Congregation Of Darkness (Full Moon Series Book 2)

by P. Mattern

  “The RV has a toilet, Carey, you meany. We should be fine. And what about poor Loki?” Kimbra snapped back, winding her long hair up into a french twist and sticking a large tortoise shell hair accessory through it.

  “Yeah I forgot this rig has a toilet-though I know nothing about maintenance on chemical toilets. I’ll have to google that. And as for Loki I’ll play it by ear.”

  “Where are we going, Carey?” Aunt Ida asked.

  Carey had already thought about that. When he looked at Kimbra she looked as though she couldn’t wait to hear Carey’s answer.

  “Well actually we’re taking the scenic tour-dipping down to the Marengo Caves near the Blue River and then on to our destination-the fabulous All-American City of Fort Hunt, Indiana. Nice midsize Midwestern town with its own Zoo and Philharmonic Orchestra. Moderate snowfall, second largest city in Indiana, surrounded by picturesque tourist traps and lots of corn fields. “

  Kimbra looked skeptical.

  “And how did you arrive at this decision on our ultimate destination- exactly?”

  Carey smiled sheepishly.

  “A ladybug flew in the window while you ladies were spiffing up and landed on the map at the precise moment when I was trying to figure out where we should go. And guess where is landed?”

  “Fort Hunt, Indiana.” Kimbra answered, a wry smile on her face.”Wow. Strategic genius.”

  “I took it as a sign of course,” Carey replied, looking as if he wanted to burst out laughing, ”Being the superstitious type that I am.”

  “Well it sounds fine to me. And far enough away…that’s the main thing.”Kimbra replied.

  Simultaneously Carey and Kimbra shot a glance toward the back of the RV where Aunt Ida, comfortably stuffed with fast food, seemed to have drifted off into one of her cat naps. Loki was lying at her feet, dreaming, Carey reflected, whatever convoluted dreams shapeshifters dream. Turning to face each other and smiling wordlessly, they began to kiss, gently at first, and then with more passion as Carey unhooked his seatbelt and lowered his body gently on top of the reclining Kimbra, gathering her into his arms. Their passion was ignited by their emotionally fraught departure and their desperate circumstances, and each craved the touch of the other. Kimbra pulled off Carey’s black teeshirt and then her own, so that she could avail herself of much skin on skin contact as possible. The sensuality between them was simultaneously narcotic and electric; it restored her frayed emotions, allayed all her apprehensions. She felt as though she were falling weightlessly into a deep, warm, pleasure pool, and every fiber of her being urged her to yield to Careys exploring hands and ragged breathing.

  Until she remembered her promise, and she knew she had to stop.

  She felt Carey’s body slump as she put her hands upon his shoulders in a staying manner. It was a signal he knew well…a signal he’d agreed to heed out of love and respect for her. Suddenly she felt terrible for asking him to stop, knowing all the difficulties he’d been through.

  Moving to a nearly sitting position she placed her hand on his belt buckle. He looked at her inquisitively.

  “Just you.” she whispered, as she unfastened the buckle and unzipped his pants.

  Carey groaned and repositioned himself to give her better access. And then groaned again as her touch brought him to release.

  He held her in his arms afterward for as long as they dared. The rest stop was filling up with families and even though they knew the tinted windows assured privacy there was also the chance that Aunt Ida might wake up and realize that they weren’t moving.

  “I love you Kimbra.” Carey intoned, looking at her. Her face was flushed and the humidity had caused curling tendrils of her hair to escape the hair clip she had put in earlier. To Carey she seemed like a goddess, a goddess that had just gifted him with a wonderful tension release.

  “Did I do it right?” Kimbra couldn’t keep from asking, her imploring eyes looking into his.

  Carey wanted to laugh as he thought of a few humorous replies but didn’t want to risk offending her. Her earnestness was refreshing and endearing and caused him to love her even more.

  “Everything you do is perfect.” he assured her. He wanted to add that despite the countless times he’d pleasured himself in the same way it felt much better when SHE did it, but decided that discretion was the better choice.

