Matt stepped back and shot her a “get real” look. “You are most certainly not going in there,” he growled.
Jorden took exception to the remark but before she could argue Matt continued. “Besides,” he said quickly, “as fascinating as this is, it’s the least of our worries,” he said then walked around to the front of the desk so he could look them all in the eyes. “In case you’ve forgotten we have a missing team member out there who may or may not be possessed. I think that our primary goal at the moment is finding Nigel. Once we’ve done that and determined that he’s okay, I’ll consider allowing a team to go back into the crematorium.”
Jorden wanted to argue but knew that he was right and that it would be pointless. “Fine, we’ll table the discussion until later. Until then, we need to get to the monastery grounds,” she said and stood. “We don’t have much more daylight left.”
Matt gave her a brief nod then turned back to Syd. “Do me a favor. Before we lose anything else on this trip, email the remaining evidence to me, including your recording.”
Syd nodded in agreement and looked back down at the computer.
From the sofa Jonas made several groans before his eyes bolted open and he jumped to his feet. Of course he grew lightheaded and nearly fell to the floor, and had Matt not been standing practically next to him he would have.
“What the hell is going on?” Jonas tried to bark, but instead it came out more like a drunken slur.
“We were hoping that you could tell us,” Matt said as he lightly pushed Jonas back down to the sofa.
Jonas slumped to the cushions and rubbed his temples, though winced when he touched the left side of his head. “The last thing I remember was watching the video feed, waiting for you guys to get to the hospital, and talking to Nigel. Everything’s blank after that.”
“You have no idea where Nigel is?” Jorden questioned calmly.
Jonas thought a moment then lightly shook his head. “I honestly don’t,” he said then his brow furrowed as if a thought occurred. “I do seem to remember his face, but I don’t remember where. I think that we were outside…” he thought some more, “…and as strange as it sounds, I think I was being dragged, but again, I can’t be sure.”
Jorden looked from Jonas to Matt, who was already looking back at her. “He has to be on the monastery grounds,” she said with a shrug, “it’s the only place that makes sense. We would have seen him if he’d headed back to the hospital and the boat isn’t here, so the dock is useless.”
Matt nodded reluctantly. “I’ll call the others and have them meet us at the entrance of the bell tower.”
Matt headed into the dining room with his radio to make the call while Jorden sat next to Jonas. “Are you sure that you don’t remember anything else?” she questioned evenly. “Even if it seems insignificant, maybe even a dream. Is there anything else at all?”
Jonas looked at her and smiled. “You know, you and Matt have this whole good cop, bad cop routine down pretty good.”
Jorden didn’t appreciate his lack of gravity of the situation, but at the same time she knew that he didn’t truly realize all that was going on. “It’s not an act and this is very important. We’re worried that something may have happened to Nigel and he might be in grave danger.”
Jonas must have thought that she was playing a joke on him, but when he looked around at the faces of the others he could see the weightiness in their expressions and he immediately sobered up and shook his head. “Nothing,” he said curiously then quickly added, “I mean he was acting a bit off, like he no longer cared about the investigation or the rest of you for that matter, but I figured that it was from a lack of sleep or stress.”
Jorden didn’t like the sound of that and she gave him a nod.
“The others are on their way,” Matt said from the doorway of the living room. “We need to head out.”
Jorden stood but before she could leave Jonas caught her hand. “I hope that he’s all right.”
Jorden tried to give him and assuring smile but could manage little more than a tense, tight grin. “So do I.”
“Did he have any more useful information for us?” Matt questioned tersely. He hated that Jonas had managed to befriend Jorden so easily but it bothered him even more that since he confessed his feelings for her she’d completely shut him out, and now she would barely look at him.
“Only what we already knew – that he was behaving strangely. He said that Nigel was showing little interest in the investigation or in the group, which is bothersome enough.”
“And it seems to lend some credence to yours and Isis’s claim that he might be possessed,” Matt ceded.
Jorden let out a small, exasperated laugh. “Don’t tell me that you’re starting to open your mind to the possibility,” she sniped, “I don’t think that I can handle any reason from you now. It might have me starting to think that you’re possessed too.”
Matt grabbed her arm and stopped her in her tracks with just enough force to spin her around and face him. “That isn’t fair,” he said. “You know that at least one of us here has to play the devil’s advocate…no pun intended.”
Jorden’s serious expression didn’t lighten, though he hardly expected otherwise. “When or if we find Nigel, he’s going to need all the help and support we can give him. He isn’t going to need any lack of faith on any of our part – it will only make things worse.”
“I understand-”
“No,” she interrupted. “I don’t think that you do.”
Matt’s gaze narrowed but he didn’t say anything.
“Whatever is in control of him will feed off of your skepticism and lack of belief and it will get stronger. Once it is strong enough, it will gain full control over Nigel and we may never get him back,” she explained gravely. “Now you have to ask yourself, do you believe, or do you leave the rest of us to handle it.”
