Chapter Four – Really Not Alone…

 

When my much too heavy eyelids finally lifted again, my four limbs were tied to four stakes that had been plunged into the ground. Everything hurt from my head to my back to my wrists to my ankles. The ropes were secure and the bonfire still merrily burned yards away and it was the only noise I could perceive. I slowly turned my head and saw that I wasn’t alone. I mean, I really wasn’t alone. I might have been glad despite that two things were a problem and the second was a doozie. The first was that I was tied helplessly to the ground. The second was that the man who had attacked me was sitting nearby on a rock, methodically sharpening his knife. Perhaps the fire’s dancing light made it worse but he looked far more dangerous than any of the new creatures I had faced previously.

Being alone didn’t seem like such a terrible thing at that moment. I tugged at my wrists and pulled as hard as I could. My skin began to tear.

“It won’t…” he said and stopped. I froze as he spoke. He wasn’t used to talking any more than I was and it obviously bothered him. Then he started again hoarsely, “It won’t do you any good to struggle. I’ve had…practice.” He pointed with the end of the long knife he had been sharpening.

I looked and saw what I initially thought was a pile of rocks. It wasn’t rocks. It was a pile of burnt bones. The one on top was instantly recognizable as a human skull. A femur stuck out from under the skull. Black, thick fear threatened to overwhelm me. It rolled over me and my stomach clenched as if being compressed by a large fist.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement and I turned my head to see. It looked like a large spider that scuttled out of sight. I thought, You’re losing it, girl. My eyes went back to the man with the knife.

“You don’t have to do this,” I said faintly, ashamed that my tone came across as pleading. Regardless, my voice sounded scratchy and it wasn’t the only thing that was off. My flesh seemed as though it was on fire. I knew that I wasn’t close to the flames but I felt as though I was standing right on top of them. I felt as though I was drugged, dragging myself through heavy water endlessly. Then I added what I most had desired, “You’re not alone anymore.”

The man resumed his sharpening of the knife and the snick-snick-snick of the blade going over the whetstone sent a shiver of helpless reaction down my spine. “I’ve always been alone,” he said, almost calmly. The insanity was threaded through his tone. His Slinky was seriously kinked. He was a few fries short of a Happy Meal. He was surfing in Nebraska.

I finally found someone, but he had slipped over into the world of dementia and delusion and he was going to fillet me like a swordfish. “My name is Sophie,” I said desperately. “You have to be alone anymore. Just like I don’t have to be alone anymore.” But I was lying. I didn’t want to be around this man with his face that clearly showed the warped malevolence underneath. I wanted my mother and my father. I wanted my friends. I wanted people who loved me and I loved them. I didn’t want this escapee from an insane asylum. This man, who could be me, if I wasn’t very careful. “I can…”

My words broke off when the man hurled himself off the rock with a grunting roar. “Shut up!” he bellowed as he moved. “I don’t want to hear your VOICE!” The knife flashed high above his shoulder and his eyes glittered wildly in the fire’s golden light. The knife made an arc that ended as he straddled my body and brought in down into the fleshy part of my shoulder. He said it again, “Shut up!” but I was already screaming with the onslaught of the agony brought on by the knife’s penetration.

Even while I was screaming I saw that he wasn’t so much older than I was, not even twenty-five under the black dirt embedded on his skin. But the thought skittered away as he reversed direction and yanked the blade out with a sickening slurping noise. My scream was abruptly cut off as I fought to maintain consciousness.

The pain and the heat and the fear all swamped me like a huge wave. I opened my mouth to say something, to say anything, when he lifted the knife again. It looked as though he was aiming for center of mass and my time was coming to a horrible end. There was a moment where I took it in and thought that at least it would end quickly.

A single firefly that was not really a firefly buzzed directly into the man’s face. He grimaced uncontrollably and swatted at it with the knife. I blinked and a second one appeared. Then another and another appeared, a little barrage of enemy fighters zooming in for the kill. The man began to throw his arms around, trying to chase them away. He snarled viciously and they flew at his face. He threw himself to his feet and ran at the bonfire.

I think he was going to reach for a lit branch to wave at the fireflies, but they stormed him in a ferocious torrent. He screeched and tripped, falling into the fire while they veered away from the conflagration. Branches and fire crackled with angered disparity. It seemed as though he lay in the fire for a long time but must have only been for a few seconds. He started to scream in earnest, wretched emanations of pain that made me want to cover my ears, and rolled away from the flames. His hair was on fire as was his ragged clothing. Leaping to his feet he ran as if that would save him. He kept screaming as he went off the side of the bluff and then it stopped abruptly.

