by Ingrid Fry
They turned to see me sprawled in an unladylike position on the upturned couch, the black shoe still dangling from my foot.
I hastily covered myself with the coat. I was so glad to see Jason alive I must’ve had the biggest, silliest grin on my face. Jason reciprocated, flashing me a smile that ignited my heart.
I giggled, and he started to chuckle, holding his ribs and wincing as a belly laugh made its way out into the room. Our laughter sounded unreal in the oppressive atmosphere. Perhaps we’d both gone insane.
Ashley rubbed his hands through his hair, shaking his head. He kept on shaking it as he helped Jason to his feet.
‘You stay put,’ Ashley said to me. ‘I’ll come back for you.’
‘Come on, Jacie Boy.’ He held out his arms. ‘I need to take you to a glass free zone.’
‘I can walk,’ Jason said.
‘I’m sure you can, but you’re not allowed. Let me carry you to the bedroom.’
‘You’ve gotta be kidding, man.’
‘Nup,’ Ashley said. He bent and swept Jason off his feet before Jason knew what was happening.
A large, wild haired, blood smeared man crunched through the house in his biker boots, carrying a naked, wild haired, blood soaked man gently in his arms.
I heard Ashley’s urgent command. ‘On the bed. Stay there. Don’t move. I’ll be back.’
Ashley returned, gathered me in his arms, and ensuring I was well covered by his coat, made his way back to the bedroom. It was the only glass free area in the house.
‘I’ll wait outside while you get dressed,’ he said, leaving the room.
Jason had zoned out. I covered him with a blanket and hurriedly pulled on some undies, jeans, bra and a top. I picked a piece of glass from my foot, put on socks, found a pair of R.M. Williams boots under the bed, and put them on.
‘I’m decent, Ashley, you can come in.’
He entered the room and chuckled. ‘I don’t know if you’re decent, but you’re clothed.’
‘Ha. Ha. Can you check out Jason while I find him some clothes. We’re going to the hospital.’
Jason was awake again. ‘You stay away from me, big fella. I’m fine, and I’m not going to hospital.’ He sat up and pointed to his chest, ‘Look, Maggie, it’s not as bad. Check it out.’
I examined his chest. It did look slightly better, particularly the long slash around his right arm. Of more concern to me was his back. The three vicious gashes looked angry, but the bleeding had stopped. The regenerative powers of the crystal must be at work—our contact with it increasing our healing capacity.
‘Ashley, what do you think?’
‘He needs to be checked out by a doctor for internal injuries, no buts about it. And, judging by the amount of blood everywhere, he could need a transfusion.’
Ashley threw some clothes at Jason. ‘Put these on. We’re going.’
‘Here, I’ll help you,’ I said.
Jason was compliant and silent as we got him dressed.
I locked the front door, wondering why I was bothering, and helped Jason into the front of Ashley’s ute. I slid in after him.
Ashley drove, and we travelled to the hospital in silence. Jason sat staring straight ahead. When we reached the hospital, Jason handed me a card.
‘They’re going to ask questions about my injuries, and they’re required to notify the police. You need to give them this number for Detective Inspector Johnston. Tell them the police have been informed, and they can verify everything with him. If you’re asked any questions, say you just got back from staying with the Maestro. She’ll vouch for you. You don’t know anything; you got home to the mess, and to me, and thought I should get checked out. That’s it. Got it?’
‘The Maestro?’ I said. ‘She knows? How?’
‘You needed an alibi, and it made sense to call her. She’s fine with it.’
‘Why would you do that? You told her I tried to kill you?’
‘What?’ Ashley said, looking horrified.
‘No, I said we’d confronted burglars, and I didn’t want you involved. I wanted you kept out of it.’
‘Okay then,’ I said in a small voice. I wasn’t happy about involving the Maestro, but for Jason’s sake, I’d zip it.
‘Jeepers,’ Ashley said.
‘It’s a long story,’ Jason and I replied, simultaneously.[14]
Chapter 15: The Hospital
Jason was admitted quickly—luckily it was a quiet night for emergencies, except that is, for our household. The medical team patched him up, took scans, and sought to keep him in overnight for observation.
