Gin Palace 02 - The Bone Orchard

left side of my face like an outstretched hook punch. It was coming toward my neck. I raised my left arm and folded it back till my fist touched my shoulder, and then I ducked my head behind it. It was all I had time to do. The knife caught me in my left shoulder, and I felt the blade zip open my jacket sleeve and the skin beneath as it moved in one quick motion across my deltoid. I felt a deep, lingering pinch and was instantly aware of blood running down the inside of my jacket sleeve. I winced but held back the grunt that rose in my throat.
    The man in the mask swung at me again, but my knees had buckled enough for me to slip under the blade. The man immediately wound up for a third swing, but this time he paused and grabbed at my left arm with his, trying to trap it and create an open shot. We tangled, and in that brief delay I had enough time to launch a short stomp kick to his forward shin. I scraped downward and struck his foot close to his ankle. It wasn’t much, but it took his mind off his attack and made him play defense, and that was all I wanted.
    I grabbed his knife hand with my right and clawed at his eyes with my left. In the process I pulled up his mask, exposing his chin. The mask rose just a little more and I saw teeth, perfect teeth. But his power was too much for me, so I lifted him off the ground with a knee to his gut. But the instant he landed, he grabbed on to me and spun and flung me across the room. I was airborne, and then I hit the opposite wall hard and slumped to the floor. I heard bits of plaster raining down behind the sheet rock. My legs felt weak. The wind had been knocked out of me. I turned and looked at my attacker. He had paused to pull down the part of his mask I had managed to peel up. I looked fast at the knife in his hand. It was four inches of serrated steel, smeared with my blood.
    I searched for anything that I could use as a weapon. The only thing I could see was the overturned chair, but it was out of my reach. Once his mask was set my attacker started to move toward me again. He walked with fast, determined steps, one right after the other. I crawled up the wall as quickly as I could, scrambling to my feet. Standing was like trying to climb stairs after a long run. I needed the wall to keep me up. There wasn’t anywhere to go, there wasn’t time for anything but to stand and face him and the blade in his gloved hand.
    We were maybe three feet apart and I was ready for the worst of it when he suddenly stopped short and turned his head as if startled. I saw it just a second after he did. Flashing red and blue lights filling the living room. He looked in their direction, then back at me. I could see that his thick chest was heaving under his black sweater. He studied me for a quick second, frozen, then turned away and bolted toward the back door.
    He burst through it and out into the night. I listened to him go, then looked up the short hallway to the front room. Police lights danced on the walls. I could tell by the uneven patterns that there was more than one cop car out front. I thought of what the Chief had told me about only being able to enter the reservation in an emergency. I looked at my bloody shoulder, then looked once again down the hall, this time at Townsend’s body on the couch. I was on my way through the back door, out into the cold night, a few seconds later, running with everything I had left.
    The police lights caught in the bare trees looked like madness. My heart pounded with each flicker. I had nowhere to go, so I ran blindly, my right hand cupped over my bleeding shoulder, across the small back yard. I ran into the woods behind the cottage. I ran even as branches clawed at my face. I ducked my head and kept moving till I could no longer see the chaotic blue and red lights in the trees and the only sound in my ears was my own frantic breathing.
    I was losing blood and had to do something about that soon. I could only think of one place I could go.
    I came to Montauk Highway and crossed it quickly. No one saw me. I made it to the campus and hid in a cluster of trees behind the library. I tore my T-shirt and made a compress for my cut and waited till first light. Then I made my way to the campus train station and waited on the platform for the first train. When it came a half hour later I got onboard and took a seat. As the train began to move I kept my head at an uncomfortable angle against the vibrating window to keep from passing out. I rode