Descent into Darkness (Crystal Sphere Book 1)

by Ingrid Fry

  ‘I thought you’d gone stark raving mad,’ Jason said.

  ‘You should know, Maggie. Smell, touch, taste, hearing, all the senses are powerful. When you go through something traumatic, it helps to replace the negative sense residue with some good stuff. Positive stimuli. Especially important for you as you absorb so much more with your extra sensory perception.’

  I recalled the images of torture and abuse I’d seen in Dylan’s mind. ‘Ain’t that the truth. How do you know this?’

  ‘I get around. You know me. I pick up things here and there. Now come here and give me a hug. You’ve had a rough time.’ He wrapped his arms around me. ‘You need all the hugs you can get.’

  ‘It does help,’ I said, enjoying the platonic body contact.

  Ashley gently disengaged from our hug and headed for the kitchen. ‘I need another beer.’

  Jason seemed miles away, focused on his phone.

  ‘What are you doing?’ I asked.

  ‘Researching cockroaches. It’s not good.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘It says “some cockroaches mature so fast that only a few weeks after hatching they’re ready to make babies of their own”. It goes on to say one female can be the matriarch of up to thirty-five thousand roaches.’

  ‘Holy shit,’ Ashley said, coming back from the kitchen. ‘So, you’re thinking it’s not the same roach?’

  ‘I don’t know what I’m thinking, but possibly. The roach the Professor brought back wouldn’t sit around being lonely; it would be on the lookout for some buddies. It says roaches are highly social.’

  ‘What if the Professor’s roach was a male?’

  ‘It would still want to find a lady roach and make babies, and maybe those babies would be exactly like it.’

  After Jason mentioned the number thirty-five thousand—that’s all I could think about. ‘Thirty-five thousand tattooed psycho killers. I’m going to need a bigger gun.’

  ‘Way bigger,’ Ashley said. ‘We need to work out what the hell we’re going to do.’

  Jason’s phone rang and we jumped. He checked the screen.

  ‘It’s Detective Inspector Johnston. Shit, what do I do?’

  ‘Take it,’ I said. ‘You have to.’

  He declined the call and it went to message bank.

  ‘You’re going to have to talk to him sometime,’ Ashley said. ‘Maybe it was important.’

  ‘I’ll see what the voicemail says first.’ He pressed play.

  ‘Jason, Detective Inspector Johnston. One. You need to know we arrested the three perps re the incident at your house. Unfortunately, they have since escaped. Two. Need to chat to you, Maggie McLaine and an Ashley Beringer about an unrelated incident that took place at St. Joseph’s hospital yesterday. Call me ASAP.’

  ‘Not good,’ I said. ‘Three perpetrators gone missing. How could they escape? Maybe they morphed into roaches.’

  Ashley looked shocked. ‘Can they do that?’

  ‘I have no idea, but it wouldn’t surprise me. I’d hate to think that number has just increased to thirty-five thousand and three.’

  ‘I’ll ring him later, or in the morning. It can wait,’ Jason said. ‘We need some serious shuteye and that might be difficult to get here, given there could be more psycho killers with access cards waiting to let themselves in.’

  The thought terrified me and it must have shown on my face. Ashley rolled his eyes at Jason.

  ‘I think we stay here the night,’ Ashley said. ‘There’s no point trying to find somewhere else. There’s only one access door to this room and I can barricade it and set booby traps. If you agree, we should sleep in the same room, and Jason and I can take turns on watch. That way Maggie can rest easy. Tomorrow we’ll fill ourselves with a big hotel breakfast, and then head over to your place to clean up. Sound all right?’

  ‘Yep,’ Jason said, ‘and we need to find the crystal and work out a plan on how to tackle this—I seriously need to write a list.’

  I nodded. ‘What about the bathroom?’

  ‘I’ll go check it,’ Jason said.

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ Ashley offered.

  Jason took my hand. ‘Come with me. Let’s stay together. Wait inside the master suite where I can see you.’

  The guys stood outside the bathroom door and listened, guns at the ready. Jason slowly turned the handle and pushed the door open.

  ‘All clear,’ Jason shouted. ‘Clean as a whistle.’

  Ashley whispered to Jason, ‘We can’t let her come back in here; it would seriously do her head in. We’ll have to take a shower elsewhere. I don’t fancy it in here myself, to be honest.’

