Off Limits(53)

I looked over at Shawnie, who nodded. We were going to fight, no matter what.

Chris came in, flipping on another light that momentarily blinded us before settling in and letting us see better. He'd had some sort of rough time, his shirt partially torn and a little crust of dried blood on the edge of his mouth. He had his right hand behind his back, and a gleam in his eye that sent chills down my spine. “Hey, baby, did you miss me?”

“Like I miss the bubonic plague,” I spat back, literally, as I followed my words with the best loogie I could work up. Sadly enough, the garage was far too big and my spit was far too weak to reach the whole way across. It fell pitifully to the dust about two feet away from me, and I immediately regretted it as a waste of precious bodily fluids. “What the f*ck do you want?”

“Well, I have some good news and bad news,” Chris said as he crossed the garage. He stayed just out of my kicking range, even when I darted forward and tried to lash out at him. He laughed and jumped back, his hand still behind his back. “My, my, my, such fight in you still. That's not going to be useful at all.”

“I don't plan on being useful to you, you sick, demented f*ck,” I hissed. Suddenly, Chris pulled his hand out from behind his back, holding what looked like a pistol. He pointed it at me for a second, then turned and fired. I screamed, sure that he had just killed Shawnie, but instead, the gun made a hissing, spitting noise and suddenly, Shawnie had a red dart sticking out of her left thigh.

“He shoots, he scores!” Chris taunted us both. Shawnie stumbled back, her cry of pain fading as the drug in the dart took effect and she sagged down to her knees, unconscious. “Too bad. She's not going to be able to feel it. Ah well. You know, they say you should never eat chocolate before having your main meal, but in this instance, I'll break the rule.”

“What the f*ck are you going to do?” I asked as Chris walked toward Shawnie's body, squatting down and pulling the dart from her leg. “Get away from her, you psycho f*ck!”

“Patience, my sweet. There's plenty of me to go around. But I want you to get a preview of what you're in store for, and I needed little Shawnie here to be . . . compliant.”

I shook my chains and tried to kick him again, but he was still too far away. “What did you do to her?”

“Oh, nothing much. You see, I happen to have a rather fond interest in pharmaceuticals. It's what led me to making that little spike for your drinks, by the way, even though I got it on the Internet. Cheaper that way. But this baby,” he said, holding up the red dart, “is my own special cocktail that I developed through a lot of experimentation. Little bit of Ecstasy, little bit of LSD, little bit of some other stuff . . . it's quite the ride, I've heard. Fact is, if I shot you up with this, Abby, I could f*ck you three ways from Sunday, and not only would you not remember it, but during the whole thing, you'd be begging me for more and more. Too bad you two won't be getting a repeat performance though. Your boyfriend ensured that.”

“What?”

Chris turned and threw the dart at me, bouncing it off my chest. His voice broke into a high-pitched, wheezy scream, the last vestiges of his sanity disappearing as his voice jumped an octave. “Knowing that stupid noble f*ck, he's probably trying to convince the cops right now that I'm doing what I'm doing. So, I can't have any evidence left behind. Damn shame, though, what'll happen tonight afterward. Two young women, so close to graduation and chasing their dreams, decide to go camping up in the Chattahoochee National Forest. Of course, being unprepared, they both disappear, only to be found later badly decomposed near Blue Ridge Lake.”

“You're a monster,” I gasped. “A real monster.”

“You have no idea,” Chris said with a chuckle. “But at least I'm honest about it. I know I'm a monster and relish the fact. Now, the monster must prepare for his first lesson.”

Chris turned and walked back into the rest of the house, humming to himself as he went.

I started to pray. First to God, and then I took something from Dane’s Book. In a last gasp of desperation, I said a quick one to Odin. Maybe the Norse deities could bring Dane to me. Something or someone had to—I was all out of ideas.





Chapter 16





Dane





My heart was in my throat as I got out of the taxi, giving the driver twenty bucks. “Keep the change,” I told him. “Thanks.”

“Hey, no problem, man. It ain't my business, buddy, but you want me to wait? You don't look like you're expecting to be received too well.”

“No, I'm good,” I answered, waving him off. “One way or another, I'm not leaving for a while.”

“Your choice,” the driver said, looking around. I could understand his concern. I looked like shit, with a half-torn shirt, my hair all messed up, and a mouse growing under my left eye. Still, I wouldn't be stopped.

Smoothing my hair back as best I could, I for the first time wished I'd kept the short hair I'd had in the military. At least that way, I wouldn't look like a total lunatic.

Approaching the door, I squared my shoulders and rang the front doorbell. There was a long chunk of silence, and I reached for the doorbell again when I heard steps coming toward the door. “Coming!”