The fireflies circled in an agitated fashion. Then a few came and flew about me. Their tone changed to a soothing one. It was like a thousand mothers murmuring relaxingly to me. When I blinked they started to fly away. A last one jabbered at me as if scolding me and then shot off after the rest. Déjà vu.

I heard a loud panting noise and tensed as I thought the man was returning to finish what he had started. I looked to see, expecting to see a burnt angry lunatic coming back up the bluff. But it was another man altogether. His hair was dark and his eyes were brown and his chest heaved with effort. He stopped abruptly about five feet away and stared down harshly at me. That was okay with me as long as he wasn’t a close companion to the other one.

“Oh,” he said solemnly while trying to catch his breath. He couldn’t break his gaze from me, not even when the other person crested the bluff. My eyes fell on her and I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. She puffed like a steam engine. She looked around the man and then around the area, scanning quickly.

Three people. One insane. Two out of breath. A thousand glowing fireflies that whispered and seemed to be protective. Talk about a puzzle.

The woman, who was middle aged and blue eyed, pushed the man aside. She studied me quickly, summing up what the restraints meant, and said, “Where’s the…?”

“I heard a scream,” said the younger man, not looking away from my face. I was having a hard time focusing no matter how much I wanted to look at the pair of them. “Then a…crash.” He pointed at the bluff. “I think…our little friends helped.”

The woman stared down at me and frowned. “Just don’t stand there. Get a knife out. Cut these ropes. Her wrists and ankles are bloody. Just look at her shoulder.”

“Kara,” he said agitatedly, his eyes still locked on me. “I should check and make sure the other one is…”

Kara looked toward the bluff. She slowly shook her head. “No, he’s not a threat anymore. They would have let us know.”

A knife came out of a sheath on the man’s belt and I winced. A sound came out of my mouth that sounded like a terrified whine. After a moment I realized that it was exactly what I was doing. The man checked his movement and the woman said, “It’s all right, honey. My name is Kara and his name is Zach. We’re not going to hurt you.”

My eyes darted toward the bluff.

Kara looked for a moment. “He’s not going to hurt you anymore.”

I tried to speak but I couldn’t.

The man named Zach sliced the ropes at my ankles, but I whined again when he approached my wrists. He stopped. “What if Kara does it?”

I nodded slowly.

When Kara cut the ropes at my wrists I found I couldn’t lower my arms. The shoulder with the wound was an explosion of agony. “You’re…” I said and the words were choked. I cleared my throat and tried again. “You’re not with…him?”

The older woman sat beside and tried to help me with my arms. She rubbed the muscles while Zach stared at me. He had an odd expression on his face as he continued his unwavering gaze. “We don’t even know him,” he said. “So, neither did you.”

“You’re the first people I’ve seen,” I said tiredly. Relief was surging through my exhausted body, reminding me that I was crashing off the adrenalin rush. All that was left was my aching body and a burning that made me feel as though the coastal temperature was barely above freezing. “Besides…”

“He doesn’t count,” Zach said ruthlessly. “He wasn’t human anymore.” His eyes had finally looked away from my face. They were fixed on something else. I didn’t need to look to see that it was the pile of bones.

My arms finally came down and Kara helped me sit up. My head spun. I held it in my hands and tried to get a grip on the spinning world. I said, “He hit me. I think maybe I’ve got a concussion.” Black dots appeared at the edges of my vision and it felt as though the world was sinking.

For the second time that day I fell into darkness.

♦

A long time later, or it might have been only minutes I heard the two of them talking. My head still throbbed. My body still ached, and my back was on fire. I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes so I merely listened.

“…Said her head was hit. It could be a concussion.”

“All I can remember about concussions is to wake them up every hour and make sure their pupils dilated in light. Both of them and equally.”

“What are we going to do if they don’t?”

“Go to the library and get a book. Hope her brain isn’t swelling.”

There was a pause. “Are you sure about…him?”

“Yeah. He’s gone. There wasn’t anything left. Just blood on the rocks. I hope he stumbled into the water and washed out to sea.”

The sounds went away.

♦

“I’ve disinfected the wound on her shoulder, but she’s burning up with fever. If I had to guess it’s over 105 degrees.”

“I’ll get a thermometer from the drug store.”

A pause.

“Listen, girl,” it was Kara speaking urgently into one of my ears. She gave my good shoulder a little shake. “Listen to me. Are you allergic to anything? Like Penicillin? You’ve got to answer me.”

My eyelids came open although it was so difficult. The crack revealed a nice room. The sun was shining into the balcony. I was lying on one of two queen beds. It was a hotel room with nice, neutral colors. Kara was bent over me, anxiously peering into my face. Zach stood behind her, his face was like milk, and he looked down forbiddingly at me. “N-nuh,” I said. Obviously I was a conversational genius. Finally, I was with other human beings and I couldn’t say much of anything at all.

