Dark Creations: Hell on Earth (Part 5) (14 page)

Despite his imprecise method, h
e heard a pair of his kind padding toward him.  He rose onto his hind paws, at attention, as a fresh ripple of anticipation overtook him.  Anticipation and hunger.  The hunger drove him to the brink of madness.  His insatiable, never-ending appetite compelled him to seek out food at every opportunity.  But he was always forced to wait.  Wait for his maker’s command, and all for a meal.  He guessed Lord Terzini had never been made to wait for his food.  He also guessed Lord Terzini had never felt hunger even remotely similar to the hunger that plagued him every second of every moment of every hour of each day that passed.

The muffled growls and rumbles of two of his fellow Hunters returned his thought
s to the feast across the Lake.  If only he and his pack would be released, they could roam and feed continually.  They’d never feel hungry again.

But his maker would never let them leave
, never give them unrestricted access to the veritable smorgasbord that existed beyond the parameters of the town they occupied.  He would have liked nothing more than to disregard his maker’s rules and take his pack out to dine on the endless sea of humans, but Hunters did as they were told, ate only when they were fed, when Terzini said so.  That was the chain of command.  Hunters were ranked lowest in Terzini’s order and were at the mercy of all others. 

Hunger gnawed angrily in his gut.  Digestive juices continued to rocket up his esophagus until the searing pain became unbearable.  He just kept staring, unable to tear his eyes from the three humans holding objects in front of their fa
ces.  Were they toying with him?  He wondered.  Were they playing some sadistic game of peekaboo with him?  If he could speak, he would shout to them, “I see you.”  They wouldn’t hear him of course, not yet at least.  But they would soon enough.  He would find a way. 

A veritable buffet
awaited him and the Hunters just beyond the town limits, an all they could eat buffet just beyond their reach. 

Another ripple swelled within him.  It flowed with unexpected force and threatened to topple him from his precarious perch on his hind legs.  Only this time, the swell was not driven by hunger alone.  Another sensation accompanied it.  A strong sense of resentment, of displeasure
, complemented his bloodlust.  He felt angry.  And not at the human beings he wished to feed on, but at Lord Franklin Terzini. 

Chapter 12

Amber could not recall the walk from Terzini’s hideaway to the driveway in any great detail.  All she knew was that she’d managed to escape without murdering the bastard in his bed or crying in front of the drones that guarded him.  She’d tossed her shoulders back, set her features in an icy expression and marched with purpose until she’d stepped over the threshold and outside. 

Once she’d made it outdoors, she found breathing easier than it had been inside.  The air was mild, pleasantly so, and a welcome relief from the sweltering heat of Lord Terzini’s house.  She did not know why he’d insisted on keeping the thermostat set at a balmy eighty degrees regardless of the outside temperature, and
frankly, she did not care.  The setting on his thermostat was the least of her concerns, especially when he was around. 

She inhaled deeply, grateful that none of her ribs had been bruised during her assault as they had been on many occasions in the past.  For reasons she’d never understand, her maker favored both humiliating her
and
flopping up and down on her forcefully, without any coordination whatsoever.  How he thought that anyone could derive pleasure from his pathetic maneuvers was beyond her. 

Though her ribs did not ache this time, every other part of her did, particularly from the waist down.  Images of how he’d brutalized her moments earlier replayed in her brain and several tears slipped down her cheek, but she did not dare acknowledge them.  She knew that standing outside in front of her motorcycle in the long, gravel driveway, she was free to relax, but only a bit.  If noticed, her tears would not be ignored.  Eyes watched her from every angle.  Mounted cameras affixed with tiny microphones relayed images and sound to her very paranoid leader.  If so much as a whimper escaped her lips, each of her peers would know of it and report back to Lord Terzini.  No, she would not cry, refused to.  She was not able to indulge in luxuries such as crying whenever her emotions demanded it.  But she could race from the grounds as quickly as her bike allowed her to. 

The thought of straddling her bike, or anything for that matter, seemed a daunting task.  But discomfort was a small price to pay to put physical distance between her and Terzini.  She needed to leave in the worst way.  She pulled her helmet from its perch on the back of her motorcycle and pulled it atop her head.  With a groan, she lifted her leg over the seat of her Honda CBR600RR then pulled her key from her pants pocket and turned it in the ignition.  She twisted the right handle, revving the engine several times before stepping down with her right foot and shifting gears.  At her command, the bike began moving.  She turned the handlebars to the left and did not care that she drove onto the meticulously maintained front lawn before speeding down the driveway and off the property.

Once out of Terzini’s remote community and on an open road, she increased her speed.  The world rushed at her in a dazzling blur.  The sun was high overhead, warming her darkly colored uniform.  She could not feel the wind in her face because of her helmet, but felt it blow through her body.  The chill of the wind and the heat of the sun competed and created an invigorating phenomenon. 

She was free now, free to drop her guard, even if only for a moment.  She was free to cry.  With no one watching her any longer, tears gathered behind her eyelids quickly and began to spill before raining down her cheeks. She knew that crying while operating a motorcycle was a risky endeavor, but she did not care.  She needed release.  She needed to purge her body of his touch and wept unabashedly until her eyes ran dry.  When the tears had finally stopped, her chin and neck were damp and her eyes burned.  But she felt sufficiently cleansed, drained, but cleansed, nevertheless.  She began to feel better, both emotionally and physically. 

Allowing herself to cry had revitalized her and reminded her that she was too strong to let the pathetic little man break her.  True, he could violate her body and dictate her doings, but he did not control her heart, her soul.  Those were hers and hers alone.  She had not forfeited either
, and never would.  With her emotional state on the mend, her body began to mend itself as well.  The angry welts on her upper arms where her maker had squeezed her in the throes of his demented version of passion had diminished.  Throbbing in intimate spaces started to dissipate. 

