Dark Creations: Hell on Earth (Part 5) (19 page)

The sound of a zipper closing hinted that he was dressed, but she did not want to take any chances.

“Are you dressed yet?” she asked in a feeble voice.

“Yes,” Gabriel answered.

Amber turned, reluctant to face him.  She had seen Terzini naked more times than she cared to count.  But her maker’s nude body had not made her blush.  It had made her cringe.  His body looked weak and pasty and not remotely attractive, yet he still wielded power by virtue of his position. She had also seen countless members without clothes on.  And none of them had garnered any kind of response from her whatsoever.  Yet, seeing Gabriel partially clothed made her entire body blush.  Perhaps it was because he was an idol of hers or a living deity she had heard so much about, and seeing him exposed was too much for her to handle.  Or maybe it was the perfection with which he had been crafted, every detail of him almost lovingly selected by the late Dr. Franklin Terzini to form a masterpiece that rivaled Michelangelo’s statue
David
.  No matter the reason, she disliked the embarrassment she was feeling.

“Put your clothes in here,” she said and walked to the hollowed out seat of her bike.  He placed his clothes in the makeshift storage compartment and backed away from her. 

She slipped her helmet on and straddled the bike, waiting for him to do the same.  When she felt him behind her, she started her bike. 

“Are you ready?” she called to him.

“Ready,” he called back over the buzz of the engine. 

She turned f
rom the shoulder onto the main road and headed toward town.  A mix of equal parts dread and excitement swirled and bubbled inside her, competing, until she saw the sign that read
Welcome to Taft
just a few feet ahead.  Then, both dread and excitement lost, replaced by pure anxiety.  

Amber directed her motorcycle to Kyle’s house and felt her stomach knot nervously all the way.  She had scanned the neighborhood continuously, and was confident neither she nor Gabriel was in any immediate danger when she pulled into his driveway.  She cut the engine and removed her helmet quickly, cautiously scanning her surroundings and listening.  Gabriel froze, too, and she wondered why momentarily before remembering that he had the same abilities she did, maybe even more.  Dr.
Terzini had taken his time creating Gabriel and educating him.  His purpose had differed dramatically from hers and the rest of the members. 

“Do you hear something?” she asked Gabriel.

“No, do you?”

“No, I think were okay,” she answered.

She led him to the front door.  A rush of adrenaline raced through her veins.  She was going to see Kyle again.  His kind words, his admission that he liked her had replayed in her head over and over again.  She could not wait to see him. 

Once the door had been opened, Gabriel looked to her and said, “They’re in the basement, right?”

“Yes,” she answered and he pushed past her and headed down the hallway straight to the door that led to the basement.

“Gabriel, don’t,” she started, but before she could say another word, he was midway down the staircase.  By the time she reached the top landing, she saw Gabriel standing on the last rung.  As he stepped off it, however,
he was tackled to the ground by a dark form rushing him. 

“Gabriel!” she cried out just in time to see him hitting the floor.  She descended the steps two at a time.  “Stop!” she called out to Kyle, but with no light, all she saw was a blob of black rocking jerkily from one side to the next.

She slid her hand along the wall in search of the light switch.  When she finally found it, she lifted it immediately.  With the room bathed in light, she saw that Kyle wrestled Gabriel.

“Kyle stop!” she shouted.

Kyle looked up at her.  His hazel eyes were wild, and confused.  “Who is this?  What is he doing here?” he demanded, panting.

“This is Gabriel.  He has come to help us.”

Gabriel sprang to his feet effortlessly.  His move earned him a look of annoyance from Kyle.

“Gabriel?” Kyle questioned and eyed Gabriel
skeptically.  “Who the hell is
Gabriel
and why is he here?”

“He’s someone who can help,” Amber said calmly despite the turmoil her insides were
undergoing.

Kyle eyed Gabriel doubtfully.  “Why would
he
want
to help?  Is he your boyfriend or something?” he asked with a hint of bitterness in his tone as he stood. 

“No, he’s just someone who wants to help stop what’s happening here.”

“Is he part of what’s happened here?”  Kyle asked and glared at Gabriel before addressing him directly.  “How many families have you killed?”

Gabriel was dusting off his uniform, but froze at what Kyle had insinuated.  “I have nothing to do with what’s happening here.  I have never and would never harm an innocent person,” Gabriel shot back then glowered at Amber.

She opened her mouth to speak, but realized that Gabriel had lost interest in her.  Instead, he looked to the far corner where Kyle’s sisters held each other and sobbed softly.  He quickly approached them.

“What’re your names, girls?” Gabriel squatted and asked them in a soothing voice. 

“Jackie,” one said.

“Hailey,” the other said through sniffles. 

Gabriel reached out his hand and stroked their curly hair.  “You’ll have to help me out with that, okay?  You look so much alike, I’ll never tell you apart.”

“That because we’re identical twins,” one of the girls said.

“And you’re Jackie, right?” Gabriel asked and Amber was certain he knew the girl to whom he had spoken had not been Jackie.

“No, I’m Hailey,” Hailey said and smiled shyly.

“What?  I got it wrong already!” Gabriel said and slapped his hand to his forehead.  “See!  I told you I’d need help!”

Both girls giggled and Amber could see the relief in Kyle’s features.  “So, what, Mr. Mom over there is going to charm our way out of here,” Kyle huffed.  “Yeah, I’m sure that’ll go over well with the Hunters.”

“Just give him a chance,” Amber said and pleaded with her eyes.  “He got your sisters to smile.  That’s something, right?” she asked more than stated.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Kyle hesitated. 

They watched in silence as Gabriel continued to win over Jackie and Hailey for several moments.

“What’s next?  Is he going to pull a dove from his butt or something?” Kyle groaned but did not sound as though his heart truly backed his insult.

