Holding Out For A Hero: SEALs, Soldiers, Spies, Cops, FBI Agents and Rangers (170 page)

She rolled to her left side with a groan, then levered up on her elbow. As if she moved through molasses, she forced herself into sitting position. From here she took a longer, deeper examination of the room. What she saw scared her shitless. Almost more than anything else could. Now she understood why it felt familiar.

“No way,” she whispered so low she barely uttered the words aloud.

The green carpet, the coffee table, the picture on the wall…even the avocado kitchen counter—

No. This house was different. She wasn’t in the weird house on the Point. The home had the same layout but this furniture didn’t match what she’d seen before.

“Mother’s house,” she said. Her parents had owned a ranch house complete with brick fireplace, avocado kitchen counters. “The painting.”

She swiveled to the painting. She’d made a paint-by-numbers like that when she was a kid. How could any of this be real? She eased to her feet as the fear and confusion built and threatened to strangle her. Obviously Benson had brought her here. She glanced around quickly as the ache in her neck subsided somewhat and pain in her skull dulled. She was grateful for any small thing at this point.

She backed toward the front door. It didn’t matter where the madman hid, she needed to escape this crazy house. She bumped into the door, whipped around and twisted the doorknob. Nothing. It was locked from the outside. She tried again. Again. She leaned her forehead on the door in frustration. She swung around, half afraid Benson stood behind her.

Please, help me. Griff, please
.

He wouldn’t know what happened to her.

The side of her neck felt sticky, and when she touched her forehead she came away with red smears. Blood? She didn’t know. She walked toward the kitchen and ignored that the cabinets and floor were now a strange green. She reached the sliding glass doors leading out the back and tried unlocking them. The latch resisted. She yanked in frustration. Nothing.

“What are you doing?”

She whirled around and faced Benson, heart banging against her ribs. She drew in a steady breath to calm her pulse, but it didn’t work. Benson stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the dining area.

He crossed his arms and leaned on the side of the door. He cleared his throat. “What are you doing?”

Honesty, she decided instantly, made sense. “Trying to escape.”

He laughed and ran one hand over his short hair. It stood in spikes, greasy looking. He wore a short-sleeved white t-shirt and jeans with a hole ripped in the knee. His feet were bare. Standing as he was, he looked innocent. A man who didn’t plan to hide a thing or harm anyone. He was good looking even with his sharp, cold eyes. She dared look into those depths and a shiver raced over her skin. She no longer wore her coat, and she rubbed her arms. What had he done with her coat? Why had he left her lying on the rug? Why would any man do what he was doing right now short of appeasing his insanity?

He smiled. “You’re very pretty.”

He didn’t move, but his statement made her skin crawl. She didn’t want him to think of her as attractive. She remembered back to the way she’d talked to her ex-husband. The dance of agreement she’d given him most of their marriage. Then she recalled when he’d taken her hostage and the way she’d spoken to him. In the end it had saved her life, even if it hadn’t saved his. She hated complying, being under the thumb of anyone. For a while, perhaps just a little bit of time she’d have to be under someone’s thumb to survive.

“Thank you for the compliment.” She moved slowly so that she stood in the doorway of the kitchen and across from him. As ridiculous as it felt, she smiled. “Why are we here?”

Benson moved toward her until he stood in the middle of the kitchen. “Because I saw you and wanted you.”

Wanted you.

Her stomach churned and for a second she wanted to barf. Upchuck right there at his feet. Not only because fear resided deep inside her, so deep because she managed to shove it down where it was manageable.

“I see. Why do you want me?” she asked.

He reached for the shutters that covered the single kitchen window and flipped them open. They squeaked. “Because. I love this house. I’m glad I found it. It makes me feel normal. Having a woman in it completes the picture.”

“How does it make you feel normal?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, and crossed his arms across his chest so he could hook his palms across his shoulders. Almost as if he comforted himself. He actually looked lost. Alone. Vulnerable for one tiny moment.

“Mom isn’t here with me. I’m alone without a woman here.”

“You’ve always had a woman in your house?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

She didn’t, but her skill at pretending, at pacifying, might save her life now as it had ten years ago.

