Do Or Die

by E.R. Baine

  A flash of lightning escaped the orb, shot through the air with great speed in Viktor’s direction, and just as quickly stopped without reaching him. Audrianna’s arms fell to her sides.

  Viktor fell to his knees, relieved beyond compare. He prayed no one else had seen what had just transpired.

  Dear God, let me keep this secret just a little bit longer…

  “Squaaaaaaaaak!” A bird’s hollow cry was heard as it burst from the tree behind him, expanded its wings and glided over the bluff, seconds before the helicopter was heard above, advancing towards the clearing.

  The chopper was now over them. Xin and the girls had just come into the vicinity of the ravine. Viktor stood. He watched the glass of the helicopter cabin door and was not surprised to find Lincoln and Matsenêstse.

  Her mind in a daze, confused about her surroundings, Audrianna staggered backwards.

  * * *

   

  “Holy shit!” Lincoln unbuckled his seatbelt. “Mat, get me on top of her-right on top!”

  Mat could foresee what Lincoln’s intentions were, and he positioned the aircraft above. “Lincoln,” Mat said as he attempted to stabilize the swaying helicopter as smoothly as possible. “You sure about this? Remember, penny packets go splat!”

  Lincoln looked at him with a sardonic smile and gave him a thumbs up. “No parachute, no rope, no helmet – no problem.”

  Looking back down at the deep ravine, covered with protruding foliage that hid the bottom of it from view, Lincoln wondered silently what the delay might be before he did go splat.

  * * *

  Viktor wanted to use his power to save Audrianna from falling over, but Lincoln and Matsenêstse were two humans in his employ to whom he was loath to reveal the supernatural. They knew nothing of werewolves, vampires, demons…he didn’t feature being in their debt for keeping his secrets. He had never trusted a human with such a secret of the ‘supernatural underground’ before, and he wasn’t going to start now. Viktor raised his hands to urge his group not to move. “Find your way back, I’ll take it from here.”

  Xin looked at him and smiled. Viktor guessed at what Xin’s smirk was meant to convey.

  What you gonna’ do ‘bout this now, huh?

  Viktor, stone-faced, turned his attention back to his wife. Xin, the girls, Darksmith – they all backed up into the forest. Viktor raised his hand. He felt the commonplace strain of the power raging within him as he attempted to release the curtailed amount he needed to save his wife from falling into the ravine.

   Viktor was no novice when it came to sorcery, though he still struggled with controlling the craft he had gained through heredity, a power that was unique to his family. He braced himself for the impact of the feeling of breaching the dam of a mighty river that had had many years to build. Controlling a flow of energy so intense could prove deadly for any being.

  Viktor raised his arm, extending it forward and mentally blocking out the loud whir and earth-tremor made by the helicopter above. He opened his hand and closed his fingers as though holding a hard ball.

  The power inside him was in his grasp to control. Slowly, he attempted to tap into his wife’s energy, her ‘non-physical essence’ in order to draw a connection between her and his power.

  The feeling startled him.

  A barrier?

  He stared at his wife Audrianna backing over the cliff. There was no time…he tried again, reaching with his hand. He felt a slow burning in his hand- an unusual sensation. Viktor looked at his hand and it was on fire, burning from the inside out with an uncommon white flame.

  He rushed to his wife. Audrianna fell off the cliff, and seconds later Viktor saw Lincoln falling right behind her. Viktor rushed forward and looked over the side of the bluff. He did not see them.

  * * *

   

  The ravine was pitch black and Lincoln thought it was sheer luck that he had managed to hook Audrianna securely with one arm and grab a protruding branch with the other. They were surrounded by forest, and it was too dark to see how many feet were left before they would hit the ground; or stream, for that matter.       

  Lincoln felt the branch he held onto bend, then crack, under the pressure of their combined weight. His hand slipped on the wet, thin bark, which bit into his hand, breaking the skin. He steeled his courage to brace for the fall before he willingly let go of the branch.

  Lincoln jumped, hugging Audrianna to him, his hand cupping the back of her head. He fell seventy-five feet and landed squarely on dry ground. His bionic legs strained with the impact, his knees bent and almost buckled withstanding the velocity of the intense fall. His feet smashed the earth with a loud ‘wham.’ The earth was cracked.

