Storm Season (5 page)

I don’t know! I just….
Tobias slumped forward, resting his forehead in his free hand. He looked dejected and lost as he turned his gaze to Jasper.
I don’t know how to explain it. I just know.

“We’re safe in here. The house is locked, this room is hidden.” If they were looking for something other than shelter, they’d bust in and leave without ever finding the safe room.

I know, but―

Jasper stopped him simply by breaking the contact between them. “Stop worrying. If something happens, we’ll deal with it then.”

Tobias looked dubious, but he toed off his shoes and stretched out on one side of the narrow bed. Jasper lay next to him, his back to the younger man, and mentally added sleeping arrangement revisions to his to-do list. The single, narrow bed seemed smaller every time they climbed into it.

K
YREE
heard the sound first, perking her ears up at a noise Jasper couldn’t hear and whimpering softly. Tobias was next, sitting straight up with wide eyes and finding Jasper’s arm with a fumbling hand. It was only then Jasper heard a faint crash, muffled by the walls of the safe room and the howling wind.

Tobias had been right. At least one person had braved the starting storm and was in the house.

They’re here.

There was something in the tense mental whisper that required reassurance. “They won’t find us,” he whispered, placing his hand on top of Tobias’s where it touched his arm. “They’ll take what they want and leave.” Or perhaps they would stay and shelter from the storm, but he didn’t mention the possibility. They could stay in the safe room until whoever was downstairs had left.

No. They know we’re here. They’re looking for us.
He looked straight into Jasper’s eyes, his own expression wild.
I can hear them.

“They won’t―” Jasper started, but stopped as Tobias shook his head. The other man was right. The room was hidden enough someone wasn’t likely to stumble across it, but it wasn’t so hidden a determined searcher couldn’t locate it in short time. “We could go to the barn.” Maybe they’d already looked there. It wouldn’t be ideal for riding out the storm, but they’d survive. The animals did.

Tobias shook his head violently.
No. We won’t get past them.
His eyes darted around the room.
We have to keep them out. Can you call for help from in here?

Jasper nodded. There was a phone in the corner, and if the lines survived the night he’d be able to phone Darius in the morning. The radio in the corner hadn’t been used in years, but it too could theoretically connect to the town. If they could last through the night, he could summon help in the morning. “I could call now,” he offered hesitantly, unsure if he wanted to worry his friends when they wouldn’t be able to safely act for hours.

No. They could hear.

It was a good point, and Jasper kept his voice low as he helped Tobias up. “Help me move the bed against the door.” It would provide the best barrier in and out.

Tobias nodded and broke contact to start pushing things out of the way. They both grimaced several times as heavier-than-they-looked items scraped loudly on the floor, but only the bed was big enough to block the door, and they had to rearrange everything to move it.

They had just managed to move the bed itself when Kyree lunged to her feet, growling softly. Jasper froze, his eyes locking with Tobias’s as his mind raced. Did they dare keep moving the bed? He could hear the men in the bedroom. The noise would draw their attention to the closet and the room behind it, but if they didn’t move the bed and the men got into the closet anyway, they’d be found and vulnerable. There was nothing inside the safe room they could effectively defend themselves with.

Tobias leaned across the bed and touched Jasper’s arm.
Keep going. Please.

Jasper opened his mouth, and closed it again. He couldn’t say anything, didn’t dare risk even a whisper for fear it would be heard in the bedroom. A helpless expression on his face, he glanced to the door, then back to Tobias.

The buzzing in his head changed slightly.
Just think, I’ll hear you.

His mouth opened and closed again. “But,” he whispered. “How?”

Just think! I’ll explain later, or try anyway, but please! If you need to say something, think it, okay? They’ll hear otherwise.

It was a weird and worrying idea, but Jasper nodded.
Okay.
They’d sort it out later.

Thank you.
Tobias nodded at the bed.
Let’s move this, yeah?

They’ll hear us,
Jasper thought, his eyes widening as Tobias shrugged. This was too weird.

If we don’t move it, we won’t be able to keep them out.

It was so exactly what Jasper had been thinking moments earlier, he wondered if anything he’d thought since Tobias had arrived had been private. If it hadn’t, if Tobias had just told him now because of the situation… no, he wouldn’t think that. Not now. There were more pressing matters.

Nodding, Jasper bent his knees and grabbed the bed again.
If we move fast,
he thought, unsure if Tobias could hear him when they weren’t touching,
we might be in time.

Tobias nodded and positioned himself on the other side of the bed.

Ready?
Jasper thought, and Tobias nodded again.
Go!

The bed scraped loudly across the floor, the distance closing rapidly. Five feet, four feet, three—and then the door burst open, revealing two burly men wearing emerald green dusters and thick black boots. Their faces and hands were tattooed in a strange pattern of swirling green and black, and one had what appeared to be an amethyst set into the back of each hand. They swaggered inside, lowering their guns as they entered.

Kyree growled, teeth barred and legs spread in a defensive stance. “Good doggy.” The first man sneered. “Led us right where we wanted to be.”

They’d followed the dog. It made sense in a weird way, though it didn’t answer the questions of who they were or why they were in Jasper’s house. “What do you want?” he asked, concentrating on straightening and hoping his voice didn’t break. He’d never been held at gunpoint before, not even back in the big city with its ever-changing population and high crime rate.

“Him.” The gun flicked briefly from Jasper to Tobias, but it was back before Jasper had a chance to act. “Let us take him, and we won’t hurt you.”

No! I won’t go!

