Magus

by R H Frye

  Derrick’s eyes widened and he looked like he wanted to say something, but he never got the chance. Amy had grown up with three older brothers. Those brothers had taught her a lot. Most importantly, they had taught her how to handle a gun…and how to shoot. She checked to make sure the safety was off and a round was chambered before gripping the pistol in both hands, centering Derrick’s face in the sights, and pulling the trigger.

  Amy spat the end of Derrick’s tongue from her mouth and struggled to her feet.

  Sarah was struggling to recover her senses. Being clubbed with Derrick’s pistol had knocked her unconscious for several moments. For a brief eternity, the world remained dark. Finally, she was able to open her eyes. The harsh fluorescents of the hospital stabbed into her eyes, and she blinked rapidly to clear her eyes of the tears that formed in response to the light. She struggled to roll to her knees, but the movement sent waves of pain rolling down her neck and upwards into her brain. She retched, but somehow managed not to vomit as a debilitating bout of nausea settled into her stomach.

  After a few seconds, the nausea and pain subsided enough for her to reach her knees, and she paused to catch her breath before trying for her feet. She was just starting to allow herself to wonder what had hit her when a gunshot rang out from nearby. The sound of the shot sent adrenalin pumping into her system and she surged to her feet and staggered to the counter. The natural high that settles in after an adrenalin rush enabled her to mostly ignore the renewed nausea and pain that her injury should have caused, and she managed to balance herself weakly against the counter. She glanced around the hallway and wondered idly what she should do next. Before she could make a decision, a door marked Linen swung open and a bloodied apparition staggered through it.

  The woman walking stalking towards her had blood spattered from her mouth down the front of her white nurse’s uniform. Her hair was in disarray and her cap perched precariously where it was dangling from a few bobby pins. A long run traced its way up her stockings and disappeared under her skirt. Last, but not least, she held a pistol in death grip in her right hand. After a few moments, Sarah’s addled wits finally realized that she knew this person, at least a little. “Amy?”

  Amy seemed dazed as she approached Sarah. She stepped around Sarah where she wobbled against the desk and leaned slowly onto the counter to rest her weight on her elbows. Her head sank down to use her folder arms as a pillow, but her grip on the pistol never wavered.

  Sarah’s confusion was growing, and she noticed that a number of patients were peeking out into the hallway to try to locate the source of the gunshot. She ignored the curious stares of the patients and said, “Amy, what is it? Are you alright?” Amy did not answer. Instead, she shook her head against her arms and waved behind her with the pistol towards the door marked with the word Linen.

  As Sarah looked in the direction that Amy had indicated, she noticed a pool of blood was beginning to slowly spread from under the door. She quickly realized that she may get answers more quickly if she stopped asking questions and had a look for herself. She felt a bit like she was walking a tightrope as she shoved away from the desk and moved towards the door because her equilibrium was still seriously disturbed from the blow that she had received. Several unsteady steps later, she managed to latch onto the handle of the door and push it open. In a detached way, a part of her mind that was content merely to observe noticed that she had stepped in the pool of blood where it was spreading from under the door. The door nudged to a stop against something soft before it could open completely, and Sarah weaved her unsteady way around it to look into the room.

  Her addled brain took a moment to comprehend what she was seeing. When understanding finally sank in, she turned and finally lost the battle she had been fighting with nausea. The remains of the breakfast that she and John had shared in a morning that seemed gone in the mists of time splattered onto her shoes and the floor between those shoes as she leaned over and vomited. The violent motion caused another blast of pain through her head, and she only barely managed to keep from falling into the mess that she had made. In a desperate effort to get away from the sight of the policeman’s brains dripping from the wall, she pivoted and hurled herself back out into the hall. A few steps placed her against the far wall, and she grasped the handicap rail to steady herself before bending over and retching weakly. She was relieved to discover that all she had left to vomit was a little bile and spit. She stayed where she was and breathed deeply for long moments once the retching had passed. Finally, she felt able to face things a little more steadily, so she stood up and looked towards Amy.

