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

by Matthew Goldstein

  “That was the best answer you could come up with?” Amy sneered. “Not very original final words.”

  “Do it,” Cole urged Asher. “Stick to the plan.”

  But Asher did not hear him. A wave of anger transformed his face and Amy emitted a shriek of pain. As if on cue, Mr. Williams stepped forward and landed a hard boot in Asher's gut. Immediately, his attack on Amy ceased and Asher wheezed as he tried to catch his breath.

  “God, that hurts,” Amy shouted, angry now. “You really want me to kill you, don't you?”

  “No, I'm sorry about that,” Asher said feebly. “I'm sure we can figure out an agreement between us. I can teach you things. I can make you even more powerful than you are now.”

  “Sure, you say that now,” Amy said. “What's the matter? You suddenly realize you’re outnumbered so you wanna make a deal instead? You're an idiot and I am too for ever agreeing to help you.”

  “I was the one who helped you,” Asher said. “I freed you from Cole's house.”

  “Yeah, because I was in so much danger. Oh, thank you.” Amy's voice dripped with sarcasm.

  Cole, who had been standing there stunned, recovered his senses and began to back slowly away. Beth, seeing the movement, followed suit, but they had not gone more than a step when Amy whipped toward them. “Stay right there,” she said. “We have a different matter to settle.”

  Cole and Beth stopped in their tracks. Amy returned her attention to Asher while Martin kept watch on them.

  “I hate to inform you,” Amy said to Asher, “but you can't defend yourself when you can't concentrate.” She nodded to Mr. Williams who stepped forward with another kick. As soon as Asher began coughing, he yelled out in pain and squeezed his eyes shut. Amy's face was a mask of intense concentration and Cole knew that she was killing him from the inside. Judging by the kidnapper's death, Asher had less than a minute to live. And Asher was his only chance at stopping the voices.

  “No!” he shouted, lunging forward. Beth leaped forward too, bat at the ready. Martin stepped in front of Cole, blocking him, while Mrs. Williams grabbed the bat and tried to wrestle it out of Beth's grasp. Cole had to get to Amy to distract her long enough to break off her attack. He struggled to get past Martin, but Martin was bigger and stronger than Cole who was only losing ground. Cole shouted at Amy, begged her to hear him out before killing Asher, but it had no effect. She never acknowledged that she even heard him. Cole glanced sideways at Beth, and saw that she was having little more luck than he. Mrs. Williams was apparently stronger than she looked, and it was all Beth could do not to lose her grip on the bat. Asher's screams became shriller as his body racked with pain.

  Get Martin from the inside, Meredith thought-said desperately.

  I can't! If I concentrate on going inside, he'll hit me before I can extract the voices. It's all I can do to hold on as it is.

  You're right. I'm going in.

  Be careful! Cole backed up against a box and stumbled. Martin freed his arm and pulled back a fist, ready to pummel Cole's face. Cole struggled to get out of the way, but he was trapped. As Martin was about to swing, he hesitated as a ripple of confusion flitted across his face. Thanks Mom! In a split-second, Cole could see Martin already succumbing to the voices again. Before Martin was able to fully recover, Cole shoved him back with all of his might.

  Martin, off-balance, stumbled backward, tripped and sprawled into Amy, falling on top of her and pinning her to the ground. Immediately, Asher's screams ceased. Mr. Williams turned, distracted by the commotion, and Cole, taking advantage, dove and tackled him to the ground. Mr. Williams’ head hit the concrete floor hard and he did not move to get up.

  “Beth, hold her back!” Cole shouted, temporarily pushing aside his worry for Mr. Williams.

  The tide reversed and now it was Beth restraining Mrs. Williams from getting involved. Asher's eyes opened, slightly dazed, his head lolling.

  “Now! You need to attack now!” Cole yelled at him. Martin was already starting to disentangle himself from Amy.

  Cole was unsure that Asher heard him, but at that moment, Amy began to yell in pain. Without a second's hesitation, not knowing how long they had, Cole dove into Amy's mind.