‘Come on, Mags, let’s get you something to eat,’ Ashley said.
‘I want to stay with Jason. I don’t want to leave him alone.’
‘The doctors and nurses are close by. You need to look after yourself now.’
‘We have to protect him.’
‘Protect him from what?’
‘From … from … things that want to kill him.’
Ashley regarded me with gentle, questioning eyes.
It dawned on me then that I was the thing. I was the murderous, unpredictable entity who posed the greatest threat to Jason’s life. I’d inflicted his injuries. He was in hospital because of me.
I turned on my heel and left the room, heading for the canteen. ‘I feel like shit,’ I said to Ashley as he followed me along the corridor. He caught up to me, and famished, weak and dizzy, I held onto his arm.
‘You don’t look so good,’ he said. Ashley was always the master of understatement. That was okay with me. I didn’t need to hear I looked like crap, even though I knew I did.
‘We must’ve had a hell of a time. I need food so much, even the idea of hospital canteen food is making my mouth water,’ I said.
We entered the canteen and Ashley pulled out a chair. ‘Food’s like sex—when you abstain, even the worst stuff begins to look good. Sit. I’ll go see what they’ve got.’
I sniffed at him. ‘You haven’t changed. Everything relates back to sex with you.’
‘We wouldn’t be here without it,’ he said with a smile, and loped off towards the counter.
He came back with a tray. ‘Bingo! We’re early enough for bacon and egg rolls. I also got you a large flat white coffee, with no sugar, just how you like it.’
‘You’re my savior.’ I ripped open the sandwich bag and began devouring its contents. ‘How come you came when you did?’ I said through a mouthful of food. ‘Thank God you did, by the way.’
‘I wanted to catch up with you guys again, so thought I’d swing by. I changed my mind about the fossicking and took a quick trip to Thailand instead.’ He flashed me a huge grin.
‘Thailand? Ashley! What were you doing in Thailand?’
‘It’s not what you think,’ he said, smiling broadly again.
‘Oh, my God! You’ve had your teeth fixed! I can’t believe I didn’t notice before.’
‘You were slightly preoccupied.’
He smiled wide, obviously proud of his brand new pearly white choppers. And boy, were they pearly white—perhaps more like ‘appliance white’.
‘Wow, they … you look fantastic. Hell, you’re even more of a chick magnet now.’
‘Yeah, right.’
‘No seriously, you look gorgeous.’
It was the first time I’d seen Ashley look embarrassed.
‘Honestly, I don’t know what we would’ve done if you hadn’t arrived. You’re a life saver.’
‘Always a pleasure to be of service.’
‘You’ll be wanting to know what happened, but I can’t tell you much because, honestly, I don’t know what happened.’
‘Mags, you don’t have to tell me now. You need to eat, drink and regroup. Have a freshen up.’ He handed me a cosmetic bag. ‘Here, I got you an overnight pack from the chemist while you were with Jason. It should have everything you need. There’s a shower here you can use.’
‘Oh, Ashley, thank you,’ I said, tears pricking in m
y eyes.
He dipped a serviette in his glass of water, leaned across the table and wiped the side of my face.
‘Dried blood,’ he said. ‘Now, if it’s all right with you, I’m going to leave you to finish your coffee. I want to check on Jason. You can have a shower through there to the right. Will you be okay here for a while?’
I nodded.
‘I’ll stay if you want.’
‘No, I’m fine. Thank you.’
He slid a phone across the table. ‘Since you can’t find yours, I got you a disposable for the meantime. It’s got my number in it in case you need me. I’ll come back and wait for you here.’
I nodded mutely, awash with emotion.
Ashley leant across the table and kissed me on the forehead. ‘I’ll be back!’ He flashed another grin, pointing both index fingers towards his mouth. It made me laugh. You gotta love a man who makes you laugh.
He was gone in a flash, his long legs taking him along the corridor in a matter of seconds.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t to know his last words to me would be a lie.
