Fall of Darkness (The Chronicles of Darkness) (3 page)

When she and her best friend, Lindsey,
turned twenty five, they’d realized they’d already lived a quarter, possibly
even a third of their lives. Neither woman felt like she’d really lived at all.
So, they’d each made a list of two hundred and fifty things they wanted to accomplish
in the next twenty five years. From fun and irresponsible number seventy two,
‘go skinny dipping in Lake Michigan,’ to challenging number fourteen, qualify
for and run the Boston marathon. ‘Complete a health service mission’ was number
three on Kate’s list.

“No, still not dating anyone,” Kate
said, shifting gears as though answering an unspoken question. “Unless, of
course, you count hanging out with Guy,” she added dryly. She seriously doubted
quality time spent with her gay ex-boyfriend qualified as ‘dating,’ but that was
as close as she was going to get. Who had time for that anyway? Definitely not
her. More humiliation and heartbreak? Uh-uh, no thank you.

“I… um, I’m still having those dreams…
the one with the monster and… that man.” She waited in silence, hoping for an
answer she knew would never come. If only she could talk to them for real, just
once. Nothing
.
She sighed. Moving on.

“Lindsey and I are renting this great
new apartment in town, pretty close to the hospital. It’s a little pricey, but
has the most amazing view of the lake…”

She continued her one-sided conversation
with their headstone for a few more minutes, then bid her birth parents
farewell.

Kate stood slowly to leave, stretching
her achy muscles and joints, stiff from kneeling too long. Hitching her purse
onto her shoulder, she glanced around to make sure she’d left nothing behind.
She could be a little forgetful at times. Lindsey called it flighty, but she
preferred introspective or distracted.

Kate turned to leave and froze, chills
prickling down her spine. The weight of an intense gaze seemed to bore a hole
in the back of her head. She scanned the cemetery to find not a soul in sight.

The expensive black sports car parked
across the street was the only sign of life around. Kate squinted at the
vehicle, checking for occupants. The dark tinted windows could hide any number
of lurking monsters, for they were impossible to penetrate.

Headlines such as ‘Woman Found Dead in
Cemetery’ and ‘Nurse Vanishes Without a Trace’ flashed through her mind. She
sucked in a deep breath.

“Chill out, Kate,” she scolded herself.
“You’ve been watching too many scary movies.”

As though obeying orders, her mind steadied,
the reason for her jumpiness slipping away. She trekked back to her Mini,
confused by her edgy nerves and thrumming pulse.

 Her hands trembled as she dug through
her purse, searching for her keys. It would be a little too easy if she could
actually find the stupid things. She shook the bag in aggravation. Lip gloss,
receipts, alcohol wipes… When was the last time she’d cleaned this thing?

She caught a familiar piece of jagged
metal and dragged the ring of keys out of the disaster she called a handbag. With
the frantic push of a button, she unlocked her car. Leaping in, she slammed the
door shut and hit the power locks.

Phew,
safe! Of course she was safe. What did she think was going
to happen with no one around? Could she be any more paranoid? Maybe.

Kate sat for a few seconds, slowing her
breathing. Seriously paranoid. Next she’d be sporting a tin foil hat and
swearing the aliens were about to stage an invasion. Shaking her head in self
disgust, she jammed the key in the ignition and started the car. Kate eased the
car out of the parking lot. Cranking up the radio, she headed home.

Twenty minutes later, Kate punched in her
pass code and descended into the underground parking lot of the apartment
building where she and Lindsey leased a tiny two bedroom unit. She weaved her
way through the lanes of reserved parking, winding deeper and deeper into the
garage to the guest and overflow parking.

Water’s Edge boasted a fifty story
building in the Lakeshore East area of the city, complete with deluxe
accommodations and a superfluous list of amenities. Situated at the point in
the city where the Chicago River met Lake Michigan, the luxurious complex
offered breathtaking views of the water, Lakeshore East Park, and the city.

What they didn’t offer was great
parking. With an envious sigh, she passed Lindsey’s shiny red Lexus tucked into
the reserved parking space right next to their elevator. It was part of the
trade off. Lindsey staked her claim on the reserved parking spot and Kate got
the bigger room. At the time, Kate thought she was getting the better end of
the deal, but the parking situation at their building sometimes brought on more
than a twinge of regret. Her tiny car could get awfully comfortable in their
reserved spot right about now.

