Chapter 15
Quinnly
My mouth is dry, but I’m more refreshed than I have been in a long time. I actually slept, dreamed even, something I haven’t done in a long time. Which means… Damn it, he drugged me.
Again.
The only time I ever dream is when I have no control over sleep. Pain flares in my leg, and I reach down to massage my thigh, flinching when it causes more pain. My hand runs over fresh cuts I don’t remember getting.
Lifting the t-shirt up to expose my leg, I observe the marks that run along the entire length of my upper thigh from my groin to my knee. It’s an odd pattern, something I’ve not seen before. Until the 0’s and 1’s start to line up and I realize what it is, and who it’s from.
His name.
My Shadow not only gave me his name, he carved it on my body.
Lincoln.
I’m not sturdy on my feet as I try to stand, my head hurts and my heart’s beating really fast. Pulling a water bottle from the fridge in the room, I down it in one go. Feeling a bit better, I admire his handiwork in the mirror. The lines are smooth, even for the zero’s.
Impressive.
Now I get to give him a present as well, but I’ll need to think on it so I can make it really special.
For now I’ve got a timetable to stick to, so after drinking another bottle of water, I head out with my freshly laundered clothes repacked in my bag, and walk to the bus station. My next target’s already noticed her money missing, and she’s got another hacker attempting to find where it went.
They won’t, I learned everything I know from Paps, and he knew everything there is to know about computers.
By the time I find her in her lavish Arizona home, she’s so distracted that it doesn’t take much to get rid of her. She didn’t trust anyone in her inner circle, so her security was minimal.
Booooo.
Unfortunately, the rest of the western USA was much the same. Boring and uneventful.
New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas, and not a blip of Lincoln in a single one of those states.
I’ve started to worry that he lost interest because it’s been so dull.
Twenty-four states in total–eleven since we tussled in California–and not even a ‘hi how ya doin? Would you like me to clean up again?’.
Not that I need him to clean up after me, but I’ve certainly been making his self-appointed job a bit more messy lately, hoping to rage bait him into playing with me again.
But nope.
Now my scratch-off board looks less daunting, everything from Louisiana up to Minnesota and over to California has been scratched off and the FBI’s nowhere to be seen. Sure, they’ve gathered shreds of evidence, but nothing that’s substantial.
Every night I cuddle up in my taco slippers and scan their databases, waiting for one of them to connect any dots.
Nothing.
Like I said, idiots.
Sitting in my New Orleans hotel, I’ve cleaned up and curiosity gets the best of me. I’ve heard New Orleans is spooky and fun, especially for the famous Samhain celebration, and I’m getting more and more irritated with my Shadow. He came out of hiding weeks ago, and now it’s radio silence.
So, tonight, I’m going to get devious.
The murder board will be forgotten for one night. My only objective is to get Lincoln to come play with me, and he will. He won’t have a choice.
I’ve got my scissors strapped to my thighs, the sun’s setting on Bourbon Street, and my outfit’s got eyes moving. The streets are filled with people celebrating and hollering. Balconies are overflowing with drunk men and women all in costumes from cute to grotesque.
There are people in masks walking the street, music pours from different buildings, and street performers play every so often. It’s loud, and I’m glad I thought to put my ear plugs in because if I hadn’t, I’d be in a full spiral right about now.
Paps helped me with pinpointing the things that set my brain on fire and finding a solution to acclimate into society. Loud noises are one of the things that will send me to my knees, usually. But I’ve heard a lot about New Orleans, and I knew it would be loud.
The first place I slip into is a voodoo shop boasting some vampire TV show.
I haven’t watched too many shows, I’m more of a movie gal myself, but they have candles in all the colors, and apparently the colors have meaning.
The lady toward the back of the store asks me if I want my future read while she shuffles a deck of cards.
The way her hands move, it’s almost like a trance. I can’t help but watch.
“Come child,” she says, her voice warbly and a little distorted. “I can see death follows you.”
That makes me laugh, and the candles I have bunched in my arms start to topple out of my hands. “Ugh,” I mumble, reaching down to pick them up. Turning away from the older woman, I start to walk up to the register and the woman’s gnarled hand wraps around my arm.
“He follows you,” she whispers, turning me around so her eyes bore into mine. “Little lost lamb with a wolf who waits in the shadows to slaughter.”
