Possession (3 page)

I
t
got darker as I drove
home, although I hadn't thought it possible. With the trees clasping their
hands over me, what little gray light the sky gave off was almost completely
obscured. The bushes and other vegetation just looked like black shadows on the
side of the narrow road. I turned on the headlights, thanking my luck the
downward journey would be easier on my old clunker than the drive up. As I
bobbed along, the tires kicking out dirt and small pebbles, water drops began
to splatter on the windshield. A sudden white flash leached everything of color
and turned my surroundings bright for a split second.

Lightning.

I
blinked and squinted, and that’s when I saw it: Two bright red orbs hidden in
the bushes. They might’ve been an animals’ eyes, except the orbs were large,
each almost as big as my fist. My heart leaped into my throat, my palms got instantly
sweaty, and every hair on my arms stood up as the thrill of fear ran through me.
But then I sped right past and the vision was gone.

The
rain began to fall harder. I turned the windshield wipers to a faster setting
and almost simultaneously, my car lurched. The sound of metal screeching
against metal pierced my eardrums.

"No,"
I whispered, tightening my fists around the steering wheel as if that would
help somehow. "No, no. Come on, sugar. Just a little bit more and we'll be
home."

The
car responded by lurching again, twice, and then shuddering violently before
coming to a complete stop.

"No!"
My voice rang out in the sudden quiet, the only other sound the drizzling rain.
I turned the key in the ignition, but the old Volvo sputtered and wouldn’t turn
on. It sat there on the slope, refusing to go farther. Slamming my palm against
the horn, I lay my head on the steering wheel and tried to swallow away the
lump in my throat.

In
the thrumming rhythm of the rain, I began to whisper some Langston Hughes
poetry.

Hold
fast to dreams

For
if dreams die

Life
is a broken-winged bird

That
cannot fly.

Hold
fast to dreams

For
when dreams go

Life
is a barren field

Frozen
with snow.

I
felt better instantly. Some people bought self-help books; others recited bible
passages. I had poetry: a poem for every mood, every mishap, every single major
event in life.

When
I was sure I wasn't going to cry, I pulled the hood of my coat over my head and
opened the car door. The rain intensified, falling faster through the canopy of
trees. I figured I should walk home since I was probably closer to my house now
than I was to Dax Allard's. And anyway, I had a feeling I wouldn’t be welcomed
back there, car trouble or not.

Grabbing
the flashlight from the glove compartment, I slammed my door and began to walk,
keeping to the side of the road in case there were any oncoming cars. Briefly I
recalled the two eyes I imagined I’d seen, but then quickly dismissed the
thought. If I dwelled on that, I'd start freaking about the charred animals,
and that was just a bad path to go down. A fertile imagination could be
hazardous in the wrong situations.

To
keep my head away from unwanted thoughts, I began to count my steps instead,
keeping time with the drumming rain overhead.

...thirteen,
fourt—

Crunch.
Shuffle. Snap.

The
sounds were to my right and behind me, somewhere in the dense vegetation. I
paused for a microsecond, but then forced myself to keep walking. It was
probably just some small creature, like a possum or a—

Crunch.
Snap. Snap. Snap.

The
sounds were keeping pace with my footsteps.

Come
on, Cara. You're not some weakling. Swing your flashlight around and check what
it is.

I
took a deep breath and swung around quickly. If it was a person, they wouldn't
have time to hang back or duck out of view. But all I saw were bushes, fronds,
and tree trunks. The rain continued to pelt down on the hood of my jacket,
dripping onto my face in cold rivulets. "Hello?"

But
there was no answer. No crunching either. Everything was silent and still.
Too
still.

I
turned back around and picked up the pace. Not too much longer till the bottom
of the hill. Maybe if I ran...

But
the next thing I knew I was flying through the air, my flashlight ripped out of
my hands, rain and wind slapping me in the face.

I
landed on my stomach and all the air rushed out of my lungs. For a full five
seconds, all I did was gasp, trying to get my bearings as spots floated in my
vision. I could see the beam of the flashlight about ten feet away, and I knew
I had to get my hands on it if I had any chance of surviving this. Flipping
over to my back to face my attacker, I began to backpedal.