Kate slid into a stall about as far from
the entrance as she could get. Oh well. She climbed out of her car, and hoofed
it toward the elevator. Before she knew it, she was rising in the glass box
overlooking the park.

This was her favorite time of year. The
leaves were transitioning to rich shades of red, orange, yellow and brown,
painting a masterpiece with their color and contrast. The views alone made the
apartment well worth the extra money.

Reaching her door, she embarked on the
never ending search for her keys. She patted her pockets and sighed as she rummaged
through her bottomless purse. After a few minutes of fruitless digging, she knelt
on the welcome rug, turned her purse upside down, and shook the contents onto
the ground. Gum, mascara, hand sanitizer…

A-ha
,
she knew they were in there somewhere.
Snatching the keys out of the pile of purse rubble, she stuffed the jumbled
items back into her bag. Unlocking and opening the door, she stepped into the
welcoming warmth of their apartment.    

The common areas of their place always
looked like a page from a Pottery Barn catalogue. All Lindsey’s doing,
definitely not Kate’s. She tried, but she counted herself lucky if her clothes
and shoes matched, let alone a whole decorating scheme.

She found Lindsey sprawled out on her
stomach on the floor of their living room, casually flipping through a fashion
magazine, her pale blonde bob bouncing along to the music blaring from her
iPod.

Lindsey was lovely in a classic American
beauty kind of way. Her natural honey blonde hair was cropped into the latest
posh style some ‘it’ celebrity sported and her bright blue eyes were rimmed
with thick, dark lashes. Her dainty five foot two, one-hundred-pounds-when-dripping-wet
figure remained tauntingly unaffected by an aversion to exercise and a serious
junk food addiction.

All that blonde perfection would’ve been
so easy to hate, but the two of them had been best friends since freshman year
of college. Kate really shouldn’t compare herself to perfect little mutants
like Lindsey anyway.

Lindsey glanced up from her magazine and
smiled, tugging the buds out of her ears. “Hey, Kate. The dead still dead?” she
greeted cheerfully, watching Kate as she kicked off her shoes and peeled off
her jacket.

Kate returned her greeting and waited
for the avalanche to start. She wasn’t disappointed.

“So… do you have plans tonight?”

“Why?” Kate asked, studying her friend
through narrowed eyes. Lindsey was perpetually trying to play matchmaker with
Kate’s nonexistent love life.

Lindsey studied her cuticles in
discomfort. Kate shook her head. Not a good sign. Lindsey shrugged.

“No reason. Can’t a girl just want to
spend a night out with her friend?” Lindsey asked all wide-blue-eyed innocence.

“If that’s what said girl is really
after.”

“Fine. You caught me. I have a date with
John tonight and I was sort of wondering, well, we were sort of wondering if
you would want to, sort of, maybe double with us?

“You see John’s cousin is here visiting
and he can’t just leave him behind to fend for himself at his place. John says
he’s a really nice guy. Maybe you’ll like him, if he’s anywhere near as great
as John, then I know you will,” Lindsey anxiously rambled. She knew full well
how much Kate hated blind dates.

“Oh, Linz, no,” Kate groaned. She
should’ve known.

“Come on, Kate, when’s the last time you
went on a real date anyway?”

Kate opened her mouth to protest. She’d
gone to a movie with Guy last weekend, but Lindsey beat her to it.

“And I don’t mean with Guy. Hanging out
with your gay ex-boyfriend doesn’t qualify as a date.”

Ah, Lindsey knew her too well.

Guy had been Kate’s boyfriend all
through high school and she’d been crazy about him. Starting quarterback,
captain of the football team, and student body president, Guy was every girl’s
dream for boy next door. No one had been more surprised than Kate when her long
time steady came out of the closet in his graduation speech. Devastated, but
supportive to a fault, Kate had continued her close friendship with Guy on a
completely platonic level. Platonic meaning she hid from other potential
relationships behind theirs.

Naturally, having some sort of reverse
sexual Midas touch did a number on her self confidence. After incessant teasing
that everything she touches turns to gay, she couldn’t help but feel a little
gun shy around the opposite sex. Who could blame her?

