Caterpillar, a Paranormal Romance With a Touch of Horror (18 page)

My heart lurched with recognition even before my eyes could confirm it. The dark hair and duster were unmistakable. It was Tegan. 

I blinked and he was closer, close enough that I could see his eyes meet mine through the windshield.  The hair on my arms stood at attention.  I watched, scared yet spellbound, as he bowed his head and slowly raised his arms toward me.  First, the squeal of my tires quieted.  Then I came to a complete stop.

I heard the creak of metal, the joints of my vehicle straining under the invisible tug of war.  The quarters in my ashtray chattered, light vibrations wracking the frame as it threatened to come apart. 

My pulse raced.  I looked behind me and saw that the three figures had extended their arms toward one another, as if they were trying to bridge the gap between them.  On and on the struggle went.  Something crackled in the air around me, the electricity literally making the ends of my hair stand away from my head.  

And then it was over.  There was silence.  I looked ahead and Tegan was gone.  I looked behind and the three silhouettes were gone. 

I sat behind the wheel, the engine purring quietly.  I was dumbfounded. 

I yelped when Tegan appeared at my window.

“Are you alright?”

“I think so.  What was- what just happened?”

“They found you.”

Chapter Fifteen

My heart dropped to my feet.  “Who?”

“I’ll explain later.  Right now you just need to get out of here.  Go home.  Lock your doors.  Don’t let anybody in.”  Then he was gone, vanishing as quickly as he’d appeared.

I wanted to sit there for a minute and let my heart settle down, but rather than chancing a repeat encounter, I listened to Tegan, put the shifter in drive and drove straight home.  I wondered all the more what he was hiding from me.  I decided whatever it was; it couldn’t be all bad.  He’d saved me.  From what, or who, I didn’t know, but he’d saved me.  That had to count for something. 

When I pulled up in front of my house, I parked under the street light, promising myself I’d get more outdoor illumination soon.  I made my way to the front door and was unlocking the first lock when I heard a low growl.

Sitting on the front porch rail, watching me with eyes that flashed in the dim light, was a cat. 
The
cat, actually.  I’d have recognized the mottled black and gray coat and white stripe anywhere.  A chill raced down my spine. 

“What are you doing here?”  It began its low growl, its eyes steady on me as I continued unlocking locks.

Keeping one eye on the cat, I opened the door and slipped inside, closing and locking it behind me.  I leaned back against it, taking a deep breath, relishing the smell and comfort of home and what bit of security it might provide me. 

Nervous energy hummed through my veins.  I pushed myself away from the door and laid my keys and purse on the sofa table, wondering what I should do with myself until Tegan arrived.  I eyed the two-day stack of mail I had yet to go through and decided that was as good a way as any to distract myself until I heard from him. 

Flipping through the mail, a manila envelope that had slipped inside the Supersaver Coupon Collection caught my eye.  It was from Aunt Jillian.  I recognized the feminine yet nondescript writing.

Putting the rest of the mail aside, I quickly opened her package.  Inside were two pages, old and yellowed, with a sticky note stuck to the front of the first.  The note said, “The pages you need from the Book of Qaphsiel.”

I peeled off the sticky note.  The upper left corner of both pages had a red block.  Inside the block was a beautiful white calligraphy D.  Both pages were written in old script, making them difficult to read, although the large spaces between each line made the letters easier to discern.  Each page began in mid sentence, obviously having continued from previous pages, pages I didn’t have.    

I read the first page.

…choice, the soul becomes a singular chamber of blackness, unreachable by love and goodness.  They are given over to a reprobate mind that ceases to recognize right from wrong.  They live in a constant, unquenchable state of greed, thirst and carnality, seeking only that which is pleasurable or beneficial to them. 

Those who are cursed become monsters not by choice but through captivity, held by chains that are invisible yet virtually unbreakable.   The capture and subsequent transformation are such an affront to human nature, the soul splits into two beings.  One is inherently good, the other evil; one a source of light, the other darkness. Redemption for the accursed is rare and unlikely, but not impossible. They must resist the ever present call of human blood and the power that lies within it.  Only with the help…

Then I read the second page.

…forms of a daemon, the vampire is the most highly coveted.  Once he learns to control his true nature and take on the form of a human, he is most dangerous.  His existence is not without a price, however, as Satan requires blood to restore and increase power.  Both the blood and the power are extremely addictive and he must ever fight the thirst for them if he is to sustain his light.  If he gives in to his thirst, his two halves will merge and the light will be lost.

The vampire’s true form can be seen when he is weakened.  His human body is impossible to maintain when injured if he does not feed.  His power to compel remains intact, however, making the taking of blood effortless.  Creatures of the light can also use this compulsion to ease the pain of bloodletting, while the dark can increase it if they so choose.  The…

I sat on the couch, visions of Bella Lagosi-like vampires dancing through my head.  Although my mind was awhirl with questions, the things that stood out the most were that vampires were only one of apparently many manifestations of a demon and that some can maintain a sort of “good” side.  I thought of Tegan and what he was hiding from me.  Maybe I didn’t really want to know his secret after all.

