Chapter Six
Peter was vaguely aware of the scent of something burning, and then he wondered if that was the reason behind the heat he felt in his shoulder and neck, but before he could consider it further, his entire body turned into fire. He tried to scream, but he could barely breathe, let alone speak and he bolted upright, finding himself alone in his bed.
Peter's chest heaved with great gasps and he wrapped his arms around his bare chest in protection from the fleeing nightmare. He fell back to his pillow as he curled up in defense against the burning pain he felt all over his body. He was sweating and in the darkness, he could feel the sweat dripping onto the sheets under him.
Finally, he steadied himself and looked out the window to see a dark sky. The normally visible stars were hidden by clouds. He suddenly wished for morning, mostly because he felt he'd be safer with the sunlight than the darkness. He raised a shaky hand before him. In the meager light, he saw his hand was slick. He blinked and looked more closely. The moisture was dark – dark with blood.
He started to reach for his bedside lamp, then stopped, recalling the recent problems concerning power. Instead, he pulled open a drawer in the nightstand and pulled out a flashlight.
The added light caused him to draw in a ragged breath. Long, thin scratches were etched across his exposed skin, leaving him covered in blood. He threw back the comforter Jody had placed over him and rose from the bed, intending to go into the bathroom for a closer look, but sagged against the dresser when his strength left him.
"This is just a very vivid nightmare. I'm going to wake up any second," he whispered in futile self-comfort.
"Petteeerrrr...lisssstennn orrrrrr die," a voice whispered behind him and the burning strikes across his skin ignited again, making him realize he wasn't dreaming at all. His waking world was narrowing down to a living nightmare.
oOoOoOoOo
Jody ran from the bathroom with her weapon out to see a shaky Peter staggering beside his dresser, latching onto the wooden furniture for support. She went to him. "Peter?"
He glanced at her, appearing to be on the verge of passing out again. "Jody? Help me."
"Come on, partner," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around him and led him back into the bathroom. She closed the seat to the toilet and settled him atop it.
"My God, Peter, what's happened now?" she whispered softly.
The flickering candlelight revealed more detail to Peter's latest injuries, a swarm of bleeding scratches over every bit of exposed skin and the sight rattled her.
She squeezed her fists together and gathered her wits. Peter was her priority. Pushing her emotions aside, she focused on first aid. After splashing water on a washcloth, she rang it out and started pressing it against the wounds bleeding the most heavily. Peter hissed with the new source of pain, making her cringe with guilt.
"Geez, that hurts," he whispered through clenched teeth.
"Sorry," she whispered as she drew the washcloth away, but his grimaces only grew.
Finally, he groaned outright. She placed her fingers over his and he squeezed her hand tightly. "God, Jody, it feels like there's acid inside the cuts."
She pulled a candle closer to his back and actually saw bubbles on the cuts, like the skin had festered in those brief moments. The sight nearly caused her to drop the candle. Peter was shaking so badly that he could barely stay upright and Jody knew she didn't have much time to act. She set the candle on the counter top, kicked the ash-filled trash can out of the way, and turned on the water in the shower, guessing at the settings for a comfortable water temperature.
When she turned around, Peter was bent forward with one hand across his stomach, and the other reaching across to the sink in a desperate attempt to remain upright. She gasped as her gaze was drawn to the countless number of thin scratches across his arms and chest.
He fell forward, nearly tumbling off the toilet, but Jody caught him in time before he hit the floor. "Sorry, partner, but this is going to hurt like hell. Unfortunately, I can't think of an easier way to do this, and you're bleeding too much to wait for another idea, so you can yell at me later when you can breathe again."
She pulled him into the shower, stepping into the stream of water fully clothed with Peter. Wet clothes were the least of her worries. She drew him closer to her as he began to flail his arms in an attempt to escape the new source of pain, then he screamed.
Peter's sudden howl of anguish stunned her for a moment, and he dropped to his knees before she could tighten her hold on him and pull him back up to her. She grabbed a sponge that was in the shower and rubbed it gently across the injured skin, hoping to wash away as much of the unknown irritant as possible before Peter suffered even more damage.
Once she was satisfied that the cuts were clean, she spared one hand to turn off the water. Peter sagged against her when the water stopped and she feared he had passed out, but then he groaned and she knew he was still with her. Huffing with exertion, she moved from the shower and led him back to the closed toilet seat.
Grabbing a towel, she wrapped the soft absorbent material around his shoulders and lifted his chin as she bent down to check on him. "Peter?" she whispered.
He had his eyes still squeezed shut and she pushed him back to lean against the wall, feeling more helpless than she had felt in the last twenty-four hours. She pulled the light colored towel back and cringed as she saw it soaked with his blood. The least the burning substance could have done was cauterize the cuts for all the pain it had caused him.
