“Fake bullets. Fake blood. I thought you had maybe figured it out back at my place when you tried to dress my wound.”
Erin’s eyes lit up as she looked down at Trevor, a glimmer of hope that he was alive.
“Oh. Yeah. Sorry. That, unfortunately, was real. He’s dead.”
Her heart plummeted. “I’ll kill you.”
“You will?” Stefan moved in close and she pivoted and socked him with a hard right to the mouth. He staggered back with his hand to his bloodied lips. She stepped in and stroked him once more in the face. Her knuckles cracked and shifted in her hand.
The burly arms of Bruce wrapped around her and pulled her to her feet as she kicked, scratched, screamed, and bit, doing anything to separate herself from him.
Bruce was so strong. “Give her the drugs!” Bruce yelled at Stefan. Stefan reached into his pocket and pulled out a small syringe. She tried. It wasn’t enough. It took mere seconds for the drugs to sink in, making her feel increasingly tired the more she tried to fight it. Urine dribbled down her legs and her heart slowed.
Chapter Twenty-eight - Erin
Erin was in her garden back in New York. The dark soil in her hands was moist, the air was crisp. A worm wriggled at her feet. She looked up at her old apartment building, tattered and worn, but it had enough character that she always thought of it as a person. The sun was catching the corner of her eye, blinding her, and she smiled. The warm rays and cool breeze balanced. Erin looked back down at the dirt and then to her neighbor Wei, a lovely elderly Chinese woman that would cook for her every Thursday. Sometimes they’d clock out their Monday’s with a shot of baiju. The stuff would burn the hair off a girl’s legs, but it was a tradition she cherished. They’d shared many laughs. Her English was spotty at best, but they were able to converse with relative ease once they’d gotten to know one another.
She pondered what she was going to cook for herself that evening. Maybe she’d use up some of the vegetables still in her fridge. Make a stir-fry with orange teriyaki. Her stomach gurgled at the thought, but her mouth did not salivate as a horrible smell suddenly attached to her nose. It smelled like ammonia.
Erin’s head bobbed up from the scent. A tiny bag of smelling salts was raised up to her nose.
Her mouth was dry, lips cracked, and she tasted blood. She wanted so badly to go back home, to her garden. She missed Wei. But instead, she was about to be sacrificed like some animal, apparently destined to live out her own hell on an unknown island off the coast of Belize.
“Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey,” Stefan said joyously. “Quick little power nap for our girl. Our star girl… Sorry, I gave you a little too much, had to use those nasty salts to get your motor running. We don’t have a ton of time, Erin. The sun is coming up.”
She groaned. Everything ached. She spit on his shoes and he laughed uproariously. “I love it.”
Her wrists had been bound with duct tape and she was sitting upright on the couch. When she turned to her left, she cried out. Trevor was there. His chest rose and fell. He was alive.
Bruce was in the middle of applying the salts to Trevor’s nose. He was tied up as well. “Trevor. Trevor look at me.” She turned to Stefan. “He needs medical attention. Please!” Not a worry in the world registered on his arrogant face. “Trevor.” His eyes finally opened as his eyes squinted and his head bobbed around, saliva dangling to the floor. “Look at me. You’re gonna be okay.” Back to Stefan. “Get him help!”
“Settle down. He was sedated. Did you not hear me before? It was our fake blood you were seeing while you had your little freak-out. He was tranqued. I was just pulling your leg. Take a joke, doctor.” Stefan walked to the fridge and pulled out an apple. He used the largest kitchen knife to cut it into slices, savoring each bite with the smack of his lips. “Sorry about the tape. It’s easier this way. You’ll be free of it soon. Free of it all.”
A jackhammer was drilling into her head, pain sensors going off like a pinball machine. Trevor coughed and spit. He looked over at Erin, eyes terribly bloodshot. She saw the realization register in his eyes, remembering what had transpired before. Bruce ripped a strip of duct tape and put it over Trevor’s mouth before he could speak.
Stefan had leaned in close and Trevor tried to jolt up, but Bruce slammed him back down into the couch. Stefan’s words were damp on her ear. “I want you to remember this moment. What it was like to be human, to be afraid… Everything. Remember it. You’ll never forget it for the rest of your unlimited days. Just because you’ve transcended the human form doesn’t mean you shouldn’t remember what you were. You should, and you will.”
Erin placed her taped hands on Trevor’s and he blinked in understanding, or so she hoped.
Bruce sauntered over with espresso and held it to her lips. The aroma would have been delightful if she were about to wake up in her villa after a horrible dream. “Take a sip.” She hated him, but took a sip anyway, knowing it would be her last taste of coffee. Bruce stepped back but hung around to feed her more. “Here.” He placed the cup perfectly in her fingers, sliding her pointer finger through the handle but away from the piping hot cup itself. “How’s that?” he asked.
“Perfect, thank you.” She took another sip. Stefan was staring at her. The man of so many faces… He was talented. “Why?” she asked simply. “Absent of the bullshit that so often comes crawling out of that mouth.”
He knelt down and helped her off of the couch. Trevor rose protectively with her, but Bruce’s hands held him back. “An excellent question, Erin. For them? They’re lonely,” he said with a high note, very matter-of-fact. “And that harrowing tale of the rebels storming their land, which they were banished to—if you remember our history lesson from earlier—well, that was mostly true. An honorable family with such love and compassion, slaughtered for some extra land. They just took it because they could. An agreement was broken. And they haven’t been able to rest since. They have great purpose now.
Erin awaited more.
“Could you imagine living without any purpose? What a waste of life. They’re not evil. They eliminate evil. And they provide the greatest thing that exists; redemption of the human soul. Picture the perfection of it. Not just false words people like to spout off. Actual redemption you can hold in your hands. You can be free of your guilt soon, Erin. You’ve earned that right. They feel your hurt, your love, all of it. And they will accept you as one of their own. We will rejoice! And you and I can be together.” Trevor reached for her, but Bruce pushed him back. He was trying to shout, but the tape muffled his sounds. Stefan sighed at the sight of him. “I know you don’t see it now. And I don’t expect you to. It’s okay, really. But you will soon. And you won’t even be able to describe it. I know I haven’t given it any justice. How could I?”
“We need to go.” Bruce was edgy.
Stefan sneaked in behind her and held her tightly. Her heart was racing. She used her remaining fuel and rammed her head back, clocking Stefan in the nose. “Goddammit!” he yelled. “You are fierce!” He chuckled and grimaced, dabbing at the blood under his nose.
It was all over. There as nothing more she could do. As she neared the front door of the cabin, she could only hear Trevor making as big a fuss as possible, but he was still being manhandled by old Bruce.
Stefan leaned forward and whispered in her ear from behind. “Will you get that for me? Destiny waits.”
Erin placed her hand on the brass doorknob and turned, cracking the door open an inch. It was no longer darkness outside, as amber crept through the skies. She thought of the policewoman one last time. I’m sorry. With one more deep breath of the palm trees, she swung the door open and stepped forward.