“Fuck.” Thinking maybe he keyed in the wrong contact, he tried again but got the same result.
Gerry frowned. “Strange. Bart, do me a favor. Call Nick, and have him come in to cover the bar.”
He waived Darcy over. “Watch the bar until Nick gets here, will you? Addie, come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“I don’t know. I think Maia is in trouble. Where’s Cael?”
“He went to get changed.”
“What’s taking him so long? Those guys don’t care what he’s wearing; this isn’t a fucking fashion show. We’ll have to take your truck.”
As they opened the door to head out, Gerry smacked right into Cael.
“Christ. Come on,” he said, grabbing Cael’s arm and leading him around back with Addie following close behind.
When the three of them were safely out of sight, Gerry said, “Something’s wrong. I think Maia’s in danger.”
“What … what are you talking about?” Addie looked at him incredulously.
“I don’t know for sure. She isn’t answering her cell phone.”
“Maybe she’s busy. You know, maybe she’s, you know … busy, like in the bathroom, and can’t get to the phone.”
“Her phone never rang. It went straight to voicemail, like it does when it’s turned off. And, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I heard a voice.”
“Not you too? Really, Gerry, you and Maia must be having pregnancy anxieties or something. Try calling her again,” Addie said.
Gerry pushed the send button on his phone and the call went immediately to voicemail again. “See? Right to voicemail.”
“What did this voice say?” Addie asked, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly as though she was trying to stifle a full-on grin, making the dimple on the side a little more indented.
“This is no joke, Addie.”
“Okay, I believe you,” she said in a more serious tone. “So, what did it say?”
“At first, it said, ‘Help her.’ Then a couple seconds later, it said, ‘Maia needs you. Go to her now, help her.’” When Addie and Cael just stood there, their faces blank of any expression, he added, “I’m not making this shit up.”
“Okay, okay. Calm down. Where do you think she might be?” Cael asked.
“Christ, I don’t know. What time is it?” Gerry said, staring at his phone.
“You’re looking at your phone, what does it say?”
“Oh, fuck. Yeah, it’s a little after one.”
“She might be out walking and forgot to take her phone,” Addie said with a note of skepticism.
“You know Maia never forgets to take her phone and if she had, she’d cut her walk shorter and go back home. But then …” he hesitated, “if Maia didn’t forget her phone, then she could be in trouble and this voice or whatever it is I’m hearing must mean something.”
Not sure what to do, Gerry rubbed his hand over his face, then heard the voice again.
Gerry, please help Maia! Find her!
“Did ya hear that?” Gerry stood statue still, listening for something more, but when nothing came, he shook his head. Putting both of his hands to his head, he pressed them against his temples. “Look, I know this sounds insane, but remember Maia mentioned that old woman she said she saw and that the woman disappeared? Then she started hearing the same voice last night and I believe her, because right after she heard the voice, Careen showed up at the door. The voice had whispered to Maia, “Don’t let her in,” or something like that, and then Careen was knocking at the door and I answered in my underwear.”
“Why did you answer in your underwear?” Addie smirked.
“What difference does it make?”
“Just wondering.”
“If you must know, I was on my way back upstairs from getting milk and cookies in the kitchen. Hell, I don’t know, I thought it was you guys. I was only gonna let you in real quick then run upstairs and get some pants on. I didn’t even look out the peephole first. Maia hadn’t told me what the voice said to her until after Careen was in. I didn’t think much of it, to tell you the truth, but now I’m hearing a voice too. I swear it.”
“Okay, okay, all kidding aside. We believe you,” Cael said.
“Where should we start looking?” Addie added.
“I think she walks along the creek path. Cael, if you can get us to the trail that branches out from the cottage we can jog along the path. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“Hold on.” Cael reached out and grabbed Gerry’s arm before he had time to think about it, which was good, because that whole, here-one-minute-there-the-next business creeped him out. Having the quick swish of air flow through his body and then suddenly appearing somewhere else made him a little sick, especially this time. Already keyed up from hearing the voice, the idea of his molecules floating through space made his stomach pitch and as soon as they appeared at the trail, Gerry leaned into the bushes along the side and threw up.