Kara brought a glass of water to my lips and helped prop my head up. I sipped two mouthfuls before I choked. She wiped the residue away and said again, “Are you allergic to anything?”

“No,” I said. Then I shivered convulsively. It seemed so cold there. Kara and Zach were both in T-shirts and jeans. Zach covered me up with the blanket from the other bed. “What’s wrong with me?” I said while my teeth chattered.

“Fever, vomiting,” Kara said. “You were sick before he took you, weren’t you? Did you eat something bad?”

“Only canned stuff and bottled water,” I said. My teeth came together violently and I couldn’t say anymore. My eyelids fell down again, but there wasn’t anything wrong with my hearing.

“Get that thermometer and a bottle of antibiotics. They’ll have a physician’s desk reference there. Get a couple different kinds of antibiotics. And we’re going to need some stuff for an IV to keep her from getting dehydrated,” Kara said determinedly. She started to tick items off. “A bag of saline solution. Tubing. IV needle.”

“You’re going to have to go, Kara,” Zach said. “You’ll know what to get. But I’m not sure if I want you going by yourself.”

“I’ve got the crossbow and four knives, kiddo,” Kara laughed. “I was in the Army for ten years as a paramedic before they killed my knees with their freaking road marches. The VA paid for both knees to be rebuilt, so I think I can handle one little burned up psychopath if he’s even still feeling frisky.”

Zach didn’t say anything.

“There was a pharmacy about three blocks away. I’ll be back in a half-hour.”

“Stay away from corners,” Zach said. “And alleys. Keep an eye on the sky, too. I saw something big flying off to the north. Something we haven’t seen before.”

“Griffin,” I muttered.

Zach said, “What?”

“Griffin in the skies,” I said and my words were slurred as if I was drunk. “Head and wings of a bird, body of a lion. Raked me yesterday.”

“Raked you?” Kara said. “You mean it scratched you with its claws? Where?”

“Back.”

“Going to roll you over,” Kara muttered. They did and gentle hands lifted up my shirt. “Give me that knife, Zach.”

I felt the give of the bandages and the quick intake of air from both of them. “The scratches are infected,” Zach said woodenly. “Go get those antibiotics, Kara, and be careful. I’ll clean this up while you’re gone. And if you’re a minute longer than thirty minutes I’m coming after you.”

Kara laughed, a dry chuckle. “Yeah. Check your Mickey Mouse watch, junior.”

A door shut, and I tried to open my eyes again. I should have been disturbed to be in the room alone with a man I didn’t know, but I couldn’t move. My limbs felt as though they weighed a thousand pounds each. I wasn’t going anywhere.

The bed depressed under Zach’s weight as he perched on the side next to me. “I’m going to clean these with this antibiotic solution. It’s going to hurt.”

My eyelids came up a little and my turned head could see part of his arm and some of his face. His hair was as brown as chestnuts, richly thick and full of golden highlights. His eyes were like chocolate. His tortured expression ruined his pretty face. He was sincerely grim. I could tell, even though I was half out of it. He thought I was going to die.

I hadn’t considered that, once the fireflies had saved me. I thought if I were safe from a whacko with a knife, then things should be okay. Two people, real live people, had found me, and maybe life would be okay again. But the age of technology and advancement had passed on with the night on the mountain. They weren’t doctors and I was earnestly ill. I could die.

“I’ll try not to,” I said, reassuringly.

Zach’s eyes met mine. He was confused, “Try not to what?”

“Not to die,” I answered. “I’ll try. It’s so good to see someone again. Don’t want to go.”

His broad shoulders shuddered once. “What’s your name?”

“Sophie,” I said. “Can I have another drink of water before you start, please?”

Zach held me while I sipped the water. Even though my teeth chattered convulsively I was able to hold some down. The pain when he started doing what he needed to do was too much for me and it was a black curtain coming down over me.

♦

“Swallow this,” Kara said to me. My eyelids opened just a bit, enough to see the middle aged woman looking worriedly down at me. “Or I’m going to have to give another shot. You’re shaking too much to do it safely. And Zach’s too much of a weenie to want to hold you down like we did for the IV.”

“Kara,” Zach said warningly.

“Get a sense of humor, kid,” Kara advised. “She’s lasted this long, so she’s a fighter.”

“Her name is Sophie.”

“Hmm.”

I swallowed the pill and the water that came with it and then I choked again. “Relax,” Kara urged. “Relax. Try to relax that gag reflex.”

