Double Fated (Book One) by C.K. Mullinax
Chapter Forty Two
Standing up slowly, I crushed my arms against my ribs. My breathing was shallow as I braced myself to feel the pain. Nothing happened…
Our would-be assailants were so engrossed in their juvenile argument they didn’t see me get up.
Oddly though, I was no longer experiencing anger, rage or anything really. My emotions were completely detached from me. I am suddenly a calculating shell of what might just turn out to be a remorseless killer.
This seems so surreal…
I know for a fact that Austell’s shirt is red. But, it looks dark gray to me…maybe, even black. And, I know beyond all doubt that the dim lighting in this room should be muted white. It isn’t anymore…the light is slate gray and the dust particles that I can see are a shimmering lighter shade of neutral.
I would have believed the drugs had rendered me color-blind. However, I could discern eye color and hair color. But, skin tones were a different story.
It could possibly be the lighting, but all of our skin has a bluish-gray pallor. The smeared blood that I caught a glimpse of is a lavender shade of gray. That helped explain our skin coloring. It’s almost like our blood no longer transports oxygen, even though we are definitely breathing.
Maybe, we’re the walking dead…
The silly zombie thought should have made me giggle. But, emotions are required to feel things. So my rational brain dismissed the absurd notion as irrelevant information and continued to investigate…plot…analyze.
Seven lucid attackers…preoccupied…but not for much longer.
Two victims…
One defenseless…partially clothed and barely coherent…no shoes…diamond tennis bracelet…another bracelet of unknown origin…no necklace equals no accidental choking hazard…one earring in her right ear…the other stud appeared to have been yanked out violently…remove the right one if the opportunity presents.
The second victim…me…I am still fully clothed…coated in slime…barefooted…injuries are imperceptible and minimal…
My attackers anticipate that I am drugged and wounded…I will have the element of surprise.
One voyeur…disinterested until the clothes come off.
Unknown amount of others…they will not provide the victims with assistance…they…
That was as far as I got in my analytical process because Lyle finally saw me standing. Assuming a great deal, he was ready to get things started. I pulled off my slimy shirt and massaged my shoulders. It would have been more enticing if I could have licked my lips. But, the ooze had dried and was caked on. I couldn’t risk ingesting any more of the drug for a mere seductive gesture.
“You guys hash it through without me. My lady’s already revved up and waiting. You can watch, but nobody better touch…” he warned them.
He didn’t have any qualms about ingesting the sludge. Lyle kissed me and put my arms around his neck.
“See isn’t this better than fighting? I’ve wanted you so bad…for so long…” he whispered as his hands made their journey up my back.
I waited until he neared the clasp for my bra. Then, I slid my palms along the top side of his muscular arms. I wasn’t using any pressure but he responded by lowering his hands back down – delaying gratification.
“Ummm…not really…but, now you’ve got me,” I breathlessly replied.
He wasn’t prepared for the knee. Lyle doubled-over in instantaneous agony. His light blue skin was turning purplish-gray. I performed an airborne roundhouse-kick with precision. It landed on the side of his skull, knocking him out. I had never used any karate moves, so my choice was mildly surprising.
The bedding surface gave way as I landed and I almost lost my balance. Some invisible force seemed to shove me back into an upright position.
Six football players rushed me, intent on performing a tackle. They expected me to dodge, so instead I ran right for them. Confused by my reaction, some of them tried to stop and some of them kept on coming. Calculating the spring factor into my move I launched my body at the closest player. I used Austell’s shoulders like I would a vault in gymnastics.
The downward momentum of my impact combined with his forward lean. Austell hit the mattress covered floor, face first. And, his body sprang back up just in time to collide with my bent elbow. I had landed primed and ready to destroy, like my brothers taught me. I jabbed my elbow into his lower back. He shrieked from the pain and his body went careening like a ragdoll.
I didn’t have time to look at where he landed because the tackler jumped me. He had my arms pinned and was trying to trip me.
My initial thought was to lean forward, but Treemar and the safety had started heading our way. So, I used every ounce of force inside me to push me and the tackler, backwards.
