You’d better keep kicking until I lose consciousness, because I’m coming for you, motherfucker.
Spit hung in a thick thread from his lip, the tang of vomit rich on his tongue. The stench of his expelled mess filled the air, replacing the asylum’s odour of decay and old wood. Codie pulled himself up onto one knee.
Kristen sprang into the ring of light, jumping onto Alex’s back. He staggered forward under the onslaught, Kristen slamming her fist onto the side of his head. His hip smashed into the nearest bench, dislodging one of the lamps to the floor. Its light extinguished, while the other lamp skidded onto its side. Alex twisted, trying to throw Kristen off his back, but she held tight with one arm locked around his neck. Her other hand rained blows onto his face.
Codie called out, his voice weak with the burning aftertaste of sick. He watched Alex raise the knife and feared he’d jam it back over his shoulder into Kristen’s face. Scrambling to his knees, Codie reached up to the operating table in an effort to haul himself to his feet. His hand clamped over Liam’s forearm and the limb issued a flicker of muscle spasm. Still alive, but Codie briefly wondered just how badly his brain had been damaged. The scream from Kristen focused him, and he lurched across the space between him and Alex.
His balanced shifted with the pain in his head, the kick to his face leaving him woozy. Codie reached out to halt his fall, sending another halogen lamp skidding off the side of the nearest cupboard. Its fall alerted Alex to his approach and he leaned back, compressing Kristen between himself and a solid cupboard as he kicked out and caught Codie in the knee. Sharp pain flared up his leg as the joint hyperextended backwards and Codie slumped to the floor. Calling out to Kristen, he watched as Alex wrenched her arm clear of his throat, pulled her from his back. Alex turned, and Codie saw his arm propel forward.
“No!”
In his horrified mind he thought he saw Alex bury the knife deep into Kristen’s neck, tearing his girlfriend from his life.
But instead, the sharp crack of a fist against skin echoed in the room and Kristen yelped in pain. She staggered back into the darkness. Codie wheezed a sigh of relief that the long knife remained in Alex’s opposite hand, at his side.
Alex glared into the darkness where he’d sent Kristen sprawling. “Stay the fuck out of this. Bitch!”
Fury twisted Codie’s insides and he struggled back to his feet.
He gripped the cupboard’s edge for balance, testing his weight on his injured knee. Pain flared up his thigh but he thought it’d be good enough to keep him upright. He stepped away from the unit, clenched his fists and straightened his back.
“Don’t you ever touch her again.”
Alex turned, the callous smile returning to his face. “Oh, you ready for round two?”
Codie snatched the halogen lamp from the unit’s surface and hurled it across the space between them. The throw had good direction but Alex sidestepped it easily. It bounced away into the darkness, shattering the bulb and dragging deeper shadows closer to them. Only one light remained on the bench at Alex’s back, and Codie wanted to smash that one too, if only to give them a chance to slip away in the confusing darkness. Before the lamp hit the floor, Code rushed Alex as he stepped away from the projectile. Pain radiated through his knee with each step, slowing him, but he hoped Alex hadn’t expected his counterattack.
With speed and agility he hadn’t anticipated, Alex dodged his lunge with ease. Codie stumbled forward, grasping at thin air, his foot twisting over debris on the floor and sending a lance of pain through his knee. Taking advantage of Codie’s momentum, Alex pushed hard against the back of his head, thrusting him forward and down. Off balance and hurting, Codie couldn’t resist the impetus of his motion, and Alex slammed his face hard into the surface of the cupboard. A grunt left him in a rush, agony exploding in his head as his nose crunched against the dirty timber surface. He lifted his face from the cupboard, opened his eyes to see a large splattering of blood mingled with the dust.
Codie heard Kristen’s soft voice in the darkness, a groan as if she fought to keep unconsciousness at bay.
Alex would pay dearly for hurting her; for ramming metal objects into Liam’s head. He’d pay for killing Julian without a shred of emotion. A headache pulsed in his skull, the agony in his nose pounding with each thump of his racing heart.