They said something else and then there was darkness again. I didn’t like the darkness. I kept expecting to open my eyes and see a man sharpening his knife on a whetstone while he looked at me with hungry expectation. And I wouldn’t have the sword my hand seemed to want so desperately.

♦

When I came to consciousness again I had a vague recollection of shadowy dreams and a chill that permeated every inch of my body. But I wasn’t cold anymore. I opened my eyes and saw daylight again. I knew I must have slept through an entire day. The room was still and there was a little snore from the bed to my right. I moved my arm and became aware of the IV taped to the back of my wrist. A drip bag of a clear solution was hanging from the headboard.

I knew that I was feeling better. It was a thousand times better. It was the difference between day and night, between the brightest light imaginable and the darkest black of the deepest cave. I blinked my eyes a few times and everything stayed the same.

I stretched experimentally. Everything still hurt, but it was a dull ache that wasn’t as cutting. My shoulder was taped up so securely I could hardly move it. I could also feel the swath of bandages across my back. An oversized pajama top that buttoned in the front confused me until I realized that the pair must have found some new clothing for me. Men’s pajamas in a red/green plaid hung loosely on me. Apparently, the stores were open down here, too.

My mouth was like a bag of cotton balls and I saw a glass of water sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. I moved a little and heard a grunt from next to me. That brought my head around instantly. I saw Kara in the other queen sized bed, wrapped around two pillows with her head under another one. She was snoring softly. Next to me with his shoulder and leg nestled against mine was Zach. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans but his hand rested on my good shoulder and his head with closed eyes faced me.

That was weird. It wasn’t at the top of the really weird list, but it was weird. I took the moment to ignore my dry mouth and studied him. He was in his early twenties. His face was exotically pretty. Sculpted cheekbones and a finely shaped physique that said he liked to stay in shape. My father had a saying for that type of people. Too pretty for his own good. At the time I wondered who ever thought that being too pretty was bad. Now it didn’t seem to matter.

I inched away, silently damning the sore muscles and the pull of flesh that was only starting to heal. Zach’s hand slid to the sheets and he made a muffled noise and rolled the other way, showing an expanse of tanned abdomen as his t-shirt rode up. I swung my legs to the floor and trembled with the effort. Then I took a sip of the water. Pleased with my effort, I drank some more. I waited to see if anything would happen. It didn’t so I finished the glass.

Then I slowly stood up. It was difficult. Everything was shaking, quaking, or threatening to turn to rubber. I took three steps before I remembered the IV bag. I stepped back and got the bag and then took it with me to the single chair that was posed beside the glass sliding doors. The doors overlooked the Pacific Ocean. It was a mellow day. The sun was shining brightly. The waves were crashing against the rocks. The wind was briskly blowing the grasses to the south.

It felt so good to sit there. I put the IV bag on the table next to the chair and curled my feet under me. I sat slightly sideways so there was no pressure on my back and my bad shoulder was carefully guarded. I folded my hands across my lap and enjoyed the sunshine streaming in on my face.

The mental fog was gone. I realized it in an instant. The shock was gone. Thrown violently out on its head by a traumatic experience or by the wish fulfillment that had plagued me for never-ending days? I wasn’t certain of that answer.

I looked back at the beds and sighed with relief. There were other people. There were only a few so far, but they were real, and if they were real, then I hadn’t lost my mind as I had feared so desperately. Unlike that other poor soul who had built a bonfire, I was not crazy.

Then something else happened.

Zach must have sensed something because he suddenly scrambled in the bed and sat up straight. His eyes settled on the empty part of the bed and immediately went from there to the door. The door was still blocked by the other chair of the room. Then his eyes came to rest on me. I wasn’t sure what to say so I didn’t say anything.

“Are you…” he said and his voice held a slight tone of panic. He stopped and then added, “…all right?”

“I’m better,” I said and the words sounded lame even to me. “The antibiotics must have done the trick. Thank you. Thank you both.”

Zach’s eyes were burning with unnamable emotion. It reminded me so briefly of the other man’s frantic eyes and I looked away. “Thank God,” he muttered quietly.

Kara rolled to her side and the pillow on her head fell to the floor. “Great. Can you all shut up and let a middle aged broad get her beauty sleep?”

I bit my lip.

Zach leaped to his feet and said, “You’ve got to be hungry, so I’ll make soup.” He put his shoes on and left without another word.

Kara didn’t close her eyes again. Finally, she said, “I’m glad you’re better, Sophie. It was touch and go for a while.”

I agreed privately but I didn’t say anything. I was thinking about the look in Zach’s eyes. I knew it then, but it would be months before I would admit anything to myself.