Van Helsing's Castle 2, page 15
Flicking out my tongue, I licked the tips of my forefinger and middle finger respectively before I reached forward and cupped her tits. I rubbed my fingers in a circular pattern around the spot where her nipples were underneath her top.
Within seconds I had Dusky’s lip quivering with pleasure.
“I’m not finding it honey,” I said.
Her eyes shot open. “Don’t you fucking stop,” she paused and sheepishly smiled at the salesman, whose face now resembled a ripe tomato, before turning her smoldering gaze back onto me. “They…it…it must be in there. Keep looking.”
So there I was standing out in broad daylight provocatively fondling my catgirl’s tits in front of a car salesman who was mere seconds away from keeling over and melting into the ground at the sight of it all. Just when all hope for Tilly saving the day was lost, an engine started in the distance.
Then another. Then several more.
The lights on dozens of the vehicles began to flicker and horns blared.
Our salesman snapped to attention, his eyes now the size of a desk globe. “What in God’s name?”
A truck accelerated forward towards the car salesman. He shrieked and ran for his life as the vehicle collided with his cart, tipping it over. The man probably got more exercise in that moment than he had all week trailing the lot.
“Bad kitty,” I scolded as I pulled my hands away from her chest.
Naturally, she snatched my hand and put it back on her boob. “Come on, you can’t get me going like that all hot and steamy and then stop like nothing happened.”
“Later,” I replied, wincing as I heard one of the haunted vehicles smash into one of the parked cars.
Pulling my hand away from her massive mammaries, I glanced towards the front of the building. People were now stepping outside of the dealership, gawking at the pandemonium unfolding before their very eyes.
Flabbergasted expressions gave way to unadulterated terror as the vehicles came speeding in their direction. People fled the building as an SUV crashed itself through one of the display windows. Meanwhile, I shrugged off four more attempts by Dusky to get my hands back on her tits.
In terms of scaring them, Tilly had done a great job. She was scaring the hell out of me too. It took me a few seconds to snap to action, but I bumped Dusky’s shoulder and gestured her to follow me. She followed my cue with a groan, and the pair of us started hauling ass toward the blue Mustang I’d selected earlier.
The door wasn’t locked. I didn’t know for certain if that was Tilly’s influence or if the team managing the lot just left it that way, but we were inside the sports car within seconds. Before I lifted a finger to do anything, I heard the engine kick and the vehicle started.
Then the familiar voice of our companion came from the doll. “How is that for a scare?”
“10 out of 10,” I murmured as I shook my head. “Next time you want to let me in on what you’re going to do before you do it?”
“Well...I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to pull it off, but hey! It worked. Even if I felt a little…well, who cares.”
I glared holes into the doll. “I fucking care. Don’t put your safety at risk like that.”
“Yeah, Tilly. What the hell were you thinking?!” Dusky shouted at the doll, shaking it angrily in front of her face.
“I…I thought I did a good thing.”
Letting out an exasperated sigh, I softened my expression. “You did well, honey. You did great. I just wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something were to happen to you on this mission. We have the doll so you can exist outside the castle. Going away from it like you did is too risky.”
Dusky continued the train of thought for me. “Especially out in the open, Tilly. You wander too far away from your anchor and poof. Bye-bye, see you never. Does that paint a clear enough picture for you?”
“I understand.”
I could feel my pulse racing, almost as fast as the Mustang we were blazing out of the lot in. I set my focus onto the road, shrugging off the worry.
One thing was for sure. We needed to move fast and get this ugly business over with before Tilly did something she couldn’t take back.
I would not lose her. We’d send these pricks out to be bagged and tagged like the garbage they were, and then we’d be able to go back home soon where I could know she’d be safe and sound. This just became a rush job as far as I was concerned.
“Martin Fernando,” I said with a click of my tongue. “Ready or not, we’re coming for you.”
Chapter fifteen
Atonement
If I were pressed to describe the sight of the San Croix apartments, chief among my choice words would be luxurious. Certainly a better place than any I’d inhabited during my lifetime bouncing myself around in the streets of Chicago. The area was gated with white fencing. Beyond the barrier lay a tiled common area with a sizable pool where the blue sky above and the reflections of trees glimmered off the surface of the waters.
Buildings surrounded the pool on the east, west, and northern sides. At the moment, things were quiet. The neighborhood almost resembled a ghost town, and not because of Tilly being in my company, either. Save for a pair of men trudging in the distance who seemed to be struggling to move a desk, the area was unmanned.
The fence wasn’t particularly tall. Leaping over it took no effort for me at my current level, and Dusky, being a catgirl, followed easily.
“What’s the unit number?” I whispered to Tilly as we casually strolled through the common area.
“A2,” she replied.
Dusky spoke up. “Let’s say that is the unit number. It’s broad daylight. What are the odds he’ll be there? Doesn’t he work?”
We both adjusted our focus on the doll waiting for her confirmation.
“Today is Saturday. Saw a calendar in the dealership building.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “And tomorrow is Sunday. What’s that got to do with this guy?”