He didn’t care about his own discomfort, but would protect those he loved.
Shaking away the dizziness, Codie spun and lunged for Alex again. Standing straight, locking his legs against the assault, Alex thrust out his hand and Codie ran onto it. The blow to his gut knocked the wind from him once more, halted his progress in an instant.
An insensitive smile turned at the corners of Alex’s lips.
Pain flared through Codie’s belly, wrapping around him to burn into his back. He breathed in, sucking air with a pained grimace. He glanced down, light from the one remaining halogen lamp highlighting a dark stain ballooning across his shirt. Kristen’s voice whimpered in the darkness, the sounds of despair and horror riding her uncontrollable sobs. Grasping both his hands around Alex’s wrist, Codie held the knife in place, fearing what would happen if he pulled it out.
Agony pulsed through his belly with each laboured breath.
Alex leaned in, the stench of body odour and stale breath wafting from him. “You lose, my friend.”
Alex wrenched his arm free from Codie’s grip.
The knife came with it.
And so did Codie’s guts.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
From where she lay in the shadows, Kristen watched in horror as Codie’s intestines tumbled from his belly. The one remaining halogen lamp bathed the entire macabre scene in its fading light. It revealed the dark red of her boyfriend’s blood, glistened off the ropes of intestines and sparkled like discarded jewels; it highlighted the shock and agony creasing over Codie’s beautiful face.
She squealed in terror, her stomach turning with a rising sickness, as though the blade had disembowelled her instead. The horror of the scene unfolding before her held her eyes wide, even though she willed herself to look away. Tears spilled down her cheeks as Codie’s insides spilled around his legs.
Alex stepped back, blood sliding off the blade in his hand. A tortured gurgle crept up Codie’s throat, as if trying to say something to his friend. Staggering back against the wall, his legs buckled under him, sending him slumping into a sitting position on the floor. His hands clamped around the mess of his belly, his blood lost in the mass of shadows. Codie’s eyes flickered and searched the room, looking for her form in the shadows. She issued a soft cry, alerting him to her position. He looked in her direction, his stare locking with hers although she wasn’t sure he could see her in the obscurity. Pain throbbed in her jaw from the punch, and as she tried to scramble to her feet dizziness swept through her mind. It forced her down again and she moaned in despair, her arm reaching into the darkness for the love of her life.
They looked at each other, and even through agony burning in Codie’s eyes she recognized the love he had for her. This twisted building had shown her macabre things, hauntings of a nature she’d never believed possible. With all these supernatural elements whirling around her she wished this twilight zone offered the ability to reverse time. She wanted to go back to when they’d been standing outside the operating room doors, and tell Codie they should turn around and search somewhere else. She wanted to turn the clocks back to when she’d arrived at his house with a suitcase in her hand, and talk him out of this ridiculous expedition. She wished she could touch him again, to feel the heat of his skin and the affection of his kiss.
Codie coughed and a river of blood flooded over his chin.
Kristen screamed, tears poured down her cheeks.
“Oh,” Alex said. “That looks nasty.”
He would pay for what he’d done. For killing Julian and maiming Liam, but most of all for hurting the man she’d wanted to spend her eternity with. He stood over Codie’s crumpled for
m and displayed not a shred of remorse. Shadow coated most of his face, but she knew he was smiling. He looked down at his dying friend and found it amusing. And Codie was dying, the thought driving needles of white hot pain into Kristen’s heart.
Distraught, she reached out and grasped a handful of debris; wanted to pull herself through the shadows to be at Codie’s side when he needed her the most. Anger built inside her, filtering through the heartache to instil determination into her limbs. Pushing against her body weight, she forced herself into a sitting position.
