This Blood (12 page)

“Let’s go,” I said, cutting off my sordid thoughts. “I’m going to try for her kitchen. It doesn’t have any furniture and I’m less likely to crash us through her coffee table.”

I grabbed his hand.

FOURTEEN

Ann’s house still smelled like hell, only slightly less noxious.  We were also in total darkness. I didn’t want to risk turning on a light. I knew Ann’s house like the back of my hand so I decided I would lead the way in the dark.

We entered the bedroom, only then did I decide on light.  I opened my hand and a pen-sized flashlight appeared. I turned it on and flashed it on the floor. I did not want to stumble and wind up touching the walls.  I knew the blood was dry, but it might flake off on my hand, and that was just not okay.

We shut the door. The strange symbols were still there. I looked at Lucian. Holding my breath, I grabbed his arm with my right hand as I raised my left hand to the door.

“Ready?” I asked as my hand hovered above the symbols.

“Whether I am or not, it’s too late. Do you feel it?”  His brows were almost touching his hairline.

I faced the door again. A slight tickle was feathering the center of my palm. “You can feel that?” I asked Lucian, as relief flooded my body. I was secretly worried that this was a single ticket.  The tickle slowly spread out, filling my whole hand, then crept its way up to permeate my entire body. I cringed as I pressed my hand flat to the door. A moment later, we were slowly pulled forward. It felt like being sucked through a wall of Jell-O. I shut my eyes, I was afraid they’d get blinded by goo. The feeling lasted only a few seconds and the next thing I knew, we were through. I looked down at my clothing.  Wow, I thought, feeling my arms and face. We were surprisingly clean and dry.

“Where are we?” I whispered, hoping Lucian had a clue. I turned to look at him; he was staring a little slack-jawed. Apparently we were both oblivious.

“This place is over the top,” I whispered, looking around.  We were in a warehouse-sized room, decorated in early bordello. The walls were high and draped with long flowing panels of black fabric. The carpet beneath our feet was way too thick and way too red. Large sitting areas were arranged in clusters around the room. The chairs were opulent, upholstered in red velvet. The golden legs were intricately carved.

A massive fireplace took up half of a long wall and was crackling with huge flames.  “Hmm, I see they have their very own gateway to hell.” I gestured to the fire. It was tall enough to stand in and wide enough to burn a tree sideways.

“I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.” he said, shifting uneasily. “The air reeks of death. We are in a very bad place.”

Fabulous, I feel so much better now,
I thought.  “Thanks for sugar-coating it.”  I said, shivering at his cool tone. His words scared me, bringing back mental pictures of my poor Ann’s bedroom, the carnage, the blood. I had a very bad feeling about this.

I looked around the dimly lit space and discovered that the light came from dozens of tall torches scattered around the room. Small flames burned inside tulip-shaped holders, giving the room enough light to see clearly, but at the same time casting grotesque shadows on the walls. It was spooky, gaudy, and darkly beautiful at the same time. I hated it.

Lucian stood, rigid. “No one seems to be here,” he said, “strange that we have no welcome party.”

I agreed. It was too quiet.

“What now?” he said. “I was planning on shooting someone, or at the very least, punching someone in the face.”  He sounded disappointed.

“You’re pouting?  Knock it off!  I’m sure you’ll get your chance.” I took a small step forward only to have Lucian’s hand shoot out and stop me.

“Wait,” he said, “we’re not alone, do you hear it?” He was whispering, and a wild look filled his eyes. My adrenalin started pumping faster as I tried to identify the sound.

Nothing.

I closed my eyes and listened with my mind. Oh my God, it was Ann!  She was crying. Her mind was racing. I couldn’t hear her thoughts very clearly; I only knew she was alive. She was also chained, gagged and… close.

“Follow me. I think they’re waiting for us.” I pulled a wooden stake from Lucian’s stash and handed it to him. In my hand, I materialized the crucifix dagger. I hunched over, praying that they hadn’t noticed our arrival. We were whispering and the room was huge, but I had no idea if these beings had super hearing or not.

