Fallen Angel (20 page)

“You are a whore, just like your mother.”

“Yes.” She agreed. He slapped her and Luke felt his own temper flare he jerked forward and the men holding him pulled him back. Both Angelica and her father ignored him as they continued to stare at each other.

“Now you will marry Westbrook.”

“No I will not.”

“I am not giving you a choice.”

“I don’t think Westbrook will want a pregnant bride.”  Austin’s face turned positively purple now.

“I’ll not allow you to marry him,
” he inclined his head toward Luke, “Bastard child or not.”

“I do not intend to marry anyone.” She stepped closer looking into his eyes. “I am going home to Virginia
, you can tell your constituents that I couldn’t overcome my ordeal, they are already writing about how much I have changed. Or tell them I fear the killer. Frankly I don’t really care what you tell them, but if you try to keep me from going or if you try to bring me back everyone will know your dirty little secret, your career will be over.”  Austin looked so furious Luke thought he might burst something.

“Go then, and take your
trash with you.”  Angelica turned on her heel and left the room and the men holding him followed.

“Gentlemen, please show Mr. Harrison out.”

“Angie.”  She stopped and finally looked at him he could see pain deep in her eyes but he could see the resolve too.

“Goodbye Luke.” She
said simply and turned away stepping through the nearest door closing it behind her. Luke was stunned. He would have stayed there and continued to stare at the door if the men holding him hadn’t pushed him on. Within minutes he found himself released and standing outside the house. He wanted to turn around and march right back in there and demand to know what was happening. But he couldn’t. She wouldn’t see him willingly and now there was a man stationed at the bottom of the tree by her balcony. So he found a place to hide in an alley across the street and waited. 

His mind continued to spin as the last rays of light disappeared. Shouldn’t she be leaving by now?  She had seemed
so determined to get out of there as quickly as possible. She had said she was pregnant, surely that must have been a lie, just like when she said they were lovers, but what if it wasn’t? He knew it didn’t matter now, he loved her, he would love her child if she would let him.

Movement in the darkness caught his attention he saw someone scurry across the yard and hide in the shadow of a tree. He rem
embered what Angie had said about being followed by a man in a gray cloak and silently crept out from his hiding place. He snuck up behind the cloaked figure and grabbed him.

“What are you doing here? What do you want with her?” The hood fell away and Luke gasped. 

Angelica checked her bag one more time, she knew she really should wait until morning but she just couldn’t spend one more night in the house she wanted to start a new life and now that she had severed all ties with the old one she just wanted to get moving. She quietly closed the door to her room and crept down the hall. The last thing she wanted was another confrontation with her father. Much to her surprise she made it all the way to the front door without encountering any of the staff members
.  She lifted her hood and covered her head before she slipped out the door. She quietly made her way toward the stables not wanting to draw the attention of the roaming guards. She had just reached the stable door when she felt someone grab her and clamp their hand over her mouth. She smelled something peculiar then everything went dark.

Angelica woke slowly, she was groggy and unsure of where she was. Her eyes were blurry, she blinked trying clear them but it didn’t help. The room she was in was dark and it smelled musty like old metal. She was lying on something hard that appeared to be high off the ground. She tried to look around but her eyes were too blurry to see anything. She tried to sit up but her arms were restrained, pain shot through her right arm at the effort. She looked down and saw that it was covered in blood. She tried to move her legs but they were strapped at the ankles. She squirmed pulling against all the restraints at the same time but none of them would budge.

Panting from the
exertion and the throbbing pain in her arm she squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again trying to clear the fog. She turned her head as much as she could trying to see if she could determine where she was, trying to see if she was alone. If she screamed would someone hear her? Should she scream or would that make whoever had brought her here come back?” Her heart was pounding her arm felt warm and her hand felt cold and she realized that her fear was causing the blood to pump out of her arm that much faster. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. She was not going to panic she would not give him the satisfaction. She could do this she had used her wits to guide her her entire life if she kept them now they would get her though this too.  She opened her eyes again and realized that her vision had begun to clear. There seemed to be something vaguely familiar about her surroundings. It seemed like she was in a stone room maybe a dungeon or a cellar. She couldn’t remember ever having been in one before and yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had been here before.

Luke looked up at the big house, it was quiet. Eerily quiet, there weren’t even any lights in the windows. He had been gone only a few minutes but discovering who had been following Angelica had changed everything. Now he had to find her, whether she wanted him too or not. He was headed for the front door when one of the body guards came out. It was one of the ones that had been holding him in Austin’s office.

“Hey, what is going on?”

“Your girl is gone. The old man is drinking himself in to a stupor, he threw out all the staff then locked himself in his office with a bottle of whiskey crying about how he had lost his baby girl.” The guard walked away and Luke stared up at the house. Angie wasn’t gone. Every horse was still in the stable and she would not have left on foot. No she was still here somewhere and he had to find her. He crept through the dark house back to the office he had been in earlier in the evening just as he suspected it was empty.

“Why aren’t you screaming Angelica?” Angelica jumped she didn’t realize there was anyone in the room with her.

“Father?”

“They were all screaming for help by now.”

“It was you? All those girls?” She felt her stomach turn and her eyes filled with tears.

“You know it seems we’ve had this conversation before. Only there was someone else where you are now.”

“I found this place, I followed you. I remember now. That’s why I ran that’s how I ended up so far away out in that storm.”

