The Awakening (The Judas Curse Book 1)

by Angella Graff

  Abby let out a shaking breath. “Okay. Um… so who do we call?”

  “Greg,” Mark said and scrolled through his contacts for the doctor’s personal number. “If anyone has any idea how to prevent this from happening, it’s going to be him.”

  Abby nodded and sat back. “Right, okay. But… Mark, what if Greg’s behind it? What if he’s been lying to us this entire time and he’s actually part of this?”

  “The thought has crossed my mind,” Mark said slowly. “The unfortunate thing is, we don’t have any other choice, and with your brother still out of town, we’re fairly defenseless.” With that, Mark pushed send on his phone and waited as the phone rang and rang.

  He thought for sure it would go to voicemail when a rather tired voice picked up. “Hello?”

  “Greg, it’s Mark.”

  “Hello,” Greg said. “How are you?”

  “Do you have a moment to chat? We’re having some problems here, I’m afraid, and we could really use your help,” Mark said in a hurried tone, trying to keep his confusion and terror to a minimum.

  “Uh sure, just give me a moment,” Greg said, his voice going instantly from cheerful to serious. Mark heard some muffled noises, and after a minute, Greg came back on the line. “What’s going on?”

  “Abby’s having some incidents, as it were,” Mark said. “She came into my office this afternoon, and she wasn’t quite herself.”

  “Go on,” Greg urged.

  Mark took a deep breath, unsure if he was going to be able to tell Greg the full story. He knew, however, that if he wasn’t totally honest, Greg might not be able to help. “She was more awake, more coherent than she’s been in a while,” Mark said slowly. “She and I talked for a bit, and then she started er…”

  “Hitting on you?” Greg offered.

  “Yes,” Mark said in a breathy tone. “Unfortunately I didn’t realize something was different until after. She talked to me, and it clearly wasn’t her. I couldn’t get a name, and before I could get any sort of answers, Abby’s body collapsed and she woke up a few minutes later.”

  “Does she remember any of it?” Greg asked in a somber tone.

  “She says the last thing she remembers is sitting at her desk before classes drinking tea. Then she woke up on my office floor,” Mark said, still blushing from shame.

  “Is she with you now?”

  “Yes, she’s right here,” Mark said, looking over at Abby who was staring at the wall.

  “Ask her if these blackouts happened any time before this morning.”

  Mark pulled the phone from his ear and looked at Abby. “Greg would like to know if you’d had any blackouts before this.”

  Abby gave a little sigh and a shrug. “I guess so. I mean, there were times when we were in San Diego, in the hotel, that I was feeling really out of it. I just figured it was the stress.”

  “Did you catch that?” Mark asked.

  “I did. I hate to say it, but it sounds like she’s become a vessel. I’m not entirely sure how they’re using her, seeing as it can get a bit complicated with a conscious body.” Greg fell silent a moment and Mark could hear shuffling papers in the background. “I’m going to transfer the rest of my appointments to my on-call colleague and see if I can catch a flight up there tonight. I may have something to help her from being taken over, but first I need to find out how they’re taking her, and how often. Can you keep her with you at all times?”

  “I’ll do what I can,” Mark promised. “What about her brother?”

  “I haven’t heard from Ben in a while. He’s busy with that detective, which makes me a little nervous considering she’s one of them.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Mark asked in a skeptical voice.

  “There’s no doubt in my mind. As far as I can tell, this Stella person is a willing vessel, just as I am. I’m not entirely sure what side to place her on, and what her sudden interested in Ben’s case is, if it’s not to keep Yehuda away from us. Either way, I’ll give him a call and see if he plans on returning any time soon. I’ll send you a message with my flight time, and as I said before, keep her in your sights at all times.”

  “And if somehow she shifts?” Mark asked.

  Greg gave a small sigh and hesitated before answering. “Don’t try and stop her. That could get dangerous. Just follow her and try and not to get hurt.”

  “I’m not afraid of getting hurt,” Mark said in a steely tone.