  Carey cranked up the motor of the RV which came alive after a brief initial sputter. He and Kimbra smiled at each other, intimate smiles, buoyant with feelings of being young and free and together.

  Carey turned on the radio and began singing and seat dancing along with a Bob Seeger song about being a rambling, gambling man, which amused Kimbra. As they traveled the day finally cleared up, lifted and brightened.

  In spite of everything-or maybe BECAUSE of everything-it was one of the happiest moments of Carey’s young life.

  The scenic tour Carey had planned took the traveling trio to the bottom of the state of Indiana and back. One of their sightseeing stops involved the Marengo Caves, a series of underground caverns located in the prehistoric karstlands of the state. The inside of the caverns provided a colorful and bizarre seemingly alien landscape that made up for the platonic flatness and lack of notable geographic features on the above ground level of Indiana. The rich sienna and topaz colors of the rock formations were breathtaking. Some of the formations seemed to be mammoth clusters of flowers made of gemstone. Kimbra took lots of pictures, and the group rubbed the twin ’lucky stones’ that had originally been two rock formations that gleamed a dull yellow and looked like the caps to two giant stone mushrooms, but after being rubbed for luck by thousands of tourists since the early 1940’s appeared to be polished giant cabochon topazes.

  After the cave tour, Carey happened to notice a strange tall man staring at him from the periphery of the tourist village that appeared to be of America Indian descent. Carey tried to reassure himself that he wasn’t actually being stared at, but every time he casually glanced in the direction of the Indian , the Indian’s black eyes were watching him unblinkingly.

  Carey leaned his head down toward Kimbra. Aunt Ida was involved in an animated conversation with another older lady her age.

  “Don’t look up suddenly or anything,” he said, “But over by the log fencing around the restrooms…there’s an Indian looking dude in a black teeshirt that can’t take his eyes off of me. Have a look around and see if he’s still staring, but do it casually, as if you’re just looking around.”

  Gracefully Kimbra shaded her eyes with one hand and made a 180 degree sweep of their surroundings as if she were looking for someone.

  Smiling as she turned back to Carey she said, ”Yep. He’s got a bead on you. Is he making you feel paranoid? Because I can tell you with 100% certainty that he’s not from Cassis. “

  Carey smiled back casually, his body language devoid of tension, as if he were only a tourist discussing pleasantries with his pretty girlfriend.

  “He is fiercely creeping me out, K-I mean the hair on the back of my neck is standing up. He looks just like one of the things that attacked me.”

  “ So…” he continued, tossing his empty Dr. Pepper can in a perfect arc through the air and into an open trash receptacle ,”Let’s gather up Aunt Ida and go…now!”

  Aunt Ida and Kimbra walked arm and arm toward the RV-the gravel covered parking lot provided uneven footing and Kimbra was concerned that Carey’s aunt might trip and fall. As quickly as possible the young couple made sure that Aunt Ida was comfortable and Carey started the ignition, backing the RV out of its designated space in order to get on the road.

  As he was backing out he froze as he saw in the sideview mirrors the Indian standing in the parking lot some distance behind the Winnebago . Gauging the distance as sufficient berth so that he wouldn’t run the Indian over, Carey continued to back up slowly until the driver’s window of the RV was parallel with him, then rolled down the window.

  “Hey dude!” he called down from the driver’s seat t
o the man, who was standing statue-like in the same spot he’d been standing in when Carey first noticed him behind them. “Are you lost or anything?”

  Without speaking a word the Indian took three long strides until he was a scant foot away from Carey. Carey could see that the Indian was wearing a necklace that appeared to be made of human teeth-all sizes- strung on a long strip of leather. Carey’s senses went into hyperdrive at that point. At that proximity he could even smell the man , a fetid, noxious odor that threatened to gag him.

  It was the odor of an infected boil, or rotting flesh, as well as stonedust and fecund earth. It was only the second time in his life he had ever smelled something like that .

  And the first time he had smelled that odor, he had nearly died.

