Dark Creations: Hell on Earth (Part 5) (27 page)

He felt a hand grip
the top of his arm and spun to face who touched him.  Amber, the reason he’d left Melissa, stood at his side, her face impassive as she told him, “This is not good, Gabriel.”

“No Amber, this is not good!” Gabri
el exploded.  “The woman I love has been taken by a damned bloodthirsty monster because I left her!  I left her to help you!  No.  There is nothing
good
about it!”

A new feeling had overtaken him.  It surged and coursed through him just below his skin, raging at the unbearable pain tearing at his soul. 

Amber stepped back away from him.  Her face paled and her impassive expressive transformed to a fearful one.  His fury was palpable.

“Gabriel, calm down,” he heard Yoshi say over the rush of blood behind his eardrums. 

He was about to lash out again, to tell Yoshi there was no way in hell he could calm down with Melissa missing, but Amber beat him to it.

“No, he shouldn’t calm down,” she said to Yoshi.  “He has every right to be mad.”  Then she looked to Gabriel and said solemnly, “But we need to get out of here.  Lord Terzini probably knows what happened, that his Hunters have been killed.”

“Good!” Jack rallied.  “Let the bastard come.  Let him bring more monsters.  We’ll handle them just like we handled those things,” he said and gestured to the many Hunter carcasses scattered about.

“No,” Amber said firmly, worry creasing her face.  “Trust me, you do not want that.  The Hunters, they were just created to clean up after members.”  She cringed visibly at her own words. 

“I don’t give a damn what they’re for!” Gabriel shouted.  “All I know is one of them has Melissa and I need to get her back!”

“You need to take me somewhere else, Gabriel,” Amber pleaded and searched his eyes.  He was certain she sought to convey something with her stare, some message.  But he was in no mood for mind games.  He’d had enough.

“No Amber!  I don’t think you understand.  I love her and I am not your errand boy.  I am going to find Melissa.  You can do whatever the hell you want,” he huffed, anger and fear brimming to a dangerous level.

“Gabriel,” she said softly and looked at him imploringly again.  “You don’t understand the Hunters,
how they are hardwired.”

“I think I know them just fine,” he started but she held up a hand and cut him off.

“
No
, you don’t,” she said firmly.  “Hunters cannot help themselves.”

“What, what are you saying?  What does that even mean?” he asked and the world began to spin.  “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” he blinked ba
ck tears.  “Are you saying she’s dead?”

He heard himself say the word and felt darkness tease his peripheral vision.

“I’m sorry, Gabriel,” Amber whispered then looked to her feet.  “A Hunter is designed with an insatiable appetite.  He has to feed, no matter what.  He took her away to,” she said and her voice faltered before trailing off.

“No, no, no,” Gabriel gasped as his mind spiraled, plunging headlong, deeper and deeper into a blackened abyss from which there was no escape.  Every part of him ached, yet dark, velvety oblivion beckoned him, tempting him with welcoming arms and numbness. 

“Gabriel!  Gabriel!” he heard Amber’s voice calling to him over a flurry of cries.  “We have to go now,” her voice wavered in and out as if it were being controlled by a volume modulator.  “We have to stop another problem or all of humanity will die.”

Gabriel closed his eyes, the tide of darkness too great, too inviting to resist any longer.  The pain he felt was unbearable.  The darkness was its end.  If Melissa was gone as Amber believed she was, there was no longer a need to fight the pain.  He would embrace it, fall to it. 

Someone gripped his arms firmly and shook him.  He opened his eyes and saw a bleary image before him.  Yoshi’s face, concerned but unwavering, watched him.  “Come on, Gabriel.  Stay with me, brother.  We will find her.  I will go with you, and we will find her,” he promised.

For reasons Gabriel could not explain, he believed his friend, and resisted succumbing to the void.  He clung to Yoshi’s words, held fast to them like a lifeline.

“You have to trust me, man,” Yoshi spoke, close to his ear.  “We’ll bring her home.”