“Sorry lady,” I shrug her hand off and the fuzz in my body starts to dwindle. “But, spoiler alert, I know he’s following me.”
Her eyes widen and she looks at her hand as if my skin burned her. She looks from me to the younger woman at the register and then disappears behind the curtain separating the front of the store, to who knows what beyond.
The young woman bags my treasures and hands them over, she doesn’t speak to me the whole time, and when I pull out my card to pay she shakes her head and points to the door. Clearly she wants me out of here bad enough to not want me to waste time paying.
Looking back at the curtain, I pause, waiting for the older woman to show up. The lady at the counter whispers a prayer under her breath and with a shrug, I walk out with my spoils and skip down an alley.
There’s a flashing light on the other side and a crowd of people screaming.
I fucking love Halloween.
Who walks down an alley in the fucking dark? Paps voice, that’s what I hear in my brain when I start down the smelly alley. Quinnly fucking Adams, that’s who. I respond, and wait for Paps laugh to come through. Skipping down the uneven stone path, my paper bag flaps against my leg.
Two men have entered the alley where I started, and I wonder if this will be my moment. Humming to myself I let the pair get a little over halfway down the alley before one of them notices me and grabs my shoulders.
They messed up my song.
Turning to greet them, I notice when they both smile. “Hiya boys,” I yell a little louder than necessary, I forgot that when I have my earplugs in, I get louder. “Nice night, huh?”
“Oh it sure is, sweetheart.” They chuckle, smiles widening, attempting to scare me. With their demonic masks, and the fake blood they seem to have squirted all over their clothing, I’m sure they think I’m going to cower in terror.
Little do they know I’m not the prey.
I laugh along with them and neither of them notice my scissors in my left hand. The two of them advance and I cackle, plunging my scissors into the side of one. My laughter gets louder as the two of them pause to look at each other, and the one I stabbed attempts to stop the bleeding.
I’m stabbing grown men in an alley, surrounded by people, and my shadow still hasn’t come out.
Now I’m getting impatient, it’s time to escalate.
When the demons try to run, I pounce on the closest one, knocking him to the ground.
Lifting his head, I smash it back into the dirty cement once, twice–I lose count as his blood, skull, and brain matter splatters the stone and brick.
Looking up, the other man–the one I stabbed–is already at the entrance to the alley, screaming for his friend. There’s a creak of metal as something drops from the fire escape. My giggles can’t be contained as my shadow steps out of the dark, and the guy grabs for him.
“You gotta help him!” He screams, holding onto Lincoln like a savior.
“Who?” Lincoln’s voice is calm, steady, and finally the guy realises Lincoln is not going to help him. His eyes go impossibly round, I can see the whites from here they’re so big. He whimpers, takes a shaky breath and tries to flee once again.
Pulling my scissors apart, I chuck one his way. It sails through the air, end over end, before it lands with a satisfying smack right into his lower back, stopping him from going any further. Lincoln grips his ankles and pulls him back into the alley.
“She’s g-gonna kill me.”
“It’s just a stab wound,” Lincoln scoffs, “I think you’ll be alright.”
“You came back!” I shout, running up to him and looking down at the guy. Dismissing him, I look back up at Lincoln. “Where have you been?”
Pushing against his big chest, the guy moans and sputters as Lincoln eyes me.
“You were just going to let this one go?” He rumbles.
“I wasn’t!” I protest, crossing my arms and stomping my boot against the concrete. “I like to hunt.”
“In the city where everyone’s watching?” His eyebrow raises, and I want to stomp his foot.
“They started it!”
“You finish it,” he growls, looking down at the guy currently pinned under his boot. “Now.”
“I think you should play with me, Lincoln,” using his name like a weapon delivered in a silver tongue. It’s sultry, low and throaty, something I picked up from movies.
“I can’t guarantee your safety if I do that, Menace.”
Laughter bubbles out of me and I step closer, almost brushing against his body. “That’s why I like you, Shadow.”
“Get rid of this guy.” he rumbles with a thumb and forefinger over his eyes, “then we can… play.”
Squealing, I jump up and down clapping my hands. He leans against the building, head tilted to the sky as if he already knows he’s going to regret this.