Jack's bike stuttered to a halt at the gate of a small villa.
Rue took off her helmet. "This is me," she smiled and came off the bike.
"Okay," he returned her smile.
"Oo...kay," Rue took a step backwards. She didn't know why she lingered. In half a day, she had gotten more answers about the questions that had tormented her from childhood than she had managed her entire life. There were more questions that needed answers and puzzles that had to be solved.
Rue turned to leave. She paused again and turned to face him.
"Just something on my mind," her voice lacked confidence.
Jack took off his helmet. "Do share please," he brushed his fingers through his dark hair.
"What's your deal, Jack?" her brows furrowed, and she took a step towards him. "I mean, I met your friends..."
"...family," Jack cut in.
"I met your family. They weren't shy to show off their . . . unnatural skills. What about you?"
"Hmmm," colour bloomed on his cheeks. "Some other time, love."
Silence lingered for a moment and Rue turned away from him. Jack grabbed quickly to her hand. He came off his bike and stood before her. His hand was warm. His grey eyes lifted to meet hers, a searching gaze piercing down the bottom of her naked soul.
Rue couldn't move.
Her gaze was fixed at him firmly. A warm emotion swelled in her and it was growing beyond her control. His lips were rose berries and she felt an urge to suck on them. His voice exuded nectar and its sweet scent pulled her ever closer towards him. She wrapped her hands around his arms and gently moved them across to rest on his chest, fingers browsing every inch of muscle.
She pushed forward to press her lips on his.
"That's enough, Rue."
She pushed backwards suddenly, her head swelling with an aggressive migraine. "What just happened?" Rue patted her head.
"You wanted to know about my Familiar," Jack turned away from her and reached for his bike. "She draws people to me by bonding with them and seizing control of their minds. I can make anyone do whatever I want, that is . . . for a time."
"Eww," Rue smiled, "I was going to kiss you. A total stranger."
"Yes, you certainly were."
"I bet you score a lot of chicks that way, projecting your carnal thoughts into their minds."
"On the contrary," Jack scoffed, "I have never used my Familiar to make anyone do something they don't already want to."
Rue swallowed hard.
"Why?"
Jack got back on his bike and squeezed the throttle. "Some other time, love. There's a lot you don't know and it's not something you want to do on an empty stomach and certainly not in that god-awful garb you're wearing."
Rue's eyes went down. She hadn't even realized, but she has been on her hospital gown through her ordeal. Now, she felt the coldness of the wind kissing her exposed back.
The bike zoomed off and disappeared in the darkness.
Rue pushed through the door to her family home. There was a welcoming warmth to the air in the sitting room. Her eyes search through the kitchen and dinning room. Mum and Dad were out of town again. Daddy was a congressman and only visited Serpent's Creek once or twice in the whole year. Mummy's attention was divided between her gallery in the city and her responsibilities as a politician's wife. The only time Rue had everyone together was when visiting her little brother Ray at the hospital . . . and maybe Christmas.
The silence in her home was unsettling. She didn't think about it much. Long ago, she had accepted the cold distance set between her and her parents as her fault. If she hadn't gone within an inch of killing her little brother things would have been different. Now, the only memories they all had of Ray was from five years back. He would never grow to see the world the way she does, and it was all her fault.
Someone was coming down the stairs. Rue tensed. Memories of her attack left her unsettled. Her fingers reached quickly for an umbrella resting on the wall. Not that it would do her any good if someone was coming to strangle her, unless she was going to fight moths and houseflies.
"Little Miss," a voice followed.
"Dorothy," Rue dropped the umbrella. It was just her housekeeper. "I didn't know you were coming in today."
The plump lady came down the last step. "You stink, little miss. Take the gown off. I will draw you a bath and get you fresh clothes."
"Thanks Dorothy."
Rue climbed the stairs quickly to her room. The gown went off first. Her naked body took shape in the dimly lit confines. She stood in front of a large mirror where she normally fixed her make ups and observed the marks on her flesh. Purple patches lined her skin, just below her armpits and around her neck.
The gaunt creature had come close to killing her at the hospital. Maybe it should have finished the job and save her from a miserable life full of emptiness. She had no one to share her moments with. Certainly not her parents. Ray had been her one tether to happiness until she sent him to live out his entire life in a coma. The last of her friends distanced themselves since that event.
"Little miss," a voice cried.
"Dorothy I will be just a . . ." Rue paused. A scent thickened in the room. It struck the memory of her senses, and she knew she had smelled it before. It was sweet, like the scent of first summer rain. That was the smell of the creature at the hospital, and it was here, a strong scent in her room.
Soft sobs followed her housekeeper's cry.
Rue turned around gently. Her eyes caught the figure of young man standing next to Dorothy. One of his hand wrapped tight around the housekeeper's neck, fingers dug deep. Rue grabbed quickly to her bedsheet to cover her nakedness.
"Nothing I haven't seen before," his voice was deep, "Nice tits though. But I'm not here to pay you compliments"
"It's you," Rue muttered, "Ajax". She pushed forward slowly and stopped. "That scent. You tried to kill me at the hospital."
"Yet here you are?" The young man stepped out of the shadows dragging Dorothy along.
His eyes sparked afire, the colour of two golden coins glittering in the sunlight. He didn't look much older than her, though taller with broad shoulders complimenting a square jaw adorned by neatly trimmed sideburns. He didn't seem like the devil Jack's family had described.
"Let her go," Rue stretched her right arm, "please."
"Rue Baker," Ajax smiled. "I want to show you something."
He pushed Dorothy closer towards him. His once golden eyes darkened to reveal red pupils. A silhouette figure crept out of Ajax. It was gaunt, a creature with an irregularly curved spine. Inky dark liquid dripped away from it and vaporized as it touched the floor.
Dorothy screamed. Rue fell back, barely holding on to her balance to rest on a wall. The sight was sickening.
Hundreds of thin dark tentacles lashed onto Dorothy's neck. The plump woman calmed suddenly. Her eyes rolled back into their socket, leaving them white as snow. A bright jelly-like liquid travelled away from her and into the tentacles. The house keeper's hair grew grey in seconds and began to fall off her head. Her skin shrank, stuck to her bones, and in moments she seemed a woman over a hundred years old.
"Stop please," Rue cried, her back sliding down the wall until she sat on the floor. "Please," tears rolled down her eyes.
Ajax pulled his Familiar away from the housekeeper. His eyes brightened to gold again.
"This is what we are Rue Baker," he said and let go off Dorothy's neck.
The housekeeper dropped to the floor.
Rue felt a sudden hunger. It was an urge nothing like she had felt before. Her heart began to beat faster and faster. Sweat licked down her face. Her fingers folded in her hands, nails digging into the skin of her palms. It felt like a part of her was trying to break free from within.
Her Dark Passenger was coming out and she could do little to hold the Familiar back.
Ajax went down on one knee. "You feel it inside, don't you?" he leaned in. "I can sense your hunger. Of course, Jack and his band of circus freaks didn't tell you, did they?"