by Dale Mayer
“Do whatever you want.” He shrugged. “Dean will be here in an hour or so.” He turned and studied the surroundings. “Nice digs.” He walked around and did a quick search, checking the closets and looking in the bathroom and under the bed.
“Yeah, a friend of a friend or something like that owns the place.”
When he was done and apparently it was all clear, she smiled at him. “Thanks for checking everywhere. And for bringing me back. Enjoy your meeting.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah sure.” But his grin was bright and crooked. “I’ll see you later.” He turned and walked back to the door. She waved at him as he left. Nice guy. Too bad she was already hooked to Dean or she might have been interested. But as it stood now, Dean was the one man, the only man in her world. And it felt right. It felt good.
All other men paled in comparison.
As he pushed the button to the elevator, she closed and locked the door behind him. She could enjoy stepping into Dean’s world and picking up a few of his friends to call her own. She’d made friends in Land’s Edge – but none she’d kept after leaving.
Walking back inside, she tossed her bag and the bag of clothes Jones had bought for her on the chair. She’d take a look at them after a nap. She lay down on the bed and closed her eyes. She just needed to rest for a moment.
Memories, disjointed thoughts, flew in and out of her subconscious. Stefan had said something about new pathways. And new skills and abilities like the telepathy. She didn’t understand how that worked, but there was no doubt that something did. The colors in her mind were a scorching red for some reason and in the back were muted colors. Oranges and yellows. Nothing white or black, just this weird color. She yawned. Okay, this was silly, but she was actually going to sleep.
She woke up with a start some time later. She bolted upright and looked around, her breath catching in the back of her throat.
The room was dark. The smell rank.
What the hell?
Where was she?
She fumbled for the light, only it wasn’t there.
She was not in the hotel.
Or in Dean’s house.
She threw her legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand up, only to realize she couldn’t. She looked down to see her hand chained to the bed. She shrieked in panic.
Her stomach instantly emptied.
Her mind screamed. Help, damn it someone, help.
But no sound came out. She collapsed on the bed and knew no more.
*
He’d stayed too long. Dean knew it. She was waiting for him, and he knew what it felt like when no one showed up. It was a pain in the ass. He reached for his phone but realized she didn’t have one. Or did she? What the hell? How long had he known her, yet he didn’t know if she had a phone or not.
He was angry at himself for not having considered such a simple thing. They could have just gotten her a disposable phone for the moment. Something for her to use.
Instead, he was cut off. He dialed the hotel and asked for his room.
There was no answer.
Of course not. She could be still in the bath or sleeping. Damn it.
He rushed to the truck and hopped in. He was still buckling up the seatbelt as he peeled out of the parking lot. He couldn’t get that horrible sensation that something was wrong out of his head.
He parked the truck and ran into the hotel. There was a crowd waiting at the elevator. He took the stairs two at a time. At his floor he pulled open the door to the hallway and walked the next few yards. If everything was fine, he didn’t want to scare her. If they weren’t fine…well he was going to smash something and damn fast.
Key card in hand, he approached the door. Quickly unlocking it, he stepped inside and stopped at the doorway. The bed was empty.
The bathroom door was open and the damn room was empty. Cold. “Tia?” he called out in faint hope. He already knew inside.
But there was no answer. She was gone.
*
Stefan stood in his studio, his paintbrush in hand, staring in shock at the canvas in front of him. Celina, the love of his life walked in, took one look at him and rushed over. She put her arms around him, uncaring about the wet paint on his smock. “Stefan, another one?”
He nodded, so exhausted he could hardly speak. But his eyes were glued to the canvas and the woman’s hand in chains. The image had been completely overlaid on top of the painting he’d been working on underneath. Instead of reaching for a clean canvas he’d literally painted on top of the one below.
“That’s the first time you’ve done that, isn’t it?” she asked beside him. She always knew. The other half of his heart and mind. She always knew when something shifted, changed in his world. And this was a change.
A big change.
Then he knew. Shit. “It’s because it’s that important. The vision. It’s that new. Current”
“As in it’s happening now?”
“Right now.” He walked to the sideboard, his hand trembling as he picked up the phone and called Dean.
“I know. I just came back to the hotel to find her missing. She’d only been alone an hour. Maybe not even,” Dean said in a strained voice.
Stefan listened to his explanation, his own heart in his throat. Tia had been through so much already. She didn’t need more of this. How strong was she? Could she handle another session with those assholes? Stefan had tracked her down years ago, hearing her cries, finding her signature, hiding her when the others came, then helping her escape. After that, he’d let her go, let her be all those years ago as she worked to rebuild her life. But he’d kept an eye on her, waiting for her to come to terms with her life. Then she’d contacted him. And everything had come back into focus.
“She’s chained to a bed,” Stefan said gently. “She’s alive.”
“Can you talk to her? Tell her we’re looking for her. See if there is anything she can tell us.”
“I can’t,” he said. “Something’s stopping me from getting to her.”
