Chapter Five
It was almost 8:30 pm when Mr. McKenna, Ms. Hutchinson and Bianca finally called it a day, and another quarter of an hour before they were in the elevator, heading down. Somehow, Bianca allowed herself to be convinced by Ms. Hutchinson that she should accept a ride home from her rather than take the bus. When she heard Bianca’s mode of commuting was public transport, she wouldn’t take no for an answer. So instead of getting off the elevator once it reached the lobby, Bianca found herself in the garage sub level with Ms. Hutchinson and Mr. McKenna.
Ever since she found out he was her employer, Bianca had been doing her best to focus on her work rather than her insistent fantasies about Eric McKenna throwing her on his desk and ripping the clothes off her body before having his wicked way with her... which was surprisingly hard to do. She felt awful for having such unprofessional thoughts, and almost took him up on his offer to leave early, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. This job meant more to her than he could understand, and she had to do everything she could to make sure they gave her the best references possible when her two months were up.
Unfortunately, once they were in the elevator, her daydreams only grew stronger, and she had to fight the urge to steal glances at her new boss. It was a good thing the elevator door was sandblasted rather than the usually polished chrome, or she wouldn’t have succeeded in controlling the urge... although she had a nagging feeling that Mr. McKenna knew very well what kind of thoughts she was harboring in her head.
Seriously, how could he not? The way he looked, the money he had... women must be throwing themselves at him on a daily basis, and Bianca would bet he could recognize when a woman was lusting after him at ten paces.
She closed her eyes and sighed silently. God, he must be cracking up inside at the thought of her entertaining the fantasy that he could ever want to sleep with a fat cow like her!
However, when the elevator reached the garage and the door opened, the sight of the pitch-black space before them quickly expelled every thought and emotion but the sudden sense of fear that engulfed her. She could see nothing but the tiny bit of the garage illuminated by the elevator lights, and there was a faint scent of anise, ginger and cinnamon in the air, which somehow made the entire situation even creepier.
She turned to Ms. Hutchinson and asked, “Is this normal?” but the woman firmly shook her head, her expression stern and worried, and replied, “No. It most certainly is not.”
Mr. McKenna stepped past them into the garage while Ms. Hutchinson held her hand to the elevator door to keep it from closing. A moment later, Bianca heard the crack of broken glass and saw Mr. McKenna walking back to them, holding a piece of broken neon lightbulb. “We need to get out of here,” he told Ms. Hutchinson. “Let’s go back up and...”
He never finished the sentence, because something enormous and dark tackled him from the side, taking him into the dark. Bianca screamed in panic, cowering into the corner of the elevator, but Ms. Hutchinson stepped outside, concerned for her boss, and looked off into the distance, undoubtedly trying to see what had happened. Bianca wished the woman would come to her senses and come inside so they could go back up and call the police or security, but Ms. Hutchinson had other ideas. “Head for the lobby,” she ordered Bianca. “Find the security and tell them Mr. McKenna has been attacked…”
But then a giant hand covered in dark brown fur and ending in vicious-looking claws snatched Ms. Hutchinson’s waist and literally threw her away like a rag doll. There was a thud and a sound like bones breaking... and then she was finally face to face with their attacker.
Bianca stared in terror at a creature that seemed to come straight out of a horror movie, except no CGI would ever come close to looking this realistic. She wanted to scream, to run, but the shock robbed her of both her voice and her ability to move. She just sat plastered against the back wall of the elevator, breathing in loud, choppy gasps, her mind barely able to process what her eyes were seeing.
It was crouched in front of her, gearing up to pounce, and it looked vaguely humanoid, except she’d never seen a person this large. This thing was twice the size of Hector McKenna, and he was by far the biggest person she’d ever met. It was covered in thick, dark brown pelt, and she could see the hairs on its neck and shoulders were standing on end, not unlike a dog gearing up to attack. And that was not the only canine characteristic it had. Like a dog, the creature had not a face, but rather a snout, thick and long and decorated by two rows of huge, vicious-looking teeth showing from beneath curled lips, thick drool dribbling down and a pair of shining, golden eyes staring threateningly at them. Atop its head, a pair of large, triangular ears stood flat against the back of its head, and its hands, just as large and hairy as the rest of it, ended in long, wicked claws.
And it was growling. It was growling so loudly that Bianca felt the walls of the elevator vibrate with the sound.
