“Same old, normal guys. No one new except Kal.”
Will scrubbed his face with his hands. He was too tired. Nearly five in the morning and he needed sleep. “All right. Let’s get some rest. We’ll meet up at two thirty before we go eat. I’ll text Kal so I don’t wake her.”
The others departed, and Will sent Kal a quick text message. Whatever this was, he hoped he didn’t have to go to The Firm for help. It would drag him back to something he wanted no part of.
After his shower, Will frowned and pulled the front window curtain aside enough to look out. Across the street and halfway down the block from the motel, several police cruisers, an ambulance, and a fire truck were on scene. Lots of activity. Not his business though. He closed the curtain, checked the dead bolt, and tried to sleep.
* * * *
After Will drove Kal back to the motel and walked her to her room, she took a long, cool shower, then pulled on a T-shirt and shorts to sleep in. She felt drained and yet jittery, like she’d had a few triple espressos. She checked her door lock and tuned the TV to The Weather Channel, leaving the volume just high enough to cover outside noises.
Will’s room was only two doors down. Something about his presence both comforted and confused her. Part of her wanted to go knock on his door and curl up in his bed next to him despite his normally chilly persona. After she fainted, he’d acted totally different around her than he normally did. From the worried, protective look on Will’s face when she came to in his arms, she knew for certain his wall was an act.
Why? Kal didn’t know, but she really wanted to find out.
Part of her felt afraid to go to Will because random, horrible thoughts crept to mind, violent urges that made her tremble, like something inside her wanted to break free and…
She rolled over with her back to the windows and closed her eyes, made herself breathe slow and deep, hoping to force her body into relaxing. Eventually she slept. She had horrible dreams of a man walking up to her. Then he screamed as she grabbed him by the throat and drove her fist into his face again and again with enough force to hear the satisfying sound of bones crunching.
* * * *
They all gathered for a late lunch in the motel’s restaurant. Kal looked like shit. Will and Aidan exchanged concerned looks.
“Are you okay, Kal?” Will asked. Despite his intense desire for her, she was still, technically, his responsibility. He had to make sure she was all right. The fact that something had attacked her pissed him off on a fundamentally deep level he was afraid to contemplate beyond general concern.
Deep circles lined her eyes. “I didn’t sleep well. I feel like I stayed up all night.” She realized what she said. “You know what I mean. It feels like I didn’t sleep at all.”
Purs drained his coffee while eyeing her over the cup’s rim. “Did the sirens wake you up?”
She looked at him. “What sirens?”
Gery stiffened, refused to meet Will’s gaze. Will realized the other three men knew something he didn’t.
Purson set his coffee cup down. “Some guy got the snot beat out of him early this morning, right across the street from the motel.” His eyes locked on Will’s.
Will’s blood ran cold.
Kal was oblivious and sat and nervously twisted the ring on her left hand. “What happened?”
Will watched as Purson’s eyes flicked to Kal’s hands. Will followed his gaze and noted the scratches and scrapes on her swollen and bruised knuckles.
Her hands weren’t like that when he’d brought her back to the motel, he’d swear it. In fact he knew they weren’t, because he saw them when he helped her up from the stoop after she fainted.
Aidan rearranged his omelet with his fork. “Some drug dealer or something. Ended up in the hospital, beat up pretty badly according to the news reports.”
Will fought for control, not liking the feeling of being odd man out. He knew the other three men silently communicated, and collectively they could hear him even if he couldn’t hear them.
“Guys, what. The. Fuck?”
All three men’s eyes swiveled to him. They shook their heads a little. Kal still yawned over her food, oblivious. Whatever this was, they knew.
She didn’t.
But he would find out pretty damn quick.
It was all Will could do to make it through the meal. At one point Purs got up to use the restroom. He casually laid a hand on Kal’s shoulder as he squeezed past her chair to get out of the booth.
