Chapter 12

 

 The monster grinned, his deathly face splitting wide to show no mirth and all sharp teeth—teeth that Caleb had seen slick with the red of another man’s blood.  He spun even as he saw Bane move, darting back the way he had come and running for the corner, but doubting he would be able to outrun the German.  His feet slipped as he scrambled away, and he began to see visions of himself being eaten by the monster.  This time he was grateful that they were just his mind running wild and not the kind of visions that kept coming true.

He came to the corner and looked back.  Bane had made the top of the steps and was already running at him, much closer than Caleb had thought he would be.  He froze, looking to his left, wondering if running back into the apartment complex was the best idea.  He looked at Bane again just as the thing planted its foot and crouched to jump.  Caleb knew he would never escape if it reached him.  Caleb grabbed the railing on his right and glanced over the 15 foot drop, closed his eyes and jumped.

He barely made it over before something clipped his foot.  He spun in midair as he heard a ringing crash behind him.  He twirled about for a moment in the air, losing sight of the ground before slamming into the gravel below the balcony.  His breath blasted from his body and black specks orbited each other in front of his eyes.  Clouds and the dark underside of the balcony slowly circled above him, and he felt something wet on the back of his head, soaking his hair.  He had been doing something important, hadn’t he? 

He tried to focus on what it might be but his thoughts just circled back to the wet thing on his head.  What was it anyways?  He reached a hand back and dabbed it in the wetness, pulling it to look at it again.  Blood?  Whose blood?  His blood?

His face scrunched up in confusion.  Why am I bleeding?  Did something hit me?  Did I fall?  Did I jump?!?  Why would I ju…

Bane!

Everything suddenly came into focus and fear laced his bones with a sudden surge of energy.  Caleb bolted up, turning to run but barely making it to all fours.  The world cart wheeled from his sudden rising and he managed a step before crashing into the gravel again face first.

Up! Run, run, run, run!  Hurry!  He’s coming.  Not that fast.  Slow, but steady.  Smooth…no sudden movements.

He slowly got his feet under himself, looking like a newborn colt as he staggered and nearly fell again.  He caught himself and slowly rose, looking back to see Bane lying propped up against the metal railing.  The railing was bent outwards and had broken free of the cement balcony in a few spots.  Bane lay there unmoving.  Apparently the only thing that could knock the creature out was itself.

He briefly considered going back for his jeep when he saw the German stir.  He was in no shape to drive, anyways.  He’d have to hope nothing happened to it and come back later.

Stumbling and clutching his head, which somehow suddenly had a pulse—a deep, agonizing pulse—Caleb began to make his way down the street.  He raised his other hand to hail a taxi and was almost euphoric when a pink and white number pulled up.  He crawled into the backseat as the driver looked at him.

“You don’t look to good, man.  Hospital?” he asked in a thick Mexican accent.

Caleb shook his head and all sound was buried under an excruciating humming that rattled his brain and nearly made him pass out.  Head movement: bad, got it.  “Avalon…Wedding…Chapel.”

The driver gave him a look that said he clearly thought Caleb’s head injury was affecting his judgment, but just shrugged, starting the fare timer.  “Whatever, man.  Your dollar.”

Caleb sighed thankfully and promptly passed out.

                        *                                  *                                  *

Fuzzy white curtains.

He gave a slow, methodical blink.  Since when were curtains fuzzy?  They flapped and swayed in a gentle breeze, blowing open and revealing the door-sized window and the dirty tan desert landscape beyond it.  It was then that Caleb realized it wasn’t the curtains that were fuzzy, it was his vision.

He was lying somewhere, hard to tell where as he didn’t recognize the place, and lying in a bed with fresh sheets and a pleasant smell he couldn’t quite place.  He tried to sit up but blackness encroached on the edges of his fuzziness and he gave up on that idea immediately, settling slowly back to the pillow.  He breathed heavily for a moment as the pain ebbed away and felt a thirst worse than he ever remembered feeling in his life.  His throat stuck to itself when he swallowed and his tongue was thick and dry.  He needed water desperately.

His blurred sight roamed the room and he nearly cried with joy when he saw a glass of water sitting nearby.  He reached slowly and grabbed it, bringing it to his head and drinking messily for fear of sitting up and blacking out.  It was cool, refreshing and clearly the best glass of water he had ever drunk in his entire life, despite the fact that it was dribbling down his cheek and pooling under his head on the pillow.

Suddenly a white shadow floated in front of the window and was holding the bottom of the glass, helping him drink more than he spilled—which was a nice change, “Poor dear.”

Caleb’s eyes flicked up and he caught a hazy jade halo of hair around a face that was all at once girlish and motherly.  Like some Catholic portrait of a young Mother Mary, if Mary had worn her hair long and the color of emeralds.  She might not be Mary, but she was a godsend nonetheless.

Ellyahna smirked mischievously, “Hasn’t anyone ever taught you to drink a glass of water properly?  Looks like we have more work to do than I thought.”  So much for Mother Mary.  He doubted she had teased baby Jesus for dribbling when he drank water.

His voice croaked, “Go ahead, tease the man with the head injury.”

“What better time to tease you then when you have to lay there and take it?” she giggled and Caleb was reminded of flower petals on the breeze.  He smiled a bit but refrained from laughing.  Pain was a great motivator.

“How long have I been out?”