  “As an immortal wouldn’t be,” Greg acquiesced, “but you can’t risk being slowed down if she decides to take off. Still, I don’t think that’s what they’re using her for, so just try and lay low until I arrive.”

  “Okay,” Mark said. “We’ll see you soon.”

  With that, Mark disconnected and set the phone on the table. Abby stared down at the little device and then up at Mark’s face. “So he’s coming here?”

  “He’s going to try,” Mark said.

  “Can he help me?”

  Mark winced at how small and terrified she sounded. He wanted to hold her, just to offer some small measure of comfort, but after what he did, he couldn’t bring himself to move any closer. “I think so. I’m not sure, though, but I think he’s got some sort of plan.”

  Abby groaned and rested the side of her face against the arm of the sofa. “It’s feels like it’s never going to end. I’m just so damn tired, and when I sleep I have these terrible dreams. I can’t remember them when I wake up, except that I’m scared, and lost, and my heart is racing, and it feels like I haven’t slept in weeks.”

  Mark’s hand twitched in her direction before he dropped it into his lap. “I’m sorry, Abby. We’ll get through this, I promise.”

  She looked over at him and smiled a heart-breakingly sad smile, her head shaking just slightly. “That’s the worst lie, Mark. You told me yourself that you can’t promise I’d be okay. I mean, I kind of knew I was in danger, but I just didn’t realize how bad it was going to get.”

  Mark wanted to argue with her, but the point was, she was right. He couldn’t promise that she’d be okay. He couldn’t vow to protect her because frankly, he didn’t know how. He had no idea what these creatures were, what they wanted, and how they could be stopped. He couldn’t imagine her fear, knowing they could take her the moment her eyes were shut.

  “I’m sorry Abby,” was all he could muster.

  She put her face back down on the sofa and sighed. “I know. We’re all really damn sorry now, aren’t we?”

  Thirty-five

  Being an official consult on the John Doe case, Ben was given access to an empty office, and though it wasn’t as comfortable or familiar as his office back home, it suited. Being head detective, Stella’s workload was rather intense, and as much as she seemed to want to help Ben, other pressing matters took her attention away from him. By two in the afternoon, she was off on a call and he was stuck at the desk pouring over the John Doe case file.

  A few hours had gone by since Ben had heard from anyone, and just as he started to realize he was nearly starving for lunch, he also realized he’d left his phone on silent and hadn’t checked it in quite some time.

  He pulled out the device and saw four missed calls from Greg and one voice message. “Detective Stanford, this is Dr. Asclepius. I’m sorry to keep bothering you, but it seems like we may have a situation with your sister back in San Francisco. I hope the case for the missing John Doe is going well, but if you get the chance, please phone me back. I’m getting on a plane at two, and heading up there to meet with your sister and Mark, so I do hope to hear from you before long. Thanks.”

  Ben’s face went white. A problem with his sister? His mind went instantly to illness. Maybe she had a seizure, like he’d suffered with the tumor before he went to the doctor. Maybe she’d been in an accident, or maybe Mark had finally lost his mind and hurt her.

  His fingers were trembling as he dialed Greg, but after a second, the call went straight to voicemail. Ben’s eyes darted to the clock on the com
puter which read two-fifteen. “Shit,” he cursed, slamming the phone onto the desk.

  He dialed Abby, but her phone, too, was off, though it was usually like that during the school day. As a last resort, and as terrified as he was to do it, Ben decided to phone Mark. It rang a few times, and then the tired voice of Mark picked up.

  “Ben?”

  “I just got Greg’s message,” Ben said hurriedly. “What happened? What’s going on?”

  “Greg left you a message?” Mark asked.

  “Yes,” Ben snapped, feeling completely panicked now. “Are you with Abby now? Greg said something happened to her. What is going on?”

  “She’s with me now,” Mark said, his voice still low and tired. “She’s asleep, which is good, and she’s not hurt, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “I’m worried about a lot of things,” Ben said, though he felt better now that he was talking to Mark, and the strange man sounded at least sane and put together. “Why is Greg flying up there to meet with you?”

