Dark Creations: The Hunted (Part 4) (24 page)

While Jarrod doubted Gabriel was capable of making the connection between him and the other members in time to disturb the guest in his bedroom, he did not want to take any chances.  Taking her along with him for later use was not an option either as she tended to be resistant and loud.  Her unwillingness to cooperate combined with her vulgarity-laced outbursts would be far more trouble than he wanted to deal with.  So he was left without a choice.  He would have to kill her.  He intended to kill her regardless, once she had outstayed her welcome and no longer interested him.  But killing out of boredom, for utilitarian purposes, seemed less wasteful than killing her before she had been of use to him.  With that in mind, he walked to his bedroom and slowly opened the door.  As predicted, his absence had calmed her significantly.  She was not flailing against her restraints and she did not curse at him.  Her hair had fallen into place and sweat no longer stippled her brow.  She did not look angry or disheveled.  In fact, she looked quite the opposite.  She looked lovely.  She trained her eyes on him, and he was positive he saw a flicker of passion radiating from her stare.  She wanted him.  He knew it. His body responded accordingly, his want replacing necessity. 

He stepped inside his room and closed the door behind him, figured that at the very least, he ought to enjoy her one time before he disposed of her.  The act would set him back less than ten minutes.  Gabriel, if freed, could accomplish little progress in ten minutes.  He would be able to catch his maker’s second creation before any problems arose.  He looked at her one last time then began stripping off his clothes.

Once unclothed with just his briefs remaining, he addressed her.

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to kill you,” he said calmly.

Her eyes widened in fear and he felt a thrill pass through him.

“But I have good news,” he said and smiled.  “Before I put you down, I am going to give you an amazing experience.  No human has ever felt it.”

She did not speak.  She simply stared at him wordlessly.  He waited a moment before he spoke again, and felt that the pause added to the dramatic nature of their impending interlude.  Every part of him throbbed and ached to scream every detail of what he intended to do to her during and after their
encounter.  But he needed to calm himself, pace the amusement, the gratification.  After adequate time had passed, the time to tell her had come.

“You will have the singular pleasure of intercourse with me,” he told her.

She narrowed her eyes, appeared more seductive than ever then knit her brow slightly before pursing her lips to form the smallest circle between them.  He wondered whether she would moan or coo in delight.

“You sick fuck!” she spat unexpectedly.

Her words riled him.  He lunged forward instinctively, and surprised himself with his own speed and agility.  He knew both were superior, but never imagined them to be as animalistic as they were.  He felt he’d moved with the litheness of a panther.  Within a fraction of a second, he had closed the distance between them and was on her, with his hand clapped over her mouth.  He pushed down hard against her lips.  He wanted to hurt her, just a little.  And silence her.

“Shut your mouth!” he ordered.  “You’re going to enjoy this.”

Yoshi could not concentrate or focus on a single thought, other than Alexandra’s safety, as Jack’s truck rattled to a stop in front of Jarrod Richards’s house.   He did not know whether they would find Jarrod inside, or whether Alexandra was still with him, alive.  No one, least of all him, knew what to expect.  Without an idea of whom or what they were up against, worrying was all he could do.  He tried desperately to summon the peace and courage he’d employed when training at home and engaging in Kalarippayttu exercises.  They had been reflexive reactions then, as effortless as breathing.  Second only to his father, Yoshi had attained a level of proficiency in his village representative of his discipline and befitting his bravery.  He was a warrior with enough poise and skill to conquer most any adversary.  He had sparred with opponents whose sole intention had been to kill him, fended off ferocious beasts in the wild and protected his village from enemies; all the while he had remained composed.  He was familiar with confrontation, thrived at it.  And while he had felt tremendous passion when engaging in battles past, he had never contended for a person he loved.  Love, deep, romantic love, changed everything.  With Alexandra’s life
in jeopardy, the calm confidence that ordinarily steadied him as he readied for combat escaped him and he shook harder than Jack’s decrepit cab.  If harm had come to Alexandra, he would never forgive himself.  The pain and shame of his failure to protect her would scar him eternally. Sweat beaded his forehead and his pulse roared in his ears.  He did not know what skills Terzini’s newer creations held, only knew what it had been like to fight Gabriel.  He had struggled.  And he had known that Gabriel had exercised restraint with him, though his friend had denied it vehemently.  Whatever monster that lurked beyond the confines of the house they were in front of would not dream of extending him that courtesy. 