“Well, unless Martin is doing a grocery run, he’ll be home. Knowing him, he probably drank heavily the night before. If he did, he’ll be sleeping. Usually does so around this time from what I know of him.”
I hoped she was right. Some time had passed since her death. Martin could have moved, but this was the lead we had. We made our way to the building with A2 emblazoned above its entrance.
Dusky glanced at me with a catty grin. “Seems simple enough. So, what’s the plan master? Bust a window? Kick in his door?”
Subtle she is not, I thought to myself. Shaking my head, I glanced at Tilly. “How about you ghost onto the other side of his door and unlock it? We’ll stroll in like we own the place.”
The doll fell silent. Within a few seconds, we heard an audible click.
I grinned at Dusky. “How is that for ‘simple enough’?”
“You’re making this too easy.”
With a nod, I opened the door and stepped inside the place. The room was a mess, with clothes strewn about the floor and littering the furniture.
Judging by the lack of TLC, I was worried our guy may have already been dead. Thankfully, snores coming from the couch at the end of the living room confirmed there was life underneath this roof yet.
For now, I thought as I narrowed my eyes at the sleeping figure. Any smile I bore prior to coming inside the apartment was gone now. This was business. There’d be no happy smiles. No messing around. We were here to do a job, and we’d do it quick and dirty.
Dusky looked expectantly at me, not sure what she needed to do yet.
I spoke in a hushed tone. “That him?”
Tilly’s voice registered faintly in my ear. “Yes, that’s Martin.”
The man was smaller in size and weight than me. He didn’t look particularly imposing in his white sleeveless shirt with his scrawny frame.
A shudder went down my spine as I glared at the slob lying unconscious before me. A flash of red hazed my vision as I thought about how this piece of filth was breathing perfectly good air, getting off scot-free with what he did to Tilly.
The three of us would be changing that fact. Martin’s bill was coming due today and the cost he’d be paying would be as steep of a penalty as they come. It’d be death.
Glancing at Dusky, I motioned to the catgirl. She obeyed and approached my side.
“Get the blinds and check the place out. If you see a back door, position yourself there.”
“You think he’ll run?”
I huffed. “Crawling like a worm and begging for his life is more of what I figured. Now go. That is an order, not a request.”
Dusky pouted but gestured in affirmation. She then turned tail and began to close the blinds. The light in the room extinguished, leaving us with only shadows in its stead.
The floorboard creaked as I stepped towards a blue recliner that was stationed in front of a large flatscreen television. “Tilly, do with him as you see fit.”
Within seconds the air in the room felt like a Midwest Winter. Martin curled up along the couch’s edge and shivered as he clung tightly to his blanket. The furniture he rested on began to slowly lift off the floor, tilting backward by a few inches with each passing second.
Martin’s eyes shot open as he jerked forward, confused. He let out a yelp as the couch crashed onto the ground, ejecting him from the cushions and sending him rolling inelegantly onto the floor.
“Wh-what the hell?” he exclaimed as he whipped his head around wildly in a desperate bid to reorient himself. His eyes locked on me. “Who are you?”
“The Fairy Fucking Godmother,” I retorted as I rose from the recliner. “Only your evening is about to be the furthest thing from an enchanting one.”
Martin’s face paled. “Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but whatever it is I’m sure we can sort this out.”
“It’s a blast from the past,” I said. “Or a splash. That’s the sound I’m sure you and your friends heard when you dumped her body from The Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.”
Martin’s mouth gawked at my words. He looked like a drowning fish starved by the air above the boundaries of the ocean. The man’s knees failed him when the television lifted on its own from the entertainment stand. It hovered in the air for several seconds before it dropped to the floor.
The screen shattered and shards of glass fell onto the ground. What followed the collision was the lingering scent of smoke that permeated the air.
“I don’t…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
My jaw set as he said that. Even when confronted directly with the truth, the sniveling worm was squirming, trying to wriggle away from the hook that he found himself ensnared within upon his rude awakening.
Tilly’s voice spoke faintly from the distance. “But I do.”
“N-no,” he whimpered as he began crawling away. “It can’t be you! You’re dead!”
A spectral figure emerged before the man. Her wet, brown hair covered her face as she hovered several feet in front of him. “I am,” she whispered softly. “It’s something we’ll soon have in common, Martin.”
“Fu-fuck!” he yelled as he leapt to his feet. Martin turned to run. Unfortunately for him, he was heading in my direction.
Clutching the whip at my side, I struck forward with it. The leather lashed him across the face, sending him crumpling to the ground. The crack of the whip snapped through the air, thundering like the blast of a gun barrel as I struck his prone form with it again.
Martin cried. “P-please don’t do this!”
I steadied my hand, keeping my fingers curled tightly around my weapon. We both knew the man’s next words were crucial. The wrong ones would result in more pain.
“I had,” he paused to swallow the weight of his words. “I had no choice.”
It took a great deal of restraint not to immediately lash out and hit the man once more. Holding back my temper, I replied. “Elaborate. And make it good, too. Where exactly did you have no choice? Was it before or after you tied her separated limbs down with concrete?”
