Riss (7 page)

“
More like a bed of thorns.” Pulling her oversized tee-shirt out of her luggage someone had packed for her, she pulled it over her head after undressing. “Can you imagine my life living in an orphanage with other children who were all adopted but me? It wasn’t like I was weird or anything, just not as pretty as the other children, I guess. Then there was the added thing that I had this hair.”

The flaming red hair she
’d had as a child had darkened as she’d gotten older. It was still red, but now it was more of a soft red rather than the carroty color she’d had long ago. Then there were the freckles. Those, too, had faded, but she still had them all over her body, and at times she wondered if she had more than her fair share.

“
I always thought that I’d been put in line several times to get them when I was made. But then, I guess it was all right. It gave me something for the other children to make fun of me about other than my eyes.” Looking in the mirror over the dresser, she looked at them now. “How do you suppose this particular shade of purple was invented for a person? It’s almost like I have black eyes rather than simply purple. Not to mention there is no choice for them on any form. Blue, green, and brown are the standards. Sometimes I’d see other, but you couldn’t put the color purple in there. I wonder why.”

Not that she cared all these years later. She just waited for people to get over looking at them before she
’d continue with what she wanted to say. Smiling, she thought of the reaction of the first boy she’d kissed.

“
He’d claimed that my eyes darkened. Whoever heard of such a thing? Darkening indeed. He was more than likely trying for a compliment to get into my pants. Fat lot of good it did him. All he managed to do was tick me off.” She moved back to the living room and sat down again, picking up the remote. “I wonder what on earth Dan is doing right now?”

He
’d tried to kill her. Or he would have had she not called the police. And why she’d done that was beyond her as well. Never in all her life had she done something like that, calling the police in a situation where she should have.

“
I’d been scared and only heard that voice of reason because of that.” She no more believed that than she did the police would keep her safe. “Things always happen to me. I’m always the one that will get hurt if there is a way or lose if there is any change. I have that knack about me.”

Finally
, after an hour of not really watching the television, she went to bed, and almost as soon as her eyes closed, she saw Dan’s face again. The rage in it and the way he’d stormed after her when he’d hit her. But as soon as she decided that she needed to get up, a soft wave of security seemed to wash over her, and she felt herself drifting off to sleep. The man from before, the dream of the feathered man, came to her almost immediately.

“
Are you in a better frame of mind to believe in me, my child?” She didn’t answer Him but looked around the entirely white room. “I love the peacefulness of this kind of space. There is so much going on now that…well, I need a place to come where it’s quiet.”

“
You’re not real.” He only shrugged at her. “Do you have a name, or do you want me to refer to you as Feathered Jerk?”

He laughed at her
, and she felt stupid. But before she could tell Him she was sorry, He put up His hand and stopped her. She didn’t have any idea why, but she liked Him better this time.

“
I’m glad you do. And most of the people who know me call me Boss. You may do so if you’d like.” She nodded, not sure, but she thought the man enjoyed the name for what it was rather than a title. “Do you know that I enjoy coming here to talk to you?”

“
I’m nothing all that special.” He laughed again and told her she was mistaken. “I’m just a woman. Unless you’re referring to my long line of crappy luck.”

“
No, I was thinking about how refreshing you are to speak to. Most people want to not look at me, and they tend to stumble all over their words rather than simply treat me as someone that cares about them.” He leaned forward in His chair, and she smelled honey and lavender. “It’s the scent that grows along my place. You’d like it there, I think. But not for some time yet. You have work to do.”

“
Riss.” He smiled and nodded at her. “You told me that I would meet a man, and I saw his name on a file.”

Again
He nodded and smiled at her. “You have met him. But he is…how shall I say…he’s not ready for you as yet. You are him, but that is a different matter altogether.”

“
I don’t understand. And…I can remember the name, but you say I’ve met him?” Boss nodded and leaned back. Kala had a feeling He wanted her to work it out, but her mind was somehow blocked.

“
I could help you with that, but then he will know that you and I have conversed about him. And that cannot be just yet. But I will tell you that your trials are not yet over. You’ll have much more to go through before he can come to you again. But I have a feeling that you’ll do fine.” Kala started to snort and stopped herself.

“
I’ve been through a great deal already. Did you know that a man tried to kill me? Well, not really kill me, but he did come to my house and hit me.” She watched Him lean forward again, and He touched her face. The pain she’d felt earlier was now gone. Touching her face, she felt the warmth. “You healed me.”

“
Not really. What I have done was take away the pain for now. I’m sorry, but again we cannot allow Riss to know that I’ve been here. He will be most unhappy with me.”

The file appeared in front of her again. This time it was open for her
, and there were words there. Picking it up, she looked at what it said, then looked at Boss.

