He shuffled closer to Katrina and I cringed at the sound of her screams. She was begging for someone to help her, but there was no one there.
With my mind I tried to call the police. I wasn’t even sure it was going to work. I had never attempted something so complex before. Surprisingly it worked. I was talking to them like I would have been if I were on the phone with them. Somehow, I managed to remember the address of her house. My friend is in trouble! Help her! I screamed as the connection broke abruptly. My power is strong, but it’s still not fully mature.
I focused my mind back on Katrina. He had her by the throat and was ripping what little shirt she had left off. I wanted to be there. I wanted to help her. To hurt him in any way I could.
Sirens screamed in the background. The relief that I felt was short-lived. He rushed to her closet and jerked a shirt off one of the hangers. He tossed it at her and told her to change. “If you tell them anything I will kill you. Do you understand me?” He asked her as he heard the knock on the front door. Every movement he made was frantic and stressed. Quickly, he went to the door to answer it.
I heard the officer in another room. He was talking to her uncle. “We had a report that someone needed help.” The officer said as he looked around the room for any sign of an altercation.
“There’s nothing going on here.” her uncle said. “You must have the wrong house.”
“Then you won’t mind if we take a look around.” The officer said as he started searching the house. His statement wasn’t a question, but more of a demand. Katrina’s uncle had no other choice but to agree with the officer. He agreed. Katrina came out of her bedroom. “Is there something wrong?” Her voice still shook.
“Looks like it was a prank call.” the officer told her.
While the officers were there, Katrina told her uncle she was going to go visit a friend and she would be back soon.
“Ok.” her uncle said. What else could he say?
I watched her as she hurried out of the house and down the road. She got out her phone and called her mother. I was expecting her to tell her everything, but to my amazement she didn’t. I think she was afraid he really would hurt her.
I heard her ask her mom if it was ok if she stayed the night with me. She must have said it was alright because I heard Katrina say thanks. I watched over her until she walked up to my front door.
I was standing by the door when she rang the doorbell. I stood there for a moment so it would seem like I had been in another room. She flew inside and locked the deadbolt behind her when I opened the door.
Katrina looked horrible, to say the very least. She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug and started crying uncontrollably. “What's wrong Kat?” I asked trying to sound like I didn’t know what had happened.
“He almost raped me, but the police came. They said that someone had prank called them she sobbed. Thank God they did.”
When I finally convinced her that she was safe she calmed down some. “All the doors are locked and he’d have a hell of a time getting to you here.” I reassured her.
I told her that she had to call her parents and tell them. “This has gone too far Kat. You are in real danger and you need to tell them now!” I told her in a harsher tone than I should have, but I couldn’t help it. She is in real trouble and I have to help her stay safe.
“I know. Just let me catch my breath for a minute.” she replied. All of my sympathy washed out of me as I stood quietly in front of her. Her hands were on her head, eyes closed tightly, and she was working hard to control her breathing.
After a brief moment, she got out her phone and dialed her mom’s number. I heard her mom pick up. Katrina told her what had happened and Carolyn told her to stay with me until she got here. She was on her way back right now.
It was hard not to hear her mom. She was nothing short of screaming into the phone. She said that she would be here within a couple of hours.
Katrina held the phone out to me. “Hello.”
“Bailey?”
“Yes, Carolyn.” I replied.
“Don’t let her out of your sight. Do whatever you have to do to keep him away from her. Will you do that for me?” she asked desperately.
“Of course I will.” I responded. “I'll call Eric to come stay with us until either you get here or my parents come home.” I knew Carolyn was crying from the sound of her voice. But that wasn’t the part that upset me. She had a weird flow to her thoughts. I couldn’t understand it. The edges of her mind had become frayed and irregular.
"I'll be there soon." Carolyn said as the phone went silent.
I, immediately, called Eric. When he answered I didn’t give him much time to say anything. I needed him to be here with me. I am just as scared as Kat is. “Something happened and I need you to come over here.”
“I’m on my way.” he said. He didn’t even end the call. I could hear every step he took and the rapid closing of the front door as he blew through it.
It took no time at all before he was knocking at the door. I opened it and let him in, locking it behind him.
“Bailey, why is the door locked?” Eric asked with a strange look on his face.
I asked Katrina if it was alright if I told Eric what had happened. She nodded in approval. I told Eric about what Katrina’s uncle had done and the more details that I told him the angrier he became. His face was bright red and his anger was unmistakable.
He done his best to console Katrina and to let her know she was safe now and that he wouldn’t let anyone hurt her while he was around. His confidence in himself to be able to give outward love to my friend was mind blowing.
She thanked us both as she struggled to calm herself. There was absolutely no way I could be able to imagine how she was feeling right now. The anger and disgust that she must be going through must be consuming. I wondered to myself how she was still speaking to us.