He didn’t jerk his hand back this time, but the look of shock and concern on his face scared the crap out of Will.
On the way back Purson was very careful not to touch her.
As Will paid the tab, Kal returned to her room to get her laptop. Will stopped the other three men. He confronted them on the sidewalk outside the restaurant.
“What the fuck is going on?” he growled. “You need to tell me, right now.”
The three exchanged knowledgeable looks, then Purs and Gery decided Aidan got to do the honors and stared at him.
Aidan took a deep breath. “I saw Kal returning to her room this morning, right at dawn.”
“What? So?”
“She walked over from across the street. About five minutes later, all the sirens and shit happened. She came from there, she had to be involved.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Will, you saw her hands. She did that, attacked the guy. We know something happened to her, we saw the footage. She’s possessed by something.”
Will wanted to fight the cold pressure squeezing his balls, but knew Aidan was right. Something was definitely wrong with Kal beyond what they already knew. He looked at Purs. “I saw you check her out again. What is it?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s deep, whatever it is. Real deep. Real bad. And really, really fucking strong.”
“Is that why you wouldn’t touch her again?”
Purs looked away. “It’s bad. That’s all I know. Frankly, unless you order me to do it again, I’d rather not.”
They’d already agreed not to tell Kal what they found on the footage and had doctored copies, hiding the original feeds. Aidan substituted an old, useless audio file on the digital voice recorder and Will set Kal up with that to review, knowing it would keep her busy and distracted while they talked.
They weren’t supposed to shoot the next location until tomorrow. Tonight was a free night. When they knocked off for dinner a little before dark, Kal looked horrible, dark circles under her eyes, her hands trembling.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to take you to the hospital?” Will asked, knowing both her answer and the fact that no normal doctor could help her.
She shook her head. “No. I’ll be okay.” Her voice sounded weak, not at all like her normal self. “I’ll sleep tonight and feel better in the morning.” She retreated to her room. Will kept his curtains open so he could see her room’s door in the L-shaped complex. The men were talking around dark when her door opened and she slowly walked out, barefoot.
Will’s heart sank. “Aidan, grab a camera. Come on, guys.”
They raced to follow and watched as Kal, in an apparent daze, walked across the street without bothering to check for traffic. Fortunately for her, the street was empty.
She walked three blocks before she encountered two young men, maybe a little younger than her, leaning against a wall in a dark alley around the corner from a seedy liquor store.
“You filming this, Aidan?” Will asked.
“I’ve got it.”
Then Will and the others watched, horrified, as Kal grabbed the first man. With nearly superhuman strength Kal slammed him against the wall. His head struck the façade and he crumpled to the sidewalk, leaving a bloody smear on the brickwork. Then she turned her attention to the other guy, who stared at her in shock. She gripped him by the throat. Will and the others broke into a run as his strangled cry reached them.
Gery pulled her off the guy
and she screamed, thrashing, kicking, snarling. He grimaced as he pinned her elbows behind her.
“Jeez, Purs, dammit, I need some help here. She’s friggin’ strong.”
Purson pulled his bloodstone amulet from under his shirt and held it in front of Kal. When her eyes focused on Purs for the briefest of seconds, he muttered something. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she went limp in Gery’s arms.
Will took her from him and tipped his head toward the other guys. “Check them out, make them forget, call the cops if they need medical attention. Aidan, come with me.” With Aidan following and still filming, Will raced back to the motel and to his room. Will didn’t know how long Kal would be out. He tossed his keys to Aidan. “Get some of those big-ass cable ties out of the van, the ones we use to hang cameras, so we can restrain her.”
Aidan put down the camera, which was still recording, and raced to do it. Will checked Kal’s pulse. She was unconscious, but for how long? What could possess her and make her attack someone like that? With such vicious strength?
Kal was a sweetheart. Will didn’t think she ever swore much less would commit violence.