Lightning brightened the world outside the asylum, its pulses of luminescence splitting the darkness in a chaotic web inside the operating room. The flashing brightness snatched Alex’s form and threw his demonic silhouette over the walls. It highlighted Codie where he sat, emphasizing his handsomeness in spite of the blood coating his chin. The lightning scattered darkness from the walls until all that remained were the pliable shapes of shadow creatures hauling their twisted bodies from the room’s cracked plaster. Resembling oversized arachnids, the figures scuttled down the grime-coated walls. The lightning dissipated and darkness returned, covering their advance; the room’s only light coming once more from the solitary halogen lamp.
With deliberate movements, Alex looked back over his shoulder, his eyes searching for her in the darkness. She held her breath, sealing a whimper in her throat. Pressing herself into the wall she willed the shadows to thicken around her; keep her concealed.
He couldn’t possibly have seen her, but Alex muttered to the room regardless. “I’ll find you, Kristen, and when I do, I’ll do to you what I did to Liam.”
Her eyes flickered through the gloom, to the operating table where Liam lay. Darkness covered much of his form, and she couldn’t tell if he’d died or if he clung to some kind of a half-life now that his brain had been mutilated. She didn’t want to end up like him.
All she wanted was to grab Codie’s hand, guide him from the building and down to the boat to go home.
Codie uttered a moan, and with a sucked gasp she looked over at his crumpled form. His stare now focused on Alex, hands pressed tight to his guts, but his mouth worked slowly. She’d thought he’d exhaled his last breath, until he spoke again.
“Leave.”
She couldn’t be sure he’d said that exact word, the same Julian had uttered before he died, but it sounded like it.
“Kristen,” Codie said, his gaze remaining on his attacker. “You need to leave.”
She tried to answer, only managed a shake of her head and a distressed whimper. Every fibre of her being screamed at her to rush to his aid, to hold him tight and comfort him; lock her arms around his shoulders and whisper in his ear that she would never leave. She willed herself to rise up and get rid of Alex; maybe bash a rock against his head to give her an advantage, any kind of leverage in order to defeat him and save her love.
“She can stay,” Alex said. “I need her.”
Palming off the wall, Kristen pushed herself upright and stood in the darkness. A weakness flowed through her legs, and she feared if she stepped away from the wall she’d collapse. She wouldn’t let Alex touch her, but she couldn’t possibly turn her back on her man.
“You’re fucked,” Alex said to Codie. “I think I’ll get Kristen prepared for surgery while you sit there and die.”
Terror whirled through her and Kristen stepped away from the wall, torn between the urge to flee and the desperate desire to save Codie. Thankfully her legs held her upright, but the crunch of her footsteps gave her away. Stones ground together, the noise loud in the enclosed room.
“Ah, there you are,” Alex said.
Lightning flared outside again. Shadow figures swarmed over the walls. Alex took a step towards her.
Codie kicked out, screaming with agony at the effort, blood erupting from his mouth as his leg wrapped around Alex’s. The man stumbled, went down hard into the rubble, a flailing leg knocking the final halogen lamp off the nearest bench. Somehow it remained lit; its light bathing Codie’s broken body in its faded glow.
“You bastard!” Alex screamed.
“Kristen, go!”
Even with the strength of his voice, she heard the agony lacing every word. His energy faded, dying out like light from the storm flickering across the walls. Alex scrambled to his feet.
“Sweetheart,” Codie said, his words weaker now. “Get out!”
She loved him, couldn’t leave; took a step towards him.
Alex stepped back to him, stomped a heavy boot into the mess he’d made of Codie’s guts.
Her legs carried her across a floor made treacherous by dust and fallen masonry.
As Codie’s anguished scream faded, she was certain she’d heard the words ‘I love you’.
Floating into her mind came his voice from earlier: sweet, soft, and so loving—I’ll never leave you; I’ll always be with you.
She didn’t want him to leave. He’d promised her he would never leave and she silently begged him to keep his word. And yet as she scrambled over the toppled cupboard and reached for the door, she realized it was her leaving him, and the thought shattered her heart. Kristen wanted to sit by his side and hold his hand, lean close to his ear and whisper softly; remind him just how special he was and what a wonderful person he’d always been. She wanted to tell him for the umpteenth time that she loved him, adored him like no other, and would always be there for him in this life and into the next. She wanted to ask him to marry her, as she’d always planned to do.