A couple hours passed and I heard Carolyn pull into the driveway. She didn’t take the time to shut her car door when she got out. Her movements were jerky and not thought out at all. She was moving as if she were being pulled by strings and not wanting to move voluntarily.
Eric opened the door to let her in before she could even get to it to knock. She rushed to Katrina and held her for a moment. The sadness I felt in this moment was beyond crushing.
She pulled back and looked at her. Every new scratch or blue spot had her complete attention. I sensed her anger growing. Carolyn cried as she examined Katrina’s busted lips.
“He hit me Momma.” Katrina said as she started to cry again.
I pulled Katrina’s torn shirt from her bag and handed it to Carolyn. She looked it over and stood up. I had never seen someone’s demeanor change so quickly and I was frightened by it.
The light disappeared from Carolyn’s eyes. The bright white glow of happiness had now been replaced by a dark hate. The aura around her body was twisted in black and red. Hate, rage, and anger all at the same time. The longer she stood there the more volatile she became.
“Bailey, would it be alright if she stays here with you and Eric until I get back?” She asked. “I need to find my brother.”
“She can stay as long as she wants to stay.” I told her with a sick feeling that something terrible was going to happen.
I took a minute to scan her thoughts. Carolyn was really going to kill him. She had quickly planned it out in her head and I could see everything. She was going to make it look like he had killed himself. Her plan was to act like he was already dead when she found him.
Make it look good, she kept telling herself.
I was frozen in a silent panic. All I could do was listen to her words. My mouth wasn’t working the way I wanted it too. I wanted to scream out and tell Carolyn not to go, just to stay here with us and we would let the police sort everything out. But I knew that she wasn’t going to agree to anything like that. She was out for blood. Her own brother.
CHAPTER 7
Carolyn walked past
me and out the door. I watched her walk down the sidewalk to her car; her actions were more deliberate now. She grabbed the door of her car and bowed her head like she was saying a prayer. I knew it was wrong, but I listened in. I couldn’t help myself.
God. Please forgive me for what I’m about to do. I have to protect my baby. He is sick and he‘ll never quit if I don’t stop him. There has been enough pain as the result of his actions. Nothing will stop him except this. We have tried everything else. Forgive me.
Her head lifted, she got in her car, and backed out of the driveway. When she was out of sight I tried to calm the sickened feeling that I had of knowing what was about to happen to her. I couldn’t cause Katrina any more pain, so I kept my mouth shut about what I had learned. She had enough to deal with already. I could not put her through any more.
She was an absolute wreck. Her clothes looked like she had been thrown in them. She had blood in her hair and it was starting to dry, leaving awful looking clumps that made her hair look like it was in knots.
I wasn’t sure how the police officers missed her busted lip and the blood, or the fact that she was crying and hysterical, but I guess all that doesn’t matter now.
I took Katrina to my room. “A hot shower will make you feel better.” I said trying to draw her attention to something else. That was what I thought she needed. A break.
“You’re right. I do feel sort of… nasty.” she whispered as she dropped her head. When she began holding herself tightly the emotions I felt from it stunned me. The one very important time in my life that I needed to say something and I can’t seem to force any hint of a word out of my mouth.
“I’ll get you some fresh clothes.” I told her. Acting like I was going through the closet, I imagined a new bra and a pair of panties that was exactly her size. When they appeared in my hands, I looked them over and realized that I had forgotten to add sales tags to them for authenticity. I thought about the tags and they appeared on each of the items. I pulled a pair of jeans and a shirt from the closet and laid them on the bed. Times like these make me thankful for the gifts I had received. However unbelievable they may be.
“Both doors lock if you would feel better that way. Take all the time you need. We’ll be downstairs if you need anything. Just give us a shout.” I said as I went out and closed the door behind me.
Eric was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. Tears streamed down my face before I got to him. He held me tightly and let me cry. The tears burned at my face. So many of them had fallen on my face that my skin was starting to crack from all the extra moisture.
Realizing that I needed to find Carolyn, I buried my head in Eric’s chest. I searched for her and quickly found her, but, unfortunately, not quick enough. She had already pulled the trigger and shot her brother just when I focused in on her. I could see the horror on her face as she watched him bleed onto the floor.
She kneeled down beside him and it was hard not to see the regret in her eyes for what she had done to him. “I have always loved you.” She whispered to him. “But you should have known better than to put your hands on my baby. May God have mercy on you because I can’t do it myself.”
I knew when I had been upstairs with Katrina that I was wasting time, but could I really have done something to stop her from doing this? After all Katrina has been through, now she was going to lose her mother too.
My head was clouded with all the questions. I wanted more than anything to be able to go back and change all this, but I knew I couldn’t. There was absolutely no way the police was going to believe that he had killed himself. Carolyn shot him in the chest. Who shoots themselves in the chest?
I couldn’t let Katrina lose her. She has suffered enough pain already. More than enough. More than any human should bear.
