Chapter 4 – gone sideways
Five minutes later I was alone at the top of the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. The metal creaked and groaned like a tired old man. I was nearly a thousand feet up, under open sky, right next to a flashing red airway beacon.
The cars on the bridge and the lights of the city below spread out to the horizon. Bright lights, moving colors. The sky was a mix of deep orange and bluish purple as the sun slowly set.
The duffel full of cash sat at my feet. I reached down and pulled out my bottle of Jack. I leaned against the railing, uncapped the bottle and took a long first swallow.
Hello, beautiful. Welcome to Cali.
My skin prickled at the memory of warm breath against my skin.
"We'll let you be the savage you were always meant to be."
"I wish I could stay to see you break, but I can't. We're hunting the other one now."
The other one. Cain. They were hunting Cain too.
So maybe his vow to Colette to give up his old ways wasn't the only reason he hid out. That made sense. If the brides got both of us they'd have a matched set, the only two Knights of Hell with the Mark of Cain.
Fuck 'em. I wanted to kill one of them right then. That wasn't the Mark. That was me.
I took another long swallow of Jack, raised both arms out to my sides with the bottle fisted in my right hand.
"Here I am, skanks!" I yelled out. "Come and get me!"
Nothing happened.
The first vision they slipped inside my head felt good. The feel of warm blood against my skin. The weight of the First Blade in my hand. The sisters licked me, bit me all over. Their bodies pressed against mine.
"Good boy."
Yeah, I'm twisted. I'd be lying if I said a part of me didn't like that.
I took another long swallow of Jack. Didn't do a damned thing for me. Tasted like apple juice. I could drink like a fish and never get drunk.
I really wanted to get drunk now.
All around me people were going about their lives, they were living and dying, and all I could think of was that damn collar, the way it felt around my neck Those snaky bitches wanted to bring me to heel. The collar was a gift, they said. They weren't just any fugly bitches, they were Lucifer's brides. My luck couldn't run any worse than this.
Options? Two came to mind. I could go crawling back to Crowley, ask for sanctuary in Hell. Yeah, right. He might let me in, but stealing the bank from his safe house burned that bridge. Nuked it probably. Even if it didn't I had no doubt that the sisters could stroll right in and take me no matter what corner of Hell I was in. Option one ends with me collared, even more of Lucifer's hound than I already am.
Option two sucked big time. I could go back to Sam and let him 'cure' me. A little Latin, a lot of blessed blood. That dumbass cure of his might turn me human again, but I'd still have the Mark.
But I don't wanna be cured. I'm not broken. I don't need to be fixed. If I wanted that I wouldn't have bailed in the first place.
If the sisters could track me because of the Mark, I was still screwed, even if I were turned human. They'd probably gank me to get me black eyed again. I'd be back right where I started. Do not pass go, put on the collar, shut the hell up and be a good little doggie.
And what the hell was all that crap about my soul not twisting all the way? I didn't buy that for a second. I felt great. Better than I ever did before. I didn't give a damn about anything or anyone except myself. I meant to keep it that way.
Yeah, I could tell myself that bullshit. Thing was, not ten minutes before I rolled into California I saved a little girl named Anna Wallace in Gary, Indiana.
I could have walked away.
I didn't.
Some Knight of Hell I was. A real demon wouldn't have given a damn about her. A real demon would have pulled up a chair and watched as her dad and that fat fuck raped her. Either that or joined in.
That wasn't an option either.
I drank half the bottle in one gulp, then sat back and watched the planes overhead in the darkening sky. They looked like bright white stars. I heard the roar of the engines, saw blinking red lights. It was peaceful up there on the bridge.
And I knew I couldn't stay there.
I capped the bottle and dumped it back in the duffel. Be a shame to waste good booze. I had enough cash to last for months, and when that ran out I could always get more.
I shouldered the duffel and took one last look around. My stomach growled. Damn. I couldn't remember the last time I ate. Or what I ate, for that matter. Time to get some food and a decent room for the night.
I'd never been to San Francisco, but I figured I could make my way around. I glanced at the lights on the other side of the bay. Looked like diamonds somebody spread out on a black blanket. That was as good a place to start as any.
Well, that was the plan, anyway.
I didn't reach out with my mojo.
Something reached out and grabbed me instead.
The space around me became thick and heavy. My body felt weird. Weak. I fell back against the railing. My muscles locked up tight.
Whenever I 'port out I always have total control. It's just like driving a car.
Not this time.
Whatever this was pulled me away. I couldn't stop it. Everything went pitch black around me.
Long dark shadows in the trees and grass. Full moon overhead. I was in a forest somewhere. Didn't know where. My demon GPS was busted this time, but not all my mojo was broken.
I tightened my hand on the strap of the duffel. At the same time I reached into my back waistband with my right and pulled out the First Blade.
We weren't alone.
The dude wearing all black was right behind me. He stood in deep shadow. Shoulder length grey hair. Bites and scratches on his face and hands. His clothes were torn and ripped up.
I turned and made my move.
He grunted as I put my shoulder into his chest and slammed him backwards into the trunk of the nearest tree.
I put the Blade underneath his throat. His scent was familiar but I smelled the sisters on him. If I moved the Blade backward I could take his damn head off. It took everything I had inside me not to do that.
I looked him in the eyes and showed my teeth. "Cain. So what's up?"
Cain slowly raised both arms out to his sides. His hands were empty. No weapons.
He stared at my face and smiled. "The brides were right. The soul of the Righteous Man resisted the Mark of Cain. It's a Mexican standoff, as they say."
"Am I gonna have to make you regret bringing me here, Cain?" I wanted to gut him with the First Blade so bad my fingers ached.
"I didn't. The Mark did. She called out to you."
This was pretty damned I glanced down at his right arm. I could hear his Mark singing. "Like calls to like. Is that what this is?"
Cain gave me another sideways glance like he was measuring me. "Well, boy? Are you just glad to see me or do you have something else in mind?"
I tried not to breathe, but that didn't work. I tasted the stench of those hellbitches on my tongue and the roof of my mouth, sulfur and what tasted like peppermint all mixed together. "Dude, in case you haven't noticed, you reek."
"Couldn't be helped." Cain shrugged. "They swarmed me."
I flashed back to the melee in the Black Spur parking lot, how the air all around me filled with snakes, fangs and poison. Yeah, those bitches were really good at that. "Kill any?"
He was so damn calm he was frosty. "A hundred or so. For every one I killed ten took her place. I felt it best to take my leave then."
Nothing about Cain changed. But everything did. I felt it. The hair at the back of my neck stood up, stiff and painful. I should have kept my mouth shut and played along. I didn't.
I heard hissing. Far away, but getting closer.
"Huh. Then if you were so busy killing those bitches when did they have the time to tell you about me?"
Cain moved so fast he was a blur. If I hadn't ducked and jerked backwards he would've taken my head off. The edge of the machete in his right hand flashed silver in the moonlight. That was when I realized he had the damn thing up his sleeve all along.
He grinned at me. "I'm supposed to take you back in one piece, Dean. One piece, or two. The brides won't mind. After all, you might lose your head, but the Mark won't let you die."
Sonofabitch.
TBC this week
