“It’s no problem.”
He rubbed my knee for a minute and then I felt his hand fall as he fell asleep. Blowing out a sigh, I reached across him to the floorboard for the snack bag.
He got the blueberry cereal bars.
I ate two of them, seeing as how I hadn’t eaten anything all day with all the commotion. There was bottled water too which I grabbed and down half the bottle with one pull.
I turned the radio on to help the freezing wind keep me awake. Reception was horrible off the main interstates. I finally settled on a semi-fuzzy rock station and the slogan they said every five minutes was ‘Get you fill, with Gill. The late night slamming jamming singer bringer’.
I would’ve laughed but my sleeping crew wouldn’t have heard me so I kept it to myself. Funny, how Gill probably thought that was pretty clever but the tunes were nice and loud, perfect for my current circumstances and I even sang along. They were asleep and the rip roaring wind was loud enough to cover my howling.
Driving in the dark was not my strong suite. I drove too slow, and got antsy when oncoming traffic appeared.
Kay probably was pretty annoyed with me, back behind us, but I couldn’t help it. I’d always been a day time or well-lit-highway kinda girl. My dad used to laugh at me. He called me a city girl who halted the car as soon as the city street lamps stopped.
I let Merrick sleep for about an hour and a half, then I saw it. There was an old abandoned run down motel set back off the highway. No electricity to it, dark, only lit by my oncoming headlights with bushes and grass overgrown.
I pulled in and woke Merrick. Kay pulled in behind me and killed her lights.
“Merrick? Merrick? What about this place? For the night at least,” I asked as I shook his shoulder lightly.
“Where are we?”
Merrick was incredibly cute groggy.
“The last sign I saw about twenty minutes back was Potomac. It didn’t seem like much of a busy place, but there is probably a grocery store or something.”
“Hmmm.” He rubbed his hands in his hair. “How long have I been out?”
“Almost two hours. You need more than that.”
“I feel a lot better... Ok, some better,” he recanted seeing my face, reading the lies spilling out.
“What do you think?”
“I think, I looked for hours with nothing and you take over and find the perfect place,” he said looking at me proudly.
I rolled my eyes at his silly banter as he grabbed my arm, pulling me towards his seat as he opened his door to get out. He lifted me up in an embrace that took my feet from the ground. The urge to kiss him came back to me ten fold, with his face buried in my hair and neck.
“You did good. I adore you, you know that? Thanks for letting me sleep,” he whispered in my ear as he set me to the ground. “Stay here.”
Jeff came to meet Merrick, no doubt having an internal conversation, and they walked cautiously to check the door and see if anyone else is here, though it doesn’t look like it.
Danny woke up and looked around, for Celeste I was sure. When he saw Merrick and Jeff, I decided to fill him in. He nodded his head in agreement. This was the perfect place, for tonight. It was falling apart and ragged. You could tell no one had been there in a very long time. The exact opposite of a motel I would have chosen a year ago. Funny.
Jeff came out with cobwebs in his hair from the door frame and waved us the all clear.
I left my headlights on for everyone to begin to unload our cargo. It took a few seconds to get the sticky trunk latch but eventually I got it open. I saw Celeste bend down to brush off her pants by the van.
That was the last thing I remembered before a horrible pain in my head and then I hit the hard, dusty ground.
I felt achy and incoherent, my eye hurt and I squinted to see but everything was blurry and moving in gray and dark colors. I reached up to inspect my eye and jolted at the pain that shot through my cheek. I also touched something wet. Blood. I blinked to focus and I must not have been out long because I saw them running towards us, Merrick and Jeff. The rest were behind them, horror all over their faces.
The creature, gangily hovering over me, must have thought I was alone. I couldn’t believe what was in front of my eyes.
Celeste and I had been the only ones left outside that I had seen, and I didn’t see her now nor Danny. Ah, please let her be ok.
I tried to focus on it but it was black like the night and moved swiftly making it impossible to focus directly on it. The only light to see with was the dim headlights still blaring from the Rabbit.