There was pounding at the front door and she cursed under her breath. "What now? A visit from Beetlejuice?"
She glanced toward the knocking at the door and back to Peter's crouched body, rocking as he dealt with his pain. "Come on, Peter, there's no way in hell I'm leaving you alone again."
He was still slick with water and blood, so she grabbed him by the back of his belt and pulled him up to her. He groaned with pain and a warning. "Jody... no," he whispered.
Briefly, she wondered if he was warning her to stop, or warning her to continue. She had no way of knowing the right answer, so she continued to the front door. They had just entered the living room when something grabbed Peter by the ankle and yanked him away from her.
She fell back without Peter's body to hold and she banged her head on the living room coffee table. Peter cried out, a howling scream that cut to Jody's heart. Darkness was threatening to envelop her, but her worry for Peter kept her semiconscious – just enough to know she was unable to do anything to help him.
A moment later, she heard the front door being kicked in and the next thing she knew, Kermit was leaning over her. She heard someone calling her name and patting her on the cheek a few times. "Jody, Jody, can you hear me?"
"Kermit," she murmured and started to fade again.
Blinking to stay conscious, she caught whispery glimpses of the ex-merc.
"Kermit, watch out," she managed. She took a deep breath, hoping it would help strengthen her, but it didn't. She mumbled, "Something's – something's got Peter. Something... grabbed... him away from me."
The Desert Eagle suddenly loomed above her – the huge thing damned hard to miss, even in her state. She watched helplessly as Kermit swept through the apartment. Her hold on consciousness was growing stronger, but the pounding of her head was enough to threaten to put her out completely.
With all the determination she could muster, she forced herself upright, only to realize she couldn't see Kermit or Peter any longer and the apartment was frighteningly silent.
oOoOoOoOo
Kermit found Peter unconscious just inside his bedroom. The floor was cluttered with miscellaneous objects and books, as if a tornado had blown through, one that only hit Peter's bedroom.
He spied a glowing flashlight lying beside the bed, pointing at his feet. Kermit picked it up, and used the light source to quickly search the area. After he checked the bedroom and bath for hostiles, he hurried back to Peter, stopping short when he got his first good look at his friend. Peter was shirtless and barefooted, lying face down in the tan carpeting. His hair and jeans were soaking wet.
Kermit grimaced as he took note of the countless freely flowing cuts all over Peter's back and arms. The blood dripping from the cuts was pooling in the carpeting beneath him.
"You're not going to get your security deposit back this way, kid," he whispered as he knelt beside Peter.
Peter didn't respond.
"Peter?" Kermit called his name again, but there still was no reaction. Leaning closer, Kermit patted Peter's pale cheek. "Peter? Come on, kid, answer me."
Kermit holstered his gun and set the flashlight on the carpet, then positioned his hands over the least affected areas of Peter's arms in order to turn him over. The heated feel to Peter's skin and the fact that he wasn't reacting to the movement at all only added to Kermit's concern.
Again, he patted Peter on the cheek and called his name. Peter wasn't moving, so Kermit put a hand to Peter's carotid artery to check for life. The pulse was fast and thready but there. After another moment, Kermit could see the slight, rapid rise and fall of Peter's chest. Peter had been through the ringer, but he was still alive.
"Let's keep it that way," Kermit said as he pulled a comforter from the bed and placed it over Peter.
"Is he okay?" a small voice asked from the doorway.
Kermit glanced up to see Jody leaning against the doorjamb. Her gaze was unfocused, but she was standing and more concerned about Peter than herself. He nodded and grabbed a couple pillows from the bed, placing them under Peter's feet to elevate them.
"He's lost a lot of blood. What happened?" Kermit said as he pulled another blanket from the bed and tucked it tightly around Peter's unmoving form.
Jody stammered, fear and disbelief radiating from her blue eyes. "I – I don't know. It was like something from a really bad horror movie."
"Why are both of you wet?" Kermit asked, throwing a blanket around her shoulders and pulled her over to sit on the bed before she collapsed.
"After those... scratches just appeared, Peter starting screaming something like they felt like there was acid in them. I remembered what the paramedics did at the precinct and pulled him into the shower to wash the cuts with water. That was right before you got here."
She rubbed at the back of her head. Kermit lifted her hair to look more closely after seeing blood on her fingertips. Without a word, Kermit grabbed one of Peter's t-shirts from an open drawer, using it to press against the bleeding site.
"And how did you get the knot on the back of your head?" he asked as he left her to go back to Peter's side, gently slapping Peter's cheek in another attempt to rouse him.