  The bloodied nurse was still resting her head on her folder arms. Two nurses that Sarah had never seen were bending over her asking what was wrong, but Amy was unresponsive. One of the nurses noticed that Sarah seemed to have regained at least temporary control of her stomach, so she loudly asked, “What’s going on? What’s in there?”

  Sarah blocked the image of the dead policeman from her mind before replying, “See for yourself. And could you call a doctor for me?” She began to slowly make her way back towards the nurse’s station by sliding her shoulder along the wall for support. When she reached the desk, she reeled around the huddle of nurses and moved through the break in the counter behind them to sag into a chair. “I think I may have a concussion or something.” She reached up to touch the back of her head and felt a large knot just where her neck met her skull. Even the slight touch of her fingers to the knot caused another bolt of pain to shoot through her skull, so she stopped and looked expectantly at the nurses where they were watching her. When neither seemed to know what to do and consequently were still doing nothing, she lost her temper. “Get a doctor! And call the cops! Don’t just stand there looking stupid. Jesus, what’s wrong with you people?”

  Sarah’s sharp turn finally seemed to get through to the nurses. The one that had spoken to Sarah huffed a bit, but she reached across the counter to grab the phone and punched a button. As she talked heatedly into the receiver, the other nurse pulled another chair around the counter and forced Amy to sit. Then she turned her attention to Sarah. “So, what happened?”

  “I wish I knew. One minute, I was talking to her in the hallway here. The next minute, I heard a gunshot and opened my eyes to find myself on the floor. I’ve got the mother of all headaches, and I’ve puked on my shoes. I don’t know who hit me or why. You’ll have to ask her.” She waved distractedly at Amy before continuing. “I was trying to figure it all out when you two showed up.”

  Amy looked dully at Sarah for a few moments before trying to put together some answers. “It was the cop from upstairs. He stepped around the corner, clubbed you in the head and punched me in the gut. Then he dragged me into the linen closet. He tried to rape me, but I got his gun from him and shot him in the face. Any questions?” As she finished, she finally began to show some emotion, but it was not the shock and sadness that the ladies expected. Instead, a vicious satisfaction lit her face and she glared defiantly at the other three ladies at the desk.

  The tense moment was broken by the ding of the elevator arriving around the corner from them. A security guard led a very belated charge around the corner, and he was trailed closely by a policeman in a uniform that matched the one of the dead officer in the closet. The guard stopped in shock at the sight of the blood where it was pooling outside the door of the closet, but the officer barely hesitated. He stepped to the door of the linen closet and stepped inside. The door closed behind him for long moments, and the rapidly growing crowd in the hallway sat quietly waiting for the officer to return.

  Long moments passed before the door was pulled open again. The officer that had stepped inside to investigate emerged into the hallway with a grim and pale expression on his face. “Okay, someone tell me what’s going on. Right now.” As he said the words, his hand drifted down to the butt of his gun.

  Sarah sighed and said, “I wish I knew.”

  Danny fought not to gag as he rapidly dress
ed his burnt master. He found that if he breathed through his mouth the smell of burnt, infected flesh was not nearly so overpowering. Even though he was nauseated by being forced to touch the monster, a part of his mind was in awe of his unwanted master. As bad as Maraydel looked now, he was still obviously much recovered when compared to how he had looked when Danny and Carol left him. Burnt skin would flake away from his chest and back as Danny dressed him and the skin underneath was pink and perfect. Danny could also sense the struggle that he was winning with the pain of his injuries, and he was dismayed to sense that less and less of Maraydel’s energies were being consumed in his struggle to heal, because he knew that when the magus was healed, he would return his attention to his rebellious slaves.

  Carol helped Danny as much as she could. She was barely managing to continue functioning through the blanket of despair that had settled over her. She knew that they were doomed. She and Danny had nearly escaped, but a cruel fate or an uncaring God had dragged them back to the side of the thing that they were being forced to serve. Maraydel had nearly died. She knew that. She also realized that she should never have squandered her chance to end it. So, what if she had died? She could still have ended the evil life of the man that had tormented her before and would now torment her again. At least her suffering would have been over.

