Experiment in Terror 06.5 And With Madness Comes the Light (10 page)

Perry’s shape stirred on the bed then froze.
“Hey, kiddo,” I whispered. “It’s just me.”

I fucking hoped it was her.

I quickly climbed through the window and
made my way over to the bed. I crouched to her level and she turned
her head on the pillow to face me. She looked okay, like herself
again.

And I realized that was just as fucking
frightening. Because if the real Perry wanted to kill me, that was
something I couldn’t just recover from.

I was rattled beyond words and tried to give
her a smile.

“Sweet climbing tree you’ve got there,” I
said, nodding outside, grasping for conversation. What to say? What
could I possibly say to her, now, after all this time?

I looked back at her, at the way she was
looking at me, open yet guarded. She looked so weak, so torn and
ravaged. “How are you?”

“How do you think?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said, smiling softer now. “I know.
I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”

“Where?”

“I said I had a plan. Your parents never
gave me a chance to tell it to them. You just have to trust
me.”

She glared at me. I missed that glare. “How
the fuck do you think I can trust you?”

Ouch. This wasn’t going to be easy. I rubbed
anxiously at my face, hoping she’d trust me enough to see this
through. “I deserve that, I know. And I don’t blame you. But none
of that’s important right now. Later, yes. Not now, kiddo. Ada was
right. You can’t stay here. Whatever’s inside you, it’s going to
kill you. Sooner rather than later. And a hospital, alone...Perry
you don’t want to die in there.”

Her eyes widened. Now she was getting it,
what everyone else wasn’t.

I reached over and gently ran my fingers
down her hand. Her skin was still so smooth, so soft. I battled
inside to keep my focus where it needed to be. She needed comfort,
she needed to know she was going to be okay. I stared into her
eyes, finding her inside them. “It’s true. I’m not trying to scare
you. In fact, you’re the one who’s scaring me. As usual. But we
have to go.” I took a deep breath. “Will you come with me?”

I asked her like the world didn’t depend on
it. But my world did.

She seemed to think about it first. “You’ll
have to untie me.”

“I’ll risk it.”

“Promise you’ll tie me up again after?”

That was the last thing I wanted to do. I
didn’t want to become like her family. I couldn’t treat her that
way, no matter what she had done.

“I don’t want to.”

“But you have to,” she pleaded. “Or I won’t
go. I don’t want to hurt you again.”

“Even though I deserve it?”

“You deserve something. But not that.”

I breathed in deeply. I didn’t have much
choice here. “Okay, deal.”

I leaned over and slowly untied her left
arm. I was so close to her now, closer than I’d been so far. She
didn’t quite smell the same—it was a far cry from the shampoo scent
I used to smell on the sheets. But there was this musk, this primal
essence of her that came off her skin. It was there, pushing
through the mask. It gave me hope.

And, if we’re being honest here, a bit of a
boner.

Now’s not the time
, I told myself and
concentrated on getting her free.

Her hand came free first and she wiggled the
feeling back into it while I untied the other. With her entire
upper body free, I was bit wary. If she was going to bite my face
off like some bath salt junkie, there wouldn’t be much I could do
about it.

She shot me a knowing smile. “I’m okay.”

I nodded, chewing on my lip before I untied
her legs. When I finished, I gently slid my arm underneath her back
and lifted her up into a sitting position.

“Here, up you go. Easy...take it easy.” She
was weak as anything but fuck it felt good to be touching her
again.

She twitched a bit and started rubbing at
her temples. I cupped the back of her head, so small in my hand,
and tried to support her. She shut her eyes and pointed at the rope
I had just freed her from.

“Tie me up,” she said, her voice
straining.

“Right now?” I just undid her.

“Please, Dex.”

I sighed and reluctantly started wrapping
the rope around her wrists and ankles. I trusted her to know when
things were going to get rough, but it pained me to do this to her.
I couldn’t even pretend that this was something kinky, that’s how
far gone I was.

“Do it tighter,” she admonished me.

See. I couldn’t even make that into a
joke.

I reached over and tilted her chin up,
forcing her to open her eyes and look at me.

