“Only if you had nothing. It was actually okay. You get a real sense of human nature when you hang out with people who never have to deal with the consequences of their actions. I knew one guy who strangled his wife, dumped her in the bathtub, and acted like nothing happened. The police knew he killed her. They knew damn well she didn’t drown in the tub, but since this guy had more money than God, no one lifted a finger.”
“It’s just not fair.”
“I could tell you a thousand stories like that. People aren’t really that good at heart, but they are afraid. That’s what keeps most of them in line.”
Lindsay didn’t know what to say to that. She believed people tried to be good, and didn’t think it necessarily came down to fear. No normal person actually wanted to hurt, really hurt, another person.
“What are we going to do?” she asked. “I mean, I can’t stay. Will you be all right?”
“I’ll be okay,” Mark said, putting his hand on the window. “But damn, I want to be out there. I’ve spent so much time looking at the world through glass that standing here, even with you, is making me crazy. I know we have to be careful, but I just want to run around in the sand under the moon and smell the ocean. Man, I can’t wait to be a thousand miles away from here so I can just be outside!”
“Once you’re better,” Lindsay said “you can go anyplace you want.”
“But I won’t have you,” Mark said, sounding sad and lost.
He kissed her again, a long and slow kiss. His tongue moved in slow rhythms against hers, making her heart tremble with excitement.
“It’s all because of you,” he said, pulling away. “You’re my salvation.”
Then they were kissing again. Mark ran his hands up her body, rested them on her breasts as he unfastened the first button of her blouse. A bolt of fear raced through Lindsay.
Was this really happening? Did she want this to happen?
Head swimming with crazy thoughts, her body alight with passion, Lindsay decided the answer to both questions was yes.
15
She woke up from a deep sleep, cold and aching. It was dark. Night had fallen. She reached out for Mark, but her hand found nothing but cool marble. Lindsay rolled onto her back and let out a small groan of pain. Her entire body felt bruised and stiff. Brushing a lock of hair from her face, she stared at the dark ceiling, unsure of the emotions colliding in her head.
She’d done it. They’d done it. They made love. It was hard to believe. It seemed like a strange, fluid dream to her. While it was happening, she wasn’t even thinking about the act, merely experiencing it. Oh, it was wonderful, but also frightening and painful and confusing. With so many conflicting thoughts, not once did she think about the fact that they hadn’t used protection. She was so caught up in the moment, the sensations.
It’ll be okay, she told herself. We only did it once. Next time we’ll be careful. But as she thought this, she felt a strange movement low in her body, a twitch, as if something already lived inside her. The feeling paralyzed her with panic. She breathed hard, in and out, telling herself it was just her imagination, her childish fear. It’ll be okay, she repeated to herself when the dread got too bad to manage.
Once the panic passed and she could again think clearly, Lindsay sat up on the floor and blinked. Mark stood at the window, the big glowing moon hovering just above his shoulder. He wore a pair of the shorts she bought him at the outlet mall. They fit perfectly, as she’d known they would. The muscles in his back flexed as he leaned forward on the window, pressing his forehead on the glass. The round wounds looked like black holes in his skin. Was he crying, or just relieved to be free at last?
“Mark?” she asked.
Something moved under the skin of his back. Low ridges bulged and writhed, distorting his badly scarred skin as if plump eels slid just beneath the surface of him.
“You don’t know me,” he said to the glass.
“I love you,” Lindsay said, growing more frightened by the moment.
“Do you?” he asked, his voice low and hollow as if he spoke into a vast cave.
Mark turned—but it wasn’t Mark anymore.
“This is what Ev saw,” he growled. “Do you love this?”
The face was distorted, as if covered in melted wax. It was thick with ridges and lumps. The eel-like movement beneath his skin grew frantic. His pectorals swelled to an impossible size while his waist shrank in so tightly that the shorts fell from his hips. The creature that was Mark stepped out of the shorts. He raced toward Lindsay, his entire body blurred by his speed.
Lindsay screamed as the terrible creature descended on her, clawed hands reaching for her face.
Then she woke for real.
Lindsay sat up on the marble, her scream still echoing in the vast, empty room. She clutched her blouse together in front and quickly buttoned it against the cold. The windows before her showed the shimmering blanket of night sea and night sky. The fat moon of her dream was still there, hovering high above the water.
But where was Mark?
“Mark?”
She climbed into her shorts and spoke his name again. Icy marble met the soles of her feet, sending chills up her legs. Why was it so cold? They wouldn’t just leave the air conditioner running—not for an empty house. Lindsay hugged herself tightly and wandered through the living room to the dining area. Here, too, she found a wall of glass with a spectacular view of the cove, but instead of finding the panorama beautiful, it frightened her, made her feel removed from the familiar and alone.
“Mark?” she called.
A noise rose behind her, merely a whisper like papers blowing down a sidewalk. She turned quickly, but not fast enough.
Jack’s square face, a red welt at the center of his forehead, rushed through the darkness, his hands already raised to grab her.
Lindsay screamed. She fought, slapping her fists down on Jack’s muscular shoulders as his hands locked around her biceps. She kicked at his crotch, but he lifted a knee, turned slightly and blocked the kick. Her shin collided with his and pain exploded along the bone.
“You can’t do this,” she cried.
“Quiet!” Jack snapped. With a blurring motion, he spun Lindsay and locked an arm around her throat. He covered her mouth with a palm and pulled her tight to his chest. “You foolish child,” he whispered in her ear. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? What you’ve unleashed?”
Lindsay couldn’t breathe. Jack’s grip did not cover her nose, but she was too frightened to draw breath. It felt like her entire body was made of stone like the floor beneath her feet, except for her heart, which pounded frantically as if trapped inside her body and trying to escape.
Jack walked her forward, back to the living room. She saw Mark standing in the middle of the room. Her captor paused on the threshold, his muscles growing more rigid against her.
Thank god, she thought. Mark would save her. She looked at him hopefully, eyes wide. Dull moonlight painted the left side of his face.
“Jesus,” Jack whispered.
“’Fraid not,” Mark said with a smile. “Don’t think even he could save you now.”
“You have no magic,” Jack said. “You wear the binding signs. I know. I burned them into your back.”
“Yeah, about that,” Mark said, reaching for the hem of his shirt and pulling it over his head. “I gotta admit that hurt.” He tossed his shirt on the floor and threw his arms out like he was surrendering. “But it didn’t hurt nearly as much as this did.”
He turned, slowly revealing his back.