Carnal

Chapter Forty-Four - Don't Look Behind You

My hair was still wet from the shower when my head fell back against the pillow.

I laid on top of the duvet, the metal IV rod standing next to the bed, and watched the clear liquid dripping from the bag into the vial and down from the rubber tube into my arm.

I counted drips like they were sheep.

Around the seventy-first drip, my eyes closed and they didn't open again until the sky outside the window was tinted orange and pink.

Remembering where I was, I sat up to realize that my body was covered by a knitted blanket and the IV in my arm had been removed and replaced with a bandage that wrapped around the crease of my elbow.

My fingertips trailed over the cotton bandage gingerly as I looked around the room and noticed a few things had been moved around.

There were a folded pair of pants and a sweater placed on a chair that sat in the corner of the room and a glass of water that sat on the nightstand next to the bed, which I gladly drank all of.

The window on far side of the bedroom had been cracked, allowing the warm ocean breeze to float through the room, blowing the curtains gently as it did so.

Throwing the blanket off and swinging my legs to the other side of the bed, I pulled the robe that was wrapped around me a little tighter and stood to my feet.

I was rubbing the sleep from my eyes when I heard the low and resonant sound of male voices coming from the hallway outside the closed bedroom door.

I began to walk towards the door slowly and quietly. As I got closer and pressed an ear against the door, I recognized Jacob's voice.

"You're certain every one of them were notified?"

"Yes sir," was the reply of a voice I didn't recognize.

Jacob spoke again.

"And we have the necessary precautions taken to ensure that every one who does not attend are executed?"

"Yes sir."

My eyebrows furrowed.

Attend what? Executed?

"I want to make it very clear that once the sun has set, no one will be permitted inside. Kill them at the door if they're late. I don't care who they are or even if they're just tardy by a few minutes."

"Yes sir."

Whoever this guy was, he sounded like an automated robot.

"Once they're all inside the building, I want all entrances and exits blocked. No one leaves alive."

What the hell is he talking about?

"Any questions?" Jacob asked.

"Sir... what should we do if he comes?"

"Cain?" Jacob asked. "Use any means necessary to keep him away from the building. I don't care if he drops dead in the streets but I can't have him inside the temple."

I felt a chill run down my spine.

"That should be everything," Jacob said. "Be sure to relay my orders to the others and remember: no one leaves alive."

I heard a heavy pair of footsteps stomp away, down the hallway. Had it occurred to me just a moment later that only one of them had walked away, I would have been found out.

I looked down to see the door handle turning slowly and quickly jumped back to run across the room to the chair.

Pretending to be looking at the sweater when Jacob came in, I paid him no mind as he walked into the room and closed the door behind him.