“Alright,” Jack began.  “GPS says this is the address from the list.  This is Jarrod Richards’s house.”

Yoshi swallowed hard and opened the passenger side door.  Gabriel slid out behind him and Melissa started to follow.

“Stay in the car,” Gabriel said to her.  “Please.”  He then handed her a gun he had taken earlier from the first house they’d visited.  “If anyone comes toward this car, shoot first and ask questions later, okay?”

“No! Not okay!” she argued.  “I’m coming with you!”

“No,” Gabriel replied tenderly.  “I will not put you I danger again.  I’ll come out and get you when it’s safe.”

Yoshi understood completely how Gabriel was feeling.  Grappling with the threat of the woman you love’s life being claimed at any second shifted a man’s concentration, made his primary goal protecting her, as opposed to defeating his enemy.  He, like Gabriel, knew that they would need every ounce of their strength and focus to overcome what awaited them inside Jarrod’s house.   But he also knew that such situations needed to be handled delicately, that a person as strong-willed as Melissa would not appreciate having decisions made for her, and that Gabriel needed to be sure to communicate his respect for her.  For that reason, his friend did not order Melissa to remain in the car and he did not speak to her condescendingly.  Instead he spoke to her kindly, with sensitivity and emotion lacing his every word.  She responded to it and agreed to wait in Jack’s truck, armed, until Gabriel summoned her.  After kissing her and closing the door, Gabriel joined Jack and Yoshi at the curb and moved cautiously to the front door. 

Yoshi used his electric lock pick gun once again to unlock the standard pin tumbler mechanism.  After engaging one of several prongs, the lock disengaged with ease.  He turned the handle, pushed the door open and stepped inside.  He halted the men with him, reluctant to expose them any more than necessary.  With them several paces behind him, he crossed the threshold.  Alone, his senses felt heightened.  He inhaled the distinct scent of the room, and found it tinged with hints of sweat and a familiar perfumed product.  Certain that the scent was related to Alexandra, he quickly scanned the room, mentally marking every piece of furniture, every entry and exit point, watchful of the slightest sign of movement or disturbance.  When none had been detected, he poked his head out and waved Gabriel and Jack in.  Just as they entered, a sound rang out unexpectedly.  A high-pitched protest raked through the room and was immediately muffled.  The cry was followed by a whimper like that of an injured animal.  Both sounds echoed through the house, and made the subsequent silence deafening. 

“No please!  Don’t touch me you sick fuck!” a female voice cried out again, a familiar female voice. 

Alexandra.  The voice belonged to Alexandra.   There was no doubt in his mind that she was the one calling out, that she was being harmed, or about to be harmed.  Her voice had sliced through the air like a dagger, carving and bleeding the heart of the room.  Yoshi felt his own heart clench in his chest and he sprinted in the direction of her voice. 

As he ran, the world fell completely silent.  

He did not hear his own breathing.  He did not hear his pulse or the sound of his feet running over carpeted floors down a long corridor to the rear of the house.  He knew his friends followed, was aware of them, but did not hear them either.  Adrenaline coursed through his veins, awakened every nerve ending in his body and propelled him.  At the end of the hallway, a single doorway waited.