Aidan returned and they quickly bound her hands. If Will had his amulet, he wouldn’t need the others to help, he could manage her himself. Without it…
He tried to shove that thought out of the way. Ryan would just love for him to come crawling back to him and The Firm. Will wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
Gery and Purs returned fifteen minutes later. “They’ll live,” Purs said. “Damn good thing we followed her. She would have killed both of them.”
“What do we do now?” Gery asked, looking at her.
“We need handcuffs,” Will said. “Those ties won’t hold her long, and they’ll cut into her skin when she struggles. I don’t care what’s got her, I don’t want her hurt.”
Gery looked at Purs, who sighed. “I’ll go get some.” Purs left. He returned ten minutes later with two pairs and a set of keys.
“Do I even want to know?” Will asked as they replaced the cable ties with the handcuffs, attaching Kal’s hands to the headboard.
“I lifted them from one of the cops that responded. Don’t worry, I gave him some money so he can buy more. He won’t remember what happened.”
“You have the touch, Purs,” Aidan quipped.
They stood back and watched her, waiting.
* * * *
Kal struggled against the dream. It was horrible, gut-wrenching. The evil coursing through her, demanding she kill, wanting to rip the throats out of the two men and bathe in their blood. The satisfying surge of power as she slammed the first one against the wall, then before she could immobilize the other, someone stopping her—
“No!” she raged, screaming. “No!”
The dream mercifully went black.
* * * *
Kal struggled toward consciousness, a soothing male voice speaking to her. Aidan sat on the edge of the bed. His sweet eyes looked almost amber-colored, focused on her, his hand on the tiger’s-eye amulet he always wore. She didn’t know what he said, couldn’t understand the words, but it calmed her, and she felt relaxed, relieved.
Until she tried to move her arms.
Kal looked up as she jerked her arms against the handcuffs. For a horrifying moment she thought she was being attacked until she realized she was fully dressed, as were the four men. It effectively wiped all vestiges of sleep from her system.
“What’s going on? Let me go!”
Will shook his head. “I’m sorry, Kal, we can’t. Not yet. You almost killed those two guys. We’ve got to figure this out.”
Gery towered behind the others. “How long until it takes her again, do you think?”
Aidan looked up. “I don’t know. I don’t know how long that will hold it back. I wasn’t even sure it would work.”
“What are you talking about?” Kal yelled, jerking her arms again. “Let me go!”
“Kal,” Will tried again, “we can’t. Not until we figure out what’s wrong with you. You almost killed two guys. You’re…you’ve got some sort of illness. It’s making you black out and act violent. We’ve got to—”
“Let me go!”
Will and Aidan exchanged knowing glances, then Aidan stood. Will looked at Kal. “I’m sorry,” he softly apologized. “We’ll be back soon.”
She opened her mouth to scream at him when both Will and Aidan clasped hands and simply disappeared. Her outrage died in her throat.
Hallucinating. She had to be.
Chapter Eight
Will left Purson and Gery guarding Kal. He gripped Aidan’s hand, and they appeared in Ryan’s Atlanta living room. Outside the windows, a game was in progress at Turner Field, brightly lit in the night. Ryan didn’t have the curtains drawn against the glare, and in fact had his large flat-screen television tuned to the game.
“I wondered when I’d see you two,” Ryan said by way of greeting, not shifting his focus from the TV. Bottom of the eighth, the Braves were down by two runs against the Marlins.
Will didn’t waste any time. “What happened to her?” he asked. At times like this he wished he still had his powers so he could kick the shit out of Ryan. It’d been three years since he’d last seen or spoken to Ryan. Three years too soon for his liking.
“What happened to whom?” Ryan’s attention focused on the Braves’ batter stepping up to the plate.
“Kal. What happened to her?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“You know damn well what I mean.” He stepped between Ryan and the television. “What the fuck is wrong with Kal? We saw the films. We know she’s possessed by something. What took her?”
