Chapter 5: While the Cat's Away
The sky was gray and overcast, as the Sensoth tilled his garden, trying to get the last plants in the ground before the rain started. Nightfall was fast approaching and the Sensoth wasn't going to get caught outside after dark. Bizarre things were happening near his little farmhouse. Last evening, movement in the woods had caught his attention. As he'd moved closer to investigate, an eerie scream pierced the twilight, and something very large walked by, just inside the trees. The Sensoth couldn't tell exactly how big the thing was, but it was at least seven or eight feet tall, and it frightened him out of his wits. Dropping his hoe, the Sensoth had run into his house and prayed that he'd live through the night.
Stahma and Kenya lounged in the bed, sipping tea and listening to music. They weren't in a rush. Datak wouldn't return home until Friday evening. Stahma enjoyed her time with Kenya. The human woman knew just how to pleasure a Castithan. Stahma always thought that human sexuality was so complex, but making love with Kenya proved very easy.
Kenya ran her fingers through the pale goddesses' silky hair. "Mm, this is so nice. I'm glad Datak is gone. I wish he would stay away."
Stahma nodded in agreement. "Unfortunately, he'll be back, but until then we're free to do as we please."
"I'm surprised that you're not more upset over Datak's affair with Nolan. They spent the entire night together. Datak has never spent the night here before, only an hour or two at the most."
"My husband feels something for the Lawkeeper. I don't think it's just sex."
"Doesn't that make you angry?" Kenya asked. "I'd be furious."
Stahma smiled serenely. "I am a Castithan woman and we're not allowed to show anger toward our husbands."
"I don't know how you do it, Stahma. Datak is so mean sometimes."
"Datak has a temper, but he's a good family provider. He's strong and brazen. That is why I married him. He has a certain arrogance about him, that of a man who will someday do important things."
Kenya laughed. "I guess he will then, if he wins this election. Mayor Tarr, that sounds so strange."
Stahma smiled, leaning in for a soft kiss. "I think we've discussed Datak enough. This is our time and I'd like to enjoy it."
Kenya removed the teacup from Stahma's hand and set it on the nightstand. I'm all for that," Kenya replied, returning Stahma's kiss.
As the kiss deepened, Stahma slid Kenya's satin robe of her shoulder. She caressed the flushed skin gently, cupping one firm breast in her palm.
Kenya moaned as their bodies rocked together. Thoughts of Nolan briefly flashed through her mind, but dissolved just as quickly, when the Castithan beauty slipped her fingers inside Kenya's warm, moist heat.
When Stahma moved lower for a taste, Kenya was wet from desire. Her tongue did an amazing little dance around Kenya's G-Spot, without ever touching it. This woman knew the true meaning of the word torture.
"Gods, Stahma," Kenya cried.
Stahma raised her head for a second, smirking at her frustrated paramour. "In due time, Kenya, all things come… in due time."
Kenya giggled. She knew it wasn't dignified to giggle during sex, but she couldn't help it. Stahma was driving her mad. 'Payback would be a bitch', Kenya thought.
Stahma finally took pity on the poor girl, driving her tongue in deep and flicking Kenya's clitoris with short, precise jabs.
Kenya arched her back, crying out as the intense orgasm ripped through her. However, she recovered quickly and rolled her lover over. Kenya smiled at Stahma, as she reached into the bedside table drawer and pulled out a large, life-like dildo. Waving it threateningly in front of the Castithan woman's face, Kenya grinned evilly.
Stahma laughed. "Is that for me?"
"It's all for you, love, it's all for you," Kenya replied as she sat up and spread Stahma's legs wide.
Irisa searched Defiance, but she couldn't find Nolan anywhere. He wasn't at the office and the Liberata, behind the bar at the NeedWant, said he'd left an hour ago. She walked the streets, looking for Nolan's Charger, but there was no sign of it either.
Irisa finally gave up. She couldn't spend the day chasing down her wayward father. She decided to go back to the NeedWant and have a good look around. She hoped to gain some insight into the murders. If she thought long enough, maybe she could figure out when the grisly killings would take place.
The bartender eyed her suspiciously, as she stood in the middle of the room, turning in circles, and jotting down notes on a piece of scratch paper. Irisa looked at the front door, the windows, and the ceiling, making a note of the sun's placement in each area.
