Why the hell would she want to go up toward the roof? Surely the most logical route of escape was down to the ground level and then out of the building. Once again that little warning bell went off in his head but was ruthlessly ignored.
Once they hit the last step it opened out into a long corridor. Glancing behind them to make sure they weren’t being pursued, they took off down the long winding corridor, their bare feet slapping lightly against the cool hard concrete ground. Although it was unnecessary, their hands remained locked together as they crashed through the last door and into the stinging turbulent air. They ran, not pausing to look back up at the building behind them, as giant black clouds boiled and swirled around the roof filling the air with the heavy reek of ozone.
Pulling the keys from her pocket she pressed the button on the key fob and the lights on her dark blue Lexus flashed as the doors unlocked. They almost made it to the car when one of the creatures suddenly materialized in front of them. Angela grabbed Sam, pushing him behind her as she threw her expensive and elegant heels to the floor. She pulled an object from her sleeve, turning it over in her hand. It was about the length of a pen but thicker and glinted with a metallic sheen in the dark light of the storm shrouded moon. Sam wasn’t sure if she pressed a button to release some sort of mechanism, but it suddenly extended into a metal staff. He only got a brief look, but it seemed to be etched with strange spidery symbols.
Angela dropped into a defensive posture, one long lean leg outstretched before her, her weight transferred to the other which was bent beneath her. Her right arm was outstretched before her, mirroring her leg while the other twirled the staff behind her confidently and with a great degree of skill. The faster she spun it, the more the metal began to glow, as if it were heating up causing the symbols and lettering to burn a fiery orange.
The noise which came from the creature was a bird-like shriek of defiance as it surged forward. Angela merely transferred her weight to the other leg and spun, still twirling the staff. It cut clean through the creature, which exploded into fiery fragments and pieces of it caught on the wind like half lit ashes blown from a bonfire.
Two more swooped in as Angela turned and threw her keys to Sam. He caught them easily, running toward the car as he watched her cartwheel gracefully mid-air, striking one then the other and landing lightly as they both burst into the glowing tattered shards. Yanking open the door he slid into the driver’s seat, turning the ignition and throwing it into gear as he reversed out of the parking space with a squeal of tires. There were more of them; no matter how many Angela killed they just kept appearing. One of them broke off and came toward him. His jaw set and his eyes narrowed as he gripped the steering wheel intently and stamped down hard on the accelerator, driving straight toward it.
Steeling himself, it hit the front of the car and passed straight through both the car and his body. A searing pain tore at his shoulder, like being clawed open with a white-hot blade. His breath caught in his throat, a short sharp shock as if he had been plunged into icy water. Sucking in a ragged breath he slammed on the brakes throwing the wheel to the left. The car skidded around as he threw open the passenger door. Angela flung herself into the car as he punched the gas, taking off down the street and then out onto a busier road, splitting the traffic in an angry blare of horns.
‘What the hell is going on?’ Sam finally burst out angrily as he maneuvered into another lane of traffic.
‘Move,’ Angela climbed into his lap.
‘What?’ he replied incredulously.
‘Move, I’m driving.’
‘Are you insane?’ he hissed.
‘Yeah probably, but since I saved your ass back there, you get to do as I say, now move!’
‘No way,’ he argued, shaking his head stubbornly, ‘I’m perfectly capable of driving.’
He swerved sharply as she sat down in his lap and took the wheel.
‘Really?’ she replied pointedly, ‘did you get your memory back while I wasn’t looking?’
‘No.’
‘Do you have any idea where we are?’
‘No,’ he scowled.
‘Then move your ass,’ she hissed.
Frowning, Sam lifted her up and slid out from under her and into the passenger seat.
‘What the hell happened back there at the hospital?’
‘Quiet,’ Angela snapped angrily, ‘I need to think.’
Seeing her temper boiling just beneath the surface and given the fact it appeared she had indeed just saved his life he decided it was probably prudent to cut her some slack.
