He turned back, gentler now for having been touched by her. “I just wanna make sure that they know what they do --” He paused again, making sure to get the words just right. “... that they know what they do is not gonna fly anytime soon. I love you, Cat. I can’t stand the thought of them thinking they’re righteous for the way they act.”
She pulled him into a hug, squeezing him tight, then lifted her head off his shoulder with a massive smile on her face as she looked him in the eye. “And I love you, Mike.”
He leaned down and kissed her, all thought lost as his heart started to race faster and faster with each movement of her silky lips.
She pulled back a little, ending the kiss with her lips still only millimeters from his. “But if you ever raise your voice to me like that again, I’ll punch you right in the throat.”
“Yes, dear,” he said, smirking.
She leaned back into the kiss.
There was a moment at the beginning of every kiss where the act didn’t feel quite right to her. He’d move one way when she moved the other, their lips bending into odd directions and their teeth sometimes clacking together. Yet somehow, a few moments in, they each seemed to succumb to the other’s will and move as one, the warm moisture of their lips bringing heat to the rest of their bodies.
Mike opened his eyes.
“What?” Cathy asked as she pulled on his arm, only to be met with restraint. The cool night air whipped about the fog created by the bay around them. “Come on. If we’re late, my parents will kill me.”
“Bad choice of words,” he said, his voice low and almost angry. But not at her. “Look at where we are.”
She turned her head from side to side. She was confused at first, seeing only alleys and corners. Then it hit her like a punch in the gut. Her eyes widened. “This is where we were attacked.”
“Yeah,” Mike muttered, pacing slightly, spitting onto the curb in disgust.
They’d always chosen another route to get to Cathy’s, just to avoid this spot. The spot where they lost the carefree nature of childhood and gained the hardness of reality. The death of their innocence and very nearly their lives as well.
“You feel that?” Mike said.
“What?” she asked, her eyes bulging as she leaned in close to him. After a moment, she forced a laugh, giving him a little slap on the arm. “Do not do that, Mike! You know how much this spot creeps me out... even in the daytime.”
“No, really. This is exactly the type of night it was when it happened. And...”
“What?” Cathy exclaimed, clutching his arm tightly, “What is it?”
“Déjà Vu.”
“That’s not something that I wanna hear right now.”
Mike paused for a second and looked around. All the hairs on his body were on end. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Yeah,” she agreed.
They began walking, not overly fast at first, then began to pick up speed after a few seconds. They crossed the street in a hurry even though it was devoid of traffic, Mike dragging her by the hand. This had been the spot where they’d kissed. It had seemed like the perfect end to the perfect night. But the night had been far from over, and its true end would be far from perfect. Mike and Cathy kept walking, the street lamplight illuminating their jackets. Cathy began to walk a little faster, as did Mike, dragging each other along. They were at the spot now, where they’d first heard it, that ear-shattering sound of metal on metal.
Mike stopped moving.
“What is it?” Cathy asked, putting her hand on her boyfriend’s shoulder. “What’s wrong now?”
Mike was silent for a moment, as if waiting for something. “There!” he finally exclaimed. “Did you hear that?”
Cathy’s eyes suddenly went wide. “That’s not funny, Mike,” she said quickly. But as she leaned in close to him and held his hand, she could feel the clammy sweat pouring off him. Nervous sweat.
“Just listen,” he told her, holding her close to his chest.
They both perked their ears. The streets were silent tonight. The slightest footfall could have been heard for miles. At this moment, Cathy and Mike strained their ears to hear even the slightest sound to indicate that they were wrong. That Mike had been mistaken. A rat or a pair of teenagers, even a police car would be welcomed. He didn’t want to be right, possibly for the first time in his life.
Then, from out of the darkness, it finally came:
- click -
The sound of metal striking briefly against metal. It echoed off of the brick street corners, making it impossible to tell exactly where it was coming from. It came once again,
-click-
Without so much as taking the time to look at one another, Mike and Cathy burst into a run, trotting past street lamps and garbage cans. They couldn’t tell which direction the sound was coming from and they realized that the sound could have been coming from any direction. For all they knew, they could’ve been running straight into their follower’s arms. They didn’t really care. They just had to run. Because if they were dealing with what they both secretly thought they were dealing with, then they’d have no chance either way.
The Black Womb.
Mike turned around to see if it was following them. He couldn’t see anything, but he knew that didn’t mean nothing was there. Not if it was Xander.
-click-
It was closer now. Louder, too. Mike wondered if indeed they were running into a waiting trap set by their opponent. Then he banished the thought from his mind. If it was Xander, under the
