Amber Smoke Read online

  He looked at her hand, and then back up at her. “Hello again, Bethany.”

  “I understand why you wouldn’t want to shake my hand.” She smiled coyly at him and adjusted the purse strap slung across her body. “I’m not actually friends with Jason, and I think what you did was mad cool.”

  “I did not frighten you?”

  “Oh, no you did. But it’s not like you did something a million other people wouldn’t have done. It was deserved. He’s a total dick. Is there any way you’d do me a favor? I got this automated text saying that I have to come check in with the Activities Office,” she explained. “It’s a holiday weekend. You’d think they would have better things to do than stalk students about late scooters.”

  “Quickly, tell me, what is this favor.”

  “Oh, sorry. Forgot that you’re on a manhunt. I just need you to hold my scooter while I go inside. I don’t want to leave it out here. Campo are vultures. If they scan it and find out that it’s late, they’ll confiscate it and I don’t have a car. It should only take a minute, two tops. Do you have time?”

  He nodded and grabbed the scooter’s handles.

  “Awesome.” Bethany clapped. “The keys are in there, so if campo comes up, just sit on it and act like it’s yours. They won’t bother you.”

  As soon as her red ponytail was out of sight, Alek removed her water bottle and notebook from the front basket and dropped them on the sidewalk. He threw his leg over the moped and sat on its padded seat. The key was already in the ignition, and he knocked the frilly key chains to the side and read the instructions. Turn key to START. He rotated the key to the sticker labeled “start.” Be sure RED brake levers are compressed before hitting the GREEN START button. Rotate handle to accelerate. Always watch for pedestrians. “Simple enough.” He did as instructed and the moped sputtered to life. Alek gripped the handles and turned them toward his body. The scooter lurched forward into the row of matching machines. Alek put his feet on the ground and walked backward off the sidewalk and into the street. “Let’s try this again.” Slowly, he rotated the handle. The engine’s hum intensified, and the scooter inched forward. He relaxed and cranked on the handle. Urgency pulsed through his core, and he let it guide him away from campus.

  • • •

  Schilling sat hunched over his desk munching on a bagel while studying photos and witness statements.

  “We finally got something.” James handed Schilling a photo and sat on the only corner of the desk not cluttered by paperwork. “They had to blow the image up to twice its normal size, which is why the clarity looks so bad, but we got him.”

  The black Ford looked like a speckled rock in the low-resolution photo. “That’s his car?” Schilling asked, wiping cream cheese from the corners of his mouth.

  “Tech guys pulled it from a LARP video some students were shooting. Got our suspect switching cars in the background.”

  “A LARP video? What in the hell is that?” Schilling scrunched his brow, highlighting the deep creases in his aging face.

  “Live Action Role Play. People get in costume and act like characters from games or books,” James explained. “The students shooting that video had crescent moon tattoos painted on their faces and were sneaking around campus pretending to be vampires.”

  “Strange,” he mumbled. “Were they able to get the plates off this and run a check for the address?”

  “The resolution is too bad to make anything out, but we put an APB out on the car and have uniforms canvassing the area.”

  “They find anything in Eva’s car?”

  James shook his head. “I’m waiting to hear more, but they said it was wiped clean.”

  Schilling mindlessly clicked his pen. “There has to be something connecting the two victims.”

  “Besides attending the same school, we can’t find anything linking them. No classes, friends, or hobbies in common. They’re not even the same body type or ethnicity. Whatever he’s looking for has a meaning only he knows,” James said.

  “Shit.” Schilling rubbed his eyes. “We’re missing something and running out of time. He killed the last victim less than forty-eight hours after abducting her. If we don’t find Eva alive before sunup tomorrow, we’ll find her dead come nightfall.”

  Seventeen

  He hit her hard. The side of Eva’s face pulsed hot with pain. Bright fluorescent light shone in her eyes, making them water. She squinted and tried to lift her hands to clear her vision, but they stayed pinned by her sides. The creature’s shadow hung menacingly on the periphery of Eva’s eyesight.

  “Good. You’re awake.” A crackling growl hummed from his throat as he spoke.

