Spirit Breaker Read online

  “So in case you missed this little detail,” she said, “we just passed a sign that says the park closes at ten and violators will be ticketed.”

  “That’s too bad.” Gary winked at her mischievously, oozing confidence. He was definitely the wilder one in the relationship. Sometimes Karen wondered what he saw in her, and late at night, when he lay sound asleep next to her, she questioned how long they’d last as a couple. They were different in so many ways—but then again, opposites did attract, right? After nearly a year, Gary still seemed to be interested in her. Maybe her conservative, cautious temperament reigned in his more impulsive tendencies.

  Or maybe he just likes the shape of my ass, she thought.

  “What’s going through your mind?” Gary asked.

  “Just thinking how romantic this is,” she said. “Cruising into an empty park, breaking laws…

  “We haven’t broken any laws. At least not yet.” His eyes sparkled with good humor, and a smile tugged at his lips. The car rolled to a stop, and Gary turned off the engine. The brilliant light of the Porsche’s headlights starkly outlined the park’s playground ahead of them.

  Karen made out a metal slide, a jungle gym, a merry-go-round and a few other attractions that would delight the tykes. The rest remained cloaked in the shadows of the trees that lined the playground area.

  Being a first-grade teacher at a nearby elementary school, she’d visited the park hundreds of times—but always during the day when it was filled with the laughter and squeals of playing children. The playsets now stood abandoned, haunted and forlorn in the milky light. A low wind sent a pair of swings moving, the chains squeaking eerily in the nocturnal landscape. A thick fog was rolling in, adding to the spooky atmosphere as it rapidly devoured the playground.

  Yup, this place is friggin’ creepy at night, Karen thought. She suddenly wished they’d just headed straight to her apartment. Almost as if Gary sensed her anxiety, he leaned closer. An instant later, his hungry lips found hers. Immediately all worries were pushed aside by the shivers of delight traveling down her body. God, the man knew how to kiss…

  Karen almost expected a police officer to materialize outside the Porsche and shine a flashlight down at them. How embarrassing would that be? Damn it, why couldn’t she just relax and go with the flow? Her overactive imagination was like a blessing and a curse. How she wished she could be a little more carefree and spontaneous like Gary. He clearly was hoping to take their make-out session further, but her guard remained up. She’d die from embarrassment if the cops caught them in the throws of some lewd act.

  Karen gently pushed against his chest and pulled away. She felt bad about spoiling the party, but he seemed cool about it. She loved how he kept trying to coax her out of her comfort zone but also knew when to back down. Another reason she was so crazy about him.

  Gary grinned. “I think we better get a room, huh?”

  He started the car while Karen straightened her hair and fixed her make-up. The car jolted suddenly, causing Karen to smudge her lipstick. Her face fell as she made out the thump of rubber and metal scraping over cement—the telltale sound of a flat tire.

  Great! This night just keeps getting better.

  Had they been unlucky enough to roll over a nail or piece of glass as they entered the park?

  Gary killed the engine and squeezed her hand reassuringly. “No worries. I've got a spare.”

  “Don’t you think we should just call AAA?”

  “I’ve changed a tire before. Just stay in the car, it’s going to be a little chilly out there.”

  He kissed her on the cheek before stepping outside. The door slammed shut behind him.

  She watched him walk up to the hood, where the spare was stored in the Porsche Cayman. For a minute his face danced before the steamy windshield, and Karen turned on the wipers. She enjoyed seeing her man getting his hands dirty.

  Gary grabbed the spare and headed for the back of the Porsche. Tools banged against the frame of the vehicle as he mounted the tire. Bored, Karen snatched her phone from her purse and started to flip through her latest emails. She had probably checked her messages about a thousand times over the course of the day—another irritating habit she vowed to break in the near future. She’d almost caught up with all her social media when she became aware of the unnatural silence that had descended over the park. She turned her head toward the rear windshield but detected no sign of her beau.