  Maraydel was delighted with the events of the day, but he felt a growing sense of urgency as well. Somehow the shaman had managed to elude him completely. He had escaped from the vision where Maraydel had trapped him, and the magus could feel him already moving to confront him again. Such a confrontation was the last thing that Maraydel wanted just then, so he was pouring all of his considerable power into once more healing the body that had so recently been resurrected from death. He clamped down on the pain of his damaged skin and helped Danny shove him into the clothes that he had stolen. The strong young man was again proving useful. His attempted betrayal would not be forgiven, but perhaps he would suffer less.

  Maraydel sent his thoughts drifting down through the hospital to the corpse of the policeman. What a pleasant diversion that had been. He considered it a shame that the officer had been unable to complete his rape, but the entire situation still pleased him enormously. He had been able to drive a normally decent man to the brink of unspeakable cruelty. And the fact that the man had died also worked to his advantage, since that was one less figure of authority to stand in his way.

  Danny and Carol finally managed to finish dressing Maraydel and Danny hurried back into the hallway to find a wheelchair. There was one waiting behind the nurse’s station where Amy had been working before Sarah’s arrival. After a quick check up and down the hallway, Danny darted behind the counter and retrieved the wheelchair. He rolled it back into Maraydel’s room and stopped long enough to figure out how to expand it from a collapsed position to its full size. As he locked the braces in place to keep the chair expanded, he heard a sound that sent chills down his spine.

  Danny left the chair where it was sitting and hurried to the window. Across the parking lot from the hospital, he saw three police cars squeal into the entrance of the parking lot with their lights glaring and sirens blaring. Danny had no idea how Maraydel had cleared the way for their arrival, but based on the evil man’s prior behavior, Danny had a strong suspicion that the police cars were on their way to deal with some mess that the magus had made. Ordinarily, this would have been no problem for them, but Maraydel was ready to be on his way and Danny was afraid of what might happen if the police tried to detain them.

  “Carol, help me. We’ve got to get out of here.” For a moment, Danny was afraid that Carol would hesitate and by doing so provoke some other evil deed, but the moment passed, and Carol moved to grab the wheelchair and move it to the bed. Danny hurried to the same side of the bed and grasped Maraydel in a bear hug. His master gasped with the pain of the rough treatment and cursed under his breath, but apparently Danny’s urgency was getting through to him because he did not utter any new threats or warnings. Holding the debilitated monster close to his chest, he spun him off of the hospital bed and into the waiting wheelchair. Both Danny and Maraydel sighed in relief when the transfer was completed.

  “Carol, you scout the way ahead towards the far side of the hospital away from the sirens. I’ll push him.” Carol only nodded her acceptance and stepped to the door of the room to check the hallways. While she was checking Danny moved into position behind the wheelchair and moved it towards the doorway. Carol glanced behind her to make sure that all was ready. Seeing that all was ready, she waved for them to follow her as she stepped out into the hall.

  Chapter 16

  “So, you’re telling me that Derrick, my friend, went berserk, left his post upstairs, followed you both down here, knocked one of you out, and dragged the other into the linen closet to rape you? Why? Can either one of you ladies tell me that? What did you do to him?”

  Sarah was suddenly angry. What was it with some men? They always assumed that the woman that got attacked had it coming. Well, she knew beyond any doubt that she had done nothing to deserve being bashed in the head, and she had no intention of sitting still while some cop accused the two of them of causing their current mess. Sarah and Amy were being held in a conference room for questioning, and her worry for John was only adding to her irritation since every second that the police cost her was another second that John was fighting for his life without her help. “Who said we did anything to him? Why are you acting like we’re the bad guys here? I certainly didn’t ask to be attacked, and I know she didn’t do anything to provoke him, unless you count escorting me down here to get away from him. From what I saw while I was up there, your officer was already making a nuisance of himself when I showed up.”

  “Oh, come on. I’ve known Derrick for five years, ever since he became a cop. He’s never acted out of the way to anyone in all that time, so what set him off?”