  Lincoln attempted to straighten out his artificial limbs. The fall had knocked the wind from his lungs.  He had never put such an unequal burden on his bionic limbs. His knee cranked up like an oversized, rusty rivet being was forced to turn on command. The effect was polarizing- his will to move was fighting against his legs’ need to remain still and recoup their equilibrium. Lincoln pushed on his legs, forcing himself to walk forward, slowly.

  Two feet, three feet, four feet later, he started to walk normally, with Audrianna unconscious in his arms. Lincoln made his way out of the dark ravine, following the path beside the stream to a gravel roadway. Hailing a local taxi in the form of a Toyota Corolla, he paid the taxi driver extra fare to take him off route to the local hospital.

  CHAPTER 9

  “Mmmm,” Audrianna moaned. She opened her eyes, looked up, and smiled. Then, as the face before her became more focused, she stilled.

  Audrianna stared into the mockingly loving eyes of Lincoln Huntington, her secretary.

  “Audrianna,” he whispered softly, hugging her hands gently. He sat in a chair right beside her bed; their faces were inches apart.

  “Yes,” Audrianna breathed, turning to her side to face him better.

  He stared deep into her eyes. Squeezing her hands he said gently, “I want a divorce.”

  Audrianna’s smile was wry. “From whom? Me and Viktor, or Viktor and you?”

  Lincoln snickered.

  “Not gonna’ happen.” Audrianna sat up in the hospital bed, and Lincoln let go of her hand.

  “Fine, then I want a raise.”

  Audrianna looked appalled. “On top of a five hundred thousand dollar Christmas bonus?”

  “Audrianna-no amount of money is worth my life.”

  “You didn’t accept that kind of payout from the U.S. military.”

  “That was different.” Lincoln lay back in his folding chair, pushing the seat backwards, balancing on its rear legs. “That was for Corps and country; Viktor’s an ass.”

  Audrianna scowled. “Don’t say that about my husband.”

  Lincoln sighed. Folding his arms across his chest, he looked away. “You know you were a second away from dying tonight.” Lincoln brought the chair down with a harsh scrape on the floor. “I nearly lost my legs-again.”

  Audrianna was thoughtful. “I remember the explosion…hmmm…” Bowing her head, she looked thoughtful.

  Lincoln stood. The lighting in the room was dim, though dawn was quickly approaching. They were secured in a room in the women’s hospital at Mount Hope. Audrianna was in a room by herself, surrounded by eight empty beds.

  Lincoln looked down on her. Audrianna looked absorbed in thought. She was a small woman, delicate, but not frail. Her cheeks were high and she had a small, demure nose and mouth. Her forehead was flat and small.

  Lincoln brought his hand up to ruffle her hair, an act that always made her balk. He stopped short, not wanting to alarm her with her bald head. He drew his hand to his chin and looked at her head.

  She looked back at him, her soft almond-colored eyes questioning. “What?”

  Lincoln covered his grin with his hand. “Nothing.” His eyes shifted right to hide the guilty laughter there.

  She is gonna’ have one sure fright ne
xt time she takes a look in the mirror.

  “I’ll be outside if you need anything.”

  “You could go straight on holiday. Ohhh nooo, you missed your flight, right?”

  “It’s nothing. I’ll catch a later one. I was just looking to take some time off to be with the kids anyway.”

  Audrianna screwed up her face, her eyes wandering in the opposite direction. Lincoln watched her suspiciously.

  “What?” Lincoln asked.

  “Nothing.”

   “Lincoln?”

  He looked over his shoulder at her.

  “Thank you.”

  He exited the room.

  Audrianna, lost in thought, soon dozed off once more.

  * * *

   

  Audrianna awoke to a beaming Viktor looking down at her.

  “Morning, cupcake!” He walked over to the windows and parted the blinds. Early morning sun bathed the room, her husband made a silhouette by the sunshine.

  Audrianna squeezed her eyes shut and stretched in the bed. “Mmmmm. I’m hungry like hell.”

  Viktor walked over, pulse twitching in his jaw. His voice was soft. “When was the last time you ate something?”

