were halfway up on the back porch when a huge figure jumped out in their path, growling and snarling at them like a madman. They all three screamed in unison, then clung to each other, Dana holding tight to Stephen while Tony held tight to her.
Dana took in the sight before her, thinking this had to be some kind of macabre dream and that surely she’d wake up in her bed, in her little farmhouse, all safe and sound.
The man was huge. The moon acted as a spotlight as he bent forward. His shirt gaped open to reveal a tattooed chest. That massive chest was heaving up and down as he stared at them, his eyes holding them penned with an unnerving glare. His hair was a mixture of gray and black, and hung around his face in flowing straight locks. He wore twin white feathers on either side of his parted hair. They hung down around his ears, making him look like a giant winged bird. A pair of army fatigues covered his legs, and heavy hiking boots encased his feet. Each time he inched toward them the silver bangles on his massive arms jingled a warning.
For a full minute, the man stared at them and they stared back. In her mind, Dana kept thinking they should run, but her feet wouldn’t obey the shouting command.
Finally Stephen spoke. “An Indian. We found an Indian.”
The man stepped forward again, and they all retreated another inch. “You’re trespassing,” he growled.
“Leo, it’s me, man,” Tony said, his voice shaky at best. “It’s Tony. We were in that building back there—the one that blew up. Someone planted a bomb in my apartment—actually, in my pizza.”
“This is Leo?” Dana whispered, her arms protecting Stephen as he stared up at the imposing man in front of them.
“Yep,” Tony said, indicating the little frame house behind the man. “He lives right here. But he likes to roam the park at night sometimes.”
“Uh-huh,” Dana replied. “And he’s supposed to help us?”
The man stared at them, then snarled. “Get out of here, Tony.”
“Okay.” Tony tugged at Dana’s arm. “Let’s go.”
“But what about—”
“He might be having a flashback,” Tony said under his breath. “We don’t even want to be here for that, trust me.”
“Then let’s go,” Dana said, frightened all over again.
They were just about to do that when more sirens blasted through the night, startling all of them. Dana, Tony and Stephen took that as their cue, and started to make tracks back toward the woods.
Dana ran right smack into the strange man. He’d also heard the sirens, and now he was trying to block their way. He grabbed Dana to keep them both from toppling over.
“Let me go!” Dana shouted, her eyes widening as she stared up at the man. Even in the darkness, she could see the fear in his eyes. “Please, let me go,” she said again, hoping this weirdo wouldn’t harm them.
“Do you hear that?” he asked, his eyes brightening like a shard of crystal. “Hear them? They’re looking for me.”
Tony stepped forward. “Yeah, and they’re coming to take you away. Let her go, man.”
The man looked at Tony as if he’d just noticed he even existed. “They won’t get me if they can’t find me.”
Tony seized that notion. “Yeah, well, if you don’t let us go, they will find us, Leo. And they’ll find you, too. And it doesn’t look like any of us want to be found just yet. We came to you for help, man. Can you understand that at least?”
The man jerked his head around. “You hiding out?”
Dana didn’t dare make a quick move. She’d heard about people like this man. People who lived in their own little worlds; people who went berserk and killed everyone in sight. People who lived in the park, in the dark, people who lived on the fringes of reality. From the way he was dressed, and the way he acted, she’d say this man was on the verge of some sort of rampage, and she didn’t want to stick around to find out what it was.
“We’re trying to get away,” she said in a calm voice, her body protecting Stephen behind her. “So we do need to keep moving.” Inching closer, she added in a whisper, “And you’re frightening my little brother. Mister, we’ve had one really bad week, and you’re not helping matters.”
The man waited for the sirens to die down, then he released her to step back. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I used to be a cop, and when I hear that sound, well, it reminds me of things I don’t want to think about.”
Stephen’s eyes lit up. “A cop? Wow! Policemen are our friends.” He shook his head back and forth. “Got to get away from bad people. Bad people are after us. Policemen are our friends.”
Dana grabbed her brother by the collar. “Hush, Stevie. Let’s just get going now.”
Leo lifted his head. “What kind of bad people?”
Tony sighed, then wiped a hand across his dirty brow. “Look, Leo, we don’t want any trouble. We have to keep moving. This woman and her brother are being harassed by some strange cult—the Universal Unity Church—and we need to get out of here.”
“Caryn Roark, the woman who speaks with a false face,” the man said, nodding his head in slow motion. “I’ve heard stories about her.”
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