  “He didn’t tell you on the message?” Mark asked, and then sighed. “Of course not. Look Ben, your sister is okay, but there’s something going on with her.”

  “I know,” Ben said. “I noticed when we were at the hospital. She’s really out of it, has these strange bruises on her arms.”

  “Bruises?” Mark asked. “What kind of bruises? Where on her arms?”

  “Just on her forearms,” Ben said. “What does it matter?”

  “Because I think someone is… or was… drugging your sister,” Mark snapped.

  “That’s ridiculous,” Ben stammered. “Who the hell would do that? Who would have access to her to do that?”

  “Any one of us, to be honest,” Mark said. “Obviously it’s not me since they can’t get to me, but it could have been Greg. It could have been you.”

  “Excuse me?” Ben roared. “You think I’d drug my sister? What kind of sick person…”

  “Not you,” Mark retorted, sounding exasperated. “Them, the Greek whatevers. The gods.”

  “Jesus,” Ben sighed.

  “I realize you don’t believe me, but you know what, you don’t have to believe it to accept it. Your sister is being drugged and possessed, Ben. She came into my office today and was all over me. I didn’t realize anything was wrong until she passed out and when she woke up, she didn’t remember any of it. She said she’s been having blackouts since we got to San Diego.”

  Ben put a hand over his face. “Where is she exactly?”

  “She’s sleeping on my couch. Greg told me to keep an eye on her, and if she wakes up and leaves, I have to follow her.”

  Ben checked his watch and then stood up. “I’m coming home. Obviously the three of you are going to turn this into a three-ring circus with your weird altars and immortal theories and whatever. If there’s something wrong with my sister, she needs to be seen by a proper medical doctor. Neither one of you had better lay a hand on her until I get there. Am I understood?”

  “You’d better hurry, I’m not sure how long she’ll be able to resist whatever’s taking over her body,” Mark said.

  Ben snapped his phone shut out of anger and threw it down on the desk. Something was wrong with Abby, and whatever it was, Ben couldn’t fix it until he was home. He looked at the clock again and wondered if he could catch a flight before the evening.

  Grabbing his phone and his coat, he marched out of the office and dialed Stella as he walked to his rental car. She answered after a few rings. “Stella,” he said in a hurried tone. “I’ve gotta go.”

  “What do you mean go?” she asked. He could hear a rushing sound in the background and guessed she was on the freeway.

  “Something’s wrong with my sister,” Ben said. “I’ve have to get back to San Fran.”

  “What’s wrong? Is she in the hospital?” Stella asked in a worried tone.

  “No, nothing like that. It’s just… I’m not even sure what’s going on. I talked to Mark and he seemed pretty worried. It’s best if I get back there and see what I can do.”

  “Alright,” Stella said slowly. “I think I have a break in the case, though. Any chance you can stick around until I get back to the office. I’ll give you the info, and even drive you to the airport if you like.”

  Ben hesitated. He knew that Abby wasn’t dying, so if he waited a little while longer, he may be able to kill two birds with one stone. On the other hand, Greg was on his way to San Francisco right then, and Ben just didn’t trust the doctor after what he’d seen.

  “How long until you can get here?” Ben finally asked.

  “Give me twenty-five minutes,” Stella vowed.

  “Fine. I’m going to call the airlines right now and see how soon I can get on a plane. I’ll wait here, but I’m not going to wait longer than a half hour.”

  “Deal,” Stella said.

  Ben hung up without saying goodbye and quickly pulled up the internet on his phone. He grabbed the first airline that came up and after going through the seemingly endless loop of the automated system, he was on with a live person who was able to book him a flight that left at six pm. It wasn’t ideal, but it was going to get him to San Francisco that night, and that would have to be good enough.

  True to her word, Stella showed up just as Ben had confirmed his flight, and she got out of the car, her heels clicking on the pavement as she hurried over. She looked a little frazzled, her hair having fallen out of her neat bun, and fell in waves around her shoulders and back.