The panicked words pierced Jasper’s skull and he turned to see Tobias backing into a corner, fumbling behind himself, picking up and discarding every loose object he touched. Jasper could guess what he was looking for, but there was nothing large, heavy, or solid enough to be used as a weapon, even in defense.

“That’s it.” The man with the stones smiled and stepped closer to Jasper while the other kept his gun trained on Tobias. “Just don’t interfere and you’ll be fine. The world will be a better place when we’re done.”

“No,” Jasper whispered, shaking his head in denial. This couldn’t be happening. People didn’t break into houses and hold the owners at gunpoint to abduct their guests. They didn’t.

“Yes.” The man stepped right up to Jasper so their toes were touching and Jasper’s eyes were locked on the tattoo covering the man’s nose. He was taller up close than he’d looked from the door, and he’d looked huge there. “I’m going to take him, and you’re not going to stop me.”

Jasper tried to step back, but his legs wouldn’t respond. He wanted to do something, say something, anything, but there was nothing he could do, no weapon close at hand, no brilliant plan springing to mind.

The second, slightly smaller man circled around the bed and stalked toward Tobias, a vile gleam in his eyes. “Come quietly and it will be easier on your friend.”

No!
Tobias moved with surprising swiftness, skidding around his attacker and tumbling over the bed before anyone could react. He was out the door before Jasper could blink, the smaller man on his heels and the larger man not far behind. Kyree lunged, snapping at their legs, barking and growling as she skidded across the slick floor. She caught the hem of a duster in her teeth and pulled, then flew back into the room with a yelp as a lashing leg caught her in the side.

The dog’s whimpers broke Jasper’s paralysis and he ran after them, wracking his brain trying to plan the best course―one that would get him to the kitchen or the study where he could grab a weapon. The wind howled outside and crashes of nearby thunder obscured the noise of the pursuit. Footsteps reached the bottom of the stairs as Jasper arrived at the bedroom door, and he waited to hear which way they turned before barreling after them.

No!
It was stronger and louder than Jasper had ever heard before. He was on his knees before he knew he’d moved, unable to stop the moaning that accentuated the pain and pounding in his head. The room swam as he tried to move, but he had to get up, had to keep going. This wouldn’t end without a fight.

He’d barely stumbled to his feet when an even stronger blast knocked him down again.
Jasper! Help!
His vision narrowed to black-lined tunnels as he tried to move against the pain, but the words tore at him. He wouldn’t let this happen, not in his house, not to his guest. He had to move, had to get downstairs, had to stop them.

The dog came running around the corner, almost tripping Jasper as she bounded down the stairs, again barking ferociously. If Kyree could attack injured, Jasper had to be able to help through the mental assault of Tobias’s terror. He stumbled to his feet, took one halting step, then another.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
The word degenerated into a voiceless yell that drove spikes into Jasper’s brain. The room swam, then blackened, and he was hardly aware of hitting the floor before blessed oblivion claimed him.

J
ASPER
woke slowly. The dog was lapping at his face and his left leg was twisted back at an uncomfortable angle, but the idea of moving was more unpleasant than a twisted knee and dog breath. His head was pounding, his neck and shoulder muscles tense to the point that moving his arm elicited an unconscious hiss of pain, and he couldn’t remember why he was on the floor. They had been in the safe room and Tobias had….

Hailstones!

He jerked upright, moaned at the throbbing in his head, and fell backward, twisting his knee further beneath him. Storms! Carefully he rolled to his side, exposing more face to Kyree’s tongue, but freeing his knee. It was a fair compromise.

As Jasper lay in the hall, listening for the storm and trying to convince his muscles to move, time passed slowly. He needed to go after Tobias, needed to secure his house and rescue his friend, and he needed to do it immediately, before the storms got too bad to venture outside. His muscles had other ideas, and he lay in the hall, limbs limp despite his thoughts on the matter. The tick-tock of the hall clock sounded almost as loud as the rattling branches and rumbling thunder. With every click of the hand, it reminded him that precious time was slipping by.

The clock chimed once before the burning urgency in the pit of Jasper’s stomach overrode the listlessness of his muscles. Slowly, so as not to further aggravate his aching head, he sat up. The room spun and he clutched at his forehead, willing the sensation to stop. He had to get to his feet, had to get downstairs, had to find Tobias. Time was running out.

Tick-tock.

The world spun again as Jasper climbed to his feet, but this time he ignored it, stumbling down the stairs with only his tenuous grip on the handrail keeping him upright. At the bottom, momentum carried him forward into the wall across from the steps, and the room spun once more as his head thwacked against plywood and sent him stumbling backward to sit on the bottom step.

It was harder to get up this time. The blow to his forehead drew his attention back to his headache, and his pulse pounded in his skull in rhythm with the clock.

Thump-thump.

Tick-tock.

The front door was still locked. They’d come in through the kitchen then, same as the dog. As he stumbled toward the back of the house, a detached part of him took note of the scattered and broken belongings. He assigned the clatter he’d heard to the tumbling of the fireplace pokers, and the crash that had preceded it to the dishes scattered on the kitchen floor.

It began to rain, and Jasper hurried across the kitchen, crunching ceramic and glass beneath his feet, desperate to discern the direction they’d taken by looking for footprints before the rain erased all evidence of their passing. He limped and hopped, cursing as though the words could halt the pitter-patter of the rain. Each drop that hit the ground turned dirt to mud and mud to soup, washing away footprints, making it difficult to move, and destroying Jasper’s chances of finding his guest in the wet and dark.

Pitter-patter