Shaking hands rose with weakening force to clutch at the sides of his face; his darkened gaze turned briefly to regard her before resuming its fascination with the scene below.
"Look at me," she wheezed, her frozen fingers clawing at his skin. She squirmed painfully beneath the weight of his grasp, crying out as a bloodied hand pushed the slippery shard further into her lower abdomen.
He moaned within her suffering, swallowing thickly as a pang of ecstasy overcame him.
Numbness and fatigue threatened to overwhelm her, but she flared her eyes against it. "Look at me," she repeated. A gasp found her as she summoned the strength to push his face back toward hers. Piercing, arctic eyes blazed into her own, wild and chaotic, flaring with purified rage.
"This is not you," her voice wavered and faltered, hitching again as a shock of pain sliced through her body.
Pale eyes flickered and softened like a shivering flame, and she found a sliver of hope within the looming madness.
Silence filled the dampening air and she blinked as the haze around her vision grew thicker. "You have to take me home" she whispered through fluttering eyes, slipping past the realm of conscious light.
She mouthed his name, bereft of sound as she lost the ability to used her throat. Then, her closed her eyes in solemn surrender as she faded into blankness, deaf to the hollow cries of anguish that flooded her aggressor.
4 hours earlier...
Helen Magnus was not crying.
That was what she told herself as she deftly shifted the helicopter controls in preparation for a smooth landing. It was another routine investigation; shady pictures and errant rumors had led her to a region in the southeastern portion of the United States where a network of cave-fed springs littered in the panhandle of Florida. The spring-lands themselves were remarkable, abundant with moss laden oak, palm, and cypress trees and flourishing with life. Peppered along the miles of murky green swamps and wetlands, where the dusky water would break into cold, clean, crystal clear pools-strange and ethereal in their bright blue glow-were underwater caves. Rare and pristine amid the dense, scrubby landscape, each one was itching to be explored.
Despite her admiration and subsequent temptation for the area, Helen's interest lay nestled within stories of a great beast that was reportedly spotted lurking within the caves. Details about its location and appearance were sketchy; local rumors held that it was reptilian in appearance, possessed the body of a snake, and had large, elongated fangs that released a paralytic venom. Further reports mentioned teeth and gills, others the presence of arms and legs, and others more debunked the myth entirely, stating that the creature was simply an over-sized manatee that possessed genetic deformities. Manatees did, of course, populate the area during the winter-the cool yet consistent water temperatures of the springs were vastly preferable to the freezing waters elsewhere-but Helen suspected, as with most reports involving the sighting of abnormals, that the theory of the "deformed manatee" was simply a cover-up to placate local residents, a logical explanation to offer an illogical world.
Comically called "Hugo" or "Huge-o" due to reports of its large size, the creature was in danger of being poached and killed by abnormal hunters and locals alike. A fine prize for any skilled hunter, Hugo was now the primary focus of Helen's attentions-or at least he would have been, if she had not been so distracted by the previous week's events.
She stifled her breath against the soft jolt from the landing skids as they touched ground. A shaky hand rose to ghost across her eyes, and she sniffed as she attempted to clear the salt-filled streaks that stained her cheeks. Only a week ago her Sanctuary had become the hunting grounds for an intensely powerful abnormal; a creature who thrived off of electromagnetic energy and had been living, subdued, in John Druitt's body for many, many years. He had sacrificed himself, in the end; whispering words of love into her ear before plunging into the freezing, life-draining agony of the parasite-abnormal once more. The torment had been immediate,the elemental offering no reprieve from its constant need for chaos and blood. He had reacted violently after that moment, utterly lost in his own anguish, his face twisted and skewed into an expression that made him nearly unrecognizable.
John was the only living connection between her and Ashley; seeing him tormented, and seeing the desperation within his demeanor brought back memories of the Cabal. Ashley's face had paralleled her fathers before she, too, had sacrificed herself for the sake of the Sanctuary and her mother. John would never know her likeness to him, how much his daughter had taken after her father, despite his lack of presence. The memories had haunted her for weeks until she finally threw herself back into her work.
Will had noticed the change, and had made futile gesture of trying to snap her out of it. Work was a necessary distraction, it kept her from delving too deeply into the hollow depths of a mind that was far too weary. A variety of knobs and switches clicked and churned as she powered the machine down, then a hollow laugh left her throat. If only Will had been there to see her now, the kid still failed to believe that she had any skill with controlled flight.
The budding protege was not here, however; no one was. Helen wanted it that way, she had received offers for assistance but no one needed to see her like this; broken down, manic, and far beyond recovery.
"You ?" a voice floated to her from behind the helipad as she exited the side of the aircraft.
"Yes, I am." Helen turned and nodded to regard the thin, pot-bellied man who approached. "Here to investigate report of a large creature that resides in the area."
"'Name's Jim, Jim Harris, Park Ranger, " he extended a dirty hand, which she shook graciously. "I'll be the one takin'; you out to the docks. Look's like it's gonna rain so we'd better hustle. My trucks over there if you wanna hop in," he pointed to an old white ford, "just gotta grab ya' a life jacket. You can put your gear in the back. Hey you want a box of tissues or somethin'? Looks like you've been tearin' up."
