“Beth, wait. I have something to tell you.”
She paused and turned around expectantly.
Cole spoke rapidly to get it out as fast as possible. “When Asher and I were out the other night looking for those missing children, Michelle came with us, and we found them. I wanted to call the police but Asher rushed in and without thinking we rushed in after him. The man attacked us, and there was an accident and... the man was killed.”
Beth's eyes shot open in horror. “You what?!” she gasped. “I always knew that Asher was trouble. Didn't I say that? Oh, God. I can't believe this. I assume he did it? Did you not tell the police yet? You have to tell them immediately.”
“That's what I wanted to tell you. Michelle and I are going to the police to turn in Asher.”
“Good.” She sat down heavily. “This is terrible. This is so terrible. You broke into someone's house and the man gets killed. I hate to say it but you're probably screwed even if you didn't lay a hand on him.” She softened at the expression on Cole's face. “I'm sorry, that's not true. We'll get a good lawyer to prove you did nothing wrong. How are you? That must have been traumatizing.”
“I'm getting along all right. It's just a lot to deal with between this and Amy.”
“It sure is. I'm glad you decided to come forward. Well, I guess that's the last we'll be seeing of that guy. Do you remember his last name?”
Cole screwed up his eyes. “Yeah, Gaines.”
“If that's true. Either way, they should be able to find him based on a description and where he lives. You'll be fine.”
Cole sat down across from Beth and the two of them stared off into space. At last, Beth said, “When are you going?”
“Michelle is telling her parents what happened right now and she's going to call when she's ready to go.” He looked at the clock. “Which I hope is soon.”
“Yeah,” Beth sighed. “You let me know when you're ready to go.” She rose from the couch, and walked away, but stopped at the corner and looked back. “Oh, and let me know if you want to talk about anything.”
“Thanks.”
Beth left and Cole sat there tapping his foot, willing the telephone to ring. “Come on, come on, I hope it went all right.” A couple of times he almost called Michelle to see what was going on, but he thought it best to leave it alone. She would call in due time.
Minute after agonizing minute passed, until, like a blessing from above, the telephone blared to life. “I got it!” he called, excitedly, and ran into the kitchen, ripping the phone out of its cradle. “Hello?”
“Hi, Cole.”
A lump rose in Cole's throat, and he suddenly found it difficult to breathe. The voice on the other end was not Michelle. It was Amy.
“I got your message,” Amy continued, “and I'm willing to talk.”
Cole found himself at a loss for words. “Oh? About what?” he said stupidly.
“I think we can come to some kind of an agreement.”
Cole snapped back to conscious thought, remembering who it was that was talking using Amy's voice. “There can never be any kind of an agreement between us, unless it's that you go back inside of me and leave Amy forever.”
“Precisely. I thought you might like that idea.”
“I don't believe you,” Cole said, forcing an angry tone but unable to prevent a glimmer of hope from penetrating his voice. “Why would you do that?”
“We're done with Amy. We tried it out, but it wasn't working and we're ready to come home.”
“And how, exactly, are you going to do that?”
“Come into the basement and find out,” Amy said, sweetly. “I'll be waiting for you.”
The line went dead. A cold sweat broke out over Cole's body as his heart skipped a beat. His throat was parched and he felt a heavy weight on his chest. It's gotta be a trick, right Mom?
Yes, be careful. You don't know what she might be planning. Maybe you should call the police.
I don't want her arrested. I'll be okay. She still thinks I'm helpless to defend against her, which gives me the upper hand. And that's if she's even down there. It might all be a cruel trick. But I will tell Beth just in case.
Good idea.
Cole found Beth back at her computer, book on her lap, as usual. She turned as Cole entered. “That was Michelle? Ready to...” she trailed off when she saw the look on Cole's face. “What's wrong?”
“That wasn't Michelle. That was Amy. She said she's in the basement.”
“In this basement? She's in the house?” she said in a mix of anger, fear, and astonishment. “She broke in?”
“If she's telling the truth.”
“And you're going to go down there? Why would she tell you to come down unless she was going to attack you?”
“You're probably right,” Cole said. “But Asher taught me how to defend myself. I'll be all right. I don't want you coming down there. You can't defend yourself and I don't want you in unnecessary danger. But I wanted to let you know as a safety measure. If you hear something or if I don't come up in five minutes, I want you to come down, preferably with a weapon.”
“I don't like this,” Beth said.
“It's okay. I have a plan. I'm getting my Amy back.” Without waiting for a reply, Cole left Beth behind and headed straight to the basement door. He took a deep breath, grabbed hold of the knob, and pulled it open.
20
A long staircase ending in darkness greeted him. He flicked on the light switch, illuminating the floor below. The portion of the basement he could see was vacant, but on either side and behind the staircase was out of view. He placed one foot on the first step, paused, heard nothing, and proceeded to the second step, leaving the door open behind him so Beth could... So Beth can hear me scream, he thought morbidly.
He ducked low as he stepped down the stairs, craning his head, trying to maximize his view in all directions, and pausing every other step to listen. So far, there was no sign of life. As he reached the second half of the staircase, the rest of the basement came into view. He saw no one. He sped up his pace and reached the landing on the bottom where he faced the empty basement.