I looked quickly to find Merrick, he was standing by Jeff, in front of everyone else. Should it have surprised me that they were not surprised?
The looks on Merrick and Jeff’s faces were not like the others, fear and disbelief. No. Their faces were full of anger and resentment, like seeing a loathed enemy after a long hiatus. Then the creature turned his hideous face, or whatever it was, at me. Staring me down, daring me to make a move.
It resembled nothing of a face but had eyes there, completely huge white yellow glowing eyes but no mouth, no nose, no ears that I could tell. It screeched or yelled at me and I flinched back and covered my ears at the high pitch. He took the last step that was between us and touched me with his freezing cold skin.
He took one of his clubby clawed looking feet and began pushing and rolling me in the dirt, away from my rescuers who were making steady inches toward us. Then he jumped into a loud screech and as I examined it closer, I realized it had wings, instead of arms, but still dark black hands. I screamed.
I tried to roll over and get up to run but it knocked me back down hard and placed a claw on my chest to hold me to the ground. My ribs burned and strained under the weight and breathing was impossible. I heard an angry grunt from someone behind me but couldn’t turn to see.
The thing grabbed for me when Jeff made a move towards us with a crowbar outstretched for a hit. It was all a blur. Jeff swung it around thinking he made contact but the creature threw his head back, unnaturally bending backwards, just in time. Jeff jumped over us and landed on the other side in a crouch. The creature’s claw scraped my shoulder in an attempt to lift me away but I slipped back to the ground and yelped more from the pain of his scratch than from slamming to the dirt. The pain was something I didn’t recognize, burning blinding pain.
When I surveyed the damage, I could feel the deep gashes, skin and meat in long strips, felt to the bone. I could hear myself grunting in pain and shuddered.
Merrick and Jeff made another move for it, one on each side. Then, it did lift me, a few feet off the ground, I saw Merrick jump for us and just as he made contact, the beast screeched loudly and dropped me in the dirt again hard. I rolled with the momentum.
Merrick knocked the creature away from me but now himself laid on the ground grunting and writhing. I looked to see Jeff with this intense look on his face as he eyed the creature as it began to screech louder and fell twisting to the ground like Merrick.
I couldn’t look away from Merrick as he slowly tried to get up, my scared eyes watching him as his face was mangled and twisted in pain. I met his eyes but couldn’t hold his gaze, the pain was overtaking me.
My shoulder ached worse than my eye ever thought about, both now covered in sand and grit and blood. My shoulder tingled like needle pricks along with the burning and I couldn’t stop the tears from coming. Pain and fright took hold of me as I watched the gruesome scene unfold with the nameless beast.
It thrashed on the ground, and the screeching was piercing the night and my ear drums like a knife. Merrick stood above it limply and eyed it while Jeff ran to the tree near our cars. He grabbed a branch and snapped it, twisting it off.
Running, he stabbed it through the beast’s midsection on the ground. There was a brilliant blinding burst of light and then a rush of cold air and it burned up in a quick puff of smoke and bright orange fire...and then there was nothing.
The sudd
en quiet continued too long, or maybe it seemed longer than it was. As I saw Merrick running to me, he did seem to be moving in slow motion. I felt him pick up my upper body and say my name in my mind, everything muffled. Then I saw blackness. Blackness and darkness. I didn’t hear them yell or smell the burning anymore. I couldn’t feel pain, anything, for just a moment. Peace.
Then the peace was ripped from me with a gush of cold water on my face, pulling me into consciousness. I gasped and flailed as Merrick grabbed my face and steadied me with his soothing voice, but the face didn’t match. If it was over and the trouble passed, why did his face still look so scared and twisted.
“Sherry, listen. We don’t have time.” He stopped and looked at Jeff, who didn’t look much better. “We have to... burn you. That thing, the creature is called a Marker. He marks the ones who are with Specials so the Lighters can find them. We have to burn the mark he left on you. The poison is slowly seeping into your blood and you’ll go into a coma. I’m sorry but we can’t wait any longer,” Merrick voice cracked and he cleared his throat.
