Bitten (12 page)

Jennifer
turned and looked hard at the image looking back at her. Suddenly her reflection’s eyes widened, as if she were suddenly being possessed by a foreign spirit, then the reflection calmed down and stared at her with those eyes that didn’t seem her own. For some strange reason she felt the eerie feeling that the Jennifer Hurley on the other side of the mirror was a separate person.

“Whore! That’s
what daddy always said you were. He was right, you know? All that boyfriend swapping. All of those one-night stands. The whole lesbian episode in college. None of it meaningful. You didn’t love a single one of them. You can’t love. You’re incapable of it.”

“Shut up,” Jennifer said to her doppelganger.

“Want to know the real pathetic thing? Nobody will ever love you either. You’re damaged goods. Fucked twelve ways to sun down, just like that guy who you let abuse you just now, you slut.”

“Shut up! Leave me alone,” Jennifer said, gripping her head as if she had a horrendous migraine.

“How about you stop fucking around and start listening to me for once? Or have you forgotten our little deal?”

Jennifer paused and stared at herself staring back at her. Then in a composed voice, she answered,
“I haven’t forgotten.”

“With you spreading your legs for anything that wags its filthy cock at you, I was beginning to wonder,” the reflection said, with an unveiled loathing.

“I haven’t forgotten my promise. I’ll deal with it, like I said.”

“You had better. Now stop fucking around and do what you set out to do. And don’t let us down this time, or so help me God I will leave you for good.”

“No, wait. I’ll do what you ask. Just don’t leave me.
Please
.”

“Fine. Just make sure you fulfill your end of the bargain. You do your job and I’ll do mine.”

“I will. I promise,” Jennifer said, reaching out to touch the Hurley on the other side of the glass. But before she could touch the glass, her doppelganger spoke.

“Good. Now get going, be
fore someone overhears us.”

Gathering her things in a rush, Jennifer walked as quickly a
s possible out of the rest room. She tried to compose herself by taking in a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders, and putting on a fake smile. For the most part, it seemed to work even as the feeling of dread loomed over her, as if she had just seen a ghost.

Entering into the main room, Hurley
stripped down to her birthday suit, leaving her clothes in piles as she went, and then climbed into the same bath as Noble. Sinking into the hot water felt great on her weary body. She let out a sultry sigh and then playfully splashed some water at Noble.

“Screw this!” Zanato exclaimed, and he tore of his clothes and marched to the tub and promptly got in.

“Took you fucking long enough, princess,” Noble said sarcastically.

Pointing at Jennifer’s naked body he said, “If she leaves, I do too.”
Looking at Jennifer, Zanato smiled coyly. “So, what did you guys talk about in there anyway?”

“None of your business.”

“Fine, be that way.”

Barnes looked over his shoulder at everyone, but ignored their laughter and went back to packing up his gear. He picked up his rifle case and
turned to head out. Noble stood up and called out to him. Coincidentally, his large Johnson dangled right in front of Zanato’s horrified face. Jennifer couldn’t help but snicker.

“Hey, wait up big guy,” Noble called out motioning for Barnes to hold up a minute.

Barnes looked over his shoulder. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be back.”

Ulysses Noble watched Barnes walk out. S
till standing in front of Zanato’s face, he waited there with his giant chocolate colored cock dangling in front of Zanato’s nose, taking his sweet time to do anything.

“Hey man, what gives? Are you just going to stand there, or what?”

Looking down with a big pearly white smile, Noble asked, “What’s the matter? Am I making you uncomfortable?”

Several dark figures approached the burning wreckage of the
helicopter. They carried small firearms and were all dressed like hicks, sporting flannel shirts, baseball caps, and blue jeans. As they approached the burning rubble one of them put up a hand.

“What is it, Hank?”

“Ah thought ah heard sumptin.”

“Yuh
sure it ain’t just yur imagination?”

“Nah, man. I’m tellin’ ya. I heard su
mptin rustlin’ round.”

The other men paused and strained their necks trying to listen to the thin air. Suddenly there was a crash, as a
panel of the helicopter fell to the ground with a clang. The five men jumped in fright, but managed to aim their weapons squarely at the area where the noise came from. But after a moment of stillness, they settled back down.

