by Dale Mayer
She approached gently. “If you want to go out we can go.”
“Mommy?”
“Are you okay, Hannah?” Maddy continued trying to coax the child out a little more.
“I am but you’re not. We have to run away. We have to escape…” the child’s voice rose in a panic. “We have to go now. Today.”
“Why?” Trevor asked. “Why do we have to run away?”
“He’s going to hurt you. He already said he would. We have to run before he kills you.” And the childlike voice rose in a high pitched scream.
Maddy reached out and sliced the energy link feeding memory to Hannah’s brain.
The sound cut off and Hannah’s face went lax – instantly.
Maddy looked at Trevor. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” He stared down at his fingers not surprised to find them shaking. “Or I will be if something calms down.” He smiled at her. “Between Hannah’s problems and my old memories, I’m not short of problems.”
“Old memories can be difficult.” She nodded at Hannah. “Her memories are all over the place right now and opening up those blocks are allowing access she didn’t have before. But it’s also removing the controls that were in place. More instances of fallout like this one are likely.”
“That’s too bad,” Trevor said pensively. “She’s been through a lot lately.”
“So have you,” Dr. Maddy said in a soft voice. “Drew explained to me about the anonymous tip about your teacher’s death.”
“And Stefan says he had a vision that showed him my old teacher was murdered. Not by my hand but quite possibly by that of an old friend.”
She pulled up a chair and reached to cover his hand with her own. “I’m sorry. That’s difficult.”
He squeezed her fingers. “It is but it is also a relief in a way because I had always wondered…”
“Some things can only stay hidden for so long. There is much that is wrong in this world.” She smiled. “But all things are showing in time. There is much right in this problem. The truth must be revealed.” She nodded toward Hannah. “We need to run some tests. It will take a little while to get the results. The brain scan should prove interesting.”
“Are you really expecting to see anything?”
She laughed. “Maybe not. But at least that in itself tells me something.”
“I’ve been trying to work. I have a business to run, papers to file, a wife who doesn’t know me, so I am trying to access her life’s history to unravel the mystery of who she is.”
“She is a conundrum,” Maddy admitted. “There is one other thing I feel like you need to know.”
He winced. “Whenever anyone says something like that to me, I sense bad news.”
“I have been trying to see where the energy might be draining away from her system.” She dropped her gaze to their hands. “In the process I sensed a connection to you long ago?”
“Meaning? I really don’t like the sound of that.” He studied her features. “Her life would have been so different from mine, I can’t see how they’d have intersected.”
She nodded. “And yet there is your energy in her system.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think I’ve ever met her before.”
“Well, you have and it made an impression. Don’t try to push the memory but give it permission to come to the surface. And the next time you are looking at her – maybe in grayscale even – see where your energy is in her aura.”
“That aura of hers is something else,” he admitted. “I can’t read any of it.” He motioned to where the riotous color had been. “That it suddenly was so wild and carefree is just another puzzle.”
“It’s a coping mechanism and one that works very well for her.”
“But is it healthy?”
“It’s not unhealthy. There is much to unravel here. It will take time.” Though she winced at that part.
Trevor rushed into speech. “I have another place to take her. A safe place.”
“Good. I’m adding a few anchors so I can continue to help her after you leave.” She stood up. “You can stay here for the rest of today and tonight. The next patient’s arrival has been delayed giving us a slightly longer window.” She smiled and reached out to pat his shoulder. “Remember that everything happens for a reason.”
He frowned. “Meaning she came into my life for a reason.”
“Absolutely. But all this trauma and trouble has a reason too.”
“Somehow it’s harder to see that.” He smiled. “But it always goes hand in hand.”
“It does and for whatever reason,” she said as she walked to the door, “your lives are entwined and they have been for a long time.” As parting words they packed a punch.
He sat down heavily. His mind a blank. How could that be? He had no memories of Hannah. She lived an affluent life. He had been one of the disgusting poor to her. At least to her family. Now he had a murder in his history. Likely at one of his friends’ hands.
No way had he met Hannah before.
Not only met, because that wasn’t enough for Dr. Maddy to have said what she’d said. It had to have been a strong enough meeting in their history that she’d retained the memory and the energy from it.
Yet he had no memory of such a thing. Was it not a strong enough event for him? Or had he pushed the memory back because he didn’t want to keep it?
Chapter 14
It was early morning when Hannah opened her eyes. Had she been here for hours or days? Gazing down at her body, still partially dressed, she realized it had been just since last night. Even now it was early. As in very early. But she felt better. Much better.
She yawned and rolled over. Trevor snoozed in the recliner beside her.
That bag of beignets still sat on the small table. She’d missed her coffee last night and she’d missed having the treat. Somehow she didn’t remember when she fell asleep. Now that she saw them she wanted one. Trying to sit up, she winced at the pain in her head. Everything else felt fine – her head not so much. She slipped off the bed and made her way to the bathroom. All she’d done so far since meeting Trevor was be in hospitals. Then again it was likely just yesterday. So the first twenty-four hours of marriage hadn’t shown any change in her life yet. In the bathroom she studied the shower, realized it was early enough for no one to be able to say yes or no, and she made a fast decision. She slipped off the rest of her clothes and turned on the hot water. She stepped under the stream and tilted her face up so the warm water poured over her head. It felt so damn good.
