Chapter Eleven: Payback

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      Shade closed the large trunk lid of the sedan, sealing the lifeless body of Coltan along with the concussion-suffering masked man inside after Amanda and Gideon tossed them in. She leaned back against the car, crossing her arms in a pouting manner as she looked at Gideon with a disappointed frown. Amanda slid into the driver's seat, closing the door as she glanced into the back seat at the jittery man still bound with zip-ties who'd become their willing informant.

    "Now Shade, please understand. With Corbin resting, I need you here, in case another attack is made against the manor while Amanda and I are gone," Gideon said, reasoning against Shade's sullen mood.

    "Yeah, yeah. I know, but it still bites. I wanted in on the payback comin' to those guys," she said, grinding her fist into her opposite hand.

    Gideon started to the passenger side of the dark blue sedan. "I suppose this is little consolation to you but, I assure you, they will get what they deserve," he vowed as he got in the car.

    Shade backed away when the sedan started up, and she stood in the driveway until the car motored out of sight under the cover of night that had a little more than a couple of hours left before the coming dawn. With a careful scan of the immediate surroundings which were illuminated by the outside lights on the manor's pillared stoop, she walked back inside where she began a dutiful circuit through the many hallways of the manor to make sure all was safe.

    Inside the manor Lydia was drifting off to sleep in her bedroom while Ethan helped Gale round up the coffee cups from the dining hall table and take them to the kitchen sink. He leaned back against the kitchen counter with a tired yawn followed by a spoken thought.

    "Shouldn't the authorities be notified about all this, the intruders I mean?"

    Gale turned to him ready to answer, but she was distracted by his falling bangs that broke away from his usual part. She reached up and brushed his hair back in place, loving the feel of it between her fingers.

    "Trust me, Gideon and Amanda are the best authorities for a situation like this. They know how to handle it," she affirmed.

    Ethan didn't argue. He had just wanted to present the thought and was happy enough with the response, being too tired to discuss it further anyway. He yawned again.

    An affectionate smile rose on Gale's face, complimenting her insinuating eyes that gazed at Ethan with an offer. "You know, it's very late and we're both exhausted. Why don't you stay here tonight, with me?"

    Ethan returned her smile as he snuck his hands onto her hips, pulling her close as her smile widened and she wrapped her arms around him. "I'd like that, very much," he agreed, accepting the offer with a long kiss.

    Not far from the manor, in an isolated spot where the outer forests of Bergstad provided natural barriers against the nearby suburban growth, Amanda parked the dark blue sedan on the shoulder of a seldom traveled back road. Through a break in the tree-lined scenery  a lone house could be seen with lit windows that displayed shadows of flickering movement inside. The zip-tied assailant in the back seat had directed his pale, stern-faced captors there in the hope that his cooperation would earn him his freedom.

    After observing the house silently for a few moments Gideon turned to Amanda with a devilish glint to his faintly glimmering eyes. "Well my dear, this time you get to have all the fun."

    Amanda took the cue from Gideon with a relishing smirk at the thought of what she was about to do, then she got out of the car and started up the dirt drive to the house. She crept up to the porch-lit front door, listening in on the clamoring voices inside which her supernatural hearing made as clear as if there were no walls between her and the men inside. One man was wallowing in agony because of a badly broken hand for which he begged for a doctor, only to be gruffly rebuked by another man for being incompetent and making up stories about a giant monsters that appeared out of nowhere. Another man vehemently defended his wounded comrade, claiming to have seen the monster too.

    After hearing enough to determine she was at the right place, Amanda knocked on the door, bringing all the voices inside to a quick hush. She heard careful footsteps approach the door, knowing she was being viewed through the door's peep hole under the already burning porch light, then she heard the person near the door tell his waiting partners that some hot chick was outside.  Another voice, one Amanda had not yet heard, ordered the man to open the door while keeping his guard up.

    When the door opened Amanda instantly assaulted the man with an apology for the late disturbance, then she began a convincing story of having car trouble on the way home from a party, claiming that her cell phone was dead and she wondered if she could come in only for a moment so she could use their phone to call a friend.  

    The man at the door turned back to receive instruction from one of the fellows behind him, allowing Amanda a moment to peek past him and see three other men gathered in the house. Clearly perturbed by her presence, one of the three other men angrily ordered her to come in and make it quick.

    "Oh don't worry...," Amanda assured as she stepped into the house with a sly grin. "...I'll be finished shortly," she asserted, eyeing the man who'd given her the invitation she needed. He matched her stare and was suddenly overcome with gasping terror as she transformed instantly into a fanged horror.