  ‘What about the health club? We can stand guard on each other?’ Jason said.

  ‘Good idea. Let’s do it.’

  They came back along the corridor and Ashley asked, ‘Maggie, rather than use the bathroom, do you want a shower in the health club, if we stand guard?’

  ‘Yes, please. I can’t wait to wash away the last of that scumbag.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Jason asked.

  ‘What I said.’

  Jason dialed his truth extracting laser beam eyes to maximum revs. ‘What did he do to you?’

  ‘Leave it,’ Ashley said quietly.

  ‘Fuck off and stop friggin’ telling me what to do!’

  Ashley raised his hands in resignation.

  ‘Tell me, Maggie.’

  Jason noticed the syringe sitting on a shelf nearby. He picked it up and examined it. ‘Tell me,’ he said softly. ‘I need to know. Please tell me what he did to you.’

  When Jason touched the syringe, I got Dylan. I didn’t have to go back into that bathroom to relive the horror of what he’d done to me. I was there already, and he was with me. Dylan had the syringe and was shouting, ‘Tell me, Maggie! Tell me, Maggie! Tell me!’ Over and over again.

  Howling, I descended into the pit of Dylan’s disgusting residue.

  Ashley seized the syringe from Jason. ‘And you reckon I’m an idiot!’ He ran from the room and there was a sound of running water and the roar of the InSinkErator. The connection shattered, and I collapsed to the carpet, gasping with relief.

  Ashley returned. ‘Fabulous job, Jason. You’ve undone all my good work.’ He punched Jason hard on the arm. ‘She went through all that, and you sent her right back to do it all over again.’

  Ashley wasn’t finished.

  ‘You’re a fucking idiot. Think about it. She’s got PTSD with ESP on steroids, and you touch the syringe and … Jesus, what were you thinking, man?’

  Jason’s face twisted with anguish. ‘I’m sorry. I was scared, worried. I needed to know. I’m sorry, Maggie.’

  ‘Dead set, I wonder about you sometimes,’ Ashley said.

  ‘Yeah, well, ditto. You’re always—’

  ‘Stop it! This isn’t helping, both of you. Please stop.’ My voice trembled and my heart was pounding. I swear I didn’t think my heart could take much more. Surely, I’d used most of my life’s allocated heartbeats in the last few days alone.

  I staggered to my feet, and when the guys moved to assist, I raised my hand to warn them off. Taking a deep breath, I centered myself. ‘I’ll tell you what happened.’

  Ashley crossed his arms and glared at me. ‘Don’t!’

  ‘No, it’s—’ Jason said.

  ‘Shut it. You wanted to know, so I’m telling you.’

  I took another deep breath and felt myself shift into a state of disassociation, a sense of unreality. Hands clenching into fists, my nails dug into palms, and my vision compressed into a tunnel.

  I took another breath. ‘He threatened me, he pushed me, he jammed my back into a towel rail and he yanked my hair, multiple times. He squeezed my breast so hard it made me scream. He stuck a gun to my head, to my eyeball, into my mouth, across my lips and over my heart.

  ‘He ran his disgusting hands over my face, my lips, my neck, between my breasts. He put his filthy mouth, and tongue into my ear, and licke
d my face.

  ‘He threatened me with a syringe. He scratched me with it, and then he stuck the needle into the side of my neck. Then, to save my life, I had to jam the heel of my stiletto through his eyeball and into his brain.’ I paused. ‘Yep, I think that covers it. And no, he didn’t stick his dick into me, if that’s what you were so worried about, so no chance of STIs. You can relax now.’

  Shaking with emotion I marched out of the room and slammed the door.

  Crash! The sound of breaking glass.

  I’d slammed the door so hard an artwork must’ve hit the deck.[24]

  Chapter 25: Strip Tease

  Jason and Ashley were pale and quiet when they came into the lounge. I stood and stared out the window at the twinkling city lights. The reflection in the window showed me and my little red dress looking slightly worse for wear, plus, my stocking had a huge ladder in it. I pulled off the earrings, unclipped the bracelet and necklace and placed them on the window ledge.

  The window mirrored Jason ambling to the fridge and taking out some bottles. He handed Ashley a beer and returned to the kitchen, coming out with a glass of champagne.

