Carpathian 03 - Dark Gold

him?
    
    She became aware of the fog then. Dense. Thick, like soup. It hung in the trees like an eerie white wall. She couldn't see a foot in front of her. It even felt thick, as if she were wading through quicksand. When she tried to pull air into her lungs, she found it nearly impossible. She wanted to scream for Joshua, but some deep intuition kept her silent.
    
    Whoever the madman was, he enjoyed the pain and terror of others. That was his rush, his high.
    She could not indulge his macabre tastes.
    
    Feeling her way carefully through the trees, she literally stumbled over a body. "Oh, God," she whispered aloud, praying it wasn't her brother. Leaning close, she realized the corpse was far too big. Cold and motionless, he lay in a pathetic heap, tossed aside like so much garbage. "Henry."
    Grief welled up as she clasped his shoulder to turn him over.
    
    Horror rose when she saw his mangled chest. His heart was literally torn out, exposed and still.
    Alexandria scrambled away, knelt, and was violently sick. There were ragged wounds on Henry's neck, wounds an animal might make.
    
    Taunting laughter filled her mind. Alexandria wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. This depraved madman was not getting Joshua. Determined, she moved instinctively forward toward the cliffs. Waves crashing loudly against jagged rocks below and the wind rushing through the trees made it impossible to hear anything.
    
    Without sight or hearing, Alexandria moved steadily forward, every instinct drawing her toward the demented killer. She had the impression that he knew she was coming, that he was waiting.
    She was also certain he believed he was controlling her, deliberately commanding her to come to him.
    
    Despite the strong wind, the fog remained heavy, yet now, through the thickness, she caught glimpses of more horror unfolding. Three women, vaguely familiar from the restaurant, were inching their way toward the cliffs. The women had been at the table to her right; they'd left just before she had. Alexandria could tell they were in some kind of trance, staring rapturously up at the man silhouetted on the cliff sedge.
    
    He was tall and slender but gave an impression of great strength and power. His face was beautiful, like that of an Adonis, his hair shoulder-length and wavy. When he smiled, his teeth were very white.
    
    Like a predator's . The moment the thought entered her head, the illusion of beauty was gone, and Alexandria saw the blood on the creature's hands. On his teeth and chin.
    
    The welcoming smile was a grimace, exposing vicious fangs. His eyes, on the three women, Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    were black holes glowing a feral red in the darkness.
    
    The women were smiling, simpering, reaching out to him. As they moved closer, he raised a hand and pointed to the ground. Obediently the three dropped to their knees and crawled sensuously forward, writhing and moaning, tearing at their clothing. The fog covered the obscene display for a moment, and when it cleared again she could see that one of the women had reached the man and was winding herself around his knees. She ripped away her blouse, exposing her breasts, touching herself suggestively, rubbing herself against the man's body, begging and pleading for him to take her, use her. A second woman reached the cliff's edge and clung to his waist, staring up provocatively.
    
    Alexandria wanted to turn away from the horror of what was about to befall these human puppets, but she caught sight of Joshua walking slowly toward the man. He didn't seem to notice the women. He looked neither right nor left, just walked forward as if in a dream state.
    
    A trance. A hypnotic trance. Alexandria's heart slammed against her chest. Somehow this killer had hypnotized the women and Joshua. They answered his bidding like mindless sheep. Her brain was trying to analyze how he had accomplished such a feat even as she hurried to intercept Joshua before he could reach the monster. Fortunately, Joshua was moving very slowly, almost as though he was being pulled reluctantly forward.
    
    Although the thick veil of fog hid her, Alexandria felt the impact of those hostile, unearthly eyes as the creature swung his head toward her, his neck undulating like that of a reptile.
    
    As he examined her through the thickness of the fog, bat wings beat at her skull; the shards of glass pierced her over and over.