I opened the Jeep door to show Sebastian to Scout. “You stay here. You need to guard him,” I said. Sebastian took the moment to let out another groan as he rolled, the Jeep’s shocks protesting.
Scout cocked his head and started to lean in to sniff Sebastian, the intensity in his body changing ever so slightly. I didn’t understand at first, but as Scout snuffled the air and his eyes dilated I saw the hunger creep in, the tell tale sign he was about to bite. I saw it and smacked him on the nose, startling him and sending him backwards. “No,” I snarled, putting my body between Sebastian and the Nevermore. Scout had been with us from the beginning, but it was obvious that Sebastian no longer smelled right. Scout never would have tried to take a bite out of an Alpha male.
“Stay. Guard Sebastian,” I said, and closed the Jeep door. “You protect him, Scout. I mean it. No biting. You stay with him, no matter what, and keep him safe.”
Scout stared at me, and I wasn’t sure he understood. Sometimes it looked as though he did; other times I doubted his ability to still comprehend English. Slowly he nodded and tucked himself into the shadow of the Jeep. This time I was lucky; he seemed to grasp what I’d said.
Not wanting to waste anymore time, I headed out at a slow jog, through the parking bay and out into the streets of downtown. The theatre-turned-compound that I was headed for wasn’t far—it was less than a block away—but between me and it lay a lot of open space. At the edge of the parking bay I peeked out, surveying the area, my heart pumping with adrenaline. If I ran, I could probably make it all the way to the theatre in less than five minutes. But that could attract more attention than I wanted.
“Come on Mara, you’ve got to move,” I whispered. I stepped out and jogged to the edge of the next building, using it for cover. Blood pumping far faster than it should have been, I took a moment to calm my breathing and looked around again. It was so quiet, but I knew that there was a full-sized pack of about 30 Nevermores ranging through here, not to mention Marks and his men.
Yet, there was no gunfire, no howling, no snarling. I was close enough to the theatre that if humans and Nevermores were fighting I should have been able to hear them. While I stood, watching for signs of movement, the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up and the pit of my stomach fell to the ground. Ever so slowly, I turned my head to look behind me. There at the entrance to the underground parking lot were three Nevermores, two males and a female. They were staring into the darkness, seemingly deciding whether or not to go in.
“Don’t. Just turn around, walk away,” I said softly. To my dismay, the bigger of the two males started in, his body quickly disappearing from sight. The other male followed. There was no way Scout could protect Sebastian from all three of them and a good chance he might join in when they attacked the Jeep.
I didn’t think, I just acted, knowing I could draw them away. “Hey! Over here!” I yelled. The female spun and I waved at her, watched her eyes widen before I leapt into a run towards the compound. Arms pumping, I focused on the fence that was still sort of up around the building where the cure was. I ignored the shrieking and howling behind me, the slap of bare feet on the pavement and the heavy breathing as they drew closer. I reached an open gap in the fencing and grabbed the edge of it, swinging myself into the compound. I didn’t slow down though; I knew I couldn’t take on the three of them.
Breathing hard, sweat running down my face and back, I sprinted the last few strides to the theatre door. Yanking it open, I leapt through the glass door and it shut with a swoosh behind me. The three Nevermores banged up against the glass, their fists drumming at it with an alarming amount of force. I backed away, unable to take my eyes from them as they attacked the wall with increasing ferocity.
In short, they were pissed.
I turned and started to run towards the lower levels. If the Nevermores broke in, I would be hunted down for sure and I had a feeling it was only a matter of time. As if on cue, the sound of glass shattering reached my ears.
“Great, just freaking great,” I muttered. The interior of the theatre-turned-compound was dim but not dark. Chandeliers had fallen, paintings were hanging askew or completely off their hooks, dust and rubble lay everywhere. I made my way through the debris to the far side where I knew the stairs to the lower levels were. Moving as quickly as I could, I stumbled when I came to a body on the floor. It was one of Donavan’s men. I thought his name was Clint. He had a huge gash in his forehead and a hunk of concrete with a matching blood splatter lay beside him.