  Even though I was expecting it, I started as Jason touched me on the shoulder. He moved his hand quickly away. ‘Drink?’

  I took it from him. ‘Thank you. I think we should add champagne to Ashley’s list of Cookies & Milk remedies.’

  A glass of champagne made any situation better.

  Jason’s voice was husky and deep, cracking with emotion as he spoke. ‘I don’t know what to say. Anything I say will probably be wrong. I don’t know what to do either. I’m at a loss. All I can say is I love you, I’m sorry and maybe I’m the one who should leave. Ash is right; I’m a fool.’

  I wanted to reach out and touch him, but I couldn’t. I was still in such a hyper sensitive state I couldn’t bear the slightest touch. Only champagne. Champagne was good.

  Stepping away from him, I continued to look out the window. ‘Just keep the champagne coming,’ I mumbled.

  The glass reflected Ashley jamming a chair under the door handle and moving furniture in front of it. He dashed into the kitchen, came out with the rubbish bin and scattered empty beer cans across the floor.

  ‘Better drink up, Jace,’ he said. ‘We need more cans.’

  ‘No problems there.’ Jason cracked open another VB.

  It was late, but I needed a shower. Water is cleansing on so many levels and I simply couldn’t go to bed or feel normal in any sense of the word without a shower. Coming back to earth, to ‘reality’, I sensed Jason’s anguish.

  He was standing at the Bose SoundTouch. Going over to him, I put my arms around his waist. This time, he jumped. Turning around, he tried hard to read me; his expression was unsure, sad. I’d never seen him look like that before. He kept his hands at his side, careful not to touch.

  ‘I’m sorry I was so harsh to you, but—’

  He put a finger gently across my lips. ‘Shhh. Can I touch you?’ A lock of sandy hair fell across his eyes. His mouth was in serious mode, and I wanted so much to kiss a smile back onto it.

  I put my arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly.

  He wrapped one hand around my waist and the other held the back of my head. He kissed me fervently until I felt what his words could not express.

  ‘Maggie, pull down your dress will you,’ Ashley said. ‘I don’t know where to look. Those suspenders, man!’

  Jason gave him a look and tugged my dress back down.

  ‘Ashley, I thought we were going to go to the health club, but you’ve barricaded the door already,’ I said.

  ‘It’s late. You still want to go?’

  ‘Could we? I need a shower. I can’t go back in the ensuite after what happened there with Dylan and the roach. It would do my head in.’

  ‘No worries, luv.’ He jumped up from the couch and began to undo his good work.

  We locked the door to our suite when we left and descended in the lift. It was late and the hotel was quiet. Jason and Ashley were “packing heat”. I wasn’t, as they still refused to give me a gun, which was still a major annoyance for me. They were both determined to be my protectors, and at this point, I didn’t have the energy to protest.

  Jason outlined a plan. ‘I think one person should have a shower and two stand guard.’

  ‘Sounds fine to me,’ Ashley said.

  ‘When it’s my turn to stand guard, I get a gun then?’

  ‘Nope,’ Jason said.

  ‘So, if a tattooed psycho killer comes by, what am I supposed to do? Throw a bar of soap at him?’

  ‘She’s got a point,’ Ashley said.

  ‘Of course, I’ve got a point! You guys are unreal. Jason hasn’t had gun lessons, yet he’s got one.’

  ‘No, not true. I showed him the basics of gun safety and operation ages ago, well before you came on the scene.’

  ‘Then do the same for me.’

  ‘I will. But not now. Let it go, please?’

  ‘Yeah, whatever.’

  The health club was deserted so we headed straight to the ladies’ shower room. I didn’t want to use the men’s.

  ‘You can wait outside,’ I said.

  Jason’s brows snapped together. ‘No way! We’re coming in and sitting right outside your shower door.’

  ‘I’ll be quick.’

  I entered the cubicle and locked the door. There was plenty of space to hang my clothes, and I didn’t have to worry about shoes as I was in my stockinged feet. My fluffy bathrobe and slippers were at the ready. I couldn’t wait.

  ‘Can you fulfill an old bloke’s fantasy and drape your stockings over the door as you take them off?’ Ashley said. ‘You know, like they do in the old movies.’

