by D. M. Pratt
Eve buzzed in a constant state of orgasmic bliss. Her eyes shot open and she saw above her a glowing haze. At first she thought it was a light fixture, until it moved and began to open. A swirling portal expanded, unfolding into a wavering field, shimmering above her, yawning wider with each rush of pleasure that throbbed between her legs. In that moment, she knew, it wanted her.
“No. No. I will not go through that portal,” Eve said. “Stop. Stop! STOP IT! Don’t open the portal.”
“Eve! Wake up! EVE!” Dr. Honoré called to her, her voice still sounding distant.
What she saw next terrified her. It wasn’t human and yet it was. He … it … its flesh undulated between flesh color and pure albino white, blue, red and ebony black with his massive erection growing longer and harder as he came out of the light, getting closer and closer, ready to stab himself into her.
“GET AWAY! LET GO!” she screamed. “No. No. NO!!!”
Suddenly, standing behind him an old woman with chocolate skin and a shock of white hair appeared. Eve could see her mismatched eyes flashed as she grabbed and shoved at the big man, knocking him off Eve. With wild waves of her arms she scattered all the other men with what felt like giant blasts of wind. Using the wind that now blew with the force of a great gale, she drove the creatures back into the gaping portal. The old woman spun and slapped Eve so hard, Eve felt three of the restraints rip as she rolled off the altar and crashed onto the ground.
“Evine! Help me!” Eve heard herself say.
Again Evine waved her arms, knocking the men back as they came to take Eve again. Evine grabbed Eve and pulled her up to her feet, breaking her last restraint. She dragged Eve backwards over the fallen men and down into a long dark tunnel. The man from the light, naked and erect rushed after them. He reached out and grabbed Eve, snatching her from Evine. He threw Eve down and mounted her, his enormous cock poised for insertion.
“EVE, WAKE UP NOW!” Dr. Honoré shouted to her.
Eve looked into the eyes of the man, the thing that was about to rape her. They were Beau’s eyes.
Eve screamed, “NO! NO!!”
Far in the distance, Eve heard the door to the office break open with a loud crack. She fought to wake from the trance. She saw the face fade from her and felt her body rushing back as the office reappeared around her. She felt arms lift her from the couch. She heard Dr. Honoré’s voice: “Don’t touch her.”
Eve, panting, shivering, drenched in sweat, opened her eyes and looked into Mac’s face.
Chapter Sixteen
Eve threw her arms around Mac. She held on to him as a child holds her father after waking from a horrible dream. Her body ached, still feeling the pulse of the orgasm that racked inside her, vacillating between orgasmic pleasure and pain.
“Put her down!” Dr. Honoré insisted.
Mac hesitated, looking between Eve and the Doctor.
“Now!” Dr. Honoré demanded. “You could be doing more harm than good. Please.”
Mac tried to set her down, but Eve would not let go. Dr. Honoré came to check her pulse and heart rate. Eve was drenched in sweat. Dr. Honoré ran to get a wet washcloth and a glass of water for Eve to drink.
“See if you can get her to drink this,” she said as she handed the glass to Mac.
He sat on the couch still holding her in his arms. Mac took the glass and offered her the drink.
Mac look at Eve and then at Dr. Honoré. His eyes demanded to know, what the hell happened to her?
“She’s in a hypnotic state. You need to put her down. Let her go and leave, detective,” said Dr. Honoré. “Please. I have this under control. She’ll be alright.”
As Dr. Honoré spoke Mac took the washcloth and gently wiped the sweat from Eve’s face.
Mac looked at Eve. She was trembling. The scent of pheromones exuding from her body was intoxicating. Mac got a very instant, very embarrassing erection.
“She is not alright. What the hell happened?” Mac finally demanded.
“I can’t share that with you,” Dr. Honoré said. “Why are you here?”
“It’s Tuesday and the department set my sessions with you, remember?” Mac said. His eyes locked on Eve trembling in his arms; her face, her beauty, her lips, the absolute vulnerability in her body hit a primal vein in him that both wanted to care for and protect her and at the same time make insane love to her on the floor. He looked up for the briefest of moments to connect with Dr. Honoré.
“Tuesday. Yes, of course.”
Eve, still trembling, looked up into Mac’s eyes. Whatever she saw there, combined with the feeling of his arms around her, generated the same feeling of safety she remembered from the house. She began to calm. Her breathing slowed and finally the realization she was in Mac’s arms and still in orgasm hit her. Weak and confused she shifted, pushing from his arms.
“What happened? Am I okay?” Eve asked.
