Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Chris woke. He rubbed the back of his head and sat up. Where was he? He looked. Nothing seemed familiar and then all at once memory flashed behind his eyes. Sheva and Jill were gone. He sprang to his feet. The line of inferno had ebbed to a few flickering flames. As he searched across it he found no sign of them. Then a velvet voice whispered in his ear. He turned. There stood the woman in lavender.

Her eyes sparkled. Set deep in their chocolate swirls was a majestic beauty to which he had never before seen. As her lips parted, sweet wild strawberry red, his heart leapt into his throat, hammered wildly and pumped blood quickly to his face. He could only imagine how he blushed.

"This isn't a safe place to be," she said, her teeth brilliant pearls. She slanted her view of him and motioned toward uptown Madison Avenue. "I suggest we go now. Anything from here and back is likely to draw unwanted attention."

He paused to cast a look over his shoulder. He thought about Sheva and Jill. Of course, as he slid his gaze upon the lady in lavender, everything seemed to melt away.

But how?  Why?

"My friends," he said, winced at how pathetic his voice sounded and turned to see if she had noticed. His cleared his throat. "We were separated."

"They will find their way," she replied.

Her voice spun around him a blanket of fine silk. His knees grew stiff as his legs became pillars of stone.

"I must insist we go," she said and he instantly felt his legs work again.

"Wait," he said and she stopped. "What is your name?"

"Hudson," she replied at once.

"Do you have any idea what is going on?" He asked as they passed the dying inferno wreckage.

She slowed. She pulled her lavender hood back. Chestnut curls splayed on her shoulders. Even now in the dim halo of orange spreading across the heavens he managed to see her delicate contours and flawless complexion. It was the most exquisite formation of features he ever had the pleasure to behold.

"In time you will know the whole story," she breathed. "But for now I believe it is best if you are ignorant."

"You have no problem there," he said and then slapped his forehead at how stupid that made him sound. What was he thinking?

She smiled. "What is your name?"

He replied, "Chris." He watched her smile fade. "You do know what is going on, don't you?"

"I do." She stopped. "The time will come when you will learn about it and everything that will come to pass will be for a reason." She stepped closer and his eyes widened. The swell of her breasts pressed gently against his chest as she added, "Your judgment is as you make it."

Chris swallowed hard. The waft of her fragrance intoxicated him.

"I believe we need to make haste," she whispered and began to walk away.

He quickly caught up and walked alongside her. It was impossible to get enough of her scent, beauty and voice. It was almost as if he was addicted to her. He smiled. Some people were addicted to cigarettes, alcohol or drugs. He was addicted to Hudson, the lady in lavender.

She guided him around a corner. He bothered not to look where to. He didn't want to miss a moment of her face or those lips as they moved. He wanted to hear her breath in delight and feel a great moment of release. Then heat flooded his face and he erased the thought from his mind.

"I haven't seen you before."

Hudson nodded. "I am new, but then again I know the city well."

Her rich accent puzzled him. He could not place it. At first he thought it to be French, but ruled it out as she pronounced more words. It certainly was Spanish. It couldn't be Japanese either. He listened to her. It was something new entirely on his ears.

Again, her pace slowed. She looked to her right. He followed the stream of her gaze but saw nothing.

"We must hurry," she said and pulled him along as she broke into a run.

Hudson allowed him to take a moment to catch his breath. As he doubled over he did more than catch his breath. He caught sight of her long slender legs as they shifted under her lavender dress.  He shivered. He understood nothing was definite and anything was possible. Tonight alone proved that, or so he thought. He arched an eyebrow and wondered where the hell his thoughts had led him.

"Where are we going?" He asked her as they started to move again.

She glanced over her shoulder. "Just you let me worry about that. I have it under control. Are you hungry or thirsty?"

He shook his head.

"I am fine," he said, hoping to sound convincing.

She neither looked his way nor appeared at all involved with her surroundings as she guided him onto another avenue. It was darker than the rest. To his nostrils waft an odor. When she stopped so did he and when he looked his jaw dropped. A jelly mass slithered across their way. It paused a moment as millions of eyes all over its body blinked and stared at them.

"Just walk slowly," she whispered to him.

Chris could not feel his legs. They moved him forward but it was like he was floating on air. Until the tail end of that thing disappeared between two buildings, he wasn't even sure of where he was or who he was. He only woke from the days when her voice whispered to him.

"There will be more." She gently tugged on his hood.

Absently he nodded. He could not imagine what spawned such a thing. Maybe there really was a hell after all and maybe it opened, spewed its creatures out. He then thought about the explosion back on Riverfront Drive. Maybe it was not an explosion after all. It was a whole lot of maybes but as he mind started to work he saw no other possibility.

They turned. The sidewalk was a crumbling stretch of fallen debris and fissures. He now recognized his surroundings though. These roads lead to the University. It was an elaborate route of forest and nature. He liked to take it often during the summer. The tall green trees provided excellent shade from the scorching sun. Now they were either bare or paraded with red, yellow or brown leaves. Sure it was colorful but he hated the cold. Autumn only meant winter was around the corner and winter time made it only the more difficult for a guy on the street. Of course he had learned some nifty tricks such as stuffing your clothes with newspaper. It acted like a sort of insulation.

"What was that thing?"

Hudson hooked her arm with his and walked his speed. Normally he would have cherished the moment like that, but he could not shake the image out of his head.

"That was something horrible," she explained.

Chris agreed but wanted a better explanation. "But what exactly was it?"

She considered him a moment. The jewels of her eyes reflected wisdom and a dark secret that made him shiver.

"You were right about judgment day only it is a different sort of judgment being cast upon you," she said.

Chris licked his chapped lips. "Who is it passing judgment and why?"

"The answer to who is a long and complicated one. It will take much telling."

"I am all ears."