The statement was like a slap in the face and Matt wanted to lash out, but Jorden turned and started walking away before he had the chance. And he hated it when she did that; and she had done it far too often recently. “I’m not saying that I don’t believe that it’s possible,” he said when he finally caught up to her. “It’s just that I’m a man of fact. You know this.”
She gave him a nod to acknowledge the statement.
“So once I see Nigel I’ll determine for myself if I think that he’s possessed.”
“How generous.”
He ignored her snarky remark and attitude and continued. “My only question to you is what do we do if he is?”
Jorden didn’t say anything and that worried him the most. It could only mean one of two things; that one – she didn’t know, or two – she knew and didn’t have the courage to tell him. Either way, it was becoming clear that they were in way over their heads and that for the first time since they formed their group, they might actually lose someone close to them.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
While Matt, Jorden and the others were out searching for Nigel, Syd and Ana were left to care for Jonas and mind the fort; in other words, with Jonas in and out of consciousness and nothing else going on, there was nothing to do. However, since the cat was finally out of the bag as far as Jorden’s suspicions of Nigel were concerned, Syd saw no reason why he shouldn’t do as much as he could to help. Using the satellite phone, he managed to hook up to the internet and he started a detailed search on possession and the practice of exorcisms. What he found both worried him and gave him hope. His biggest concern, however, was finding someone to perform the ceremony and the only way he knew of to do that was to go to the mainland and talk to people.
“Ana, I need to head to the mainland,” he said calmly and gave her a brief explanation, omitting his worries for fear of upsetting her. Of the entire group Ana was the most sensitive to fear and he had no intention of upsetting her further.
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” Ana argued steadily. “Matt said to stay here and if he finds out that any one of us
went out on our own he’ll be pissed.”
“Let me worry about Matt. This is something that needs to be done and there’s no one else here to do it,” Syd explained in the fatherly manner he used with everyone on the team. “I’ll be fine, and you’ll be fine as long as you stay here with Jonas.”
Ana’s dark eyes were shadowed with worry and she gave him an unsteady nod. “I suppose that you’re right, but keep in touch. I’m going to have to tell Matt something when he gets back and it would be better if it was good news.”
Syd gave her a nod before he slipped on his windbreaker and headed out the front door. To be honest, he wasn’t sure where he was going to start, but he figured the best place would be a church so that was his destination. He only hoped that he would be able to find help in time…before whatever demon that possessed Nigel consumed his soul.
In the dark, musty confines of the mausoleum he knelt and murmured, but he didn’t know what it was he was saying or who he was saying it to. His mind was in a fog and while he could feel himself moving and hear himself talking he had no control. He felt as though he was on the outside looking in. He wanted to stand and tried to will himself to do it, but he couldn’t move. He felt light…too light.
And then there was the voice. Just what it was saying and where it was coming from he had no idea and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. He was cold and alone. He tried to call out to someone…anyone…Isis. Even if she couldn’t hear him she should be able to feel him, but she didn’t come. For hours…maybe even days he’d been calling out to her and she didn’t hear him. Even when she looked at him, she couldn’t hear him.
But Jorden could. He knew that she could hear him. Isis may be a strong psychic but her ties were closer to the physical world. And while Nigel…or at least his body…was in the physical world, something was blocking her and he thought that he knew what it might be; emotions. One advantage Nigel had in having to sit in silence and observe was that he saw things he’d never seen before, which included seeing the emotional breakdown that Isis was on the verge of having.
Something else he was able to finally see was Jorden’s connection to the spiritual world. Like Isis, he had suspected it was there but he had no idea just how strong it seemed to be. His only hope was that his epiphany wasn’t too late.
Nigel concentrated hard as he called out for Jorden, but it was difficult. With every attempt he could feel his strength waning and he knew that it wouldn’t be long before whoever…or whatever…had him in its grips completely overwhelmed his body and soul until there was nothing left.
Please Jorden…hear me.
For hours Matt and Jorden searched the monastery grounds but found nothing to indicate that Nigel was anywhere nearby. Jorden had even convinced Matt to allow them to search the bell tower, yet still they found nothing. About the only places they hadn’t searched were the cemetery and the old village.
“Where to now?” Jorden questioned when they exited the dormitories.
“The village,” Matt said evenly.
“You really think that we’ll find Nigel, or any clue as to what happened to him, there?”
Matt shrugged. “At this point I’ll try anything,” he said then raised his radio and briefly mentioned to the others where they were headed. “We can take a brief look in the cemetery on our way there,” he said as he replaced his radio on his belt.
Jorden froze in her tracks, unable to move.
Matt was a good thirty feet from her when he realized that she wasn’t with him and turned to face her. “What’s the problem?” he asked as he approached.
Jorden wished she knew but she couldn’t explain the feeling of dread and sickness she felt when she heard the cemetery mentioned, though she was certain that it had nothing to do with the incident on the second night of investigating; when she couldn’t get to Matt fast enough to make sure that he was all right. In fact, she was positive that what she felt had nothing to do with the entity at all, but somehow she still dreaded it.