With a terrifying scrape of claws against concrete, the creature moved to jump, when something just as large and pitch black slammed into it, sweeping it away. They landed a few feet in front of the elevator, and the light barely reached them. Dazed, Bianca moved from where she stood to the elevator door to see better, too astonished by everything she’d just seen to think about insignificant details like self-preservation.
Mesmerized, she watched as what turned out to be another creature, the same as the first but for the color of the fur, and the original attacker snarled at each other and fought with a deadly focus.
The two creatures circled each other, walking on what she could only describe as hind legs, thick and powerful and shaped in angles more canine than human, ending in paw-like, clawed feet. She could see now that they had tails, too, covered in the same fur as the rest of them, but bushier, reaching to somewhere to around what she supposed she could call knees. The one that had attacked them snapped its massive jaw at the black one, but it wasn’t fast enough, and the black creature moved its torso back too quickly for the enormous, serrated teeth to close on its flesh. Then it used the momentum of its attacker against it and swung its powerful arm, the fingers on its hand spread wide and pointing down. On impact, the black one’s claws shredded into the brown one’s face, and some of the blood sprays landed right at her feet, making Bianca scream and cover her mouth with trembling hands.
The snarling grew louder, more violent, and the brown creature pounced on the black, but it was no use. The black creature grabbed its attacker’s shoulders and rolled down on its back, carrying the brown one with him, and then, with one powerful shove of feet against the brown creature’s torso, threw it far, far overhead. But no sooner was the black creature back on its feet than the brown one was attacking it again, tackling it under the torso like a football player – which was when Bianca heard the sound of screeching wheels, and a white sedan with Ms. Hutchinson behind the wheel collided with the brown creature’s body, mowing it down.
It squealed as it fell, dropping the black creature from its arms. The black one landed gracefully on the floor on all fours, facing the car. On impulse, Bianca stepped out of the elevator screaming “No!” terrified that the creature would attack Ms. Hutchinson, but all it did was draw its attention to Bianca.
It turned to her and let out a low rumble that she couldn’t exactly classify as a growl. Before it could do anything, Ms. Hutchinson barked, “Bianca! Get in the car! Now!” Bianca looked at the woman, still too scared to move. “Bianca, he won’t hurt you – but the other one won’t stay down for long. Get in so we can get out of here,” Ms. Hutchinson commanded swiftly. She was clearly not willing to let Bianca adjust, but was at least offering an escape, which was all she wanted right now.
With careful steps, she walked over to the white sedan and circled it from the back to reach the passenger door. All the while her eyes were locked on the black monster, who calmly returned the gaze. Ms. Hutchinson unlocked the door for Bianca, and she slipped inside. She’d just buckled her seatbelt when the back door behind her opened. Bianca screamed again, a noise that turned into an incoherent shriek when she realized that the enormous black creature was climbing into the back seat.
Ms. Hutchinson hit the gas pedal and, with a screech of tires, sped back in reverse before turning the car around and driving it out of the garage as fast as the sedan was capable.
Shaking in the kind of panic she never thought she would feel in her life, Bianca, still screaming, started pulling at her seatbelt, ready to do something, anything, jump out of the speeding car if she had to, just to get away from the creature behind her.
But then the creature started... melting, becoming smaller, its golden eyes dimming, changing color, its fur thinning, turning shorter. Mesmerized, Bianca watched as the fur went from black to gray to tawny to a sandy, golden blonde, turning from pelt to ordinary human skin, the clawed mitts transforming into large, male hands... hands she’d been daydreaming about feeling on her body that entire day.
It didn’t matter that her brain refused to believe everything she’d just experienced and seen; the black monster was gone and Eric McKenna sat in his place, looking exhausted – and gloriously naked.
Bianca stared in complete disbelief. She had no idea what to feel or how to react, but from the ease with which Ms. Hutchinson seemed to be taking it all in her stride, she could guess that this was nothing new, at least not to anyone but her.
Mr. McKenna sighed heavily, rubbing his hands over his face. “Janet,” he said. “Head to the compound. And hand me your cell phone, will ya?” Without missing a beat or taking her eyes off the road, Ms. Hutchinson handed her purse to Bianca. “Side pocket,” was all she said, but Bianca, dazed and confused as she was, didn’t need more. It took some fumbling around, her hands feeling as if they belonged to someone else. Eventually she got the telephone out and cautiously handed it to Mr. McKenna. He looked at her oddly, but took the phone without comment, and began typing what looked to Bianca like a series of long, angry texts.