  Strange…

  Fog fully enveloped the Porsche now, erasing most of the playground from view. Her pulse quickened as a terrible loneliness settled over her. What should she do? Roll down her window and call out for Gary? The mist blowing past the windows made it seem like a bad idea.

  “Hey Gary, what’s going on out there?” she shouted.

  There was no response.

  The fog thickened.

  The silence deepened.

  Just as she decided to text him, her cell chirped and a message from Gary lit up the screen. Initial relief turned to horror as she realized the screen showed a picture of her boyfriend covered in gore.

  Oh my God, no…

  Her breath hitched as terror washed over her. The sudden hiss of a spray canister made Karen almost jump out of her seat. She spun toward the rear window as a concentrated stream of blue spray paint hit the glass. She whirled just as a second hiss filled the night and a fiery red blast of paint streaked the front windshield. With trembling fingers, she reached for the ignition key.

  A hooded figure stepped out of the mist. Ripped jeans, a black hoodie, face shrouded in darkness. An urban spook. A web of runny paint obscured the silhouette, but Karen could still make out the baseball bat in the stranger’s hands. A second later, the bat came crashing down on the windshield, and Karen’s world turned into an explosion of glass.

  ***

  When the black veil of unconsciousness finally lifted, Karen found herself lying on a cold, hard floor. She inhaled dusty air and then choked.

  Where was she? What had happened?

  She remembered the incoming baseball bat, the shattering glass, the gloved hands reaching through the broken windshield. The assailants had fought their way into the Porsche and then dragged her out of the vehicle, where someone zapped her with a Taser. As she’d hit the ground, a boot had swung toward her head. Afterwards, there had only been blackness.

  Until now.

  Karen stifled another cough and groggily took in her surroundings. She found herself in an enclosed, high-ceilinged space. She lay at the center of a maze of bolted-down tables covered in a thick layer of grime. The dirt-streaked, broken signs of a number of fast food restaurants loomed above her.

  Where was she? What was this place?

  In the distance, crumbling storefronts were tagged with graffiti. A tangle of wires and cables dangled from cracks in the walls, as if the building’s intestines were breaking through stone skin. Sickly light filtered through a cracked skylight overhead and illuminated twin escalators in the near distance.

  Karen suddenly realized where she was. It had to be in the Old Regional Mall, which had closed its doors during the recession. The shopping center had stood empty for years, narrowly avoiding demolition. Eyesore for some, spooky attraction to others, it was a symbol of 21st Century economic decline. Who needed a mall when it was cheaper to shop online?

  Investigating the dead mall more closely, Karen noticed a small bonfire burning nearby. Flames flickered and drew grotesque shadows.

  The bonfire reminded her that she wasn’t alone in the desolate shopping center. A shudder passed through her and the sense of terror returned. They’d brought her to this forsaken place for a reason. Somewhere in the darkened concourse, her abductors lurked.

  And this made her think of Gary, his face covered in a mask of blood. Oh God, what had they done to him? Tears welled up at the thought of her boyfriend’s blood-streaked features and she stifled a sob. No, she couldn’t let them see her break down like this, wouldn’t give those basta
rds the satisfaction.

  Her eyes bored into the darkness. There was no sign of her hooded abductors. Karen expected her kidnappers to show themselves and make their move any moment now, but the mall remained eerily still.

  What the hell are they waiting for?

  The answer to the question popped into her mind a second later: They’re drawing it out, playing with me. This is some sick game to them.

  God, she’d somehow stumbled into her own personal horror show.

  Karen took a few cautious, wobbly steps, legs trembling beneath her, muscles still stiff from the Taser attack and prolonged period of inactivity. Her shoes clacked against the stone floor, echoing creepily in the cavernous space. With an unsteady gait, she approached the bonfire, the flames casting a hypnotic spell. Fire was greedily consuming her personal belongings: her Coach purse, Sephora makeup kit, Tiffany necklace, and iPhone.

  “Why are you doing this to me?”