  Carey became aware that Kimbra was speaking to him continuously in a tension filled low voice, but at that moment he didn’t care. He watched as the Indian reached for the door handle of the RV, tugged on it hard enough to cause the entire vehicle to vibrate, and got a disappointed look on his face as the locked door didn’t immediately open. This was immediately followed by a metallic ripping sound.

  “CAREY!!!!” Kimbra was screaming now.”CAREY MOOOOOOVE!!!”

  Carey gave a slight shake to his head as if awakening from a trance and floored the old vehicle in reverse. Then, putting it in drive, moved toward the exit of the tourist village.

  Kimbra was still talking a blue streak, asking him what was wrong with him, but he couldn’t concentrate on what she was saying. Behind him the Indian stood in the parking lot, laughing soundlessly , showing rows of pointed teeth as he did so. He was slowly waving a metallic object in his right hand.

  It was the door handle to the RV.

  It was fully five minutes before Carey could utter a word. Kimbra was livid, her face completely flushed and still spouting off angry sounding words in a low enough tone so that Aunt Ida, who was hard of hearing anyway and had blissfully slept through the encounter with the Indian, wouldn’t awaken.

  “What WAS that Carey?” Kimbra was hissing, perspiration shining on her upper lip.”Why did you let that creep get so close to us? It was like you were frozen or something! Were you that scared? Because, you know, if it had been ME driving I would have gotten the lead out and gotten the hell out of there as soon as I saw him!”

  Carey found his voice.

  “I’m sorry Kimbra-I can’t explain it. I think that it was one of the things that attacked me. It was like a fascination thing…once I realized that I’d come face to face with one of them I couldn’t look away! It was sort of mesmerizing, kind of an approach/avoidance thing. I really can’t explain it…but I’m sorry that I choked back there. I didn’t mean to upset you!”

  Loki had poked his head between the front seats and was also looking at Carey accusingly. Carey found the scrutiny of TWO pairs of baleful eyes too much to take.

  “Okay I apologize to BOTH of you! Like I said, I can’t explain the-feeling- that I had. I wanted to run, but I also was sort of drawn toward that Indian for some reason.

  He could have been one of the gang that attacked me…maybe that was it!”

  Kimbra seemed to relax back against her seat.”I just don’t want any more trouble. Safety first, right?”

  Carey reached over to place a hand on her knee.”Agreed.”

  Loki gave a low growl deep in his throat that reminded Carey of a human muttering, ”Idiot!”

  Carey had studied the map of the area around Fort Hunt and found that it adjoined the North end of a good sized wooded area. Camping was allowed in certain areas in the Park surround and there were rest facilities :picnic tables, grills ,water fountains and campground restrooms on the property also. He figured that it was time to stay parked for awhile and familiarize themselves with the area. Using a Google search he had also identified several Residential Care facilities that might accept Aunt Ida for a couple months until he and Kimbra could find a permanent place to stay. He was concerned about his Aunt-even though she’d been cheerful and hadn’t complained, he didn’t feel that she was up to the challenge of life on the road…and her comfort was a priority. He felt guilty about removing her from her home in Cassis, and had bothered to contact his one cousin that periodically checked on Aunt Ida to let him know that they were on a ‘vacation’ and to have the cousin look after Aunt Ida’s property while they were away. Carey could tell that looking after the hygiene and comfort of his aunt was a burden on Kimbra although she never complained either, and he felt guilty about that also.

  Looking over at Kimbra as they sped down the highway Carey noticed that she had fallen asleep with Loki’s head in her lap, and Loki seemed zonked out as well. Carey, on the other hand felt curiously refreshed, as though he’d downed several Red Bulls and was ready to drive on for hours. Reaching forward he turned up the radio, keeping it low enough so that none of his sleeping passengers awakened, and continued along the road, surrounded on both sides with the emerging spring greens of the recently planted soybeans and other crops pushing their way through the soil.

  After several hours the RV reached the outskirts of Fort Hunt. Unlike Cassis, which lacked sidewalks in places and had a dusty, ‘one horse town’ look and feel to it, the second largest city in the state of Indian had a more urban look. As soon as Carey reached the downtown area he gently awakened Kimbra so that she could see it.

