6.14.10: I dedicate this story to Clive Barker, and to all of his loyal Nightbreed fans, who I am very proud to say I am one of and will always be.
Please, help support the release of the Director's Cut DVD of Clive Barker's Nightbreed, which will hold over two hours of it's intended entirety, including many more scenes of the Breed and Midian, as well as all scenes cut/edited out by Fox when first aired.
Visit the link in my profile for more information on how you can help bring this amazing movie back for long-time fans, and new generations, to enjoy as Clive Barker originally meant us to.
-Enough of the Rain-
An hour after ditching the car, Eva was still refusing to speak to Dorian. He just couldn't accept the fact that it was his fault the car had run out of gas, because it was him that hadn't filled the tank on their last stop.
He knew to always fill up the tank. It's not like they didn't have the money, although that was also running lower than she was comfortable with. Dorian was just cheap and didn't think things through sometimes. That was the real problem.
Now, they had to walk the rest of the way to their destination, a small town that the map had said was still about twelve miles away.
To top it all off, it was raining again, as it had been off and on for two days. Eva was not looking forward to sleeping in the rain tonight, a fact that did nothing to help her mood against Dorian.
Looking over at him now, she saw that he was clearly as miserable with the idea of the rain as she was. Add to that that she was making him carry both of their bags, plus the small cooler which at this point only contained four and a half sandwiches and two bottles of water.
Served him right to be the pack mule right now. It had also been his duty to fill the cooler, another thing that had escaped his tightened wallet.
His wet hair clung to his forehead, the rain water dripping down into his eyes. He was trying to put on an annoyed expression every time she looked his way, but it only came out as pathetic.
Good old Dorian. They had known each other for over four years now, and they were close. Not as close and she had, at one time, hoped to be. No. He preferred the intimate company of other guys to that of women, although he did dabble in the fairer sex from time to time.
He was more like a brother now then a wanted lover. And she was more like a sister to him, he always said, then his own sister had been before she died.
This bond was probably why, as she watched him trying not to let her see that he noticed her watching, she felt her anger giving way. He'd suffered long enough, she supposed.
"Oh, fine, here." Was the first words Eva had said to him in hours. As she did so, she grabbed her bag from his shoulder and slung it over her own.
Dorian looked over at her with this sudden change in atmosphere, and smiled. "Does that mean I'm forgiven?"
"Something like that," she told him, trying not to smile too much when she went on to remind him, "You're still a cheap-ass, though."
"I know," He pretended to sigh, "Family curse."
"Well, break it," Eva said a bit irritably, never having put much stock into the whole 'family curse' excuse, "If we're gonna stay on the run, we need fuel. And food."
Eva had been "on the run" for nearly seven years. Thinking back on it now, she should have just let those people do what they had wanted with her so-called father.
It had been his fault, after all, that she had died for the first time. Eight years ago, she had been a "message" to him to give them what they wanted. It still hadn't gotten through to him and he only made matters worse for himself.
So, when the mob had come back a second time for Mr. Kopeck, Eva, still blind to her father's corruption and total lack of concern over her untimely death, refused to let him get what he deserved and tried to stop it.
He died that night, anyway. After finally having learned the truth about him, about how he had used her, she'd pulled the trigger herself and let him bleed to death, alone, in the dark, and betrayed. Just like she had.
The mob bosses hadn't liked her stealing their revenge too much. They had been after her since, wanting to take from her hide what they hadn't been allowed to take of her father's. Not to mention the want to discover why they had "failed" to kill her the first time.
That, indeed, was a mystery even to herself. For, even though her heart remained beating and pumping blood, she was surely dead. She hadn't aged a day in almost ten years.
Four more times she had met her demise during those years. Twice more by the mob, once by car wreck, and the last from a brutal stabbing in a run-down bar she shouldn't have even been in.
It was after the last death that she met Dorian. Eva had woken up in the morgue, post-autopsy, to Dorian's horrified face. He had been there that night to strike up a deal for feeding with the morgue's attendant, and instead had gotten the shit scared out of him when Eva suddenly rose up from the table with a scream.
He'd stuck with her ever since, and she was glad to have him by her side. They shared an understanding of what it was like not to be part of the "normal society".
"It's getting dark," Dorian said, breaking through her thoughts. Wiping the water from his face though it did no good, he pointed out, "We should probably stop for the night soon. Hope the rain lets up by morning."
"I can't freaking wait," Eva grumbled. She so did not want to sleep on the wet ground in the rain, but they had no other choice.
Dorian sensed her distress, feeling it himself, and sighed for real this time, "I said I'm sorry."
"You should be," Eva came back quickly, then looked at him and said with a softer tone, "Because, if it comes down to it, I'm using you for a tent tonight."
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There was a reprieve in the rain by the time they had stopped. But, if the last two days' experience of the local weather had taught them anything, it was that it wouldn't be long before another downpour would arrive. She could already see fresher clouds looming in the distance of the now-dark sky.
Eva felt even more miserable now that they were no longer moving. She was drenched head-to-toe, and with the cool night air a chill was setting into her bones that she couldn't get rid of.
There was no promise for a fire. The woods everywhere was too wet to even try. And a fire would have been really nice to have, she thought, watching Dorian attempt to hide their bags under some brush to keep them just a little dryer.
The clothes inside wouldn't be wet, she knew, because they'd gone all out-and rightfully so-and had bought those water resistant ones at a hunting store. But there was no point in changing cloths now, not with the rain still coming sooner or later.
Comfort would just have to wait until they reached the town and found the nearest hotel.
Eva was at least a little pleased with herself to know that she wasn't the only one that was uncomfortable. Dorian looked just as tired and drenched as she did.
What a pair they made; a couple of drowned rats in an unknown forest, waiting for morning and the chance of sunlight.
Finally settling down beside her under the large tree, Dorian scooted close and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her almost into his lap. Eva smiled, and rested her head against his chest, closing her eyes for just a few minutes.
They both must have dozed off, but since it hadn't started raining again yet, it couldn't have been for very long. It was a sound that awoke Eva. A strange rustling sound.
Opening her eyes, she looked around and listened, wondering if it was just her imagination. At first that seemed the likeliest idea when she didn't hear anything more, but then there it was again.
It sounded like something was running through the woods, distant in the beginning but steadily growing louder. Whatever it was, it was coming their way.
Careful not to rouse Dorian unless needed, she slid off of his lap and crouched on the damp ground, keeping a lookout for movement.
As the seconds ticked by and the sounds continued to draw closer, Eva's heart rate quickened, expecting the worse already.
She got herself so worked up with all kinds of images coming to mind that when the buck suddenly burst from the trees, she nearly screamed. The animal didn't even slow down, but ran straight through and disappeared into the next tree line.
Feeling very stupid, Eva was about to laugh at herself when another body broke through the same trees just five seconds after, and this one wasn't a deer.
Shocked back into silence, her eyes were wide as she took in the sight of a man…or what appeared to be a man. His head was misshapen, though, formed into that of a crescent moon. In his hands were two knives, the largest of which had a curved blade.
The man had stopped once out of the trees, his breathing a little heavy from the run. He cursed when he saw no sign of his prey, and moved to keep up the hunt.
That was about when he noticed Eva, not ten feet from him, and he whirled towards her instead.
Bringing up the blades in a defensive stance, he told her in a voice that had a strange echoing quality to it, which only seemed to amplify the threat in the words, "Hold it there."