My captor had miscalculated my leg strength. He started stumbling, but at least he didn’t let go of me. His body collided with the steel door at the same time I kicked Treemar in the face and the safety in the groin.
They went sailing backwards and slammed into Special-P and the full back. All four were dazed or unconscious.
The tackler released his hold involuntarily with a loud ‘humph’. I performed a forward flip. My bare heels caught him like an uppercut, hitting him squarely on the chin. He was out like a light.
Seven attackers disabled…
Both victims are safe…
The door unlocked and the laughing voyeur was pushing the heavy, limp body out of his way.
I hoisted Audrey up and moved her to the back part of the room. She was still so out of it that she couldn’t assist me. But, she seemed to be fighting to stay put.
Tucker’s picture…that’s what she wants. I leaped for the baggie that held it.
I didn’t have time to run back to her. So, I tossed the valuables in her direction and faced my newest problem.
Unlike human skin, Malfo’s outer layer was grayish-pink and crusty. I wonder what he is.
His flesh reminds me of an armadillo. I searched his exoskeleton attempting to find an area of vulnerability. I didn’t see one…
“I have no weakness…” he informed me as if he could read my thoughts.
He closed the door behind him and locked it with a skeleton key. Removing a knife from his pocket, he sliced Austell’s wrist to prove it was real. Lavender colored blood seeped from the open wound. Then, Malfo started stabbing himself in random places…his leg…his groin…his stomach…his neck…
By the time he was finished, the blade was shaped like an accordion. He wasn’t injured either.
“Witness breeder…your dominant enters. I will take great pleasure in the strickening process should you still be viable at that stage. We initiate at a tolerable level…a reward as such for your winesome…is that correctful terminology?” he asked me.
“Judging by the context, I assume you feel you are my superior and plan to breed me through force. I don’t recognize your accent. So, I don’t know what realm you’re from.
“Also, still using the context, I believe strickening means something painful and lethal. You plan to start the assault with something that won’t kill me because I bested the other seven that were in here. That’s my reward.
“But, clarify something for me. You know how to use the word “terminology” appropriately in a sentence, but you don’t know the more simple word “win”? How did that come to be? Oh, before you answer that, let me just tell you that “correctful” is not even a word…well, not an English word, at least…” I informed him in monotone.
I wasn’t being sarcastic. I really wanted to know how he could manage to learn a complex term, but butcher something simple like ‘win’.
“Mayhap I was the generosity whereas I should have shown none. Your foul mouth…”
“Hold up. Mayhap…I think that might be a middle or old English expression. I wasn’t being foul mouthed, better defined as sarcastic. I am curious, though…”
&
“Understanding hath achieved…I no longer the gregarious…” he declared nonsense through his fury.
“Let’s dispense with the conversation, shall we? It appears to be agitating you and that must affect your fluency. I don’t know how to interpret…” I offered, factually.
Malfo was raging mad when he threw the warped knife at my feet. I picked it up and scoped it out.
“That is some handiwork. One would think the tip would have broken off…” I said to no one in particular.
Malfo the invincible started disrobing in angry silence.
“My curiosity out in the main area was a morbid, but fleeting phenomenon. I’m no longer interested in seeing what lies below…” I told him, spinning the tip of the bent knife in my palm.
“Self-interest is un-required. As superior breed dominant, you the service,” he stated and his pants fell to the floor.
I didn’t glance at his private region as he stalked over to me. His fingers were tangling my hair as he pulled me closer to him. I smiled before plunging the twisted knife into his left eye. It was all over for Malfo – even the crying.
“Mayhap, I found your weakness…no, that word doesn’t work for me…” I stated as I took the key from his clutches.
Except for his molten type skin and complete lack of blood, Malfo appears to be human. I wonder what realm he hails from. He could share a mixed heritage. I couldn’t ask him anything else because he died before he hit the floor.
Austell had succumbed to his injury. The other players are still alive, with various degrees of awareness.
Audrey was curled up and rocking my valuables. The broken glass from my phone had sliced her hand. It was dripping lavender colored fluid. I crouched down beside her shivering body. I was still that unemotional shell of a calculating person. Her tears had no effect on me. The door is closed, but I have the key. I needed to remove her from this area, but I will leave the surviving players locked in.