Lucian was quick.  He ran ahead of me, making no sound.
Not too impressive, considering the seven inches of carpet.
I ran, trying to even us up. I knew he was trying to be the first one they saw, just in case they were ready to knock my block off and grab the ring.

I lost sight of him as he turned around a group of throne-like chairs and then I heard her.

Ann.

She was just ahead. Her cries were muffled. It pissed me off. But I was glad at the same time. If she could cry, that meant she was alive. I had to count my blessings.

I stumbled out into an empty area that wasn’t visible when we first entered. The sight I beheld was startling and I froze in my tracks. I was looking at a scene from some badly written porno slash sci-fi movie.

Lying on the floor, dressed in nothing but a golden bra and panties was my lovely Ann.  She had a gold metal collar around her neck connected to a thin chain. Her ankles were shackled with a pair of matching cuffs. The chain was very long, obviously to allow her some mobility, if needed. The same cuffs were around her wrists. The chain looked much shorter than the one at her feet.  Her mouth was taped shut.
Where they found gold duct tape was beyond me.
She was sitting on a gold, satin pillow, like a prized pet.

This was wrong on so many levels. But, as strange as it was, I was too relieved to see that she was whole. Not a scratch. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying, but I could see no visible injuries.

I spun, where the hell was Lucian? I didn’t see him,
Shit
, I couldn’t waste time worrying about him, I had to get her out of here.

“Sorry, honey. This might hurt,” I soothed before I pulled the tape from her mouth. Her eyes were wild.

As soon as the tape was removed, she yelled, “It’s a trap, Grace. Run!”

“Not without you.” I reached for the cuffs on her feet when a male voice stopped me.

“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” the silky voice purred.

I turned to find a huge, fearsome thing standing behind me. It was at least nine feet tall with a bald, knobby head. Its skin was a grayish-yellow color with several tattoos all over its malformed body. Lucian was struggling in its huge arms while it pressed a hypodermic needle into his neck. Its thumb was on the plunger.

The voice came again, but not from the thing.

“Miss Allen, how good of you to come. As you can see, we have kept your beautiful friend in excellent health.”

The voice came from the direction of the far wall.  A regally dressed man stepped out from behind a long silken drape.  He was divine, dressed in the requisite frock coat and lace. His long auburn hair was tied in a black ribbon. His striking green eyes looked cruel. He held the other end of Ann’s chain in his gloved hand. I would have laughed at the cliché, but I was too worried.

“If you try to rescue your friend, we will kill your lover,” he smirked.  Then he held up a small remote control, “And if you try to rescue your lover,” his eyes bled to solid black, “we will kill your friend. Believe me, Miss Allen, the speed of their death will be blinding. Do you wish to chance it?”

He took a small graceful step toward Ann, eyeing her eagerly.

“You see,” he continued, “the syringe at Lucian’s neck is filled with acid. It’s the only thing that will work on one such as him. Of course, there is always salt water. But why risk it?  He is very powerful you know, but sadly, not immortal.” He smiled. He’d just revealed Lucian’s secret, but I’d already figured it out on my own, so shock never registered on my face.

With my features calm, almost bored, I glanced at Lucian. I shrugged my shoulders as if to say, “So what?”  My calm was lost on him and he looked furious as he struggled in vain. The yucky thing holding Lucian had his arms pinned painfully behind his back. Its yellow eyes were raking my body like I had a ham bone tied around my neck. I gulped
. I was going to stay in control. I was not going to get my friends killed.

The fop spoke again. My reaction to his little revelation was obviously a small disappointment so he marched on to more disturbing matters. “The collar, young Ann wears, is fitted with a blade.” He giggled like an amused child, “With a touch of a button, it will sever her head.” He stepped deeper into the room. Elegantly unfolding himself onto a large throne, he jingled Ann’s chain with a flourish. She jumped and started crying again.