  Once inside, away from the commotion happening outside, it was as if time came to a stop. It was calmer in here, and Cole had to remind himself of the urgency of the situation. As he dove deeper, he sensed the underlying agony that was ripping through Amy's mind. The voices were in chaos as all the parts of her mind were shutting down.

  He sensed his mother beside him. The other voices are practiced and ready, she said. Let's take these ones home.

  The two of them shot forward, encircling the terrified voices, ensnaring them, and dragging them back toward Cole's mind. With Amy's mind in danger, the voices were afraid for their own safety and put up little resistance to Cole's and his mother's pulling. In fact, without knowing the truth of what awaited them inside Cole, they seemed almost eager to return to him lest they get stuck inside this new dying brain.

  If they had known what was coming, they would have put up more of a fight. Each of the rebel voices latched onto one another, herding the fleeing masses, and in a coordinated effort without their awareness, encircled them. As the terrified voices began to calm down and get their bearings, they ran into a wall. Confused, they turned in different directions, but the spherical barrier had no exit points.

  All at once it began to dawn on them what was happening. Let us out! one voice shouted. We had enough of your little game.

  None of the voices within the barrier responded. With their final task complete, they were shutting down to await eternity. When the day came that Cole passed away, they would all vanish with him.

  We will kill every last one of you, another shouted, angrily smashing the barrier.

  The voices all began to bash against the barrier, looking for weak points. It was useless. The barrier had been well thought out and strongly reinforced. The voices were trapped.

  Exhilaration flooded through Cole as the last of the voices was ensnared. He never thought it would be possible but they had done it. The nightmare was over.

  That's it, it worked! Meredith nearly thought-shouted to him. In a few minutes we'll have the voices on lockdown and your abilities will likely fade quickly. We've got it from here. Return to yourself and take care of things there.

  Yes, thank you! I can't believe it! Cole returned to his consciousness, wishing nothing more than to celebrate his victory, but reality had other plans. Amy was still screaming in agony and Asher's face was filled with malice.

  “Asher, stop! It's over. I got the voices out.”

  Asher made no indication that he heard Cole who was still on the floor on top of Mr. Williams. Beth, freed from her scuffle with Mrs. Williams, saw what was happening, took hold of the bat and moved to charge at Asher. Everyone else was in a stunned silence, unable to make sense out of what was happening.

  Cole’s eyes were transfixed on Amy, his first true friend, the one who had endured so much over the years, who had made him feel alive for the first time, who had risked her life for him, and who was now herself again and suffering. In his mind he saw her smile at him, happy just to be near him. In the blink of an eye, much like the time he had savagely beaten Travis for thinking he had burned down his house, a deep animalistic rage swelled up inside of him, blocking out all rational thought, and centering an uncontrollable hatred on the cause of Amy’s suffering. Before he attacked, he knew that Asher may have been lying about Cole killing the ant, but he had not been lying about the technique.

  With Asher distracted, he had no defense and never saw it coming. Before his abilities vanished, in an explosion of mental energy, Cole plunged into Asher's mind, latched on and squeezed. He felt the life force of Asher constrict and devolve into instant panic as he created a soul-crushing agony such as Asher had never imagined. Asher strained at his bonds, his muscles contorting in pain.

  It had all happened so fast that Bet
h had only managed to take one step toward them. She froze and stared at Asher, then Cole, unsure what to do. “Cole, you're going to kill him. Stop.”

  The words never registered in Cole's brain. He despised this manipulative scum and he was going to kill him. He crushed harder and harder, seeing nothing but red.

  The image of Travis resurfaced. It had been Travis who had seen the darker side of Cole, and who had forgiven him despite the atrocities he had committed. To the very end, Travis had tried to help him. Travis faded away and was replaced by the image of Dr. Stern, the psychologist who had wanted nothing more than to help Cole and had paid dearly at his own hands. He saw her terrified face that night as she realized what was happening, and the cold, dead body with unseeing eyes once it was over.

  The attack ceased. Asher collapsed, his breathing ragged. Cole's head and shoulders drooped. All was silent.