I gathered all the strength I had left and imagined his body had disappeared and I watched the blood stains on the floor shimmer until they were gone. All the evidence was gone. Something inside me screamed that I was doing something wrong, but I ignored everything. This is something I have to do. It’s the only way I am going to be able to help Kat.
“He's gone now. You can move on without worry.” I whispered to her with my mind.
Carolyn was visibly frightened as she looked around the room, searching for where my voice had come from. When she had finally decided to stop looking she thanked me as she cried over the spot where her brother had died.
“Go to Katrina. She needs you.”
As I pulled myself back, I saw her drop to the floor and pray. I couldn’t bear to hear a single word of it. I broke the connection instantly.
I wasn’t sure I had done the right thing. He had tried to hurt an innocent person, but did he deserve to die for it? Does any one person truly deserve to die? I saw true evil in his soul. Was that enough to justify her taking his life? I had allowed Carolyn to murder her brother. The images are burned forever in my mind. In my soul.
Carolyn was protecting her daughter and every other girl out there from him. If I could only talk to the Queens. They would be able to reason with my confused mind.
“You did the right thing.” Eric’s voice jerked me back into reality.
The utter disbelief shocked me. Had he really said what I thought he said? That’s not possible. There was no way he could do that. Was there?
“Yes. I said you did the right thing.” He repeated. “I know you don’t think so, but you did.”
I took a step back from him. I know I hadn’t said a word out loud.
“I didn’t say anything.” I said to him.
“You didn’t say anything out loud, but you said it all the same.” He said hesitantly. It hit me just exactly what he meant. He was trying to say he had heard what I was thinking without freaking me out. It’s a little late now because I am absolutely, undeniably freaked out.
I started to say something to him, but I stopped because Katrina was coming down the stairs.
She hugged me and thanked me for the clothes and I have to say that she looks a lot better than she did. We talked for a while about music, movies, and other things just to keep our minds off the events that had happened earlier.
It wasn’t long after that Carolyn returned. I could see the horror still on her face. It was the same expression that was on her face as she had begun to pray. She was trying so hard to hide it, but I don’t think something like that is ever going to be easily hidden.
“Thank you Bailey.” She said.
“There’s no need to thank me.” I replied to her. Carolyn stood there looking like she had seen a ghost.
“Are you ok?” I asked her.
“Your voice, it was you!” She exclaimed.
“What are you talking about?” I said, trying to act as innocent as I could, but she wasn’t giving in. She knew it was me that had made her brother’s body and all the evidence of her little crime disappear. She was sure it was me that had spoken to her in her house. There was no way I was going to be able to change her mind about it either.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” She said as she looked at me in awe. She hugged me and whispered, “It’s our little secret.”
“Yes it is.” I paused for only a second. “Because only we know each other’s secret and I intend for it to stay that way.” I whispered back to her with the authority of my Queens in my voice.
I couldn’t help but wonder if she would tell anyone what I had done. It’s really not like anyone would believe her anyway. They would laugh and call her crazy.
I hugged Katrina and told her to try to forget all about the terrible thing that had happened today. She looked at me with the remnants of fear still in her eyes. “It’s all going to be ok. It’s just going to take some time.” I said as I released her from the hug.
Eric stood by the door quietly. He gave both Carolyn and Katrina quick hugs and said goodbye to them as the left.
I really needed a minute or two to collect myself. So much had happened in such a short time that my brain hasn�
�t had the time to absorb all of it. And I was frightened. Not only because of what I witnessed, but the realization that Eric could hear my thoughts. Not to mention the guilt I was feeling because of what I had done.
I knew I had to talk to him about it eventually. I just didn’t know how or what I was going to say him. I tried to come up with an easy way to start the conversation. Every single way I thought to begin was a total bust. I suppose there’s really no easy way to do it but just to come right out and say what I needed to say.
“How did you know what I was thinking?” I asked as I stared at the floor.
“We are connected.” Eric replied.
“I don’t understand Eric.”
“You will in time.”
Anger filled me as he tried to avoid answering my question. It was a simple question, but he refused. After everything that had happened today, all I wanted was straight forward answer. How hard could that be?
“Please don’t be angry with me.” He said with a torn look on his face.
“Just answer the damn question Eric!” I demanded.
“I know who you are.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, maybe that wasn’t the right way to say that. I know what you are, I should have said.”
“What am I then? That is, since you seem to know so much.” My hands balled into fists while my teeth grinded. I’ve had enough.
“Yes, Princess.”
Everything suddenly surfaced in my memory. I remembered the Queens calling me Princess. No one ever called me that, not even my mother. That is until Eric showed up anyway.
But how could he know? The memory of them telling me I had a mate emerged. I slowly began to understand what was happening. Was he my mate? Could this even be happening?
My head started spinning from all the drama. I took a deep breath to calm myself, but it didn’t help much at all.
“So you can read my mind?” I asked.
Eternity (Circle of Light) Page 9