“I’m going after Melissa,” Gabriel heard himself say in a strong, clear voice, stronger and clearer than he felt.

“You can’t go into town,” Amber begged.  “They know what happened.  Four thousand members of the new race will be waiting for you.  It’s a death mission.”

“You don’t know what it’s like to love, Amber.  You’ve never felt it,” Gabriel snapped.  “But Melissa is everything to me.  I love her.  If I die trying to save her, then so be it.  I’m going,” he said with
finality as he climbed back onto the all-terrain vehicle.  “Nothing you can say will stop me.”

“Let me at least get you some gas for those things,” Jack said sol
emnly then called for one of his men.  Moments later, a man returned holding two plastic containers and began filling his fuel reserve.

“Thanks, Jack,” Gabriel mumbled.

“You aren’t going alone,” Yoshi said and slid onto the other ATV. 

“Fill that one, too,” Jack ordered the man and he complied immediately.

“You will both die,” Amber said and Gabriel saw her eyes well with tears. 

Alexandra and Daniella wept unabashedly.  As Yoshi started the engine of his vehicle, Alexandra ran to him and threw her arms around his shoulders.  “I love you,” she said to him above the sound of the engine.  She kissed him deeply then moved to Gabriel and embraced him as well.  In his ear, she whispered, “Come back to us, okay.  Come back to us with Melissa,” before sobs racked her body. 

With a curt nod to Amber, Kyle and his sisters and a knowing look to Jack and Daniella, Gabriel took off down the gravel driveway with Yoshi following.  He knew he probably wouldn’t live to see the sun rise, that his mission was likely one of suicide.  His only regret was that Yoshi’s steadfast loyalty would likely get him killed as well.  But he could not think of that now.  He could not torture himself with more guilt.  There would be plenty of time for that later.  Only one thing mattered: he needed to find Melissa. 

Chapter 24

Lord Terzini froze, clutching his phone to his ear.  He struggled to fathom what he’d just heard, confusion and frustration vying for control of his emotions.  But confusion quickly surrendered to frustration.  And frustration immediately birthed outrage.

Anger unlike any he’d ever felt surged through him, flooding his veins like molten lava.  He lowered the phone from his head then launched it across the room.  It crashed into the far wall, denting the plaster before breaking into several pieces.  His eyes darted about the room, looking for something else to throw, something to break, something to hurt.  Of course, what he wanted to hurt, or
who
he wanted to hurt, rather, was not in his presence.  He’d have to wait to dole out her punishment.  And punish her he would.  In the meantime, breaking objects would have to suffice. 

He spotted his once beloved bust of the late fascist dictator Benito Mussolini perched on its pedestal just a few feet from where he stood.  One of the few humans he deemed noteworthy for their contributions to the world, Terzini had enjoyed staring at Mussolini’s arrogant face.  Now, however, his small dark eyes and smug smirk watched him mockingly.  His broad chin jutted contemptuously, as if he were taunting him for not sniffing out opposition within his membership. 

Terzini closed the distance between him and his Mussolini bust and gripped it with both hands.   He wanted to throw it to the ground, to shatter the bastard’s judgmental face into a thousand pieces.  But as he tried to lift it, the bust did not budge. 

His temper flared at his ineptitude and he swore Mussolini’s clay lips curled at the ends.  Ire burned through his being and branched out to his extremities.  He tried to lift the bust again but could not.  His breathing became short and shallow, fury mounting dangerously.  He kicked the stand it sat on then shoved the heavy piece.  Finally, it moved.  It tottered unsteadily for several seconds and a thrill of excitement teased in his belly.  When the pedestal and bust ceased wavering and stood upright again, Terzini flew into a fit of rage.  He dropped his shoulder and rammed into Mussolini.  It tipped before falling to the floor.  Terzini braced himself for the sound of splintering
, but only heard a thud when it met with his hardwood flooring.

“Dammit!” he screamed in exasperation. 

First, he’d received a call from one of his patrolmen that a pack of Hunters had been seen charging past the town limits, attempted to attack a farm that had been cleared by Amber only to get themselves slaughtered.  And then the bust incident had occurred.  Mussolini still gazed at him with disdain. 