Jody swallowed. "You were knocking at the door and I had Peter with me, going to open the door for you when, all of a sudden, Peter was jerked away from me. I fell back and hit my head on something," she paused, staring down at Peter, "Is he going to be all right?"
Kermit shrugged. "Wish I knew, but we better get him back to the hospital."
Without thinking about it, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and started punching numbers, and then snapped it closed in frustration when he realized it wasn't working.
"Dead?" Jody asked.
"Oh yeah," he replied, slipping the phone back into his pocket. "Not to worry, TJ is on his way. We'll get Peter to the hospital one way or another."
Jody put a hand to her forehand and rubbed it. "Wish that made me feel better, but I don't think Peter is going to be safe until that... thing is taken care of."
Kermit stared at her for a moment before he glanced at his watch. The glowing dial showed a stopped secondhand. Even his watch refused to work in the dead zone surrounding Peter Caine. Hopefully, whatever was draining the energy around Peter wouldn't sap his life force with its frightening chicanery.
oOoOoOoOo
Peter heard someone groaning and opened his eyes to see he was the one making the noise. He saw Jody and Kermit perched at his side in the meager light provided by a flashlight.
Seeing the flashlight triggered a cascade of memories, just as his pain flared anew.
"God," he rasped with eyes squeezed tight.
Jody clasped his hand in hers and he drew from her strength. After a moment, he was able to tolerate the pain and he opened his eyes again.
"Still with us?" Kermit asked.
Peter nodded and smiled weakly at Jody. "I told you I didn't know when this roller-coaster ride would end."
"It's okay, I'm buckled in," she whispered back to him.
"You strong enough to sit up?" Kermit asked. "We need to check on that bleeding."
Peter grimaced at the thought of moving, but nodded anyway. He felt himself being raised. Bile rose but Peter swallowed it back and leaned heavily against Kermit's support.
Peter stuttered, fear echoing in his voice, "Wh–what about... the thing that caused this?"
"Don't worry. We haven't seen any more sign of trouble since I got here," Kermit's voice was low and grim as his gaze swept around the room one more time. He glanced back at Peter and smirked. "Maybe it got bored with your grating personality and left on its own accord."
Peter chuckled, and then regretted it. Through clenched teeth, he whispered, "More likely, it's waiting for the next opportunity to strike."
Kermit patted him on the leg gently. "TJ's on his way...with his magic kit of goodies."
"That's good," Peter said as he felt himself hoisted to his feet. "Oh, God, this hurts," he murmured as he struggled to get his footing.
Peter's skin tone seemed to go a shade paler. Kermit knew Peter was going into shock caused by his injuries and blood loss, and he had to keep Peter conscious. Kermit slapped Peter's cheek again and was rewarded with Peter's slowly opening eyes. "Still with us, kid?"
Peter managed a weak smile and nodded.
"Like a bad penny," he whispered. "Kermit, something tells me it's gonna get worse before it gets better."
Peter drew his arms tightly around his chest, but couldn't suppress the low groan that escaped with the movement. "I just wish I knew how much worse and how long it's gonna last."
Kermit caught Jody's troubled gaze. "Come on, Jody, let's move him into the bathroom and start cleaning him up until TJ arrives."
The flowing blood made it hard for Kermit and Jody to get a good grip on him, but they managed and the small room made maneuvering difficult for the threesome, but they didn't stop until Peter was sitting on his makeshift perch.
Cautiously, Kermit pulled away the comforter from Peter's shoulders and frowned. The bedding was soaked with blood and the cuts showed no sign of clotting. Peter watched Kermit's expression closely in the flickering candlelight.
"It's that bad?" he asked breathlessly.
"It's not good," Kermit replied as he looked through the cabinet for a first aid kit.
Jody's sarcasm broke through the tension enveloping all of them. "I don't think Peter has enough bandaids to handle this job, not unless he's got an industrial size kit. On second thought, this is Peter we're talking about. They probably give him a wholesale discount rate at the store."
Kermit silenced Jody's chuckle with a single glance, but it was her incredulous expression that next drew the two men's attention. Again, Peter followed her gaze to the mirror and his mouth dropped open.
Even in his incapacitated state, Peter was able to make out the letters on the mirror, tsol nomed, but this time, the letters were etched into the glass in the same thin lines as the scratches on his body.
Peter stammered,"Th–that wasn't there when Jody and I were here a few minutes ago."
"Nothing is going to surprise me about this whole affair," Kermit said, but his voice reflected his barely suppressed bewilderment.
"Then you have no idea of what you are dealing with. I know what it is and I'm not embarrassed to say that it has me quaking in my boots," TJ's grim words resounded in the small room as he stood in the bathroom doorway.
With that announcement, Peter's body shook more violently.
oOoOoOoOo