Although I had no emotional response to lend, I knew how to perform the right action based on previous experience. I stroked Audrey’s hair while I spoke softly to her.
“I understand why you want to clutch those inanimate objects. But, you’re sustaining further injury by doing so. Might I suggest we remove…” I started to say before I was interrupted.
The male in the demon mask, along with numerous others of his kind, unlocked the door and entered the room, clapping. I stood up and faced them, blocking Audrey’s body with my own. She embraced my ankles, held a death grip on Tucker’s picture and started whimpering.
She’s petrified…she knows what’s coming…
My observation of the demon masked tribe netted me nothing helpful. These men had thick, clear scales protecting their eyes. Their grayish-orange skin has razor-sharp spikes protruding from all angles.
How did I collide into him, earlier and not get impaled??
There are a few spaces in between the spikes, but those appeared to be impenetrable. Their private areas are covered with what might be tin, at least for the time being. One of the men noticed I was looking at his midsection and would answer my question through action. He withdrew the spikes on his stomach and they reappeared while I was watching. I can assume all the spikes are retractable and cover his entire body. These men have no exposed areas. I see no way to stop them or even incapacitate them without killing myself in the process.
“My followers can remove the human refuse at your request…” the one who must be their leader informed me.
“It’s inconsequential. They’ve lost interest in what they came to accomplish…” I responded.
“You are indeed, pragmatic. This anomaly can be attributed to a rare side-effect of the hook that has never manifested in this realm or within your species…interesting…” the leader offered.
“All drugs ingested in this realm can have adverse reactions…” I told him.
“Ahhhh, but the hook is not a drug, nor is it a toxin. It is better defined as a ‘Weaving’…” he stated.
They were tossing football players out into the hallway. When they got to Malfo, they stopped and looked at their leader in anticipation.
“Feast…” he said.
The others tore Malfo’s corpse apart. They started gnawing, fighting and chewing.
“Athletes, even the bulky ones, are too lean. Makes their meat stringy, almost tasteless…” the leader stated.
“Malfo wasn’t into sports, I take?”
“He was more of a spectator – soft but dehydrated from fluid reduction. Cooking tenderizes but, raw ingestion is much more satisfying. You appear curious. Would you like to try a piece?” the leader asked while picking up what used to be a foot and offering it to me.
“It doesn’t look very appetizing, so I think I’ll pass…”
He bit into the flesh and his teeth were razor sharp too. Tossing the scraps to his followers, he swallowed before he spoke again.
“My tongue has a smooth side…” he offered as he reached down and picked up the warped knife that still had Malfo’s eye skewered on it.
“I can tell. And, I appreciate the knowledge. But, I won’t have any use for it…”
The leader daintily plucked the eye off of the knife and tossed it to his feasting men. Then, he used the smooth side of his tongue to right the knife. It didn’t even have a crease after he finished demonstrating that it can’t be used to hurt him.
“What can I call you?” he inquired.
“I don’t suppose you’d call me a cab or an ambulance for my injured colleague…” I quipped, emulating Tray’s sarcasm.
“That would be a correct supposition.”
“You speak fluent English. Is that your first language?”
“How absurd…”
“I take that as a ‘no’…”
“You have no spiritual giftings, yet you are familiar with other realms and inhabitants. How does something that uncharacteristic come to pass?”
“Also inconsequential because it appears I won’t be alive long enough to make any formal introductions…”
“You are different than the other breed stocks found here. Tell me, are you as fragile as they…”
“It depends on which sense of the word you’re referring to…”
“I have never strickened a human…”
“So, why are you here?”
“A malevolent show of distressed maidens, beasts using them to fulfill their raw, masculine needs, complete with a gory and eventual fatal finale’…I would have thought our interest would have been painfully obvious…”
“Okay, what you’re telling me is that you and your masked tribe are no different than Malfo the tar-tar roast…except for the deadly spikes?”
“Malfo hails from our realm, but alas he is from a subservient region. The wagers placed on the heads of the damsels at the point of their demise can reach quite staggering figures. Without a financial means to wager, Malfo turned to those who make unscheduled appearances such as yourself. The breeder worshipping at your feet was removed from our scheduled performance.
