by Mayer, Dale
Horrific pain reached out and clawed at her, reaching inside her mind, twisting and churning through her brain.
Focus! Stefan yelled to her through the black whirling mist.
Macabre laughter drowned him out.
She can't. She's not strong enough.
Yes, Alexis, you are. Stefan's disembodied voice supported her in the blackness. Don't let him do this. Don't fight. Trust in me and think yourself to the other side of this.
Alexis heard their comments in the distance, but it was so hard to make sense of them. There was so much pain. It crippled her. Oh God, he was in her head… She couldn't do it. She couldn't fight him. He was too strong for her.
No, he's not. You can do this!
She screamed, a horrific tearing sound that brought the man sitting beside her in Stefan's living room to his feet. She couldn't make herself stop. All the fear and agony kept pouring out of her, until the air was filled with her never-ending wail.
CHAPTER 10
"Alex!" Kevin cried out, "Come back. Come back to me."
Hoping she could hear him, Kevin repeatedly relayed instructions. "Damn it, Stefan – help her!"
"I need a moment." Stefan's thin reedy voice came from his prone body, where it had collapsed during the last part of the journey. "Keep calling her."
"She's not responding." Kevin's heart pounded away inside his chest. God, what could he do? He had to help her. Touching her physically was out of the question; there was only one option.
He jumped into her mind – and fell headlong into the stifling, long, black night of her fear.
Alex?
Kevin, she whispered in agony. My God, this hurts. You didn't tell me it would be this bad.
He's blocking you. It only hurts if you let him. Damn it, Alexis. Don't give in. Surround yourself with white light. Boot him out.
Off in the cold, smothering blackness, Kevin could sense the other shifting presence. The asshole. Alexis, sense my anger. Feel how pissed off I am. Kevin waited a moment to sense her probe. When it wasn't forthcoming, he snapped out. Do it now.
He waited anxiously for the first magical touch that would show him she was there and listening. Faint and trembling, a whisper of her energy moved toward him. He waited until it touched him. Now feel our connection. Really feel it.
I'm trying… she whispered.
Damn it, don't try – do it! And I mean now, he ordered.
Got it. You don't have to shout, she snapped weakly.
Damn straight I do, he answered, slightly mollified. Now use that anger to clear a path through the blackness.
I'm pushing at it.
Again, he cut in. Don't bother. Use the anger to understand what he's doing. Your fear is crippling you. Once you understand what he's doing to manipulate you, your fear will ease and he'll have no power over you.
Almost instantly, the black fog started to dissipate. Alexis's disbelieving laughter broke through. Oh wow. Now I see. The strength of her conviction matched the pace of the disappearing fog.
Do you see what he was doing? He was using your own fear to build that fog.
She sent him a warm hug. Her thanks hung gently in the air all around the two of them.
Home now.
***
Kevin watch Alexis slowly return to the present. She was going to be damn sore tomorrow.
He reached out to stroke her arm. "Are you okay?"
She tried to reassure him, them. "I'm fine. Really, I am. I'm very tired though and almost feel a disconnect with my body. And you're right. I had to experience that to believe it." Alexis looked at Stefan curiously. "Just what did happen to you?"
Disgusted, he answered, "My own fault, really. I split off, used one part of my consciousness to help you and another to track him. Unfortunately, he's good – ancient-with-years-of-experience good. While he was using your inexperience to his advantage, he went after me and kicked me out. Something he could only do because I was functioning in two levels at once and therefore each piece of me was only half as strong."
Alexis stared at him. "You can do that?"
Kevin couldn't believe it. Stefan had some mad skills, but this? This seemed too far out to be real.
"I've been working on it." Stefan reached for the wine bottle to top up their glasses. He waited several moments before adding, "And not very successfully apparently. It was a little disconcerting to be kicked out of the ethers so easily." He shook his head, muttering under his breath. "I'll have to work on strengthening the energy to each piece. At least in this instance, trying this technique was the right thing to do."
A dual snort escaped both Kevin and Alexis. They looked at each other in surprise, Kevin winked at her before turning to stare at Stefan.
"How do you figure?" asked Alexis.
"Because of what I learned." He waited, a bright-eyed look on his face. He tapped away at the armrest. Waiting.
Lifting the wine glass for a sip, Kevin eyed him over the rim. "Okay, I'll bite. What did you find out?"
"He's earthbound."
Kevin leaned forward, roaring, "What?" His voice dropped to a shocked whisper. "That's not possible."
Alexis glanced from one to the other. "I don't understand. Many souls are earthbound, aren't they?"
Stefan stated simply. "He's not dead, Alexis. This asshole is as alive as you and me."
***
The three exhausted people quietly sipped their wine. Fatigue hung heavily in the air.
"I don't get it. What does this mean?" Alexis's befuddled mind couldn't understand what Stefan's findings meant. "What difference does it make if he's alive or dead?"
Kevin, in full detective mode, answered. "It's possible he murdered little Daisy and has kept her spirit captive. She can't escape him, even in death." He winced, frowning into the blood-red liquid swirling in his glass.