“See,
wasn’t nothin’.”

“It
’s ‘wasn’t anything’, Hank.”

“That’s what ah said,” Hank said defensively. “
Whatever. You know what I meant.”

Just then a whole pile of metal clamored to the ground and
a well roasted body stood up in the flames. It was burnt beyond all recognition. Stumbling forward it crawled its way out of the burning wreckage and then collapsed at the feet of the men who stood looking dumbfounded. All that remained was one giant piece of barely breathing charcoal. The men instantly took aim.

“Let’s put this poor sonuvabitch out of his misery,” Hank said.

But before anyone could fire a single shot, it raised its hand and a woman’s voice pleaded, “Don’t shoot! Please, don’t shoot me.”

Glancing at one another in order to get a feel of how to react, the men all looked at each other in dismay, mouths hanging
wide open. Looking back at the dark figure, they saw something even more unbelievable. The dark charcoal flaked off, then crumbled away, and blew off in the slight evening breeze only to reveal the porcelain white skin of a naked woman lying before them.

“Praise the
Lord!” exclaimed Hank. “It’s a sign!”

“What do you want us to do with her?” asked one of his men.

“Put her in one of the trucks,” Hank said motioning to the small caravan behind them. “We’ll take her to see the Reverend. He’ll know what to do.”

The men did as they were told
, wrapped a blanket around her, and put her into the back seat of one of the trucks. With a rumble, the train of vehicles started up and then departed the smoldering wreckage and debris. As they made their way back into town, they headed toward the monolithic cathedral that sat at the heart of Newcastle City.

BLOOD PERCOLATED DOWN THROUGH THE narrow plastic tubing and into the collection bag. Alyssa felt lightheaded and her eyes were
blurring in and out as she was fighting off the side-effects of the chloroform. She could make what appeared to be a hospital of sorts. Green paint, the color of mashed peas, flaked of the walls in patches. She wanted to rub her eyes, but her wrists were bound. Blinking slowly, she opened her eyes, and the reality before her snapped into focus and hardened into sensate horror. “My God,” Alyssa said to herself in disbelief as she saw about half a dozen others who were hooked up just like her to strands of tubes attached to hideous bloodletting machines. It was like something out of a medieval torture chamber. The terrifying fact suddenly crystalized in her mind. They were being harvested for their blood!

RAISING HIS HANDS TO THE rafters,
the Reverend Perry Campbell praised the Lord with a robust, “Hallelujah!”

His attentive audience mimicked his
devotional gesture and shouted out a hallelujah that rang throughout the church like a robust echo.

“For the day of the Lord’s
wrath has cometh! And the Apocalypse is no longer nigh upon us, but it is now! Now, I know what you’re all thinking, because, to tell you the truth, I’m thinking it too. Can we survive this? Will we survive this? And I answer you, yes. Yes! We can and we will persevere! All you gotta’ do is keep the faith! Keep the faith, dear brothers and sisters. Because without faith, you are surely lost.”

The reverend scanned the room like a hungry vulture, then adjusted his sky-blue necktie, and with a big white smile, addressed his congregation. “
Like Daniel in the lion’s den, he had faith, and so garnered God’s holy protection. Like Abraham, who is obedient, ready with dagger in hand, God reveals his grace and saves Isaac! I do not deny these are hard times. But this plague, this pestilence…” the reverend said, thumping his fist on his King James Bible, “Don’t be in any way naïve, it was
all
predicted right here!”

Reverend
Campbell held up his King James Bible high above his head for his congregation to see, then, having made his point, he tenderly set the religious compendium back down onto the podium.

A sea of intense eyes
fixated on him, and although the electricity was out, the chapel was lit up with hundreds of candles. Every nook and cranny was filled with short and stout candles, and the sides of the walls were lined with candles and candelabrums. The whole inside of the church glowed in a warm soft light which the Reverend Campbell basked in. Perry Campbell was a tall, sturdy, man and had salt and pepper hair which gave him a distinguished look.

