Chapter Excerpt NEON GODS

NEON GODS CHAPTER EXCERPT (ROUGH)

When Hank dropped Sadie at her apartment, she was relieved to find Eli sitting on her front steps. She was even more elated when she saw that he’d brought a floppy eared black puppy along with him. Jumping out of the car, she squealed at the lab and danced over giggling. “Who’s this?” Eli picked up the pup and handed it to Sadie. “She’s called Amber. I thought you two would get along.” Sadie buried her face in black fur.. “Where’d she come from?” Eli looked at her then at the dog. “She was a rescue. I just found her and we became friends.” Sadie smiled. “I like her. I think we’ll get on just fine. You coming in?” She stood up and unlocked the apartment.

Eli followed her inside. He hadn’t know what to expect from Sadie’s apartment. Her contamination issues usually meant the place was frighteningly clean. Every other time he’d stopped by, it was dicey whether he would even get through the door. That was the way it was with obsessive compulsive disorder. She described it as a broken record that played nonstop in the back of her mind. She was constantly in a fear of contamination loop. Even him walking through the door was enough to make her double her gloves and get anxious. As he walked in, she fidgeted as she stood in the sparse living room. There wasn’t the typical accessories you’d find in a woman’s place. The room was intentionally dim. As if bright lights would showcase the dirt and she sought to avert driving herself up a wall. Red accent lights provided a dark room experience. There was a record player but no television. Books were meticulously stacked in various places around a living room that had one futon and one lounge chair. He guessed she might sleep there. A picture hanged on the far wall opposite the kitchen. A dusty pic of a young Sadie perhaps twelve years old. Beside her stood a gentleman in his early thirties. Dark complexion and deep-set eyes accompanied a mischievous smile. He had his arm around her as she beamed at the camera. Before the phobias began.  The pic seemed to have been taken in the country. A sea of yellow flowers surrounded the pair.

Eli sat down and watched Amber bound around the room. Her tail wagging and panting, Sadie knelt down and placed a bowl of water in front of her. Eli found it odd that her issues didn’t seem to include a mangy, flea infested mongrel. As if reading his mind, she sat down on the floor. “I’ll probably clean five times after you guys leave. Like for real.” Eli chuckled. “There ya go girl.” She whispered at the pup. “So what happened with the cop?” Eli asked. “Oh, he is just a giant dickhead.” Eli looked up at her while petting the puppy. “Did he try to frisk you naked?” “Oh it’’s not like that.” She said choking back a giggle. “He’s just a typical cop asshole. I think he’ll leave me alone now.” She paused and fixed him with a stare. Eli felt his face get hot. He stared at the bridge of her nose determined not to feel awkward in front of this girl. “Oh, you’re probably wondering what I’m doing here.”

Outside, he could hear the beginnings of a rain shower. Drops trickled down the window and soft staccato tapped on the rain gutters and apartment shingles. Perspiration formed on his brow. “I was just wondering if you’d seen Dionysus? He hasn’t been home in a few days. That’s real strange even for him. He hasn’t been to that dive bar he wants to move into either.” Sadie shrugged. “I haven’t seen him since we were at your place. Do you think he’s in trouble?” Sadie carefully picked out some incense and lit with a small lighter from her oak coffee table. The smoke funneled out from her hand and Eli got a scent of Jasmine. He inhaled deeply. This is what he’d smelled on her the night at the Basement. It had been the incense on her clothes. He closed his eyes. “I don’t know.”

A sudden bang outside the window drew a startled glance from Sadie and a yelp from little Amber. Sadie stood and parted the curtains. Peering outside, her eyes narrowed. “What the hell?” She mumbled. Eli continued. “I don’t know. It’s just strange. He’s usually either at home or at the bar. Not much a social life on that one.” Sadie sighed. “No, it’s probably something the way this week is going. I’m about done with gods and bodies and detectives.” Eli waited. “You know he wasn’t the first one.” Eli knew she referred to Jesus Christ. “There were like two or three before him.” She got up and fetched a small pipe from an end table drawer. Sitting on the floor, she opened a ziplock back and sniffed. “You smoke?” Eli nodded. “Sure. So you’re saying there’s a serial killer hunting descendents.” Sadie took a long pull from the pipe. She held her breath then slowly exhaled through her nose. To Eli, the sight evoked the image of a Chinese dragon. She handed the pipe to him and he cupped his hand over the bowl.