“What?” she asked. “You saw what I did. Your
throat is practically blue.”

Blue throat or not, this was the hardest
pill to swallow. Even she didn’t trust herself. “I don’t like
this.”

“And I do?”

Her eyes pleaded with me and I had no choice
but to do what she asked. I tied them as tight as I could without
cutting off her circulation.

“I’m obviously going to have to carry you,”
I admitted.

“Obviously.”

I put my arms behind her back and knees and
lifted her up. I had always found it easy to carry Perry, even
though her boobs did make up the bulk of her. But now, with the new
body, it was much, much easier. Would it be petty to admit I felt
cocky at a moment like this? Probably.

She didn’t seem to notice or care. She just
rested her head into my neck, her breath tickling my skin, and I
nearly died inside.

I took a shaky step, then asked if she was
okay.

She nodded and I ignored the fact that her
lips brushed against my neck as she did so.

“Here goes nothing,” I said to myself. I got
a better grip of her in my hands, then opened the door to the hall.
There was a dim nightlight down the hall near her parents’ room,
but everything else was dark. I could tell from the way she was
tensing up that she couldn’t wait to get rid of this house of
horrors.

I walked as smoothly and as quietly as I
could with her in my arms, making my way down the hall and the
stairs. So far so good. We needed luck on our side tonight and had
to get out of the house without anyone seeing us. I didn’t even
know where Maximus was, but it wouldn’t have surprised me if he was
sleeping on the living room couch like the traitorous freeloader
that he was.

Step by step, we made it to the hardwood
floors. The front door was so close.

But we weren’t alone.

A dark figure approached us until the light
from upstairs illuminated her eyes.

Ada. Still fully clothed, like she’d been
waiting for us.

“What are you doing with her?” she
hissed.

“I’m taking her. This is part of the
plan.”

“Taking her where? You never told me the
plan.”

“You guys, shut up!” Perry whispered
harshly. “You’ll wake Maximus.”

She jerked her head in the direction of the
living room.

So I was right. I went on, lowering my voice
even more. “I can’t tell you the plan. When your parents find out
what I’ve done—”

“They’ll call the fuzz!” she shot in.

“Exactly. And you’ll be grilled until you
tell them the truth.”

“I can keep a secret.”

“No she can’t,” Perry whispered to me. I
felt a surge of warmth at her sudden camaraderie and had to hide my
smile.

“See, Perry knows. Just trust me, Ada. You
called me here for a reason, didn’t you? I’m saving your sister the
only way I know how.”

“And how is that?”

The million dollar question.

“She needs an exorcist.”

Exorcist. The word seemed to bounce off the
walls as the two of them chewed it over in disbelief.

“An exorcist?” Ada repeated.

“Yes,” I said with a sigh. “You know. You’ve
seen the film.”

“Actually, I haven’t.”

Are you kidding me? What was wrong with this
girl? “Well, you should. It’s very good.”

“Guys,” Perry whispered again.
“Maximus!”

“Please, Ada,” I begged her, ready to go
into grovel mode. “Just let us go. You know I’ll do anything for
Perry. She’s safer with me than with anyone else.”

“My dad will call the cops the minute you’re
gone,” she said, but I could tell she was relenting. “They’ll come
after you. For, like, kidnapping or something.”

“I know.” It was worth it.

Ada folded her arms and stuck her leg out in
front of her. “Then I’m going with you.”

Yeah, so I can get two kidnapping charges.
“No. This is nasty business, Little Fifteen.”

“I don’t care. There wouldn’t even be a dumb
plan if it wasn’t for me. I’m going with you. She’s my sister and
you need someone to watch over her while you drive. And if you
don’t take me with you, I’m just going to march over to your little
ginger friend over there and—”

“Fine. You can come. But we’re going now.
Right
now. Before it’s too late.”

She beamed at us in victory then crept
quietly to the front door and opened it. With Perry safely in my
arms, I ran out into the rain and dark. My feet splashed in the
puddles beneath.

As I held her, I whispered into her ear,
“I’m just around the corner, a few more seconds.”