He began kicking the ceramic rendering, picturing Amber’s face as he did. 

Amber’s betrayal had been the most surprising upset of all.  The Hunters, though intelligent to a degree, had still been lowly creatures created with an insatiable hunger for flesh.  Eventually, he knew he’d put them down.  Their purpose had always been short-term.  But Amber was a different story entirely.  She had been created to please him.  He’d granted her feelings so she could revel in his company, which he believed had been very generous of him.  And she’d repaid him with treachery.  She’d lied to him when she’d told him that the farm had been abandoned.  She’d told him he had nothing to worry about.  She’d done the unthinkable.  He did not even think her capable of deceit.  After all, he had created her.  And he, unlike his predecessor, did not create defective members.  Something else must have happened.

Unfortunately, he did not have the luxury of time to speculate about the reason for her malfunction.  He would do a thorough dissection of her brain when he caught her.  Whether she was alive when the dissection took place would depend on the mood he was in when the moment arrived.  And it would arrive soon.  But right now, he had a more pressing matter at hand.  His plan for humanity was at risk with every second that ticked by.  He needed to call Arnold. 

A quick glance at the many pieces of plastic and tiny wires that littered the floor along with bits of plaster reminded him that he’d need to use his cell phone.  He reached into his pants pocket, pulled out his phone and dialed Arnold Gathers.  After three rings, Arnold answered.

“Hello?” Arnold said softly.

“Arnold, this is Lord Terzini.  It is time to deliver the package.”

“You’d like it delivered now, sir?” Arnold asked.

“Yes, today.  I know it is sooner than we’d planned, but we cannot risk losing control.”

“As you wish, sir,” was all Arnold said before ending their call. 

Terzini replaced his phone to his pocket and looked back down at Mussolini.  “Bastard,” he muttered to himself before stepping over him.  Mussolini’s legacy would be trivial next to his.  The dictator had been a schoolyard bully, nothing more.  He, on the other hand, was about to wipe out all those capable of opposing him.  His plague would sweep from town to town, from state to state, country to country until every human being fell.  That was how a leader effectively rid his reign of opposition.  That was how legends were made and legacies left.  His only regret was that it was happening sooner than he’d originally planned.  He’d wanted more time to create more members.  Now, he only had four thousand members in his new race.  They would have to shoulder the responsibility of repopulating Earth. 

Terzini gazed out the window and imagined a world where only his creations roamed.  The thought soothed him and made him temporarily forget Amber’s deception and about the rogue pack of dogs.  But his respite was cut short when he glimpsed an enormous, drooling beast racing up his driveway.  He recognized the slobbering fool immediately.  Zogg was approaching, and with something in his mouth.

Terzini groaned aloud and ran a hand through his thick hair.  His day was about to get even more trying.  He did not think that possible until he saw that one of his half-witted Hunters had not only survived his self-inflicted demise, but had brought his master something dead as a gift or apologetic peace offering.  He felt his blood boil and wished to kick the behemoth boob.

He narrowed his eyes, squinting in the distance to see if what Zogg carried still bled.  If so, the mangy beast would have to remain outside.  Terzini did not want gore traipsed into his house.  But as he stared, he realized no gore seeped from Zogg’s gift, and that it was, in fact, a gift of grand scale, one he recognized. 

In his jaw, the Hunter carried a girl.  Not just any girl, either.  He held Melissa Martin.

A sense of calm washed over him as the magnitude of Zogg
’s gift set in.  The beast was a fool.   No doubt existed in his mind about that. The fact he had managed to bring her to him without eating her was impressive.  He did not think such restraint was possible for a Hunter.  He must have known that bringing her to him was his only chance at survival.  Melissa Martin’s capture would avenge the late Dr. Franklin Terzini, and that thought tickled him.  Between that, and the fact that his plague was about to be released, Lord Terzini felt a smile spread across his lips.  His day, as it turned out, was not nearly as bad as he’d thought.