“I don’t know, I think I feel a migraine
coming on…”

“Pleeeeeaaaaase,” Lindsey begged,
dragging out the word. She pressed her lips into a pout and turned sad puppy
dog eyes on Kate, a clear indication of how desperate she was.

“If you don’t go, I don’t get to go out
with John tonight,” Lindsey whined. She waited expectantly for Kate’s answer,
knowing she would cave to the greater good, eventually.

            “I’ll
have to consult my schedule,” Kate stalled. Snagging her planner from the side
of the couch, she flipped open to that day, silently praying she had some
important engagement she’d forgotten about. A pap smear, mole removal, anything.

            Lindsey
waited, watching her expectantly.

            “Yes!”
Kate cheered, punching the air. “Oh, I mean… sorry, Linz. I traded nights with
Heidi. I have to work tonight,” Kate told her, trying to inject just enough regret
into her voice. Inside, her heart performed cartwheels. Blind dates ranked
pretty high on her list of things she loathed, right up there with cleaning the
fridge and undergoing root canals.

            “Fine.
Work yourself to death,” Lindsey pouted. “You’ll regret it. This guy could be
the man of your dreams and you passed on meeting him.”

            Kate
couldn’t help but picture the last overweight, prematurely balding gravedigger
with a speech impediment Lindsey had set her up with.

            “I’ll
take my chances.”

Chapter
3

Kate rounded into the parking lot of the
hospital and began the relentless search for a stall. One of the jerk-off administrators
had decided close and convenient parking should be reserved for patient use
only, so staff parking on the outskirts of the main lot became a hot commodity.
After three full circles, she glanced at her watch and sighed in defeat, making
her way to the farthest lot from the building.

It was a good ten minute walk to the
entrance, but was guaranteed to have plenty of open stalls left. It was also
affectionately nicknamed ‘the rape lot’ by hospital staff, due to its poor
lighting and remote location. That same brilliant administrator kept promising
security detail and street lights for the far lot, but the staff knew better
than to hold their breath for one of his promises.

Kate nestled her Mini into the first
open spot and threw it into park. She gathered her bags and hiked up the
stairs, across the street, and through the other parking lots to the hospital. She
would have to move her car closer after day shift left, but before it got dark.

            After
punching in at the time clock mounted near the entrance, Kate made her way to
the Emergency Room. She scanned the key card on her badge, let herself in the
back door of the department, and headed for the break room. In the break room,
she crammed her lunch into the overstuffed fridge. Stashing her bags in her
locker, she headed for the nurses’ station.

The Emergency Room was actually a series
of rooms, consisting of thirty two private exam rooms, an oversized
resuscitation room with two separate bays, and a trauma room of equal measure
and function. Each of the nurses would be assigned a group of rooms to care
for, with a variety of patients rotating in and out throughout their shift.

            The
department bustled with life as the day picked up pace. Kate glanced up at the
large dry erase board and noted the charge nurse had already reassigned rooms
to account for Kate’s presence. Most of the staff worked seven to seven shifts,
but Kate was one of the few nurses who covered the busiest part of the day,
coming in at three pm and staying until three am.

Oh good, Nancy was in charge today, Kate
noted happily as she approached the desk. A charge nurse could make or break a
shift for the staff nurse, and Nancy was one of Kate’s favorites to work with.
Nancy gave Kate a dainty wave as she answered the ringing telephone next to her
computer.

            “Chicago
East Memorial, Emergency. This is Nancy,” the charge nurse purred in a throaty
voice, tossing her hair.

Kate smothered a giggle. Sweet,
wholesome Nancy’s squeaky voice transformed into that of a smoldering sexpot as
soon as she answered the phone. The staff always teased her, saying she must’ve
worked as a phone sex operator in a previous life. Nancy vehemently denied such
claims, insisting she picked up her phone etiquette when she worked as a
secretary to put herself through nursing school. Secretary, uh huh, right.

            Kate
took note of her rooms and checked the computerized board for patients. Nancy
must not have opened her section yet, because none were assigned to her. Kate
rounded on each of her rooms to check their baskets of emergency supplies,
stocking them with oxygen and suction equipment as needed. An assortment of
nurses, doctors, housekeepers, and medics greeted her with friendly salutations
and waves as she passed them in their various tasks. 