Addie patted him on the back and handed him a tissue. He grabbed it from her, keeping his down toward the bushes. “Thanks,” he muttered through the thin cloth.
When he finished puking his guts out, he turned to Cael and Addie who stood talking in whispers on the side of the pathway.
“I’m okay now,” Gerry said. “It’s my guess Maia headed down this way.” He pointed to his left. “The other way dead-ends not too far from here in the woods.”
They walked in the direction Gerry pointed, calling out Maia’s name as they went along. The wide dirt trail was a two-way pathway with brush on each side. To the right, there was a drop of about ten feet and it seemed to get steeper as it went.
Why the hell hadn’t they put a guardrail or fence up for safety? Gerry made a note to himself to address that at the next town meeting Chief Thompson kept pestering him to attend. He’d never gone to one before, never felt like he needed to, but now he had a reason. The way it appeared, just one slip and down you’d go and if you lost consciousness, no one would even know you were down there.
They stopped everyone who wasn’t riding a bike and asked if they’d seen her, giving her description to each one the best they could without actually knowing what Maia was wearing. Apparently, there’d been plenty of pretty women walking by with golden brown, shoulder-length hair. It didn’t even help to say she was pregnant, considering she didn’t show much, particularly under the sweatpants and oversized sweatshirt of Gerry’s she usually wore when walking.
“This is useless,” Addie complained. “She’s probably already back home now.”
“I’ll go check. Be back in a flash.” Cael no sooner said the words and he was gone, only to reappear again a couple of minutes later. Gerry glanced around, hoping no one noticed and luckily, there were no other people in sight.
“Not there. I went to every room.”
Gerry frowned at Cael. “Don’t you ever check to make sure no one sees you do that?”
“I did.”
“How? How the hell do you know before you materialize?”
“I can see right before.”
“But you do it so fast. Fuck. You’d make a perfect burglar.”
Cael gave him a sideways glance. “I’ll keep that in mind. Let’s keep walking. We need to find her before it gets dark.”
Gerry looked up at the sky. Dark, dense clouds rolled in from the coast—some very tempestuous looking clouds. If they didn’t find Maia soon, the heavens would release all that anger and they’d be caught in a nasty storm. My God, Maia, could be anywhere out here.
***
Maia opened her eyes and immediately shut them, the swirling in her head too much to bear. She leaned over on her side and lost her peanut butter and banana sandwich in a pile of wet leaves. The ground, still damp from the last rain, soaked through her sweatpants. A harrowing pain shot out from her calf as she tried to sit up and scoot away from her vomit. She glanced down at her leg where the pain came from, but couldn’t see anything but her pants. The pain
was excruciating. She lay back down on her back as tears streaked down her temples. Fear punched through her as she placed her hand on her stomach, rubbing in small circles to soothe the jitters. Her insides panged in protest. The babies. God, did the fall hurt the babies? What had happened anyway? She looked up at the sky. Dark clouds threatened through a jungle of tall evergreen trees and leafless limbs from other types still in their winter deciduous state.
Where was the person who knocked her down? Did they go for help? Glancing up toward the trail, Maia tried to yell for help, but all that came out was a squeaky plea that not even a squirrel would hear if it had been right next to her. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Help!” This time she actually managed to form a word but it still wasn’t very loud. Maia lay her head back down against the dirt, squeezing her eyes shut, hoping it would help her concentrate on breathing. Her breaths were short and out of control with the heavy throbs coming from her leg and she feared she might start to hyperventilate. She stayed very still, opened her eyes and focused on one of the tree branches dangling above her head, taking in deep slow breaths through her nose and letting them out slowly through her mouth. She managed to calm down a bit, giving herself a pretend pat on the back for reading the breathing techniques for childbirth. They actually worked.
