Out of Time 01 - Out of Time

wave of clear liquid splashed onto King’s face. Instantly, his skin began to burn from the powerful acid. Acrid smoke billowed off the burning flesh.
    King roared in fury. With reflexes far too fast for the old man, he grabbed him and sank his teeth into the soft flesh of the man’s neck. Soft, gurgling sounds and the fetid smell of burned skin filled the small warehouse. Sebastian clutched the front of King’s jacket in a futile effort to push him away. Ever increasing splashes of blood fell at their feet.
    The acid had burned away the side of King’s neck and the bulging vein ruptured. All the blood he drained from Sebastian poured out of the gaping hole.
    With a furious snarl, King tossed Sebastian aside. Still gripped in the dying man’s hand, King’s front pocket tore away.
    King stumbled toward the door. Smoke danced off his face as the acid continued to eat away at him. He pushed himself out the door and staggered into the driving rain.
    Fueled by rage and unyielding pain, King made his way down the uneven planks of the dock.
    “Jesus, Boss!” one of the henchman cried when he saw King through the rain.
    “Get this thing moving!” King bellowed.
    “What happened to you?”
    “I said,” King raged, grabbing the man by his shirt, “get this thing moving.”
    The man paled but quickly nodded and called out to the others. “Get the bow line! Cast off.”
    King shoved him away and boarded the boat as the men set into action, untying the mooring lines and pulling in the gangplank. In a maniacal fury, he threw open the door to Elizabeth’s room. She whirled around and gasped at the sight of him.
    “You will love me,” King growled as he stalked closer.
    Disgust and fear flashed across her face, spurring his wrath. Her hand moved quickly to her throat. He saw the gleam of a jagged shard press against her neck.
    She pushed the makeshift blade to her skin. A trickle of blood slid down her pale neck. “I’ll die first.”
    King froze. The demon strained inside him, barely reined in. It could smell the blood. Wanted to taste it. But his soul still held on.
    He lunged forward and gripped her wrist, wrenching her hand away from her neck. She struggled against him, and his mind clouded over as his own inner battle raged on. He shoved her away, and she fell back onto the bed. How easy it would be to take her now. To feel her pulse ebbing into his. To take what she wouldn’t give.
    He looked away from her for a moment and caught sight of himself in the mirror. His soul gave him that gift. But now, it was more than a curse. There was no hint of the man he once was in his reflection. Grotesque burns left his skin slagging off the side of his face. The white of his cheek bone, scoured by the acid, shone through the blistered mass. The skeleton of the beast.
    Elizabeth took advantage of his distraction and bolted for the door, but King grabbed her before she could make it past him. He spun her back into the room, but she wouldn’t stop fighting. She tried to get past him, hands clawing, grabbing for anything she could in a frantic attempt to escape. Her fingers curled around the base of the hurricane lamp, and she swung it at him. King pushed her back and leapt out of the way.
    The lantern crashed to the floor. Oil spilled out onto the carpet and caught fire between them. The flames spread quickly, slithering along the floor like a mass of snakes. The wall of flame licked higher and higher between them. Thick smoke filled the tiny room.
    Between the flashes of orange and red fire, King saw Elizabeth. She was trapped inside the room, imprisoned by a wall of flame.
    She coughed and covered her mouth, but the smoke was too thick. Frantically, she tried to ward off the searing heat and find a way past the flames, but it was no use. The flames were too high, the fire too strong. There was no escape. She was going to die. She stopped struggling and lifted her head, and her eyes met his.
    Beautiful, defiant and alive. Something stirred deep inside him. A cold, dead heart struggling to beat.
    In that moment, her life meant more to him than his own. The battle was won.
    King stepped into the flames.
    * * *
    “Grandfather,” Simon gasped as he pulled himself up and stumbled to Sebastian’s side.
    The older man was alive, barely. He coughed as blood bubbled from his mouth and dribbled down his chin.
    “Why did you come here?” Simon asked desperately and tried in vain to stop the blood that oozed from the wound in