“All of yesterday and last night.  I had a doctor come look at you, he was worried you might have a concussion but when I told him you’d been up all night, he said fatigue was a big part of the equation and he’d come talk to you when you woke.”

“What time is it?”

“About noon.  Hungry?”

“Ravenous.”

She smiled and bounced up from her crouch happily then left the room.  Caleb lay alone with his slow and painful thoughts.  A concussion?  He remembered leaping form the balcony—not his brightest idea ever, but what choice had he had?  How else do you avoid a giant man with sharpened teeth aimed for your neck?  There wasn’t exactly a handbook for avoiding cannibals with superhuman strength.

He still had trouble believing any of it.  Here he was in the care of a woman he had only met yesterday, being treated for a head injury he had acquired running from something out of a movie.  His old life seemed a million years away but in reality he was two days removed from teaching his last week of school before finals.  That was very unlikely now, he knew.  Head injuries aside, he had a psychopath who knew his name and even where he lived roaming Vegas trying to murder him.  He couldn’t put himself or his kids in that kind of danger.

‘His kids.’  That thought made his stomach drop.  He had always considered his students like adopted sons and daughters in a sense.  He doubted he could ever go back to that life, now, or any life even remotely normal.

Ell came back in with a plate of fruits, cheeses and a couple slices of cold ham.  Caleb sat up to eat but immediately slithered back to his back as his head began to hum in pain again. 

“Lie down, silly.  I’ll take care of you.”  Her Mother Mary tone was back as she took a bit of fruit and slipped it into his mouth.  He started chewing and realized he was missing a tooth.  He stuck his tongue through the hole, probing it and grimacing.  “Don’t worry.  We’ll take care of that in due time.  You just eat for now.”  He nodded once and quickly stopped as the pain began to threaten him again.  She grabbed another piece of fruit, but then stopped and smiled at the doorway.

“You’re feeding him?”  A woman’s voice asked incredulously and despite the pain, Caleb strained his head to see Kay standing in the doorway.

“You should have seen him try to drink.  I didn’t want my pillows stained.”  Ell quipped, throwing him a playful wink.  “Someone has to take care of the poor baby, but if you’d rather do it, I do have work to do.”

Kay looked skeptical for a moment then shrugged, “I haven’t got anything else to do.”  She sat down and took the plate from Ell.  She wore a white tank top that he was sure must be inappropriate, but he couldn’t say why save that it made his heart race.  Blue and black plaid pants that  sat just low enough to reveal her pierced belly hung perfectly on her down beyond his sight.  He swallowed despite himself as Ell left the room.

“Enjoy your pampering?”  Kay asked, drawing his gaze back up to her.  She looked a little annoyed.  He couldn’t figure out why for the life of him. 

“Uhhh…”

“Brilliant observation.” She said, seeming to lose all anger at his confusion and smiling brightly at him.  Trying to figure women out was impossible enough without a concussion.  Now it was like trying fly by flapping his arms: pointless and likely to cause more injury.

She pushed a piece of peach into his mouth and he started eating again.  The fruit was sweet and juicy; perfect.  He ate it quickly followed by some cheese, ham and a drink of water, this time with less mess.

“You’re in pretty rough shape.”  She said as she gave him some more food.

“If it’s half as bad as I feel, it’s a wonder I have a face left.”

She smirked, “Actually, you’re kind of cute with a few cuts and bruises.”

“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind when I recover.  Maybe you could rough me up every few days, keep me looking my best.”

“Maybe.” She said.  He wasn’t entirely sure she was kidding.  Her brand of mothering was less sweet and kind, but somehow it felt better than Ell’s.  Ellyahna treated him like a son or a nephew that had been beaten up on the way home from school.  Kay treated him…different.  Like a man.

“Listen, uh…” she said, biting her lip and looking upset, “I’m sorry.  I never should have left you alone.  I know what Bane is capable of and I just wasn’t thinking.  I should’ve followed you home”

Now it was his turn to smirk, “That’s a little creepy.”

She glowered and bounced a piece of cheese off of his forehead.  He winced from the slight pain and started laughing again.  Waves of throbbing pain went scurrying afresh through his skull.  He gasped, eyes watering as he tried to calm the anguish.

Her eyes went wide with embarrassment and worry, “I…crap...sorry.” she said meekly and this laughed harder.  More pain.  He groaned and closed his eyes.  Laughing was definitely a bad, bad idea. 

He writhed on the bed, the pain was almost unbearable and he began to tear up more, maybe he was crying.  He couldn’t tell as his world became nothing but red, angry anguish.  It felt like someone had driven a 6 inch nail into the back of his head and now kept hammering at it to be sure it was in.  His eyes lost focus again and he distantly felt tears running down his cheeks.  Then through the wall of fire, a touch.  Kay.

She put a hand to his cheek and although his head still hurt, he forgot it for a moment.  Something arced through his face, like a wave of cold and warm all at once.  He blinked at her through his tears and saw her like she was in the shadowy place; eyes aglow as they watched him in concern.  The waves of frigid heat rolled through his face and brain, reaching the back of his head.  The pain went hot, then cold, then numb.

“How…?” he started to ask but didn’t quite finish.

“Shhhh.” She said and smiled.  He imagined her leaning in to kiss his head but it all went dark before he felt her lips and one thought followed him into unconsciousness: the pain would have been worth staying awake long enough to feel her lips.