Her brown curls shook with her head and she offered a waxy smile, "Just not used to this environment, I've got terrible allergies."
"Yeah," he replied, "it pretty much stays sorta' warm all year 'round so you ain't got time to stop sneezin'. It's a better near the water, though. I'll show you where we last seen ol' Hugo on the map and we'll let ya' get on from there."
"Thank you," she nodded.
The half-hour ride to the boat was shaky and Helen found herself politely entertaining the man, despite her own desires to remain silent. Jim was full of talkative energy and by the end of their ride she knew nearly everything there was to know about the Harris family tree, and about the history of the property around them. Relief finally came when they reached the crystal-clear waters of the cave-springs. Jim showed her to her boat, explained the map, and helped her load her gear.
"Just watch out for yourself Ms. Sungam," he said as he handed her the life jacket, "Ain't too many people out there today and we've seen some pretty nasty accidents as-o'-late. Dunno whether Hugo's causin' 'em or not." They said their farewells, then Helen was off with a promise to return the boat the following morning.
The journey to Hugo's hot-spot was long, but strikingly beautiful. It was a windy day and the cypress trees shivered with their trunks beneath the water and their great heads swayed in the chilly air, burdened with Spanish moss. Beyond the water, vast forests of leafless oak and thick, green pine stretched out on swaths of dampened mud and underbrush and even in the winter the wilderness teemed with insects and chatting birds. Their voices, though shrill, were muted and moist in the cool humidity.
Helen kept the boat's wake low, careful to avoid any errant cypress trunks that lay like ancient tombs within the water. The water, at it's deepest, was verdant and filled with fish, turtles, and plant life; along the majority of it's length it assumed a murky, green color but often it would break along the shore into crystal-blue ovals of purified water. These ovals formed above the openings of spring caves where gallons of fresh water flowed into the river. Caves, dangerous and beautiful. It would be easy for an abnormal to hides Despite the steady wind and promise of rain, the boat seemed to be the only thing within the area that posed any threat to the balance of nature. The stillness fueled her caution; in her particular line of work the more peaceful things seemed, the more dangerous they often were.
Following the map, she arrived above one of the larger caves in the area, set into a small cove of cypress trees, and cast her anchor. There was a diving dock built into the trees and she used it to spread her gear out. Alone and unaccompanied, she donned her wet-suit beneath the cover of the moss. The wind lapped viciously across the sides of the dock and boat and goosebumps appeared where splashes of icy water met the pale expanse of her skin. The trip would be frigid and dangerous but she wanted to feel the numbness of the cold; wanted, as Ashley, to face the threat of darkness and eternity. It was a self-inflicted pain she felt that she deserved, despite her team's assertions to the contrary.
Soft notes of cedar and sandalwood wafted through the dampened chill, familiar and heady. "A little cold to be taking a swim, don't you think, Helen?" The low, commanding voice washed over her like a cold rain; she recognized it's owner immediately.
"John, what in God's name are you doing here?" She spoke, reeling around to face the last individual she expected to see in the middle of the Florida panhandle.
"I'm glad to see that you are so concerned." his smile waxed sardonic, the lines never quite reaching his eyes.
The quip went unnoticed, her thoughts far too focused on the possibility of being harmed by him, despite his unassuming stance. Her hand grazed her side, the familiar weight of a specialized, water-ready, stun-gun offering some relief. She grasped the handle tightly, releasing the safety as she pointed the weapon toward him.
"Relax," he raised his hands and gave a small bow, noting her discomfort "I have control over the creature, for the moment. I would not be here if that were not the case."
Helen hesitated. His voice always sounded a little too enticing, a little too calm, as if he were always trying to lure her into the dark. "I've heard you say such things in the past." An eye glanced over him suspiciously, though she could find no trace of deception. John had, in recent times, demonstrated an uncanny level of control over his handicap. He tended to shy away from her and largely sought to shield her from his rage, but he was still unpredictable, even to himself. It was that chaos that had always been their undoing.
"How are you feeling?" Her face softened, though she kept the gun trained.
Fire grazed his eyes. "Best not to ask that question," he spoke through gritted teeth.
She nodded impassively, "Why have you come here, then? How did you know where I was?" Then, as a second thought. "And for Christ's sake how long were you standing there before you let me know?"
"I wanted advice," he spoke honestly as his hands gestured to the air. "As to how I knew, well, that would be telling. Suffice to say that you are not difficult to track down, for those who know how to look." He paused and his pale eyes wandered to take in the scenery, "I didn't watch you dress, if that's what you're asking. My word, as a gentleman."
When she failed to respond, he swallowed, thick and ancient, then turned to her again, "I will admit that this is a beautiful spot; it is a shame I never took you here."
Memories flashed within her mind, of times when things had been less troubled between them; moments of travel and joy. Her gun lowered. "Yeah," she said, slightly breaking character as she took a step toward him. Her eyes left their rigid stance to regard the teal-tinted water and deep, mossy rocks around them, "it is."