With the prosody of a man on fire for God, Reverend Campbell spoke in a voice that carr
ied across the rows of parishioners. A voice he had mastered listening to the old fire and brimstone sermons of his father and his grandfather before him. A voice which could strike fear into the listener and in the very same moment inspire hope.

“During the dark days, during the Tribulation, people shall seek death but not find it! And here today, the living dead roam our city streets, and
although they most certainly are no longer among the living, death does not come to them! Revelation nine, ladies and gentlemen. Predicted in His Holy Word!”

Circling about the podium, the reverend paused in front, looked long and hard at his congregation, and raised both hands heavenward, and closed his eyes.
“Pray with me now. Lord Jesus, Son Almighty, vanquish this demonic plague as you did the demon called legion at Gerasenes. I beseech you Lord, cast out these demons and give us a sign!” His voice quieting, Campbell turned his thoughts to his people, and added, “Pray with me, brothers and sisters. Dear Heavenly Father on High, redeem us from this sinful world. Let the cleansing blood of Christ wash down upon us, let the earth burn with your inferno of reckoning, and let your wrath consume everything that is forsaken. But, dear Lord, as your humble servants, we beseech thee, spare your faithful followers as you spared Job from ultimate ruin. But if you cannot, if you will not, if we are not pure enough, if our hearts are not true enough, if we are not worthy enough … then allow us perish along with the rest of the sinners of this wicked world! For your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Amen!”

A chorus of amens went off in waves throughout the church. Nearly a hundred onlookers mumbled in tongues together, hands raised toward the rafters,
and the reverend basked not in their praise, but in the fact that he could so easily bend them to his will.

Rachael Ramirez sat
in a bath far too cold for her liking, as a fleet of hands washed her body clean with soap and sponges. A woman in an elegant gown sat in a chair before her smiling. With a soft voice she said, “There now, child, we’ll get you all presentable and looking like a real lady again.” She then raised her hands, clapped, and another gaggle of servants rushed to her side. “After you’re finished here, I want you to bring her down to the chapel.”

“Yes, mum,” the women said simultaneously. They all bowed, as if they were addressing royalty, and then scurried off. The woman looked back at Rachael who ignored her unnerving gaze. Something about her eyes,
they seemed void of any genuine emotion. This woman, whoever she was, had hollow eyes. Almost as if she had no soul.

“I am Mrs. Campbell, the pastor’s wife. You may address me by Mrs. Campbell or Sister Mary Campbell. Mary is my first name. What shall I call you
, dear?”

“My name is Rachael.”

“My, what a beautiful name,” Sister Mary Campbell gasped in exaggerated delight. “Well, Rachael, I think you’ll find it a safe haven here with us. We have been truly blessed. Although the city is falling apart all around us, we are under the watchful protection of our Lord. But you will see for yourself once you get all cleaned up. My husband would like you to come down and tell everyone your experience and how you came to be in our care. Would that be alright?”

“I suppose
so,” Rachael said despondently. But even as she answered yes she harbored secret suspicions. Why would they want
her
to address the congregation?

Mrs. Campbell
’s smile grew into a manic Cheshire grin. “You must pardon my manners, but there are a few ground rules I must lay out, or my husband will be furious with me.” Mary Campbell laughed artificially and continued on, “First, no guns, or for that matter, weapons of any kind. Only Hank and his men are allowed them. And only for security purposes. Second, you will share the chores and graciously accept what is asked of you, no matter how strange the request. Third, no cursing. You are in a house of the Lord. Fourth, if you go outside the sanctuary of this church, we cannot guarantee your safety. In fact, it is highly recommended that you stay inside where it is safe. Hank’s men are stationed all around and can protect us if need be. Fifth, if you do decide to stay with us, you will be expected to take a husband, of your choosing, of course.”

Rachael’s head jeered to the s
ide, and she gasped. “What? I’m sorry, but what do you mean I will be expected to take a husband?”

“Darling,” Mrs. Campbell laughed, “If you haven’t noticed, the end of the world is upon us. How else will we repopulate the earth with God’s chosen? Like I was saying, you will be expected to
follow all these.”