It
was hard to see what was standing before me because of how dark it was. I could
make out a giant shape, and even in the gloom, I could tell it was clearly not
human. The thing before me was on four legs, its crimson eyes still glowing as
they had when I’d seen it earlier. An animal? By the size of it, it couldn't be
a wolf or a dog—it was just too big, maybe the size of a large pony.

My
hand closed over the cold shaft of the flashlight just as another streak of
lightning split the sky. The creature before me was clear to see for just a
fraction of a second—and in that second, I questioned my sanity.

The
thing
was
a large dog or dog-like creature of some kind. But it was
easily several hundred pounds. Its face was lean and mean, sort of like a
Doberman, with pointed ears. It was completely black, though, with no tan
markings at all. The eyes were huge, far too huge for its face, and an eerie
red that glowed as if it was lit from the inside. Folded against its sides,
accordion-style, were big, leathery flaps of skin that, if I didn't know
better, I'd say looked like wings.

When
my brain was done processing all this bizarre information, I screamed, heaving
the flashlight at the dog. I hoped to break its leg, making it harder for it to
chase me. But when I got to my feet and started to run, it followed me without
any difficulty.

It
was uncannily quiet as it ran—it didn't pant, nor did its feet seem to make
much noise as it struck the puddles I sloshed through. A chill ran through me
as I understood why I'd heard it crunch after me in the woods. It had
wanted
me to hear, to be afraid. That spoke of a cunning, sadistic intelligence I
didn't want to accept.

I
got four feet when its giant mouth clamped on my waist. A scream ripped from my
throat as the skin there turned to white-hot fire. My brain shrieked that someone
was skewering my skin with countless red-hot pokers. I was assaulted by the sickening
aroma of burning flesh. Another scream ripped at my throat as my legs crumpled,
my hands flying to my injured side. Hot, thick torrents of blood soaked
instantly through my nice shirt. Turning over on my back, screaming yet again
at the agony the movement caused, I squinted up at the creature in the rain. It
hung back a little now, eying me in absolute silence as it sniffed the air and
circled. I knew it was deciding which part of me to eat first.

When
it took a step forward, I beat at its legs and haunches with my fists. Its muscles
felt like they were made of iron—scalding hot iron. The rainwater actually
sizzled when I made contact, and, yelping, I withdrew my hands. I began to
watch it quietly instead, waiting for it to make a move. If I was alert, if I
was very careful, I knew I could outsmart it. Whatever animal it was, no matter
how smart, I was a human being. And no other species on earth was more
intelligent than humans.

Except
it's not from Earth, is it? Does that look like anything you ever studied in zoology?

I
told the voice to shut the hell up. I couldn't start thinking like that.
Insanity was only a few more thoughts down that road.

The
creature bared its teeth at me. I saw them glowing in the gloom, as if they were
made of white phosphorous. When it stepped even closer, I bent my knees and
kicked up and out with all my strength.

I
saw that I'd hit it square under the jaw. I could
feel
that I'd
connected with it—the impact jarred the bones in my legs all the way up my
thighs and into my hips. But the thing didn't even blink or step away. Its face
didn't move, as if my entire strength was nothing but a feather's weight.

And
just when the gravity of that was sinking in, just when fear was beginning to
claw its way through my chest into all of my internal organs, the creature
lunged.

E
verything
happened so fast after that.

I
lay on the wet ground, dirt covering every surface of my body, bleeding and
getting weaker by the second. I couldn't seem to close my eyes, though I knew I
should—this wasn't going to be pretty. But then a fierce snarl tore through the
air and the dog thing's eyes went wide. A moment later, I heard a tremendous
crack and its head went limp, falling to the side at an impossible angle. And
then, right before me, the creature turned to ash. Disintegrated. It was completely
gone.

I
blinked several times and looked up into Dax Allard's face. His copper eyes
seemed to shine as he stood there in the rain and cold without even a jacket
on. His shirt was plastered to his body, every muscle outlined. His hands,
clenched into fists, seemed to be steaming. But as I watched, stock-still, his
eyes stopped shining and the steam evaporated into nothingness.

"Are
you all right?" he asked, his voice gruff. He took a few steps toward me
but didn’t offer his hand, as if he was afraid to touch me.

"Um..."
My side didn’t hurt anymore, but I couldn’t tell if that was because I was in
shock. I stumbled to my feet and the world spun.

Almost
instantly, I felt arms—scalding hot arms—like steel traps around my waist and I
shrieked as the spot where the creature had bitten me flared with pain.