I tried to feel sorry for his death, but all I truly saw was a way to keep the Nevermores busy. I bent and grabbed Clint’s arm, dragging him closer to the centre of the room, away from all the doors.
“Thanks Clint, you have no idea how much I appreciate this,” I said. I stood beside the body and even I could smell the fresh blood, the coppery tang on the air and the faint scent of a bladder let loose in death.
Only moments passed and the three Nevermores stepped into the room; they saw me, let out a combined howl and ran towards me. I stepped back and they leapt as one unit, dropping to the ground right in front of Clint’s body. If there was one thing I’d learned about Nevermores it was that they were opportunists. They’d rather eat something already dead or immobilized than chase down a potential meal.
They tore into his body as I backed away. Only once did the female lift her eyes to me, the yellow iris and square pupils offset in her otherwise human face. We stared at one another, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say there was a flicker of human emotion there.
Leaving the feasting Nevermores to their meal, I made my way into the stairwell. I flicked on the flashlight and carefully headed down the stairs. There was no telling what kind of structural damage had been done by all the explosions.
At the bottom of the stairs I paused, recalling which way I had to turn to get to the lab. The decision was almost taken from me when a hand reached out and grabbed my arm. I snapped the club down on the yellowed wrist, the flashlight throwing its beam everywhere in the scuffle giving me only a brief impression of a petite female Nevermore.
She let out a howl and I ran to the left, jumping over the chunks of concrete that were everywhere. Concrete dust flew up and tickled my nose, the dry powder nearly odour free, but it still coated my mouth and throat, making me cough, which slowed my steps.
The doorway to the lab was in front of me and I yanked it open, jumped through and slammed it behind me. The rattle of a body being thrown against the frame shook me, but only for a moment. She was small and I thought I could take her if it came to that. But really, did I want to try?
I heard a groan off to my left and I snapped the flashlight up, the beam centering on a figure still strapped to the gurney where I’d left him.
Donavan turned his face to me. “You came back, Juliana, my love you came back.”
5
“No, it’s not . . .” I paused and thought through what I was about to say. If Donavan thought I was Juliana, he’d be more inclined to help me. I wanted to make sure I had the right vials; the right version of the cure.
“Donavan, which vials have the cure in them? Which one did you give to Seb . . . the big Nevermore?” I asked, keeping the beam of light in his eyes so he couldn’t see me clearly.
“Oh Juliana, I missed you so. You have no idea how badly I feel for letting you take Nevermore. Can you ever forgive me my love?” His voice was weak and he let out a sob. I steeled myself against the compassion that was rising through me. He’d been ready to kill Sebastian, he wasn’t a good man.
I licked my lips, tasted concrete and said, “Honey, I need the cure. I have friends I need to give it to.” The door rattled again and I glanced back at it. Donavan didn’t seem to notice the noise at all.
“Help me get up, help me out of these straps and I will get the cure for you my love,” he said, blinking hard, his eyes watering. I lowered the flashlight and stepped closer to him. His words made me think he was gone, his mind slipped fully into the madness that started when he lost Juliana.
Holding the flashlight under my armpit and the club between my knees, I undid the bindings that held him down. Donavan let out a groan and sat up, rubbing his wrists. “My love, thank you. Let’s go, we need to be free of this place. There’s a wicked woman here, she doesn’t understand how important you are to me. She forced me to help her first.”
A bubble of hysterical laughter tried to work its way out of me but I bit down on it. “I’m sure she’s gone. Now, the cure. Which vials?”
“Oh, yes. You have a friend, who is it?” He asked. His body was barely indistinct against the darkness as he shuffled carefully towards the shelving unit where the various chemical concoctions were kept. I tracked his movements with my flashlight. His hand was on a vial with a red sticker and a large black S on it.
I rubbed my hand over my face. “Lucy, my friend Lucy.” I thought using a name he was familiar would appease him. I forgot that he might not have such fond thoughts about Lucy.
“That bitch won’t be getting ANY of my cures!” He roared. “She helped the other one tie me down. They left me here to die.”
I cringed, guilt washing over me. I had left him here to die. There were no two ways about it.