Again, a loud bang outside made Sadie jump. She whirled to the window while Amber ducked underneath the couch. Eli stood up quickly. A little too quickly. Dizziness clouded his vision and he felt his legs go wobbly. Sadie was now at the door peering out. “Just shut the door and lock it.” He said. “It’s probably just a cat.” Sadie turned toward him, her face pale. A strand of hair had come loose from the bun on her head and was resting across her cheek. As she breathed quickly, it fluttered away from her face and back. “It’s ok.” He said. Sadie shook her head. “No.” She whispered almost to herself. “There’s somebody outside...on the sidewalk...staring at the door.” Eli felt the hairs on his arms and neck stand up. Peering outside, he squinted through the rain but noticed nothing out of the ordinary. “You sure? I don’t see anybody.” Sadie looked like she’d seen Bloody Mary staring back at her through a bathroom mirror. Her lip was quivering. “It...was a woman I think. She was wearing a raincoat but her hair was drenched and she was staring at me when I opened the door.” Eli went back to the window. “A woman? Probably just a passerby.” “Staring at my fucking door?” Sadie shot angrily. “Her face. She was looking at me with pure hatred. Her eyes were like demons.” Eli took a deep breath and shook off his chills. “I didn’t see anybody. It’s probably nothing. A crazy bum in the rain.”

Another bang like gunshot jolted Eli and Sadie into near terror. It was louder and sounded like broken glass. “It’s on the other side, Near the bedroom.” Sadie went to the kitchen and pulled out a long carving knife she’d only used once or twice during the holidays. It was heavy in her arms and felt like dead weight. Trembling, she walked to the bedroom to find her window shattered. Shards of glass lay on her pillow and duvet. It’ was as if the window had exploded inward. Looking for a rock or brick that the woman may have thrown from outside, a low hum and rustling from the thick foliage that surrounds her apartment brought her back to the window. “Go away! I’m calling the cops!” She bellowed out into thick darkness. A short giggle answered her almost immediately. Gasping, Sadie grabbed her phone from her pants pocket and realized the card Hank had given her was in a bag she’d dropped in the bathroom.

Making her way there, she slammed the door and stared down at her gloved hands shaking violently. The phone was also a nuisance with her and she dropped it on the linoleum floor.  “Goddammit.” She moaned. As she bent to pick it up, she heard Eli in the living room calling out for the puppy. Recognizing the urgency in his voice, Sadie heard him calling out for her again and again. She began to dial Hank then stopped. As she stared at herself in the mirror, she noticed that her shower curtain was pulled shut. A habit she never adopted, Sadie stared at the curtain she had left open earlier that day. Swallowing hard, she reached out to pull it open.Her mind racing and her legs close to buckling underneath her, she stood in mute horror as she began to hear the whimpering of a puppy coming from the other side of the curtain. Gasping and covering her mouth, she stifled a scream when again she heard its soft cries. Reaching out, she threw back the curtain to reveal the young woman from outside holding Amber by the scruff of her neck.

The woman was drenched and dirty. Soiled teeth jutted out from a large jaw and narrow cheekbones. Gleaming hazel eyes seemed misshapen and too far apart on her face.Her gangly limbs swam in the yellow yellow slick and for a split second Sadie thought the woman looked like an adult infant. The puppy yelped as the woman shook her and held her out in front of Sadie. “Here carcass….” Sadie meant to flee but her mind had retracted and her legs wouldn’t move. As if in the throes of a night terror, she stood paralyzed. Her breath caught in her throat. The woman raised a small dagger and looked down at the puppy struggling and yelping in her hand. Sadie felt something warm running down her leg and realized that she had urinated on herself. The monster in the shower noticed it also and flicked her tongue cackling.

Suddenly, the bathroom door burst open and Eli rushed in diving into the shower stall. Sadie shrieked as the young woman turned and was thrown back against the wall by Eli’s momentum. Chaos ensued as Eli screaming for Amber was stabbed in the arm and shoulder. Dropping the puppy, Sadie watched it flee into the living room as two more women in yellow rain slicks entered the apartment. Sadie slammed the bathroom door and dialed Hank’s number. “Help us!” She shrieked. Dropping the phone in the sink, she jumped in the shower and began stabbing the woman in a frenzy.

Then Sadie saw all red. Filling her mind, an ocean of blood filled her lungs. She was transported to a field covered in corpses. Their bodies sprouted up from the ground like weeds. Arms and legs entwined, Sadie could feel the rotten pulp of their flesh. Then up from her feet seeped blood and bile. She saw the young woman and her sisters cutting down men, women, and children. She witnessed them revel in murder for its own sake. The blood rose past her toes and to her ankles. Still she heard their screams. Or was it her own? The countless screams filled her mind. Under a blood sky, she saw another man. The blood now to her knees. She gazed out on a lake of blood. And still it rose. And still they screamed.