* * * * *
I wanted to rest my head on my arms and sleep for a million years. Tired? You don’t know the meaning of the word. I put my head down on the canteen table for a tiny second. That’s all.
The next moment, something prodded me in the back. A gun! I flicked up my chair and pushed it backwards. It connected. Crockery clattered and smashed as I wheeled around to face my opponent, plastic knife at the ready.
‘Madam. Madam, please, please, it’s fine!’ It was a cleaner, arms outstretched, hands waving from side to side. ‘Please, Madam. You have been here for a very long time. I was simply tapping you to see if you are dead, Madam.’
‘Oh. Oh, I’m so sorry!’ I attempted to right his toppled trolley.
‘No Madam. You be leaving it to me. I’m sorry I frightened you.’
I stepped towards him. ‘I’m sorry I frightened you.’
He backed away from me. I was still waving my plastic knife at him. What must I look like? A blood streaked madwoman with a plastic knife. I giggled. My laughter sounded slightly hysterical, maybe a lot hysterical. I needed to go before they came to take me away. Grabbing my things from the table, I apologised to the bewildered employee and beat a hasty retreat.
Judging from all the people about, it must have been around lunchtime. I checked the phone Ashley had given me. No messages. Where the hell was he? He was supposed to come back.
I reached out with my mind. Darkness. Claustrophobia. Cold. Silence. Trapped. Images flooded into my mind. Ashley was in trouble.
I ran back to Jason’s room. He stood by the bed, facing the window. His hospital gown was open at the back, and I paused to enjoy the view of his muscular physique. A passing nurse did likewise. The white curtain like folds of his gown had parted to reveal the curve of a perfect pair of buttocks. The ‘V’ of his muscular back intersected with his bum, leading the eye to well-formed inner thighs. He was a hunk and I was a voyeur. That made it all the hotter. Phew!
He pulled on his jocks, took off the gown, and picked up his jeans, wobbling dangerously on one leg as he tried to put them on. I ran forward and caught him before he hit the deck.
‘Great save. Thanks, Mags.’ He kissed the top of my head. ‘Where the hell have you been? I’ve been worried sick. I was coming to look for you. Ash said he was going to get you, but that was hours ago.’
‘I fell asleep. I came back as soon as I woke. You’re shaky on your legs. Here, sit back on the bed.’
He leant back on the pillow, and his naked chest caught the light. The wound around his right arm was now a faint scar. I traced its journey across his body with my finger. Two more scars ran across his heart. The scars reminded me of a scene from our favourite movie Jaws. I pointed at them. ‘Bayonet, Iwo Jima?’
‘No.’
‘Don’t tell me, Mary Ellen Moffit broke your heart?’
He smiled softly. ‘No, Maggie McLaine did.’
I didn’t want to know, but I had to know. I forced myself to say the words.
‘What happened back at the house? You have to tell me everything. Did I do all that?’
‘No, but you did a fair whack of it. You went psycho again and tried to kill me. You tried with the knife, and then with anything you could get your hands on. I’m sorry, but I was forced to knock you out. It was the only way I could subdue you.’
‘Jesus. No wonder I’ve got a cracker of a headache.’
‘I can’t tell you how it felt having to do that to you.’ He turned away and focused intently on the ceiling. ‘After I’d finally disarmed and bound you, three thugs came to the door. They were after the crystal ... and you. I had you secured in the back room. They forced their way in, and I took them on. Boo was there, biting and attacking them too. She took a fair blow to the head from one of the bastards.’
‘Oh,’ I said, feeling sick to my stomach.
Jason took my hand in his. ‘I knocked two of them out, and one fell on his own knife, resulting in the big pool of blood you saw. I called the cops, so that’s why I hid you in the hammock. I secured you overly well as I wasn’t sure when, or if, you’d be yourself again. After I’d finished tying you up, I returned to the house and found the thugs had scarpered. The police arrived shortly after.’
‘So, after battling with me, you had three more maniacs to deal with. Plus, you had to handle the police. My God, Jason, this is a nightmare.’
