Chapter Twenty

It's as dark as a hellhound in here.

Eva awoke slowly, swimming once again through the darkness and the alternating dull throbbing and excruciating sharp pains that shot through her skull.

Alive. Pain meant she still lived. She prayed that the same could be said of Oliver as well as the men who had been guarding her.

Before she even opened her eyes, she gingerly touched the spot on her forehead that the pain seemed centered around. Blood no longer flowed freely from it, but if all the dried blood indicated anything, it had flowed profusely and freely. Her quicker than normal healing ability meant she could have been out for twenty minutes or two hours.

A low moaning had her opening her eyes and slowly moving her head back and forth to determine who or what made the noise next to her. Big mistake; her head rattled even with careful movements, making her lose what little remained in her stomach. Retching caused the shaking to worsen and for several moments, she was caught in a cycle of dry heaving as her vision wavered fuzzily back and forth.

Too late, Eva determined that the noises were coming from her. She probably had a concussion. She'd never had one before, but it seemed likely. Closing her eyes again, she remained lying on the cool, damp floor until the dampness began to permeate her clothes and the stench of vomit filled her nose as it slowly dried on and around her.

Oh, my new clothes! She mentally moaned again, doubtful that the once flirty white peasant top had survived a car accident, all the blood and most likely, her own vomit. Fitting. She chastised herself for even concerning herself with clothes after clearly having been attacked and kidnapped. With a shiver, Eva pulled her now bare feet closer to her body in an attempt to ward off some of the chill. Her captors had removed both her shoes and her socks, most likely to discourage her from running.

Worrisome; it didn't bode well for her future if her kidnappers hadn't tended to her wounds. Despite her concerns for her own safety, she hoped Oliver wasn't trapped with her. The last thing she remembered was the fear and anger in his eyes as he lay trapped in the overturned car, apparently paralyzed by what seemed to be a magical attack of sorts. If he'd been left behind, surely he would mount an attack to rescue her. Despite the fact that they'd only known each other for days, Eva knew that Oliver's character wouldn't allow him to leave her behind with an enemy.

Or would it? Doubt crept into her mind, and loneliness settled through her. She was alone, more alone then perhaps ever before. Surely someone would come for her.

Slower than before, she gently raised her head, feeling her way along the damp dirt floor until she felt a wall only a foot behind her. Pulling herself up enough to lean on the wall, she spent the next several minutes with eyes closed, allowing her stomach to settle again. Despite its emptiness, it still battled against her every movement. Finally, Eva opened her eyes again, this time just tiny slits to peer out into the dark room, scanning ever so slowly for any light source, any clue as to where she might be and hopefully a way out of what appeared to be a basement—or maybe, if she were lucky, a barn.

The pitch black corners of the room loomed outward, covered in shadows and darkness, leaving her unsure how far it spanned. A few tiny spots of light shone through at the top of the room only a few feet above her head. Eva opened her eyes bit by bit, stopping when the pain rose. Finally, she could focus on the room around her. It must be a basement, she ascertained.

The tiny streams of light were allowed in through quarter-sized, oval-shaped windows with a few bars across them near the top of the room. The light just caught the beams that she assumed ran clear across the room. Squinting at the window, she doubted even without the bars that she would be able to squeeze her hips through the frame. Scanning the walls the best she could from her spot on the floor, she didn't even see a door or any stairs. Surely they were in one of the darkened corners? Every room had a way in and out. She refused to believe otherwise even as the panic settled in, blood whooshed through her body up into her head, and for the second time that day, everything went blissfully dark.

The next time Eva fought her way out of the darkness, a bit more light streamed through the small windows. This time, she managed to keep her head upright without the throbbing headache and nausea. Still leaning against the wall, she determined that either not much time had passed or her captors really didn't care about her health enough to check on her wellbeing. This still didn't bode well for her future, and since rescue wasn't assured either, she had to take care of herself and get moving.

