Chapter Nine
Turning on his laptop and tapping into Katrina’s records for what felt like the thousandth time, Gage mumbles, “Where the hell is she?” as he paces a hole in the floor of his cottage. Since his return home, he’s been keeping an eye on her bank records, credit cards, and cell phone activity. Nothing! For weeks now, he keeps coming up empty. It’s like she’s dropped off the face of the earth. He is one of the best trackers in the business, it isn’t often someone can give him the slip. “How could an untrained, wealthy little Daddy’s girl just disappear without a trace unless she has some training I’m not aware of? Did I miss something or just underestimate her? I don’t know, but I will find her and find out if there’s more to little Miss Jameson than meets the eye.”
All this pacing and second-guessing is driving him crazy. He needs to forget about Katrina and clear his head or he’ll never get any sleep. Stepping out the backdoor of his cottage, Gage looks around at the woods that back up to his property, closing his eyes and drawing a deep breath into his lungs. The scent of pine and ancient oaks is so strong he can almost taste it. The dew-lined foliage and fresh crisp air has his heightened senses singing. Removing his sneakers and shirt, he drops them to the ground and unbuckles his belt. Stripping off his jeans and shorts, he stands naked in the darkness, envisioning the panther. In the moonlight, the edges of his being grow less solid…less…defined...just, less. The pain of transformation begins as his bones shift and reform, muscles and sinews stretch and elongate, and his face grows long and ferociously feline. His eyes brighten and change into large, intelligent green orbs. Dark hair sprouts all over his body and spreads along his neck, shoulders, back, belly, legs, and arms. As his spine shifts, Gage drops down on all fours, no longer a man, no longer human, but a predator… a beast… a mighty panther…and heads out into night to run and be free. Free to hunt, free to stalk, and to satisfy the wildness within.
Blocking her cell phone number from caller ID, Katrina dials her mother’s number. The phone rings once, twice, and is immediately answered on the second ring. “Hello?”
“Hi Mom.”
“Oh my god Katrina, where are you? Are you okay? Are you safe?”
“Slow down, Mom. Yes, I’m fine. I’m safe.”
“I’ve been so worried. I didn’t know whether you were in an accident or lying dead somewhere on the side of the road. We called every hospital and jail we could think of. I didn’t know if you were abducted or if you just took off. I’ve been calling all over the place trying to find you and your father’s even reported you missing to the local authorities They tracked your phone and found it on the side of the road.”
“I’m so sorry I made you worry, Mom! I never wanted to upset you. It’s just that after that last party at your house, I couldn’t handle it anymore. I had to get out of there and get away from Dad. I know you love him, but I can’t and won’t live my life for him anymore. I want to make my own decisions without the constant scrutiny and worry over what Dad will think or say. He’s a hard man, Mom. He’s selfish, demanding, unfeeling, insincere, and a phony. He only cares about his next campaign and portraying his image of the perfect family man to the world. I’m tired of feeling as if I’m not good enough for him unless I’m following his program and doing everything he wants me to, when he wants me to. You may be willing to live your life like that, but I’m not. Not anymore.”
“Katrina sweetheart, I understand what you’re saying. I really wish you would come home, but I understand if you need some time to find yourself and get out from under your father’s thumb. But please, tell me where you are. Tell me what I can do for you.”
“Look Mom, I promise to keep in touch with you, but right now, I don’t trust Dad to let me go and not come after me. So for now, I’m going to keep my whereabouts a secret, along with my phone number. I promise I’ll call you often, though.”
“Katrina, please! Let me know where you are or at least how I can get in touch with you.”
“I can’t right now, Mom. As for what you can do for me, please just call off the authorities and don’t let Dad know anything.”
“Katrina, if I call off the authorities I cannot keep the fact that I’ve heard from you a secret from him. I will not tell him anything else other than you are fine and want time to get yourself together, to decide what you want out of your life.”
“Thanks Mom. I have to go for now, just know Max and I are safe and we both love you.”
“I love you too, Katrina. Call me soon, okay?”
“Okay. Good night, Mom.”
“Good night, Katrina.”
Exhausted enough to finally sleep, Gage exits the woods and returns to his cottage. Willing himself to change, he begins the painful process of turning back from beast to man again. Picking up his clothes, he enters the house and heads to the bathroom to wash away the evidence of his night’s hunting activities.
