Fallen Elements (35 page)

Lucy and Derek stood near the fire, and
hearing Ryan, the woman turned and slowly walked toward her niece.
Ryan thought it perverse that in spite of the horrific scene, her
aunt was dressed impeccably in a pair of brown slacks, tan Cole
Haan heels, and a light beige cashmere shawl draped over her
shoulders. The diamonds of her Cartier tennis bracelet were
sparkling in the fire light.

“Quiet down. We’re nearly finished.” Lucy
crouched in front of Ryan. “I had wanted to spare you this, but
damn that Myers constitution, you just woke up too soon.”

Ryan shook her head, and finally in an
upright positon, spat the blood that had been pooling in her mouth
to the ground. “Please, don’t do this. It’s murder.”

Lucy stood up and looked down at her niece, a
faint smile on her lips. “It’s justice.”

Ryan looked at Leah, and then back at her
aunt. “What are you talking about? She hasn’t done anything to you
– to anyone.”

Lucy laughed, the shrillness of it echoing
through the valley below. “You have no idea what she’s done.” Lucy
nodded at Andrew, and the man grabbed Ryan by the arms and pulled
her to her feet.

Ryan’s shoulders ached from being bent back
at an awkward angle, and she winced as Andrew jostled her back and
forth. “That hurts!” She turned her head to the side, trying to
make eye contact with her cousin. “Stop it!”

Andrew wrenched Ryan back against him, his
breath hot on the back of her neck as flecks of the man’s spit
peppered Ryan’s skin. “I’ve never liked you, Ryan. I don’t trust
any woman who doesn’t take a cock now and again.”

“Andrew!” Lucy yelled. “Watch your language,
and move her over towards the fire. She’s awake now, she may as
well witness this.”

Andrew shoved Ryan forward, his hands still
holding the rope around her wrists. “You heard her. Move!”

Ryan stumbled forward, the uneven terrain and
her still throbbing head making balancing difficult. The heat from
the fire pushed against Ryan in waves as they got closer. Andrew
forced her to her knees, ensuring she was still facing Leah.

Ryan was close enough now to see that Derek
was holding a makeshift torch. In his right hand was a long branch,
and at the end was a thick wrapping of cloth.
Oh god, they’re
going to burn her alive.
A sob escaped Ryan as the realization
of what her aunt and uncle planned for Leah came into focus.

“This is a treat, Ryan.” Lucy rubbed her
hands together as she stood glaring at Leah. “We so rarely get the
opportunity to make it physical anymore.” She turned to face Ryan,
and the shadows the fire cast on her face made her look crazed and
possessed. Ryan thought it fitting the evil that ran rampant
through her aunt, at this darkest moment, should finally be
reflected on her otherwise perfect features.

Lucy walked to Derek, and took the torch from
his hand. “I prefer the dunking method, but alas I’m fresh out of
cucking stools, and this one would take too eagerly to the water
anyway.” She thrust the torch into the center of the fire.

Ryan pulled against her restraints, her eyes
locked on her lover. Leah’s light green eyes seemed almost calm,
her face and body relaxed as Lucy moved toward her, torch in hand.
“This has been too long in coming, Leah.” Lucy lowered the torch to
the ground next to Leah’s bound feet.

Ryan cried out, and stumbling to her feet,
charged her aunt. Lowering her shoulder, Ryan slammed into the
woman’s lower back, sending her and the torch crashing to the
ground. Ryan watched in horror as the torch rolled to within a foot
of Leah, aggressive flames immediately shooting up around the
restrained woman. It was clear Lucy and Derek had spread some type
of accelerant around the base of the tree.

Lucy cried out, and rolling onto her knees,
struck Ryan with the back of her hand across the cheek. A second
later, there was a crushing weight on top of Ryan’s midsection as
Derek pounced on her, his hands around her throat. Ryan’s head
pounded as her blood was squeezed from her neck, and her windpipe
nearly crushed.

“Enough!” Lucy’s voice broke through the
pounding in Ryan’s ears. “Get off her.”

As suddenly as the vise around her throat had
been there, it was gone. Gasping for breath, Ryan craned her head
back toward Leah, terrified at what she might see. Her tear and
smoke filled eyes struggled to focus. Ryan could see that Leah was
not engulfed in flames, nor was she writhing in agony from the
fire’s heat.