  Her cheeks were somewhat pink from rushing across the busy parking lot and when she reached Ben, she was slightly out of breath. “I got the credit card reports back,” she said, pulling out her cell phone. “They were uploaded to my email address, and we found the cards were last used this morning in a small town in Washington called Kelton. It’s also the place where we have the latest documented information of cult activity.”

  Ben frowned and took a step back. “What do you mean cult activity? Like devil worshipers?”

  Stella let out a small laugh. “Sometimes, but usually it’s a bunch of hippies preaching free love and energy healing. Sometimes it’s polygamists, sometimes it’s the more dangerous drink-my-special-juice types of cults. There are a couple of government agencies who keep tabs on those sorts of things, and occasionally we get red flags if things start to look like they’re going to go south.”

  “Why didn’t I know about this?” Ben asked.

  “Because it tends to be associated with missing persons, not dead bodies. It’s only the really insane ones, where everyone lights themselves on fire, or drinks poison that you’d hear about it, and it’s the agency’s job to stop that before it gets there,” Stella answered with a shrug.

  Ben sighed and scratched the back of his head. “So what? This Shawn kid started a cult?”

  “No idea,” Stella said, “but I spoke with the Kelton County Sheriff Department and they were able to confirm a young man matching his description traveling with one other person who also fit the description of a man who went missing a few days ago from a hospital in San Francisco,” Stella said. “I don’t remember his name, but it’s in the email somewhere. Anyway, it’s at least worth checking out. Cults are responsible for a lot of missing people, and if we get to them in time, we’ll have a few less homicide cases in your inbox.”

  Ben let out a breath. “Okay, let’s go inside and see what we can find. My flight leaves at six, so I have a few hours before I need to jet over to the airport.”

  Stella smiled and led the way inside. Back at her desk, Ben took a seat off to the side and Stella fired up the computer. “I’m going to print out the emails I have available with all of the information on them and you can take them back to your office. I’m not sure that I can go any further on this case with you, but I’ll back you if you want to get a team together to check this place out.”

  “I might,” Ben said as he thought about his sister, and what might possibly be going on. “These cults, they’r
e all into that brainwashing stuff, aren’t they?”

  “Some are,” Stella said with a shrug. “Why?”

  “Well,” Ben said and he hesitated. “Things have been a little weird since I got on this case. This Mark character who works with my sister has some ridiculous ideas about what is going on with the John Doe, the doctor, Asclepius, is a little off, and I got this phone call telling me something’s happened to my sister. I’m getting a little nervous that if this is cult activity, these two clowns may be involved and dragging my sister along with them.”

  Stella let out a breath, her chin on her hand, elbow resting on the desk, and she was looking at Ben with half-lidded eyes. “I wish I had more experience with cult activity and cult members to give you some sort of warning signs, but anything I know, I’ve learned from internet browsing.”

  Ben smiled a half-smile and nodded. “I know what you mean. Either way, I’m going to check this out and I’ll be in touch if I need help with a team. You’re right about needing to move quickly on it, if I can get this John Doe out of there as quickly as possible, we may be able to close up my homicide cases as well.”

  “Oh,” Stella said, holding up her hand. She threw open her desk drawer and pulled out a piece of paper with a state seal stamped on the bottom. “This is for Mark, by the way.”

  Ben grabbed it and squinted at the writing. It looked like some sort of custody order. “What is this?”

  “Mark petitioned for the release of John Doe into his custody once John Doe was given a medical release. He was denied twice, so I called in a favor.”

  Ben felt his face grow hot. “Why? Why would you do that?”

  Stella folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. “I realize he seems a little off to you, but he checked out.”

  “You don’t think it’s weird that he wants custody of some comatose homeless guy?”

  “The guy was suffering stigmata wounds, Ben,” she said with a shrug. “If you look into the legal history of the Catholic Church, you’ll see that this isn’t the first time they’ve done this. They probably think the guy’s a saint or something. Either way, they’re able to financially care for the guy, and it takes responsibility off of the state for the medical bills. It’s hard to say no, and unless you can give me a reason why Mark shouldn’t have custody of this guy, I’m for it.”