Voices in the Night (The Dark Mind Trilogy Book 3)

by Matthew Goldstein

  17

  And then it was gone, as if it had never been. He blinked, recovering from his lightheadedness, and registered that someone else was screaming. He jerked back into full consciousness to see Amy clutching her head, and Asher staring at her.

  “Asher, no!” Cole shouted, terrified. He was about to fling himself over the front seat at Asher when Amy stopped screaming and sat there panting, still holding her head.

  “Relax,” Asher said. “I've got it under control this time.”

  Cole was about to say more, but Amy's head snapped up and glared at Asher in a seething rage. “I see you can do that too,” she said quietly. She continued to glared at him and then squinted her eyes in concentration.

  Asher smirked. “Sorry, Hon, not gonna work on me. I learned how to block it out. So how about you leave my friend here alone?”

  Amy's rage fused with fear. “I didn't think that was possible.”

  “I've had a lot of practice. Guess you're still an amateur.” He looked at Cole. “What's the plan now?”

  Cole was staring at Amy, brimming with sadness and helplessness. “I'm not sure.”

  “Stop staring at me like that,” Amy said. “You're pathetic.”

  “We can't sit here forever,” Asher said.

  Cole found a morsel of resolve. “Go back to my aunt's house.”

  “You're the man,” Asher said. He put the car into drive.

  Before it had moved a foot, Amy flung her door open, ready to bolt, but before she even had both legs out the door, she stopped with a yelp of pain.

  “I really hate doing that,” Asher said. “Please just cooperate so I don't have to.”

  Grumbling, Amy shifted back into her seat and shut the door.

  “Thank you,” Asher said and drove away.

  For the entire drive back to Beth's house, Cole could not tear his eyes off of Amy. His Amy, his first love, the one he cared about more than anything. Now, here she was, a monster. He knew, from personal experience, that in all likelihood she was not conscious of anything that was going on. When he had let the voices temporarily take control of his own body, he had been unaware of current events, and had difficulty remembering them later as if he had been sleepwalking. To make Amy normal again, all he had to do was bring her back. But he had no idea how.

  Asher parked in front of Beth's house. “Are we bringing her inside?” Cole nodded and Asher got out and opened Amy's door with a bow. “My lady. Please follow me.”

  “You're an asshole,” she mumbled, exiting the car and leading Asher and Cole to the house. They were halfway there when, without warning, Amy began to shout. “Help! Help me! Somebody please help!”

  Asher lunged after her, grabbing her arm and covering her mouth his hand, and then proceeded to drag her the rest of the way to the front door. Cole whipped his head back and forth as they neared the house, checking to see if anyone had heard. He opened the door and the three of them fell inside, Cole slamming the door behind them.

  “Did anyone hear?” Asher said with wide eyes.

  “I don't think so,” Cole said, breathless.

  “Not cool, Amy,” Asher said. “We're not getting off on the right foot.”

  “Get off of me,” she said, yanking herself out of his grasp and regaining her footing.

  “What is going on in here?” Beth said, entering from the other room. “Amy?”

  Asher looked to Cole. “Care to explain?”

  Cole glanced at Amy and back at Beth. “This is going to be kind of difficult to explain and even harder to believe. The voices that were in my head invaded Amy and have taken control of her consciousness. We need to keep her away from other people until we figure out how to get the voices out of her so that they don't invade other people.”

  Beth backed away, reaching behind her for a seat, and sat down heavily. “How is that possible? Is this true, Amy?”

  Amy did not even bother trying to deny it. As an answer, she glared back.

  “Oh, my,” Beth said faintly, and then to Cole, “Does your mother know what to do?”

  Cole shook his head. “But between all of us, I'm sure we can figure it out.”

  “It's not going to happen,” Amy spat.

  “This sounds a lot like kidnapping,” Beth said. “You can't keep her here indefinitely. What about her parents?”

  “I'll call and ask them to let her stay,” Cole said. “Hopefully it won't take too long.”