  Audrianna sighed, her gaze lowered. “I honestly don’t remember.” It’s been nearly three days, but she wasn’t going to tell her husband that; it would only compound his anxiety.

  “Where did you get such tight pants.”

  “Well,” he paused, He pulled her up on the bed. “Your ring is gone. And we need to find you another one.”

  She made a sad pouty face.

  He felt a twinge of regret. “Since there is no other way to protect you from silver, I’m going to have to find another enchanted item to protect my little were from harm. My suit was lined with silver, so I exchanged clothes with Kelly for a time.”

  She fingered the waist with her index finger and her hand boldly cupped his bulge in front. He released a small gasp.

  “As you can imagine.” He breathed, “It is a tight fit.”

  She giggled as she caressed his bulge in front.

  Audrianna reached out with her arms, beckoning Viktor. He pulled her up on the bed. Kneeling, she hugged him close. “I need a large pizza.” Moving her tongue around in her mouth she screwed up her face. “Ugh, I have to brush my teeth.” She started to push Viktor away when his arms tightened around her. He gave her a smoldering look that made her heart lurch. Passion flared within her as its unspoken meaning stoked her desire.

  He lowered her to the bed. “Do you hurt?” His hands glided down the length of her body, slipping beneath her sheer hospital gown. “Anywhere?”

  Audrianna flexed, bucking her hips upward, her body like a bow. “No.”

  “I know I should let you rest and take it easy. But I thought I’d lost you forever. Good God.” Viktor passed his hand over her bare womanhood and cupped her there. “I want to stick it in.”

  Bam! The door swung open, slamming into the side of the wall. Xin stood in the doorway, glancing from Viktor’s tight-lipped, accusing glare to the Audrianna’s compromised state on the bed.

  “Viktor,” Xin greeted him with a curt nod. “Mrs. Viktor.” He did not look at Audrianna’s guilty expression.

  Audrianna, unutterably embarrassed, covered her face with the pillow. In a muffled voice she replied, “Daddy.”

  His eyes locked on Viktor, he spoke sternly, “A word with my charge.” Xin stood in the doorway, waiting.

  Incensed, Viktor turned and walked pass Xin, who summarily kicked the door closed behind him.

   

  Clear blue skies in the distance met Viktor as he walked onto the third-floor balcony of the hospital, which faced the yard’s entrance nearly one hundred feet away. To his left was a small reception area. The desk was a semi-circular structure painted a mild lemon yellow. The worn, marginally chipped counter top was varnished cherry wood. An old computer and overly used red and blue ledgers covered the desk. There were two uniformed nurses at the reception. One nurse read the daily papers while the other rapped specifics over the phone curtly. The atmosphere felt uneventful, a far cry from the drama that had unfolded hours earlier.

  Viktor walked a few steps away from the reception area to his left and kept to the balcony overseeing the spacious, well-kept green lawn that extended fifty feet towards the highway.

  The calm, scenic view that greeted him did nothing to soothe his turbulent thoughts.

  How could I have let this happen?

  Viktor reviewed in his head all the protocols he had created to protect himself and his family from intruders such as Dr. Eli. Notwithstanding his obvious proclivity to attract crazies who wish to test their might against his, Audrianna was a different story. Obviously someone had sicced Dr. Eli onto his wife. Someone who was aware of her status, but who? No one else knew of the power she possessed but him, and Grigori.

  Grigori was a loyal busybody who had served the Maxcks’ family for generations. It was impossible to think of him as a traitor. No. Viktor’s features grew into a mask of heated displeasure.

  His familiars were mechanically loyal to him. The only other default option was that someone had done their own research and zeroed in on Audrianna. Audrianna herself could not have spoken of the phenomenon to anyone. The only other person to have been revealed to the truth was dead.  

   Leaning against the railing, arms crossed, he decided on a series of further measures that would protect his wife. He smiled without mirth. They would probably anger her as well…but Viktor wasn’t afraid of becoming necessarily rough with her in order to secure her own protection.

  Lost in his deep musings, he appeared not to have noticed Xin’s approach to his side.