“Indeed.” He produced a knife testing the edge of it with his thumb.  “It’s too bad you know, too bad you had to turn out just like your mother. We made a good team for a while I almost believed you were mine.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I am not your father Angelica, I wasn’t kidding when I said your mother was a whore. She was the first you know. Of course I have honed my skills a great deal since then.”

“You… killed my mother?”

“Not to worry it will go much faster for you. Actually I am surprised you aren’t further along.” He grabbed her arm and squeezed and she gritted her teeth against the pain and felt a new wave of warm blood run down her arm. He picked up a jar and poured some liquid on the wound and it burned like fire. She arched her back and barely repressed a scream.

“It’s alright Angelica you c
an scream, no one will hear you, but I will hear you scream before we’re done.”

“Go to hell.” She panted and he laughed.

“I was right you know, you would have made a better son. Maybe you could have lived then.”

“Why- Why did you kill mom.”

“Because she was a lying cheating whore.”

“No.”

“Argue if you wish but it’s all in the eyes. I have brown eyes, if you were my child you would have brown eyes.”

“I have mom’s blue eyes.”

“Yes the lovely blue eyes.” He placed the tip of the knife just below her eye and she felt her heart begin to pound again. “I have quite the collection now.” He walked away and returned a moment later and held up a jar there were two eyeballs floating in a clear liquid. Angelica immediately closed her eyes and willed herself not to vomit. “It’s a pity I didn’t think to keep your mother’s eyes, she had beautiful eyes.” He said, she could tell by the sound he was walking away again. She risked opening her eyes again as he returned.  He looked at her arm again. “I should have known you would be the most difficult. You know I don’t believe that story about you being pregnant but just in case…” He plunged the knife into the left side of her abdomen and she gasped but managed not to scream. He laughed again.

“Well that should speed things along anyway.” He began walking around the room pouring liquid as he went, the scent of kerosene assailed her senses.

“What are you doing?” she asked through teeth clenched from pain.

“You won’t be going down in infamy, sorry. You will not be the Slayer’s eight victim. Instead you will just be an ordinary woman killed in an ordinary house fire, soon forgotten. I will be distraught of course but that will only garner me a sympathy vote.”  She closed her eyes, he had thought it all out of course he had, the perfect o
utcome for him she had become a liability to him and he was making sure that she couldn’t cause him any problems in the future.  She felt him pour the fiery liquid on her side and she clenched her eyes as well as her teeth but she didn’t scream, she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. Then mercifully the darkness overtook her.

Luke searched through every room of the house it was huge but it was empty there wasn’t a single soul anywhere to be found. He sat down on the bottom step of the staircase and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes he was missing something he had to be. Angie was strong, she wasn’t going to just let someone take her somewhere she didn’t want to go. She had to be close and she had to be somewhere she couldn’t get out of and wouldn’t be heard. He jumped up and went to the kitchen, if this place had a wine cellar that would be the perfect place to hold someone. He didn’t find anything in the kitchen so he walked out the back door that’s when he saw a door on the ground at the base of the building. He drew his gun and flipped open the door. He didn’t see anything but a dark staircase he eased his way down inside keeping his gun aimed in front of him. He felt like he was walking into a tomb, it smelled like death and kerosene. Finally the stairs ended and opened into a small dimly lit room. He saw Angie’s still form on a table and his heart stopped she was covered in blood. A quick survey told him there was no one else there. He rushed to her and lifted her face.

“Angie, can you hear me.” He could feel her breathing but it was very shallow. He quickly began working to undo the leather straps holding her. When he pulled at the strap on her right wrist she groaned and he eased up a bit. He tore her sleeve and tied a tourniquet above the cut and her eyes fluttered open.

“Luke, you have to go.” She said weakly.

“I am not going.” He barked.

“Luke the house is on fire, he’s going to burn it to the ground. This place is covered in kerosene, you have to get out of here. Just leave me I am not going to make it anyway.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Don’t talk like that,
don’t you dare give up on me. Just hold on I am going to get you out of here.” He yanked one of the straps around her ankle free.

“Please Luke, please don’t die trying to save me, it’s not worth it.”

“Why don’t you let me decide what is worth my life.” He said freeing her other leg. He looked at her and realized she had passed out again. He carefully lifted her off the table and headed for the stairs, just as he reached them he felt warmth and he knew the kerosene had ignited he ran as fast as he could up the stairs. He began whistling as soon as he could see the opening when he made it out Blaze was there waiting. He glanced back at the house as the horse pounded away from it and saw that the whole thing was engulfed. He could hear the fire bell ringing already.

Angelica opened her eyes and her gaze fell on Luke, he was sitting in a chair beside the bed his long legs stretched out in front of him and his arms crossed over his chest. He looked just the same as the first time she had seen him the only difference was he was missing his hat over his face.  She smiled and tried to move, that’s when she felt the pain and moaned involuntarily. Luke jerked upright at the sound.

“Hey, are you alright?” She smiled up at him being careful to keep everything else still this time.

“I am fine, I was just having a flashback. The first time I ever saw you, you looked just like that all stretched out in the chair.” He smiled slightly. “And the first question I ever asked you is the same one I am about to ask again. Where am I?”

“You’re in the hospital.” She nodded and he saw her look over herself without really moving. Her arm was in a sling but she couldn’t really see her stomach.

“How bad is it?”

“You’re out of the woods now, doctors don’t think you’ll have any permanent effects. You just have to take it real easy for a while and let yourself heal.”
She nodded again and then she smiled at him.