The Blood

by Nancy Jackson

  He sat and held her hand. She had a pulse, so he decided he would just wait for the ambulance. It seemed to take forever. He knew they’d all had a long night and that the roads were still not entirely passable. It would take them longer than normal to get there.

  Blake reached down once again, and he kissed her cheek. He brushed his hand along her hair and with urgency said, “Senna, wake up! Please. Please wake up.” Memories of the past two weeks flooded him. Had it only been a little over a week ago that he’d been urging her to wake up just like this?

  Nervous energy caused him to continue to brush her hair and face with his hand. It seemed all he could do since he didn’t want to move her and had to resist the urge to pick her up and hold her to himself.

  “Senna, I’m here. I will always be here. Please, please wake up,” Blake pleaded.

  Just when he was about to give up again, he saw her eyelids flutter just a bit. “Senna, It’s me, Blake. I’m here. It’s going to be okay.”

  Senna turned her head slightly to look at Blake. She didn’t know where she was or what had happened, but when she saw him, she felt relief rush over her.

  She reached up weakly towards him with both of her arms. “Oh, Blake!” Senna exclaimed. He accepted her arms and as she pulled herself to him, he cautiously slid his arms underneath her, holding her as if it were the last time.

  He sat there rocking her gently back and forth in his arms. “Why were you up here?” Blake asked her. “I’ve been looking for you for three days. Where have you been?”

  “I don’t know. I really don’t know.” And she didn’t. She tried to reach back to her last memory, but couldn’t seem to find it. It was like a vapor that dissipated each time she tried to reach for it.

  “It’s okay. It’s okay,” Blake kept holding her and gently rocking her. “I’m here now. I love you Senna.”

  “I love you too, Blake.”

  When the ambulance arrived, they were still sitting there holding each other. Blake gave way to the paramedics who quickly took over with practiced skill, asking her questions and providing medical care.

  Blake stood and continued to look around as they worked. What on earth had she been doing here and how did she get here? he wondered.

  He followed the ambulance to the hospital where they took her immediately into a room at the back of the emergency room. To his disappointment, they requested that he stay in the waiting area since he was not immediate family.

  Before he did, he turned back and asked Senna, “Do you know where Andrea is?” She shook her head, no. And she didn’t. The last memory she had of Andrea was leaving the library to go to her doctor’s appointment on Thursday.

  ~~~

  The day was quickly growing warmer and with everything soaked from the rain, it was also humid. Andrea thought to herself that it was time to get out of there.

  The cabin no longer had her pinned in the corner so she slid to a standing position and then began to work her arms back and forth. She found that she could shrug her shoulder just so and then when she then leaned to one side, the top strap popped up and over one shoulder loosening it. However, she remained bound by the second strap. The success of freeing herself from the first strap gave her new momentum to tackle the second one.

  Standing there thinking, she looked up and saw the top of the pipe. It was about nine or ten feet high. She tried to lean forward in an attempt to pull the pipe with her and bend or loosen it. There was barely a wobble.

  With the walls gone she could see just outside were the pipe was and realized it was coming from an old water well. It was a galvanized water pipe. Someone must have intended to add plumbing to this cabin at one time, but never had.

  She’d tried multiple times to reach back towards the ratchets, but the straps wouldn’t allow it. Now that she was standing and had one strap gone, she tried again. The remaining strap had her forearms strapped tight to her waist just below her elbows.

  She could move her arms behind her, but was unable to bend her arms in such a way as to reach the ratchets. She realized that she was able to wiggle her arms enough to reach a distance in front of her though. If she could turn herself around inside the strap, she knew she could reach the ratchet.

  The pipe prevented her from being able to rotate herself. She then began to slide to the side of the pipe in an attempt to position the pipe next to her arm. Once there, she was easily able to rotate herself.

  She grabbed the ratchet and pulled, releasing the strap. She was free! Relief flooded her. She was free, but it had come at a price. She had ripped dry scabs from the wounds that the straps had created when rubbing into her skin. Dirt and sweat stung and burned, but she didn’t care, she was free.

  Andrea stood for a minute catching her breath. As she did, she looked around. Where was she? Dense woods were all around her. The tornado had stripped many of the trees bare, but there was still a tangled mess of limbs and briars. In front of her where the door of the cabin had been, was the light impression of a footpath through the woods.

  This was the only way Sienna could have possibly come through, but it was so overgrown with briars and vegetation she wasn’t sure how. It took her about fifteen minutes walking on the path to get to a clearing.

  A beautiful rolling pasture spread out before her. Looking around she saw no sign of a house or a road, but she could see what looked like tracks of some kind that led around the edge of the pasture. Andrea looked closer. They looked like some type of motorcycle or four-wheeler tracks and they went off to her right, so she followed them.

  Andrea walked for what felt like hours in the hot sun, but it was actually only about twenty minutes. She was severely dehydrated and the hot sun made each necessary movement take twice the effort.

  Then there it was, an ATV. She had reached a road. It wasn’t like a city street or even a country road. It was more like what you would see on a golf course, but wider. And there sat an ATV.

  Adrenaline surged through her giving her new strength. Sienna must have taken the ATV to come to her. She realized that Sienna could have driven a car to this point, then taken the ATV to get closer to the cabin.

  Hopeful, Andrea began to search the ATV. “Yes!” she exclaimed out loud. The keys were in it. She hadn’t ridden something like this since she was in high school, but she knew she could remember how. And sure enough in no time, she had it started and was heading down the little road.