“Her fiery hair is more stimulating than the others. Thus, I switched the channel. My masked tribe was content watching what they paid for. Alas they fear protesting my decisions…
“My masked tribe…that is what you call us, yes?”
“I don’t call you anything, but I have to have some way to reference you and yours. It seemed counterproductive to call you Spike and them, Spikeys. You all share that body feature, but your masks are distinctive…”
“We are from a hostile realm, in a region forged through acrid fire. Our bodies serve us, as opposed to this soft, spoiled realm where the majority serves their bodies…”
“I don’t really have an adequate response for that comment. If we didn’t serve our bodies they would die. But, some people do take things to extremes…like this club or whatever this is that we’re standing in.<
“Nigel Gray must be one demented little Polecat to be involved in something this perverse…” I offered, conversationally.
“Ah yes, Nigel Gray…he, who is barely a respectable Lutastrim. Considering his breed master was proportionally human, Nigel lacks many things…personality, stature, cunning and intellect. This club is not his creation, nor does he have the craft to conceive of something this elaborate.
“Nigel is but a trained beast…easily molded through subtle intimidation blended with a compliment on rare occasion. He screens, employees and then, sends a very select breeding staff to this location. They are self-delivered as Nigel has never visited the Gray Hook. Should he ever be permitted, we would surely be rid of his company, permanently and with great haste. His breeding habits are frustratingly infrequent in this realm due to the influence of his male-form biological contributor. Earth dwellers are shallow and place value on appearances. Nigel is devoid of attraction. At least, this is what I have been told…”
“Never heard of Lutastrim…and, your sources are accurate. Nigel’s like a fish out of water on this planet. His appearance has taken a certain amount of rehabbing…” I stated and then, stopped talking.
I had planned to keep detailing what we do to make Gray appear more human, but my vision started playing tricks on me.
Colors swirled and parted, trying to find their appropriate canvases. My emotions came and went and returned in random patterns. I was fluctuating between having a nervous breakdown and cool detachment from reality.
My emotionless state is being stripped away and the returning cataclysm of feelings was horrendous. But, my airway was also being blocked. My inability to breathe quickly took priority. Clawing at my throat, I need oxygen from somewhere!
Spike, the leader, watched me try to rip through my flesh in disinterest. Maybe he thinks this is another side effect of the Weaving…
The inner transformation finished as suddenly as it started, but I still couldn’t breathe. Swaying, the room seemed to tip with me as I fell to my knees on the soft cushiony surface. I was overwhelmed as my human condition slammed back into my spirit, full force.
Fear…trepidation…revulsion…fury…flight…fight…relief…love…hatred…every mortal feeling converged and was delivered back to me.
The world righted itself.
A brilliant flash like lightning bathed the room, holding all of us as hostages inside its wonder. By the time it faded, the colors had also returned to their correct places.
Kneeling already, I reached behind me and grasped Audrey by the arm…now, as petrified as she is.
The obstruction preventing me from breathing was violently yanked away. Coughing and gagging at first, I drew in what felt like my first breath ever.
It was as though I was dead and I had to be reborn. My blood warmed and I could feel it as it started to recirculate. Air filled my lungs and they were expanding. Each stimulus was a new perception.
Even my five senses were reawakened. My vision is sharper. My hearing is crisper. Although I had nothing to drink or eat, I feel sure I can taste even the slightest hint of an ingredient because I can smell the faintest odors.
I could feel Audrey’s body temperature fluctuate…her rapid heartbeat pulsing underneath my fingertips…I could, not only feel her shivers, I could sense them from their origins.
I am still me…but, I’m also so much more…
My human capacity reached its limit. Once again, the world started spinning. I lost my grip on Audrey, but she would somehow cling to me.
My limp upper body twisted as she weakly tugged me. My back was to the masked demons.
Audrey silently mouthed the words, “You found me…”
I was lying in a pool of her tears. She didn’t have enough strength to hold the baggie. It was left behind when someone from the masked demon tribe pulled her away.
Tucker’s smile was the last thing I saw before the darkness took me…