Chaos Lives in Everything - 40. Chapter 40

Rebecca was so tired that her eyes stung and her mind was numb. It was a struggle just to keep her eyes open let alone form a full, coherent thought.

Twig had three broken ribs, had suffered a concussion, and was bruised badly in several places. That was not including whatever drugs he had snorted/ingested in his system. While Twig was being taken to the hospital in the ambulance Rebecca and Melanie had given their statements to the two detectives in different rooms of the house. Rebecca did not mention that she had done business with Bajork in the past.

Rebecca answered questions for an hour and then went into the bathroom to wash as much of the gore off her she could and change her clothes. Doing that made her feel more human and took her mind off of what had just happened.

Several coroners came in to clean the bodies up. Rebecca and Melanie stood in the doorway, bundled up in several layers of clothing and watched them haul everything into three separate trucks. She couldn’t take her eyes off of Bajork’s corpse. Most of his head was smeared across the snowy driveway.

Now they were sitting in the waiting room. Rebecca watched the TV in shock unable to believe what she was seeing. An overhead view from a helicopter showed the war zone that Roc City had become. The center where downtown was, was hidden underneath an ocean of smoke and flame. The pounding of Rebecca’s heart was so loud that she could not hear what the newscaster was saying. She had a strong suspicion that Skold, Dom, and Candestine were in the middle of that war zone, fighting their own battle. She could only imagine what it was like right now.

Melanie took her hand and seemed to know what she was thinking. “I’m sure they’re okay,” she said. “From what you’ve told me about them it sounds like they are more than capable of taking care of themselves.”

“Yeah,” Rebecca croaked. Her voice was hoarse, her throat dry. “Are you okay?”

Melanie smiled. “I’m alive and you’re alive. So I guess I’m okay. Are you okay?”

“Tired.”

“I noticed there was a coffee machine over by the bathrooms. You want me to go get us some?”

“Would you please?”

Melanie stood up, stooped, and kissed Rebecca tenderly on the forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

Rebecca leaned her head back and closed her eyes. I’m so tired, she thought. I’m going to close my eyes just for a few seconds.

When she opened her eyes her head was leaning on Melanie’s shoulder. She sat up and blushed, embarrassed. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to...”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind.” Melanie giggled. “Has anyone ever told you what a snorer you are?”

“I was snoring?”

“Yeah. The nurse looked over here a couple of times. I thought she was going to say something.”

“Here’s your coffee. It’s cold.”

“That’s alright. I’m so thirsty that I don’t care.”

The coffee was cold, black and bitter. Rebecca didn’t like it but she drank it anyway, drank it until she could not stand the build up of the taste any longer. She blinked and felt a single tear roll down her cheek.

“I don’t think I can stay up much longer,” Rebecca said. She hated how whiny she sounded but she couldn’t help it.

“We could call a cab and rent a hotel room for the night.”

“But Twig...”

“Let the doctors handle Twig for the evening. He’ll be alright. We’re both exhausted.”

Rebecca nodded and decided to let Melanie handle things. She clearly knew what she was doing.

The sun was starting to rise when the cab dropped them off at a tiny hotel called the Sleepy Inn not quite an hour later. It was a tiny single story motel that sat on top of a snowy hill. The manager was a disgruntled older man who wore a green flannel shirt and smelled strongly of stale cigarette smoke. A TV chattered away behind him showing some sort of sitcom.

Since Melanie paid for the cab Rebecca thought it was only fair that she paid for the hotel room. She paid for one night and no she did not want an upgraded “suite” with a jacuzzi. The thought of being in a jacuzzi in this roach fest was more than she was willing to put up with. Their room was number 8. The room had wood paneled walls, hideous dark green carpet that was covered with coffee stains, nicotine stains, and God knew what else. A random painting of the Grand Canyon hung over the queen sized bed. The sight of the bed made Rebecca’s body groan with exhaustion. Not even the sickening cell of cigarettes or the thought of roaches could scare her away.

Melanie and she kicked out of their shoes and crawled under the covers. They had one lamp each on both sides of the bed. They smiled sleepily at one another, turned out their lamps, and were asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

Skold stumbled through the smoke with his hair plastered to his face. The smoke was so thick that it was almost impossible to see even with his strong sense of eyesight. His face was covered in grime and his vest was filthy. He had long since lost track of Dom and the others.

How long had they been fighting? He could no longer say. It was impossible to keep track of time. All he knew was that the sun was rising and it was still morning. Somewhere a man screamed in pain. Skold turned in that direction his brain telling him that he should help. The man lay on the ground. His guts and intestines were hanging out of his stomach; the lower half of his face was covered in blood.

He knelt down by the man even though he knew there was nothing that he could do. The man had lost too much blood, too much flesh.

“Please,” the man sputtered. “I know I’m going to die but I don’t want to die alone. Please stay with me.”

“I will,” Skold heard himself say. He took the man’s bloody hand in his and held it. He didn’t care that he was getting the man’s blood on his flesh. He had never shied away from the sight or feel of blood. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He heard one of the creatures let out a shriek. It was coming up behind him, charging out of the smoke. Skold shot to his feet and lashed out with a single kick, pinning it to the ground. He stomped on its head until the heel of his boot was covered in black gloo and its head was no more. He turned his attention back to the man but a glance at the man’s blank eyes told him that he was dead. Skold stooped over, closed the man’s eyes, and moved on.

He could sense Dom. Dom was alive. Knowing that gave Skold the strength and energy to move faster. At the moment all he wanted was to be close to him, to touch him. Skold did not know where this sudden yearning to be with another came from but he let it take hold of him.

When Dom’s massive form loomed out of the smoke with Candestine and Maeglin standing on either side of him Skold broke into a run. He threw himself into Dom’s and wrapped his arms around him.

“Wow,” Dom said. “Were you worried about me?”

“Oddly enough, yes. I’m glad to see you.”

Dom smiled and leaned down to kiss him. “I’m glad to see you too.”

Skold nodded at the others. “Are you two okay?”

“We’re alive,” Candestine said. “I don’t think it gets any better than that except for the fact that I ache all over.”

“Where’s Reynolds?”

“Back there somewhere,” Dom said. He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “He looks okay. There doesn’t seem to be anymore of those things.”

“Watch your back. One tried to attack me just a few seconds ago.”

The smoke was finally starting to clear. Candestine looked around. “We’re still standing. It’s a bloody miracle.”

“Don’t let out a sigh of relief just yet,” said Skold. “Samhein has escaped, we don’t know where he is or what he’s going to do and I still have to stand trial before the king and his court.” He glanced at Maeglin. “When do we leave?”

“The morning after tomorrow,” Maeglin replied. With a small smile he added, “I figured you we could all use the rest before then.”

Skold nodded at him gratefully. “Thank you.”