The door had been closed and he was certain Alexandra waited beyond it.  He charged at it, considered hastening his pace, dropping his shoulder and colliding with it as he had earlier.  But the door he had leaped through before had been a screen door. Crashing through a wooden door–no matter how insubstantial the wood–would likely result in a dislocated shoulder.  The last thing he needed for his rescue attempt was an injury.  He slowed to a stop and assessed which way the hinges were positioned.  The positioning of the hinges predicted which way the door opened.  If it swung inward, he would be able to kick the door down.  If the door opened outward, kicking it down would be next to impossible.  Fortunately, the hinges implied that the door opened inwardly.  He looked over his shoulder to see Gabriel and Jack behind him.  He nodded to them.  They took several steps back to afford him plenty of room before he launched a well-placed forward kick just to the side of where the doorknob, and the lock, was mounted.  He gave the kick a tremendous amount of forward momentum, maintained his center of balance and drove the heel of his standing foot into the ground. The frame broke apart and the hollow wood of the door yielded to the force of his weight being rammed against it.  The door imploded and he was suddenly face to face with a very surprised man in his underwear hovering over Alexandra who had been handcuffed to the bed she lay upon.  Her pants had been pulled down past her hips and her shirt had been torn.  Tears streaked her face and terror marked her features.  Gabriel and Jack rushed in after him
.
The three of them stormed the room.

The man in his underpants, whom Yoshi assumed to be Jarrod, narrowed his eyes, broadcasting his plan of escape through his body language. 

“You look kind of squirrely there asshole,” Jack said and moved boldly until he was behind Jarrod. 

He touched the barrel of his shotgun to Jarrod’s temple.  “You thinking about trying to bolt out of here?”

Jarrod did not respond.

“Man I hope you are,” Jack taunted.  “Try, please.  I’d like nothing more than to blow your rapist ass apart.”

Still, the man made no attempt to speak or move.

“Get off her,” Yoshi growled.  “Now!”

Yoshi looked down at Alexandra, scared and vulnerable, unlike he’d ever seen her.  Her body trembled violently.  Her eyes darted wildly from face to face, as if the reality of her rescue had not been fully processed by her mind.  She looked at him, briefly, and held his gaze.  She focused long enough to express recognition and understanding and her features relaxed marginally.  Tears began to well, then spilled and flowed from her eyes.  The fear and pain of her experience transferred to him and pain seared through his chest.  His eyes filled with emotion as well, and a single tear escaped and trickled down his cheek.  He looked up to the man frozen, but still perched, a few feet above her.  Jarrod Richards smirked and arched one eyebrow at him, smugly, despite having the muzzle of a shotgun pressed against his head.  Yoshi felt his pain quickly transform, and be replaced with anger. 

Rage filled him.  He felt it flashing below the surface of his skin, blazing and burning, out of control.  He balled his fists at his sides and clenched them so tightly that his short nails broke the skin of his palms.  Then Jarrod looked back to Alexandra and licked his lips lasciviously.  The lewdness combined with the insolence of the gesture evoked a firestorm of primal hatred so powerful, so compelling, Yoshi exploded.  Blinded by all-encompassing fire, he lunged for Jarrod, collared him and threw him to the ground.  He sat atop his chest and began pounding his face with both his fists, beating and hammering with all of his strength.  He no longer possessed peripheral vision, felt as though blinders had been placed at his temples and offered him only tunnel vision.  Jarrod was the only person in the world, and he wanted nothing more than to hurt him.  Each time one of his fists struck his face, he felt a small thrill of elation, of satisfaction.   He heard voices rise and fall, but they sounded from a distance, from the void.  It wasn’t until a pair of hands seized his shoulders and shook him that he realized one of the voices belonged to Gabriel.

“Yoshi stop!  Come on man,” Gabriel said and pulled him off of Jarrod.  Yoshi resisted and pushed against Gabriel to get back to Jarrod, but listened, nevertheless.  “Believe me, I know how you feel.  I’d like to have at him myself, but first we need to find out where Jack’s wife is, and where Terzini is.  We have to end this.”

Yoshi was not calmed in the least by his friend’s words, but stopped struggling.  Another opportunity to strike would present itself in time.  He did not like having to wait, but knew vengeance would be well worth the wait when the time finally came.  He harnessed his temper and turned to Alexandra, exposed and defenseless.  He scanned the room and found a blanket folded on a chair near a window.  He quickly outspread it and covered her with it.