  Eva squirmed against the restraints binding her hands and legs. With each movement, the bands cut into the flesh of her wrists and ankles. Her blood splattered onto the concrete floor in hot, wet drops. The strap across her forehead dug into the skin above her brow and kept her from turning her face away as he approached.

  “I…I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. Just let me go,” she pleaded.

  “I think we both know it’s too late for that.”

  Eva closed her eyes tight. He had ripped off his skin, revealing the face of a monster. She didn’t want to see what he was, and she couldn’t help but start to believe what he said; Bill was gone and something else took his place. Her chest heaved with silent sobs, and her muscles tightened in fearful anticipation.

  “Don’t struggle.” His last word came out as a hiss. Ssstrugle.

  The squeak of worn wheels got louder as he rolled a tray up next to her. He sat and his putrid stench washed over her. “I don’t need to be polite to you anymore. That’s refreshing. Do you want to know my true name?” Metal tools clanked together as he shuffled things around on the tray.

  Eva kept her eyes closed and made no response.

  “Alastor.” A cap unscrewed and liquid gurgled. “Have you heard of me? Did your Yiayiá tell you tales of the Great Avenger?” Scissors snipped through thick paper.

  Alastor. His words triggered a faint memory. Something her grandmother said when she was a child. She flipped through the moments she shared with her Yiayiá, and an image of her younger self became clear.

  “Yiayiá, you have to keep the closet light on. I can’t sleep if it’s off.”

  “Why not? You are big girl now. Nothing in closet hurt you.”

  “What about Alastor? If all the lights are off, he’ll come get me when I’m sleeping and put his mark on me.”

  “Alastor is nasty, evil demon, but he won’t get you. Where you hear that?”

  “I read it in one of your books. It said that he can grow new skin and look like anyone he wants. If you don’t know what he looks like, how do you know he won’t come here?”

  “He locked away and only back when horrible crime come.”

  “But what if he gets out?”

  “No.”

  “I’m still scared, Yiayiá.”

  Yiayiá sat at the edge of the bed and rubbed Eva’s forehead. “A great magic in you. Don’t let anyone steal your power. The power make you unique. Now, you sleep.”

  Eva’s eyes fluttered open. “You were a bogeyman. I thought everything I read and what she said was made up to keep me in line.”

  Alastor chuckled softly. It sounded wet and raspy. “She didn’t. I’m very real.”

  “She said I didn’t have to be afraid. That you were locked away forever.”

  “You have so much to learn. But you won’t be alive to figure it all out.”

  Cold liquid hit her forearm. He smeared it around and wiped it off with a rough paper towel.

  Horrible crime. “You think someone in my family is responsible for a murder? T…That’s not even possible.”

  “Not a murder. Your family has been murdering for centuries.” He placed paper on her forearm and smoothed it out with a heavy hand. “They’ve been trying to rid this realm of the powerful beings who keep it in balance. Banishing us to that stinking hole in the Underworl
d. Calling us evil. We had free rein before the Oracle. Pythia.” A growl bubbled in his throat as he removed the paper. “Hundreds of years have passed, but her blood still stinks heavy and sweet within her descendants. The stench is so potent it rubs off on those around you. The smell is good on your mom, but on you…” He leaned over her and into her line of sight. Eva suppressed a scream as his nostrils flared with a deep snorting inhale. “On you it’s almost pure.” He leaned back, and the stool creaked with his shifted weight. “You have the gift of sight, like the Oracle. You’re just too stupid to use it.”

  A faint clicking rose from the ground followed by the sound of swarming bees.

  “W…What is that? What are you going to do to me?” Her voice sounded small and broken.

  “Leaving my mark.” He touched the buzzing tool to her forearm. It felt like shards of glass scraping her flesh.

  Eva’s chin quivered, and she sucked in air to hold back her tears.

  “I learned tattooing from a member of a Mexican cartel. He killed many innocent people, so I slaughtered his family. But I’m sure if I ever left anyone alive, they would say tattooing is a vast improvement over my previous method.” He patted her forearm with the paper towel. “Using a knife to carve such an intricate design gets messy. And, until they lost enough blood and passed out, the screaming was distracting.”

  Tears rolled from the corner of her eyes and disappeared into her hairline.

