House Of Blood Part 14

"No," he breathed-and heard the lack of conviction in his voice.

She smiled.

And patted his cheek.

Then she climbed onto the bed, got carefully to her feet, and leered down at Eddie.

Jesus, he thought.

Here we go again.

His gaze s.h.i.+fted from the oddly sympathetic set of her features to her shoes. He didn't like the way they deeply indented the mattress. At least they weren't stiletto heels. She s.h.i.+fted a leg and placed the cold sole of one shoe on his chest. There was almost no pressure. She maintained perfect balance and a light touch for an amazing stretch of time.

Then the pressure increased a little.

And a little more.

The heel gouged his flesh and Eddie cried out.

She suddenly applied her full weight to him. His face contorted with agony. She was standing on him now with both feet.

Then she was stepping forward.

Walking on him.

The flat sole of one shoe touched his left cheek and 116.

drove his head sideways, and the heel dug into the soft flesh at the base of his throat.

Eddie saw the note on the floor, its message a condemnation.

THIS IS WHAT YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED.

To his dismay, he found he couldn't immediately answer the question that came to mind: Is it?

Oh my G.o.d ... is it?

The pressure on his face increased again.

117.

Dream was scared. She marveled for a moment at the spectacular irony of the notion, but it was without doubt the absolute truth. Here she was, a person committed to ending her life before the next sunrise, and she was scared. Except that maybe "scared" didn't quite convey the depth of what she was feeling. Scared was how you felt when you were sitting in a darkened movie theater watching a good horror movie. The word implied a degree of detachment from the source of the fear. Maybe the movie would wig you out a little, but it would end soon enough, the lights would come on, and you would soon emerge into the warmth of the sun.

No, this was a sick, creeping sensation of enervating terror. It drained every bit of remaining strength and left her feeling ill. She gripped the Accord's steering wheel harder to still the trembling in her arms. "Guys, I've gotta stop."

118.

Alicia's eyes narrowed with concern. "You okay?"

Dream gave her head an emphatic shake. She twisted the steering wheel and the Accord swerved to the shoulder. She parked the car, opened the door, and leaned over to be sick. Her stomach spasmed, and she retched up a thin stream of acid. There was nothing in her stomach to throw up, but she was helpless to quell the spasms for a time. When they at last subsided, she pulled the door shut and settled back into her seat.

"Jesus, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry"

Alicia was looking at her the way a nurse might regard a seriously ill patient. "Oh, hush." She cupped a hand behind Dream's neck. "It got to you, that's all."

Meaning the image of Shane's slashed body.

Well, it was a feasible explanation. The memory was gruesome enough to trigger nausea. Still, it wasn't the true reason for her sickness, and she was about to say so when Karen started talking.

"Please." There was an uncharacteristic caustic quality in her voice. "I love both of you, but don't offend me with this s.h.i.+t. Neither of you were ever members of the Shane Wallace fan club."

Alicia protested. "The f.u.c.k does that have to do with it? Nada, that's what. Not a G.o.dd.a.m.n thing. We're human beings, girl, and our personal feelings go out the f.u.c.king window when something like that happens to another human being."

Karen huffed. "Whatever. I only bring it up now to make a point. Dream's not upset by what happened back there-" She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "She's upset by what's happening right now."

119.

There was a long moment of silence. The tension was stifling. Dream's only point of comparison to the atmosphere in the car was the first stilted conversation she had with Dan after finding him in the arms of that... man. The short exchange had been the most awkward moment of her life.

But this moment ranked a close second.

Dream sighed. "She's right."

Karen said, "No s.h.i.+t."

Alicia sniffed. "Well, d.a.m.n, I guess I'm just a dumb-a.s.s b.i.t.c.h, *cause I don't know what the h.e.l.l y'all are talkin' about." Her hand came away from Dream's neck. "So maybe one of you should spell it out for my clueless black a.s.s."

Dream looked at Alicia. "How far do you think we've come since we left the interstate?"

Alicia shrugged. "Ten miles? Maybe a little more?"

Dream shook her head. "Try more than twenty."

She let the information sink in for a moment before continuing. "And when was the last time you drove this far off an interstate exit without seeing an Exxon or a Holiday Inn? Even in a spa.r.s.ely populated area there ought to be something. A mom-and-pop motel, a general store where you can buy gas and live bait, something." She paused and noticed the way Alicia's attention was riveted to her now. "But there's been nothing, and I do mean nothing. There haven't been any other cars. There haven't been any road signs, either. No road signs. No billboards. Nothing."

There was another moment of silence. An oppressive silence. They could almost feel the night closing in around them. Alicia's voice was uncharacteristically shrill when 120.

she said, "So what are you saying?" There was some anger in her voice, but there was also something very much like the beginning of real fear. "Because you can't be saying what I think you're saying."

Karen laughed without humor. "You bet your a.s.s she is."

Alicia chortled. "So that was exit 666 back there, huh? We've driven off into another dimension." Another pause; another disdainful chuckle. "Bulls.h.i.+t! That wasn't the Tennessee portal to the Bermuda G.o.dd.a.m.n Triangle! You're both letting your stressed-out imaginations get the better of you."

"n.o.body's getting worked up, Alicia." Dream spoke in measured, calm tones. "All I'm saying is, we're lost in a very rural area. We've got maybe a quarter tank of gas. A little less, actually. I don't know about either of you, but the thought of being stranded out here for the night scares the s.h.i.+t out of me."

Alicia seemed to relax now that one of her friends was sounding sane again. "Look ..." She sighed. "I bet the gas will hold out long enough to get us to help. A quarter tank will get us, what, another forty to fifty miles down the road?" She laughed. "I can't imagine all this nothing going on another fifty G.o.dd.a.m.n miles. Can you?"

