Into the Darkness (Darkness #1)(5)

The tree was winning.

Alright, then.

I took a big breath and glanced around us. We weren’t in a good neighborhood and cell phone service was spotty at best. Waiting for a tow-truck here was dicey, especially in a convertible where we couldn’t lock ourselves in. Well, we could, but I had the sneaking suspicion villains could penetrate invisible roofs.

Walking out of here was equally bad, however. This was the worst part of town for missing persons and violence. People that walked through the streets here sometimes turned up the next day, or even a week later, claiming to have lost their memory. Usually they were weak, suffering blood loss, and sometimes suffered from strange maladies that cleared up without the use of medicine.

Most honest, hard-working citizens cursed drugs for this, of course. And even though it often happened that normal people—men and women both—reported these strange occurrences, it was a college town. Not much more needed to be said.

Regardless, if there was something fishy going on in these parts, I didn’t want to know about it. I had enough fodder for my secret box. I didn’t need more crazy to wedge between me and everyone else.

But the question remained: Walk or hang out? Stay here and let crazy find us, or hump out of here like an army man, able to run if we needed to. Able to fight. Able to…I dunno…scream or something.

I climbed out of the car, wiping my chin of drool. Thank you airbag, for the sucker punch.

“Sasha, where are you going?” Jared sank further into his seat like a ground hog in a hole. He was nose diving into shock.

“C’mon, baby,” I said, helping him out of the car. “Let’s find a well-lit café and call a tow-truck.”

Jared looked at his smashed car, shaking his head in loss. “But my car is here…”

“I know, baby. We’ll just go get help, and then come back for it, okay? No one will try to steal it, I promise.”

He stared at me like he didn’t believe me. “Okay,” he whined.

Chapter Two

We took off at a fast walk, Jared limping by my side.

“Where is everybody?” I asked myself, scanning the streets ahead of us. Then risking a glance behind.

The street lights in this area worked as often as they didn’t, leaving the deserted street in a murky kind of gloom. The stale hum of distant cars seemed out of place in this weird vacuum. It was like this couple of blocks was stagnant; the night holding its breath.

“Invisible men and strangely vacant city blocks,” I muttered to myself. “Oh yeah, this is normal, all right.

I stopped at the corner of Farrel and Market, eyeing my options. Straight on was a dark sidewalk with only two working lights. Alleyways dumped out into the street, giving dangerous street urchins multiple places to hide. If we went right, it would be safer, with limited outlets and hiding spots, but also less traffic to come to our aid if something awaited halfway down. And in this neck of the woods, something almost assuredly awaited half-way down. Jared couldn’t run, and I was barely able to support him as it was.

I opted for the hope that the larger thoroughfare would bring a car, or dare I hope, a cab, that might help us. Or at least keep people from openly mugging us.

“Okay, baby, we’re almost there.” I started forward, muttering, “Kind of.”

Fifteen minutes into our walk, we were halfway along the still-empty street. Garbage littered the sidewalk, and old crates, half rotted, dotted the alleyways. Shopping carts stood idly by, blankets, cans, and other manner of survival items left unattended.

“But where are the inhabitants?” I mused aloud.

“Scattered or dead.”

I jumped and clutched Jared. It was a voice out of a nightmare, rough and low. We stood in the mouth of an alleyway under a blackened street light. Darkness gaped in front of me. I could feel more than see a presence.

“Wandered a little far from home, hey pet?” By the laughter in that voice, it was clear we were the red ball to his dodge ball game.

Darkness moved. Coalesced. A shape stepped out of the black, huge and lumbering, circling around us. Oh crap.

Another shape stepped forward after him, just as big, heavy arms poised to his sides. This one passed to the left.

They were monstrous. Both. Easily over six-and-a-half feet tall, pushing seven.

Freaking crap!

“What shall we do with you, little pet?” the first man asked, crossing behind us.

“Oh, yes. That’s nice.” Jared’s hands dropped away from me like fluffy clouds. His face cleared, his expression dreamy. The guy looked like he was at a sauna rather than about to get mugged by two ginormous men!

“Jared!” I whispered furiously. “Keep with me, baby.”

“She hasn’t tried to run from us, Charles. What do you think about that?” the dangerous man droned as he stepped closer, herding me toward the alley.

“That means she’s feisty, right?” Charles asked, emulating the other guy and lazily stepping closer.

My skin broke out in goose bumps with his proximity, weird tingles creeping up my arms and legs. The sensations, largely pleasurable, hazed my brain, creeping into private places and producing an extremely terrible feeling of desire given the situation. I blinked in confusion, trying desperately to clear my head.

“I get this one,” Charles said, taking a step closer. “Called it.”