“Leave him alone,” Amber said.  “If you knew who he was, you wouldn’t be acting like that.”

Kyle narrowed his eyes at her.  If she did not know any better, she would swear that Kyle was behaving jealously.  Although she did not want him to feel the unpleasantness associated with that emotion, she had to admit it flattered her. 

“I still don’t understand what you were doing here, why you were part of this invasion in the first place,” Kyle asked and effectively ended any thrill she had felt.

“It’s what I was created for, what we were all created for,” she answered guiltily.

“What the hell does that mean?  You’re not making any sense,” Kyle shook his head, frustrated.

Amber felt sorry for him.  Nothing about what had happened to him and his sisters, to any of
Taft’s inhabitants, made sense.  The only person for whom any of it made sense was Lord Terzini, and he was a madman.

“I’m not going to explain it to you now,” she said gently.  “This is not the time, but I will, soon.  I promise.”

She regretted being vague and evasive with him.  He deserved better.  Answering his questions cryptically did little to foster his trust.  And his trust was exactly what she sought to gain.

“Yeah, whatever,” Kyle said sullenly. 

She worried he would never trust her as she looked over at Gabriel.  Gabriel held both Jackie and Hailey’s attention. 

“Don’t be scared,” she heard Gabriel tell the girls, his voice soothing, distracting her from the friction between her and Kyle.  “I’m going to get you out of here and take you somewhere safe,” he said and stood.  “But first, I have to talk to your brother and his friend, okay?”

“Okay,” the girls nodded in unison.

Gabriel was beside Amber and Kyle within seconds and she bristled at what he had told the girls.  They had not discussed an escape plan yet.  She did not know why Gabriel had promised Kyle’s sisters safety when they had not even spoken of how they’d leave the house.

“Why would you tell them you’re going get them out of here when you don’t even have a plan yet?” Amber asked him sternly.  She hated that she felt angry with Gabriel, but she hated the idea of giving false hope to a pair of eight-year-olds even more.

She glanced at Kyle quickly to see if he disapproved of the tone she had used with Gabriel.  As she had suspected, his expression revealed he was pleased by her curtness.

“Are you kidding me?” Gabriel fired back and raised his voice.  “Are you seriously giving me an attitude here, Amber?”

“How about you don’t raise your voice at Amber,” Kyle spat protectively.

“I’ll talk to her any way I please,” Gabriel retorted hotly.

Kyle opened his mouth to say something else that she was certain would not help their circumstances when she interjected.

“I’m trying to keep from giving certain people false hope,” she said in a quieter voice than either of the men had used and nodded toward Hailey and Jackie.  She had to work to keep from smiling, though.  The protectiveness in Kyle’s voice and demeanor filled her with warmth despite the absurdly dangerous situation they were in.

“I’m not here to give false hope to anyone.  And if you want me to leave, I’d be more than happy to go,” Gabriel whispered loudly. 

“Good.  Go,” Kyle said.

Gabriel shot Kyle a look of warning.

“No, don’t go.  I asked you to come because I believe if anyone can help us, you can,” she said and glimpsed Kyle’s irritated expression.

“Then dial down the lectures,” Gabriel said.  “Besides, I do have an idea.”

Amber stifled a sigh of relief for fear of instigating another argument between the men.

“Okay, and what is the idea?” she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“Yeah, this I gotta hear,” Kyle said and rolled his eyes.

She wanted to tell him to cut it out already, that Gabriel was on their side and deserved better than to be heckled.

“Hey Kyle, do me a favor and don’t speak unless you have something of value to add to the conversation, okay?” Gabriel said and did not bother to mask his annoyance with Kyle’s behavior.

Kyle simmered silently.  She wanted to reach out to him and comfort him, though she knew that
currently, all that was wounded was his ego.  Regardless, she’d had enough of their bickering.  They did not have the luxury of time to squander.

“Enough,” she ordered them.  “Both of you.  We’re on the same team here.  Arguing is a waste of time, time we do not have.  Or did you both forget that there are monsters out there searching for someone to attack?  All they need is to catch a scent.”

She watched like a disapproving parent as Kyle and Gabriel exchanged glances that suggested a truce.

“Would the Hunters be drawn to a loud noise or commotion?” Gabriel asked and showed that he had moved on.

“Yes, but only if it were something big,” Amber answered, unsure of where Gabriel was going with his question.

“What if we set off an explosion on the other side of town, away from our exit point, from this house and the town line closest to it?  Would they be drawn to the explosion?”

“Probably,” Amber guessed.  “They’d go anywhere they thought they’d find bodies, dead or alive.”

“Do you have access to any explosives?  Are there any here in town?”

“Yes.  We have an arsenal at a site about three miles from the western edge of town.”

“I need to get to that arsenal, is there anyone guarding it?” Gabriel asked.

“No, it’s my job to inspect it every four hours during my routine sweep of that part of town.”

“Ok
ay.  Good, then that’s the plan.  I’m going,” Gabriel said

“I’ll go with you,” Amber offered and felt Kyle’s eyes boring into her.

“No.  You need to stay here with them,” he said and nodded toward Kyle then his sisters.  “They need you here.  They trust you.”  Gabriel leveled a knowing gaze at her, as if he perceived her confusing feelings for Kyle.

“But,” she tried to protest.

“No.  I’m going alone.  And if I’m not back in a few hours, you need to get them out of here.”

Though the prospect of remaining with Kyle filled her with an inexplicable sense of relief, Amber regretted that she would not be able to help Gabriel.  He was putting himself at risk because of her.  And he had far more to lose than she did.  He had Melissa.  She knew all about him and Melissa.  His love for Melissa had been the reason for his revolt.  She only hoped that he would live to enjoy that love.