‘God damn it,’ she hissed as she hit the steering wheel in frustration, ‘this was exactly the kind of attention I was trying to avoid. I knew I should have run the second I laid eyes on you.’
‘Then you do know me,’ his eyes narrowed accusingly.
‘We need to get off this road,’ she replied thoughtfully, ignoring his question and switching lanes causing another blare of angry horns. ‘Put your seatbelt on,’ she told him absently.
Seeing no reason not to, given her erratic driving, he reached over to pull the belt free and hissed as his shoulder burned.
‘What’s wrong?’ she frowned, ‘are you hurt?’
‘It’s nothing.’
‘What’s nothing?’ she asked in alarm.
‘I said it’s nothing,’ he shrugged and hissed again at the unconscious movement, ‘it’s just a scratch.’
She leaned over and yanked his shirt aside to see three vicious angry looking welts across his shoulder.
‘Shit,’ she swore, ‘did one of them touch you?’
‘What?’
‘This is serious Sam,’ she snapped, ‘did one of those creatures touch you?’
‘Yeah,’ he frowned in confusion, ‘I drove through one of them. It passed straight through the car and me.’
‘Damn it,’ she leaned forward over the steering wheel as she tried to glance up at the dark sky.
She swerved erratically as she tried to see above them; despite the night sky she could see a huge swooping shadow. Suddenly she slammed on the brakes and cut across the oncoming traffic, swerving down into a narrow, poorly lit street.
‘What the hell?’ Sam growled as he was forced to grab onto the dash.
The car screeched to a halt and Angela threw open the door.
‘You’ve been tagged.’
‘What?’ Sam followed her out of the car in confusion.
‘You’ve been tagged; when it touched you it left a mark burned into your skin, which means it can find you whenever it wants.’
‘Shit,’ Sam swore, ‘so those things are coming after me?’
‘They’ve already found us,’ she breathed as she looked up at the sky and saw more black shadows circling above them.
Grabbing his hand, she took off on bare feet down a garbage strewn street, twisting and turning down side alleys and through darkened buildings. Not daring to stop and not having the breath to speak they ran for what seemed like an eternity.
‘Stop,’ Sam breathed heavily as they came to a halt.
Angela looked down at Sam, who was sweating and taking a deep gulp of air. She glanced up and felt the air shift, shrouded in darkness.
‘There’s no time,’ she panted.
Looking around she saw a door. With her elbow she smashed one of the panes of glass and reaching in flipped the lock. Yanking open the door she shoved Sam inside. Fortunately, the building seemed to be empty. Checking to make sure they were definitely alone she pushed Sam against the wall and ripped the shoulder of his shirt open, causing him to wince.
‘I’m really sorry Sam,’ she breathed urgently, ‘but this is going to hurt like hell.’
‘Wha…’ the rest of his question was lost in a cry of unexpected pain.
She pressed her warm palm to the three jagged slash marks across his shoulder and a sudden wave of searing heat blasted through his body. His shoulder felt like white hot
needles were being viciously pressed into his flesh. Molten heat pumped through his veins, like fast moving lava flows burning him from the inside. Sweat poured from every pore in his body as if he were being consumed by a raging fever. His knees would have buckled beneath him if Angela hadn’t been holding him up, with her body pressed against his.
The heat was too much. Everything around him spun and spun, there was a loud static buzzing in his ears and his eyes began to roll back in his head. Flashes of images crashed through his already fragile mind, foreign places and faces that seemed somehow familiar and underneath it all an image of Angela, naked beneath him, his body tangled round hers as she held onto him tightly.
Suddenly Angela tore herself away, stumbling back and watching him with wide eyes and trembling hands as she breathed heavily.
With her no longer supporting him Sam slid down the wall, his body shaking, the hospital pajama pants and t-shirt he wore now plastered to his heated body with clammy sweat.
‘Sam,’ she looked behind her nervously. ‘Sam,’ she repeated urgently, ‘Sam, come on we have to go.’