She slowly eased her head fully under the water expecting to have the pain in her head intensify, instead it was soothing. Using her fingers she gently washed away the dried blood on her scalp. There were several small bottles on the shelf beside her. One was shampoo. She quickly unscrewed the cap and poured a small bit into the palm of her hand and worked it into a lather on her shoulder length hair. When that was as clean as she could manage without touching the stitches she took the bar of soap and sponged down the rest of her. Lord, that felt wonderful.
When she was done, she turned off the water and grabbed for the towel. Instead of feeling shaky, fatigued as she’d expected, her body surged with an inner strength.
What the heck had Dr. Maddy done to her?
Hopefully she’d see her this morning and she could ask. At this rate of healing she’d be able to walk out of here today. She glanced at her thigh and the healed wound and shook her head in disbelief. There was a fine pink line running across her skin, but that was all. Over time that would fade away too.
The bruises on the rest of her body had faded away to nothing as well. She dressed in the clothes she had worn earlier, but her pants were back in the bedroom.
Opening the door quietly, she walked over, found her pants sitting folded on the side and put them on. Now she felt normal. She quickly braided her hair and looked around for an elastic to secure the ends. There was nothing close by. She frowned then left her hair braid
ed but the ends loose. That wouldn’t last but maybe she’d find something to use. She made the bed and stretched out on top. She closed her eyes and relaxed. After a few moments she opened them again and glanced around.
She gave Trevor one last look and walked out into the quiet hallway. There had to be a nurses’ station somewhere. Fresh coffee to go with the beignets would be lovely.
The place still slept. She wandered from one end to the other, loving the peaceful ambiance. It was a special place. One of the small sitting areas had a balcony. She opened the doors and walked outside. Huge gardens would blaze with color when the flowers woke up to the early morning sun.
She studied the sky and frowned. She thought it was morning. But the sky wasn’t as bright as it could be. She’d have guessed it was just before six in the morning. Instead the world looked to be much darker than normal. It was a gray world. And felt…odd. But almost…normal.
She tensed, confused as if something had happened. She looked behind her but everything appeared fine and well lit inside. Well, as well lit as could be expected considering it was soft ambient light.
Everything had a gray silvery look to it. The garden called to her, but she wasn’t sure how to get down. She walked back inside to the hallway and remembered the elevators she’d taken with Trevor. She made her way back toward them. She didn’t meet anyone on the way. She glanced in at Trevor as she passed her room but he slept on. The poor man had been on a roller coaster ride since meeting her. She stepped into the elevator and let it carry her down. She wondered at this need to go out. Surely she’d be better off waiting in bed for the others to wake up. At least she’d woken up as herself. That helped a lot. She must have freaked Trevor out pretty good when she hadn’t recognized him. That she’d consider Will to be her husband was scary. He was a hell of an enemy to have – as a husband, he’d be a living nightmare.
But then again apparently if life got too difficult to live she switched channels. What the hell was that all about? It made her feel incredibly weird. Dr. Maddy said it was a coping skill, and she wasn’t to blame. Hannah didn’t know how to feel about that. She’d spent a lifetime being blamed for every wrong in her life, and instead these people here seemed to feel she wasn’t to blame for any of it. Who was right? She wished her mother had lived. She missed her so much. It was one of the reasons she rarely spoke about her.
It hurt too much.
The elevators opened to a silent main floor. Odd. That meant she’d completely mistaken the time. But she was here already and the gardens beckoned. She carried on through the hallway toward the patio area in the backyard. She did see one nurse standing beside a patient in one room. There must be a skeleton staff at this hour.
Craving the first waft of fresh air, she stepped outside and took a deep breath. Only the air had a flat waitingness to it. There must be a storm ready to break. Odd. Still, she walked off the patio onto the grass. She stared down at her feet. She’d come out barefoot and hadn’t noticed. She shook her head. She’d thought she was wide awake but apparently not so much.
The grass felt odd under her feet. Cool but almost sharp. Freshly cut, so sticky. She twisted around feeling free, healthy, for the first time in a long time. Her body felt loose and relaxed, yet everything had a flatness and she missed the vibrancy she was looking for. Feeling foolish but needing to try, she spun around a few times only it didn’t feel the same. She turned and walked to the far end of the garden. Further away, another woman walked alone.
Hannah wanted to say hi, but the woman didn’t look like she wanted company. Hannah understood. She’d spent a lot of time in the same mood. Still, she gravitated closer. The woman might change her mind if she saw her.
They were only a few yards apart when the woman looked up. Her gaze widened in horror.
“No,” she cried out in such pain Hannah stopped in her tracks. “You can’t be here.”
“Uhm.” Hannah looked round. Surely this woman had someone to look after her?