Her rooms ready for business, Kate
checked the board again. Nancy had assigned her three patients, each with a
different acuity level. Acuities were given based on each patient’s condition
and level of risk. The lower the number, the more trouble they were in. The
higher the number, the less they actually needed to be there. Snagging the
chart from the desk, she headed to the room marked as a level two, perusing the
patient’s information as she walked. It promised to be a busy night. But, Kate
wouldn’t have it any other way.

Twelve and a half hours later, Kate
stepped out of the hospital and into the cool night, filled with the exhausted satisfaction
only found after a long night of work. Sucking in a breath of fresh air, she
tipped her head back to soak in the night sky.

It was a dark, starless night. Rolling
storm clouds spread across the sky in a thick gray blanket. Cool raindrops sprinkled
the ground in sporadic patches. Her gaze scanned the vehicles peppered throughout
the relatively empty parking lot, but came up equally empty handed. No sign of
her yellow Mini.

After racking her brain, she remembered
the long trek from the far lot. Damn it. She forgot to move her car closer.
Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Time for a hike.

Tugging her jacket tighter around her
body, she marched toward her car at a clipped pace. Geez, it felt a whole lot
farther away after a twelve hour shift. She may as well have parked in Indiana.

“Great, just great,” she muttered under
her breath, cursing herself for not making time to move her car. She cursed
herself further as she registered the near pitch black condition of the far
parking lot. ‘Rape lot,’ indeed. She’d heard it was bad, but had never risked
seeing for herself. Healthcare workers loved to complain, but in this case
their gripes were beyond warranted.

Frank, the decrepit old housekeeper had
offered to walk her out, but she hadn’t wanted to inconvenience the feeble old
man. Normally, it was just a little walk from the exit to her car. She was a
big girl. She did it three times each week all by herself.

Of course, that was when she wasn’t
parked in the middle of BFE. It didn’t help that said BFE was about as dark as
a cave tour when they turned out the lights. Or that she was one of the only
people in the entire hospital who left at three in the morning. Okay, even the
little old man would’ve been better than nothing.

“Relax, there’s no reason to be paranoid
,” she assured herself.

Stepping down the stairs to the far lot,
she warily eyed the beat up white van parked adjacent to her car.

“It’s probably just another employee who
couldn’t find closer parking earlier in the day
,” she muttered under her breath. “Stop being paranoid.”

Kate arrived at her car unscathed, but
vibrating with nerves drawn tight like a high wire. With shaking hands, she
searched for her keys. She really should use the key leash and locator device she
got for her birthday last year. As she shook her purse in frustration, her
heart slammed to a complete halt.

“Hello, sweetheart,” a man’s low voice
sounded from behind her, his breath hot and sticky on the cool skin above the
collar of her jacket.

A rough knuckle slowly traced down the
column of her throat. Kate swallowed hard, her mouth rivaling the Sahara for
dryness, and slowly turned. Reeking of stale cigars and liquor, the man’s bulky
form loomed mere inches above her. Two other men hovered close behind him,
shadowy forms in the inky darkness of the night.

 “I-I h-have about uh-uh-hundred dollars
cash in m-my purse. You’re welcome t-to it… and any of my c-c-credit cards…
whatever you w-want,” Kate offered in a tight, breathless whisper, the words
difficult to form in her cotton mouth. She tossed her purse several feet away
into the shadows, hoping they would chase it and leave her alone.

“Don’t worry, honey, we’ll get it,” one
of the taller men said, his crooked yellow smile flashing in the darkness. The
others chuckled and the men tightened in around her. 

Stale-Breath cupped the curve of her
bottom through the cotton of her scrub pants. Kate jerked away. She tried to
make a break for it, but she was surrounded by an immovable wall of men.

 “Oh, come on, baby. Don’t be that way.
You know you want it.” Stale-Breath shoved her hard against the car.

Pinning her body there with his own, he
pressed the growing hardness of his groin against her backside. Her stomach
lurched, bile burning the back of her throat. Kate attempted to twist away from
his touch, but he tightened his hold on her.

“Help me! Somebody, please! Help!” Kate
cried out into the darkness, her voice a hollow echo in the vast emptiness of
the lot.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. No one’ll
interrupt,” her assailant crooned, giving her arm a sharp twist that made her
teeth snap together. “Save your breath, honey, you’re gonna need it.”