He tilted his head to the side like a dog. His ordinary look, his normal facade drove her tense up. Obviously he had something wrong with him. He might be a sociopath as her ex-husband was. She didn’t know anything for certain right now. Part of her roiled with hatred for him. How dare he do this when so much had already happened? So many suffered right this moment because Mother Nature had kicked their asses. What more would they have to endure? Had his mind broken into little pieces because of the EMP? No. She knew he must have stood on the edge, and something…who knew just what, had torn to shreds he last thread of his decency and reality. What she didn’t know could get her killed. What she did know might save her life.

“I know your mother.” She took a deep breath and hoped she could talk around the fear creeping up her throat.

He nodded and took another step forward. She tensed.

“She’s a worthless bitch,” he said.

The statement stunned her a little even when it shouldn’t. Anything that came from his mouth shouldn’t surprise her. “Why?”

“Because she did what I wanted her to do.”

“What did she do?”

“She’s going to kill Griff.”

Cassie’s throat went tight, her heart returning to a relentless hammering. “Why?”

“Because then he can’t come here.”

His simplistic answers kept her on edge. She didn’t move, too shocked by the new information.

“Why would she do that?” she asked.

He touched the yellow curtains over the window that were already pulled aside, with their ridiculous small blue flowers. He leaned against the sink, his hands curled around the edge of the sink as he peered out of the slats.

“She wants him, and I want you. She told me if the world had to end we should have what we want.”

Cassie’s mind spun like a top. “The world isn’t ending. We heard good news. The EMP wasn’t bad enough to destroy everything. We’ll spring back again. It’ll take time, but the world will survive.”

He sniffed, his expression unchanging, as if she’d just told him that she’d bought toilet paper at a supermarket. “Huh.”

Maddened by his cool and calm approach, she nevertheless decided to take advantage. “You can be the hero of the day.”

“How?”

“You can let me go.”

He snorted. “Don’t see how that makes me a hero. It’s dumb. Women like to be dominated. They want to be told what and where to do things.”

Shit. Shit. Shit.
The man had gone over at least one edge. “Did you tell your mother to kill Griff?”

Please, please let Griff be all right.

“Yeah. At first I thought she might turn me in. Then the EMP came.”

His logic didn’t seem whole, but what did she expect. “Turn you in for what?”

“She figured out what I’ve done all these years while I was in the Navy.”

“What job did you do in the Navy?”

“I was a military police officer. It gave me access to things many other people didn’t.”

“Such as?”

“Military bases. See, everyone tends to relax on a military base. Most people do anyway. And it’s understandable why they would. Military bases can be safe.”

A sick sensation rose in her stomach. “Can be?”

He shrugged. “Nowhere is safe. Don’t you understand that? Everywhere you walk, everything you do, there’s the chance something bad will happen to you. People are afraid all the time. My parents…well, my foster parents were sick fucks. They did a good job of hiding it. I’m not even going to tell you what they did to me.”

His voice stayed cold, his expression devoid of emotion. Only the darkness in his eyes told her the truth. In her bones she felt what he said was true. His foster parents had done something to him.

“You didn’t try to get away from them?”

“More than once. No one believed me.”

She took a deep breath, almost feeling as if she’d held it for a long, long time. “I’m so sorry.”

He sniffed. “Yeah, well. Doesn’t fix it now, does it?”

“Of course not.” She had a feeling if she didn’t keep talking he would make a decision, and that step would mean her death if she didn’t speak to him the right way. If she didn’t make him like her. If she didn’t think her way out of this mental maze.

“You were in the military. So what does that have to do with your mother knowing that you’ve done something? Something bad?”

He smiled, and yet the smile didn’t mean good humor or real laughter. On his face it was pure cruelty. He didn’t answer.

“How did you find your mother?” she asked, determined to get him to explain, to give her more precious minutes. “Or did she find you?”

“I found her. After I left my enlistment, I decided I needed to find the woman who made me.”

Strange way to think of a mother, but it made sense to him apparently. “Oh, wait. You were asking me about the military bases, weren’t you?”