Taking a deep breath and bracing herself for any possible pain, she nearly vomited again, this time from the heavy, rotten smell hanging thick in the air. Almost like baked dog crap, but from the bowels of ten dogs. Taking shorter breaths from behind her crusty-sleeved arm, Eva gingerly pulled herself to her feet, keeping the wall to her back in case she couldn't support herself.

Despite a brief wobble, she made it to her feet and stayed upright. The ceiling wasn't as low as she'd feared. She could stand upright with a few inches of clearance. The light filtering in showed the beams of the room stretching out and dust particles floating about. On the end farther from the windows, she could make out a frame that appeared to be the structure of the enclosed staircase. The extra lighting didn't raise her hopes of escaping; it only showed truly how bare the room was.

And that stench. What was it? Pulling the inside of her blouse up to cover her nose, she slowed her breathing to short, shallow breaths in an attempt to get past the odor that permeated the air.

In the hopes that maybe her captors hadn't searched for a phone, she patted the back pockets of her once new jeans. Although she'd expected that her phone was gone, Eva still felt the flicker of disappointment. One could hope; surely the universe owed her some good news for a change. However, if she were trying to find a bright side, admittedly it would have been worse to be captured in too tight jeans.

Her heart rate once again shot up, as tiny scratching and shuffling noises came from a corner across the basement from her, just for a brief second. Rats? Had they crawled on her while she slept? Holding very still in the following silence nearly had her believing she'd imagined the soft shuffles and that she was truly alone down here. Holding her breath, she once again heard a scratching noise followed by a low whine and a huff that cut through the darkness. Eyes whipping back to the area, she caught a glimpse of red pierce the darkness from the same far corner. Were cameras set up down here watching her every move, seeing the fear and panic in her?

"Hey!" Eva attempted to shout, but only a low, garbled mumble came out. Clearing her aching throat and watching the area just past the darkened staircase frame, she tried again, still without any force. "Hey, let me out."

Not original, but what else did her captors expect to hear? Above her head, it sounded like a chair being dragged across the table and then boots stomping across the floor as dust gently rained down on her from the ceiling. Blinking, she attempted to look up to see any signs of light or life. Angry tones came through the ceiling, too low for her to make out any words but loud enough to understand the intent.

A door opened at the top of the stairs, shining more light down into the basement. One of the angry voices replied, "Shut up," making Eva step back a beat farther from the stairs. She heard more dragging sounds, then a silhouette stepped down the stairs, hauling what looked like a hose behind it.

"Shut up," the man's voice repeated in anger, "or I'll give you some of this too."

Eva's eyes strained against the darkness and new light, but she was unable to make out any features. The man was big enough to block much of the light from the door as he thumped a few steps down the stairs, giving her no indication who—or what—he might be.

Grumbling, he clopped halfway down the stairs, turning sideways, and aimed the hose toward the corner, sending a powerful spray of water back and forth for several minutes. It beat the floors and walls, followed by a gurgling sound as it drained away.

"It's your turn next time," he shouted up the stairs. "This crap stinks. We'll all be better off when this thing"s gone!" Thumping back up the stairs, dragging the hose, he slammed the door shut once again, leaving the basement in mostly darkness but a bit less stench.

Taking several moments to still her pounding heart and allow her eyes to readjust to the darkness, Eva gingerly walked toward the corner the man had just angrily sprayed. A part of her was thankful that for the moment she appeared to be forgotten by whomever was upstairs. A small, sad huff and feeble hiss escaped the corner, followed by what sounded like the clank of a heavy chain, then silence. As she inched closer, the camera light she'd seen earlier turned on again. Wait! No, make that two red dots just a few inches apart.

Not cameras. An animal, then? Was a dog trapped down here with her? Moving to the side, to allow just a little more light to filter toward the end, she realized with dismay that this wasn't any regular dog. Yes, it was the size of a regular dog, a bit smaller than Apollo, so maybe forty or fifty pounds. The poor thing was soaked through where the man had sprayed it and the area around it down. It lay limply in the mud-soaked corner near a drainage grate at the bottom of the wall and floor. Black fur dripping, it lifted its head just a few inches from the ground, letting out a soft growl before dropping its head back down to its mucky paws. No longer shining red, its dark eyes followed Eva as she moved closer to examine the situation.