  Alastor lifted the tattoo needles from her skin and the buzzing quieted. “Don’t cry now, Eva. Save those tears for me. I just have a little left to go. Then you can cry as much as you want. I promise.” He leaned into her and traced the path of her tears with his tongue. She flinched against the warm stickiness. “I can’t wait to watch you fight for your life.” The stink of his mouth lingered after he pulled away.

  The vibrant humming of the tattoo gun began again. The pressure it placed on her tendons made her fingers curl in toward her wrist. Her forearm felt like it was being gnawed by fire.

  Eva stared at the fluorescent bulb. No one is coming, Eva. They won’t save you in time. Anxiety filled her body and made her heartbeat quicken. You’re going to die down here. The realization set in. In a basement with a monster. Her heart raced faster, and she sucked in shallow gulps of air. Her chest tightened, and she lay there panting and hopeless.

  “That’s what I like to see. Panic. And your timing couldn’t be more perfect. Just finished.” Something heavy clanked against the tray. “Too bad you won’t live to see it.” He sighed heavily. “Have you ever felt so amazing you wanted to trap the feeling and relive it later? I’m having one of those moments. Luckily, I have your mom as a souvenir.”

  He laid his head on her chest over her heart and traced her fresh tattoo. The pain overwhelmed her, and she arched her back to try and pull away from the bald, lumpy head resting under her chin.

  “It’s intoxicating and arousing. Hope Lori is up for a little fun later.”

  Eva’s sob caught in her throat and erupted into a phlegmy cough.

  “You’re right. Probably couldn’t get her to go for it.” He lifted his head and rested his chin on her sternum. “But this is going to be even more fun than screwing your mom.”

  Every syllable he uttered vibrated through his chin and into her chest. She flexed her legs and fought against the restraints.

  “I think we’ve already figured out that’s not going to work. Nothing’s going to work. It didn’t work for the other girl, and it’s not going to work for you. She was rehearsal, though. All the others were rehearsal. You’re the main event.” He traced her windpipe with his thumb and forefinger. “This is going to be so good.”

  He opened his mouth and bit into the flesh of his left hand. He shook his head side to side, tearing skin from his hand. Warm fluid dripped from the incision and soaked through Eva’s shirt. A large flap of skin hung from his mouth, and he spit it off to the side. His sharp teeth tugged at the tips of each of his fingers. Deflated flesh sacks danced like empty socks as he shook his true hand free from its covering. He threw the flesh glove over his shoulder and stretched his newly revealed fingers. His oversized, knobby knuckles popped with use, and his hand looked twice the size it had before.

  “I know. I’m bigger on the inside, under the skin. And now I’ll be able to feel you struggle. The tension of your muscles as you fight to stay alive.” Slimy wet fingers closed around her neck.

  She jerked against the straps holding her limbs and head. “No! Please don’t! I’ll do anything. Just let me go,” she wailed.

  “Good Eva!” he shouted above her cries. “Scream for me!”

  Through her terror, her grandmother’s words echoed loud within in her.

  “A great magic in you. Don’t let anyone steal your power. The power make you unique. Now, you sleep.”

  She closed her eyes and let the words wash over her.

  Don’t let anyone steal your power.

  She fought against her instincts and quieted her screams. Alastor squeezed her neck and Eva opened her eyes. Tears steadily leaked down her face, and she silently wished for her mom.

  “Come on, Eva!” His eyes searched her face. “Fight for your life!”

  She refused to let him turn her last moments into those of desperation and fear. Black spots floated into her vision and air whistled as it fought its way into her lungs. She gave in to the consuming pressure on her throat and readied herself for eternal sleep.

  Don’t let anyone steal your power.

  Alastor snarled and squeezed her neck tighter. A sharp crack fractured the still room, and Eva’s body relaxed.

  Eighteen

  Alek hadn’t stopped clenching the talisman in his hand since he fled the campus. He used it as a beacon, centering his thoughts, focusing his energies, guiding him to Eva. A craving burned beneath his ribs, beckoning him to follow its frenzied lead. He surrendered to its pull and let it guide him into an approaching neighborhood.