Leah stood perfectly still, her eyes wide as
the flames formed a tall cylinder shape around her, unable to
penetrate whatever water or ice barrier Leah cocooned herself in.
Ryan heard a series of cracks as if glass were about to shatter,
and a second later, Leah brought her hands around from behind the
tree.

The ropes, coated in a thick casing of ice,
dropped from her wrists. The brittle pieces shattered as they hit
the ground. The restraints on Leah’s ankles followed suit and fell
to the ground as well. Holding her hands palms up in front of her,
Leah extended her arms into the fire. The air from above the flames
seemingly pushed the flames down, smothering them into the dirt at
the base of the tree.

Pulling the leather strap away from her
mouth, Leah threw it to the ground. “It’s over, Lucy. Please, I
don’t want to hurt you.”

Lucy stood, her back to the fire, her eyes
narrowed, a demonic smile spread across her lips. “You don’t tell
me when it’s over.” She looked at Andrew and nodded.

The man charged toward Leah, and tackled her
to the ground. Before Ryan could get to her feet to help Leah,
Derek had grabbed a handful of her hair, and pushed her flat to the
ground. Ryan screamed as Andrew, straddling Leah’s waist, struck
the woman twice across the face with the back of his hand.

Wrapping his hands around Leah’s neck, the
stout man leaned forward, putting all of his weight on the smaller
woman’s throat. Just then Andrew sneezed, once, twice, and the
third time he shifted back just enough that Leah was able to get
her hands around his wrists.

Andrew screamed, his deep baritone cries
filling the night. Falling to Leah’s side, Ryan could see the man’s
wrists were red, the skin blistered and already beginning to slide
away from the underlying muscle and tissue.

In an instant Leah was kneeling in front of
Andrew, her hand around his throat. A second later and the man fell
backwards to the ground. He scratched and pulled at his throat, his
cries sounding choked and gargled. The skin on the front of his
throat began to redden and then blister. Leah had burned him from
the inside out, and now muscle and tissue began to pucker and swell
from within.

“No!” Derek rushed past Ryan toward Leah, but
before he could reach the woman, she placed her hand flat on the
ground in front of her. Derek tripped, the damp earth beneath him
shifting, and the dirt was replaced with a thick sheet of ice.
Slipping backwards, Derek’s head slammed against the ground.
Rolling to his side, he grabbed at the back of his head, his hand
now covered in blood.

Reaching into his back pocket, Derek pulled a
wood handled, single blade pocket knife from behind him. Opening
the four inch blade, he managed to get to his knees as he
repeatedly slipped on the ice beneath him.

“You hold still, and I’ll make this quick.”
Derek seethed as he began crawling toward Leah.

Laying her other hand on the ice, Leah glared
at the man. “Please stop. I don’t want to do this.”

Derek, unfazed, continued his slow progress
forward, his movements reminiscent of a man trapped in quicksand.
Leah closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face. Derek smirked,
emboldened by Leah’s distress. Then his eyes widened. Trying to
lift his hand from the ice, Derek grunted as the appendage was now
frozen to the sheet of ice.

Derek pulled up with all his strength, the
skin on his palm remaining frozen to the sheet of ice, peeling free
as he ripped his hand loose. The man screamed, and with the knife
extended toward Leah, lunged forward. His knees also frozen to the
ice, Derek landed flat on his face.

Ryan watched in both horror and amazement as
ice began to form along her uncle’s stomach and then moved up his
sides. Seconds later, the man was completely encased in a thick
sheath of ice. Unable to move or breathe, Ryan could see Derek’s
face through the clear ice. His eyes went wide with fear and panic.
Ryan turned her head, unable to stomach the sight.

A screech filled the air as Lucy charged
toward Leah, kicking the woman square in the lower back. Leah cried
out, and rolled away from Lucy. Wielding the torch, Lucy swung the
branch at Leah. A split second before making contact with the side
of Leah’s head, Leah rolled to the side and the torch struck her in
the shoulder. Embers flew, lighting up the night.

Ryan pushed herself up to her knees, and
taking several deep breaths, managed to stand. Her legs felt weak
and she thought her feet might slide out from under her as she
stumbled toward Lucy and Leah.

“Aunt Lucy, stop!” Ryan squared her shoulders
as she stared down her aunt.

Lucy turned, her eyes wide, her mouth skewed
in a scowl as she glared at her niece. “This started long before
you, Ryan. Leave now if you don’t have the stomach for it.”