As I tried to focus and listen, I saw there was a crowd around me. My eyes started to burn and my arm was completely covered in excruciating pin point prickles making me gasp and groan against my will.
Danny came to hold my hand and arm as Ryan placed his hands on my shins. I became instantly coherent and understanding of what they were doing. Burn me? They had to burn the gashes. Oh no! They had to burn me and hold me down so they can do it.
Merrick held my shoulders and face, leaving Jeff room to work and Kay was yelling at the others to leave the room as she laid herself over my stomach with all her weight. I looked up at Merrick and he refused to meet my gaze.
Oh. This was so not gonna be good.
Jeff returned with the fire stoker from the blazing fireplace in the corner and it’s end was burning with a red glow. I looked at him but he also refused to look at my face as he closed the space between us.
I closed my eyes and screamed even before he brought it to my skin and when he did touch me I couldn’t imagine a greater pain. He rolled it over the skin and then back up to do another layer. Then returned back up to get inside the grooves of the scratches. The smell was God awful and the sound was worse. I was surprised I could hear the singeing of the flesh over my screams.
I could feel myself thrashing, I felt as though I should be on the floor already but when I forced my eyes open, I saw that they were holding my petite frame almost perfectly still on some makeshift table in a poorly lit room.
I met Danny’s gaze for a second and he grimaced like I’d never seen him. I yelled Merrick’s name and he did look, finally. He bent down and put his forehead to mine.
I tried with all my might to stop screaming and stop fighting them, pull myself together. This wasn’t torture in the traditional sense. I was aware enough to remember the words he said. This was killing them as it was killing me.
I fought the urge and it worked, some. I squeezed my eyes so tightly shut, and it hurt but I forced myself to focus. I told my arms and legs to be still, that it’d be over soon. It’d all be over soon.
The moments were hours it seemed but that couldn’t be right because I felt as though I’d been holding my breath. The violent shaking of my body with the effort to be still was painful.
And then it suddenly stopped and I exhaled. A cold chill ran over me. No, cold water. I slowly opened my eyes again and met the eyes of the others. I heard whimpering. It was me.
Jeff, my torturer, was breathing heavy and apologizing profusely out loud and in my mind, doubled over, his hands on his knees to steady himself. I could hear Kay also but it was so hard to focus.
Soaking wet and throbbing all over, the hands and bodies slowly came off my body except for Merrick. He couldn’t seem to pry himself from me.
I heard Danny saying my name but it was hard to make myself respond. Everything was muffled and my eyes started to flutter. He snapped in front of my face and then I heard him more clearly.
“Danny,” I squeaked.
“Sherry, I’m so sorry. We had to do it, to save you. We had to. You would’ve died. We had to.”
Danny never cried before in front of me, let alone for me. The tears in his eyes were real, I felt them fall to my good arm. I immediately felt the need to comfort him, pulling my free hand up, I placed it on his cheek and he cried harder, hiding his face in my palm and his together. Then he leaned closer.
“Ah, man, I thought I lost you, little sister,” he whispered.
Jeff got my attention and Merrick lifted his face from mine.
“Sorry, Sherry. I have to check to make sure that was the only spot he scratched you. Do you feel that weird sensation anywhere else?” Jeff said, his raspy voice sullen.
“No. Only my eye hurts,” I said but then gasped.
I realized they have to burn my eye too. A look I can imagine looked like pure horror raced across my face. Jeff saw this and immediately intervened.
“No! No! We don’t have to burn your eye, Sherry. That wasn’t a scratch. It’s just where he hit you into the car when he attacked.”
He slowly began to examine my legs and arms, pulling up my shirt slightly to examine my stomach, I heard him grunt unhappily and when I looked I saw a few bruises forming on my ribs and stomach from being kicked around and dropped. The strained voice that released the next question didn’t sound like my own.
“What happened? What’s a Marker?”
