The beast’s long forked tongue flicked out, tasting the air, searching for the fear that should have been coming off its opponent in waves.
Gabriel waited patiently, letting the beast think it had won, letting it gloat in its success, for by doing so he gained another moment to prepare.
He had to be certain he had the strength to succeed with his plan. If he did not, he would be too weak to do anything more. He would be helpless in the hands of his ancient enemy.
He did not want that to happen.
Not even for a few seconds.
Katelynn moved closer to the bed, and glanced down as her hands found the safety rail. She was shocked by what she saw. Her hands had changed; had become hideous. They were scaled like a lizard and a dark gray-green in color. Each one had four fingers; three rising together from the top of the palm, the fourth opposing them, much like the talons of a bird. Each finger, in turn, had four swollen, misshapen knuckles the size of walnuts, topped with long inwardly curving claws that shone like ivory in the room’s dim light.
Katelynn’s mind whirled at a frantic pace, trying to explain what her eyes were seeing. Then, like a dash of ice-cold water thrown in her face, her subconscious dragged from its depths the memory of her other dreams, making her accept what was happening.
With a small gasp of horror, she understood.
She was no longer in her own body, but had somehow been transported inside something else and was looking out through their eyes instead of her own!
While she could feel her madly accelerated heartbeat, she could also feel that of the creature in whose body she rode, a heartbeat that was deeper and more powerful than her own, one that beat a much slower rate.
If she concentrated, as she did now, she could dimly perceive the other’s thoughts as well.
A wave of hatred so vile that it made her want to retch rolled out of the form she was inhabiting. That Gabriel knew her in this form was beyond a doubt; there was hatred and recognition in his eyes. As her mind struggled with a thousand questions, she felt herself speak, the voice in her ears like crushed gravel
'Time to die old fool,' she said.
Leaning close, Moloch opened his mouth to reveal the many rows of scalpel sharp teeth.
Using the last of his strength, Gabriel reached deep inside his body and simply ordered his heart to stop.
He died with a smile on his face, knowing he’d cheated the Nightshade out of the final victory.
Katelynn felt her mouth stretching impossibly wide, felt her tongue flickering across the tips of monstrously long teeth as sharp as surgeon’s knives as she leaned closer to Gabriel.
Noooo! she cried mentally, but was helpless to stop the sudden descent of those awful fangs.
As the teeth ripped mercilessly into the fragile flesh of the old man’s neck, Katelynn’s mind mercifully found the strength to flee and she came to herself again, lying on the floor beside the table she’d been working on in the library. A long shrill scream was bursting from her lips. She felt someone grasping her limbs, and fearing that whatever it was had followed her, she thrashed wildly; terrified that she was about to die.
A sudden pain flared on her right cheek, bringing her back to reality. The middle-aged librarian who had administered the slap was crouched beside her, one hand in the air in preparation of delivering a second slap should it prove necessary. Two students were pinning her arms and legs to the floor. The lips of the one at her feet were red and rapidly swelling, and Katelynn realized with shocked sympathy that she must have kicked him in the face during her struggles.
'Settle down,' the older woman said. 'You’ve had some kind of an attack. Just lie still for a moment. The health team is on its way.' The woman smiled at her, but Katelynn could recognize the woman’s fear and apprehension.
Probably thinks I’m ready for the psycho ward, Katelynn thought to herself.
With growing dismay she realized that the woman could be right.
Suddenly, she desperately wanted to get out of there, and assuring her rescuers that she was fine, got to her feet, quickly gathered her books and went out into the night, ignoring their protests.
Her nightmares from previous evenings crowded in on her, spurring her fear. She knew that they were more than simple nightmares now, knew that the connection she had made while in that twilight realm had followed her into the real world.
Lord only knew what might happen next.
As he realized that his enemy had taken his own life before he could enact his vengeance, Moloch lost control. He tore into the fresh corpse, ripping the limbs from the body in his frenzy; delighting in the way his claws sliced into the weak flesh as if it were butter. He shrieked his rage and frustration, uncaring if any of the humans heard him now. If they were foolish enough to investigate, then he would tear them apart as well.
Later, once his anger was spent and the corpse was barely recognizable as having once been human, Moloch left the way that he had entered; leaving the sliding glass doors open behind him as he soared off the balcony into the night.
As he returned to his roost, slipping easily through the night’s inky blackness, he pondered the evening’s events.
Just before he had killed the Elder, he’d felt the presence of another being there in the room with them.
Yet he was positive the room had been empty with the exception of the Elder and himself.
So how did he explain the sensation that someone had been watching them? Or the scream he had heard as his teeth had ripped out the old fool’s throat?
He didn’t know.
But he was determined to find out.
For now though, he could wait. With his hunger sated, Moloch felt heavy, bloated, full. The quiet oblivion of sleep and his own sweet dreams beckoned to him. He decided he would rest before he sought the answers to those questions.
After all, with his oldest enemy now dead, what did he have to fear? He was once again ruler of the night, and nothing stood in his way. The human fools would again learn to fear the darkness, and he would rule over them in his rightful place as King.
And, oh, how much fun he was going to have, the beast thought gleefully as he winged his way home.
Chapter Twenty-Two: A Message from Beyond
Around seven o’clock that night, Jake sat in Sam’s apartment waiting for his friend to finish dressing. Sam had swapped shifts with a co-worker earlier in the week so that he could go to a celebration being held for Dana Sandings, one of his friends, and Jake had reluctantly agreed to come along. While sitting around with a bunch of literary types might not be Jake’s first choice for a night out, it certainly beat being home alone.
The party was in full swing when they arrived, with people filling the apartment and spilling out onto the deck in back. Jake slipped through the crowd in search of the bar, while Sam grabbed a Pepsi from a passing tray, said hello to those he knew, and spent some time mingling with those he didn’t.
After a while he felt someone come up behind him and punch him lightly on the shoulder. He turned to find Jake standing there.
'Come on, you’ve got to see this,' his friend said.
Jake headed back into the crowd, making his way toward one of the back rooms. They reached a closed door, which Jake opened softly, gesturing for Sam to precede him through the door.
The room they entered was almost completely dark, four candles being the only source of illumination. By their soft light, Sam could see five or six people seated in a loose semi-circle on the floor in the middle of the room, facing two others. These two in turn sat facing each other with some kind of game board between them.
It took Sam a minute to realize it was a Ouija board.