  ~~~

  The tornado in Kachina had been devastating, but close by in Oklahoma City, there had been no damage and life continued on as before. The path of the tornado had taken it through Kachina and then in a northeast direction tearing up much of the rural countryside and homes there.

  Of course, first responders from all the surrounding towns and cities had flocked to Kachina in order to help, but those who didn’t have an immediate need to be there knew it was best to stay out of the way so that the work could get done. There would be a time to help, but not now.

  Carrie woke wondering where the storm had left their investigation. Had it wiped out places they would need to gather more evidence? What would be left? She was glad they had found the tub that had been locked away in Senna’s garage. It was odd to her that there were only a few things in there. The knife was not there, and they still hadn’t located the ATV.

  They had gotten a warrant to search the ranch owned by Williams Stables, Inc., and would be doing that today. Once again, she’d talked Randy into stopping to pick her up on his way.

  “We may both get suspended if Bracket finds out you’ve been out on the search warrants,” Randy said as Carrie slid into the passenger seat of his car.

  “Well, I suspect he knew all along I would be,” said Carrie. “But you are right, he will give us hell over it.”

  Darren was consumed by the rescue and clean-up in Kachina, but Rick and Mike were eager to be part of the search at the ranch.

  “Wow,” exclaimed Carrie as they turned onto the drive and the massive house came
into view. The tornado had traveled through this area, but the house and barns had fared well.

  Mike and Rick were waiting for them as were several uniformed officers. This was a massive search area and it would take several people to conduct a thorough search. They developed a plan and split into teams, dividing the area to be searched.

  After several hours and covering the entire house, garages, and barns, nothing incriminating had been found. All the horse tack, supplies, and tools were gone. It was possible whoever was living here had sold it all when taking over. There were no horses any longer, therefore, no need for gear to care for them.

  Inside the house, were just normal, everyday living items. The clothes in the master bedroom closet were not clothes that Senna would wear. But they were clothes that the lady Carrie had seen in the bar would wear. In fact, she recognized a pair of boots she had seen her wear. She remembered them because she wished she’d had a pair just like them.

  Carrie wasn’t sure what she’d hoped they would find, but she really had thought they would find something to tie it all together.

  “How big is the entire property?” asked Carrie as she stood outside surveying the countryside.

  “It’s big. Had we found more to give credence to our search, we could request teams to search the pastures and woods, but SAC Bracket would never authorize that kind of manpower with what we have,” said Randy.

  Carrie knew it was true. They had to take a step back and see if they could see things from a different angle. That meant they were back to doing research and digging into the corporate documents, waiting to see if the forensic team would find anything on the items they had taken from Senna’s garage.

  Soon the other officers had gone, and it was only Randy and Carrie who remained. They were heading to Randy’s car, thoroughly discouraged when Carrie stopped. “Do you hear that?” She asked Randy. She could hear what she thought was the faint sound of a motorcycle coming from behind the barn.

  Randy stood listening, then his face brightened. “I do,” he nodded as the sound grew louder. They shut their car doors and walked towards where they thought they heard the sound.

  They walked behind the barn on a driveway that had split from the main driveway. It narrowed significantly behind the barn but remained paved with asphalt and was still just barely wide enough for a truck or car. They stood looking across the hills towards the sound and then up popped a lady driving an ATV. It was just like the one they had been looking for.

  Both Randy and Carrie instinctively reached for their weapons, but stood still waiting for the rider to reach them. When she got closer, they realized it was not Senna, but did not holster their guns.

  Andrea could see the man and lady standing by the barn and she pressed down harder on the throttle. When she reached them she collapsed forward in exhaustion and relief. She was panting for air amidst tears of joy.

  Randy and Carrie quickly ran to assist her. “What is your name,” Carrie asked.

  “Andrea Wells,” she said. Then she began to rapidly babble out the events of the last few days of her captivity. It all came in random bits and pieces and totally out of sequence, but she just had to get it out.

  They helped her to their car. Randy had already called for an ambulance as soon as they had seen the shape she was in.

  Andrea rested her head back on the seat of the car and closed her eyes. Both Randy and Carrie gave her a minute to rest.

  Then not being able to wait a second longer, Carrie asked, “So Senna Carter is the one who abducted you, correct?”

  Andrea raised her head and looked at them. “No. It was Sienna.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Six months later, life was calmer in Kachina, Oklahoma. There had been no more murders and Andrea was back working at the library.

  They had found evidence of blood on the waders, rubber gloves, and tarps. Sienna had used them to keep herself free of evidence. The castrating knife had been found in a cubby-hole in the dash of the ATV, and Sienna’s car had been found below the mesa on the Big Horn Ranch, crumpled into a ball.