She was screwing with me. But why? Is she hiding?
There were boxes and other miscellaneous items scattered around the basement, behind which a person could easily fit. Keeping to the widest areas, he began to creep through the basement, peering behind various boxes, his adrenaline pumping, alert and ready for action. He continued to edge across the basement floor, each step clicking loudly in the silence, when there was a movement out of the corner of his eye.
“Hey, Cole.”
Cole whipped around to face the source of the voice. “Asher?! What... What are you doing here?”
Asher took a step toward Cole, sighing deeply. “I'm really sorry.”
The sight of Asher was not registering in his brain. “But you went home yesterday. Why did you come back?” Cole noticed a strange expression on Asher's face, one of sorrow and regret.
“I never left. I... No, what am I doing? Come on, Asher. Just get it over with,” he said, no longer talking to Cole. He took another deep breath, and stared directly at Cole.
A chill traveled through Cole's spine. There was something malicious in that stare. “Do you know where Amy is?”
Asher did not respond. Instead, his face began to change from sorrow to determination and disgust. Cole was unsure what Asher's intentions were, but it was clear they were not friendly.
“Whatever you're doing, for whatever reason, you don't have to,” Cole said. “There's another way. I know you and you do not want to hurt anyone.”
To his surprise, Asher grinned. “You know me, huh? You know nothing about me except what I told you. And very little of that was truth.” He gave an exasperated laugh. “God, you're so pathetic. You know you never even killed that ant? I did it for you. You couldn't do anything. And what little use you did have is over now.” He narrowed his eyes.
“Asher, listen to me. If you
explain exactly -”
Cole never had a chance to finish. That familiar searing pain ripped through his head. Cole had been prepared for it, however, and he latched onto Asher's attack to rip it out of his mind. It didn't work. The pain intensified, worse than anything he had ever imagined. He opened his mouth to scream in pain, but Asher lunged forward and stuffed a rag in his mouth, holding it in place. The muffled scream that came out was nearly inaudible. He flailed uselessly at Asher's arms as he panicked and the pain intensified more.
“I am truly sorry for this,” Asher whispered. “But you are just a sad little weakling, and this is a fair trade not to have to personally harm that beautiful girl.”
Through Cole's agony, a new terror was born.
* * *
Earlier that day, Michelle had ridden back from school in an awkwardly silent car ride. Her mother had asked what was wrong, but she mumbled a non-answer, wishing to have this conversation only once in front of both of her parents.
During the ride, Michelle's phone began to ring. She checked the number. It was the same one from which Cole had called her the day before, and she realized she had no idea what phone he had used. “Cole?” she answered tentatively.
“No, not Cole. He used my phone to give you a call yesterday.”
Michelle nearly blurted out “Asher!” but she glanced at her mother and kept it in. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, we got off on the wrong foot and I just wanted to make sure we were cool.”
He's calling to make sure I don't turn him in, she thought angrily. Well, he does have good reason to be concerned. “Oh, yeah, uh huh, we're cool. I don't even know what you're talking about.” She had wanted to outright lie and assure him that he had nothing to worry about. But whether it was that he would find out soon that she had ratted him out, or that she rarely lied and was therefore a terrible liar, her answer sounded less than convincing to her own ears, perhaps even tinged with sarcasm.
To her surprise, though, Asher retained his composure. “That's what I thought. Glad to hear it. Enjoy the rest of your day.” He hung up.
Michelle put her phone away, confused and a little shaken. Did he actually believe me? Whatever, either way, it will be out in the open soon enough.
“Who was that?” her mother said.
“No one,” Michelle answered, staring out the window to calm her nerves.
They arrived home, and when her brother wasn't around she told her mother and father that there was something she had to tell them. Puzzled and worried, they had followed her into their bedroom where she closed the door and began to explain, slowly, deliberately, and with great effort, the events of Friday night. She omitted the parts about telepathic abilities and how they had come to find the kidnapper, leaving most of it ambiguous. As she had hoped, they were so mortified and dumbstruck that they did not question the holes in her story.
When they said nothing except senseless exclamations, she proceeded to tell them that she wanted to go to the police to clear her name and turn in the one who had committed the crime. Then she sat with them, calming them down, insisting that she was all right. She felt oddly detached the whole time as if someone else was doing the talking and she was watching from a safe distance. Her main thought was about how long this was taking and how much she wanted to get this all over with.
It was late in the afternoon by the time they had recovered enough to agree to go to the police, and Michelle was about to call Cole when her mother stood up, wiped her eyes, and said firmly, “Let's leave immediately.”
Her father glanced at his watch. “Damn, I'll have to meet you there. I need to drop off Mark.”
“I need to call my friend and tell him to meet us,” Michelle said.
“Okay.” Michelle's mother nodded.
Michelle dialed Cole's house. It rang and rang until Beth's voice came through the line. Michelle had a glimmer of excitement before realizing it was the answering machine. “Hello, it's Michelle. We're leaving to go to the police. Please call me back immediately.”