  “You're putting a lot of faith in that 'hopefully' considering you have no ideas,” Beth said. “We could get in a lot of trouble with the law for this.”

  “There's no other way,” Cole pleaded.

  “These voices are the devil,” Beth said, rubbing her face. “I'm going to start researching possession. Maybe I can find something to help.”

  “Thank you,” Cole said. He turned to Asher. “Let's take her into the library.”

  “The library?” Asher said, confused.

  “Follow me,” Amy said with mock enthusiasm, and led the way into the library. “You see? He calls it the library because it has books. Isn’t he just the cleverest?”

  Cole fought back a wave of sorrow. “We're going to have to keep watch so she doesn't escape.”

  “Can I just say that the irony is not lost on me?” Asher said. “Only last night we risk our lives to free kids from a kidnapper and now we're kidnapping someone ourselves?”

  “We'll let her go as soon as she's fixed,” Cole said.

  “I'm not broken,” Amy said.

  Asher looked around the room at the large windows along one wall. “Don't you have a better room that's harder to escape from?”

  “Not really. Let's get started. See if you can find a way into her head and then try to figure out a way to pull them out of her. You can put them back in me if you need to. I can handle it.”

  Amy gave Asher a smirk. “Yeah, head on in there. See what you find.” She sat down in a chair, crossed her legs, and faced him. “What's the matter? Am I making you uncomfortable?”

  “She really is,” Asher whispered.

  “That's not her,” Cole said. “Don't let those things faze you.”

  “All right.” Asher renewed his concentration and stared at Amy. After only half a minute, he turned back to Cole. “I'm sorry, but there is no way that I'm getting in there far enough to get at the voices. It would be like extracting them from you or me.”

  Cole sighed. He suggested they try at the same time, but that too proved futile. “They were able to leave me so it has to be possible. We have to figure out a way to get rid of that stupid mental block.”

  Amy yawned, leaned back, and closed her eyes. “Have fun. Wake me when you give up.”

  Cole clenched his fists. “I’m going to get the phone. Keep an eye on her.” He left the room and, apprehensive about letting Amy out of his sight, hurried to retrieve the phone from the kitchen. Neither of them had moved when he returned. “I’m calling her parents,” he said as he dialed. Mr. Williams answered the phone. “Sam!” Cole said, feigning enthusiasm. “Hi, how are you? It’s Cole.”

  “I’m doing well, Cole. Amy is with you?”

  “Yes, I’m sorry we disappeared earlier. I was really excited to show her something and in that excitement we forgot to tell you we were leaving. She’s at my house right now and was wondering if she could stay the night.”

  “Glad to see you two hanging out again. Sure thing. Let me know if she needs to get picked up.”

  “Will do. Bye.” Cole hung up, surprised and confused that Mr. Williams hadn’t been more concerned about their disappearance, but he had no time to worry about that as more pressing matters were quite literally staring him in the face.

  “Let's brainstorm,” he said, sitting down on the floor, and motioning Asher to sit opposite him. Together they talked and talked, working through everything that they knew about the voices, and their abilities. Struggling to keep his emotions out of the discussion, Cole answered some of Asher's questions about his
history with Amy, and about the specific details of the last time the voices had invaded her. No matter how many times he repeated the occurrence in his head, he found no new pieces of information that would help him now.

  At one point, Beth came in to bring them all lunch. Amy, who had never actually taken a nap but had sat there bored the whole time, eyed the sandwiches hungrily. Beth handed one of them to her apprehensively and then hurried out of the room, muttering to herself.

  The afternoon wore on, and Asher and Cole began to run out of things to talk about. After several hours, they had no new ideas. “This is going nowhere,” Asher said, frustrated. “Unless we find a miraculous new clue, I don't think we can save her.”

  “Don't give up hope,” Cole said desperately. “We'll find a way. We have to.”

  “I know you have feelings for her, but a loss is a loss.”

