Rescues
Chapter thirty
Jake
Just before I get to the door, it swings open, crashing loudly against the side of the warehouse. Nerves fraying, I bring the knife up in front of me, ready to cut through anyone standing in my way.
“Whoa, whoa, Jake! It’s okay baby,” Alex says and halts in the doorway he just crashed through.
Raising his hands, he approaches me like I’m a wild animal.
Right now I feel like one. I sway on my feet for a minute, trying to decide if he’s real or if my mind is playing tricks on me. After a minute I drop the knife.
“Alex,” I whisper, voice hoarse. He rushes towards me, about to pull me into a hug when he looks behind me, eyes widening. Andrei. He quickly reaches down for knife before grabbing my arm and pushing me behind him.
Something about a five-foot nothing Alex standing in front of me ready to do battle makes me want to laugh.
He raises the knife at Andrei, who is staring at us with a predatory look in his eyes.
He’s holding onto his side, blood dripping onto the concrete.
I don't think he can die from the wounds I gave him, but they have weakened his energy drastically. He’s starting to sway on his feet.
Alex, still holding the knife up in front of him, says, “You look like you got fucked up.” I shrink back as Andrei takes a step towards us.
“Stay back unless you want a few more holes. I’ll pop you like a water balloon, bitch.
You’re dead. Seth and Brandon are digging up your bones as we speak.
Yeah that’s right, we know where your pathetic carcass is buried.
All they have to do is throw a little lighter fluid on it, drop a match and you are gone. For good.”
For the first time, Andrei actually looks a little nervous. “You’re lying. Drop the knife and step away from my pet. You don’t want to get hurt, do you?”
“Never gonna happen. You don’t get to touch him ever again.”
“Well, I hope you enjoy sloppy seconds. I broke him in nicely for you. He takes punishment well. What took you so long to get here, by the way? I’ve had hours to play.”
Alex gasps, shaking in outrage as he tries to hold the knife steady.
“Get to the door, Jake. I have a car waiting outside,” he says and steps backwards, pushing me back with him. I don't take my eyes off of Andrei as I move.
He steps forward, sneering. “You think you can outrun me? If you make me chase you, boy, I’ll make you regret it, you hear me?”
I’m shaking, but I keep inching towards the door.
“Run!” Alex shouts suddenly, and I immediately obey, sprinting to the car, Alex close behind. I hear Andrei bellow in rage, and I look back to see him coming for us as Alex peels out, swerving a bit before he steadies us.
“Where are we going? What’s the plan?” I shout as I see Andrei following behind us in the golf cart. I almost laugh. He won’t be able to catch us in that thing.
“We need to buy time for Seth and Brandon to find and burn his bones. We need to distract him; we can’t lead him back to the shed.
” With a jerk of the steering wheel, he takes us off the road and through the trees.
Luckily, they’re not too dense out here, but he’ll need to be careful so we don’t end up in a ditch or a lake.
We drive through the trees until he spots another road. He looks behind us before stopping the car. “Is he still following us? What if he went straight to the shed?” he asks.
I shake my head, suddenly fearful for Seth and Brandon. But then I see him, slowly making his way towards us. Alex grins. “Look at him! We don’t even need to run. He’ll take all day to catch up.” He laughs hysterically. “Come on Seth, find his bones… I wish I had a phone right now.”
Alex maneuvers the car back onto the road when Andrei gets closer. We drive for a minute in silence before the car jerks.
“What the fuck!” Alex yells, trying to keep us on the road. I hear a loud thumping noise, and the car starts to drift. I look over at Alex and see he’s gripping the steering wheel, knuckles white as he tries to keep us from crashing. “Freaking tire is flat! Fuck!”
“Just keep driving, we can’t stop,” I plead.
He’s trying his best, but the car is slowing down.
It gives Andrei enough time to catch up to us.
He rams us with the golf cart, a maniacal look on his face.
The impact sends our car veering left. Alex steadies us before swerving back at him, trying to run him off the road.
“Jake, we’re not gonna be able to outrun him with a flat tire.” He looks over at me, devastated. “Look in the back, see if there’s anything we can use as a weapon.”
I feel panic rising in my chest. “Alex, please keep driving! I can’t do this again.”
“I know baby, I’m so sorry, but you need to listen to me right now. We’re running out of time. We just need to hold him off for a bit longer.”