Something rustled in the bushes behind her head and she turned her head toward the noise.
“Hello? Is somebody there? Help me, please … I’m over here!” Maia’s cries for help were exactly that as she began sobbing. Afraid to turn her body to look for fear of jostling her leg, afraid to turn around to find a not so friendly mountain lion, afraid to turn only to find no one there, she stayed as still as she could. When no one answered, she began to panic again. “Oh God, please, please let someone find me soon.”
For the first time in her life, she wished she’d been born a man. Then she too would have the powers that Addie possessed, the same powers her brother, Ristéard had. Sucking in a deep breath once more, she bit down on her gloved finger and concentrated on Gerry as hard as she could, wishing she and Gerry had Addie and Cael’s telepathic abilities.
After lying there for several more minutes, the pangs and jitters in Maia’s abdomen finally subsided. Sighing in relief, Maia propped herself up on her elbows to take a look at her leg. Her foot looked strange, limp and out of position, but she couldn’t see it very well, particularly since the sweat pant leg had unrolled and hung halfway over the heel of her shoe. Wanting a better look, she managed to lean on one elbow and tug her good leg closer to her. She reached out for her pant leg and lifted it to reveal the lower portion of her limb, which was actually facing the wrong way. Screaming in shock, Maia shook her head and tried to get up, not believing what her eyes were telling her. “Oh my God! Oh. My. God! Please don’t tell me this is true. Help! Help! Somebody, please help me!”
Lying back down, Maia took several deep breaths and managed to calm herself enough to remember her cell phone. She’d call 911 and Gerry. With shaky hands, she reached in her pocket for her phone, only to find the small space empty.
“What? Where’s my phone?” She checked her other pocket but it too was empty except for a couple of tissues. She pulled those out, wiped her mouth and nose before searching among the wet leaves and weeds growing around her. She spotted her phone and grabbed it with a glimmer of hope, but when she picked it up, her heart sank. The battery was missing. It must have come loose when it fell out of her pocket. She glanced up realizing it could be anywhere from there to the top of the hill.
She swiped the wetness away from her cheeks with the sleeve of her jacket. It didn’t help to cry, but the realization she couldn’t call anybody or get up and walk away frightened her. How would anybody ever find her?
Maia remained motionless but not calm by any means. Her heart thumped inside her chest, her breathing way too rapid. Somehow she remembered her first aid training and tried to stay as still as possible, calling out for help every once in a while, but her voice was so weak she didn’t think anybody would be able to hear her.
Maia startled at the slow movement to her right. The old woman she’d talked to at Manny’s grocery store bent over, gathered some wild flowers and placed them in a basket. Her image, like in the store, seemed to go in and out of focus. Maia blinked to try to adjust her vision. The woman hummed a familiar tune, one Maia remembered from her childhood. A song her mother used to sing to her when Maia was very young and Maia in turn sang to Addie when she was a baby. She searched her mind for the words. How does that go again? “A pocket full of posies? Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.”
“That’s right,” the old woman said. “You remember. It hasn’t been that long for you. Much longer for me.”
“Who … who are you?”
“You know who we are. We warned you to take care of those babies you are carrying. We told you they were a precious cargo, to guard them and protect them. They will be very powerful. But … not yet.”
“What do you mean I know who you are? Who is ‘we’?”
The old woman nodded as if Maia called her by name. What was she doing out here in the forest, by the creek? “I must be dreaming.”
“Look at us. Look at our eyes. We are each other.”
“Excuse me?”
“I can only reflect what we’ve come to be. You must see it. You must. Please heed my words. Guard yourself! Guard the twins at every moment.”
Maia sat up and reached out toward the old woman, to see if she was real. As her finger skimmed the hem of her black skirt, the old woman disappeared.