But no matter how quickly her physical wounds healed, and how vehemently she defended her claim to her heart and soul, emotional wounds still existed.  And they did not heal.  They remained ever-fixed, permanently carved into her memory, her essence.

The countless atrocities Terzini had committed against her personally during her short time on the planet clawed at her.  She swore that she would get even with him; he was going to pay for everything he had done to her.  That was the last time he would be allowed to abuse her sexually or any other way.  She would rather die than ever let it happen again.

Her desire to avenge the wrongs committed against her transformed unexpectedly to thoughts of living, living free of the membership, free of Lord Terzini.  Inexplicably, thoughts of true freedom yielded an urgent need to get to Kyle’s house.  How or why Kyle would possibly tie into her fantasies of free will remained a mystery to her.  All she knew was that she was suddenly overcome with a desperate need to be with him and his sisters. 

Kyle had popped into her mind more than once during her visit to Terzini’s compound.  She did not know the reason for that either, and to complicate matters further she’d compared the two men.  The comparison had been laughable really.  One was a malignant maggot who forced his putrid self on her,
on humanity
, while the other was heroic, honorable and handsome.  Just the thought of Terzini standing beside Kyle caused one side of her mouth to pull upward into a half-smile.  They were nothing alike.  Terzini was a cowardly creature whose only chance at getting anyone to follow him was creating them himself and stripping them of their ability to rebel.  Kyle was valiant like a fabled prince in her favorite storybooks.  His act of bravery had impressed her.  Bravery was an honorable characteristic she’d learned about when being educated.  Only the greatest of people throughout history had possessed honor.  From grand leaders who’d fought for the freedom of those enslaved to unassuming elderly women who’d tirelessly dedicated themselves to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying, honor had been their shining trait.  When Amber had seen Kyle shield his twin sisters with his body, she’d seen honor personified.  She’d viewed him in the same light as those esteemed in her history downloads. 

Amber had never seen a selfless and courageous act.  Learning of it and seeing it unfold had dramatically different effects.  In her educational downloads, the honorable humans had been almost mocked for their integrity.  She, of course, had drawn her own conclusions and had become fascinated by them.  Never in her wildest dreams did she believe she would see moral character in action.  Especially since she’d only seen people in their final moments.  Human beings seldom rose to their fullest potential when faced with death.  More often than not, they begged and pleaded for mercy, prayed, or offered either money or their bodies in exchange for their lives.  But Kyle had not done any of those things.  Kyle had been different.  She only wished she could have complimented him in the moment.  That, of course, would have been wildly inappropriate given the fact that she’d been the one holding the gun on him, and
that it was her team that had just killed his parents.

She needed to get back to his house and check on him and his sisters.  She drove faster, speeding down the narrow stretch of road until she reached the residential community on the outskirts of Main Street.  Remnants of a sizable bloodstain marred the street just beyond the driveway. After scanning the immediate area for Hunters and seeing none, she pulled into the driveway of his Victorian style home.  Not s
eeing Hunters did not guarantee their absence.  They were always nearby. 

She parked as close to the garage as possible then stole up the walkway into the house.  She stopped just inside in the foyer and listened for sound of movement, for the sound of heavy paws plodding.  When none were heard she went directly to the hallway.  There, a door opened to a staircase and led to the basement.  She slid her ha
nd along the wall and felt for a light switch.  With the steps bathed in light, she moved down them quickly.

“Kyle,” she whispered as loudly as she could.

He did not answer and Amber began to panic.  Had the Hunters made their way inside and done what they were designed to do?  She wondered.

“Kyle!” she tried again
a little louder.

The sound of stirring in the far corner of the room caused her to draw her weapon.  She clutched her pistol between both hands and crept with her back against the wall to the farthest point in the room. 

With nothing left to lose, she inhaled sharply, raised the knob on the switch and sprang from the shadows with her gun aimed out in front of her.  Screams rang out and her finger eased off the trigger when she saw Kyle crouched and hanging onto his sisters.

“Why didn’t you
answer me when I called you?” she said and felt both terrified and frustrated by the fact that she’d almost shot the very people she sought to protect.

“You were whispering.  How the hell was I supposed to know it was you?” Kyle snipped and opened his mouth to say something else but was interrupted by one of his sisters brushing past him as she rushed toward Amber.

“Amber!” Jackie shouted and threw her arms around Amber’s waist.  “I was so worried when you left.  My brother said you probably wouldn’t come back but I just knew you would.  I knew you’d come back for us.”

“Why wouldn’t I come back for you?” Amber asked genuinely confused, but Jackie did not answer her.  She squeezed Amber’s waist tighter.

Amber felt her heart swell.  No one had ever shown her affection before.  The only physical contact she’d ever experienced had been Lord Terzini’s unwanted advances, until now.  She wrapped her arms around Jackie’s shoulders and returned the hug, lowering her chin to the girl’s head.  Jackie’s hair smelled sweet, like strawberries, and she murmured something inaudible into Amber’s belly.  She would have liked to have known what the girl had said, but was too engrossed in the moment, in the hug.  The act had been spontaneous and had generated a warm sensation that filled her chest.  Jackie trusted her, needed her.  Amber discovered that being needed felt good.

Her warm feeling felt as though it had frozen time, as though it had l
asted longer than it actually had.  In reality, it had been brief and was interrupted abruptly by the sound of Kyle’s voice.

“Get away from her, Jackie!” Kyle ordered his sister.  “She was one of the people who killed mom and dad, and now you’re hugging her.  She probably came back to finish us off.”

Amber was aghast.  She had no intention of doing any such thing. To the contrary, her intent was to rescue them. 

“She wouldn’t do that,” Jackie defended her and began to cry.  “She saved us.  She killed the bad people who did that.”