There appeared to be several men further behind the woman, but none close enough to help her. No one else was around. Unless they were in the woods at the side. She studied the long line of trees and wondered why they looked darker. More imposing than when she’d first arrived.
Surely the light should be getting better, brighter.
“Why shouldn’t I be here?” Hannah asked quietly. The woman looked terrified and the same feeling was quickly transitioning to Hannah. She took several steps backwards “I don’t understand. It’s beautiful out here.”
“No, it’s not. It’s not what you think. You need to run. Dear God, please Hannah, run…”
Hannah froze when the woman called her name. “You know who I am?”
“Of course I do. Run. Please. Don’t talk to me, or they will find you.” She spun Hannah around, gave her a push and screamed, “Run!”
*
Trevor woke to a heavy sensation on his chest. He shifted but it wouldn’t ease. Struggling for air, he bolted upright and hands to his chest he raced to the small balcony in search of fresh air.
What the hell…
He gulped and gulped, but nothing eased the constriction. If he didn’t know better he’d have thought he was having a heart attack of some kind, but there was no pain, nothing but the awful inability to catch his breath. The early morning air was dark, dank. Dare he say fetid? That made no sense. There were huge flower gardens behind Maddy’s Floor. Then he understood.
He wasn’t in the physical world, he had crossed into the gray space between.
Although a regular graywalker, he hadn’t been here in several weeks.
He closed his eyes, his fingers gripping the rail hard. He needed the reminder when he was here that the physical world existed, but he wasn’t in it. He was but it was a different dimension that no one but those unfortunate or fortunate, depending on their experience, understand. He knew several who did. They rarely spoke about the experience together, but when one had a problem they all came to offer advice. It was the weirdest thing in that the only person he knew who could access the same gray space as he could was Stefan. The others would be in their own version. As if there were multiple levels or dimensions of a personalized grayscale for each of them.
He opened his eyes, hoping to be in the physical world, but he was still in the half lit space. That meant he needed to be here. He worked through the possible reasons, sensing when his chest eased or constricted the closer to the right subject.
When he considered Hannah his chest squeezed in pain. He grunted and tried to focus on his breathing. He turned slowly to see how she slept and found her stretched out on the tip of the bed fully dressed, her hair wet as if she’d showered and lay back on the bed and fallen asleep.
Only she wasn’t in her body.
Damn it. He should have heard her. Normally he was a light sleeper, even for astral walkers. How did she get past him? And where had she gone? He went to step back into the room and his ribs crushed in deeper again. He groaned and hunched over. As he swiveled toward the railing, the pressure immediately eased. He straightened trying to regain his breath. And his gaze caught sight of Hannah out in the grassy lawn below. She had her arms open and he heard her call out.
“Why?” She shook her head adding in a plaintive scared voice, “Please tell me.”
He searched the grayness looking to see who she spoke too.
But he could see no one.
Then heard a hair raising scream. But it wasn’t Hannah. She froze, he raced forward as if being chased, only to slam to a stop as if hitting a solid blank wall. He watched in disbelief as part of her body, energy, soul – call it what it was – and Stefan would likely call it an ethereal body – shattered.
Literally her head shattered outward into a zillion little pieces. In slow motion all the pieces floated to the ground. Scattered on the grass.
His throat seized in panic.
What the hell?
He wanted to race down to the lawn. He wanted to run to h
er aid. But he couldn’t move. His feet had fused to the floor. He wasn’t allowed to go. Although he understood why he couldn’t, he also railed at it. He was in the grayscale. The half world. So was she. But he wasn’t in the same grayscale.
He was viewing from a privileged position as a guest in her grayscale world.
He watched in disbelief as the impossible happened. The tiny particles of her head slowly pulled back together again, and like a slow playing movie now playing in reverse, the pieces reformed her head into the same shape as before.
He gasped then groaned. Jesus.
Talk about a headache.
Once again, she turned, her face emotionless, and she walked back toward the hospital and disappeared from his sight.
As she disappeared, the mechanism holding him in place released.
He bolted back in the bedroom and into the hallway. When he walked in grayscale the experience exhausted him. She somehow had to be better adapted to do what she’d just done. And what toll did it take on her?
The elevator was empty, waiting to be called. He took the stairs two steps at a time. When he burst through the doors on the main floor, he checked the elevator but it was still standing on Maddy’s Floor waiting for a call to bring it down to the main floor. Not wasting another moment, he ran to the back patio. And came to a shuddering stop.
Hannah sat still as a mouse, seated on the furthest table, but her head, Jesus. It moved and shifted like the pieces were alive.
He screamed, Stefan!
*
Stefan bolted awake, already on the floor and racing across his bedroom before he understood who’d called.
It’s Hannah. I don’t know if you can see this, but it can’t be fucking possible.
Stefan dropped to the floor in a cross legged position and jumped free. He locked on Hannah and Trevor’s position and willed himself there. He opened his eyes to see himself on the back patio standing beside an empty table.
But no sign of Trevor or Hannah.
“Trevor, where are you?” he snapped. They had to be here somewhere. His tracker could be off a little, but not like this.