Dax
pulled his arms away but kept one hot hand at my lower back to hold me up. He
cursed under his breath. "Were you bitten?"

I
blinked up at him again, feeling faint. My vision was growing darker at the
corners. I wanted to reply and tell him that yes, I had been bitten, and um,
would he mind explaining
exactly
what had just happened?

But
all I managed was to faint dead away.

When
I woke up, I was warm and dry and my head felt pleasantly fuzzy. Ensconced
under the weight of something fabulously soft and warm, I waited as my eyes
slowly focused. A big fireplace, roaring. Men's voices, murmuring somewhere
behind me. A high ceiling, giant bookcases...where was I?

"Ms.
Beaumont?"

I
turned to look at the soft, French-accented voice. It was Oscar, smiling down
at me. I tried to smile back, but my lips felt weird, as if they didn't really
belong on my face.

"Here;
a drink."

I
moved my gaze lower and lower until it settled on his gloved hands. He held a
small silver tray on which there was a glass of something yellow.

"What..."
When my voice came out a hoarse whisper, I cleared my throat and tried again.
"What is it?"

"Hot
toddy." He set the tray on the table at the head of the couch I was laying
on and helped me sit up. I winced as a faraway, foggy pain lit up various parts
of my body.

Oscar
handed me the hot glass. I wrapped my hands around it and inhaled the aroma.
After a long, deep gulp that warmed my stomach and spread to my chest, I looked
back at him.

He
had a tense, wary look in his eyes, but his mouth was curved upward in a smile.
"Better?"

I
nodded and set the glass aside, my head starting to buzz with questions. But the
toddy and whatever else they'd given me formed a veil over my thoughts and I
fought to find one to ask. It wasn’t entirely surprising, which one surfaced
first. "Where's Dax?"

"I'm
here." I heard footsteps behind me and then Dax came around. He'd changed
into a cream-colored short-sleeved shirt and dark jeans. Silhouetted against the
fire, his eyes cautious, his face perfectly calm, he looked like some kind of
avenging angel.

I
shook my head, trying to shake another question loose. Finally, haltingly, I
said, "What...what was that thing?"

He
continued to gaze at me calmly. "What thing?"

"That
large black creature." I held my hand up high to indicate how enormous it
was. "It attacked me? You somehow...disabled it?" I stared at him.
What was he trying to
do
? How could he not remember?

A
faint wrinkle creased his brow, but other than that, he looked unperturbed.
"Miss Beaumont—"

"Cara."

"Cara.
You've had a trauma. Your car broke down on the way back into town, and you
were attacked by a big wild dog. I suspect it was rabid. We had a doctor come
look at you and he gave you the antidote, so there's nothing to worry
about."

I
laughed disbelievingly. "That wasn't a dog!" I looked slowly from
Dax's impassive face to Oscar's careful eyes, the smile slipping from my face.
"And you know that," I said softly, mostly to myself. What was going
on?

Dax
and Oscar exchanged a fleeting glance. Then Dax looked back at me, his face
still a mask, giving nothing away. “No. It was a dog.”

There
was something wooden and robotic about the way he said it, as if he didn’t
really expect me to believe his words. With a trembling hand, I reached for the
hot toddy and took another sip. Then, after I set it back down, I looked right
back into Dax Allard's unfathomable copper eyes. "There was a... a creature
in the woods with large red eyes and wings folded to its sides. It stalked me
and attacked me, and would likely have killed me if you hadn't come along at
exactly the right time." A fire log popped in the fireplace, making me
jump, but I kept going. "I tried to attack it, but...it was like it was
made of steel...or iron. Nothing I did fazed it.

“But
then you were there. You went right up to it and broke its neck. And then it
disintegrated into ashes, right in front of me. And your hands...there was
steam coming out of your hands, as if they were smoking hot." A series of
images of the attack flashed through my mind. I remembered the searing pain of
the thing's teeth in my side. The absolute heat of Dax's iron arms as he
grabbed me before I fainted. I put my hand to my head. I might be drugged, but
I had never been as sure of anything as I was of what I’d witnessed. I knew I’d
never forget. "I passed out after that, and you must've brought me
here." Another log popped, but none of us acknowledged it that time.

Oscar
and Dax were both staring at me as if they weren't quite sure what to say.