the top box out into the hall. I heard the creak of stairs twice before he passed the door again to go into the kitchen. Rourke opened up the second box, revealing an equally unappealing offering and taking a slice before nudging the box towards me.

  “No thanks.”

  “Suit yourself.” She shrugged and scarfed down her slice then took a second. I let her concentrate on feeding her stomach, our conversation for the moment forgotten. The smell of the pizza made me nauseous, so I got up from the seat and walked to the other end of the room. Rourke sat down and went for her third slice.

  The curtains looked even worse close up. They were mildewed and moth eaten. I lifted the edge to look out just at Rourke had done. The delivery man was still there, standing in the open gateway at the end of the small yard. The baseball cap he wore cast his face in shadows so I couldn’t see what he looked like. He just stood there staring at the house. An uneasy knot tied in my stomach. I dropped the curtain.

  “Rourke…” I was about to tell her about his odd behavior when I heard a loud bump from behind me. Rourke had slid to the floor, dropped her slice of pizza and showed no sign she was going to pick it up or get up. Her head was bent over her chest, lolling like she was about to nod off. I dropped to my knees at her side and checked her pulse. It was slow.

  “Rourke? Rourke? Look at me, please.” She grunted and started to move her head but stopped like she’d given up on the small task already. I knew she wouldn’t like me touching her but I grabbed her chin and pulled her face up. Her skin seemed to glow with a faint, icy-blue light. Her eyes were only barely open. Her eyelids bore a symbol, the Chinese symbol for goat, Sloth. Rin was here. I had no doubt he was the one standing outside, pretending to be a pizza delivery boy. He was still out there because he was getting a feeling for the wards I’d put in place. I took Rourke by the shoulder and shook her.

  “Rourke. Get up! Fight it. Come on!” She grumbled but refused to move. I pulled back my hand, probably regretting this later, and slapped her. Her eyes rolled wider for a moment and she snarled.

  “Bitch!”

  “Fight it Rourke. Get mad and get up.”

  “It’s late and I’m tired.” I looked for a clock.

  “It’s not that late. Get up!” When she ignored me I got meaner to get a reaction. “I always thought you were incompetent and lazy. Don’t prove me right. You’re going to lose your chance. I will get all the glory yet again.” Again her eyes widened for only a second or two before her torso twisted and she slumped to the floor.

  “Bitch, I’m too tired to slap you…” She yawned. “Come here and bash your face against my palm.” Her eyes closed fully and light snores drifted up from her body. I called her name and more insults, but she was down for the count. This wasn’t good. The trap was falling apart. Awake, she might have been some good to me. Asleep, she was collateral. I didn’t think Rin would care enough to hurt them on purpose, but neither would he care if they got hurt by accident. I ran into the hallway. The two officers by the door were down, as well as the one in the kitchen. He did something to the pizza to spread it amongst all of them. They were all snoring peacefully. I shut the door to the kitchen and grabbed both of the men in the corridor by their collars. I dragged them into the living room with Rourke. I just rounded the banister to secure the man upstairs when the door blew inwards. I turned my back to it and felt splinters pound against my back. It hurt, like being battered by a hundred baseball bats at once. I lost my footing and crumpled against the stairs. I covered my face with my arm, waiting for the last pieces to fall before pushing them off. I turned to face my attacker. Rin smiled wide and frightening before crowing out his greeting and tossing his baseball cap aside.

  “Honey, I’m home.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  I gulped in big, lungfulls of air trying to calm my racing heart. He stood staring at me just outside the doorway. Outside? My brain did a quick turn. He was still outside. He couldn’t cross the threshold. I smiled kicking away the debris on my legs and turning to run up the stairs. I heard him growl as he started to punch his way through my barrier.

  The last officer was already in one of the bedrooms so I shut the door to keep him safe and contemplated my options. Going back down was not an option. Any of the rooms I led him into would have people that could get hurt. The sound of the front door exploding would wake one of the neighbors who’d call the police.