Andrei rams the golf cart into us again, and I climb into the back seat, desperately searching for anything to use as a weapon.
“Do you see anything?” Alex yells.
I hold up a bong. “This is the only thing back here! I’m going to check the trunk.
” I climb over the back seat and look down, spotting a compartment for a spare tire and yanking it open.
“There’s a tire iron in here!” I say with a surprised laugh.
I make my way back to the front of the car, showing it to Alex.
“Perfect baby, good job.” He slams on the brakes and the car squeals to a stop.
Andrei goes flying past us before turning around and blocking our path.
We could push past him, but this needs to end right here.
Right now. “Give me the tire iron.” I hand it to him, and he hops out of the car. I reluctantly follow.
Andrei gets out of the golf cart and looks at the weapon in Alex's hand. “That’s cute. You fight all his battles for him?”
“He can fight his own battles, judging by the amount of blood you're leaking all over the road,” he retorts. “Give it up, you’ve lost. Seth is going to find your bones, all we have to do is wait you out. You’re a dead man walking.
” Andrei lunges, and Alex swings the tire iron, catching him in the chest. He screams out in pain and looks down at the gaping wound.
“Iron is poisonous to ghosts, fuck face. Stay back!” He holds it out in front of him with both hands, like a baseball bat.
I look at his hands, worried. “Is that going to hurt you?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, I’m fine. I'm pretty sure it would need to penetrate the skin to do any real damage.” He nods towards Andrei.
“Look at that shit. You just might turn into a shade before Seth can finish you off,” he taunts.
“That’s a fate worse than death; you better hope he kills your ass. ”
Andrei sways where he's standing, sneering at us. “How about I take that thing from you, little boy, and shove it up your ass while your boyfriend watches? I bet that would be enough penetration to put you down. You’re three feet tall; you can’t win against me.”
Alex gasps in indignation. “Five feet tall! And a quarter inch, bastard!” he swings towards Andrei again, but Andrei steps back, avoiding the blow.
“Alex, please be careful,” I beg and hold my hand out to him, praying he’ll step back.
“There’s nowhere for you to go. Why don’t you put down the weapon, and I promise not to hurt you too bad. You know what happens when you fight me, Jake.”
I shake my head and take a few steps back, grabbing onto Alex and pulling him back with me.
Andrei stalks towards us. “You want to do this the hard way? Fine. Do you think you can kill me before I can take that weapon from you? At your size, how long do you think it would take for it to do its work? Not long I’m guessing.
” I drag Alex behind me. He squeaks in indignation, but I hold him firm.
“You’ll have to go through me,” I tell him.
“Sounds fun,” he drawls, and I hurry backwards, trying to put more space between us.
Weapon or no, I don’t want to be within grabbing distance of him.
He stumbles over his feet, stopping to look down at the black, inky blood that’s pooling on the ground.
He’s running out of time, and he knows it. Enraged, he runs at us.
I don’t even think as I turn around and grab Alex, protecting his body with my own.
Andrei crashes into me, sending us sprawling to the ground.
“Fuck!” Alex yells as he desperately tries to keep a hold on the tire iron, breath knocked out of him.
He wiggles, trying to get out from under me but I hold him tight.
I’m not letting Andrei touch him. He’ll have to kill me first.
He grabs my hair and yanks my head back, trying to pull me off Alex. The pain of it makes me cry out, but I keep my body firmly on top of him. “Don’t touch him!” Alex screams, trying in vain to protect me.
Andrei leans down to whisper in my ear, but all that comes out is a gasp.
As he freezes, I twist my head to look at him, confused.
His grip on my hair loosens and his hand falls away.
He stumbles back on his knees, looking at his hands in shock as his skin starts to peel and crack, like he’s bursting apart at the seams. No words get past his lips as his body crashes to the ground, landing in a heap of dust.
I watch in shock, not trusting what I’m seeing, unable to move.
He’s going to get up any second and hurt me.
Hurt Alex. The idea of ever being free of him seems like a pipe dream.
As I spiral, I’m dimly aware of Alex squirming under me, but I can’t let him go.
I have to protect him. I break down, sobbing into his hair and holding him trapped beneath me, away from Andrei.
“Let me up, Jake! He's gone, baby, he's gone.” He’s still squirming and the urgency in his tone finally has me moving. I let him up and sit back on my knees. He crawls onto my lap like he’s done a hundred times.