  “I'm not a murderer,” Cole said, his eyes closed. “I don't want to hurt anyone anymore.”

  23

  A long silence followed, punctuated by Asher's deep breaths. Martin was the first to move as, with wide eyes, he bolted up the stairs and out of sight.

  Beth bent over Cole. “I'm proud of you. Is it over?”

  Cole nodded, peering up at Beth.

  “I'll go check on him,” Beth said, indicating the top of the stairs. “Think you'll be all right down here?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay.” She leaned closer and whispered in his ear, “Untie him in a few minutes but keep him talking.”

  Cole nodded again, acknowledging that he comprehended her meaning. Beth followed Martin up the stairs while Amy climbed to her feet, her gaze on the floor. “Are they gone for good this time?” she said quietly.

  “Yes, they won't ever harm someone again. I promise.” Cole glanced up at Amy and then away, too ashamed to look at her. “I don't think words can express how sorry I am for what they put you through.”

  Amy could not reply as tears began to stream down her face. She sat back down on the floor, covering her face with her hands and sobbing.

  Mr. Williams was the next to recover from the shock and regain his footing. “Someone is going to have to explain what has been happening.”

  Wearily, Cole looked up at him. “I'll try but I doubt you're going to believe me. But first, I need to deal with him,” he added, gesturing toward Asher.

  By now, Asher had recuperated and was staring at the floor sullenly. “Can you please untie me? My arms are completely numb and the ropes are cutting into my skin.”

  “We're going to have to get something straight first,” Cole said. “How can I trust that I am never going to hear from you ever again?”

  Before Asher had a chance to respond, Beth returned from upstairs carrying her phone. “Michelle is on the line. Do you want to call her back?”

  “No, no, I'll take it now.” Cole snatched up the phone. “Michelle? How are you? Is your mother okay?”

  “Yes, she's going to be okay. She has a few bruised ribs and a concussion but nothing that won't heal, thank God. I also talked to a police officer about... the other night. Turns out they found his prints at the site and were going to take him in for questioning anyway. Guess he had it coming, huh? I wish I could blame him for tonight too but I have no evidence. Do you? Whatever happened with him?”

  “I'm working on it. But I won't let him try to hurt you again. It's all over. I'll explain at a better time. I'm glad to hear your mom is okay. I'll call you later?”

  “Sounds good. Bye, Cole. Thanks again.”

  Cole hung up and faced Asher. “They found your prints at the scene. You're going to have some explaining to do. So, you were about to say something?”

  Asher's head hung low over his chest. “I'm sorry about your friend. I went too far and, honestly, I'm glad she's okay. If you let me go, I'll hold no grudge against any of you. The last thing I need is a longer sentence anyway, right?”

  Cole folded his arms and shook his head.

  “I'm serious,” Asher said. “I know I was an asshole, but I'm just going to have to accept what I did and move on.”

  “I'm not sure I believe you but I suppose I can't keep you tied up forever. Before I untie you, though, I want you to tell me some things.”

  “I promise to tell you whatever you want, but please take these ropes off of me,” Asher said, fighting to keep his frustration under control. “You cannot imagine how painful they are.”

  “Okay, but if you don't cooperate I will hurt you. And know that if you ever try to hurt me or anyone I know again, I won't hold back, even if it means I go to jail for the rest of my life.” Cole thought the bluff sounded convincing. He hoped Asher would not become suspicious that he was losing his abilities. He bent over Asher's bonds and struggled to untie them, realizing that the overkill knots were now backfiring. Finally, they were loosened, and Asher stood up, stretching and rubbing his arms to get the feeling back in them.

  “So tell me what really happened,” Cole said. “Since the day you met me, what was really going on?”

  Asher leaned against the wall, still regaining feeling in his limbs. Mr. and Mrs. Williams never moved, and were watching the events unfolding with large confused eyes as they attempted to parse what was going on and what had happened in the past. Amy was no longer crying and was watching them from the floor.

