Soon the emptied garment bag began to float on the surface of the newly formed pool. Suddenly it drifted to one side as a hand began to rise up out of the water.
No one spoke as the limb continued to rise exposing a wrist, then and an elbow. It was like watching someone going down for the third time, only in reverse. Now another hand appeared followed by a head with long dark hair. A face could be seen amidst the dripping locks.
Veronica heard her own voice break the silence. “Rachel!”
Alex found himself lying in the wet grass, with droplets of rain running down his face. Slowly, he raised his head and spotted the patrol car lying on its side a dozen yards away. Not far from it, he saw Jack Thompson’s unconscious form. Apparently the man was still breathing, thank God.
It had happened so fast. They had been coming up the driveway to the front of the manor, when the figure of a girl appeared out of nowhere directly in front of them. Thompson had pulled the wheel to the left and down the slope leading towards the stream.
Before they even came to a stop something slammed the passenger side of the vehicle, nearly flipping it over. Before either of them could react to this new threat, they were hit again only this time something pierced the passenger door.
Alex remembered screaming in pain, and then looking down and seeing something black had gone through his leg.
A moment later, the windshield cracked and the roof of the car was pulled back like the top of a sardine can. Then another black appendage reached in, tore off their seatbelts, and the world flipped.
Glancing back at the overturned car, he realized that whatever had attacked them must’ve tossed the vehicle into the air. Miraculously, he and Thompson had been ejected in the process.
Now he painfully, began to crawl towards his friend when a sinister giggle reached his ears. Turning he saw the young girl, who had forced them off the driveway, standing a few feet away.
A stroke of lighting lit the area briefly, revealing a face, partially hidden beneath incredibly long black hair. It stretched from the top of girl’s head all the way down to the ground, where it seemed to pool around her feet.
Once more he looked over at the wrecked vehicle and then back at her. “You did that, didn’t you?” he said. Instead of getting an answer, he suddenly felt waves of anger and hatred were pouring out of her. “Did you also smash Jason’s house?” he asked.
The hatred was suddenly replaced by… pain? No sadness.
“Was Jason your friend?” Alex asked, opening himself even more to her. Yes, he could feel it. Pain and anger… but not directed at him.
“He was my friend too,” he continued.
Confusion…
He tried looking at her more closely, but her face was obscured by the long wet hair. Something wasn’t right. “Do you remember me? We danced together at a Policeman’s Ball some years ago?”
More confusion…
“Rachel...” he began, but a wave of pure rage cut him off. It physically struck him sending his injured body sprawling for several feet.
His leg screamed in agony from the attack, but somehow he managed not to black out. As thunder rolled overhead, he heard a familiar voice speak, “Head for my house across the stream, you’ll be safe there.”
Alex didn’t need to be told twice, as he half-staggered/half-crawled towards the bridge.
reunion
“Rachel?” Ronnie repeated staring at the girl, who had now fully emerged from the water with Alex’s jacket draped over her shoulders. “You’re not alive are you?”
The girl shook her head.
Roy stepped forward and said in a tight voice, “Tell us what happened to you child. We can’t undo what happened, but by God we can get whoever did it.”
The teenager opened her mouth and brackish water spilled out.
“I’m so sorry,” Ronnie whispered, tears running down her face. “I let you down. I wasn’t there for you when you needed me.”
The ghostly figure shook her head in disagreement.
“Did you kill my Uncle Jason?” asked Julie, breaking her silence.
Rachel looked at the muscular girl and shook her head again.
“Then why are you here?”
The dead girl replied by grabbing the lapels of the jacket and pulling them closer.
“She’s been trying to get to Alex, but the jacket has kept changing hands,” said a voice nearby.
Everyone turned to look at Cassandra. The heiress’ eyes had taken on a strange look that made those standing near her shudder.
“Are you saying she’s haunting the jacket?” asked Roy incredulously.
Veronica stared at the apparition in front of them. It was all starting to make sense now.
Meanwhile Cassandra answered Roy’s question. “Alex thought she’d fallen in the water and put it around her and the water soaked into the fabric. She’s bound to that water and wherever it is she can appear. She’s the one I saw in the trunk of my limo when I went to drop Alex’s jacket off to get it cleaned.”
“She must’ve appeared in front of the owner the dry cleaners too,” muttered Roy, “and the shock was too much for his heart.”
Suddenly Julie turned to Cassandra and asked, “Why are you able to understand her?”
The heiress looked away and said quietly, “Alex isn’t the only psychic around here.”
Ronnie watched Julie’s mouth hang open. Then her friend turned to her saying, “Is she shitting me?”
“No, Alex is a psychic,” she admitted and then added, “I didn’t know about her, but it makes sense. I always wondered why Alex was insistent on being friends with her in spite of how I felt about it.”
Julie shook her head. “If Alex is psychic why couldn’t he tell Rachel was…” she gestured at the dead teen.
This time Cassandra answered, “We can’t always tell when we’re meeting someone who’s no longer among the living. If the personality is strong enough they can seem as real as you or me. And this girl has an incredible amount of power. She must have been a psychic when she was alive.”
Nearby, Danson began to stir.