The large link chain was wrapped tightly around its neck and fastened somewhere behind it.

"Oh, no, no," whispered Eva, recognizing the small hellhound for what it was: just a puppy, a baby. Why had it been trapped here with her? How long had it been down here lying in the mud and muck, being sprayed down regularly, leaving it weak and without a parent?

"Hey, baby." Eva attempted to keep her tone level as the listless puppy eyes perked a bit at her voice and actively scanned her every move. Despite having been attacked and bitten by hellhounds at least four times its size, she couldn't help her heart breaking for the poor trapped puppy. Reaching her hand out in front of her, she wondered if approaching it like a regular dog was the correct thing to do. It let out a halfhearted growl, its eyes flaring briefly red before it whimpered again, shifting uncomfortably as the too tight, heavy chain links clanked against each other.

Taking a chance, Eva gently reached out farther, putting her hand near the pup's nose, but not too close. It puffed out a fizzle of hot air as it attempted to smell her without touching her. Encouraged, she slowly moved closer, tentatively touching the side of the puppy's head. Letting out a heart wrenching mew, it pressed its head farther into her palm, obviously enjoying the warm touch.

"Oh, baby, you're freezing," Eva muttered, at least knowing from Delta's constant barrage of knowledge that hellhounds were meant to enjoy the molten hot pits of hell. Being cold made for a pretty miserable pup, especially one that might not be old enough to regulate its body temperature and was regularly being power washed with frigid water.

Eva continued to rub the puppy, which wiggled a little bit in what she hoped was happiness and not anticipation of an attack. Running her hands down its side, she was dismayed to feel ribs instead of a well-rounded puppy belly. Once she stroked the dog, feeling confident enough that it looked at her with hope, instead of fear, she felt the chain tight on its neck. An ice-cold carabiner clip digging into its neck held the links together. Using her soothing voice to keep the puppy calm, Eva simultaneously worked the clip free while caressing the hellhound.

"Hey there, let's get this nasty thing off you. It will feel sooo much better when it comes off. You're a cute little fellow—fellow or girl. Not that it matters too much to you. Oh, yeah, right there, I think I have it. Just hold still, little one, while I take this off. Such a good little hellhound," she crooned.

The chain fell to the floor and the pup froze briefly for a moment, eyes flaring up, then it shot forward with unexpected energy. Eva suppressed a scream and jumped back; afraid she'd made a horrible mistake. But no, the pup gave a putrid lick to her face before heading toward a bowl set just beyond its reach and gulped down in about three bites whatever had been inside.

"Those dickwads . . ." Eva scowled despite her own circumstances. What kind of people would tie a puppy up and then leave food just outside of its reach? Even if they weren't murderous kidnappers, they were jerks.

Eva backed slowly down the basement again toward the light of the small windows, in case she did need some distance from the pup, but after it carefully examined the now empty bowl, it bounded toward her, shaking its body from head to toe in an attempt to remove some of the water from its wiry fur, as well as shake and stretch its poor neck.

Slowly reaching down to again rub the dog's head, she whispered, "How long have you been here, little buddy? Do you have someone looking for you?" I hope I do, she mentally added.

Squatting down, she used both hands to deeply massage the puppy's neck where the fuzzy fur had been flatten and partially worn off. Anger flared as the puppy moaned and flopped on its side. This allowed her to identify that it was, in fact, a male.

"You like that, don't you? And oh, I guess I can call you Baby Boy now." Continuing to rub his stomach and sides, she moved from a squat to fully sitting on the floor, again pressing her back against the wall closest to one of the small windows. The pup moved from the floor up onto Eva's lap, pressing his relatively small body as tightly against her legs and warmth as he could while she held him. When he opened his mouth in a yawn large enough that Eva could almost count his teeth, she noted that they were much smaller than those of the hound that had bit her. Did he still have puppy teeth? Should he be nursing? Did hellhounds nurse?