  “I told you I don’t know!” Yelling made pain blast through her head again, but she used the pain to fuel her growing anger. “Why are you holding me? I told you I didn’t do anything, and neither did Amy. What more do you want from us?” Sarah was getting desperate. For all she knew, the monster that she had come here to slay could have finished his work with John by now. She needed to find out, and she also needed to keep the police from looking in her purse. If they found John’s gun, there would be more questions at the very least, and she was afraid they would hold her on a concealed weapons charge to give themselves more time to look for any wrongdoing concerning the death of their officer.

  “Ma’am, calm down.”

  “Don’t tell me to calm down. My head hurts, you idiot. It hurts because one of your officers got too horny to help himself and I was in his way when he came looking for Amy. So you either charge me with something, or you let me go. And what are you going to charge me with, ‘Obstruction of Rape’?”

  The officer looked at her for a long moment. Finally, he said, “Okay, let me check with my superiors. If they say to cut you loose, then you’ll be free to go.” He turned away from Sarah and talked into the microphone that was clipped to the shoulder of his uniform.

  “Thank you.” Sarah turned to Amy. “Are you going to be okay?”

  Amy’s face was still wearing the dull look of shock that she had been wearing when she walked out of the linen closet. “I don’t know. I guess so.” A tear spilled from her eye and rolled slowly down her cheek. “I’ve never killed anyone, you know?”

  “I understand. I don’t know what happened.”

  “Me neither. I was polite to him, but I wasn’t leading him on. And I was never even rude to him.” Amy’s chin dropped to her chest and she began to sob quietly as the reality of all that had happened to her finally broke through her shock.

  Sarah leaned forward and pulled Amy into a hug. “It’s okay. I know you didn’t do anything wrong. And they will too. You’ll be okay. Trust me.” Amy continued to sob into Sarah’s shoulder for a moment until the policeman tha
t was questioning the two ladies interrupted them.

  “I’m sorry. The watch commander said we have to take a written statement from both of you. Until then, you’re not going anywhere.”

  Sarah bit back a hot reply. When she had her temper mostly under control she said, “Okay, so what do I need to do?”

  Lieutenant Mike Donovan was the watch commander for the day for the Asheville Police Department. Asheville was usually a fairly quiet city, especially on a Monday, and he had been looking forward to having a relaxing day at the office. The watch commander was rarely required to leave the station during his shift, but when an officer had been killed, he could not just sit in the office. And that was how Lt. Donovan found himself turning into the parking lot of St. Joseph’s on a sunny Monday afternoon.

  As he pulled into the lot, he saw that somehow a news van was already waiting at the front entrance to the hospital, so at his first opportunity, he turned away from the main entrance and headed towards the emergency entrance. He had no desire to deal with the news on the best of days, and this looked to be far from the best of his days. He located a parking place that was farther from the emergency room doors than he would have liked, but it was still the closest one available, so he pulled into the spot, turned off the ignition and climbed out of the car.

  As he approached the entrance to the hospital, Donovan noticed something that seemed a bit odd to him. A young woman leaned out of the emergency room door and glanced around before allowing the door to close in front of her. He had parked just around the corner from the emergency room doors, so the young lady’s eyes had missed his approach.

  Donovan had been a cop for over 15 years, and in that time, he had had many opportunities to study human behavior. It took him a moment to place just what had seemed odd about the woman’s behavior, but as he continued walking towards the door, he figured it out. There should have been no need to actually open the door and look around unless you were trying to avoid someone. The doors to the emergency room were metal, but there was a wide durable window in each door to enable people that were moving in a hurry to see if anyone was in the way as the double-hinged doors were opened. Donovan’s policeman’s instinct (an instinct that he jokingly referred to as his spider sense) began to send out warning signals. As he began to close his distance to the doors, his right hand drifted to the butt of his pistol and unsnapped the holster. With the pistol readied for easy access, the warning signals quieted a little, and he hooked his thumb in the belt just forward of his holster.