As soon as his head hits the pillow, Gage quickly falls off to sleep. Entering the first stage of sleep, memories of the night’s follies drift through his mind. He could almost feel the crisp night air ruffling the fur on his back as he tore through the landscape at top speed. The scents and sounds of other living creatures in the woods, and those same creatures fleeing from the predator they sense nearby. The metallic taste of warm, sticky fluid dripping through his long sharp teeth as he brought down and fed on his prey.
Suddenly, the dream changes from one of pleasure to one of pain. The sound of brisk movements and muffled voices catches his attention. Straining his ears to make sense of what is going on around him. The voices are unfamiliar and the words indecipherable. He tries opening his eyes to look around but can’t. His eyes are covered with something that prevents him from opening them and he is trapped in darkness behind his lids.
His lips are dry and cracked and his throat parched. Needing a drink, he tries in vain to get up, but his body won’t move. His torso, head, arms, and legs are tethered to the bed where he lay. He is trapped, helpless.
Realizing he has no idea where he is or what is happening to him, Gage panics. How did he get here? Better yet, how was he going to get out? His voice is horse, a mere whisper that no one responds to. Helpless and unable to think clearly, his mind in a thick fog, his body buried in quicksand. Finally, after what seems like a lifetime, someone removes something from over his eyes. Painfully opening them, he begins blinking wildly as his eyes try to adjust to the light.
Looking around, he finds he is in a bright, white, sterile room. The strong smell of disinfectant and illness fills the air. There is medical equipment flashing and beeping all around, much of it plugged into his body with tubes and sensors.
Shadowed figures drift in and out at the corners of his vision, while disjointed fingers and hands are touching him. Still finding it difficult to focus, he notices rapid movements from the shadows, just before his vision becomes flooded with a florescent green fluid that swims all around him. All of his senses are flooded with that strange green color moving and sliding like the inside of a lava lamp. He feels snow-blind.
Out of nowhere, his right arm feels increasingly cold, like it was thrust into a frozen snow bank and he finds himself crying out in agony. His entire body is in excruciating pain, taking his breath away. Struggling to catch his breath, his body temperature cools and he begins to shiver violently as his blood feels as if it is being swapped out with water from an arctic pool. Just when he thinks he will turn into a block of ice, his body quickly changes again and begins to warm up. At first, the heat comes as a welcome relief, but his body is warming much too quickly and within minutes, his insides ignite as if they are on fire. Flames are licking at and scorching through his organs, his skin. He feels as if he has been cast into the flames of hell, and the more he cries out, the more the demons are laughing at him. Making the agonizing pain even worse is the fact that he is still tied down, tethered on his back on a bed. He can’t move a muscle. He has to lie completely still while his body is burning. Every muscle, bone, and sinew is uncontrollably expanding, then contracting, pulling and stretching beyond their limits. He feels as if his blood is boiling. He wants to die, but just before his silent prayers for death can be answered, the face of an angel floods his vision, her mouth opening to say something…
Gage awakens with a start, sits straight up in bed, gasping to fill his lungs with air as he hyperventilates. Placing his head between his knees, he calms his breathing so his breath can come in regular intervals. He raises his head and is greeted with a pounding headache. Slowly he stands on shaky legs. Sliding his hands along the furniture and walls for support, he shuffles into the shower stall, running cool water, and bracing himself against the cold tiled shower walls for support.
After standing under the stream of water for fifteen minutes, Gage begins to feel better, more human. Shutting off the water, he exits the shower, grabs a towel, and rubs it through his wet head of hair. He makes his way to the kitchen still nude, pulls out a glass from the cupboard, pours a stiff drink and swallows it down in one large gulp. After pouring a second and a third, he slams the now empty glass down on the table and runs his fingers through his damp hair. “What the hell is wrong with me? Where does this strange dream come from? The doctor said it was a case of night terrors, but it seems too real for that. And why is Katrina Jameson in my dream? I could see if I was dreaming about fucking her, I mean shit, who wouldn’t tap that, but I’m not having sex dreams about her, she’s plaguing my worst nightmares.”
Carrying a half full glass with him, Gage returns to the bedroom, opens the night stand drawer, takes out a prescription bottle, tosses two pills into his mouth, and follows them down with a swig of whiskey.