“If I refuse?”

If it were at all possible, and apparently it was, Mrs. Campbell’s smile grew even bigger, tighter, almost to the point of looking downright menacing. “Don’t be silly, my child. Nobody has ever refused. Who are we to refuse God’s will?”

Rachael
searched for the right words to object to this bronze aged nonsense, but before she could come up with something she was suddenly pulled out of the tub by three hefty women, set down, and dried off.

In the next instant they took her measurements.
One woman went out of the room for a moment but quickly returned again with a crimson red dress.

Dressed, and with a fleet of hands doing up her hair, Rachael looked
at herself in the mirror and admired the contrast the elegant red dress added to her white skin and raven black hair.

“Gorgeous!” chirped Mrs. Campbell
, clapping her hands daintily. “Absolutely stunning!”

Mary Campbell suddenly snapped her fingers
and the entire team of women all scurried out. Then turning toward Rachael, she said with her phony voice and her counterfeit smile, “Now come with me, child. We have to show you off to the whole church!”

Rachael didn’t like being referred to as a child. It felt demeaning. What’s more, being treated like Mary Campbell’s personal Barbie doll wasn’t helping matters any. Looking at her hostess, Rachael smiled. Mary Campbell smiled back, but it looked more like a grin pressed permanently onto the face of someone of pure psychosis than anything resembling sincere emotion. Rachael sighed.

Mrs. Campbell ushered Rachael down the hall and through a side entrance and hurried along the wall behind the ambulatory. At the end they hooked a sharp left into the main hall. Rachael could hear people gasping at the sight of her. Then her eyes met the Reverend Campbell’s piercing blue eyes. He stood in front of the alter smiling at her. At least his smile appeared genuine, Rachael thought to herself.

Although Rachael didn’t want to admit it, she couldn’t help but find herself attracted to him.
He was a tall man with distinguished good looks. His suit was a lustrous black and his necktie was a nice shade of blue with a silken shimmer to it. The reverend grinned like a politician and extended his hand to help her up the raised dais and onto the podium stand.

“
Praise the Lord! Ladies and gentleman, the woman Hank saw rise from the ashes, like a phoenix. Our first fully resurrected body! Our first sign! A sign that the Second Coming is upon us!”

The audience erupted in cheers as the Perry Campbell whispered into her ear, “Tell them who you are and why you’re here.” Campbell turned back around, skipped down the stairs, and took a seat next to his wife in the front
pew. Rachael looked at the audience with a nervous gaze and her mind raced as she searched for the right words to say, but none came to mind. Suddenly the sensation of being in the wrong place at the wrong time overcame her and she felt like fleeing.

“I-I don’
t think I’m supposed to be here,” Rachael said, slowly descending the steps. Rachael paused, and looked at the stunned reaction of the audience, still waiting for her to say something. Panicking, Rachael flew down the stairs and ran straight past all the pews as she cut through the nave and headed for the large arched doors in the back of the chapel.

“Stop her!” shouted
the reverend. Two large men in the very back stood up and blocked Rachael’s exit route. She spun back around and dashed back toward the front of the church. The pastor stood up and met her at the front alter and put his hands out to catch her if need be. He gestured for her to take a seat.

“Just calm down, my dear. Take a deep breath. Everything will be all right. It was just a bit of stage fright is all.” Turning toward his audience, he added
in a light tone, “I should know … I have often experienced it myself.”

To Rachael’s ears it all sounded lik
e canned laughter. The audience took their cue and like stupid sheep just followed along with the whole show. Nothing about this place seemed natural. Everything felt rehearsed or pantomime. Looking around, everyone here either grinned like fools or else cried hysterically as they bobbed their heads and spoke in glossolalic tongues. The congregation was indistinguishable from a bona fide loony bin.

Hank
stood up and addressed the congregation. “Look, I ain’t the smartest man, but I know what I gone done seen. I seen this woman’s burnt husk of a corpse rise from the ashes of that helicopter we shot down over Linden Park. Right then and there I knew it was a sign. A sign from God!”

The audience cheered
as the reverend shouted over them a jubilant “Halleluiah!”