  “This isn't just about my feelings. Let me put it another way. If we don't stop them, they will continue to spread to others, and I don't know how, or if, that will end. Soon there could be dozens or more people controlled by them. And who knows how far they can spread? They might be able to take over the whole town.”

  “A town of evil mind-controlled people,” Asher said thoughtfully. “Sounds like something out of an eighties sci-fi movie. I doubt it would get that bad.”

  “And how do you know? Have you ever experienced something like this before?”

  “No, nothing like this.”

  “Good, so let's solve it and not worry about hypotheticals.”

  “Whatever you say, Boss,” Asher said. “But hope isn't the issue here. I have no leads to go off of.”

  “Oh my God, listening to you two is so painful,” Amy interrupted, jumping to her feet. “Can you both shut up? I'll tell you what, if you let me go free, I promise to give Amy back her consciousness and I won't spread to any others. We’ll live a quiet, peaceful life in the background.”

  “Sounds like a good deal to me,” Asher said.

  “No! She's – they're – lying. I know as a fact that you can't trust anything they say.”

  “Don't listen to him, Asher,” Amy said seductively, inching closer.

  “Look, I have to take a piss,” Asher said. “And clearly if I leave you alone you’ll kill Cole and run off, so you're going to come in there with me and wait behind the shower curtain or something.”

  Amy scowled, but obediently followed him into the bathroom and waited in the shower. When Asher returned, they regrouped in the library.

  “Asher, can you wait outside the door for a few minutes?” Cole said. “I want to have a few words with her alone. But if you hear me yell, do not hesitate to run back in.”

  “Okay, I'll be right outside.” He stepped out and shut the door behind him.

  Cole took a deep breath, sat down, and faced Amy. “I know you're in there. Somewhere.”

  “Oh, please,” Amy said. “This is sad.”

  “No, really. When I let the voices take control of me, I needed Travis to bring me back to reality. That's all you need. Some little voice to wake you up. Let me be that voice. Come back to me, Amy. Listen to the sound of my voice and come back to the surface. I know you can do it.” He moved closer to her, looking deep into her eyes. “Can you hear me, Amy? I miss you and I need you. I need your help. I can't do it alone.” He hesitated, gathering the courage to say the words to this mocking image of Amy. “I love you.”

  Amy rolled her eyes. “Are you done yet? Props for trying but that was a long shot.”

  Cole gritted his teeth, and through them shouted, “Asher!”

  Asher burst in. “Everything all right?”

  “Just dandy,” Cole said, still gritting his teeth.

  “Oh,” Asher said, glancing at Amy, but asking no more.

  They lapsed into tense silence that lasted for the next two hours. Cole stared at the floor in frustration, wishing some new idea would come to him. Asher opened his mouth a number of times to speak, but changed his mind each time. Amy took a book out of the bookshelf and curled up on the armchair to read. Eventually, Cole stood and paced while Asher lay down on the floor and closed his eyes. Amy glanced over as Asher began to snore, but returned to her book without a word. In a momentary fit of rage, Cole punched the floor, disturbing Asher’s nap and drawing a look from Amy. The silence pressed on.

  Beth returned, opening the door and poking her head through. “Any progress?”

  “No,” Cole said.

  “I haven’t had much luck either,” Beth said. “How about we all get refreshed and rejuvenated over dinner? I have enough for everyone.”

  Amy placed the book on the floor and stood. “Great, I'm hungry.”

  Cole exchanged a look with Asher that said, This is going to be awkward. “Sure. I guess I'm hungry too.”

  They all made their way to the kitchen where a huge pot was steaming on the stove and four places were laid out on the table.

  “Smells good,” Amy said. “What is it?”

  “Thank you. It's beef stew.” Beth smiled.

  “Aunt Beth,” Cole said reproachfully.

  “There's nothing wrong with accepting a compliment.” She took a seat and the rest followed suit.