“
It says here that I’m to have a child. I haven’t had sex in a very long time, and I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen.” He leaned back and gestured toward the file. This time she saw a picture and ran her fingers down the cheek of the man there. “Is this Riss?”

“
It is. He is also the father of your child. You are carrying it now.” Kala put her hand over her flat belly and shook her head as he continued. “I’m sorry, but it is true. Riss knows of him, but I am keeping him from you for just a little while longer. I need him to…disobey me once more concerning you. You’ll have to trust me when I tell you it will be worth your while.”

She looked at the man in the photo before putting the file back down.
“I don’t want a child right now. Maybe never. I don’t have time for one, and I certainly don’t have the money to raise one on my own.”

“
You’ll be fine. And I’m sorry to tell you, my child, but you already carry the babe within your womb. Riss and you have been…together…several times. And as a human, he was able to give you this child.”

“
Human?” Boss nodded. “I don’t understand. He’s not human? If not, then what the hell is he?”

“
A protector. Yours, as a matter of fact. He was sent here to protect you and to guide you, but I have changed it for the two of you. Riss wishes to be let out of my services, and I will need to find him somewhere to go after I do. Do you understand?” She shook her head. “You are a clever young woman. I’m sure that it will occur to you once you have had a chance to meet him again.”

“
I don’t know what’s going on.” He didn’t say anything, and Kala got up to pace as she worked through what was going on. “I’m betting that when I wake, I’ll not remember any of this, will I?”

“
You will remember what you wish to remember.” She wanted to hit Him over the head with something. But all that was in the large room was two chairs and a table that they both had been sitting at. “You are not happy with me, are you?”

“
No, I’m not. You’re talking in circles and expect me to get it later. Well, I don’t have until later. There’s a mad man out to kill me.” Boss nodded at her, and Kala decided that whatever it was she’d had to eat today, she was—something occurred to her. “There was a feather. I had one in my hand, and I was using it….”

Flushing
, she felt her face heat up when He laughed. “You did indeed. Most people would have simply tossed it away, but you found its one use that no one else has. It was the bond between the two of you that brought you to the point where you are now. I would hope that you’d be able to summon Riss when this is finished, but I believe your connection now is as solid as anyone’s.”

“
I want to wake up.” He stood up, and she took a step back when His wings spread wide behind Him. “Riss has wings as well?”

“
He does. And someday I will allow him to tell you all about them. It’s time for you to wake now, Kala. There is a man awaiting you in your living room, and I’d wish very much for you to trust him as well. His name is Michael.”

Then
He was gone, and Kala woke with a start. The room was dark as the night, and she felt suddenly terrified at what might be in the room with her. The dream was fading, but she knew that a man was coming to talk to her. How she knew, she had no idea, but he was coming. Getting up, she pulled on her robe to go into the living room. He was standing there with a box in one hand and a large folder in the other.

“
You must be Michael.” He nodded and smiled. “Do you have wings as well?”

And when they seemed to sprout behind him
, she grabbed the back of the couch. “I’m not in Kansas anymore, am I?”

His laughter was not reassuring.

Chapter 7

Dan moved through the room slowly. He had a feeling that someone was watching him, but couldn’t find anyone other than the man he’d tied to the chair. Dan was pissed off, and things never looked right when he was this mad. And he wanted to find his Kala and have her help him through this. Whenever she was around him, he felt calmer and his head didn’t pound so hard. Everything just seemed better when she was around.

They
’d taken her from him. The police had come to their home and had taken her away for some reason. And now he couldn’t find her. He looked over at the man he thought was responsible and laughed when he cringed. Maybe he’d make him tell him what was going on with her.

“
You should never have fired us. I tried to tell you when you was coming out of your office, but you wouldn’t listen. I really needed you to listen to me.” Randy Shields moaned when Dan popped him in the head again using his fist. Randy had been the one who had signed his and Kala’s emails. It was all his fault that Dan was now running around trying to find his one true love.

The gag in Randy
’s mouth prevented Dan from understanding him, but Dan got it. He was begging again. Dan hated when people begged. His mother begged him all the time. Take out the trash, answer the phone…stuff that she should have been doing for him. Not the other way around. He’d been the one working, while she sat around in her wheelchair ordering him around like he wasn’t anybody important.

“
I’m going to have to have you go into your office tomorrow and call her for me so I can tell her it’s okay to come home. Kala needs to come back to work for you guys, but the place where she is staying is being watched by the cops so I can’t tell her it’s okay. Everything is okay now. That way I can get our new address. She probably forgot to leave it for me.” Dan sat down at the table and looked around the room. “This is a nice house you got here. You think maybe Kala would like it? I don’t know what she can afford to pay, but I’m really thinking this would be something she should look into. There is a lot of room for all my cable stuff and my notes and stuff.”