Martin paused. His breathing had become ragged. “For God’s sake, she killed my friend. Stabbed him to death.”
Tilly snarled. “He crushed my windpipe. Believe me, that animal ensured I already had one foot firmly planted in the grave before I did anything to him.”
“And then you were content to tarnish her reputation. Have her own family spit on her memory, allowing them to believe she was some lunatic murderer.”
I heard a sound behind me. Stupidly, without thinking, I turned to examine the source of the noise. Dusky rounded the corner. The look affixed upon her face was an anxious one.
In that split second, that mistake allowed the man to make a mad dash at me. For a small guy, he certainly had one whale of a tackle. His shoulder struck my sternum, and the next thing I knew, we both collided against the ground.
Martin mounted himself on top of me and began to hammer blows down. It was the strangest sensation, but I barely felt the hits. They were noticeable, don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to pretend for one second that what he did felt pleasant, but the punches he threw felt more like little taps than attacks with any weight behind them.
Probably, it was from how much I’d leveled up. It also didn’t hurt that I was so fucking mad at the guy that the only thing I could think of was how I was going to make him suffer. That perhaps overrode any sense of pain I would have experienced otherwise.
Regardless, I knew what I needed to do. I freed my arms from under his weight effortlessly and slugged him once in the face—lightly for me.
Martin let out a yelp and his blows stopped. The moment his weight shifted, I shoved him forward and sent him toppling onto the floor.
Instantly, I was on my feet. I kicked my boot forward and struck him across the jaw when he attempted to stand. From the blood pouring out of his mouth, I imagined I’d just busted several of his teeth with one heavy hit.
“We’ve got a problem,” Dusky said behind me.
“What kind of problem?”
“Company,” she hissed. “Two other men. The same two, in fact, we were going to find after dealing with him.”
That sounded a hell of a lot less like a problem and way more like an opportunity to me. Such a development only served to save us all a road trip to Henderson. Whether we killed the other guys now or thirty minutes from now made little difference to me. If they suffered in the end and Tilly got her justice, I’d be nonetheless content.
“Coming in from the back?”
Dusky nodded. No further words needed to be exchanged. I approached the man on the ground and wrapped the leather whip around his throat, activating the Rope of Restraint property. I watched as it snaked itself the rest of the way around his body.
Martin gagged as I applied pressure to his throat. He writhed and flailed for about five seconds before his struggle ended. With a violent twist, I felt his neck snap and his windpipe fail. His head tilted at an unnatural angle and his body ceased all movement. He was dead on the floor.
We stood in silence for several seconds when we heard a door open from what I presumed was the kitchen of the apartment.
“Hey Martin! Where the hell did you say Lacy was?”
With shrugs exchanged, I realized none of us knew or cared who this Lacy person was, though I did silently thank her. Their inability to find this individual led them right to us.
The faces of the men were burned into my mind as they turned the corner. Dusky bounded forward and kicked the first man, a heavyset guy with a mustache, into the wall, where he made a vaguely man-sized hole.
The second person, a wiry-looking fellow with a shaved head, staggered back at the sight of his friend uniting unexpectedly with the apartment drywall.
“Joe Bellamy!” Tilly shouted.
The man turned his head to face the shrieking voice. He paused and made eye contact with the specter looming in front of him, and his lip twitched for a few seconds before it curved into a scowl. “I think it’s happened. I think I’ve finally gone crazy.”
The snap of my whip drew his attention to me as I reclaimed it from its previous target. Specifically, it drew his focus toward the corpse lying dead upon the floor at my feet.
A perverse smile flashed across his face. “What’s with this Indiana Jones routine?” he asked, surprisingly composed for what must have been the shock of his life. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Dusky restraining his friend. He chuckled before he turned to face Tilly. “I don’t know who your friends are or how they fit into my psychotic episode here, but hi.”
Tilly stared at him, shaking. Soon, it wasn’t just her that was shaking, but the floor beneath us, too.
“Look, we did what we had to do. You killed your own husband.”
“He killed me first.” Her voice echoed in the room and made the photos on the wall shudder.
Joe shrugged. “Not well enough, apparently. So—what are you going to do? Kill me, too?”
Tears, bloody ones, dammed within Tilly’s eyes as she studied the man. He stood brazenly before her without an ounce of remorse.
I spoke. “So that justifies what you people did?”
Joe smiled at me. “Making her The Teen Black Widow, you mean? Saving our bro’s rep? I mean, bro code and all, yeah. I never liked the bitch anyway. Too sweet. You can never trust someone like that.” He nodded triumphantly at the pale-skinned ghost in front of him, bleeding black blood from her eyes as she regarded him with a sneer. “Case in point. Look at her.”
I remained silent, letting Tilly have the floor. I would be there to support her or say what I had to say if she needed me, but this was her revenge, not mine.
“Yep, look at me, Joe. Look at me about to rip your guts out through your asshole, you sick, misguided fuck.”
Joe was shaking, but he still spoke smoothly enough. “I mean you couldn’t even carry out your revenge without clinging onto other people. You’re useless, even as a ghost. Saddest fucking thing I ever saw.”