  Dinner proved as awkward as Cole predicted. Amy ignored the rest of them, contenting herself with shoveling in the entire bowl and then asking for seconds, while Cole could not tear his eyes away from her and hardly ate. The only conversation that did occur was between Beth and Asher, who exchanged a few sentences about the weather. At one point, Beth asked Asher more about the college he would be attending.

  “Oh, yeah,” Asher said. “I've been accepted to Ohio State. I've been thinking more about it and I think I might major in physics.”

  “Really? I didn't expect that,” Beth said.

  “Why not?”

  “No reason. What are you going to be using it for?”

  “Not sure yet, but it seems really interesting. I'll get a degree and figure out the job thing later.”

  “It is a good idea to start thinking about that before you graduate,” Beth said.

  “Yeah, I know. That's what my parents keep saying. I'll be fine.”

  When they had all finished their meals, Asher leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach. “That was delicious. Thanks for the stew.”

  “Yes, thank you,” Amy said.

  “You are very welcome. Glad you enjoyed it.” Beth stood and began collecting their bowls. “So you think you'll all be staying here for the night?” she added, failing at nonchalance.

  Amy glared at Asher. “Sure seems like it.”

  “Let's get researching some more,” Beth said. “What's your game plan?”

  Cole shifted in his chair. “I don't know.”

  “I did find reference to something that may be relevant. An old tale about possession. We'd have to look up the whole story to see if it's helpful.”

  Asher suddenly sat up straight. “I'm so stupid. How have we not tried using the internet? Everything is on there. Who knows, we might get lucky. Maybe there's some superstitious story that has a grain of truth.”

  “You're welcome to use my computer,” Beth said. “I've been using it to supplement my research in my books.”

  Thus, they all gathered around Asher as he sat at the computer in Beth's room, searching for anything related to their current situation. “Come on, you're so slow,” Asher would often grumble under his breath after typing in a search and waiting for the page to load.

  “Sorry, it's not the newest machine,” Beth said. “It's so hard to keep up with technology these days.”

  “Oh, no it's fine,” Asher said, and didn't complain again.

  They focused their efforts on any pages related to possession that did not have to do with ghosts or demons. Unfortunately, that left very little. The closest thing they found was references to multiple personality disorder and the old tale that Beth had mentioned. The tale told of a plague of possessions that only ended when the original pers
on who became possessed was killed.

  “That's not even funny,” Amy said when she read the latter.

  Asher glanced over at her. “What's the matter? Don't like that solution?”

  “For once I agree with her,” Cole said, feeling a wave of panic. “Don't even joke. Get off this page and find something else.”

  But they found very little else. As the night wore on, they began to yawn and fade until Asher noticed Cole drifting off. Asher stood and stretched his stiff limbs. “I think we're going to have to figure out plans for tonight,” he said. “We can search more in the morning but we should get some sleep.”

  “You're prob'ly right. What do you think is the best way to do that?” Cole said.

  “We'll take shifts. I'll take the first one since you look like you're already falling asleep.”

  “I'm okay with that,” Cole said, yawning.

  “I can take a shift too,” Beth said. “Just wake me up whenever.”

  “Thanks,” Cole said. After he brushed his teeth, Asher asked him to fetch his belongings out of his trunk, where they had been stored all day, since he did not want to take Amy back outside. Cole, cringing at the memory, retrieved the bag, and when they were ready for bed, they settled back into the library.

  “Wait, I have an idea,” Cole said. “Be right back.”

  He found Beth in her bedroom about to get into bed. “Do you have some kind of rope or string or something?”

  Beth stopped halfway into her bed and faced Cole with an expression of amused confusion. “Why? What are you going to tie her up?”

  “Just her ankle. I want some kind of extra security to prevent her from slipping out if either of us drifts off in the middle of the night.”

  “I'll see what I have.” She opened her desk drawer and began rummaging through it, then shifted her attention to her closet. After searching for a minute, she pulled out a white cloth bathrobe belt. “Think this will do?”