Heroes of Falledge Book One: Black Hellebore (29 page)

The beast roared and swatted at Gavina. She disappeared and reappeared a few feet behind her previous location. The tail's spikes glowed a neon green color before thudding to the ground.

Nicholas raced between the cat's legs and beneath it to retrieve a spike.

Gavina shrieked. The scent of fire returned, but each blast buried itself within the cat's fur, now igniting a full-fledge fire.

Nicholas stood beneath the beast. Its height allowed him enough room to stand tall. He thrust the spike into its chest. The beast groaned and backed up, but Nicholas pushed the spike in farther. Still the beast didn't fall.

He pulled out the spike and stabbed again. The beast shuddered, its knees buckling, and it collapsed.

Its dead weight crushed Nicholas' body.

Gavina touched his foot. "I'll get you out." She grunted and muttered something. "Crap, it's too heavy."

Ya think?

"I can't lift it."

"Use magic."

"That's what I was doing!"

He rolled his eyes. Bracing his hands on the ground, he struggled to lift the weight of the beast onto his back so he could stand. The weight shifted, and he fell again. Now one of its paws dug into his thigh.  There was hardly enough room for him to breathe. If he didn't get free soon, he'd run out of air.

Gavina was talking again, but he couldn't make out her words.

The ground beneath him caved in slightly, and he could see light from around the beast's form. He slowly crawled himself free.

"See? I knew I could get you out of there." Gavina beamed.

"Yeah, great job." He clapped dust and grime from his clothes and hair.

"I'm not much of a helper, am I?" she said sadly. "I'm trying. Here, let me see if I can't help now." The witch closed her eyes and hummed.

He waited as nothing happened.

"Didn't think so. I can't heal you. Must be because of your flower power."

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"But I can clean you up." She set about doing just that.

He sighed. "I don't have time to sit around and heal."

"I know," she said, her voice uncharacteristically serious.

"So, maybe next time, you can do more."

Her smile lit up her face. "You still want me to hang around?"

"Sure." If nothing else, she kept things interesting. And, yeah, she might have saved him from being crushed.

Chapter Forty-Four

He had attacked Big Don through his members. Between Killa and himself, Big Don's mob members had been cut in half.

He had attacked Big Don financially. By ruining his latest shipment, Big Don had to be hurting.

Yet, he wasn't satisfied. He wanted Big Don to suffer, not just now, but every day he was allowed to live.

His hat bobbed as he strolled down the street toward his foreclosure. He had just set a warehouse full of smuggled goods on fire. He no longer hated or feared fire. It reminded him of his transition.

As he approached his brick house, he sensed something wrong. The sight of Killa broken, bruised, bled out -- dead -- was more than he could stand. He ripped off his clothes and used Killa's blood to remove his makeup.

He had no reason to hide who he was. He would rule this town with his bony fist, and it was about time his citizens met their new leader.

*****

He stalked down the streets and reached Davey Boy's apartment in no time. A young boy about five pointed at him. He grinned, and the boy screamed.

Yes, fear me. I live on your fear.

As he strutted, he heard screams and doors slamming. Most people ran away. They looked like cockroaches, those sacks of organs and water. They were weak. Beneath him. Pawns.

One man dared to fire some shots at him.

He grabbed the gun, crushing it into powder in his grasp. Then he seized the man's neck. The man's eyes bulged, and the weakling tried to loosen his grip, to lift his bony fingers, but he squeezed even tighter. With a popping sound, the man's head rolled to the side.

He tossed the dead body away. Now, people stood on their porches, watching him walk by. A crowd began to form behind him. He could hear their breathing, their accelerated heartbeats, their hushed whispers. Their apprehension and curiosity, combined with fear, emboldened him. As he passed a school, many children filled in the spaces of the mob.

He jumped from the sidewalk to the top of ten steps in front of a tall building with Roman-inspired architecture. "Citizens of Falledge."

He didn't shout. He didn't need to. They all stood quiet.