  Once they knew one of their safe houses was under attack they’d send an armed response unit. It would never arrive though before Rin got to me and overpowered me. I was hampered in a way he was not; I had a conscious. If we started fighting here and now, we could end up wrecking the house, the neighbor’s house and half the street. I turned to look out the window. A small roof jutted out underneath it. Below that was a garden that led back to a service alley where the garbage trucks picked up the household waste. So, it fell to plan C—run.

  I grabbed the window, thrust it open and climbed out onto the roof. I grabbed the lip to steady myself as my boots slipped on the tiles. It was like a solid punch to the gut when he broke through. I fell to my knees winded, letting my body slide down the roof. My heels catching in the guttering was the only thing stopping me from falling. I could hear his feet pounding on the stairs and his voice rang menacingly as he tried door after door.

  “Come out, come out, where ever you are.”

  I finally managed to breathe, a loud sound of sucking air that would reveal my location, but the relief was instantaneous. Rin appeared at the window as I clung cat-like to the outside of the house.

  “Now you’re mine.” I shook my head.

  “Nope. You got to catch me first.” I threw myself off backwards, pulling the power of air up underneath me to cushion my fall. I hit the ground as if I’d fallen onto the softest pillow. I rolled onto my front, pushed up and ran. His roaring frustration rang out behind me.

  I burst into the service alley startling a cat and made a snap decision. I ran right. I rounded the last house back onto the river bank just in time to see Rin exiting the house two doors up. I ran, away from town and away from people. No one else was going to get hurt, not if I could help it. I kept running till my legs were burning and I came to the river lock. Rin wasn’t far behind me but I couldn’t keep running like this. I was at the end of Navigation Road, lined with trade businesses and their warehouses and yards. Chain link fencing surrounded a lot of the properties. I ran for the nearest gate, crushed the lock in my hand and pulled the chain through it like it was thread. The gate swung open and I was inside. Stacks of dried lumber created a maze in which to hide, some covered by tarp that rustled in the wind, some left exposed to the elements. I darted up and across two rows, going down an aisle and coming back round on myself so I could see where he would enter. I knew the minute he arrived. The gate rattled.

  “Cassandra,” he called to me. “I grow tired of these games. Come with me and make this easy on yourself.” His form was deeply shadowed in the weak illumination of a security light so I knew where I hid was even darker. There was no way he could see me.

  Holding up my hand, I traced out a symbol in my skin, curled my fingers up and spoke whisper quiet into my hand. My fist glowed. I turned and threw my voice, like throwing a ball as far down the opposite aisle as possible. My voice exploded in the air like a detonating grenade.

  “I bet you say that to all the girls.” I heard, and then saw Rin move towards the sound. He gave me his back and I slowly side-stepped into open ground behind him. I curved my hands around the air igniting a ball of flame between them. I channeled all my strength into it and shoved it away from me at the sam
e moment. If life was an anime I would have cried out something angry sounding in Japanese. It hurtled like a comet towards him gaining momentum as it burned up the air it rushed through. It burst against his back like a cannon ball propelling him into the wood stack at the end. Wood splintered and he howled in pain. I twisted on my heel, melting back into the shadows and moved looking for a new hiding spot. He thought he would play cat and mouse, only to find his mouse was an R.O.U.S. – Rodent Of Unusual Size, something that was really going to bite back.

  I tiptoed to the end of the aisle peering around. I could see the line that I’d blasted him down from a safe distance. He staggered back into the weak light, blood running down his right cheek and arm. I hurt him, but didn’t incapacitate him. I ducked back behind the wood. I heard a loud crunch and dared peek around again. Rin had fallen to his knees. He rummaged for something in his pocket. Scattering it on the ground before him, he began to chant. His lips moved silently. I couldn’t hear what it was he meant to wreak. I carefully moved down my aisle and up the next trying to see.

  The things on the ground looked like little, plastic animal figures you get from toy stores, each a black dog. Four in total began to glow with a red light. They grew into demonic dogs, the red glow contained within their eyes and thick lines of drool between their sharp fangs.

