******
Henry awoke lying on a hard, dust covered floor. Bits of grainy dirt coated his lips. Turning on his side with a groan, he spit trying to clear it out of his mouth but didn’t have much luck. His mouth was completely dry. He rolled back and forth trying to move his hands and feet but they were bound tightly. He flexed his hands and felt hairs on his wrists pull free. Duct tape. He thought fighting back the beginning feeling of panic. Keep your cool, old man. Now isn’t the time to lose it. He glanced around the room frantically searching for any source of light, but it was pitch black, he couldn't see a thing.
The room had a musty stench to it, as if it had been sealed up for a very long time. “Hello!” He called out into the darkness. Silence was his only answer. “Hello! Is anyone out there!” he screamed even louder. The wind whistled loudly through a window or loose boards somewhere in the room, but he couldn’t place exactly where.
Think dammit- think! There’s got to be a way out of this. His gun had been left in the car. His belt that carried his spare ammunition was removed along with his boots. Turning slightly he felt a slight jab on his right butt cheek. They hadn’t found the tiny pocketknife he kept in his back pocket. Repositioning himself, he tried to reach his hands into the pocket. The knife wasn’t much, no more than a couple of inches long, but at the moment, it was all he had. He sat there for what felt like hours trying to move it into his hand. Unfortunately, they had gone numb after being bound for so long. Somewhere outside the room, there came a loud thump.
"Who's there?" he called out into the darkness. On the other side of the room, a door cracked open, revealing a large figure lit only by a faint flickering light. The figure dropped something heavy to the floor that looked distinctly like a body then pulled the door closed again. “Let me outta here!” he yelled out. “You dirty, cowardly son of a bitch! Let me outta here!”
A woman's voice moaned loudly. “Please just let me go! I’ll do whatever you want! Just please don’t hurt me anymore!"
"Don't be afraid,” Henry said, grunting as he tried to squirm toward the sound of her voice. “I’m not going to hurt you. My name is Henry, I'm a Texas Ranger and I'm here to help you."
"Oh thank you God!" She whispered. “Quick we have to get out of here before he gets back!"
"Before who gets back?" Henry asked again struggling with the tape on his wrist. “Who is he? What does he look like?”
“I . . . don't know who he is. I was on my way to work a few days ago and . . . and, this big, huge man grabbed me. I woke up here. There were several others in here with me, but he came and took them one by one. My God the way they screamed!” Her voice shook with fear. “Then . . . last night he came for me! But he didn’t kill me." She cried. "I don’t know why but he didn’t kill me."
Bishop. Henry thought to himself. Bastard brought me here to kill me, just like the others. "Calm down miss. I'm going to get you out of here. Now tell me, what's your name?" Finally, he reached the small knife in his back pocket and clicked it open then slowly began to cut the thick duct tape that bound his wrists.
"My name? It's Kelly." She answered
"Alright Kelly, just sit tight. I'll be free soon and together we'll get the hell out of here."
“Why is he doing this to us?” she asked barely above a whimper. “I’ve tried to live a good life. I’ve never hurt anyone. I don’t deserve this!”
“I know Kelly, I know. There’s no rationalizing it. The man is just a psychopathic lunatic that gets off on torturing folks. But I promise you, everything is going to be okay.”
He wasn't making much progress when the distinct sounds of motorcycles sounded in the distance. He stopped cutting listening intently. “Do you hear that, Kelly? Sounds like a whole mess of Harleys.”
"Damn," Kelly suddenly sighed, “never a moment’s peace.”
Henry heard her climb to her feet. "Wait." he said, confused. "Are you untied?"
"Oh shut up!" she said, in a very different voice than the one he'd been talking to moments before. "I've got bigger problems than you at the moment."
Henry heard the distinct sound of drywall cracking above him. He wished like crazy he could see just what the hell was going on. “Kelly?” He called out straining his eyes. “Kelly!” A loud crash sounded up above and several small pieces of debris rained down on him causing him to sneeze violently. He scratched and scratched his itchy eyes and nose with his shoulder until the sneezing subsided. “Kelly?” he called out one last time. There was no answer.
Henry swallowed back his fear and continued cutting but the knife was extremely dull. He'd been meaning to sharpen it but just hadn't gotten around to it. Gunshots rang out from somewhere nearby. A lot of gunshots. What the hell is going on here? After what seemed like an eternity, the door burst open flooding the room with light. Henry closed his eyes tight; his nostrils were filled with the stench of something burning. Again, the door slammed shut plunging him into darkness. Henry heard ragged breathing nearby.
“Kelly? Is that you?” He asked. A loud animal snarl was his only answer.
“What the hell?!” He screamed out just as the door again crashed open.
Chronicles of the Vampire Hunters: Creation Page 13