  It was one of the cleanest cities he’d ever seen.

  Even the poorer areas, with their rundown looking homes from the Victorian era were kept up fairly well. There were little art nooks and Tea and Coffee Shops located at odd intervals, several museums and a huge stadium.

  To Carey’s eyes, it looked like home.

  Kimbra smiled and nodded at him approvingly, her eyes still had a sleepy look from her recent nap. As she leaned forward to replace the map they’d been using in the glove compartment she suddenly cried out, making Loki lift his head as he lay on the floor between the seats.

  “OW!” she said , shaking her right hand in the air rapidly.”Paper cut! And it smarts, too!”

  Carey pulled over into a convenient space in front of a City/County Building.

  “Here, let me see, ”he said, holding out his hand so that Kimbra could place her hand with the injured finger in it.”I think there’s a first aid kit in here somewhere. Every RV has got one.”

  Resisting an impulse to put the finger in her mouth, Kimbra let him examine it.

  As Carey looked down at the slice along the side of Kimbra’s index finger, near the fingernail, a drop of blood begin to form in the middle of the slice, where it had been cut the deepest. As soon as the drop of blood hit his field of vision he began to automatically bear down visually on the drop of blood, as if his eyes had a telephoto lens feature that was kicking in. He also was aware of the bouquet the blood was giving off.

  Something tantalizingly wet, mouthwatering…and forbidden.

  Just as something inside of him-dark and lustful- rose upwards and a reddish miasma descended over his visual field he summoned his last vestige of self-control and threw Kimbra’s hand back into her lap, safely away from him.

  “Carey!” Kimbra had a worried look on her face, and,as she gazed up at him, something else.

  She was repulsed.

  “Fangs,” she whispered softly, more to herself then to him. ,”Oh Carey, Oh Carey, do you want to bite me?”

  Carey slammed his head back into the driver’s seat headrest hard and, groaning, covered his face with his long fingers. Kimbra noticed with a shock that the backs of his hands were covered with curious white scars in odd looking patterns. It was the closest glimpse she’d ever had of his scars.

  Carey was thinking that the honest answer to Kimbra’s question was a resounding ”YES!”-he wanted to freak her and feed on her and ravish her every way imaginable. And take his time doing it too.

  Instead he took his hands away from his face as he felt his fangs retract.

  “It’s the blood, K. And I can control this.
I will never hurt you, do you believe me?”

  “I want to.” Kimbra answered , choosing her words carefully.”But it wasn’t just the fangs, Carey-the look on your face, the look in your eyes…you looked like someone else-someone I don’t know at all.”

  Before Carey could reply she reached across the space between their seats and took his chin in her left hand. Carey thought she was going to kiss him, but what she did next he couldn’t have anticipated.

  As if moving in slow motion, as if participating in some silent and ancient forbidden ritual, she brought her index finger (which by this time had produced three good sized blood droplets which were in the process of sliding in a red ,lacy ,viscous pattern down the length of her finger) carefully up toward Carey’s slightly parted lips, and placed her finger so that the rubelite drops fell into Carey’s mouth.

  Carey sighed deeply, his eyes closing as he savored the essence of Kimbra. The taste of her blood defied description, but reminded him of the way honeysuckle smelled in the heat of a lazy, warm summer afternoon. His heart began pounding a mile a minute, and he felt a strange sense of euphoria.

  When she finally removed her finger he reached to cup her head and pull her toward him for a lengthy passionate kiss. She could taste the salty sweetness of her blood on his tongue.

  “Thank you.” He said, when they separated enough so that he could speak again.”I don’t know why you did…what you just did…but I feel as though part of you is inside of me now.

  I love you Kimbra.”

  “I don’t know why I did that either,” Kimbra said to him earnestly, a softness in her eyes.”It was an impulse, but also something I wanted. I’m not like you, Carey but I’m pretty intuitive for a run-of-the-mill human-I could sense, and HAVE been sensing, that you’ve been dying for a taste of my blood. And because I love you I wanted you to have that.”