The Girl With Aquamarine Eyes (32 page)

It was too late. Someone was walking in front of his car.

He slid to a stop, and squinted through the fog. It wasn’t
Hawk or Bice. His breath caught in his throat. Deep inside, he felt himself
dying a thousand deaths. The dark figure belonged to Dr. Killmore, and he was
carrying a rifle.

He watched in horror as the man plunged into the seat of his
car with Heaven. The very belt he’d tried to keep her safe with, was now preventing
her escape from the madman.

“No!” He leapt from behind Bice’s car. “Heaven, no!”

He plunged toward his car, but something on the ground
caught his foot and threw him across the pavement. He hit the cement drive face
first, and moaned in pain. Gingerly, he sat up and gazed at the object which
had tripped him. It was the bumper to his car, and next to it, a person.

His mouth opened and closed, but he couldn’t scream. The
person was Bice. Rather, the body of Bice, his eyes frozen open in eternal
horror. Blood covered his chest, slowly dripping onto cold driveway.

The suddenly realization of the strange occurrence in the
kitchen crashed down on him, as he realized what’d caused Heaven to fly through
the air as if something had struck her in the chest. Bice had been shot in the
chest. The moment he was, the same force had struck the girl who was miles
away, throwing her from the very chair she sat on.

He shuddered in fear, feeling his skin crawl and prickle to
his very core. He stared at the corpse of his friend. Headlights came on behind
him, lighting up Bice’s macabre gaze. He heard the motor of his car being
revved, followed by the squeal of spinning tires, yet he was helpless to break
his stoic stare from his dead comrade.

Although he lay on the ground, he felt his legs and arms
begin to tingle and weaken. His mind could not understand the gut-wrenching
reality of Bice’s glazed eyes, nor the shock of Heaven being taken away into
the night in his own car.

He fell face first onto the cement. His thoughts quickly and
mercifully left him.

* * *

Dr. Killmore watched the nutty musician stare at the body of the
dead man, and fall over in a cold faint. He had a clear shot at him, and was
tempted to put the aging man out of his misery. It didn’t matter now though, because
he had Heaven. He slid the rifle carefully behind the seat.

He gazed at her, as he revved the engine of the foreign
sports car. She was cowering against the passenger door, crying and helpless
behind the belt which held her prisoner. It was best she didn’t see him shoot
Harmon. The last thing he needed was a hysterical teenager on his hands.

He studied her a moment longer. She was the most beautiful
creature on the planet. And best of all, she was his. He reached over and
grasped her thigh. She screamed in horror and slapped him across the face.

He held his temper though, and pulled his gaze from her. He
threw the car into reverse and pressed the accelerator to the floor. Luckily,
the damage from the wreck was only cosmetic.

With a powerful thrust, the car flew backwards down the
drive and leapt into the fog.

* * *

The thrust of the car threw her against the seat with such force,
it nearly knocked the wind from her. She gazed at the madman next to her, and
seethed in fury. She was his prisoner yet again, through no fault of her own.
Time and circumstance certainly didn’t seem to be on her side this evening. She
never even had the chance to change out of her gown, and she was growing very
weary. And angry.

She struggled against the leather belt which held her
prisoner. She tried endlessly to pull the buckle toward her, but it was caught
somewhere behind the seat and hung up on her lovely gown.

She stared at the madman with intense anger. This man had
murdered Bice, a kind man who was only trying to protect her from evil people,
such as this monster she sat next to.

His eyes were fixed on the darkened road before him, as he
navigated the tricky curves through the steep canyon. The low car easily hugged
the winding road, speeding along at an unimaginable pace. There was only one
thing left to do in order to save herself from this psychopath.

She glanced at the rifle behind his seat. She may not be
able to reach the belt to free herself, but she could certainly reach the
deadly weapon.

She would get back to Bice even if she died trying.

* * *

“Harmon?” Hawk shook the stricken musician. “Wake up.”

Harmon moaned, and sat up. He gazed at the bodyguard as a
sweep of realization washed over him. “He’s got her, we have to go get her!”

“Dr. Killmore took Heaven?”