She reached down and helped him to his feet, slinging his arm around her shoulders for support.
‘We have to keep moving,’ she told him as she pulled on him to get him going.
He trailed alongside her, leaning on her heavily as his sight swam in and out of focus. His mind was a churning mass of images.
‘What did you do?’ he swallowed back a bright snap of nausea.
‘Something necessary,’ she replied as she guided him through the deserted building until they found another exit.
They stepped out into the night air and Angela gazed up into the sky.
‘I think we’ve lost them,’ she let go of Sam, ‘for the moment… can you stand on your own?
Sam drew in a shaky breath and nodded.
The nausea and dizziness had subsided, the strange snatches of images had also dulled, allowing him to be able to think more clearly.
‘What the hell is going on? What were those things, and who the hell are you? What did you do to me? It felt like I was being boiled alive.’
‘Come on,’ she deliberately ignored his questions, ‘you need to keep moving. We’re not far now.’
‘From where?’
‘The train station,’ she replied as she glanced around. Spotting a car parked on the opposite side of the road she crossed and peered in the window.
‘Why do we need the train station?’ he frowned.
‘Not we,’ she shook her head, ‘you.’
‘What the hell are you doing?’ he hissed as she picked up a rock and smashed in the window.
‘Stealing a car,’ she replied as if it should be perfectly obvious what she was doing. Reaching in she unlocked the driver’s side. She slipped in and pulled the wiring out from under the dash. ‘I need to get home and I have no shoes on.’
‘Stealing a car,’ Sam ran his hands through his hair, ‘lady, who the hell are you?’
Angela took a long last look at him, her expression once again unreadable as she climbed back out of the car, leaving the engine running.
‘I can’t do this Sam,’ she shook her head, ‘we need to go our separate ways.’
‘You’re just going to leave me here?’ his expression hardened.
‘Don’t start with me Sam,’ she snapped angrily, ‘you’re lucky I got you this far. I could have left your sorry ass back at the hospital and believe me you would have deserved it.’
‘What do you mean?’ he frowned.
She clamped her lips together, her expression going carefully blank. She pulled some bills from her pocket and handed them to him. ‘About two blocks from here is a small pawn shop with a red door. Ask for Drake; he’ll get you clean clothes and a temporary identity. If I were you I’d get the hell out of town.’
‘I don’t need your money,’ he shoved the notes back into her hand angrily, ‘what I need is answers.’
‘No,’ she scowled dangerously, ‘what you need is to get your ass on a train and get as far away from here as possible.’
‘And just where the hell am I supposed to go?’ Sam’s eyes narrowed.
‘Anywhere but here.’
‘Why?’ he studied her carefully, ‘this isn’t just a case of wrong place wrong time is it?’
He was met with a frosty silence.
‘I’m right aren’t I?’ he continued. ‘It’s not a coincidence I ended up in your ER. Those creatures weren’t just there randomly, they were searching for something and you…’ his brow folded into a frown as he began to piece the night’s events together, ‘you didn’t seem surprised to see them.’
‘Sam,’ she shook her head warningly, ‘don’t…’
‘I watched you,’ he stepped in closer to her so she had to tilt her head up to look at him, ‘you weren’t even afraid.’
‘Maybe I was,’ she replied coolly.
‘No,’ he shook his head, ‘you were annoyed, like it was an inconvenience.’
She turned away, he saw entirely too much.
‘You knew what they were and how to kill them,’ he plowed on relentlessly, ‘and what the hell was that weapon you used?’
‘Sam,’ she warned, her stormy eyes flashing dangerously.
‘The truth.’
‘The truth?’ she laughed humorlessly, ‘the truth? You have no idea how hypocritical that statement is coming from you…’ her gaze hardened. ‘Fine…you want the truth? They were there for you Sam.’
‘What?’
‘They were looking for you.’
‘But why me?’ he frowned in confusion.
