"I told you to stay put, Cooper," he nodded at Tranq-Guy. "You can't do anything. You're too tired. You've expended too much energy teleporting all over the state. Now, just come along quietly and you can rest."
Tranq-Guy aimed at Alyson.
But Alyson went rigid, her feet planted far apart, her arms held out at her sides and I could sense her back locking up straight.
Within seconds all three of the men—Cell-Phone, Tranq and Ninja-Boss—were weaponless. Cell-Phone clutched his head and screamed.
What—? What was he doing? I grabbed at Alyson's shoulders. She’d made their weapons disappear. But what had she done to the screaming dude? "Alyson—I thought you couldn't do that!" Didn't she just say she couldn't teleport us out of there?
"Small…things…" she panted.
I didn't know what she’d done to Cell-Phone, but the others actually moved back, one of them disappearing behind the van.
Cell-Phone was on his knees, ripping off the mask. He moaned as blood oozed out of his ears and ran down the sides of his face. My god…
Alyson took my hand. Her palm was warm and clammy. "C'mon," she said and pulled me back to the diner. "I'm sorry—I—I'm not strong enough to make them or us disappear. I—I need to sleep."
"What did you do?"
"I think—I think I made part of his brain disappear."
WHAT?!
I started to move with Alyson but a noise behind me to my left caught my attention. I saw Ninja-Boss step out from behind the van, another stun gun of some kind in his hand. He fired it at Alyson.
Two probes shot out and punched into her chest. Alyson's body began to vibrate and flail. I screamed as her eyes rolled up and into the back of her head. Alyson dropped to the ground and was still.
"Alyson!"
"Get her out and pick Evanesence up—don't worry. She’s not dangerous any more. She’s been de-clawed."
"What about Vince?"
"Leave him. The kid scrambled him."
I did not like the sound of that. I moved back as Tranq-Guy came at me. I glanced at Alyson again, who lay at an odd angle on the ground by the duffel bag.
The approaching man almost grabbed my arm, and I was ready to bring my knee up into any soft place I could find when light blared at us from the left. I vaguely heard voices coming from the diner as a huge van careened into the parking lot, bright lights on, horn blasting, as people from inside the diner came out.
The van sped up, accelerating as it came at the parking space between the van and the hedges—and rammed into Tranq-Guy, sending him sailing into the back stairs of the diner.
The van's passenger door opened as the back doors nearly blew apart. Three more men in black piled out and grabbed me—all I could do was stand there like an idiot.
Who were these guys?
I yelled back at Alyson and started kicking and biting. Someone pulled at me from behind and dragged me away from the van. They held me tightly around the waist from behind even while I kicked some more and screamed at them to let me go. I became aware of the crowd gathering near the diner—yet no one was helping?
I continued to pummel whoever it was that was dragging me toward the back of the van.
Just as he shoved me inside another pair of hands pulled me up and sat me hard into a leather chair.
"Miss Long," began a very calm if not irritated voice. "If you do not sit down and be quiet as well as still, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to stay behind."
I opened my mouth to scream and then stopped.
That wasn't exactly the way a kidnapper spoke, was it? With a lilting British accent?
I squinted at the man seated next to me in a matching chair behind the driver and passenger seats of the van. The van bounced as two men carried an unmoving Alyson in through the back doors and laid her gently—if not quickly—on a stretcher against the wall to my right. A smaller man climbed in, carrying the duffel bag and set it to the side. The other two climbed out, shut the doors, and then climbed in the driver and passenger sides.
The van lurched as it backed out and then turned to leave the parking lot.
"Okay, Lydia. Let's have a look-see and get an idea of what happened." The man moved out of his seat as the smaller man—no, not a man, but a woman with very short dark hair—pulled up two tiny stools and scooted to take positions beside Alyson.
And then the two of them started to glow—just as Alyson and Anson had—outlines of blue-white light.
I had just entered The Twilight Zone.