Irisa thought it was somewhere around mid-morning in her vision, but she wasn't sure. She stood in the same spot where Datak was standing in her vision from the previous night and waited for the beam of sunlight to hit her. It was eleven o'clock when the light fell across the floor and lit up the spot she was standing on. Irisa moved quickly back to the place where the bodies of the dead women appeared before her, as she looked from one to the other, the light flickered over their lifeless forms and landed squarely on Datak.
Now Irisa knew the precise time of the murders and it didn't really matter when they happened. She'd just visit the NeedWant, at the same time every day, until Datak showed up. Her electrically charged senses, told her that the event was rapidly approaching. The coppery smell of blood filled her nostrils and permeated the air inside the NeedWant. Irisa felt the bile rising in her throat as she headed back to the street to resume the hunt for Nolan.
"Nolan," Tommy shouted.
The Lawkeeper looked up in time to see his deputy, driving fast, head out the window of the rover, and shouting at him.
"What's wrong, Tommy? "Nolan asked as Tommy brought the Charger to a screeching halt and jumped out of the vehicle.
"Ah, nothing, it's just that Irisa is looking for you. She's been over the entire town a hundred times. Now she's just pissed off because she couldn't find you."
"Do you know what she wants?"
"She had another vision, Nolan. She's stressing out over it and I can't say that I blame her."
"Tell me, Tommy."
"Sorry, Nolan, I can't explain it the way Irisa can. You'll have to talk to her."
"Is it bad?"
"Um, yeah, Nolan, it's pretty bad."
"Fuck," Nolan groaned. "I can't leave now, Tommy. I'm not done yet, but since you're here, help me look around."
Tommy scanned the ground dubiously. "Why are you out here, Nolan? What's so interesting about the Boneyard?"
There was a Sensoth waiting in my office this morning. He said that something odd was going on out here. He ran across a few unusual tracks and swears that he saw a huge shadow moving through the trees."
"What did he think it was?"
"You're not going to believe this, Tommy, but he said it was a Hellion. He was pretty adamant too, said he could tell by the high-pitched scream the thing was making."
"That's not possible, Nolan. Only a few recorded reports of Hellions exist, and supposedly, those creatures died off during the war."
"Yup, that's exactly what I told the Sensoth, but he just shook his head at me and left the office in a snit."
"I don't believe it. I'd have to see the thing with my own eyes. As far as I know, nobody's seen a live Hellion in years."
"I agree with you, but I did find one strange-looking track. I just can't say if it's from a Hellion. A damaged rover could've made the same type of mark. Come over here and take a look at it, Tommy."
"Okay, Nolan. Is this where the Sensoth saw the creäture?"
"Nope, it was a few miles west of here, near his farm. I already looked there and I couldn't find a damn thing. This lone track is the only evidence I've got."
Tommy followed Nolan to a spot near the trees. He squatted down and examined the track closely. He sniffed the ground and checked for excretions, but he didn't find anything. The imprint didn't look fresh. It was at least a week old or maybe older.
"Nolan, I'm with you, I think this is a rover track. It makes a lot more sense than a Hellion."
"All right, let's head back to town. I'll go see Rafe tomorrow. Hopefully, he or some of his men may have seen a strange rover in the area."
"Great, but don't forget to find Irisa as soon as we get back, and please, don't make her mad. She's hell when she's mad."
"I'll try not to, Tommy, but it doesn't take much to make my little girl mad lately. She still hasn't gotten over Sukar. It's not like I did it on purpose. How was I supposed to know that he was saving Defiance? Amanda hired me to protect the town and I don't get psychic visions."
"Nolan, can I ask you something?"
"What, Tommy?"
"Do you believe in Irisa's visions?"
Nolan sighed. He thought Irisa's visions were nothing more than flashbacks from her troubled childhood until the episode with Rynn. She'd found Rynn with Sukar's guidance, and then she predicted Sukar's death. It was creepy and it freaked him out, but he believed in them now, even though he knew Irisa wasn't infallible. His daughter couldn't see everything that might happen in the future. Given enough time and advanced warning, Nolan thought he could change the outcome of a vision.
"Yeah, Tommy, I guess I do, but she didn't see Sukar rising from the dead."
"That's probably because of the Nanobots."
"Are you thinking they blocked her somehow?"