“Yes, she was waiting for me in the car. She knew something
was wrong with Bice. I had no choice but to bring her here.” Harmon glanced at
the dead man next to him. “She was right.”

Hawk stared at him in silence.

“Listen to me, Hawk. We have to find them, Bice’s life
depends on it.”

“Bice is dead Harmon, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“Look, I’ll explain later. Get Bice in the Limo, we have to
find them!”

“We need to call the police, let them find Heaven. We can’t
take Bice’s body on a wild goose chase.”

Harmon grabbed the bodyguard by the shirt “You work for me.”
He hissed. “Do as I say. If we call the police Bice dies, and they will take
Heaven from me. Got it?”

Hawk paled and nodded his head.

Harmon stood up and grasped Bice’s body, and began pulling
him toward the Limo.

Hawk stared at the crazed man. He’d known Harmon a long
time. The musician was playing in a seedy bar years ago when he’d stopped in
for a drink. All of twenty seats were filled in the theater. Nevertheless,
Harmon sang as if the venue was bursting at the seams with thousands of
screaming fans.

He soon learned the musician wasn’t a quitter. And it
clearly showed he wouldn’t give up on whatever insane plan he had construed to
do with Bice’s body. He sighed, and finally leapt to his aid. He gently muscled
the stricken musician aside, and carefully placed Bice across the back seat of
the Limo.

“Harmon?” Tommy cried from the darkness. “What is going on?”

“Stay back!” Harmon grabbed Bice’s legs, and tried to shove
them into the car. But it was too late, Tommy was already breathing down his
neck. He whirled around to face the boy, hoping to block his view from the
macabre scene inside the car.

Undeterred, Tommy shoved Harmon and Hawk aside. “Where is
Heaven?” He gazed into the back seat of the Limo, only to lurch back in horror
as his gaze fell upon the bloodied man. He staggered backward and teetered
momentarily, struggling to remain in an upright position. Tears filled his eyes
as he gazed at Harmon. “My dad did this, didn’t he?”

“There’s no time to explain, stay here!” Harmon shoved Bice’s
legs into the back seat again, barely managing to get the door closed as the
Limo roared to life. He leapt into the passenger seat as Hawk thrust the car
into reverse, adding yet another set of smoldering rubber zigzagging across the
driveway.

Tommy stared after the car as it spun away into the
darkness. He didn’t know where his dad or Heaven were, or what the hell was
going on, but he’d follow them and find out. He’d pull himself together, there
was no choice. He’d not been named Prom King for naught.

He raced for his dad’s car, but the moment he did a sudden
sensation brought him to a sliding halt. He lurched against his father’s car
and vomited. The heaves were merciless; gut-wrenching spasms of pure fear and
sickening horror devoured him. He dropped to his knees, struggling to breathe.

Moments later, his hands groped along the top of the fender.
He grasped the cold metal, and carefully pulled himself alongside his dad’s prized
vehicle. Streaks of vomit now lined the side of the beautiful car, slowly
yielding to the gravity until at last it dripped to the pavement below. His dad
would have his ass for this.

He grabbed the bottom of his shirt, hoping to wipe the
telltale signs of his nervous stomach away. “Screw it!” He shouted, and leapt
into the car. He knew he must pull himself together. Hero’s don’t vomit. Prom
Kings don’t go around barfing on their dad’s cars. He sat still on the cold
seat, waiting for his heart to cease its endless protest.

Finally, he gazed into the distance and turned the key. If
Heaven were in danger, he would be the one to save her.

He roared down the driveway and into the blackness.

* * *

Heaven watched the crazed man’s eyes burn with fury, as he whipped
the sports car around bend after bend.

From the corner of her eye, she studied him carefully, as
she slowly reached behind his seat for the gun. She groped around for it, but
continued to gaze at the road ahead, watching the white lines blur into one
beneath her.

Her hand finally hit the cold steel. She eased the weapon
toward her, until it was nearly against her seat. She had no idea how to shoot
it, she could only hope she figured it out quickly.

She suddenly felt Bice calling out from behind her. She
gazed into the mirror, seeing a pair of amber headlights racing toward them.