"Ah, it worked. Quick," the man snapped his finger at Lydia, who handed him a needle. He inserted it quickly into Alyson's arm. Alyson made a soft noise and then was still.
"What was that?" I said. I moved from the chair and scrambled closer to Alyson. I grabbed her hand.
Lydia turned and a flat-screen monitor flickered on above where I'd been sitting. The man took a stick and waved it over Alyson's body. Who the hell were these people?
"I gave Alyson a sedative." He pointed up at the screen as it shifted again at Lydia's tapping on a keyboard I hadn't seen before and then several statistics came up. “She’s sleep deprived, and her serotonin levels are extremely low," he pointed to the monitor closest to us. "Very bad stuff here—especially for a Gemini.”
"Nicholas," Lydia said and looked back at him as she pointed to something on the screen. "There's a bit of neurological damage—near the pituitary."
Neuro—what near the where?
The man named Nicholas frowned. The one with the accent. "Then the rumor is true—she's suffered some sort of break or shock. We need to get her back to the House. And she's going to need to sleep—a good deep REM sleep," he looked at me and smiled. "Well done, Miss Long. And now," he glanced past me and nodded. "Night, night."
Night-night?
There was a sharp pain in my left shoulder before the van's lights went out.
Helios
The first thing I noticed when I woke was the sound of birds, followed by a really bad headache. After that, stiff muscles. I wondered if I'd exercised too hard the other day in P.E.?
It was also very bright on the other side of my eyelids—had mom left the blinds open?
With a groan I opened my eyes—blinked away sleep—and stared up at something that looked like a quilted, burgundy blanket. It was suspended above my head from the center. After several blurry seconds I realized it was a canopy—a bed canopy.
Wait…when did mom put a canopy over my bed? And when did she change everything in my room to red and green?
Memory came back like a movie recap—Alyson, Anson, a silver necklace, ninjas and guns, Alyson falling, a handsome older man, and a van the Scooby gang would be proud of.
That's when I sat straight up and looked around.
I was in a bedroom decorated like something out of an English castle. Sunlight streamed through windows behind me, one on each side of the bed. Soft white sheers pooled on the hardwood floors beneath each window. I could see maroon carpets spread over the floor that matched the curtains hanging along the four posts of the bed I sat in. To my right sat a thick, ornate armoire, and to my left was a dresser and mirror beside a fireplace.
Wow—I'd never been in a bedroom with a built-in fireplace. Except for my grandma's old house in the woods—but those had been coal burning fireplaces.
And this one was lit.
I found the source of the bird-song as well. A tall cage with a rounded top sat beside the right window—home to two finches that hopped and chattered from limb to bar.
Where am I? And where is Alyson?
That's when I looked down at myself. I was in a white nightgown—so someone had to have dressed me. Ack…creepy. A glance at the mirrored dresser and I saw my clothes all neatly folded.
Getting up, I steadied myself against the dresser's edge, and caught a glance of me in the mirror.
My hair hung limp and straight to either side of my face, and my eyes were puffy and red. I put my fingers to my cheeks and moaned
. My teeth felt like I had little socks on them. I wondered if there was a toothbrush around here.
Here. So—where was here? Was this that older man's house? He'd seemed really worried about Alyson. And he also seemed to know about Alyson's body. Where was Alyson?
"Miss Long?"
I jumped at the sound of the voice and looked at the door. A sweet looking woman with short brown hair and a gray sweater smiled at me as she stepped in the room. I caught the smell of bacon and eggs.
My stomach woke at that moment and growled like a saber-tooth tiger. What time was it?
"I'm glad to see you up and awake. My name is Miss B. And that is just a B. The professor wants you to shower and dress and then join him for breakfast."
"Wait," I moved to her and stopped. "Where am I? Where's Alyson? Is she okay? Am I a prisoner? Is she a prisoner?"