“Juliana, my love, we must leave this place. The bombs will be bringing it down in very little time.” He reached for me in the darkness, my light picking up the edge of his movements.
I stepped sideways, avoiding his hand. “What bomb? Donavan, they all went off already.” Please God let that be the case.
Donavan shook his head. “No, no. I rigged the boats and a few bombs around the theatre to go off together. But there was a time delay on a few more explosives. Ones that will bring down the entire downtown core.”
My mouth went dry. The core was a huge section of the city; it took close to ten minutes to drive out of it, never mind if you were on foot. I had to get back to the Jeep and get us the hell out of here. Like now.
“How long before it goes off Donavan?” I asked.
Another rattle of the door and several things happened before he could answer me. The lights overhead flickered on, illuminating the room. Donavan saw me, his face contorted with rage and then the Nevermore burst through the door, shards of wood flying everywhere, her obviously red hair wild about her face. She was petite and pretty for her age; I could see that, despite the yellowed skin and animal eyes.
Something hit me from behind and I dropped to all fours on the ground, the breath knocked out of me.
“You bitch; I’m going to feed you to Juliana,” Donavan snarled.
I dragged in a lung full of air, my hand gripping my club as I glanced over my shoulder. I was between the two of them, a snarling Nevermore and a madman bent on blowing up the freaking world. I kicked out with a foot, surprising Donavan, catching him in the knee and dropping him to the floor along with me. On three limbs, I lost my balance and fell to my side.
With a scream of rage he lunged at me, his weight rolling me onto my back on the cold cement floor. I dropped the club and wrapped my hands around his throat, squeezing for all I was worth. I was not going to die in the basement of this theatre. He let out a hiss, spittle hitting me in the face, the rank smell of teeth gone too long without a cleaning filling my nostrils.
The Nevermore, Juliana, screamed and jumped on the doggy pile, crushing Donavan to me and making me lose my grip.
“You see,” he gasped. “She does love me; she is saving me from you.”
Juliana reared up, her mouth open wide, ready to strike.
“I don’t think she’s saving you from anything but a clean death,” I said. Her teeth snapped down on the back of his neck with the speed of a striking rattlesnake.
“Juliana!” He screamed. She growled around the mouthful of flesh and ripped him off of me; the lights flickered and went out, plunging us into total darkness.
His screams filled the tiny room, the darkness making it even more claustrophobic. I lay on the floor and put my fist to my mouth to keep from sobbing. I wasn’t sad about Donavan; he got to be with his Juliana in the end after all. The horror though, it was just too much in one day for me. Too many deaths and close calls. The worst part of it was that the day wasn’t even near being over.
Donavan’s screams suddenly cut off and I stood shaking in the darkness; my flashlight trembled in my hand as I flicked it on and trained it on the floor at my feet. Ever so slowly, I turned and aimed the light at the shelving unit. There was only one vial with the red label and the S on it. I took it down and tucked it into my bra, the vial cool against my flushed skin.
The flashlight’s beam guiding me, I made my way through the room. I had to push the gurney aside to step around Juliana and Donavan—I didn’t want to get too close and have my leg mistaken for a drumstick. Again the laughter inside me tried to bubble up, but I shoved it back. I could see how Donavan would crack. I could feel the hysteria inside myself, my mind dealing with too many horrors, too close together. It wasn’t good for the psyche.
My beam caught Juliana as she ripped a piece of flesh upwards, her face smeared with the blood and intestine of her husband. My gorge rose and I gagged on the stench of opened bowels that suddenly filled my nostrils. I stumbled past them, retching and dry heaving as I all but threw myself into the hallway.
The trek up through the stairwell was a blur of darkness and scattered light. The Nevermores were still eating where I’d left them, feasting in the main parlour. Again, I gagged. I had to get back to Sebastian, I had to put some distance between me and all this death. I didn’t know when the other bombs would go off and I didn’t want to be around to find out.
I ran to the door and slipped through, the Nevermores completely focused on filling themselves. The streets were eerily empty and I walked slowly back to the underground parking lot, my adrenaline gone, my heart sore from the culmination of events and my body exhausted.