Slowly she sat up and slipped from his embrace. He said nothing. He handed her the glass of water. She drank and held it out to Dr. Honoré for more. She filled her glass three more times and Eve drank. A moment more, a few more sips of water and Eve tried to stand. Her knees buckled under her and again, Mac caught and supported her.
“Hang on there, cowgirl,” he said.
He guided her to sit back down on the couch. He too sat, staying by her, holding Eve’s waist to steady her. Dr. Honoré got her another glass of water. Eve drank every drop before her color came back. She looked at Dr. Honoré, remembering where she was and what she was doing there. She then looked at Mac.
“Why … are you here?” Eve asked Mac.
“I had an appointment,” Mac responded.
“He was outside waiting for his session when you screamed,” Dr. Honoré explained.
“I screamed?” Eve asked.
“Like a banshee. Scared the shit out of me. My cop side kicked in. I thought …” Mac started.
“He was worried we were in trouble,” Dr. Honoré finished. “You two know each other?”
“I’m on her case from the Gregoire estate accident investigation. The incident that knocked her out and put her into a coma,” Mac said.
“Yes. Of course. Odd coincidence,” Dr. Honoré said.
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Mac said.
“Eve, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize Lana had scheduled you two so close together that you could run into him,” she said.
Eve turned to Mac. “My fiancé has a restraining order in effect against Detective Macklin.”
“Another coincidence?” he asked.
“You’ll need to leave, Detective. I’ll have Lana reschedule. I’m terribly sorry for the inconvenience.”
Mac stood. “You’re sure you’re okay?” he asked Eve.
Eve nodded, her wits finally coming back to her. “Thank you for your concern. It’s good to know the cops are there when you need them.”
Mac gave a small smile to Eve and a polite nod to Dr. Honoré and left.
Silence filled the room. Eve desperately tried to remember what had upset her and made her scream during the trance. Questions with no answers were all that filled her mind. A walk in a grassy field was all she could remember. She looked at her hands now more worried than before. Finally she looked up to see the furrow of concern etched into Dr. Honoré’s brow.
“What happened to me?” Eve asked. “Please, tell me what I said.”
“You went under just fine. You started saying you were standing in a grassy meadow with trees and water. Do you remember anything else?”
Eve struggled to remember. She looked at her dress. It was wet as was her hair.
“I’m soaked,” Eve said. “What happened?”
“Don’t you remember anything?” Dr. Honoré asked her.
Eve shook her head, no.
“You really need to remember, Eve,” Dr. Honoré said. “That’s what this is for … you to remember.”
Eve shook her head while her mind searched for some small piece of what happened a
fter the grassy field.
“I … said something. Did I say anything? Please Dr. Honoré, tell me what I said. Please.”
Dr. Honoré was silent.
“Please. I told you I don’t have time to play games over this. I think my life might be in danger.”
That statement got Dr. Honoré’s attention.
“Danger? How do you mean?” Dr. Honoré asked.
Eve lost it. “Stop asking me fucking questions and tell me what I said! If my life is not in danger and this is a bunch of psychotic insanity, you can drug me and lock me up. If these dreams have been given to me as a way to protect myself from a dangerous event about to happen to me or my family, I need you to tell me what I said,” Eve shouted.
“Okay. Calm down. I’ll share what I heard and saw,” Dr. Honoré said. There was a long pause and then she went on. “You went under beautifully and I asked where you were. You said you were in a beautiful field and then you said you were at Thibodaux Hospital. You said a woman spoke to you. You didn’t share what she said. The last thing you said was you were going into a room with a tall man but that you weren’t afraid.” She looked at Eve. “Do you remember any of this?”
“No. No. I can’t remember. That was it?” she asked. “But why did I scream?”
“I don’t know. You were quiet and very still for a long time after you went into the room. You talked about several other men that looked as if they could be related. You mentioned they looked young and strong. Do you remember if anyone hurt you?”
“No,” Eve said.
“Your breathing got so shallow I came over to check on you. Then your breathing changed, became erratic and your heart started racing. That’s when you broke into a sweat. You started struggling, almost flailing. I could see you were trying to wake up. I called to you to bring you out and you didn’t answer. You started to shake and fight but you barely moved and then you started screaming something about, ‘Not the portal. Get out or off? I don’t remember. Are you sure no one was hurting you?”
Eve looked at her hands. She noticed bands of reddened skin ringing her wrists. She saw a tear in her blouse.
“What were you doing while I was under?” Eve asked.
“Sitting here. Watching and listening,” Dr. Honoré said. “Why?”