  ‘You poor sad bloke. I can do more than that.’

  Jason chuckled as Ashley sang the tune ‘Keep Your Hat On’ from The Full Monty.

  I might as well go the whole hog, just for a laugh. I pulled off my dress and draped it over the top of the cubicle door. There was a twelve-inch gap at the bottom of the door so they could only see my ankles anyway. Then came the Agent Provocateur bra. Hmmm. What next? Stockings. I rolled one down my leg and draped the stocking over the cubicle door.

  There was a round of applause from outside the cubicle, which made me snort with laughter. I repeated the process with the other stocking and the suspender belt. I let my undies drop to my ankles and stepped out of them, one foot at a time. Ta- dah! My first striptease behind closed doors. I turned on the shower to thunderous applause.

  The hot water felt divine. I let it flow over my head, cleansing and restoring me. I doused myself in the hotel’s shampoos, conditioners and body washes. My head was leaning against the tiles, hot water running across the tense muscles in my neck, when something moved. A sudden, erratic, scuttle. I knew what it was before I knew. A roach.

  Very slowly, I reached back with my hand and turned off the shower.

  Now it was me, the roach, and the drip, drip, drip of the shower rose. The creature paused in front of the cubicle door and stared at me. Way too creepy. I covered my private bits.

  What. To. Do?

  The roach scuttled forward, and suddenly I had a plan.

  I screamed.

  ‘What?’ Jason yelled.

  Outside the cubicle it was action stations, as the boys leapt to their feet.

  ‘There’s a roach in the cubicle.’

  Ashley shifted straight into army mode. ‘Specify location?’

  ‘Standing between me and the door.’

  ‘Don’t move,’ Jason said.

  As if, and to where?

  ‘Get up against the back wall,’ Ashley said. He sounded calm and in control. ‘I’m going to kick in the door and grab her. You cover me,’ he whispered to Jason.

  Yeah, that’d be right. Could I reach my bathrobe before he came blasting in? Nope, it wasn’t an option.

  ‘On three,’ he said. ‘One. Two. Three.’

  The door slammed open with s
uch force it hit the side of the cubicle and slammed back shut again.

  Take two. Ashley gently pushed open the door.

  ‘Where is it?’ he whispered.

  ‘It’s gone,’ I whispered back. ‘Went that-a-way.’ I pointed to the cubicle on my right.

  ‘I’ve got this!’ Jason said.

  He held his gun with both hands, straight armed and deadly serious.

  He kicked open the next cubicle. Bang!

  Bang! And the next.

  Ashley kept an eye on Jason but looked back at me. He put on his James Bond voice and said, ‘My dear, that's quite a nice little nothing you're almost wearing. I approve.’

  I rolled my eyes and tried to cover myself with my hands. ‘Seriously, you have a James Bond quote for every situation? I’m so not going anywhere—naked.’

  He grinned. ‘Sorry, luv, hadn’t noticed.’ He took my robe and held it out for me to step into. ‘I’ve got you covered. Out you come.’

  Bang! Another cubicle door.

  As Ashley wrapped me in the robe and tied it together at the front, he whispered, ‘I would’ve loved to see you in the lingerie.’

  ‘You’ve got two chances, mate.’

  ‘Buckley’s and Nunn?’

  ‘Yep. You’ll just have to imagine. That’s what fantasies are for.’

  ‘Buckley survived, you know.’

  Bang! Another cubicle door.

  ‘I gave you your stocking fantasy. That will have to do.’

  ‘It was sensational, the only behind closed doors striptease I’ve ever seen. It was better than a real one.’

  ‘And my début.’

  ‘You’re a natural.’

  Bang!

  ‘I could give you an encore,’ I whispered.

  ‘In front of the door?’

  ‘In your dreams.’

  Bang! ‘There’s the sucker!’ Jason hissed. ‘Shit!’ He jumped back as the cockroach ran out of the cubicle, straight for him.

  Ashley drew his gun and moved slowly towards Jason.

  It was the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, except the cockroach didn’t have a gun, simply the ability to turn you to dust and suck you into a black hole.

  Jason and the cockroach faced off, both frozen in anticipation. ‘I’ve got this, I’ve got this,’ Jason said, trying to take a bead on the roach.