  “Oh shit!” I said with real feeling and ran. I heard Rin bellow out a single command.

  “Fetch!”

  The pack howled, ringing chillingly through the cold air. I reached the last aisle before they came at me out of the darkness. Two in front of me and two blocking the way back. They corralled me, backing me into the corner. They snarled, licking their chops like they thought ripping me to pieces would be fun. I turned and started to climb. The beasts lunged, determined not to let me get away. One caught my leg and grazed me through my pants so that it was me that howled. I kicked it in the face with my boot and continued up. Two tried to clamber up the wood after me but I threw smaller balls of flame at them. The fire singed their paws and I caught a whiff of burning plastic. I had to get out of the open. I would be a sitting duck up here once Rin caught up to his hounds. I crouched low and scanned the directions. If I headed back for the gate I could be caught on the run, and my leg was already throbbing in pain. I needed to find a safe spot to deal with my wound and re-assess my plan. I headed for the building along the top of the stacks as fast as I could. I heard a shout and a section of wood exploded just behind me. The splinters flew into the air like shrapnel. A splinter about the size of a ballpoint pen found a home in my calf. I was brought to one knee, but pushed up and kept going. I leaped for the building’s roof and tumbled straight through a skylight. I hit metal with an oof and glass rained around me. I lay stunned, waiting for my body to stop throbbing like one big bruise. When I could, I raised my head to look around and saw I was on a gantry over a warehouse filled by even more wood and wood products. I grabbed the railing and pulled myself slowly to my feet. I looked down at my leg and saw wood jutting out. It now hurt worse.

  The warehouse was quiet except for the slow plink plink of my blood as it dripped onto the metal walkway. The sound of the hounds outside cut off and I prayed that somewhere a silent alarm was ringing. I hoped for that back up with all my heart. I bent over, took a deep breath and curling my fingers around the wood in my leg, ripped it out. I muffled my scream with my other arm and the pain danced in spots before my eyes. I threw it angrily to the floor.

  “Here’s hoping I don’t get an infection,” I grumbled quietly to myself and hobbled slowly to rest behind what looked like bags of sawdust. I slowly unbuttoned the shirt revealing the pink vest top underneath. I tore it into strips and bounded both my wounds. I would owe Jareth a shirt.

  The sound of feet on metal made me still. I tried to keep my breathing quiet, determined not to give my position away. The footsteps came closer.

  “Give up princess, I’ve been at this longer than you. You can’t fight me forever and you can’t out run me.” The sawdust bag next to me exploded and I dived into view. “And you certainly can’t hide from me.” I glared up at him.

  “For someone who wants me alive, you’re doing a good impression of trying to kill me.” He walked towards me cocky. I could see the puffy pink scar radiating from the corner of his left eye where I’d raked him with my keys. I’d ripped him from socket to jaw.

  “You’ll be surprised what you can live through.”

  I started to push myself up when he squatted in front of me, took my chin in his hand and raised my face to look at him.

  “You’re cute when you’re angry.”

  “Yeah well, I’m about to get real fucking adorable.” I smashed my head into his nose. He staggered back and fell to his butt as blood blossomed. I pushed to my feet and headed for the way he must have come up. His fist wrapped around my ankle, pulling my feet out from under me. My face smashed painfully against the grate. I felt sure the side of my face would look like a waffle. I looked down my body at him. He was angry too, trying to pull me towards him hand over hand. I kicked at him, the heel of my boot making contact with his bicep, shoulder and neck, but it didn’t slow his progress. He was soon straddling me, his nose dripping blood down a puffy upper lip. His hands wrapped around my throat, crushing the air from me. I struggled and clawed at his hands and arms, but he would not loosen his hold. He was going to squeeze till I passed out. I could not lose consciousness. I called on the fire. It rose from my hands, up my arms and around my torso and neck. It burned his hands where he held me and forced him to let me go. Air rushed in and I let the fire flare out from me so he had to scramble back or be barbequed on top of me. I lay there burning like a pyre while my throat opened back up painfully. My breath sawed through my lungs. The flame warmed the metal, dripped through and something below caught. I sat up slowly. Rin looked around. He stared down below as the fire spread from stack of wood to stack of wood. I could see in his eyes that he recognized what we were now sitting on – a huge bonfire – and he was afraid. He looked around and I followed his eyes as they landed on a fire exit. We got to our feet and he ran for it. Rather than chase him, I grabbed one of the bags of sawdust, felt it catch and threw it ahead of him. It burst into flames in his path. I threw a second bag, and a third so it burned thick and fast up the walls and stopped his escape. The fires below were now an inferno of flames billowing large clouds of black smoke. Rin began to cough as it filled his lungs.