Meanwhile, Julie asked the question that was on everyone’s mind. “So why has she been killing people?”
The drowned teen looked over at her and tried to speak. But, once more only dark water spilled out of her mouth.
“It wasn’t her,” Cassie said, acting as the girl’s translator. “She’s been trying to prevent these deaths.”
Veronica moved closer to the dead teen saying, “Rachel, do you know who is responsible?”
The girl nodded and began to open the jacket, just as Danson opened his eyes and spotted her. Scrambling to his feet he grabbed the nearest person, who happened to be Cassandra, and threw her at the nightmare figure. Then he raced down the corridor screaming before anyone could stop him.
All of them watched in horror as time seemed to slow and the heiress went head first into Rachel’s chest, which rippled as if it were made of water.
Immediately Julie lunged forward and grabbed Cassie by the ankle, when it was apparent the heiress’ momentum was not about to stop. Roy followed suit and grabbed the other ankle. Then they tried to pull her back, only to find they couldn’t.
As the phantasm stared at the back half of the woman who was now sticking out of her, Ronnie called out to Cassandra to see if she was all right. Upon receiving no reply, she slowly moved around Rachel to see what was going on. Suddenly, her hands flew up to her mouth.
All she could see was the back of Rachel. There was no sign of Cassandra.
Cassie found herself surrounded by dark water. A flash of light above showed her she was not far from the surface. So with a lunge she broke through the surface and gasped. Rain struck her face as thunder and lightning raged all around her.
How had she gotten here? And why could she feel someone grabbing her ankles?
She reached under the water to see what was going on, only to find a set of exposed rib bones encasing her waist. Sh
e tried not to panic, but it was an uphill battle.
The cool rain hitting her face helped to calm her. Bravely she looked around and gasped. Looming over her head she saw the all-to-familiar shape of the bridge. ‘I’m at the Graham estate,’ she realized. “How did I…” she began when a banshee-like wail pierced the night and her psyche.
A second later, lightning illuminated the area and she spotted a limping figure heading towards the bridge. It was Alex, but he wasn’t alone.
Standing on top of the slope was a girl with long dark hair. At first Cassie thought it was Rachel, but she quickly realized this was not the case. Waves of evil hatred were pouring out of this girl as she stared murderously at Alex’s fleeing form.
As the heiress watched helplessly, she heard the stones of the ancient bridge groan. Then, out of the corner of her eye she thought she spotted movement among the stonework.
Did the bridge just…?
Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled back under the water just as Alex reached the bridge and collapsed.
Cassie found herself on the floor of the police station and spitting up water. As a pair of strong arms reached around her middle and squeezed, another great gulp of water was forced out of her and she was able to breathe once more.
“Is she okay?” asked a man’s voice. Before she could answer, she heard Julie reply, “I think so. Are you all right Baby?”
“I’m okay…” she nodded and coughed again.
“What happened? Where were you?” asked Veronica joining them.
“In the water… near the bridge at the Graham estate…” she gasped. “I saw Alex… he’s in danger,” another coughing fit racked her trembling form. “Some girl is trying to kill him.”
She saw Veronica turn to Rachel who was now opening the jacket once more revealing dark stains all over the lower half of her dress. The older woman’s eyes widened in horror as the truth hit home. “Oh, God, no!” she cried.
“What? What’s going on?” asked a worried Julie.
“It’s her baby,” Ronnie said in a strangled voice, “The baby I was going to adopt is trying to kill the man I love.”
in the heart of ThE tempest
“Alex was limping towards the bridge,” Cassandra coughed, struggling to her feet. “I think she’s going to force him into the water. We’ve got to help him.”
“Agreed!” Julie nodded, “Let’s go…”
“Wrong!” snapped Roy. “You two are civilians, and this is a police matter. We’ll handle this.” Quickly he looked around at the handful of officers available. “Is this everyone?”
Ryan O’Connor, trying not to look at the dead girl who had once been his babysitter, spoke up. “Afraid so, Chief, everyone else is out on emergency calls. The storm is really tearing things up out there.”
“Which means you’re going to need everyone you can get,” Cassandra pointed out. “Besides this goes way beyond cops and robbers. This is now a psychic mat…” her words were cut off and her eyes widened. “ALEX IS IN THE WATER!”
Roy bellowed for Pam to alert all available officers to get to the Graham Estate.
Meanwhile, Veronica turned to Rachel and grabbed her hand. “PLEASE HELP HIM…” she began. Suddenly her eyes went wide as the two of them stood like statues. It was obvious to all that something was passing between the two. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, the older woman found her voice. “I’ll save her, I swear it.”
A second later, the dead girl fell back into the dark waters she had risen from.
Veronica turned and raced for the front doors. “I’m heading to the bridge. Someone bring bandages and a cane or crutch for Alex to use. Roy follow with whomever you can get and break out the artillery, the baby’s not the real threat!” she called over her shoulder and disappeared into the night.
Roy mobilized the officers he had available. Ordering them to round up weapons and rescue equipment.
Taking this as a sign they had been forgotten, Cassie turned to Julie and said, “I have that walking stick in the limo. Do you think Alex will be able to lean on that?”