Dream didn't want to imagine that. "No." She shook her head and released a shuddering sigh. "Definitely not."

Karen snorted. "Nice cop-out, Dream. Well, little Ms. Diplomacy, you'll have to excuse me, but my own humble opinion is that we're f.u.c.ked."

Alicia rolled her eyes at Dream, a conspiratorial gleam there. Dream didn't acknowledge the expression beyond a subtle shrug. She didn't want to rock the boat, not when 121.

she believed steady and reliable Alicia was the crucial linchpin keeping them afloat. But she secretly sided with her other friend.

Something wasn't right out here.

Something unnatural.

Alicia, however, was a confirmed skeptic. She was unable to keep the snide tone out of her voice when she said, "And your opinion has been duly noted, dear." She winked at Dream. "But I think we should press on now. You up to driving, Dream?"

Dream wasn't at all sure about that-her stomach still did a little flutter every few seconds-but she didn't want to relinquish control of her own car to anybody else. The feel of the wheel beneath her hands was the only thing keeping her tethered to reality.

"Yes." The word was a barely audible hiss.

Alicia squinted at her. "You sure?"

Dream answered by twisting the key in the ignition, putting the car in gear, and pulling away from the shoulder of the road. She put the accelerator to the floor for a moment and quickly achieved a good escape velocity. She eased off the pedal after the Accord screeched around a hairpin turn. Karen, who wasn't buckled in, swayed from one side of the car to the other.

Alicia said, "Jesus Christ, girl!"

Karen groaned. "d.a.m.n, Dream, who'd you bribe at the DMV to get your license?"

Dream felt another surge of embarra.s.sment. "Sorry, guys." There was a plaintive tone in her voice, an unspoken plea that they not be too mad at her. "I'm just a little jumpy, I guess."

122.

Alicia shook her head and rubbed at red-rimmed eyes. "Ain't we all?"

They drove on without speaking for a while. The swooping road traced the winding curve of a mountain. The air was getting thinner, making their ears pop. Dream put on the Accord's brights each time they neared a particularly hazardous loop of road, always cutting off the high beam after just a moment or two for fear of blinding the drivers of cars coming from the opposite direction.

Dream tried not to think about how pointless the precaution was becoming.

They had the dark mountain road to themselves.

Alicia cleared her throat. "Sorry to dredge this subject up yet again, but you guys have to see my point by now."

Her voice sounded cheerier than it had for some time. Something about Alicia's lighthearted tone disturbed Dream, something that hinted of a growing, quiet desperation.

She was careful with her response. "What... do you mean?"

"This." A wave of her hand made it clear she was talking about something outside the car, and her tone indicated what she meant should be obvious. "All this."

Dream frowned. "Um ..."Whatever was so apparent to Alicia remained a mystery to her. "Alicia, I don't get it."

Karen said, "Ditto."

Alicia made a sound of exasperation. "Jesus, are you both blind?" She rolled her eyes. "The road. Look at it. That's asphalt. Those yellow stripes running down the middle, one solid, one broken at regular intervals, those are paint."

123.

And this, Dream thought, is a study in condescension. "No kidding. Your point?"

Another roll of the eyes. "No need to be snide, Dream. I'm only trying to point out the good news all around us."

Karen erupted. "Stop talking in G.o.dd.a.m.n circles!"

Alicia winced. "I'm not-"

"Yes, you are," Karen continued, quieter now. "And not so long ago you were the one wanting things spelled out for you in big block letters. Please, I'm begging you, show us the same courtesy, because we don't know what you're babbling about."

A look of hurt flashed across Alicia's face. "I'm giving you something solid to focus on, something we should all find rea.s.suring." She nodded at the road. "This road was paved by men. A road crew working a government contract. That paint was put down by man-operated machines. Same with the guardrails." She flashed a grin at Dream. "Can you see the state of Tennessee making room in its budget to pave the road to h.e.l.l?" A laugh, vaguely derisive, stuttered out of her mouth. "I think not."

It sounded good. Alicia's argument was a sensible one. But the road kept unfurling before them, a faded gray ribbon walled in on both sides by dense stretches of forest, and the absence of fellow travelers out here in the mountain darkness remained ominous.

Karen said, "Shouldn't we have run into Chad by now?"

Dream gasped. "Oh, s.h.i.+t. You're right."

She'd been so wrapped up in their immediate dilemma she'd forgotten about her suddenly estranged friend, but now awareness of his absence ratcheted up the fear consuming her yet another excruciating notch.

124.

Alicia stiffened beside her, but she didn't say anything. The stark fact of his disappearance seemed to disturb her into silence. Understandable. Despite everything-the betrayals and harsh words exchanged-Dream found herself worried about Chad.

She began to scan the sides of the road more closely.

Looking for a body.

G.o.dd.a.m.n you, she thought.

Where are you, Chad?

He wouldn't have returned to the interstate, not with the prospect of a hotel room and a bed tempting them all in the other direction. He was on foot, so they should have seen him already. Maybe whatever had gotten to Shane had gotten to him. Dream thought of the scrawny boy he'd been when she rescued him from the clutches of those jock a.s.sholes. He wasn't much bigger now. compared to Shane, who'd been big indeed, he was a human toothpick.

The image of Shane's ravaged body came to her again.

She tried not to cry.

She might have been sick again, but a flash of inspiration drove the unpleasant images from her head. She pressed the radio's power b.u.t.ton, turned up the volume, and said, "Karen, you grew up around here. In the area we think we're in, I mean. Can you remember which radio station had the clearest, most powerful signal?"

Karen didn't hesitate. "Rock 106, if it's still around-106.7."

Dream tuned the radio to the frequency, turned the volume up some more, and said, "So right about now Metallica ought to be piercing our eardrums."

"Yeah."

125.