Authors: Allen Dusk

Her Lover's Touch (2 page)

BOOK: Her Lover's Touch

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Katelyn's head snapped back. Pain seared every follicle along her scalp. She threw her hands behind her head in an attempt to break free. She expected to feel a pair of hands assaulting her, but instead she found only tendrils of her own hair twisting themselves into knots. Freezing cramps locked her knuckles as if she had reached into a deep artic sea.

A frigid breath moaned in her ear. The tiny bones forming her eardrum twisted and shattered inside her skull. Splintering pain ignited like flashbulbs in the darkness. Katelyn screamed in agony, frantically clawing at her ear.

Warm, wetness blanketed her fingers. She pulled her hand away to stare at fresh crimson glistening in the candlelight. She touched her ear again, gently this time, and realized she could no longer hear.

A terrible noise saturated her other ear of thousands of fingernails raking down an unseen chalkboard. She clenched her teeth before screaming back at the unholy sound. The disharmony swelled, rattling everything in the room before quickly fading into silence.

Katelyn was unsure if she should breathe a sigh of relief. Clenched muscles trembled with anticipation of another unseen attack. A gentle wind whispered past the window. She whipped her head about the room, searching for any sign of who or what had just attacked her.

Soft words whispered through the breeze, repeating one word with a slow tempo. "Katelyn."

She jerked her head toward the window, wondering if that was where the voice came from, or if the new found handicap of being deaf in one ear was playing tricks on her perception. She strained to listen for more words but only heard the wind.

What the hell just happened
? She struggled to contain the anxiety swarming inside her. Dizzy spells lulled her eyes against her wishes. She inhaled deeply, brought her hands up to her mouth, and blew a warm breath across them.
Think
, Kate
, it's what you do best
.

"Okay, okay." Nervous twitches tapped her fingers together.

She agreed with herself. She did have a knack for figuring things out, like planning parties and solving crosswords. That
knack
helped her first notice the odd times William came home, the random pages to his beeper, and the credit card charges to a florist for roses she never saw, but
she
was certain somebody else received. Her cunning helped her track the bitch down, devise a perfect murder
scheme,
and ensure that nobody would ever find a trace of them again. Nevertheless, there was one piece of evidence remaining that she suddenly felt compelled to get rid of. Then she planned to get the hell out of the house.

Katelyn slid off the bed and made a dash for a pair of jeans hanging over the chair in the corner. Gravity abruptly dragged her to the side. She stumbled like a drunk and caught herself against the dresser, nearly crashing he
adfirst into it. It took her a moment full of wondering
to realize that having only one functioning eardrum meant she would need to struggle through every step to keep her balance.

She walked along the dresser, using its heavy oak construction to steady herself. When she reached the end, she took a small step away, leaving one hand on the edge to keep her balance. The jeans were not much further; maybe four steps at the most. She hesitated for a moment. Viscous fluid shifted in her eardrum. Soft winds blew past steamy
windowpanes
. She took another step, pulled her hand away from the dresser, and toppled over.

Naked flesh squeaked across hardwood floors. Tender surfaces burned from fresh wounds. Katelyn staggered onto her hands and knees.
I'll crawl out of here if I fucking have to
.

She reached out her hand. The seams of her dark denim jeans were just within reach of her French manicure. A frigid weight wrapped around her ankle.

A terrible shriek rang out from her lips. Her frantic eyes spun in their sockets. Her heart stopped when she noticed frozen finger marks indenting her soft skin. Nothing stood over her, yet her flesh tingled from its presence. She yanked her leg away from the sensation and turned back to grab her jeans. Swirling white mist enveloped her ankle and dragged her across the floor.

"No, let go of me!" She kicked and screamed.

The mist parted and quickly reformed despite her frantic efforts. It whipped her chest against the doorframe, silencing her cries with a bone-cracking thud. She struggled for breath against the spasms knotting through her lungs.

Portraits in the darkened hallway flashed past her. Bloody friction burns littered her back by the time her ass thumped down the first few stairs. She used all of her strength and coordination to prevent her head from crashing against the marble staircase while the invisible force dragged her toward the lower floor. Katelyn's head cracked against the metal edge of the last step. Her perfect white teeth cleaved her tongue
.
Panic-fueled blood coated her mouth with salty, copper warmth.

The grand crystal chandelier whipped past her vision as she was hauled through the main foyer. Lightning flashed through the windows, filling the room with yellow light and blue shadows. She swore there were entrails hanging from the lamps. Another flash of lightning revealed only the finest sparkling crystal money could buy.

The misty fingers released
their
grip and bowled her through the kitchen doors. Her bare body crashed against stainless steel. Dazed, bleeding, and havocked by pain, Katelyn stared up at the refrigerator towering over her.