Randy started talking again
, but Dan ignored him. He never said anything worth listening to anyway, even if he could understand him. And when Dan saw the blood on the floor, he got up to look at where it might be coming from. The other room was a mess compared to the dining room he and Randy had been talking in. Dan went into the room with his gun out just in case someone was hunting him again. Those damned police.

The den
, he supposed it was called, had broken furniture all over the place, and there was more than just the blood on the floor. There were splashes of it over the walls and across the pictures that hung on them. He looked around, wondering if he’d hurt himself, and started patting down his body for wounds. Then he saw her, or at least her legs hanging out from under the broken table.

The woman looked as if someone had beaten in her face
, Dan noticed when he got closer to her. And when he took a step closer still to her, he could see that not only had it been her face but her entire head as well. Most of the back of it had been beaten in, and there was what looked like brain matter on the floor by her. He looked at the rest of her body, but stepping around the table she was under, he could see that her arms and legs looked badly beaten as well. Someone had hated this woman. Going toward the opposite door, he found what appeared to be a dog, too. This one someone had cut up and removed his head from his big body. Dan was sickened by the sight, and had to leave the room now or throw up everywhere.

Going back into the kitchen
, he stood near the sink with the cold water running over his wrists to try and make himself feel better. The sight in the other room had been too much. Then he noticed the blood on the rags that were laying on the sink and in it.

“
Somebody hurt that woman,” Dan said. The man whimpered loudly, and Dan went to stand in front of him. “Did you know her? The woman in the other room, did you know who she was? I gotta tell you, she’s been beaten worse than I ever saw anyone before.”

When the man started talking
, Dan reached over and pulled the tape off his mouth. The tears running down his face made Dan want to hit him. Men did not cry. He’d heard that most of his life. Randy started talking so fast that Dan had to ask him to slow down.

“
You murdered my wife. You did it.” Dan started to shake his head, but Randy nodded as he continued. “You took the ball bat to her head the moment she came into the room, and when I tried to help her, you hit me until I lost consciousness. You murdered my wife.”

“
No. You’ve got it all wrong. I’m not allowed to kill anyone. They said if I did, then I’d have to go back.” Dan started pacing around the table as Randy sobbed. “I’ve never killed a person before. They told me that when I hurt that kid that I could have, but I’ve never hurt anyone since. Not even when they put me in that terrible place.”

Dan felt his body turn cold at the thought of the place he
’d been taken as a teenager. The little boy hadn’t died, so he could never understand why he’d been chained to the bed and left there to die. Of course, after several months he’d been freed. His momma had come and got him and took him to the house, but she’d told him if he hurt again, he was never coming back to stay with her. He’d even promised her on the Bible.

“
Do you know what they did to me? They put electricity to my ears and balls. They told me that I was a degenerate. I’m not that.” He’d had to look the word up when his momma had told him what it meant. He’d never believed her, but it turned out while she wasn’t really giving him the real definition, she’d told him that he was a monster.

When Randy continued to cry and whine about him killing his wife, Dan
started explaining to him how he knew he’d not done those horrible things. “I’m not depraved, immoral, and corrupt, or perverted either. I got standards, and I take my medications.”

He hadn
’t taken them for a long time, but he’d been well for so long that he felt that taking them was stupid. Dan had even started to stockpile them in the event that he might need them later again. But when he’d accumulated over a thousand of the pills he’d had to take four times a day, he’d stopped and dumped them in the toilet. He often wondered if there was a big alligator somewhere all doped up.

Dan sat down at the table and looked at Randy as he kept crying like he
’d hurt him, and going on and on about his dead wife. It was making Dan’s head hurt again, and when that happened, he would go black. He hated not remembering what happened to him when he’d go black.

“
Shut up.” As soon as Randy’s mouth snapped closed, Dan got up to pace again. There was something too wrong about all of this, he was going to get to the bottom of it. Now, right now.

“
The police were here, huh? That’s who did this? You called them when you saw me at the door? They’d do something like this to blame it on me.” Randy was shaking his head, then was accusing Dan again of killing his precious wife. “You know you can tell me the truth. I won’t be mad at you. Just tell me who came in here and beat that woman up.”

“
You did it, you motherfucking asshole. You came into my house with a bat and hit her when she opened the door. My poor Connie never did anything to anyone, and now you’ve killed her. I’m going to make you pay for this.” Dan started to hit Randy again when he realized that was what he wanted. He wanted something else to blame on him.

“
Well, I’m not going to do it. You can just fuck off. We both know what happened, and I had nothing to do with that shit in the other room. The dog either.” Randy tried to pull at the tape on his wrists that Dan had put around them to keep him in the chair. “You can’t get up just yet. I need you to call Kala.”