"I am Skull Krusher. I know I must be a horrible sight for you all to see. I used to be just like you all. But then the mob came. The mob did this to me."

He raised his bony arms. Some women shrieked while others mumbled. He was putting on a show for them. He'd say whatever proved necessary to ensure his desired outcome resulted.

"For months now, the mob has been encroaching upon this town. Its presence is an evil that does not need to blight our town. It is time we stand up to them and do something."

People's voices rose as they muttered, wondering who he was, what he planned to do, why the sheriff hadn't done enough herself.

The sheriff. She stood across the street, her hand near the gun at her side. She looked familiar. Yes, he had seen her before. She had been there when he arrived to exact revenge upon Rich but found the goon already dead.

He smiled snidely at her. "There is widespread corruption in Falledge."

The crowd's wonderings grew louder. Fingers were pointed; names called out, including Mayor Darmart and Sheriff Paige.

The door behind him opened. A fat, balding man stood two feet from him. "What is going on?" he demanded, his voice sharp, strong, and clear, the antithesis of his appearance.

Skull Krusher gestured to the crowd.

"Mayor, is it true about the mob coming here?" someone yelled.

Others shouted out.

"Is the mob responsible for the murders?"

"What are you going to do to keep our town safe?"

More and more questions and accusations sounded from the horde. When someone cried out that Big Don paid off the mayor, the mass of people surged forward. The mayor, at first, tried to talk them down, but when it became clear the crowd was turning into an angry mob, he retreated into his house.

The mob banged on the doors and the windows. Glass shattered. They climbed into the building, pushing and fighting and arguing, each trying to be the first inside.

Skull Krusher stepped to the side and watched the chaos. For now, let the people think he was on their side, that
they
had the power. They were nothing but peons. They would live as long as they served his purpose, and not a moment longer.

The sheriff ran by him, calling for people to stop, to listen to reason. Since when had people ever listened to the voice of reason? People were by nature selfish creatures, motivated by greed and an over-inflated sense of self-worth.

If she somehow managed to temper back the crowd and prevent them from killing the mayor, and avoided the throng turning on her, he didn't care. The purpose of today was to for the people to see him. And they had seen him. Despite his killing one of their own for recognizing him as the threat he was, they had still turned to him. Fear reigned, the most powerful emotion of all.

He slinked away. Time to head back to Lightmeadow. He knew how to make the mob boss suffer. There was one person Big Don cared about almost as much as himself.

*****

Julianna's voice grew hoarse from screaming. The unruly crowd wanted blood. A few even laid hands on her, but her death stare and baton made them back away.

Finally, she grabbed her gun and waved it in the air, not wanting to shoot it, hoping the sight of it would be enough to catch attention. When it wasn't, she fired one shot far above the crowd into a large tree in the mayor's yard.

"Please, people, calm down! Everyone, just calm down."

People screamed, shrived, and cowered, making her flinch. The last thing she wanted to do was to add to their terror, but at least she'd secured everyone's attention now.

The people who had managed to get inside the mayor's house peered outside. "He's gone. Must have sneaked out the back."

Thank God.

"Please, let me explain," Julianna said desperately.

"So you can tell more lies?" someone cried out.

"Did you know about that... that thing?" a young voice asked.

Julianna took a deep breath as a woman in tattered clothes pushed her way through the crowd to stand beside her. A small boy clutched her hand. Her face held a fierce and determined expression, as if she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"I don't blame you for not wanting to listen to her," the woman said, nodding to Julianna. The crowd hushed for her, as it hadn't for Julianna. She pointed to her son. "For several days now, he's been talking nonstop about a monster he'd seen near our apartment. A man with no nose. I thought it was just a dream and didn't believe him. I do now. That thing, that monster, has killed before and will kill again. Don't you see it's trying to tear us apart? He's the monster. He's the one we should be going after."

"She's right. He did kill Peter James."

"What have we done?"