Ada quietly closed the door behind us, and
within seconds she was at our side as we approached the Highlander.
She opened the back doors and I gently placed Perry on the seat.
Ada hopped in on the other side, choosing to keep Perry company.
And maybe keep her in her seat.

I got behind the wheel and eyed them both in
the rearview mirror.

“Last chance to get out and live a normal
life,” I said.

“Are you kidding? I gave that up for Lent,”
Ada answered, rolling her eyes to the heavens. Perry managed a
small smile, and together we sped off down the road to Idaho. One
step closer to safety. One step closer to getting Perry back.

***

It was early morning, the sun
inappropriately bright, when we finally made it to Lapwai. The
drive hadn’t been an easy one. No, it was the most fucking
terrifying drive I ever had to take, and I had to drive with Jenn
and her mother for twelve hours once.

We made two pit stops, the first to wrap
Perry up in duct tape like a kidnapped worm thanks to her attempt
to jump out of the car while we were on the highway. The second
involved a swarm of wasps coming out of her. I panicked, thanks to
my wasp allergy, and we totally crashed. The car wasn’t damaged
too
badly and somehow I wasn’t hurt except for a minor blow
to my head, but that didn’t explain what was happening. She was
getting worse, and every time I looked back at her in the mirror, I
didn’t recognize the person there. Instead there was thing, this
malicious, dark and evil thing that seemed more and more familiar
by the second. It wanted to destroy me, destroy Ada, and most of
all, destroy the host. It wanted Perry dead in the end.

We thought we could get her to hang on just
a little while longer, just so she could explain to Bird and Roman
what was going on. But at about the time dawn broke over the rugged
hills of eastern Washington, the Perry we knew and loved had ceased
to exist. Instead, Ada and I were left with this creature that
writhed and screamed and spoke in tongues. I didn’t know whether to
be horrified or angry. At times, I was both.

When we pulled up to the small rancher in
the middle of butt fuck nowhere, I nearly collapsed from relief. We
used the remaining amount of duct tape to secure her to the
seat—she even had a strip over her mouth, to keep her from spewing
her venom at us. If she had grown any stronger during the journey,
I don’t think we would have made it there alive.

A reed-thin native man with small,
calculating eyes came out of the old rancher, the door banging back
and forth against the wall.

I ran out of the car and approached him.

“Roman?” I asked, holding out my hand.

He shook it, firm and quick, then held it
out for Ada.

She shook his hand, looking surprised at how
young Roman looked. He was probably in his mid-thirties, tops.

Roman was followed by Bird. Bird looked
almost the same as when I last saw him, strong despite the long
grey hair, and confident despite the worry lines on his forehead.
Seeing him gave me more of a boost. Finally, Ada and I were not
alone. Perry was finally going to get the help she needed.

I smiled for the first time in ages. It made
the wound on my head sting.

“Dex,” he said, giving me a single, hard pat
on the shoulder and squeezing it firmly. “I’m so glad you made it.
Though, your head…”

I shrugged it off. “Minor car accident.
We’re fine. But Perry isn’t.”

He looked over my shoulder at the car and
headed straight for it.

I opened the door and Bird peered inside. I
could feel him tense up at the sight of little Perry wrapped up in
duct tape, breathing violently out of her nose, her eyes batshit
crazy and slicing into everyone.

Roman took one look at her and then began
muttering something in his native tongue. To my surprise, Bird
understood him and answered back. I had a feeling that Perry was
too much for Roman to handle and it felt like every hope I had in
the world was about to be crushed to death.

“Excuse me?” I asked, trying to hide the
rising horror in my voice. “But what’s the problem?”

Bird looked at Perry with utter regret, then
gave me a tight-lipped smile. “Roman’s upset because I didn’t tell
him how bad she really was.”

“I didn’t know,” I said defensively. I
turned to Roman. “I didn’t know until last night. You speak
English, right?”

“Yes, I speak English,” Roman snapped. He
waved his hand at Perry dismissively. “She’s too far gone; this is
unfixable.”

No. No. I couldn’t believe that. I would not
accept that. We didn’t come all this way to give up. Perry was
fixable. End of story.