Sadie blinked and realized that blood was spurting all over Eli’s face. Willing herself out of the phantom vision, she brought the knife down again and again. Eli crawled out and threw himself against the door as the other two women began stabbing at the door trying to cut their way in. Panting and Shivering, he wiped blood off his face. “I’ve got to find Amber. I need to find Amber….” Sadie now sobbing grabbed the phone from the sink but couldn’t hold on due to her gloves. Outside the door, they heard more screaming and glass breaking. Sadie flinched as a man’s voice screamed in rage. “He’s here.” Eli gasped while wrapping a towel around his left arm. “Hank’s here.” Then an unnatural silence descended upon the apartment. A sudden stillness like the moments after a car wreck. Dazed, Sadie sat down on the floor and covered her face with her hands.

As Eli and Sadie huddled in the bathroom, a sudden calmness seemed morose and uninviting. Eli inspected the wound on his arms and frowned. “Are you hurt?” Sadie asked. “Not really. She didn’t get me that good. I think the blood has already stopped.” Inspecting his arms, Sadie stood and began dialing 911. Slowly, the bathroom door opened and a stranger stood on the threshold. Eli pushed Sadie behind him. “Get out!” He said through gritted teeth. The man glanced at the blood soaked bathstall and ragdoll lying broken in the tub. His brow furling, he looked past Eli and addressed Sadie. “The others are gone. I’m here to help.” Shivering uncontrollably and teeth chattering, Sadie stared at him vacantly. The man turned to Eli. “Find a blanket. She’s in shock.”He stepped forward and was met with the tip of a blade. “I said...get out.” Eli wildly shoved the knife under the man’s nose. “My name is Apollo. I can help you.” The man’s bright blue eyes surveyed the bathroom. He had a youthful, handsome face. Eli got the impression that he was too handsome. Perhaps the perfect caricature of what masculine beauty should be. Short cropped hair and ebony skin, his long dark lashes complimented the blue of his irises. A blue and yellow track suit covered proportions that relayed perfect symmetry. He smiled warmly and picked a towel from the rack. “Get her covered in this while I find blankets.”

Sadie unable to look at the bathtub rushed out and into the living room. She gasped at the wreckage of her apartment. Water soaked and caked in mud, her carpet revealed where the intruders had stepped as they entered. Broken glass littered the floor like confetti. “It’s so dirty.” She said to no one in particular. As Amber tumbled into the room, Sadie stared absently watching her.

Twenty minutes later, Hank arrived at the doorstep. His analytical instincts on overdrive, he worked out immediately that there had been three assailants; all were small in stature and probably female. His mind flashed to the photograph in his loft. What did this girl get herself into. He scanned the living room and found Sadie on the couch wrapped in a blanket. Her eye makeup smeared and hair disheveled. She rocked back and forth as if pulled by the weight of her necklace. “I got here as it was happening.” Apollo said from the kitchen. Hank’s eyes bore into the god. “Good you were here.” Apollo either ignoring or not catching the dripping sarcasm, nodded his head. “Indeed. I-” “What were you doing here?” Hank interrupted. “I was following the girl.” Apollo shot back. His blue eyes becoming crystalline. “I thought this girl might be hiding something. Clearly, somebody else had the same idea. Both are lucky as hell to be alive.” Eli looked up from petting Amber and fixed Apollo with a cold, hard stare. “You know who they are?” Apollo sat down next to Sadie and put a reassuring hand on her back. Eli’s fierce gaze hardened further. Addressing Hank, the god narrowed his eyes. “They are descended. All three. The fact they killed one is miraculous.” “A triple goddess?” Hank asked. “I’ve heard of the hag, maiden, and mother but I don’t know many crones with that much dexterity.” “No.” Eli chimed in. “All three were young. They were young women.” Apollo nodded. “They were the Androktasia. Sisters of the Phonoi and spirits of murder. They all three preside over killing away from the battlefield. They are murder incarnate. And you killed one.” He turned to Sadie. “You have no idea how lucky you are. And how much danger you’re still in.” Eli pursed his lips. “I can protect her.” “Not from this.” Apollo replied. “Not ever. You killed their sister. They’ll never stop hunting you. And they have millennia experience with murder. They’ll make it slow. They’ll make it hurt. Sadie stirred. Her dark circles giving the impression she’d aged years in just the past hour. “I can’t stay here.” Apollo picked her cell phone up off the floor and handed it to her. “Do you have somewhere you can go?” Sadie nodded. “I think so.” As she dialed Freya’s phone, she wondered how many times she’d have to clean before she’d be able to sleep.