    Gideon turned to his nervous prisoner in the back seat with a devious, knowing smile when he heard the terrified screams amongst Amanda's familiar snarl coming from the house. The man's wide eyes were fixed in the direction of the house where the shadows in the windows had become frantic and the tortured cries that escaped into the night were spine-tingling. In a brief few minutes it was all over, the night was calm again.

    Gideon got out of the car and opened the back door, pulling the man out of the back seat as he pleaded for his life with stammering words. He ripped off the zip-ties binding the man's hands and feet, then grabbed him by the throat to hold him in place. 

    "You participated in an attack against my family. That I cannot pardon," he convicted with an angry glare, then he loosened his grip. "But I will give you a sporting chance to keep your life."

    Gideon pointed to an open field across the road from the house that stretched out to another line of densely packed trees. The man twisted his head in Gideon's loosened grasp to look at the field which was little more than a dark horizon with hints of snow to his human eyes.

    "If you can reach the far side of that field, where the trees begin, you may keep your life," Gideon promised.

     Gideon removed his hand from the man's throat and motioned him toward the field with it, nodding his head at the man to make him go. The man darted his eyes distrustfully between the field and Gideon, then he tore away from Gideon in a mad dash across the road for the field. He tripped and fell but quickly recovered as he resumed his sprint with a desperate glance back at Gideon, who stood like a statue beside the sedan.

    Halfway through the field the man shot another look behind him to see if he was being pursued. With no one behind him he slowed a little to catch his breath which the freezing night air made like tiny daggers in his lungs. Hearing the sound of large wings flapping slowly overhead he stared up into the dark sky in search of the sound. The darkness around him kept everything hidden, but the sound grew closer.

    He studied the night sky a little harder and a large, winged silhouette came out of the sky, swooping down toward him. He gasped, turning to run but was hit from behind by the creature and rolled to the ground. Scared and disoriented, he got back to his feet, throwing glances everywhere for the creature, then he heard the wings coming again. He started back for the trees with a rejuvenated sprint when he looked up behind him and saw it closing in on him from above. 

    It was unbelievable. A human-like creature with bat-like wings, clawed hands and feet, and a woman's breasts barreled down on him with a demonic face that snarled at him through fangs. He froze as he yelped in fear, throwing up his hands to shield himself from the coming attack, but the creature hit him with such force that it's razor-sharp claws separated his torso from his legs just above the waist. The blood-spurting legs stood on their own for a moment before falling over to the ground, then the mangled torso landed near them with an organ-splattering thud.

    Minutes before dawn Gideon and Amanda arrived back at the manor, having agreed to return the following night and clean up the mess at both the house and Ethan's cabin. Amanda went to check on Corbin before joining Gideon in the basement for their retreat from the coming day. She stood beside his bed, gazing at him with thoughts of how much he meant to her, surprised at herself for how fast she'd fallen in love with him. The thought of possibly losing him because of some madman's twisted allegiance to Jarell raised a vow inside her to find this Colonel Merrick and end him, along with whoever followed him, no matter how many. 

    Corbin was resting soundly and Amanda reached down to place her hand lovingly on his cheek for a moment, before the day came and took him away from her. He shifted a little at her touch, then cracked open his eyes. Realizing who it was, he wrestled out of sleep, as well as the covers, to sit up against the headboard as she withdrew her hand.

    "I didn't mean to wake you," she apologized, though she was happy that he was now awake.

    "No, it's okay. I'm glad you did," he said as he rubbed his eyes to clear his sleepy vision.

    He looked bewildered for a moment when he took in her ruffled appearance. Her hair was severely wind-blown, her outfit tattered and blood stained, and all around her mouth and down her throat were speckles of dried blood.

    "What happened? Are you okay?" he asked.

    She smiled and answered,"Yes, I'm fine."

    Looking through one of the windows in his room she noticed daylight reaching over the horizon.

    "I have to go now, but I'll see you this evening. Gideon and I are staying in the basement."

    She leaned in to kiss him goodbye but paused when he drew back a little, pointing a twirling finger at the all the dried blood on her face.

    "You've got a little...food...around  your..." he stopped, shaking his head at his own disgust. "It doesn't matter, come here," he invited, motioning her to him with a curling index finger and a look of total devotion.

    She sank down to him and they joined in a passionate kiss that would have to hold them both over until sunset.

    

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