“Bice, don’t give up…it’s almost over now. I will soon be
free to come help you…”

She stared at the lunatic once more. In one swift movement
she pulled the rifle out, placed the muzzle against the windshield and pulled
the trigger.

The maniac never had a chance to react.

* * *

Hawk heard the shot come from the car ahead. “Harmon, did you hear
that?”

Before the musician could respond, the Ferrari ahead whipped
into a maddening fishtail, crossed into the opposite lane and spun into the
hillside. Clouds of earth mushroomed above it. It momentarily hung in limbo,
its headlights pointing into the sky. It rolled back down, and somersaulted off
the cliff into the canyon below.

Hawk slammed on the brakes, bringing the long car to a
screeching stop. Gravel and rocks pelted the windshield in protest as dust
enveloped the vehicle. He gasped in horror as he heard the unmistakable thump
of Bice’s body being thrown to the floor behind him.

He could only watch in shock as Harmon’s car went airborne,
and crash end over end down the canyon wall. The fiery explosion lit up the
night. The dim outline of distant trees soon glowed burning red, as the flames
engulfed the twisted metal beneath them.

“No!” Harmon leapt from the car and plunged down the
hillside into the darkness.

* * *

Heaven opened her eyes, and tried to remember where she was.

Pain quickly brought her back to reality as she felt the
searing heat. Her legs were on fire. The car was upside down, and she was
dangling from the belt which entombed her.

Her entire body screamed in agony while her lungs filled
with deadly smoke. She slapped at the orange flames hopelessly, but they
continued their relentless march up her legs. She was trapped inside a fiery
inferno.

A shard of broken glass on the dirt caught her eye, glinting
in the orangey flames. Though she hung upside down, she gazed into the crystal
pane and watched, as the reflected flames spun and danced within.

Transfixed on the glowing embers as they fused and mixed
into one, she studied the whirling fire as it slowly painted a picture before
her. It was showing her the way out.

She knew how to save herself. She grabbed the jagged
windshield, and began slicing at the leather belt which had kept her prisoner
much too long. She didn’t feel the pain as the shard sliced through the skin
and muscles of her palm.

Finally freeing herself, she fell to the dirt beneath the
car, and gasped for breath in the whirling smoke. She reached for the door and
kicked away the crackling flames which lapped at her, but it was frozen shut.

Undeterred, she slid around and kicked the window, until at
last the glass shattered into a million prisms. She watched as the spider web
slowly gave up and caved in.

She worked her way out the window, pulled fresh air into her
searing lungs and crawled into the darkness.

* * *

Harmon plunged through the burning brush toward the car.

His once pristine vehicle was completely engulfed in fire,
but he didn’t care. The flames crackled and popped, taking with them the
branches of trees above. The smell of burning wood and motor oil coated the
air, mixing into the winds from the ocean and urging them to greater heights.

“Help me!” Heaven cried from the distance.

He followed her cries to a thicket, and gazed through the
crackling glow. A flash of silvery white moved in the distance. He burst
through the last stand of trees.

She stood in the sea, pale shades of moonlight played across
her face. Unbelievably, she appeared not to feel any pain, though her gown was
still burning. A dagger of lightening hit the waves in the distance, lighting a
path ahead of her.

The car had crashed only yards from the lapping shoreline.
Her hand was bleeding profusely, but she was alive. The look on her face was
one of anger. Her night had been ruined, and it showed.

He leapt into the waves, pulled her from the sea and beat
the last of the flames out. But she was hopelessly burned. His mind suddenly
flew into overdrive, nearly sucking the very wind from him. Atop a fiery stage
he stood once again, saving an orphan of the sea from certain demise, not once,
not twice, but thrice. It all made sense now. He couldn’t save his sister that
day, so a greater force had sent him Heaven.

A girl no one wanted, no one loved, no one knew existed. She’d
been sent for him to save, so she in turn could go on and save others. And save
her, he did. The day he found her on the beach. The day he’d risked his life to
pull her from the island in the face of a hurricane, where she’d have been
blown to oblivion. And now once again, as he pulled her from the sea yet again,
fighting the smoldering flames as they inched up her gown.