The door to the operating room closed softly at her back.
In the dark, with the man who had stolen his life, Codie remained inside.
Kristen ran down the hallway with her chest in agony from the ripping shards of her broken heart.
~~
He tasted blood; concentrated and metallic on his tongue. Codie knew exactly what was happening and it terrified him. His intestines were torn apart and lay in coils around his thighs. Blood seeped in a thick flow from his abdomen: warming his hands, dribbling into his denims; it filled his stomach and not even gravity could stop it rising up his throat. Fear raged inside him with as much force as the storm outside, making his heart beat faster, making him bleed out quicker. He shifted his gaze from Alex, looking towards the darkened outline of the room’s double doors.
Kristen had escaped through there and he willed her to keep running. Until his last breath he’d urge her to keep moving. And his last breath was fast approaching.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he barely felt the stickiness of tears running down his cheeks. Her visage hung there in the blackness, Kristen looking as gorgeous as she always did. In this image of her, she wore no makeup, but that was okay because she’d never needed any.
Since meeting Kristen he’d never wanted to look at another woman for the remainder of his days. He’d always wanted the last face he ever saw to be the smiling visage of the soul mate he’d been so fortunate to find. As he sucked in a breath laden with droplets of blood and opened his eyes, Codie’s vision filled with the callous sneer of Alex Webb.
“You’re dying, mate,” Alex said.
Codie wanted to tell him to fuck off but the words couldn’t find a way through the sludge of blood layering his throat.
“I bet you never expected this to be happening when you arranged this little trip here. You know, you kind of ruined things. I was hoping to perfect the lobotomy procedure on you, and then use Kristen as a final subject.” He smiled, and Codie hated the way it looked. “Now I guess I’ll have to go out into the building and try to find her. Where do you think she’ll go? Will she hide in one of the rooms in this building? Nah, too many ghosts.” He emphasized the last word, gave a laugh. “Ghosts; what a joke; there are no ghosts here.”
Liam moaned from the table, the noise drawn out and laden with pain. His arms pulled against their bonds. Codie swallowed a mouthful of blood and hoped his friend wasn’t suffering too much.
“Ironic, isn’t it,” Alex said. “The one p
erson you love more than anyone in this world is out there, frightened and alone. And yet the one person who loves you more than any other is over there, safe and sound on the table.” Alex grabbed the knife and slid its blade against a length of exposed intestines. Codie winced as pain flared inside him, hot and intense. “Goodbye, Codie. I’ll leave you here with Liam, he would have liked that.”
Alex stood and ambled away. He stopped at the only lamp giving off light, and flicked it off. Night swooped into the room, and it seemed darker than ever. Codie tried to call out, but all he did was cough a mouthful of blood. Faded light broke the darkness as Alex disappeared through the operating room’s doors. An all-encompassing blackness returned and Codie feared his sight had already failed.
Not that it mattered. If he couldn’t lay eyes on Kristen again in his life, then there was no point being able to see at all. He’d never been a religious man, and yet found himself reciting a silent prayer in his mind, asking God to protect her and keep her safe.
Another mumbled groan came from Liam, the leather strapping creaking against his flinching movements. Codie had known, he’d always known, but that didn’t matter either. Liam was Liam, and would always be the best friend he’d ever had.
Mum’s face materialized in the darkness that his vision had become, and she smiled. He’d seen her smile often, usually when spending time with her children when they were all together, but the grin in his image had never seemed so content. She was happy, and Codie breathed out a tortured sigh of relief. His sister reached out a hand into the darkness, and instead of his own hand linking with hers she took hold of Kristen and pulled her close for a hug. No matter what happened to him, they would look after her and she’d always have a home with them. Calmness slipped over him; maybe death wouldn’t be so bad after all.
He opened his eyes yet the darkness remained as black as it had ever been.
The wet tracks of tears wound lonely paths down his cheeks.
Highland Cove Page 15