An encouraging thought was that it appeared the Book of Qaphsiel could quite possibly contain many of the answers I sought.  The down side was getting my hands on the rest of the book.  Aunt Jillian obviously had it, but where was she?  Why only send me a couple of pages rather than the entire book? 

Setting the pages aside, I took my laptop from the coffee table and opened it.  I googled Qaphsiel, but my search returned very little.  There was a reference to an archangel that guarded the seventh heavenly hall as well as the night time on earth.  There was no mention of a book, though.  Evidently I didn’t have enough pieces to the puzzle to make any real headway. 

I was scanning the web page, about to give up, when I saw a rendering of my amulet.  Called the
Qaphsiel amulet,
the text described how the words on the amulet could be used to complete a spell that would drive away one’s enemies.    

The chirp of my cell phone startled me.  I dug it out of my pocket and saw Scott’s name and number glowing on the screen.  As I raised my finger to hit the ignore button, the reality of my ambivalent feelings for him rose to the surface.  I thought of Tegan and his comments about how I acted with someone for whom I supposedly had serious feelings.  Then I thought of the kiss I’d shared with Tegan and the ever-increasing desire I had to be near him. 

The screen went blank and the ringing stopped as Scott was sent to my voice mail.  I was lost in thought when it began ringing again.  It was Scott again.  It hurt me to think about hurting such a nice guy, but I knew the only way to be fair to him was to end our relationship, let him move on to someone who could love him the way he deserved to be loved, the way I couldn’t love him.  Plus, it wasn’t fair to drag him any further into the disaster my life had become. 

With a knot of dread in my stomach, I answered the phone. 

“Hey, babe.  Want to grab some dinner and a movie Friday night when I get back?”  Scott knew what I loved.  A last-minute pang of guilt and doubt stung my heart, but I knew what I had to do.

“That sounds good.”  And it did.  Granted, it would’ve sounded better had I not known how the night would end up, but it was the kindest thing I could do for Scott.  “Hey, I’m right in the middle of something.  Can we talk tomorrow?”

“Uh, sure,” Scott said, suspicious but obviously unwilling to chance digging around too much; he knew that was a good way to spark my temper.  He was always so considerate.

“Thanks,” I said, glad he wasn’t going to give me the third degree.  “If I don’t talk to you tomorrow, call me as soon as you get in Friday, k?  And travel safe.”

“I will.  Miss you, babe.”

“You, too,” I said, knowing the generic comment would probably tip him off that something was wrong.  Maybe that way he could prepare himself a little.

After I hung up, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, the dull throb of yet another headache beating beneath my skull. 

Like the flash of a camera, an image appeared against the backs of my lids for just an instant.  It showed someone walking toward my house.  I was looking down on them, as if I was high in a tree.  And then it was gone.

I was sitting there contemplating the oddity of the vision when I heard a light knock at the door.  The hairs at my nape prickled with warning, the knock coming so soon after what I’d seen.

Putting my mail aside, I walked to the door and peeked out the peephole.  Tegan was standing on the porch.

I opened the door and we stood staring at each other for several long minutes before I moved to the side, gesturing for him to enter.

He walked past me and took at seat opposite the one I’d just vacated.  His expression was stern as ever.  As I shut the door, I noticed that there was no vehicle behind mine. 

“Where’d you park?”

“I didn’t drive,” he said carefully.

My stomach twisted at the implication.  “Then how did you get here?” 

Chapter Sixteen

Tegan didn’t answer.  He just watched me intently, as he so often did.  The longer he was silent, the more nervous I became about what was going on with him, with me, with my life.  “Are you ready for all the answers, Cat?  Do you really think you can handle much more right now?”

I wanted to shout “yes”, but his second question gave me pause.  What if the difference between knowing what I needed to know to get me through right now and knowing all the details was the difference between frustration and insanity?  I could always get more details, learn more, but once I opened myself up to all of it, I couldn’t unlearn it, forget it, take it back.

“Maybe tonight we should just wade in, test the waters.  Does your offer expire at midnight or something?”

“No.  I’ll tell you anything you want to know, I just think it would be wise to go slowly.”

I looked into the sky blue eyes that haunted my thoughts and my dreams and, again, I felt a strange yet powerful yearning for him—to be near him, to touch him, to be with him in some ancient, mystical way.  I felt no fear or disgust, no danger or distrust.  

Then something bothersome occurred to me.  “Are you doing this to me?  Making me trust you?  Making me feel…anything for you?”

“No, I’m not compelling you in any way right now.”   Although he could easily lie about it and I’d probably never be the wiser, I sensed his sincerity.  And truthfully, I
wanted
to believe it was all me, that there was just nothing to fear.

“Alright then, let’s just talk and we’ll see…where we end up, k?”

“Fair enough,” he said with a shake of his head.  After a bit of silence, in which I was trying to collect and direct my thoughts, Tegan spoke.  “I think these killings are ritual murders being performed by a witch or a group of witches.”