Despite learning that a small part of her was demon, she still didn't know that much about demons. Some laid eggs. Were hellhounds born or hatched? Not that it mattered; she had a feeling whatever had been in the bowl hadn't been enough food or the right food, if the puppy's ribs were any indication.

Stroking the puppy, who within a few minutes began to snore lightly as he relaxed under her ministry, Eva channeled good energy, health, and healing for him. At least one of them felt safe enough for a few minutes. Pulling him a little closer, Eva noticed he didn't quite feel as cold to the touch, and his fur was beginning to dry. Continuing to run her fingers along the dog's coat, she noticed some of it was still soft, fuzzy puppy fur; only bits had started to turn wiry like the adult versions. Poor, poor baby.

After several minutes, her legs began cramping under his weight, so Eva maneuvered him to lie alongside her, keeping him pulled in close to continue the warmup. Resting her hands on him, she continued to envision energy flowing to him. Despite not knowing or understanding if her power worked that way, the positive feelings were all she currently could offer. She forced herself to stay awake since she was concerned that if she fell asleep she might accidentally draw energy from the puppy in order to heal her own body. During her days with Delta, they'd speculated about how her energy worked, but it was only guesses on the give and take on the human-demon power.

Silently, the light and shadows continued moving up and down the walls and floors of the basement, proving that time was passing, but how slowly or fast Eva wasn't sure. Finally, she heard a door slam again somewhere above her and heavy footsteps across the floor. Was someone staying at the house at all times or were they coming and going? She knew from before at least two people had been present, but there could be more. She tensed as they stomped toward the doorway above the staircase, and the door creaked open again. This time, Eva didn't bother shouting anything, deciding it was better to be ignored than receive the same attention as the malnourished pup.

"Grub time," the voice announced at the same time the man threw something down the stairs, bouncing it off the walls and onto the floor. Baby Boy sat up stiffly and growled softly as he approached the stairs, then looked eagerly up at Eva, awaiting her approval.

"Good boy," she muttered, patting his head before firmly requesting an ignored "stay" command. Both of them walked in the dim light toward the edge of the stairs where the items had hit the wall, searching for whatever "grub time" offered.

Eva easily found a water bottle, since she nearly tripped over it after it had rolled free. She'd gulped down half of it before reminding herself it might be a while before they considered her needs again. Getting down on her hands and knees, she swept the dirty floor, searching for whatever else the man had tossed down to her. Thankfully, all the other items appeared to have stayed safe and clean in the bag. She scurried back to the slightly more lit side; Baby Boy followed closely, not wanting to be left alone any longer.

Opening the plain brown bag, Eva unhappily examined the contents. "Not very well rounded," she told the young hellhound, who watched her hopefully with those puppy eyes yet again. Two lukewarm fast-food burgers, a bag of generic chips, and an apple. Opening the first burger, Eva broke it into pieces and hand fed it to the puppy, who eagerly gulped down each piece whole. Then she ate the chips, sharing a few of those with him as well.

"Your mama trained you well. What a good little beastie," she complimented him when he patiently waited for his share. After taking a bite of the second burger for herself, she broke off another piece for Baby Boy, who left behind a string of drool as he gently took it from her hand. Another bite, and she gave him the rest as he looked at her with big hopeful eyes, knowing he needed it more than her at this point. This left her the apple, which she gave a crunchy bite, enjoying the tart flavor. Biting off another piece for the now uninterested pup, she ate the rest herself. One last short swig of water, then she followed up by cupping a bit in her hand and offering it to the hellhound. He was equally uninterested in that. Maybe they didn't drink water.

Turning in circles, he again lay down next to Eva, this time keeping his eyes open to scan the room.

Tightening the cap to prevent unintentional leaks, Eva lay the bottle near her. Who knew when her captors would deign to give her more? The over-sized puppy left out a soft belch, and Eva groaned and fanned away the putrid scent of hellfire. Ugh, but maybe it was a sign of good hellhound health. Snuggling down and kissing his still fluffy, sleepy head, she whispered to him, "I'm glad I'm not alone."