An icy chill ran up Jorden’s spine and she took a couple of steps back, stumbling in the process of her retreat, however Matt was there before she could hit the ground.
“Jorden,” Matt said as he grabbed her arm. “Are you all right?”
Jorden found it difficult to speak and the familiar feeling of sickness overcame her again, though this time it felt different. The nausea she felt was more like that which came from severe panic, though she had no reason to feel that way.
“Jorden!” Matt snapped.
Jorden looked up at him with a curious gaze.
Matt’s eyes were heavy with concern and she smiled, though it was weak. “I’m fine,” she said. “I’m just feeling a little sick.”
The concern in Matt’s eyes did not subside; if anything it grew darker. “Sick?” he asked. “Like when you were in the bell tower?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so,” she said then pulled herself away from him. “It’s more like when you’re absolutely terrified of something.”
His concern gave way to confusion and he started walking again with her at his side. “What are you that scared of?” he asked. “Is it the cemetery?”
Jorden had to think a moment before she shook her head. “I’m not that terrified of anything,” she said and thought again, “at least not that I’m aware of. Certainly nothing that would make me feel like this.”
“Then what is it?” Matt questioned.
Jorden could hear the frustration in his tone and she felt the same, but all she could do was shrug. “I wish I knew,” she said, then took in another deep breath to ease her churning stomach. “Let’s just hope that it passes.”
Matt grabbed her arm and stopped her again and looked carefully at her. “Maybe we should head back. I can have Ana or Syd come out here with me to finish the search.”
Jorden fought the urge to snap at him; she hated it when he babied her and since telling her that he loved her he had gotten worse. “I’ll be fine,” she insisted. “If it becomes too much to deal with I’ll let you know, but I want to stay out here. We need to find Nigel and I need to be there when we do.”
Matt did little to mask the frustration in his face. “Why?”
“Because something’s wrong with him and I’m certain that it’s because he’s possessed, and one of us needs to believe that, otherwise we’ll never get him back.”
Matt looked at her a moment longer while the conflict between frustration and concern battled behind his soft, brown eyes but he eventually nodded. “Fine,” he said, “but if it gets any worse you’re going back to the cottage even if I have to throw you over my shoulder to get you there.”
Jorden didn’t laugh because she knew that it wasn’t a joke or an idle threat and she gave him a slight nod. “Fine. And if that’s the case I should warn you that I have no compunctions about throwing up all over your backside if you do.”
Matt knew as much as she did that she wasn’t joking and he gave her a nod.
Moments later they approached the wrought iron gate of the cemetery that was strangled with vines both alive and dead. The gate was locked, just as they had left it, though if someone were desperate enough there was no way to keep him, or her, from climbing the fence and going wherever they wanted to.
Neither of them suggested going inside, but did make a slow pass along the outside of the gate while looking in to see if anything had been disturbed. When they passed the mausoleum the overwhelming feeling of sickness overcame Jorden again, however she did her best to not let it show.
Jorden had no explanation as to why she felt so sick at the thought of the cemetery or the mausoleum other than the bad feeling she got when the investigation started, and her only thought was that her feelings had something to do with that. Though she knew that if Isis were here she would say that it might be a psychic connection of some kind. Thank God Isis wasn’t there, because the last thing she wanted to think was that a demon was reaching out to her from whatever hell it was in. For now, Jo
rden was perfectly content believing that it was just past worries getting the better of her.
“Nigel,” she said so suddenly she couldn’t stop herself.
Matt stopped ahead of her and turned to face her. “What?”
Jorden didn’t know why she had said it and she searched her mind for a reason but there was none. She hadn’t seen him or felt him the way she thought she might or Isis thought she could. But his name was there, in the forefront of her mind, and it wouldn’t leave. At first she thought that it might be because of her overwhelming concern for him but that wasn’t the only reason and she knew it.
“Did you see him?”
Jorden shook her head then looked back into the cemetery. “I thought…” she said but couldn’t finish. She wanted to say that she thought she might have felt him, but the feeling was gone and his name was fading back a bit and allowing other thoughts back in.
“You thought what?” Matt asked in his cop tone, though she knew it was out of his own frustration and concern and not out of anger.
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. It’s gone now,” she said. “I thought that I heard him, but it must have just been my own concern that had me hearing things.”
Matt didn’t look at all convinced but he didn’t argue. Instead he turned and continued along the fence until they reached the other side of the cemetery.
As they passed the mausoleum and put some distance between it and them, the sickness Jorden had been experiencing started to subside and she was able to pick up her pace.
“Feeling better?” Matt asked as he picked up his own pace to keep up.
She gave him a quick nod. “I guess it was psychosomatic after all,” she said, though still refused to fully believe that.
“You think you got sick just by thinking about the EVPs from the mausoleum?” he questioned, not sounding as though he believed it himself.
She shrugged. “You have another explanation?”
The Haunting of Isola Forte di Lorenzo Page 27