Julianna offered the boy a shy smile.

"I told Momma after telling you. I knew she wouldn't believe either," he said. "But now you do. You all do!" He beamed, but fright lingered in his eyes.

"Everyone!" Julianna raised her voice, and the crowd fell silent again. "I did know about this monster and have been trying to learn its weakness to bring it down. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to be scared. Plus, I didn't think you'd believe me, like I didn't believe this brave young man." She gripped his shoulder. His mother nodded at her in encouragement. "Perhaps I didn't give you enough credit, and that is on me. Please, if you see him again, call me immediately. Do not attempt to engage him yourself."

"Why not?" someone asked. "You aren't the only one with a gun."

She shook her head. "Guns don't work. I've shot him. Only a few people have gone up against him and lived."

"What is it?"

"I don't know." Although she could give more details, she refrained, not wishing them to turn their blind rage against the laboratory still in construction. She had tempered them down, but they were not yet in her corner.

"So, what's your plan?"

"My plan is to reclaim the city. The... monster," she didn't want to call him by name as "Skull Krusher" would certainly only illicit more fear, "is incredibly strong. You've seen what it did to Peter."

Peter had been a good guy. The principal of the high school. A hunter. A family man, now survived by his wife and three sons.

Her throat tightened. She hadn't seen Peter's murder and was glad. She learned about it when witnesses trailing the skeleton had described the event to others in the mob.

Now was not the time for grief. She must show strength.

She cleared her throat. "My plan is our plan. Children should come straight home after school. If you don't have to go outside, don't. If you--"

"Are you enforcing a curfew?" someone asked.

"Peter should not have died today. If it will prevent more senseless deaths, we should consider it."

A few in the crowd drifted away. Julianna's worry melted away when the first family entered their house and closed the door behind them.

One by one, the crowd broke up until only a few remained, including the mom and her boy. Juliana squatted down and ruffled his hair. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

"I didn't either." The mom held his hand tightly, and he squirmed in her grasp.

"I want to go after him!"

"Maybe when you're big and strong," Julianna said with a slight smile.

"Which means eating your veggies," his mom said.

"Yuck." He wrinkled his nose. "Cool, a worm!" He yanked free and bent down, his nose almost touching the grass.

"If there's anything I can do to help," the mom offered.

"Just call me if you see it."

She nodded. "Come on, Pat, it's time to go home."

"Can I keep him? His name is Yucky." He held up the worm like a trophy.

"How many times have I told you not to play in the dirt?"

"Can I keep him? Please?"

The mom was too far away now for Julianna to hear her response. She glanced at the remnants of the crowd. Only Steven Dreyer and Ron King remained, Peter James' closest friends.

"Can I help you, gentlemen?" She kept her voice professional so as to not reveal any signs of weakness. These men had just lost someone dear to them. They didn't need to be reminded of that fact.

"How can we help
you
?" Steve asked. "You said guns won't help. What about archery?" He'd been the archer of their hunting party.

"Not sure." She raised her brows at Ron.

"Black belt. Might not help much, but you aren't turning me away." He nodded, his words firm with resolve.

She nodded back. As much as she didn't want anyone to risk their lives against Skull Krusher, she wasn't about to turn them away. This town was as much theirs as it was hers.

It was time to take it back.

Chapter Forty-Five

Julianna hurried to her car. She had to tell Nick what had happened. Her cell phone began to ring, and she couldn't answer it fast enough. Had someone seen Skull Krusher already?

"Julianna? I made some tweaks to cortisone to make it affect bones. There's no way to test it, and injecting it will not be easy but--"

"Anything is better than nothing, Hunter. Thank you. I'll swing by to get it."

Maybe things were starting to turn around in their favor. She could only pray that was the case.

She called the station, but there was no answer. Where was Nick? Best not to worry about that now. She had more than enough to worry about already.

*****

After killing Killa, Nicholas reentered the police station. Julianna might return at any time and would be pissed if he wasn't here.