  There was no force to her words, her voice breathless with terror. She paused, not really expecting an answer, and was rewarded with the explosive hiss of an aerosol spray can.

  She pivoted, eyes searching, trying to determine the direction the sound was coming from.

  Her eyes landed on a human silhouette. The figure lurked about thirty feet away, a shadow in the dark mall. The stranger just stood there.

  Watching.

  Biding his time.

  Karen began to retreat, putting some distance between herself and the kidnapper. She reached a stone column and stumbled upon a message scrawled in bright red graffiti:

  I SHOP THEREFORE I AM.

  The paint bleeding down the wall was still fresh.

  Karen shifted her attention back to the ominous figure in the hoodie, but he’d vanished.

  Terror mounting, Karen continued walking away from the food court toward a row of shops. She vaguely recalled the main exits being inside JC Penney and Sears. If she could make it to either end of the mall…

  Who was she kidding? They would never let her get away. Better to just stay put and face what was coming with open eyes. They were in control here, whoever they might be.

  Another hiss emanated from a shadowy corner behind her.

  A dark realization clawed itself into her manic thoughts: she was dealing with multiple stalkers!

  She bit her lip to stave off her panic and tasted coppery blood. Words tore through her mind, and Karen realized it was a prayer.

  Her pace picking up, she stumbled deeper into the former shopping center, catching a glimpse of another graffiti message. A skull. But there was something strange about the image. Where the teeth should be, there was a pattern of parallel lines of varying widths. Beneath the row of alternating thick and thin bars, she made out a series of numbers. Understanding flooded her scared face. The skull’s jaw was a barcode.

  Karen remembered seeing this barcode skull on the news a few years back. Knew the deeper significance of the symbol.

  Oh God, this couldn’t be happening to her.

  She shook with panic as she yelled, “What the hell do you want from me?”

  There was no answer. Instead wheels rippled over the stone floor, and two men in hoodies shot from the darkness on skateboards. The urban monks cut off Karen's escape, forcing her to retrace her steps.

  A third hoodie stepped into the ragged patch of moonlight behind her, blocking the concourse. He was decked out in a spray-painter's mask—Darth Vader aiming for street cred.

  Karen let out a choked scream when she spotted the long, curved knife in the hooded tagger’s hand.

  The figure took another step toward her.

  Karen snapped, adrenaline and fear propelling her into motion. She whirled around and broke into a run. She had almost reached the escalators when an invisible force stopped her dead in her tracks and whipped her back, sending her flying.

  For a moment, she was airborne. Then she hit the ground hard, the world spinning around her. Stunned, she craned her neck upward, expecting to see hooded faces leering down at her. But she was…alone.

  There was no trace of a human presence.

  Her breath clouded in the air before her and she shivered. The temperature must’ve dropped by at least ten degrees. She crawled back to her feet and inspected her shirt. The strange collision had shredded the fabric. The skin beneath the torn blouse was mottled by a series of black burn marks, sensitive to the touch. Adrenaline was keeping the pain at bay, but Karen knew it wouldn’t last.

  What was happening here?

  Karen turned and saw that the hoodies had returned. They loomed in the near distance, outlined in the pale moonlight, a ring of wraiths barring her escape. Why had they given up the chase? Had they tired of this horrible game? And what had tripped her in such a violent manner?

  A chilling whisper interrupted her racing thoughts.

  “Death is only the beginning.”

  Her heart pounding in a deafening drumbeat, she tilted her gaze toward the ceiling. She could feel her face twisting with horror, her lips distorting into a scream.

  A vaguely human form hung upside down from the mall ceiling, suspended like a spider.

  With a guttural shriek, the apparition launched toward Karen, bony hands hurtling toward her throat.

  Karen screamed.

  CHAPTER THREE

  TALON WAS A man without a home. He constantly traveled the globe, devoted to his personal quest of keeping mankind safe from occult enemies. Before signing up for the dark missions that now defined his life, he’d been a Delta Operator and his work had kept him on the go in a similar fashion. In a way, this had always been his reality. His calling.