  “Yeah, sure, I guess you deserve at least that,” Asher said with a defeated sigh. “I can't believe how out of hand things got. It started out real enough. My whole life I've wanted to find someone who could match my abilities, maybe even surpass them. I wanted us to be able to learn from each other. When I found you I was really hoping you would be that person. But then as I started to find out how little you knew I began to lose hope. You were even having trouble hurting an ant. I had to kill it for you so you wouldn't freak out again about not being able to do something. And you were so innocent and naïve too. I still can't believe you believed that I wouldn't hurt a bug to practice my abilities. I torture bugs all the time.”

  “All right, I get it,” Cole said, struggling to control his temper. “Move on.”

  “Well, when I came out here, this was going to be your last chance. I still wanted you to be the friend I was looking for and you showed promise over the phone with your missing person hunting. But then you introduced me to Amy, and holy shit was she strong.” He glanced at Amy and then back at Cole. “She had all the qualities I was looking for. So while you were asleep I struck a deal to be partners if I helped her escape. And we all know how great that turned out.”

  “That wasn't me,” Amy mumbled.

  “Huh?” Asher said.

  “I said, that wasn't me you talked to,” Amy said louder, bitterness in her voice.

  “Oh, right, I know. It was those voices. Sorry about that. Nice to meet the real you by the way.”

  “Shut up, shut up!” In a flash, Amy lunged, eyes flashing in hatred, swinging a right hook that caught Asher square on the jaw.

  Asher rubbed his jaw and held his other hand up in surrender. “All right, all right, I'm going. You don't have to hate me that much.”

  “Yes, I do,” Amy said, a wild look in her eyes. “You stay as long as you like. I'm leaving and if I ever see you again I'll kill you. Sam, Jenny, come on. I'll explain everything after we leave with Martin.” Without a look at anyone, she fled the basement as if a vicious animal was chasing her. Her foster parents glanced at Cole and Asher with expressionless faces before trailing her upstairs.

  Cole watched them go, tempted to follow, but having no idea what to say. There was silence until they heard the front door close, and then he said, “She's right, you should go. One last question, though. Were you lying about something else? I always felt like there was something weird going on with you. Do you even go to school?”

  “Nah, I'm a dropout. I work for my cousin. He's a pushover so I take off when I want.” He paused. “You know, you are a pretty cool guy. I wish this had all turned out differently.
”

  “Me too.” Cole sighed. “Guess I'll probably see you in court.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. We'll see what happens. I'll probably end up pleading guilty to reduce my sentence. I hope jail isn't so bad. Good thing I'm still a minor. Barely.” He hurried toward the stairs.

  Cole and Beth exchanged a look. “Wait!” Beth called as Asher was on the second stair.

  Confused, Asher turned around. Beth opened her mouth but nothing came out. Suspicion crossed Asher's face, but a moment later the sound of sirens was heard outside. Alternating red and blue lights flickered in through the window.

  “Okay, now you can go,” Beth said with a straight face. “Shut the door on your way out.”

  Asher's eyes widened with alarm. “You didn't...”

  “You were all ready to turn yourself in. Just doing you a favor.” A faint flicker of a smirk wormed its way onto her face.

  The front door banged open as footsteps raced inside.

  “Yeah, thanks a lot.” Asher hung his head and trudged up the stairs. When he reached the top, Beth and Cole heard “Freeze! Hands in the air!” and Asher stopped, holding his hands up in surrender.

  * * *

  An hour later, after the police had finished questioning them and left, Beth found Cole collapsed on the sofa. “I'm going down to the basement to clean up,” she said.

  “No, I got it. I want something to do.” Cole lifted himself off the cushions and headed back into the dim basement. After putting away the rope and uprighting the boxes that had been knocked over, he sat on the cold, hard cement floor, cupping his chin in his hands, unfeeling, his brain attempting to sort through the day's events.

  You did really well today, Meredith thought-said.

  Thanks. We made a pretty awesome team. I can't believe they're really trapped. It seems so surreal. I thought I'd be happier, but my mind can't wrap around it. It's too good to be true.

  Oh, it's real. Celebrate it. She paused. There's something I need to tell you. I know this is a bad time, but there will never be a good time, and sooner is better than later.