  Picturesque landscaping lined the street behind matching mailboxes. Each house looked like a replica of the one before. The otherworldly force inside of him throbbed, and he chased the pulsing lead to a nearby driveway. He leaned the scooter against its kickstand and squinted into the glow of the setting sun.

  The mailbox hung open, so full magazines dotted the dead brown lawn. Remnants of rose bushes lined the walkway, and he followed their thorny, dehydrated sticks to the porch. Every step intensified the sizzling force lying in wait within his lungs. He placed an open palm against the door and his chest shuddered. An amber smoke radiated from his fingertips.

  “Eva.”

  He brought his other hand to the door and shoved violently. It shot backward, splintering against the marble floor. He stepped across the threshold, wood snapped beneath his feet. The pungent odor of rotted food hung thick in the air.

  “Eva!” he shouted, rapidly dashing from room to room.

  He entered the office, and a sharp pain tore through his chest. “Eva!” he roared, ripping empty bookshelves out of the wall. He pulled at the last shelf, but it clung to the wall like skin. Power tightened his muscles as he crushed the wood into shards. The door it concealed swung open, and Alek descended the dark staircase.

  “Come on, Eva! Fight for your life!” a voice growled from up ahead.

  Alek clenched his jaw and barreled the rest of the way down the stairs. Wood exploded around him as he crashed through the door and into the basement.

  “Eva,” he snarled at the sight of her still body.

  The creature looming over her turned toward him, foam bubbling in the corners of his mouth.

  “I’m sorry,” he purred. “You just missed her.” A smile slashed his shiny black face as he slid off of the table.

  “Sacrifice yourself,” Alek commanded.

  “I see you recognize in me, what I recognize in you.” Alastor circled Alek. “We are not of this realm.”

  “Return to Tartarus in peace.”

  Alastor cackled. “But I
haven’t even started carving her body.”

  Alek charged the creature. Running into him felt like hitting a boulder, and Alek grunted as he wrapped his arms around Alastor’s waist. He picked him up and slammed him onto the concrete floor. Rage fueled each punch, and black blood oozed from Alastor’s mouth. It seeped into a widening pool forming on the floor around his head. Alastor clawed at Alek, but the immortal’s speed made it hard to get a firm grip. Alastor brought his leg to his chest and thrust it out, hitting Alek in the ribs and launching him backward. Alek smacked the ground and crashed into a metal stool. He scrambled to his feet and grabbed the stool by its legs. Alastor growled wildly behind him, and Alek spun around. The metal collided with Alastor’s face and he took a few wobbly steps back. Alek closed the distance and swung his arm wildly, cracking Alastor in the head again. Alastor dropped to his knees and Alek seized the opportunity to rush to Eva’s side.

  He ripped away the strap holding her head and lifted her chin. He parted her lips and pressed his open mouth to hers. He exhaled deeply, freeing the power caged within him. The magic tingled in his throat as it rushed from him to her. He cupped her face and felt her cheeks grow hot with every breath he offered. The release of power made his body tremble with exhaustion.

  Alek heard a hissing behind him. He broke the seal and turned in time to catch Alastor’s fist in his face. The force of the punch knocked Alek sideways, and he crashed against the tray of tattoo supplies. A pair of scissors bounced on the ground a few feet from him. He reached for them, but Alastor’s foot connected with his stomach before he made contact. Alek’s ribs crunched and pain spiraled through his core. His breath caught in his throat, and he pushed the hurt from his mind to crawl toward the scissors. He collapsed onto the concrete as Alastor brought his leg back in preparation for another devastating blow. Alek gathered his remaining strength, rolled to his back, and sat up. He clenched the scissors tight in both hands and lifted the shears above his head. He growled with pain as he plunged the metal into the top of Alastor’s thigh. Alastor roared as Alek tore the blades through his muscle and down to the tip of his knee. Alastor’s thigh split like meat. Blood rushed to fill the gap between the muscles. Alek pulled the scissors from Alastor’s leg and scrambled to his feet. He yanked the blades apart and tightened his grip on each new weapon as he circled the injured creature. Alastor’s wails made Alek shudder. The beast crumpled to a heap on the floor. Thick, black blood gushed from the wound, and Alek felt its warm stickiness on his hands.