  “Where are you going Rin? You wanted me. I’m right here.” I threw flares, increasing the heat, flames and smoke. I would take him down with the fire I controlled and could withstand. I felt that cold mind threaten to break free, feeling the rapture of my dominion. I raised my arms up at my sides like I was spreading wings. The fire danced in shapes above my skin and the warmth enveloped me. Rin was on his knees, holding the railing and choking on the fumes and smoke. He thought himself a hunter, but when prey is cornered is when it’s most dangerous. I was going to prove that to him by taking his life. It was mine. It was owed me.

  The sound of metal groaning from beneath shook me before the gangway did. I held onto the railing and looked over the edge. The fire raged out of control, burning so hot the metal bolts were blowing out of the supports and warping the metal. It groaned again, tilting and swaying. The right side collapsed and I lost sight of Rin as his body fell with it. I clung to the railing as the gang walk detached and hung over the precipice of fire. I scrambled to pull myself up the grates, digging my fingers through the little holes and pulling with every muscle in my arms. I felt the bolts shuddering, unable to hold the weight. It swayed back and forth. I stilled my movement to stop the swaying, letting it come to a halt so I could re-assess.

  Below, the fire raged, licking at the sole of my shoes. I still had a length of my body before I could reach the more secure side. The metal loops were twisted and barely held in place by their bolts. I reached up experimentally, and everything swayed again dangerously. I held very, very still. I had two o
ptions, make a quick scramble before it gave way, or let go and drop to an uncertain landing on the floor below. I knew the fire wouldn’t hurt me but the height could break bone. I did not need the pain.

  I braced my feet against the rail and used my legs to propel me up, but it wasn’t enough. I managed to dig my fingers back into the grate as it swung wildly, detaching and sending me spiraling into the flame. I heard a sickening crunch as I hit a stack of the burning wood with my back again and again as I fell to the floor. The metal walkway fell on top of me pinning my legs awkwardly. Trying to push with my feet became futile. I couldn’t make them move. I could see where the metal pinned me, but I couldn’t feel the pressure because I realized – I couldn’t feel my legs. That sickening crunch had been my spine. I prayed I could heal that. I lay my head down on my arms, taking just a minute to enjoy the purer air below the fire. My eyes fluttered closed enraptured by the warmth.

  “Cassandra?” A frantic voice called my name. I raised my head trying to see who was calling me. The smoke stung my eyes and the heat made the air shimmer. I could make out the shape of a man coming towards me. I waved one hand. I didn’t know who my savior was, but right then, I didn’t care.

  “I’m here. Over here. My legs are trapped. I can’t feel them.” I coughed a little and my eyes brimmed with tears as the fear returned. As they got closer, I could more clearly see that it was a man. From my position on the floor I mostly noticed his shoes, black leather with a high sheen. I didn’t know how he’d get me free but he walked right down to the obstruction pinning me and tossed it aside like it was nothing. I heard it clatter to the ground several feet away. One arm swooped around my shoulder and I saw the other tuck under my useless legs, lifting me up. He began carrying me out. I tried to see the face of my rescuer but my eyes were unfocused. I thought I saw him smile, not the predatory grin like Rin had, but a smile that seemed to convey relief. I held on to the last of my consciousness desperately waiting for him to speak again, to identify himself, but I was out before I could even see his face.