Her long hair whipped around her face while she scampered backward. Her dazed eyes searched the kitchen for any sign of life. Light
n
ing flashed and shadows from dusty appliances were all to be found. Roaring thunder rumbled the tiles beneath her toes. When the sensation faded, a faint sound filled her remaining perfect ear. A sense of
foreboding
trembled her limbs and erected her nipples.

Sounds like a rat scratching at something
.
Her good eardrum traced the sound around the kitchen, before slowly tracing its origin back to the freezer door.

Frigid sleet rushed through Katelyn's veins, propelled at light speed by her galloping heart. The scratching grew louder. She struggled to get to her feet and turned to run. She whimpered when something shoved her back towards the noise.
Currents of rage flowed from the unseen barrier.

Words howled in the wind. "Open it." The storm started building up again for its loathsome encore.

Fright shuddered through her. She glared back at the empty kitchen. Fear kept any words from forming across her bleeding tongue. Slowly, she turned toward the refrigerator, knowing exactly what she needed to do. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and found her balance. Her thoughts focused on the sound of her breathing; not the
relentless
scratching coming from the freezer or the deafening lightning strikes outside. One by one, she tuned out every sound until calm silence caressed her wounded flesh.

Katelyn stepped forward and opened the freezer. Amidst the barren shelves, exactly where she had left it, the plastic-wrapped package rested. She grabbed it and quickly tore away the crisp folds, throwing them to the side.

She gazed at the mottled, white flesh and questioned her own sanity. The hand was frozen solid. Tears welled in her eyes at the sight of icy flakes formed over the wedding band.

"Katelyn." William's voice was directly behind her.

Startled, she jumped. The gaunt hand escaped her grip, crashed against the tile and shattered into countless shards of frozen gore. The ring rolled in a circle then changed trajectory and traveled between her legs. She quickly spun around to watch the ring roll across the tile before falling over on its side. The frosty gold gleamed beneath a white aura. Katelyn looked up and staggered back against the freezer door. A cascade of hot piss washed drying blood from her thighs.

William's severed head floated before her. Luminous orbs of white-hot light filled the sockets where she had carved away his eyelids. Blood and sand formed twisted tentacles amongst his thin, matted hair. A tiny crab scurried down his silver beard and disappeared inside the ragged rings of trachea dangling from his neck.

"Katelyn." Another orb of light appeared inside his mouth as it formed the words.

Katelyn trembled. Words escaped her.

"Katelyn." The crab emerged through his lips and blocked the light as it scampered inside an eye socket.
The scratching sound returned, louder this time.

"Shut up!" She screamed.

The head bobbed in space. Bright beams of light projecting from the ears bounced off fine crystal goblets. It opened its mouth and the scratching noise grew louder.

Katelyn threw her hands over her ears. Every sound wave drilled into her brain and threatened to shake the flesh from her bones. She pictured herself standing naked on a stage at a rock concert with hundreds of speakers stacked around her. Each woofer and tweeter quaked with hellish decibels, saturating every molecule of her body with abhorrent noise.

Suddenly she knew how to stop it. It was perfectly clear. Once again, her
knack
had helped her. She staggered across the kitchen. The floating head followed her, illuminating abrasions across her nude back with blazing white beams.

Her vision distorted with every piercing, drawn out scratch. Even though she hardly used the kitchen, she still knew it well enough to find exactly what she needed.

That's right Kate…there it is
.
Her hands found the wooden block on the counter. Her fingers curled around a well-balanced handle as she applauded herself.
You know what you need to do to those speakers
?

"Cut the power," Katelyn muttered. She raised the carving knife and held the razor-sharp point just inside her good ear.

William's head floated closer. Cabinet doors rattled wildly from the scratching cacophony.

"I loved you, you bastard!" Her bruised ribs throbbed with every shouted word. "Till death do us part!"

Katelyn slammed herself against the counter, driving the knife through her beautiful eardrum. The blade sank deep into delicate grey-matter bundled tightly inside her skull, cutting her power instantly. Her nude body left a bloody smear across the counter before it collapsed against marble tiles. Slow agonal breaths creaked through her unhinged jaw. Her pupils stretched wide beneath a blinding white aura.

William's head drifted down and floated over her body for the final show. He watched until every last death tremor subsided in her limbs and her spilt bowels grew cold.
Finally,
his lips hovered over hers for one final kiss.

The crab hopped from William's beard. Lightning flashed, revealing translucent swirls through its teal shell. Its claws clicked between Katelyn's shiny, white teeth before it descended inside her throat.

"We're both so happy you could join us," it transmitted through her ether. "We have so much to show you."

###

About the Author

Allen Dusk is an award-winning author and poet from San Diego. His debut
horror
novel
Shady Palms
has been earning great reviews from fans and critics alike.

His next
horror
novel
Old Mill Road
wi
ll be released in late 2013 and fans
can also look forward to his
Proteus Bell
steampunk anthology. For those of you who keep a few naughty books on your list, Allen churns out short bits of erotica every now and then.
His erotic
The Girl Alone
series will be headed to eBook in 2013 as well.