“We've been watchin’ you for a while. We
know you’re the only one leavin’ this time of night,” Yellow-Teeth chimed in. “B’sides,
those ol’ boys from security can’t see or hear ya down here.”

Kate bit her lip. He was right. She was
on her own. A nightmare, this had to be a nightmare, because it was SO not
happening. Wake up Kate, wake up.

“So, beautiful,” her attacker murmured,
his free hand creeping under her scrub top to grope her breasts.

Kate’s stomach performed a nose dive,
threatening to empty its contents on his ratty boots. His warm, wet tongue traced
the column of her throat, trailing up her jaw bone until his hot breath
dampened her ear.

 “I’m gonna fuck you so hard, you’ll
never walk again,” he whispered, his breathing betraying his excitement. “And
when I’m done,” he indicated his companions with a jerk of his head, “it’s
their turn.”

That disgusting slug of a tongue closed
in on her ear, making her skin crawl as though an army of ants had burrowed
beneath it. Kate lurched away, shuddering in revulsion.

No way in Hell
.

She would fight. Channeling all her
strength, she twisted around and brought her knee up to his groin in one swift,
sharp motion, connecting with as much force as she could muster. He crumbled to
the ground in a furious grunt of pain.

“You bitch!” Stale-Breath yelped, his
voice strained. “Oh, I’m gonna hurt ya now. You’ll wish you’d got down and
begged for it when we’re done with you,” he ground out through clenched teeth,
his voice choked in pain.

His friends were on her in an instant. She
tried to fend them off, but they were everywhere. They snatched her jacket and
tossed it aside. With the sharp sound of tearing fabric, they ripped her scrub
top from her body.

Kate tried to beat them back, hitting
and kicking at anything near her. Her efforts drew a few grunts of pain as she
connected with live tissue, but did little to discourage their efforts. With a
rough jerk at her waist, they yanked her scrub pants down around her ankles. The
combination of fear and cold, sent shivers through Kate’s exposed body. Her
skin erupted in angry goose bumps from head to sneakered toe.

Fighting her attackers with hopeless
fury, she continued to strike out at them in every way she could. Desperation
filled her as she kicked, hit, scratched, and bit at the mass of limbs assaulting
her. One of her attackers pawed at her panties, but she raked her nails down
his cheek, drawing blood from the five angry scores. 

“Oh, you like it rough, do ya’ honey?” Scratched-Face
snarled, swiping at the blood trickling down his cheek. “I like ’em feisty.”

With one vicious shove, he knocked her
to the ground. Falling hard to the waiting asphalt, Kate smacked her head with
a sickening thud.

Her world exploded in stars and stripes,
flashes of white light and glimpses of red.

A booted foot connected with her
stomach, causing her to release a sharp whoosh of air. Stunned by the impact,
she curled around the injury. They kicked her, over and over, each jolt sending
sparks of pain shooting through her body.

Her arms flew up to cradle her head as
she tightened into a ball on her side. All efforts to shield her fragile body
were futile. Their feet rained down on her, blow after bruising blow, as she
lay huddled and helpless on the ground. This was not how she imagined dying.
No, she would not go out cowering like a kicked dog.

Head hazy, body trembling, she struggled
to her knees. She tried to crawl away from their assault, but they knocked her
back down with a swift kick to the face. Her teeth rattled and her ears rang.
The metallic tang of blood filled her mouth.

 Stale-Breath, apparently recovered from
his recent groin injury, squatted down beside her. Grasping her hair, he pulled
until her eyes stung with tears. He dragged her up to his eye level.

“Are you ready to beg?” he asked her
with a crooked grin, his stained teeth gleaming in the black night.

Kate worked the blood and saliva in her
mouth into a thick wad and hocked it into his face with all her might. He
swiped at his eyes with one hand, still holding her hair with the other.

“You stupid bitch,” he growled at her.
“Don’t you ever learn?”

He slammed her head into the asphalt. A
fleeting moment of bone crunching pain consumed her, before she succumbed to
the enveloping blackness. She tumbled into the welcoming arms of
unconsciousness, the strange sound of a snarling dog echoing in her ears.