But her friend didn’t answer. Even without her psychic sensitivity, Cassie knew why. The big girl was scared and so was she. But she could also sense the war raging inside the half-Seneca beauty.
Without another word, Cassie turned and headed out of the station to her waiting vehicle. She was halfway to the car when she felt a blanket put around her shoulders. “You’re already freezing,” Julie told her. “I grabbed a couple from one of Ronnie’s co-workers. We’ll get there before they do and if Alex is in the water, he’s going to need one too. Now let’s get going.”
Alex could see the bits of bloated skin that hung from the skeletal arm holding him by the neck. Then he noticed the rest of the arm was clothed in a man’s jacket. The buttons on the sleeve caught his eye. He’d ordered those buttons special from England. Looking down he saw hair long black hair matted with silt and mud. It covered most of the face, but one eye hung lazily among the dripping locks. “Rachel?” he breathed.
The nightmare being nodded and gently reached up and with its other hand and touched his cheek.
‘SEE…’ said the girl’s voice inside his head.
A hand still held his face but it was large and rough. He could feel the carpet against his back. Alex stared down at his exposed… breasts?
Now, a face loomed over him, and he recognized it instantly. The man from his visions inside the manor, Cyrus Graham! “Cry out if you wish my dear, but no one else is here tonight,” he smiled.
Alex/Rachel realized that this was true. This was his house, his property, and his laws. Why had it all come to this? First father, then her brother, now…
A hand slapped him/her across the face, “Now, now you must not ignore me. After all, I’ve done so much for you. I took you in, gave you a job, and a home. Now, I’m going to give you… ME.”
There was nothing gentle about him. He was rough and methodical. He ripped her skirt off and the panties followed... Rachel/Alex screamed as they were penetrated both in body and mind.
In the distance he could hear a baby’s cry.
Ronnie straightened her patrol car. It had begun to drift to the right as she drove through the storm. ‘The baby was going to be mine,’ she thought angrily. But something had happened sixteen years ago. In that brief moment when she took Rachel’s hand, she’d experienced it all. Being raped by Cyrus, how he controlled her mind for months, until the labor pains started and broke his control on her. The escape towards the bridge and then…
The baby was coming. Rachel/Alex lay on the ground near the stream. The baby was coming and there was no one to help her/him.
Graham was being rushed off to the hospital. He had tried to chase her down inside the house when the pains in his chest hit. He’d abandoned his pursuit for her, in order to try and reach the phone near the back stairs. The very place he had first taken both her body, and her will….
Alex heard the cry again, only this time it was closer.
Cyrus had said he would take the child and raise it. But Rachel/Alex didn’t believe him for a minute, he’d had other plans for the child and she/he was sure of it.
But, she/he managed to talk to Sergeant Ross when Cyrus had been out. She/he hadn’t been able to tell her everything, the control over her/his mind was too great. But an arrangement had been made…
Now the sounds of something moving were coming from the underside of the bridge…
Veronica… was going to take the baby and adopt it…
Another stab of pain hit, they were getting worse.
Where was she? Rachel/Alex cried out, “Ronnie I need you… OUR BABY’S COMING…”
Cassandra let out a groan of pain. “Oh God…”
Julie looked at her with worry, “What is it?”
“It’s Alex,” the smaller woman breathed, “Something’s happening to him. How much farther is it?”
“At least another 10-15 minutes,” Ju
lie told her. “Tell him to hang on, Ronnie will be there shortly.”
“I’ll try,” Cassie promised, “but there’s something interfering.”
“The baby?”
“No,” the smaller girl shook her head and said quietly, “something else. Something that doesn’t belong…”
It was a girl, and they were all alone. Jason was away, and there was no sign of Ronnie. The baby was crying. She needed to be fed and cleaned.
Rachel/Alex staggered towards the water. ‘I could drop us both in,’ she/he thought, ‘then we’d be together always. Not much of a life really…’
Then she/he noticed her reflection in the water.
It wasn’t his of course. It was Rachel’s and she was holding her newborn daughter. As he watched through her eyes, Alex saw Rachel’s expression change in the watery mirror and knew a choice had been made.
Drowning wasn’t the answer. She’d get the baby to Ronnie... Ronnie said she’d adopt it. “Maybe she’ll take me too,” Rachel/Alex murmured hopefully.
She/he looked down at their reflection one last time and started. Something black and with many arms was coming up behind them. “WHAT THE…” Suddenly, she was hit from behind and they were both thrown into the stream. Looking around Alex noticed the water around her/him turning red. But only one thought ran through her/his mind, ‘MY BABY’S IN THE WATER…. MY BABY…. I CAN HEAR HER CRYING…. MY BABY…’
Suddenly, something grabbed them from below…
As the vision ended, Alex saw that something like a black rope made of human hair, had wrapped itself around him and his macabre savior. A moment later, the two of them were lifted out of the water and slammed against the side of the bridge.
The sound of snapping bone echoed in his ears, yet he’d felt nothing. At the last second, his rescuer had twisted their bodies so that she took the brunt of the blow, saving him once again.
The Bridge (Para-Earth Series) Page 27