  “Don’t you believe you are allowing the acquisition of self-blame go too far?” Viktor sighed roughly, reaching into his pants pockets to remove his smartphone. He entered the code to gain access. He then sent the private information he had used to bargain with Xin for his help earlier.

  Xin’s phone in his pocket made a corresponding sound, indicating it had received Viktor’s text. Viktor then placed his phone back into his pocket.

  “Hmmph,” Xin bent his head. With a sideways glance he mused, “’First remove the log from your own eye.’” Xin looked away, his eyes distant. “She killed my brother and father, this I cannot let stand. You’ve brought this on yourself. You’ve willfully made a date with the hangman, and you opted to bring your own noose.” He paused, turning towards the entrance. “Do not drag me into the same pit as you.”

  Xin walked off, leaving Viktor observing the view before him. He stood outside, pondering the day’s events. It was the wretched, piercing scream that jarred his awareness, causing him to sprint to his wife’s side. Viktor barged into the room to find his wife screaming at her reflection in a compact case. Her personal assistant Elyzabel was jumping up and down in her six-inch heels in excitement, pointing excitedly at Audrianna with a look of shock and dismay on her face.

  “Look at you! Look at you!”

  Audrianna was caressing her bald scalp, close to tears. Viktor walked up to her in the bed, grabbed both her shoulders and silenced her with a deep, long, searing kiss. Audrianna’s distress-filled cry died as she was sucked in deeper and deeper into the maelstrom of passion that caused her insides to melt.  She reached out, intending to hug him closer to her body, when he drew back, releasing her from the devastating kiss.

  “Now that I have your attention,” he whispered against her ear. The small breath tickled her skin, and she shivered.  “Where would you like to go for a small trip? Paris, Milan, the mansion off the bay in South Carolina?” Viktor slowly pulled away.

  He kept his eyes trained on hers and the meaning there conveyed an image of intense yearning that Audrianna could not mistake. “You decide.” He bowed his head. Bringing her open palm against his mouth he flicked the tip of his tongue there. His eyes remained on hers. He gave Elyzabel a look of warning before exiting
the room, leaving Audrianna with a besotted expression on her face.

  Audrianna balled both hands up to her chest and grinned. “I love my man.” She clapped her hands a few times gleefully and then reached for the smart phone on the side table, which Elyzabel had handed her before the big commotion about her hair.

  Elyzabel, a voluptuous woman of Hispanic decent, looked immediately contrite. “Sorry for getting all worked up about your head and things. It was just a shock to see all of it gone, so…” Elyzabel shrugged her shoulders.

  “Eh, it’s okay.” Audrianna sighed and looked spaced out. “I think I’m over most of it already anyway.”

  “I’ll bet you are.” Elyzabel reached over and squeezed her arm, grinning from ear to ear knowingly. Elyzabel had light caramel-colored skin, with pink lips, straight short hair, and clear, honey-colored eyes always ready to dance in merriment. She wore a loose fitting, bright, flowery blouse that featured a curved neckline and slits from shoulder to elbow on both arms. Snug fitting blue jeans that hugged her curves and lacy six inch heels topped off the ensemble.

  “At least your man is suave.” Elyzabel brought up some text on her cell phone. She handed her cell to Audrianna. “Here, read this.”

  Audrianna took the phone, and as she read the text on the screen she laughed aloud. “Kelly sent this?”

  Elyzabel nodded. “And is wasn’t until after we ‘got together’ that he told me you were in the hospital and needed clothes and shit.”

  Audrianna read the text out loud, swallowing hard. “Come over sexy body and suck some crotch-but he not easy?”

  Elyzabel frowned, shaking her head. “I thought that since Payne was raised ‘alright’ that he wouldn’t be so vulgar.”

  Audrianna opened a radio application on her phone to listen to the local morning disc jockeys and placed the cell on the bedside table. “All of them are like that,” Audrianna referred to Payne’s other brothers and sister, shaking her head with a small smile, .

  Elyzabel looked at her with a mischievous smile on her face. “Was Llewellyn like that?”

  Audrianna settled down on the pillow, folding her arms. She screwed her mouth up into a small moue, her mind away on other things. Elyzabel laughed at her expression and got up and started unpacking clothes that Audrianna could wear and some toiletries, placing them on one of the other vacant beds.