She hung up, feeling frightened and lost. Has he changed his mind? Will I have to go alone? She had hoped he would be there by her side, backing her up, and helping to clear both of their names. She had also high hopes that Cole would do the right thing and confess. She had thought better of him. Maybe they had to step out for a minute or just missed the phone. I'll call again from the road.
She told her parents she was ready to leave. Her father said he would rush Mark out of the house and be only a few minutes behind them. Michelle and her mother climbed into the car, the tension between them thick enough to cut with a knife. As her car pulled away, Michelle took out her cellphone to call Cole again, praying that he would answer this time.
Before she dialed, something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She looked up to see a person, standing on the sidewalk, staring at them. More specifically, staring at her.
Amy?
As the car drew closer to the figure, Michelle became certain it was Amy, but she had hardly time to wonder about the mysteriousness of Amy's appearance on her street when her mother cried out in pain, clutching her head. Michelle whipped her head toward her mother in alarm as the car veered past Amy, out of control, jumping over the curb onto the sidewalk.
Her mother was screaming now, unable to get the car under control, her foot unconsciously pressing down ever harder on the gas pedal. Michelle, desperate, panicking, grabbed for the steering wheel.
It was too late. The car slammed into a telephone pole, ending in a jarring, metal-crunching, stop. The airbags deployed, crushing Michelle against her seat. Beside her, her mother groaned.
“Mom?! Mom?! Are you hurt?” she cried, fear making her voice unrecognizable.
Her mother groaned again. Michelle was dazed, but even so, the sight of Amy's glare just before her mother started screaming was etched clearly into her mind. All at once, she knew what had happened.
She did not have time to piece together how Amy possessed this power. What she did know, from the look that Amy had given her before they crashed, was that it was not her mother who was in further danger.
Her first thought was to call nine-one-one, but the crash had sent her phone flying and she had no idea where it had landed. She also knew that the police would not arrive in time to help her. There was nothing anyone could do to protect her from a mental attack. Her only option was to flee. With nothing she could do to help her mother, she shoved open her passenger side door and fell out onto the hard pavement. She struggled to her feet and looked around in time to see Amy, her face an unreadable stone wall, standing a short distance away.
Michelle's eyes shot open in panic and she turned to run, but pain tore through her head and she collapsed to her knees. She struggled to open her eyes, but her vision was blurry and dark. The only image of Amy she could see was a vague shadow.
She fell forward onto her hands, refusing to give in to the searing pain. It was a losing battle, though, as it gradually enveloped her remaining consciousness. She opened her mouth to scream for help but there was no air in her constricted lungs. The shadow of Amy was fading into nothingness. In desperation, she groped around on the ground. Her hand closed on a hard object. With her last ounce of strength, she hurled the object at the vague outline of her attacker.
There was a cry of pain, and the attack subsided. Michelle's eyes refocused, finding Amy down on one knee, a hand to her forehead, a trickle of blood trailing down her nose. Taking this slight reprieve, Michelle sprinted in the opposite direction, trying to put as much distance between her and Amy as possible before Amy recovered.
Her only chance was to lose Amy. She glanced left and right for an escape route, one that would be difficult to follow, but nothing presented itself. She chanced a look back. Amy was getting to her feet, still holding her forehead. Michelle veered left, running down a random driveway, hoping to be able to jump across from their backyard into the opposite yard.
She ran full
throttle into the backyard – and stopped short. The fence around the yard was solid wooden planks, reaching far above her head. There were no handholds. There was no way to climb it. She was trapped.
21
Cole's consciousness was fading fast. His last remaining thoughts revolved around how badly he had let Michelle and Amy down. Whatever happened to them was his fault and he would never be able to make it right. He collapsed to the floor, the pain making him convulse. All he saw was black.
There came a thud and something heavy dropped to the floor next to him. At the same time, he could see again. The pain subsided, but his body was not yet functioning. From the floor, he craned his neck around to see what had happened.
His vision cleared and he saw Asher lying in a crumpled heap next to him, moaning. Above him stood Beth, holding a wooden bat. “I never thought I'd use this old thing again,” she said. “Cole, are you all right? Can you get up?”
With slow, clumsy movements, Cole pushed himself into a sitting position. “I think I'll be all right. Thank you for helping me, but what are you doing down here?”
“You think I would let you go down into a trap by yourself while I sit around upstairs twiddling my thumbs? Fat chance.”
“I should have known better.” Cole grinned weakly, then indicated Asher. “We need to do something about him. How do we stop him from attacking again?”
“I thought you said you could defend yourself against it. What happened to that?”
“I think he lied. I don't think he taught me anything about defending myself.” He paused. “I think he lied about a lot of things.”
“I'll say I told you so later. For now, we need a plan before he recovers.”
“We have to tie him up and go over to Michelle's immediately. I think she's in danger. And I think Amy is the reason.”
Beth handed the bat to Cole. “Hold onto this while I get some rope and if his eyes start to come into focus, hit him again. Not too hard. We don't want another murder case on our hands. We'll tie him up and leave him here 'til we get back.”
Voices in the Night (The Dark Mind Trilogy Book 3) Page 20