Wrenge (11) by Louise Dragon
It was approaching midnight when Brad left Nietupski's. He stood on Alec's porch for a moment gazing at the peaceful indigo sky.
He wished he had never come here.
What a mess this was.
He wished he had never known Wayne and Elizabeth Michaels.
What made Brad angriest was Joyce Nietupski putting one over on his father. Brad would never forget that his father sent an innocent man to prison. He hated that stain on his father's memory, would give anything to erase the discovery from his mind. His father -- duped by conniving women yet again.
Driving through the deserted park by Mount Moriah Brad's mind replayed sentences from the rhymes. He knew the words by heart now. Alec had said that everything they needed to send the Wrenge back to where it originally slithered out, was in those words.
(Cast your shadow in his wake, Blood and bone from the wicked take.)
Brad tugged an old picture of Wayne Michaels' death room from his memory. Blood had been there, bone too. The shadow?
Hell, the room had been full of shadows. Alec had said that the shadow was important. Which damn shadow?
Brad pulled his car into the rest area at the mouth of Moriah Gorge. He needed to think, damn it.
He realized that it bothered him most that the Wrenge was female. Brad had never been afraid of a woman before. Never considered them worthy adversaries . . .
(Until now?)
He felt like Rocky Balboa, a little excited at challenging a worthy contender. He'd have to think it through, however. Not rush headlong into something this bizarre with no gloves or protective cup. Didn't want to end up on the ropes looking at the wrong end of a limb!
As Brad sat thinking, mulling over the words from those mysterious rhymes, a stroke of luck -- one that even surpassed all of Rocky's contrived performances -- floated out over the top of Mount Mariah.
Brad sat perfectly still in his car. Tiny little pings from the cooling engine seemed as loud as gunshots.
A dark brooding hulk lifted from the top of the high craggy cliff before him and floated out toward the the center of Memphis. In mesmerized silence, Brad watched until the thing disappeared over the purple horizon.
(Okay, bitch. Now I know where you live!)
He wished he had never come here.
What a mess this was.
He wished he had never known Wayne and Elizabeth Michaels.
What made Brad angriest was Joyce Nietupski putting one over on his father. Brad would never forget that his father sent an innocent man to prison. He hated that stain on his father's memory, would give anything to erase the discovery from his mind. His father -- duped by conniving women yet again.
Driving through the deserted park by Mount Moriah Brad's mind replayed sentences from the rhymes. He knew the words by heart now. Alec had said that everything they needed to send the Wrenge back to where it originally slithered out, was in those words.
(Cast your shadow in his wake, Blood and bone from the wicked take.)
Brad tugged an old picture of Wayne Michaels' death room from his memory. Blood had been there, bone too. The shadow?
Hell, the room had been full of shadows. Alec had said that the shadow was important. Which damn shadow?
Brad pulled his car into the rest area at the mouth of Moriah Gorge. He needed to think, damn it.
He realized that it bothered him most that the Wrenge was female. Brad had never been afraid of a woman before. Never considered them worthy adversaries . . .
(Until now?)
He felt like Rocky Balboa, a little excited at challenging a worthy contender. He'd have to think it through, however. Not rush headlong into something this bizarre with no gloves or protective cup. Didn't want to end up on the ropes looking at the wrong end of a limb!
As Brad sat thinking, mulling over the words from those mysterious rhymes, a stroke of luck -- one that even surpassed all of Rocky's contrived performances -- floated out over the top of Mount Mariah.
Brad sat perfectly still in his car. Tiny little pings from the cooling engine seemed as loud as gunshots.
A dark brooding hulk lifted from the top of the high craggy cliff before him and floated out toward the the center of Memphis. In mesmerized silence, Brad watched until the thing disappeared over the purple horizon.
(Okay, bitch. Now I know where you live!)
~~~
Continued in next post . . .
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