“
I don’t know how to get in touch with her. I’ve told you this several times. I wrote the letter a long time ago. It’s a form letter that they send out when they have to let someone go. I had nothing to do with you or this Kala person receiving it. I don’t even know anyone by that name.” Dan snorted and hit him again. “I swear to you, I don’t know.”

He was getting on his nerves
, and Dan had to go to the door and open it again. He’d been doing that for his entire life when he was really overwhelmed like he was now. It helped him to work something out by breathing in the fresh air. Dan supposed it had something to do with being locked up in the bad place, but he couldn’t think while he was feeling this way. When the urge to hurt seemed to lessen, he turned to look at Randy again. But someone had gotten to him while Dan had been breathing in the cool air.

Randy
’s head was laying in his lap, blood streamed from his open neck like a geyser, and Dan felt his belly jump. And he would swear that Randy was looking at him with those blank, dead eyes. Picking up the placemat from the table, Dan tossed it over the face and watched in horror as blood soaked through it in seconds. Dan moved out of the house and into the yard, where he threw up several times before he finally fell into the bush he’d used.

“
Someone is trying to make it so I have to go back. I won’t do it. Never ever never ever again.” Dan sat up and looked around, reasoning that whoever did this to Randy would be close enough to do the same to him. Moving deeper into the hedge line of bushes, he waited for several minutes to see if anyone had seen him.

Dan knew that he
’d have to do something and soon. Whoever was stalking him was going to get him into deep trouble, and then Kala would be all alone. He didn’t want that for her. When she’d told him stories about her life as a kid, he knew that he wanted to keep her well-loved and happy. She’d not had a good life, but Dan was going to give her one. They’d be happy for the rest of their lives.

Going back
into the house, he tried his best to ignore the blood that had pooled under the chair where Randy was sitting. Whoever had done this had left their knife behind, and Dan eyed it. It had to be the biggest knife he’d ever seen. It looked like one of those swords that people hung on their walls in the movies he watched. And as much as he wanted to touch it, he knew that he’d leave fingerprints. That wasn’t going to help him if he ever had to go to the police about this…which he just decided wasn’t going to happen. Going back to the sink, he noticed that his hands were covered in blood again, and so was his shirt. He needed to clean up or he’d be pulled over quickly if anyone saw him.

Dan thought about going back to his mom
ma’s house, but something kept him from thinking along those lines. He knew that she’d kicked him out, but she’d done that before and he’d been able to talk her into letting him come back. But he had a feeling this time wasn’t going to be that easy. He’d done something there that would have her pissed off at him for a few more days. And when she was that mad at him, he knew that his chances of changing her mind were going to be slim. No, his best bet was to go to Kala’s house and get him something to wear from his drawers.

As he went up to take a shower, making sure he didn
’t touch anything to leave fingerprints, Dan tried to think where his Kala might be. Her apartment building had more police than he’d ever seen in it, and he wasn’t comfortable going in there. He’d tried all their favorite restaurants, and also the movies. But no one there had seen her. He wanted to go back to his house and get his pictures of them there together, but again it meant going to his momma’s house, and he wasn’t going there yet.

When he found the bathroom
, he also found some shirts and a pair of pants lying on a bed and picked them up gingerly. Dan was surprised to find they might fit him. Stripping down to his skin, he stepped into the shower stall before turning on the water. He loved the feeling as the water went from icy cold to so hot it scorched his skin. Reaching for the bottle of shampoo on the ledge, Dan was concerned when bloody water streamed down the drain, but knew that somehow it had nothing to do with the body, nor any wounds on him. He washed himself three times before he finally just stood under the spray to rinse.

“
Someone is trying to frame me.” The echo of his voice in the silent room had him grinning. “I’ve watched enough television in my life to know that I’m not being paranoid but stating facts. Someone is really trying to frame me, and it’s all to keep me from my Kala.”

After getting out of the shower and drying himself
, he dressed in the underwear and socks he’d pulled from Randy’s drawer. When he was reaching for a clean shirt, he found the remote. Picking it up, he was surprised to find one of his shows on and sat on the edge of the bed to watch it. Then before he knew it, there were three more of his programs on, and he settled on the bed fully to relax. It was nearly one in the morning when he finally left the Shield house.

He didn
’t even feel bad that he’d taken the families money that had been on the dresser, and the keys to the car in the garage. His thinking was that neither of them were going to need them, and he’d only borrow them until he found his Kala. As soon as he looked in the back seat, he had to smile. Taking some extra clothes and some snacks was the only reasonable thing to do, as well as the cell phone and a few bottles of good wine. It hadn’t been very nice of them to make him look for them, he thought with a frown. When you invited someone to your house to stay, the very least you should do was show them around to where the good stuff was hidden. But he had enough for him and Kala to enjoy. She’d love it, Dan just knew it.