“Drugs?”
“No. Steel.”
Silence, then Dean exploded. “What the hell? How is that possible?”
“Someone who knows how to stop anyone from tracking her. And the others.”
“Steel? You can’t track through steel?”
“Or other heavy thick layers of metal. So she’s in an old metal building, likely reinforced, a bunker or something similar. She’s also alone from what I can see in the picture.”
“Picture?”
“Yeah.” Stefan groaned, hating the explanations. “I painted a picture. It’s her scarred hand chained to the bed.” His voice dropped in fatigue. “I can’t see anything else. Just the bed frame, the same as the one in the picture with Billy.”
“Anything else?”
“No.” But he hesitated.
“What aren’t you saying?”
“I think she’s unconscious.” He took a deep breath. “I’m afraid she’s hurt.”
Chapter 38
Tia stared as her nightmares came true. This was Billy’s room, or at least a copy of the room she’d seen in the image.
This was seriously bad news.
Stefan. Could she contact him? She closed her eyes and called out to him. Stefan…can you hear me? But there was no answer.
“Why?” She called out again. And again. “What do you want?” By the time she finally fell silent inside, a film of sweat had risen on her arm. She was also burning through her energy. Fatigue pulled at her. What was going on? Besides the fact that she was a captive – a prisoner – again. She was so tired. Had she been given something? Drugged? Or something much worse. She didn’t feel any different. But there was something…
She just didn’t know what.
Leaning back on the bed, she tried to collect her thoughts and still the blind panic inside. She had to stay calm. Stay cool. And above all think, think, damn it.
This was not going to be her future. She had Dean. She had Stefan.
But she couldn’t forget someone had her.
Groaning, she closed her eyes. In her mind was more brilliant color. More waves of something. Was it alive? “Hello? Is someone there?”
What the hell was she doing? How could anyone be there? But damn if the waves didn’t move, undulate in a raw fashion. But only so far. As if they were tethered or restricted in some way. She didn’t understand but it was important. If they could come to her, could she go to them?
She slid forward in her mind, trying to access the other energies. She was sure they were people. She’d seen something like that with Stefan. Energy undulating around him but it wasn’t really him. It was as if he led a huge pack of psychics. She needed to access the same pathway. Same vibration? Same level? She had no idea but they were visible.
And if she could see them, surely she could access them.
With ripples of frustration wracking her system, she lay down and closed off the outside influences. Loving the clarity of her mind’s eye and more – loving the joy of connecting with others like her. She should be terrified this time, terrified of the others and what they’d planned to do with her, but knowing she wasn’t alone, knowing there were others around to help her – priceless.
But it was still up to her to help herself. Somehow.
Then she heard voices. Shit. What was she going to do? Nothing. She couldn’t do anything.
She’d pretend to still be sleeping. Groggy.
The door opened.
She managed to still her reaction, breathe slowly, naturally.
“She shouldn’t still be sleeping,” came a harsh voice. “Wake her up.”
Footsteps approached.
Just before they arrived at her side, she mumbled and frowned, shifting on the bed.
“Oh good, she’s waking up.”
“I don’t care. Wake her up faster.”
A slap slammed across her face.
She groaned.
No need to fake that.
A second slap hit her full on. She cried out and whimpered.
She opened her eyes and stared up at the man grinning down at her. It was the man from the McDonald’s restaurant. The man who’d kidnapped Jeremy.
Jesus. “What…”
She shook her head. The ringing pounded through her head. “What am I doing here? And who are you?”
“You know who I am. The question is – do you know who he is?” Her head was yanked hard to face the man in the doorway. Billy, only dressed more feminine than her older masculine style. She sat up in shock. Billy? “Oh my God. They said you were dead.”
“I’m not and neither are you, but you will wish you were soon. I went through hell because of you.”
Tia shook her head and winced. “Why?” she cried. “I didn’t do anything to you.”
“No, but you were the chosen one,” Billy spat out. “The one we all had to try and beat.”
“What are you talking about?” Tia cried. “I was a prisoner, the same as you were.”
“No. You were the privileged prisoner. The rest of us were performing seals, trying to be like you.”
Tia’s brain struggled to grasp the concept. She’d been the favorite? How could that be when there was nothing nice or favorite about that existence at all? “No,” she whispered. “My life was horrible.”
“And regardless of how horrible, it was still way better than the life we had.”
Tia could only stare at the young girl who didn’t look a day older than when she’d seen her a decade ago. “I don’t understand. Wilhelm was always trying to make me develop new abilities.”
“Sure. New ones. We didn’t have ones he liked, so we were trying to get any abilities. From DNA, to blood infusions, to chemicals, and even shock treatments.”
“But I went through all that too.”
Billy nodded, but her childish face was twisted with hatred. “Sure you did. But who do you think was the recipient of your blood. They took it out of you and injected us with it.”
“Why would they do that?” Tia couldn’t comprehend how she had not known Billy had hated her. Had the others?
“To try and give us some of your abilities.”