  After dealing with Espinoza, the question was where he should head next. The world was his oyster nowadays. Every month, Casca transferred $25,000 into his bank account, payment for services rendered. The military had taken care of his needs for the last ten years, and Casca was fulfilling the same role now—albeit at a higher income bracket. Talon didn’t obsess about material wealth; he never would’ve become a professional soldier if money were that important to him. Nevertheless, he appreciated the freedom to go wherever he damned pleased.

  For a moment he considered San Francisco. Staying close to Casca for when duty would call again might be a smart move. But San Francisco was filled with memories of Michelle, and he was just managing to put a little distance between his past and the present. Instead he decided to book a flight to Sarasota, where his old Army buddy Rob had embarked on a promising career in law enforcement.

  The next day, Talon arrived in Florida and checked in at his hotel. Rob had invited him for dinner that night, and he was a little bit nervous about spending time with Rob’s wife and four-year-old son. He had originally figured they would grab some drinks the way they had back in the old days, but Rob wanted him to meet his clan. Talon couldn’t show up at his friend’s house empty-handed, so he proceeded to stop off at the local Toys “R” Us before dinner. Walking into the store, he was confronted with a new challenge: what to get a kid in 2015? He settled on a couple of Star Wars action figures.

  Ringing Rob’s doorbell, Talon felt more nervous than he had when facing down the army of thugs in Mexico City. He could hit a moving target at 1000 yards but this social gathering was making him break into a sweat – he’d been out of the game too long. A dinner with Rob’s family should’ve been the most normal activity in the world, but over the last few months Talon’s definition of normal had irrevocably changed. His nerves calmed slightly the moment the door opened and Rob smiled at him. The sandy-haired baby-face clashed with the 220-pound frame, which now leaned in to give him a hearty bro hug.

  “Man, it’s great to see you. Come on in.”

  Stepping into Rob’s home, meeting his lovely wife Maria and his adorable kid, felt surreal. After months of wearing his armor, it was difficult for Talon to just sit down and fall back into the rhythm of civilian life. His friends had no idea about the occult war he was waging nowadays, but Rob knew first-hand the ch
allenges returning soldiers faced. Thankfully, Maria turned out to be a delightful hostess and the kid was thrilled about the present. Two beers and a shot of Jack finally took the edge off the social gathering, and after dinner Talon and Rob relaxed in the living room while they watched the kid give the action figures a workout.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” Rob told him.

  “Someone has to keep the galaxy safe.”

  Rob offered him another beer, and Talon popped it open.

  “Thanks.”

  They sipped in silence for a moment.

  “Look at you,” Talon said. “You got it all. The wife, the kid, the picket fence. Who would’ve thought that crazy punk I met ten years ago would ever grow up?”

  “Hey, I’m not that grown up. I got tickets to the Metallica concert next month.”

  Talon grinned. They had bonded over their love of the hard rock back in the Army. Two wild kids ready to protect the world and make a difference. In their own way, they were still doing so.

  In the days that followed, Talon and Rob tried to hit up every watering hole in town while reminiscing about the past. During the day while Rob was at work, Talon visited Siesta Key beach for long walks and even longer swims. The Gulf of Mexico was warm, the salt water soothing his injury. While he sliced through the bobbing waves with powerful strokes, the ocean stinging his eyes and the sun beating down on him, he let his thoughts wander. For a moment, the horrors seemed far away. The natural beauty of this tropical paradise didn’t seem to allow for the existence of demonic villainy. Talon knew it was an illusion, but he welcomed it anyway.

  He also couldn’t help but notice the tanned, bikini-clad beauties who filled the beach at all times of the day. The week he spent with Kristin in Norway had reminded him that he was still a man with needs. Even though his heart would always belong to Michelle, he could allow himself to draw momentary comfort in the arms of another.