Ryan took a step toward Lucy. Her throat was
dry and her body ached. She looked at Leah, who lay clutching her
shoulder on the ground. Ryan couldn’t believe the carnage her
family had wrought upon themselves, Leah, and her. “You can’t think
I would just walk away and let you kill someone I love.”

“You should love me more!” Lucy screamed.
“Our family, the generations before us - they’re who we owe
everything
to.”

Ryan shook her head. “I -
we
- don’t
owe anybody anything, Aunt Lucy.” She wanted the woman to see that,
to know her life was whatever she made of it, not what a history of
half-truths and lies dictated.

Shaking her head, Lucy reached into her back
pocket, revealing a knife identical to Derek’s. She held it out for
Ryan to see. “She’s an abomination, Ryan. Help me destroy her.”

“I’ve lost you then?”

Ryan’s question triggered a softening of
Lucy’s hardened expression, and she lowered the knife. “No,
sweetie. That’s the whole point.” Lucy took a step toward Ryan.
“We’re family, and that’s forever.”

Ryan knew in that moment her aunt was gone.
Whatever hope she had of convincing the woman murder was not the
answer was beyond either of them. Ryan looked past her aunt, toward
Leah who had managed to get to her knees, blood trickling from the
right corner of her mouth. The two women’s eyes met, and Ryan
nodded her head. A pained expression crossed Leah’s face, her eyes
filling with tears as she raised her hand.

Lucy’s mouth opened, her eyes widening as the
moisture in the air around her was superheated by Leah. The woman
dropped the knife and grabbed at her throat as the scalding air
scorched and burned its way down into her lungs. The fringes of her
shawl and dark blonde hair singed from the heat.

Lucy collapsed to her knees. Her eyes bulged
and her pale skin reddened as she stared, unseeing, into the
distance. Falling forward, Lucy lay dead.

A sob escaped Leah as she sank down into a
seated position on the ground, her legs bent under her. Her
shoulders hung as she stared at Lucy’s lifeless body. Ryan stood
motionless. Time seemed to have slowed down, and she wondered if
she were going into some type of shock as her body felt almost
numb.

Then Leah was behind Ryan. Her hands trembled
as she struggled to untie Ryan’s wrists. Blood rushed back into
Ryan’s hands as Leah dropped the rope to the ground. Turning
around, Ryan and Leah’s eyes met. Each woman was crying, and
neither was able to speak.

Leah finally took Ryan’s hands in hers.
Examining the deep cuts the rope had made in her wrists, Leah
winced. “Are you okay? Do we need to get you to a hospital?” Leah’s
voice was weak, uncertain.

Ryan shook her head, still feeling as if
everything were moving in slow motion. “I – I think I’m okay. Are
you? I mean are you okay?”

Leah began to cry, her shoulders shaking as
she was consumed with sobbing. “No – my god, I’ve just killed three
people!”

Leah collapsed to the ground again. Ryan
knelt in front of her, pulling her close. “They were trying to kill
you.”

Leah shook her head, her breath hot against
the side of Ryan’s face. “I should have run, I should have left
this place before it came to this.”

Ryan leaned back, holding Leah by the
shoulders. “Don’t say that! They came after you, not the other way
around.”

Leah sniffled, her sobs giving way to a
constant stream of tears. “What do we do now?”

Ryan pulled the woman back into her arms, and
scanned the horrific scene. The fire continued to cast the clearing
in both light and shadow. The ice casing around Derek had begun to
melt from its heat, and Andrew lay lifeless near the tree line, his
hands still clutched to his charred throat.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Ryan
finally managed to speak. “We could call the police, but I don’t
know what we could tell them that wouldn’t risk your safety.”

Leah pushed back from Ryan, stood up, and
turned away. “That doesn’t matter. People have died. Let them
come.”

Ryan got up, and cringed, the muscles of her
back tightening in a series of spasms from where she had been
kicked and tackled. “Don’t be naïve. This isn’t just about you.”
Ryan took Leah’s hand and turned her around. “You can’t be the only
one, and once this is out, what happens to everyone else like
you?”

Leah chewed nervously on the inside of her
lower lip, her eyes darting back and forth as she considered Ryan’s
words. “Then what do you suggest?”

“Where exactly are we?” Ryan looked up at the
night sky. The stars were fairly pronounced, and she imagined they
must be some distance from Baltimore.