“That makes no sense.” She shook her head. Too bad she couldn’t shake off their words. “I was given injections too.”
Billy stopped. “You were?”
“Yes. I was,” she cried out. “I was probably given your blood.”
Billy glared at her. “Not likely. You got the preferential treatment unlike the others.”
“What preferential treatment? Don’t you understand? We were all prisoners. We all had a horrible life.”
“But you weren’t moved to the new facility though, were you? No, you were removed from the whole program then. You were freed.” She snorted. “They talked about leaving you for the last trip, only you never came. And we realized you’d been lying and that you were free.”
“No.” Tia couldn’t let her keep believing this. “I escaped. I actually thought I’d been left behind. I woke up to a completely empty building. The door was unlocked and I wasn’t chained at the time, but there was no one left inside the building. I don’t know why? Maybe they planned to come back for me – maybe they thought they’d locked me in and I was finally going to die for lack of food and water, but there was no one – and I mean no one left in the building when I managed to get out.”
Billy stared at her, so much hatred and anger on her face. “I don’t believe you,” she said. “You’re lying. You have to be.”
“Why do I have to be?” Tia said in bewilderment. How had she not known this girl hated her like this? When had it started? Why had it started?
“He taught you to hate me,” she said sadly. “For that I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
“He didn’t. You did.”
Tia didn’t understand. “I didn’t do anything,” she cried.
“No, except be you. They’d do anything to have one of us be able to disappear like you did. They loved to show us how they could make you do things.”
“And that should have told you how badly I was treated,” she said, her gaze finally noting the madness inside. Billy had tipped over the edge. “I’m so sorry. We were in this together. I was never better than you.”
“No, you weren’t. You aren’t. It did take me a while to see it though. The boss isn’t here right now, but he will be soon. If you thought I was dead…” Billy grinned. “At least he likes me the way I am.”
Tia didn’t know what to say. Once she’d escaped, she’d worried that Billy would be a perfect foil for a child predator. She’d not be on the wrong side of the law by age and the predator would always have a child to have sex with. What a horrible thought.
“What do you want with me,” she said, interjecting a flatness, a dullness to her tone.
“Payback.”
With that Billy laughed and turned, leaving Tia alone with the guy from McDonald’s. The guy who kidnapped Jeremy.
She studied him. He looked like he was all too willing to smack her up alongside side her head again. For some perverse reason, she wanted to push him. “Were you here too? A prisoner with Billy and me?”
“No, as you well know. Or was I someone else you couldn’t be bothered remembering, princess.” He snickered. “Of course I was the one who broke into your house. What kind of defense system was that? Shit that hurt when I ran into it.”
She stared at him. He’d been the intruder? It was too much. Her mind revolved around to his earlier comment. Princess? Jesus. Did everyone hate her? Now that she could see him up close, she wondered if he was a tech from the lab and had worked with Wilhelm. “Did you kill the doctor?”
She hadn’t meant to say that, but it slipped out before she could call the words back.
“No, Kyle did.”
She froze. “Kyle?” Surely not. He’d seemed like a lovely teenager. He’d been late to the program and…what? Frowning, she realized she couldn’t put a face to him. In fact, she di
dn’t remember anything about him. At least not enough to know something.
“Of course you don’t remember him either, do you?” He snorted. “Figures. Well, Kyle was sweet on Billy and after one particularly bad session Kyle lost it and the doctor just happened to be there. Kyle choked the life out of him. Of course Kyle had to be put down at that point.”
“What?” she exclaimed in horror. “Kyle wasn’t a rabid dog.”
“No, but neither could we trust him anymore.”
“You worked for Wilhelm though. How did you get onto Billy’s side?”
He snorted. “You really don’t get it do you. There were no sides. Once Wilhelm was dead, the place went ape shit and the prisoners tried to take over the lab. At least for a few days. Then the new boss found out and he came in with gas and put us all down. He didn’t know who was staff and who was a patient at that point, so we were all taken and made prisoners in his other lab until he could sort us out. Once I convinced him who I was…and he finally recognized me, then I moved up the hierarchy. And of course so did Billy.” He shrugged. “I know Billy hates you. I’m part of the reason as I helped Wilhelm spread the rumors of how you were treated so they would hate you. It made them try harder.”
She slumped back. “God, how could this be?”
“They all figured you’d been given special treatment or released,” he admitted. “Honestly, I had no idea what happened to you. We were all taken out but no one could find you. Figured you’d found a way to escape. Of course no one knew, so rumors were rampant that you’d been released.”
“I wasn’t on anyone else’s side,” she said wearily. “I was struggling to survive, the same as the rest of you. Always alone. Never included and always abused.”
“Once Wilhelm died, everything changed.” He waved his arm around. “There will be no special treatment here. Billy has had it in for you since the beginning. So it doesn’t matter if you’re one of us or not. You’ll get a heap more pain if you try to fight. The boss will be here soon. Then you’ll see.”
“See what?”