“Don’t go. Please don’t go. You have to come back. I need help,” she sobbed, lying back down in the dirt and wet leaves. She heard a noise and shot her eyes open. She glanced around as best she could without jostling her leg and saw nothing. No sign of the old woman. “Was I dreaming? It had to be a dream,” she mumbled to herself. “Obviously.” She winced as pain seared from her leg.
It seemed like she’d been stuck there in the dirt for hours, but she really had no idea. She’d never been more scared in her entire life. From the look of the sky through the treetops, it would be dark soon, or was a storm coming? Then what? Is this how she was meant to die?
Chapter 11
A Time for Healing
Gerry stayed close to the edge of the path, his eyes darting everywhere along the way, searching for Maia. Panic boiled up in his gut and his throat clogged with fear as he called out her name every few seconds. Addie, quite the jogger, ran a slow pace ahead of him doing almost the same thing. Cael popped in and out. He’d been doing a sweep of the areas down closer to the creek, coming back up periodically, shaking his head with a disappointed scowl. It was so easy for Cael; Gerry would have had to go down the hill and stay there, possibly missing Maia up top. What Cael was capable of doing never ceased to amaze Gerry and for the first time since he’d met the guy, he was thankful for his ability as well as his friendship.
“Hey, Cael,” Gerry yelled when Cael appeared several feet in front of him, hoping to catch him before the guy disappeared again. “How far ahead have you been?”
“Not too far. I’ve been trying to stay close. If I get too far ahead, I might miss her.”
“Right. Okay, okay. Just, ah … keep up the search.”
Cael nodded, gave him a half smile. “We’ll find her.” Then he was gone.
Gerry continued what seemed like a hopeless trek along the path.
***
Cael materialized back down beside the creek, stood statue still and listened, hoping he’d hear Maia call out for help; if, in fact, she was in need of help. His heightened sense of intuition told him she was. He hadn’t wanted to alarm Addie or Gerry, but he had a bad feeling about this whole thing. Not even his super hearing gave any clue as to where Maia might be. The voices Maia, and now Gerry heard—something about that didn’t sit well with him. A burning in his gut told him Maia was in trouble and she hadn’t gotten that way on her own. Someone was out to harm her.
He was losing energy with every phase-out and reappearance. This was beginning to remind him of when Addison was abducted by Eidolon. That monster had tricked Cael into leaving Addison alone in the truck by setting a house fire, trapping a small boy inside. Cael couldn’t let the boy die; he’d had to save him. Cael didn’t know the minute he’d left Addison’s side, that psycho had taken control of her. He’d abused her, put his hands on her and inside her, and then cut her throat, causing Addison to need stitches. Cael shuddered at the memory; he hadn’t handled that situation very well. He’d almost lost Addison then and the idea of that maniac touching her that way—
He shook his head to clear his thoughts, took several slow deep breaths until he recuperated some energy, and dematerialized again. Where he reappeared, the rain had gotten a little heavier. He stood, listening to the soft sounds of the rain drops landing on the leaves around him. Thinking he heard something else, Cael tilted his head to the side and caught the sound of soft muffled cries for help. They weren’t close by, but he could get there in a blink of an eye. When he appeared by Maia’s side she was lying on the ground, her eyes squeezed shut, her body shivering. She hadn’t been able to hear him as he materialized. His appearance really didn’t make any sound, it just happened. Cael leaned down, touched her shoulder and spoke softly. “Maia.”
She blinked her eyes open and gasped at the site of him. “Cael? Oh Cael, please, help me.”
“Shhh, shhh, shhh.” He looked down at her leg and immediately knew he couldn’t move her. “You’re going to be okay.” He took her hand in his, hoping to give her some form of comfort. “We’ve been looking all over for you. You’ll be okay, now.” He glanced back at her leg, shrugged off his jacket and placed it over her upper body. “Your leg is broken. I can’t move you without splinting it and I really don’t want to risk messing with it. I need to get Addison. Will you be okay here while I go get her?”
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