  Carrie and Randy had turned the case over to the district attorney and were on to another crime and another criminal. Things were not back to normal for Senna and Blake, however. With the help of Dr. Specter, the truth emerged.

  The trauma that Senna had experienced from the legalistic dictates of the church she’d attended in her youth, combined with the abusive discipline of her father created a psychosis in her.

  Through her life, Senna had held on to that brief window of time each year that she was allowed to spend with her Gran. It was the only time she could be free from all the rules and boundaries that held her pinned down. It was her lifeline and her hope.

  The deviation caused by her Gran passing away the previous year had created a psychotic split in Senna’s mind. She could not, would not, allow herself to break free from the religious legalism that had been forced upon her as a child. Her entire identity had been grounded in it.

  But the trauma of her Gran dying created another identity, Sienna who could be free to enjoy life with no boundaries. Senna had no knowledge of Sienna per se, but often felt the emotions and thoughts of Sienna bleeding through to her own thoughts and emotions when Sienna so willed it. But Sienna knew of Senna and felt protective of her.

  Senna could tell though once Sienna had released her hold on Senna. Her thoughts felt pure and isolated again with no tug-of-war pulling and tugging internally at her. She knew the moment Sienna had left even if she hadn’t known exactly what it had been.

  Senna was living in Kachina in her little clapboard house when her Gran had died. Sienna’s domain had been the former horse ranch where Senna had never felt comfortable amidst the opulence.

  After Senna’s grandfather died, her Gran had sold all the horses, tools, and equipment. When Senna was young they had lived in Oklahoma City, but had also owned the ranch where they raised the horses.

  Only barns and corrals existed on the ranch until several years earlier when they sold the house in town and built the beautiful home on the ranch. It had been Gran’s desire to leave it to Senna one day, for her to live and raise a family in. Gran had designated Senna as the sole shareholder in the corporate business papers.

  Gran had also established a massive trust fund for Senna which Sienna proceeded to spend without hesitation. But it seemed that no amount of physical freedom or spending could help Sienna feel whole. The family attorney still handled all the finances of the business and the trust for Senna, never realizing it was Sienna and not Senna who had been the one in charge of the massive spending spree.

  Then one day, blood from a neighbor’s dog, that had cut himself, changed things. Sienna seeing the rich red blood felt something evil trigger inside of her. The combination of a desire to feel whole and a corrupted need for the blood, had birthed a killer.

  In the cabin, Andrea had explained to Sienna that we all need the blood to be whole, but not the blood of innocent victims. It was only by receiving the precious holy blood of Jesus that any of us could be made whole.

  Andrea’s words were able to penetrate deep inside Sienna and something had changed. On Crown Rock Mesa, Sienna knew her time was over and that she could trust Senna to her friends and to God. She knew His blood would make her whole once and for all.

  In the fury of the storm, Sienna had told God to take her away, that she was committing Senna to Him. When she woke, she was Senna and Sienna never returned.

  Senna had no memory of the murders, but it was clearly her physical body that had committed them. Blake never left her side and vowed to defend her in the trial even though he did not have the expertise. However, to their relief, one of his law professors became intrigued and agreed to take it on, with Blake as second chair.

  With Senna’s agreement, they brought Dr. Specter onto the defense team to prepare for trial. The first that Dr. Specter had suspected anything was amiss was when Senna was in the hospital. While Blake was out, and she
was alone with Senna, who had woken briefly as Sienna, she had threatened Dr. Specter to leave Senna alone. It startled her, and she hurried from the room.

  When Senna went home from the hospital, Sienna created an unsettling feeling in Senna in order to cause her to pull away from Blake and Andrea. Senna didn’t understand it, but she couldn’t resist the urge to pull away from her friends.

  The fatigue that Senna constantly battled came from lack of sleep. As Sienna, she roamed most of the night while Senna worked all day. The sharp pains and nausea that Senna had experienced at church had come each time the pastor had mentioned the blood that Jesus had shed. Sienna couldn’t allow a loss of control over Senna so she rendered her unconscious.

  A split-personality defense seemed ludicrous to almost everyone. Their first opinion was that it was a cop-out and an easy way to get out of being convicted. But those who had come to know Senna, truly know her, knew it was all true and that she could never do the things that Sienna had done.

  The jury found her guilty but with the recommendation that her sentence be three years in a minimum security psychiatric hospital. She was relieved.

  Blake visited her every day, and Andrea almost as often. Dr. Specter, as well, visited once a week.

  “Sienna is gone now for good,” Senna said quietly.

  “How do you know?” asked Dr. Specter.

  “Because she got what she so desperately needed.”

  “And what was that?”

  “The blood. But this time, she finally got the only blood that could once and for all cleanse her and make her whole, the blood of Jesus.”

  Senna looked down at her hands for a moment before continuing. “And I am finally free, too. I know I must pay for what Sienna did, but no matter what physical prison I must live in, it will not change the fact that for the first time in my life I am finally free, too. Totally and completely free.”

  Authors Note