‘I don’t know,’ she shrugged, ‘but given your penchant for pissing people off I can only imagine.’
‘You keep doing that,’ his eyes narrowed.
‘What?’
‘Talking as if you know me,’ he replied. ‘I know we’ve met, I know that I know you.’
She stared at him silently.
‘They are called Shadow Wraiths,’ she told him changing the subject yet again, ‘they’re demon servants.’
‘Demons,’ he scoffed skeptically until he noted her grave expression. ‘Seriously?’
He wanted to call her a liar, call her crazy, anything other than the alternative, but even as he turned all the undeniable facts over in his mind something deep inside him told him she was telling him the truth.
‘Jesus,’ he rubbed his hands tiredly over his face before raking them through his midnight hair. ‘They came looking for me,’ he murmured to himself, ‘what about the others?’
‘Others?’ she shook her head in confusion, ‘what others?’
‘The patients at the medical center,’ he replied with a concerned frown, ‘the staff? I heard them screaming. I saw the chaos.’
‘Oh,’ she replied, her eyes narrowing as she studied him, almost as if she wasn’t expecting his concern for others and it seemed to throw her. ‘I should imagine there may be a suicide or two, a couple of heart attacks and probably some new admits to psych tomorrow, but other than that the collateral damage should be at a minimum. Wraiths only go after the person they were assigned to, anyone else is irrelevant.’
‘Okay,’ he breathed in relief.
‘Sam,’ she replied, ‘take the money and get on a train. You need to get out of the city.’
‘Who are you?’ he whispered as he gazed down into her dark smoky eyes. ‘How is it you know about demons and wraiths?’
‘We’ve all got secrets Sam.’
‘What did you do?’ he asked suddenly, as he though back to the medical center. ‘That wraith was inches from us, but it was almost as if it couldn’t see us.’
She sighed tiredly in frustration.
‘I put a reflective shield around us,’ she answered after a moment. ‘Wraiths may be extremely dangerous, but they are also notoriously stupid. All it could see was itself, but it could smell us, so it knew we were close.’
/>
‘A shield?’ Sam frowned, looking down at the tear in his shirt to his exposed shoulder, which now bore three thin silvery scars rather than the open wounds the wraith had inflicted upon him. ‘You healed me, earlier?’
‘It was the only way to stop them from finding us both. The wraith tagged you. It wasn’t just an injury, it left a trace of itself like a fingerprint in your bloodstream, which meant it could find you wherever you were. The only way to get rid of it was to burn it out of your body; like a fever, it purged any trace of it.’
‘What are you?’ he whispered.
‘Unhappy is what I am,’ she snapped, ‘and really pissed off. Just get on the damn train Sam.’
She turned to leave and for one brief irrational moment he felt an unexpected jolt of panic and one word tumbled unbidden from his lips.
‘Scarlett!’
Angela froze mid step, her entire body tensed and when she finally, slowly, turned to face him her eyes were wide and filled with…hurt.
‘Scarlett,’ he repeated with more confidence as something deep inside him clicked, ‘that’s your real name isn’t it? It’s not Angela Vincent at all.’
‘Don’t you dare,’ she whispered furiously.
‘Scarlett,’ he began.
‘Don’t you dare!’ she stalked back toward him angrily. ‘You don’t get to call me that...not anymore.’
His arms snaked around her. Before he realized what he was doing he’d pulled her in close, her body pressed close to him.
‘You do know me,’ he stated, just as angry and churned up as she was.
‘I thought I did,’ she whispered, pulling back, ‘but I was wrong.’
‘Scarlett please,’ Sam replied quietly, ‘I don’t have anywhere else to go. I need your help.’
‘I can’t,’ she swallowed painfully, ‘I can’t do this again Sam.’
He watched as she turned her back and walked toward the car.
‘Scarlett…’ he breathed, not fully understanding why it caused him so much pain to watch her walk away from him.
A Little Town Called Mercy Page 27