She cried out, "Oh my God! Is it even possible to keep a spirit captive?" Alexis's voice rose in horror. "That poor child. How could things like this happen?" Alexis felt another of those solid foundation beliefs of life and death, that she'd always counted on, rock unsteadily. Abruptly, she said, "We have to help free her."
Both men looked at her, their faces stern but unsurprised. Stefan spoke first. "I wondered how long it would take you."
"We have to."
"We will. Don't worry, Alexis. We'll help her," Kevin said, his voice soothing and calm. "But we need to do it properly. This isn't something we can just jump into."
"Maybe but it feels like we need to move quickly." Tension gripped her. A sense of pressure built. From where? From the asshole? Or was she still experiencing that weird sense of disconnect from her body, from reality?
Everything had shifted. Changed. The rules she'd lived by had been wiped out in a single slash. This was a whole new game – again.
"The more you develop in this area, the more you'll see and experience what you'd believed was the impossible." Stefan looked over at Kevin. "That might explain Daisy's body."
Kevin studied him. "Meaning?"
"What if he did murder her, then following the burial proceedings, he stole her again for his own purposes? Perhaps he needs that physical connection or proximity to lock her down here with him? And no, I have no idea how. It shouldn't be possible, but…" Stefan held up his hand to forestall their exclamations. "I know it sounds 'out there.' But this case is beyond weird."
Twisting his head to the side, Kevin studied his friend. He nodded slowly. "I don't know how he's keeping her under his control, but if he needed her body to do so, then what you suggest, might be possible. It's also possible he just thought he needed her body. We have to consider there might be other victims. Or that as we now have her body, he might go after new victims."
A heavy silence filled the room.
"Would he have to have murdered her to be able to do this? Or could she have died accidentally?" Alexis hated the idea of the child suffering.
Stefan pondered the concept. "Could be either. He'd have to have
been close to her both physically and emotionally, I'd think, in order to have the connection he needed at her time of death. But I don't know for sure. This is a new one for me."
"If hers was an accidental death, it would explain why there's no file."
"Right, but there could be other reasons that you haven't found her in the files. For example, she may have been dead for much longer than ten years." Stefan continued, "That's just one possibility. What if she was murdered in Florida before being moved here? You'd have to contact every county in every state across the country."
"But that's not likely though, is it? Why or how, for that matter, would anyone move a dead body across the country?" Alexis stared first at one man and then at the other. "Surely, he wouldn't move it more than a short distance?"
"You forget, she's been embalmed, meaning she could travel for a longer time without the same level of decomposition that a newly deceased would have. He could have frozen her for a time. Even long enough to complete the move. After all this time, it would be hard to prove that action, either way."
The last vestiges of warmth left Alexis's face, leaving her chilled deep inside. Alexis's stomach heaved. How could someone be so evil? At least with death, a person's suffering was thought to be over. Should be over. She closed her eyes.
"Alexis." Kevin placed a comforting hand on her knee.
"I'm fine," she whispered after a moment. Opening her eyes, she found both men studying her, concern creasing their faces.
"I can't let him do this!" The words exploded from her unintentionally, but she meant them. She would not leave Daisy in the clutches of this maniac.
"Stopping him won't be easy," Kevin snapped. "You have no idea what we could be facing – how difficult this can be."
"Did you?" challenged Alexis. "Back when you first got into this stuff, did you really know what the hell you were in for?"
"More than you do. I'd already spent years in hell on the force. This only showed another dimension of the horror I'd seen many times before," he shot back. "You're an innocent. You don't have to let monsters into your world. Get out while you can."
"Can Daisy?"
Kevin glared at her. Alexis knew she'd brought up the one point Kevin couldn't argue. If they didn't help this child, who would? Quite possibly, there was no one else out there who could even understand…
"Damn it." Quiet acceptance whispered through the room.
A heavy sigh slipped from Stefan's chest. He straightened. "Then we have a lot of work to do."
***
It would be Kevin's pleasure to nail this bastard. But what if Stefan was right and Daisy hadn't died in the State of Oregon? A nationwide search could turn up thousands of cases. Kevin flung his pen down in frustration.
"Problems?" John Prescott, the mayor, stood in front of him – looking for all the world like a casual visitor, except for his white-knuckled grip on his briefcase.
"John. How are you?" Kevin half stood, reaching to shake his hand. Then he motioned to the empty chair in front of him. "What can I do for you?"
John fell into a defeated slump on the chair. "I'm glad you're here. Damn it, Kevin, I received another note, today."
"What?" At John's worried nod, Kevin held out his hand. "Where is it?"
The briefcase clicked open to reveal a Ziploc bag with the offending paper secured inside. It was small, printed on loose-leaf paper, written in block caps and very simple.
"Confess," Kevin read the single word aloud, in confusion. "That's it?" He looked over at John in disgust. "Whoever he is, he's not very imaginative."
"I couldn't care less about his creative writing ability. I just want him stopped!"
John's fear and outrage was palpable. Kevin felt the waves reaching across the desk, engulfing him. He found himself, not for the first time, studying John's face for signs of guilt, or at the very least, hidden knowledge. He could see nothing. Stumped, he stretched back and propped his feet on the desk. What the hell was going on here?