Merrick gripped my hand and sat on the pool table beside me where they had laid me out. I saw a big red blister looking rash on his arm. A quick glance around the room proved it to be a game room or bar of some sort in the motel.
“Markers search for people traveling with Specials. I told you about them reading minds, and how it’s such a tedious process. The Markers mark you by scratching you and you slowly fog into a coma from the poison, giving the Lighters your location and time to get there while we tend to you.
“Markers are Lighters who choose to become....hounds so to speak. Searchers, seekers. Markers are pure evil, mindless creatures. The only way to remove the mark and stop the poison is to burn the skin, quickly... I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Merrick winced as he spoke the word ‘burn’.
I felt like a complete idiot for wanting to smile at his term of endearment for me, despite the situation. As if the situation wasn’t bad enough and screwed up enough already.
“Where’s Celeste?” I asked suddenly remembering.
“It knocked her against the van and she hit her head pretty hard. Danny grabbed her and brought her inside right after that but she’s ok and awake in the other room with everyone else.”
I nodded my head in understanding. The pain was starting to rise higher and higher into my thoughts and I knew I wouldn’t be able to contain it much longer.
I tried hard to suppress it and not make their misery that much more for them having to do this to me, by bursting into painful tears and sobs. Talking wasn’t helping. I started to shake, the tears rolled down my face. Merrick gripped my cold hand tighter and glanced over, silently telling Jeff something, who brought more cold water to pour on my shoulder and then pulled out a needle. I turned away from it and shook my head vigorously.
“Sherry, the poison isn’t active anymore in your system but it makes for a very painful recovery. I can’t just let you lay there and scream. I won’t. I know how much you’re hurting and I have to stitch you up too. The only thing I can give you will put you out for a few days. It’ll give you a chance to heal some and not be in as much pain when you wake up. We don’t have much medicine with us,” Jeff explains.
“No! Please. Don’t.” I didn’t know why but I felt scared of being in the dark after what happened, even though I’d be asleep, I felt like I’d be stuck there and something might happen. A nightmare. I couldn’t be put in the dark. “It doesn’t hurt that bad. I don’t want to sleep. I’m scared. Please don’t. I don’t want to be in the dark. Please,” I hysteric
ally begged Merrick, pleading, looking into his eyes. “Don’t let him.”
But he just stared his painful stare back into mine and held my arm down as Jeff eased the needle into the inside of my elbow, against my will.
I’m sorry. I have to...
After I heard Merrick, he reached over to kiss my forehead before I drifted out in the darkness.
Merrick - Waiting Game
Chapter 11
I couldn’t believe this happened. How was it even possible? A Marker? Not for so long, why now? Why here? Why her?
Jeff couldn’t explain it either and the rest of them were scared, very scared. How was I supposed to be a Keeper, do my job, watch Danny, watch Sherry, watch them all with blows coming at us every turn?
Jeff was worried. It was a good thing they couldn’t hear us talk to each other. They couldn’t handle it, the truth. It made liars out of us when we tried to calm them with soothing words, the ‘it’ll be ok’s.
It wouldn’t.
The ones who were here to protect them were almost as freaked and as clueless as they were. I couldn’t help but wonder what else was coming. Who else could be lurking, waiting to pounce. Was this a doomed cause from the start?
No. I wouldn’t think like that. For once, I was thankful that this body’s human brain no longer existed.
The Keepers met nightly in Sherry’s room since I refused to leave her side, amid their grumbles they were also supportive, in a way. Talking and discussing things helped some. Discussing Sherry, discussing Specials, discussing Markers and other unpleasant things that could be popping up.
The humans just moped around, in their rooms or convened in the kitchen. They were stressed and scared. Danny was distraught with guilt and worry. He thought he should have been there, he didn’t see Sherry on the ground when he saw Celeste and he left her out there. By the time we got out to her, the Marker has dragged or carried her almost twenty five feet away from her car. It wasn’t Danny’s fault though. I’d told him that.