Miss B laughed softly and smiled. "Oh no, Miss Long. You are not prisoners, but guests of the professor. Your friend Miss Cooper is resting now, and she's being treated by the professor's personal physician. You should find suitable clothing in the bathroom just past that door. When you're done, just come down the stairs." She bowed and left the room.
Guests? Alyson was okay? My first inclination was to dress and go find her so we could leave. But then…a shower sounded really nice. And I could still smell the eggs and bacon.
I turned around and pushed at the door next to the dresser. It really was a bathroom. When I reached out to turn on the light an arc of electricity flew from my fingers before I touched the pad. The lights came on and I wrung out my hand, feeling a tingle. Wow—static electricity. There were thick white towels laid out on the closed toilet seat, along with a white terry cloth robe.
With a glance at myself in the bathroom mirror, I stripped out of the nightgown and proceeded to make myself presentable.
For what—I had no idea.
The aroma of food sped up dressing time. There was an assortment of clothing in the armoire. Different sizes and styles, colors and fabrics. I chose jeans, socks, trainers and a white hoodie instead of the sweat-shirt and loungers I'd been wearing from Anson's house.
I combed out my hair in the dresser's mirror. I stepped out of the room—
—and into something that looked as if it were right out of The King's Speech. The hallway was as richly decorated as the bedroom had been. In fact, if I hadn't known better, it would have looked as if I'd woken in a castle somewhere in England.
But that was impossible?
Right?
There were more rooms across the hall and down to my left. I went down the staircase sniffing the air. Miss B walked past the bottom of the steps, then came back and looked up at me.
I smiled and waved, and then felt silly.
"Ah, much better Miss Long? Professor Decker is in the dining room, waiting for you," she held out her hand. "Come, please."
With a hard, audible swallow, I hurried down the stairs.
Miss B led me down a short hallway, took a left and then a right to a tall double door and stopped. "He's in there. The buffet is along the right wall. Just grab yourself a plate, dear, and dig in." With a hand on my shoulder, Miss B started back the way we'd come.
I grabbed at her sweater. She turned and looked questioningly at me.
"Alyson? Has she eaten? Is she in there?"
“Miss Cooper has indeed eaten. And quite a hardy breakfast too. Please, go right in there and the professor can answer all your questions." With a pat on my hand she walked away.
I turned back to the door. Did she say buffet?
Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside.
The room wasn't as big as I'd thought it would be. I had envisioned a long, hundred-foot table with gobs of chairs and suits of armor along the walls. But I can't say I wasn't pleasantly surprised to see the dark wood table, large enough to sit maybe six people total, and that the room was just big enough to fit it.
And there were no suits of armor.
"Ah, Miss Long. Come in, come in."
He sat at the head of the table, a half filled plate in front of him, a pot of coffee, orange juice and the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. I could read the masthead from where I stood.
It was the man from the van. The one in charge. The one the housekeeper had called professor. The one Lydia called Nicholas.
With another deep breath I moved to the table and grabbed the back of a chair. I was going to ask about Alyson, but the Professor folded the paper down and spoke first. "You must eat something, Miss Long. Please, help yourself. I've asked Miss B to go all out for this morning."
I looked at the food but my stomach instantly soured. "Sir—I just want to know about Alyson. Is she really okay? Is she safe? I remember you said she had neurological damage?"
The professor gave me a wide smile. "Olivia, please. Fix yourself a plate and I'll answer your questions." He held up a hand. "Alyson is fine. Soon as you get some food in you, I'll take you to see her. Deal?"
I nodded and turned to the food. There was more food than I knew what to do with. Sausage—both patty and linked—filled a small tub. Bacon, eggs scrambled and delicately glazed with butter, toast, croissants, cinnamon rolls, pancakes, waffles, grits, and even an assortment of fruit. There were bagels and an assortment of cream cheeses at the far end closest to the door.
The professor's phone rang and he spoke quietly into it while I made a few light food choices (in case my stomach went south later), I sat to his left. He poured me a cup of hot chocolate as I shoved several pieces of bacon into my mouth. Manners flew out the window. I drank half of my orange juice before I grabbed up some sweetner and dumped it into my hot chocolate. When he hung up I blurted out, "So Alyson's okay. The neurological damage is okay?"