"Uh huh, that's what I think, but you might want to ask Doc Yewll about it."
"No, she doesn't believe in visions or Irathient gods to begin with, and personally, I don't trust the doc."
"She might just be protecting her ass. Everybody did bad things during the war."
"I know, Tommy, but jeez, I'd just like one nice, calm day."
"Ha, me too," Tommy agreed wholeheartedly. "Let's get the hell out of here, Nolan."
"Yup, I'll meet you back at the office. If you see Irisa first, tell her where I'm going."
"Sure thing, Nolan," Tommy replied as he jumped back in his rover and sped off toward town.
As Nolan crawled into his Charger, he thought about his daughter's visions. They scared him. Hell, they terrified him. He'd rather face a Volge horde anytime than deal with the supernatural.
Nolan was sitting behind his desk when Irisa walked into the office. She had a pained look about her and Nolan was suddenly very concerned.
"Hey, sweetheart," Nolan started, getting up and coming around the desk to hold Irisa in his arms. Irisa surprised him by allowing it, but she did, so Nolan kept right on holding her. "Tommy told me about your vision, but he didn't explain. What happened?"
Irisa finally pulled away and turned her back on him. She didn't want to see the look of disbelief on her father's face, or the doubt in his eyes, when she told him about her vision.
"Please, Irisa," Nolan prodded.
"You probably won't believe me."
"I'll believe you. I don't doubt your visions anymore."
"Okay," Irisa said, turning around to look Nolan in the eye. She needed to see for herself if he accepted what she was about to tell him. "Datak is going to kill his wife and Kenya."
In that moment, it was more shock than disbelief that crossed Nolan's face, and that was something Irisa could understand.
"Are you sure, honey?"
"I'm positive, Nolan. He's going to cut their throats at the NeedWant. I don't know why, but in my vision he was out of his mind with rage."
Nolan suddenly found it hard to breath. He just couldn't imagine Datak doing something like that. What possible reason would he have for killing Stahma and Kenya? Nolan shook his head, as if to clear away cobwebs.
"You okay, Nolan?" Irisa asked with concern.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, but do you know when this is going to happen?"
"No," Irisa sighed, "but I do know what time of day. It's going to happen around eleven in the morning."
"How do you know that?"
"I went back to the NeedWant today after I'd given up looking you. I watched the sunlight and calculated the time to the exact moment in my vision."
"That was very resourceful of you, Irisa."
"Thanks, but unfortunately, I couldn't figure out what day it would happen, so I just thought I'd go to the bar every day until Datak showed up."
Nolan rubbed his eyes. He was so tired from his recent sexual activities that he just couldn't think straight. It finally dawned on him that Datak was gone for a couple of days and wouldn't return until late Friday night.
"Ah, I think we have some time, Irisa. Datak went to a meeting and he'll be gone until Friday evening. In the meantime, I'll check with Kenya to see if there's been any trouble recently. I just can't think that Datak would do something like that for no reason. I know he's hotheaded, but I don't think he's psychotic. Maybe I should try to talk to Mrs. Tarr as well."
"You can try, but Datak's wife is very close-mouthed. I'm not sure you'll get very far with her. I think you'll have better luck with Kenya."
"Yeah, me too… maybe," Nolan mused aloud. "I'm not sure Kenya is speaking to me though. I rather snubbed her at the bar last night."
Irisa shook her head with disapproval. "Nolan, maybe you should reconsider this thing with Datak. I'm not sure it's a healthy relationship for you."
"Ah, you know then?"
Irisa couldn't help smirking. "Yup, I saw it in another vision."
"How did that one turn out?"
"Are you sure you want to know?"
Nolan hesitated, but figured that forewarned meant forearmed, and he needed all the help he could get now.
"Yes, Irisa, please tell me."
Irisa took a deep breath and blurted out the details of her vision quickly. "You and Datak end up getting married. From the look of it, it was a shotgun wedding, forced on the two of you by some obscure Castithan custom. See you later, Nolan," Irisa said, as she fled from the jailhouse, just as fast as she could.
"Hey, wait, you're kidding, right?" Nolan shouted after, but she was already out of sight.
"Ha, ha, ha, " Nolan laughed to himself. "What a jokester." Unfortunately, he didn't remember Irisa having much of a sense of humor and it was very unlikely that she just suddenly developed one.