Ryan waved Will out of the way as he watched the pitch, groaning when the batter hit a foul. “Wraith took her.” Ryan’s tone sounded as nonchalant as if stating the time.
Aidan’s blood ran cold. “What did you say?”
The batter hit another foul, this one bouncing off the dugout roof. “Did you not hear me or not understand me, Aidan? She’s possessed by a wraith.”
Will shook his head. “That’s not possible.”
“Why not?”
“Because whatever it is, it’s embedded deep in her soul, not on the surface. A wraith can only do that if someone’s pure.”
Ryan flicked his eyes from the TV only after the batter hit a grounder and was thrown out at first. “Your point is?”
“Ryan, she’s what, almost twenty-five? She went to OSU and lived on campus, for chrissake. That’s a party school. Seriously, what’s going on? I need to help her, and you know damn well what’s going on.”
Ryan glanced at the TV again, then back to Will. “Read my lips. She. Is. Pure. She’s a virgin. Daddy Dearest gave her a purity ring to help keep her honest, and she has been.”
Will and Aidan exchanged glances. Will shook his head and forced a smile. “Joke’s over. Ha ha, very funny, you had us going. Seriously, what’s wrong with her?”
He’d drifted in front of the TV. Again, Ryan motioned for him to move. “Look at her left hand. Feel free to ask her about her ring. And quit blocking my—oh! Home run! Yes!” Ryan clapped his hands as the batter ran the bases, scoring for the Braves.
Will grabbed Aidan’s arm and they appeared in Will’s hotel room.
Kal flinched at their sudden appearance. She shrank away from Will when he reached for her left hand.
“It’s okay, Kal,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Yeah, keeping me handcuffed to a bed is so not a comfort in that direction, Hellenboek.”
He took her hand, again feeling a tingle of connection with her. He saw the silver ring and really looked at it for the first time. A heart wrapped with a ribbon and overlaid by a cross, inset with a small, pink stone.
“What does this ring signify?” he asked her.
“Why should I tell you anything?”
Aidan stepped forward and bent over the bed. He spoke in a soft, gently persuasive ton
e. “Kal, honey, what’s the ring for? Please, it’s really important.”
She studied the men, glanced at Purson and Gery, then glared at Will. She dropped her voice. “It’s a purity ring. My father gave it to me when I turned fourteen. I took a vow to remain a virgin until marriage.” There, she’d said it. “I don’t know what your game is, but you need to end it right the heck now.” If Will or the other guys dared give her any hassle about it, she’d show them a really brassed-off woman.
After they took the handcuffs off her, of course.
Will closed his eyes and swore. Aidan put a hand to his forehead and rubbed it.
“Shit,” Aidan said. “Bastard was right.”
Will gripped Aidan’s hand and the men disappeared again.
Kal looked around the room. Surely she was delirious. Despite the restraints the men weren’t hurting her, so maybe this was for her own good, so she didn’t hurt herself and others. Because people didn’t just pop in and out of rooms like that. That was an obvious sign of fever or illness, right?
Purson looked concerned. “You okay, Kal?”
“Oh, sure. I love spending my evenings chained to a bed.”
Gery laughed. “I’m sorry, sugar. It’s the only safe option until they figure out how to fix this. We can’t have you prowling the streets and killing people. This way at least you won’t tear up the joint. Come dawn, we can let you go again. It’s just while the moon’s out and it’s dark. Whatever’s got you is a night creature.”
She tipped her head to the video camera. “What’s that for?”
“Proof,” Purson explained. “You can watch it later and see what happens to you when you black out, and see that we didn’t try to ravish you. We promise, we’re keeping our hands to ourselves.”
She felt something shift inside her, like a presence awakening. She wanted to claw their eyes out. With her next thought came a wave of horror over feeling that way in the first place. There was something wrong with her, all right. Something that made PMS feel like a walk in the park.
Good Will Ghost Hunting: Demon Seed [Good Will Ghost Hunting 1] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 8