“And I was right here the entire time.”
“Of course. What do you mean, Eve?”
“I don’t know,” Eve said.
Eve stood and crossed to gather her purse. “I have to go.”
“Wait. We need to talk about this, Eve. You’re obviously very disturbed by what you experienced.”
“Ya think! Except I can’t remember what I experienced,” Eve said.
“Of course you can. Maybe it was something that happened in the past and your mind is trying to show you a way to access a clear memory of it. We just have to unlock that memory. Whatever it is, I think it will help you to face what is happening.”
“What if what I experienced wasn’t something from the past Dr. Honoré?” Eve asked. “What if it is going to happen in the future and I’ve been given a glimpse of it?”
“A glimpse of the future your subconscious mind won’t let your conscious mind remember,” Dr. Honoré said. “Eve, let me help you through this.”
“I have to go. I’ll call you,” Eve said and turned to leave.
“Eve. You shouted a name. Evine. Does it have any meaning?”
Eve’s mind raced. It sounded familiar, but she didn’t know why.
“I’m not sure.”
“Do you want me to keep the book? It fell when you screamed, as if someone pushed it off the table.”
Eve turned. There on the floor, lying open to a picture of one of the world’s oldest ziggurats, The Great Ziggurat of Ur, the book seemed to dare her to take it. At that moment the note fell from the table to the floor.
“No! I don’t want that book. I want answers! I want to know what the fuck is happening to me and not you or Beau or the police seem to be able to help me, so I’m going to get to the bottom of this on my own and I don’t care what it takes,” Eve said and vanished, slamming the door behind her.
Adrenalin shooting through her, she felt alive for the first time since she woke from her coma. She stepped outside into the darkening dusk and breathed in the cool air of the evening as if it were the first breath she’d taken in months. Eve knew she had to start this search now. She could see the pearl grey sky that held all the shades of the coming night and with it the answers to the mysteries that haunted her. The street was empty and still, but her stomach twisted into a knot as she walked. The wind blew and on it she heard a voice.
“You are ready, Eve. I’m waitin’ for you. Come at me,” the voice that had for months screamed inaudible words, whispered to her.
Eve suddenly knew where she had to be. She didn’t know why, but she knew she was being called to a place she’d seen in her visions. A place behind the old cemetery she’d been to before, a long, long time ago. Eve’s heart raced with excitement as she slipped into her car and drove away.
Chapter Seventeen
Mac sat across the street in his car, watching as she exited the building and got into her car. Eve sat for a long moment before finally driving away. Mac looked at the doctor’s office. He could go and ask her questions, but she was under doctor/client privilege, so that would be a waste of time. He watched Eve’s car, its tail light vanishing down the street. He knew he shouldn’t trail her; he was a cop and he knew the law, but he felt an intense sense of concern for her. He started his car and followed her up the street. They drove a few blocks, stopped at a sign and then a couple of red lights. She was driving just fine. She didn’t swerve or stop erratically. He had no excuse to pull her over and talk to her to make sure she was okay. The erection in his pants was raging and he couldn’t imagine why bursting through a door to help a screaming woman would cause that reaction. But it wasn’t any woman, it was Eve Dowling and he, his Captain and her fiancé knew he had more than a professional concern for her well being. He had been denying it since the first time he saw her at the hospital - the day he was put on her case.
“Stop it, Mac,” he said, admonishing himself.
He knew this line of thought wasn’t helping the situation. Maybe his concern for Eve was uncalled for, but she had been so terrified. He felt a sense of danger whenever he was around her, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why. Perhaps whatever attracted him to her was the culprit behind what he was feeling. He liked how she felt in his arms, strong and yet unbelievably vulnerable. She needed him, a voice kept telling him; she just didn’t know it yet. It had been a long time since someone needed him. It had been longer since he desired a woman and never like this. Yes, he liked her but there was more. When she screamed, he could hear the terror in her voice. He’d been a cop long enough to know the sound and feel of real terror. But of what? What had she remembered in her hypnotic state?
Dr. Honoré had offered to put him under as well when they spoke on the phone. Hypnosis was one of her specialties. She said it was a way to help him open up. She called it a path to remembering not only the strange, segmented dreams and scattered pieces of flashback that plagued him since he was put on her case, but even perhaps their root cause. The weird pieces of dreams made him obsessive about Eve’s case; too many things didn’t make sense. He wanted to, needed to, understand what was happening. His gut told him she was the key.
His mind rushed back into the present when he noticed that Eve had stopped her car between two old cemeteries and gotten out. He watched as she stepped through one of the old gates.