‘What’s happening, Maggie? What the hell’s going on? And more importantly, what the fuck can I do to stop it?’
‘Not you Jason, we. We have to stop it. As to what it is, I’m not sure, but I have a theory. I can tell you what it felt like too. Imagine all the negative emotional energy of human beings amalgamated into one creature. Everyone’s hate, anger, rage, sorrow, jealousy, despair—you name it—manifested into a single entity, and the energy is so dense it begins to manifest on the physical plane.’
Jason furrowed his brow. ‘It can’t be.’
‘Hear me out. Negative emotional energy resides in all humans, some more than others. Some intuitives call this energy the Pain Body. I’m calling it the Dark Force. This destructive energy lies dormant in all of us until something triggers it. The trigger could be as simple as an untoward comment, or someone cutting you off in traffic. In response, you feel a surge of fury, which often elicits aggressive behaviour. Road rage is a perfect example.’
‘Yep, we’ve all been on the receiving end of that,’ Jason said. ‘My mate Fraser had his windows, and his head, smashed in in a road rage incident.’
‘Exactly. The Dark Force needs negative emotional energy of all types to survive, so it makes people overreact. It generates uncontrollable rage and other negative emotions in order to produce its food—more negative emotional energy. People have committed murder under its influence. Once replete, it becomes dormant again, leaving the human to mop up the disaster left in its wake. Generally, the victim has no idea why they got so carried away. And that’s the thing—they were carried away, taken over, possessed.
‘Jason, there are over seven billion people on the planet generating negative emotional energy. The largest population ever. This entity is the result—it’s the Dark Force. Welcome to the new age.’
‘So essentially we’re fucked.’
‘Language.’
‘Sorry, so essentially we can bend over and kiss our arses goodbye.’
His face was so serious I laughed.
‘No, we have the weapon to defeat it.’
‘Um, I must have missed something. What weapon?’
‘The crystal!’
‘Oh Jesus. We are fucked. The crystal is dead, in case you hadn’t noticed. Plus, it appears this Dark Force has latched onto you in particular. We’re screwed.’
‘No, don’t say that. You’re never this negative. It’s the entity talking. We’ll find a way. Somehow. Something will reveal itself. Trust me.’
Jason sighed a
nd took me into his arms.
I extracted myself from his grip. ‘We have another more immediate problem. Ashley is in trouble.’ I explained the images in my mind. ‘He’s trapped somewhere.’
‘He can look after himself. You know he can.’
‘Yes, but things are different. We’re dealing with something supernatural.’
Jason swayed to one side, and I pulled him upright.
‘Maggie, I’m beat. At this point Ash is going to have to fend for himself.’
‘Yes, I’m sorry, of course.’ I touched the gash on his arm. Already the injury was barely visible. ‘It’s incredible. Contact with the crystal has given you amazing recuperative abilities.’
‘I still feel stuffed.’
‘Yes, you need rest. You’re right. Ashley will be fine.’
‘The doctor insists I stay another night, but I’ll only do so if you stay right here with me.’
‘Where else would I go? Certainly not home. Oh, crap! What about Boo? I have to go home. Poor Boo. The house is a mess. She’ll be hungry and confused. With her new powers of levitation, she’s probably floated over the fence and disappeared.’
‘She’ll be right,’ Jason said. ‘Anyway, she can float across all the broken glass and raid the pantry.’
‘S’pose you’re right.’
The last thing I wanted to do was go home on my own and face all the mess, and God knew what else. Boo would just have to cope.
Jason gripped my arm. ‘I’m not letting you go home alone and that’s that. You look as beat as I feel. I want you right here with me, in my arms, where I can protect you.’
The only person he needed to protect was himself—from me.
The thought made me sad. ‘Get back into bed, Mister. I’m going to have a shower. I’ll be back.’
They were what you’d call “famous last words”.[15]
Chapter 16: The Morgue
‘Dark, dark! The horror of darkness, like a shroud, wraps me and bears me on through mist and cloud.’ — Sophocles