"We're not sure if it's okay—but it's not life threatening."
I sipped the hot chocolate and inadvertently made that "mmmm" noise.
"I'm amazed how hot chocolate is always an acceptable treat. Kids drink coffee too young these days."
I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm not a kid."
"Ah, but not quite an adult, either."
I glanced at the paper he'd folded on the table. His gaze followed mine. "Don't worry yourself too much, Miss Long. There's nothing in the paper about what happened last night—or I should say earlier this morning—at the Landmark Diner. It is close to one in the afternoon."
I set my chocolate down. "It's one?"
"I'm afraid so. Sunday afternoon. I do apologize for knocking you out, but I had to make sure this house and its location stay safe. Miss B took care of you from the moment you were brought into my home, and I personally oversaw Alyson." He smiled. "My name is Professor Nicolas R. Decker, and you are Olivia Alexandra Long."
I could see him better now. He was older, but probably not much older than his mid-forties or early fifties. His hair was more salt than pepper, and his face was soft and kind. His skin was remarkably unlined, but in his gray eyes I could see the years.
He wore a cardigan sweater of soft brown, a white starched shirt beneath, opened at the collar to reveal a white undershirt. I could only imagine he was wearing brown slacks to match beneath the table.
I gave him a wan smile. "And who are you?"
"I am Helios," he smiled. "Or that was my code name when I worked for S.A.C. Though I'm curious to know how you came to be in the company of Alyson Cooper, otherwise referred to as Evanescense?”
Helios. I was wondering if his power had something to do with light. "So—you can do the stuff she does too?" I thought back to the van ride and the way the Professor had glowed.
"I'm a legacy, if that's what you're asking me. My talent is a bit different than Alyson's. I'm sure she's already explained much of our existence to you—because I can tell you've been a part of several concurrence points she's already used.
“Yeah. And she mentioned the whole forgetting thing… But I've been with her and I haven't forgotten anything." I chewed on bacon as I tried to come up with the right questions
to ask. I had a head full of them—but which one first?
"I've already contacted your parents and let them know you're safe and that you will be staying with me. They don't know exactly what's happening—seems they were given a cover story from your brother that someone was stalking you. I can assure you I have no intention of harming Alyson or you. I am only here to help. But, I have to know everything that's happened to you since meeting up with Alyson."
"My brother's apparently a legacy too."
"I know."
I gave him a brief recap of things as they'd happened as I ate. When I got to the warehouse he was particularly interested.
"Don't worry. When Alyson woke she told me about the warehouse as well. I've sent a team to where we think the warehouse might be but I've not heard from them yet. I'm afraid the van you were driving disappeared from the Atlanta Landmark parking lot."
I sat back in my chair. "Did Alyson tell you about the missing week, professor?"
"Yes. She did."
"It's not possible that we teleported in time as well as through space is it?"
He looked thoughtful. "Olivia, the fact you teleported at all is something to consider a miracle, isn't it? But yes, to answer your question. Alyson's gift works on the correspondence of points. It seems logical that given the right circumstances that the points could not only be in different points geographically, but in different points of time."
"Then she really did take us a week into the future?"
"The future for you—but as for Alyson we're not sure. From the way you both described it—those bodies have been in that warehouse a while. Unfortunately Alyson's memory of the events is missing, so we don't know if she witnessed what happened, or if she walked in on the same scene the two of you did. It seems more likely given the circumstances of her teleportation and subsequent memory loss that she actually saw what happened."
I pushed my plate away. "If she did I'm not surprised she's buried the memory. She thinks her father did it."
The professor nodded. “She’s told me the same. I've known Alastair Cooper for years. And though I know he is capable of cruelty and is infected with a very thick case of narcissism, I'm not sure he's capable of that magnitude of murder."
The Dead Girl Page 6