"I need you to put an end to this. Sandra doesn't know about these notes, and I don't want her to find out. You know she doesn't handle life well at the best of times. Damn it, we just straightened out her medications again." John's frustration dwindled down to fatigue. "Hell."
As he ran his hand over his face, it was evident the months of never-ending worry had worn him down. And his fragile wife was another big concern. John sat quietly, staring out the window for a few long minutes.
Kevin waited patiently, quietly observing the changing emotions on his friend's face.
"My son Charles turns thirty this weekend. The last thing we need is to have something go wrong at the huge gala event Sandra has spent months planning. It sounds like the whole damn town has been invited. It's been too much for her, but she insisted on doing this. I wonder if Charles even appreciates it?"
John got up and paced around the small office. His short steps clipped along in military style. "I was on my way to visit my brother Glen when I found this damn thing. Now I don't dare drive until I calm down. I'd probably get road rage and snap at some innocent," he said with a half-laugh.
Kevin watched calmly, though his senses peaked with curiosity. A little whisper of intuition spoke, telling him he should be noticing something more than the obvious. But what? A disgruntled father issue? A victim of blackmail issue? Or just a frustrated man with too much on his plate issue? Kevin looked up, ever watchful. "How is Glen doing?"
"Glen?" John shrugged. "He never changes. How can he, hooked to life support as he is? I should sign the damn papers to let him go, but I just can't, even if it's been almost seventeen years. If there's any chance he's in there still, I have to give him that chance. He's my brother and I love him. God, that was a tough time in my life."
Kevin couldn't imagine how devastating that car accident must have been for the whole family. John's brother, Glen, had been a vegetable ever since. John continued to visit faithfully, finding a measure of comfort in the contact. Who could blame him for keeping that relationship with his brother alive if he found comfort in it?
"At least you have him in a great home, where he receives round the clock care."
"True enough. He'd lived in Bradford for years. He never liked California. When we lucked out and found him this bed, there was no question it was what he'd want."
There was a moment of silence, then John faced Kevin, this time with a real smile. "Come to the party. You'll enjoy it. Besides, I'd feel better having you keep an eye on the proceedings, just in case…" He strode to the door. "Saturday afternoon. We'll see you then."
Kevin stared at the empty doorway. Something was wrong with this picture. But what?
Hell. The answer continued to elude him. With the note still in its plastic protector, he headed to the lab.
***
Alexis slumped against the large rock garden, too tired to get up. Content, she surveyed the last flower bed. She'd been practicing her plant-growing skills every day and could see the difference now. The flowers hummed with joy. Several people had stopped by the last few days to comment on the glorious colors of the blooms.
Scott walked up to her. "Glad to see the plants are reaping the benefits, lass." He turned his electric blue eyes on her and grinned. "Let me know when you're gonna move into the healing arts. Your work is a fine recommendation." Pure mischief gleamed down at her.
"What type of healing do you need, you big oaf?"
"Why, to heal my broken heart, of course, lassie. It's fair hurting with unrequited love."
She chuckled. "I doubt it. More like the legion of broken-hearted women you've left behind needs healing," she teased. Her colleague's attractiveness to women was legendary.
"What can a man do? There's so many women in want of a good loving. I'm helpless in front of their needs." His grin deepened as if caught in the memories of too many hot loving nights.
Amazed, Alexis savored the rare glimpse into the devastating attractiveness of her longtime friend. She shook her h
ead to clear her mind, with a new understanding as to why so many women willingly and easily took the walk into the night with Scott. It took her breath away.
"Whew. Scott, I feel like I barely escaped unscathed."
"And don't you be forgettin' it." He nodded sagely, his grin never dimming.
"Go on with you. Your ego needs no more stroking."
"True. I came to see if you were wanting to go for a pint?" He looked slyly at her from the corner of his eye, watching for her reaction.
Alexis looked up. He positively glowed with leprechaun anticipation.
"Right." She punched him lightly. "What's the matter? Are you between women right now? Has someone not succumbed to your legendary charm? You need me to keep you company? I know. You've met someone…"
Scott's face turned beet red.
Alexis stared at him in astonishment before collapsing on her back into the rich green grass. She howled with joy.
Scott glared down at her. "That's enough, that is."
"Not nearly!" Alexis tried to stop, but a few more chuckles slipped out. "How perfect. Even better, your reaction tells me she matters to you. So who is she?"
"What reaction?"
"Normally, you'd be laughing with me." Alexis smiled up at the big teddy bear. "Instead, you're embarrassed and uncomfortable. You care." Her lips twitched into a fat smile. "You're falling in love."
"I am naw!" He snapped out the words, horror in his eyes.
That did it, Alexis rolled around on the grass in delight.
"Stop that." His big mitt swatted at her playfully. "I'm not falling in love. I'm too old for such nonsense."
"You're never too old to fall in love. And it's bloody well time."
From her prone position on the grass, she watched a strange look of comprehension slide over his face. He hadn't known. He was beautiful, smart, and the best friend a girl could have, yet, he hadn't known what falling in love was like.
Truly, he deserved to find someone, and she was going to get a lot of mileage from it. Alexis grinned.