His switch up took her off guard. “Yes.”

A wider grin stretched his face, this one more feral animal than human. “I was in the military two enlistments. Women trust men in uniform, especially if they’re military police. But there’s no guarantee, is there? I understood what so many others don’t. Since there isn’t any place safe, and everywhere is scary…” He paused and licked his lips. “Then I should contribute to that fear any way I know how.” He threw up his hands. “After all, if people are spending their entire lives fearful of their own shadow, to step outside their own doorway, then I can help them create that reality. That’s so powerful.”

Now his truth came out, and it chilled her to the bone. “You create worlds for people. If they’re fearful, you’ll make it worse for them. Give them what they expect.”

“Yes.” His grin went wider. “You understand me perfectly.”

No. No she didn’t. “Is that why you’ve been in this place? Were you here somewhere when Griff and I came in?”

Once more his smile grew wide. “Yes.”

“Where were you? Why couldn’t we find you?”

“Because I’m part of the house. I faded in like fabric in a curtain.” He touched the curtains again. “Or in the rug. Or in the wood floor. Anytime I want, I can disappear into these parts of the house.”

A shuddering breath left her lungs. “How? How is that possible?”

“First time I came in here earlier this week, I understood what this place is.”

“What is it?”

“A portal to darkness. Can’t you feel it? Can’t you sense that this place isn’t normal?”

She almost snorted a laugh. He was asking her when he obviously didn’t know jack about normal? “Yes.” Yes, it was true. “Have you always felt different, Benson? Since you were a child?”

“Of course. My foster parents knew that. Now my real mother does.”

“Is she different, too?”

“Oh yes. Where did you think I got it from?”

“Your mother acts normal and talks normal, but she isn’t. Just like you.”

“You understand her and me. I knew you would.”

She wanted to scream that he couldn’t know her, and she wanted to escape so much she could taste it. Her instincts told her to keep him talking. Talking. Somewhere in all this stupid chat, she’d find a way to survive.

The grin splitting his face turned maniacal. “I like you. Would you stay here with me? If you do, you’ll fade into the walls, too.”

“Why is the house this way? There aren’t any other houses like this place.”

He stepped toward her, and she stiffened. “There are other places like this. Other people like me. You just haven’t run into us before. Your lucky time, I guess.”

“Does this only happen when a solar flare happens?”

He shook his head and moved a step closer. “No. It happens all the time. But the solar flare is helping. The energy is making it easier for darkness to overtake the earth. It’s so delicious, isn’t it? All the people who have died here. Who’ve come in here and disappeared never to be seen again.”

Horror didn’t describe her feelings. Frozen in disgust, she could barely speak. “Who else died here?”

“So many. Many.”

She inched away from the entrance, taking one step back. Fear rose inside her far stronger than it had moments ago. She’d fought it. Wanted to ignore it and had succeeded for a short time. No the thick, horrible feeling overtook her.

Again he touched the curtains, as if he could learn from their texture. They reminded her of curtains her mother had once had on her kitchen windows. The air smelled musty, close and thick. As if oxygen had been restricted here.

“You’ll become these cabinets. This floor. You’ll be a part of something extraordinary. Just like I am,” he said.

For a staggering moment, perhaps only a second, her will to survive faltered. She hovered on the cusp, recognizing she was where many, many others had been in their lives. The moment where a person decided whether to fight or to succumb.

Blackout: Chapter Thirteen

A groan awakened Griff. Who the hell was making that noise? Couldn’t they see he wanted to sleep? Just sleep. Aches littered his body, and he wondered if he had the flu. No, that couldn’t be it. He rarely even got a cold. It was one thing his fellow marines always commented on when it came to Griff Nelson. He never faltered. Never lost. Never gave in even when a situation verged on hopeless. Fuck if he’d surrender to a damned virus. Shit, his head hurt, too. Maybe he was the one doing the groaning. Recalling basic, where he’d first learned to become a marine, he ignored his pain and opened his eyes. In the part of his brain not complaining about how much he hurt, he heard the other part of him think,
Man up, pussy
.