“What do you want?” I growled.

“NO!”   Lucian screamed, his words interrupted as the thing pulled his arms up at an odd angle. His pain was obvious, but Lucian made no other sound.

“Why, we want
you,
my dear.” He slid his tongue over the sharp points of his teeth. “It’s the only way to save your friends. Oh, how badly I long to see you take your friend’s place.” He pulled hard on her chain.  She was forced to crawl to his feet, or risk getting strangled. “But, to my sorrow, my master has other plans for you,” he sighed dramatically.

This was a huge mess! We hadn’t planned on a sneaky, big, ugly grabbing Lucian. I was thinking he would be the one to protect
me
. I should have left him behind. I could be having drinks with Ann at The Edge by now. That was bullshit, but I was so confused, not to mention scared beyond the telling!

The ring was such a powerful thing, but I didn’t know its limits yet. Damn it! Could I save them both before the bad guys could react?  I knew I couldn’t bring them back if I failed.

“Time’s up Miss Allen. You choose… now!”

He nodded to the big thing behind me and held the remote out. I screamed, “Wait! Okay, you win, but you let them go first!”

A grin slid onto his wicked face. “No, my dear, you must come to us first. For when you see your friends are safe, what will stop you from destroying us?”

Not a whole hell of a lot
. I looked down. “Fine then,” I hissed as I gritted my teeth.

He stood, and at the same moment, another man came out from behind the curtain. He was identical to the fop in front of me. Then it hit me. These were the twins I almost ran into at Seth’s house. How sweet, what a lovely reunion this was! Darn it, I should have brought a gift!

“Ah, Eden, please remove the ring from Miss Allen’s finger. She has graciously agreed to be our guest.” He strolled toward Ann, swinging her chain. He bent to smell her neck, she cringed away, eyes wide with terror. I had to distract him.

“Oh, you are so full of shit, and
astoundingly
, yourself!” I spat. “You go get Seth,” I screamed at them, “that fucking
coward
! You tell him to come and get the ring himself!”

Eden stopped, spinning around to face his brother. He opened his mouth and let out a huge bark of laughter. “You see how she respects us, brother?” He shook his head, grinning, “You were right, she will be fun.”  He stepped closer to me. I didn’t like the look on his face, but I had to make sure Lucian and Ann were safe. I stepped back.

“You swear?” I said. “You swear you will release them? They will come to no harm. If you go back on your word, I promise you, with all my soul, you will suffer screaming in the blackest, foulest pit of hell for all time!” I was panting. We had
so
fucked this one up, but if I could get them out of this, I would just have to figure out how to get the ring and me out without destroying the world, or whatever else they wanted from me.

Eden edged closer, the red of his frock coat only a shade darker than his hair. He licked his lips slowly, and began to circle me.

“We will have our hands full, how wonderful.” Eden leered at my breasts. I suddenly had a whole new fear. The look wasn’t lost on Lucian either. He began to thrash in the monster’s arms. I looked up to find an ugly, mammoth hand spread over Lucian’s mouth. He was still being held in the same painful way, and it took me a moment to realize, the thing had more than two arms!

“Stop, Lucian. Please. You’ll only get hurt more,” I pleaded. Tears threatened to fall and I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to staunch the impending flow
.  I had to stop this!
I grabbed the ring off my finger and slammed it into Eden’s hand.

“Now release them!”  I screamed frantically, as the room began to spin. I felt weak. The ring and I were somehow bonded. It was like an invisible string stretched from the ring to my soul. My energy was draining and I felt sick. I stumbled to my knees.

“You promised,” I said feebly as I sat on the floor. I felt ill and completely exhausted.  It seemed like forever, but the big ugly finally released Lucian, and Eden was taking the lethal collar from Ann’s neck.  From the corner of my eye, I saw Lucian advance toward me. I turned to see all of him. He looked more pissed than I could have ever imagined.