by Janean Worth
“Who is your companion,” Bella asked, jerking her head toward the woman in the passenger seat of the car, stalling while she tried to make up her mind. She had just escaped one set of kidnappers; she didn’t want to trade them so quickly for another.
She glanced over her shoulder, angling her head to catch a view of those men through the glass doors. They’d edged forward, and were standing very near the entrance, glaring at her with such malice that it made her skin crawl. Lucien stood at the forefront of the group, looking very, very angry.
“He is very angry, Bella,” the woman said, her face pinched with worry. “I am glad that you have not yet honed the ability to hear his thoughts, for they frighten even me.”
Bella shuddered, imagining the kind of thoughts Lucien might be having about her right at that moment.
She looked at the men gathered at the door a moment longer, recalling the sense of creeping evil that had hung like a pall inside the room. She shuddered again, remembering that strange feeling of malice as it had crawled over her and the intensity of the fear that had invaded her mind. She realized that just like the thought that the stalker had sent, the fear had not been her own, either. She felt a chill of remembered horror cool her sweat‑slicked skin, and knew that her choice was easy to make.
Bella stepped closer to the car.
“Okay, I’ll hear your explanation, and I hope it’s good. I’ve been feeling as if I need to reserve a room for myself in Bellevue all day.”
The man opened the passenger door for her and Bella slid inside the car. He shut the door behind her and moved quickly around to get into the driver’s seat.
Bella turned once more to look at the entrance to the building. None of the people had ventured outside yet, but more had gathered behind the glass. They glared at her, and Bella could almost feel the weight of their collective stares.
She shuddered and turned her attention back to the man.
“Let’s start with who you are, and why you’ve been spying on me,” Bella said as he started the car, revved the engine, and backed quickly out of his parking space. “And, can we stop by my apartment? I’d like to get back there before Lucien does. I think I’ll grab a few things and spend a couple of nights in a hotel, just to be safe.”
The woman swiveled around in her seat, her expression pained.
“Well, that may present a bit of a problem,” she said.
“Oh?” Bella asked, warning bells sounding in her head.
“Well, yes . . .”
“Why is that?” Bella asked, trying to keep her tone light, but failing miserably.
What next? she thought. What else could possibly happen today?
She glanced at the door beside her seat. It remained unlocked. That was good. It meant that she could bail out if she needed to at the next stoplight.
“Well, dear, it is no longer your apartment,” the woman told her. “And your things are no longer there.”
Chapter Twelve
Velma Stockton was feeling very sorry for Bella. The poor young woman had received shock after shock after shock today. And it wasn’t over yet.
She could hear the clarion of fear in the woman’s thoughts, and felt badly for it, but there had been no other choice. Once Bella had been taken by the Quislings, decisions had had to be made.
That’s why their organization had sent her along to assist David. She was good at making the hard decisions. Very, very good.
It was one of her gifts. Grace under pressure, she liked to call it.
“What do you mean, it’s no longer my apartment? Of course it is my apartment. And where would all of my things be, if they’re not in my apartment?” Bella was sounding angry, and Velma could hardly blame her after all that she’d been through.
“I know you’ve had a bad day, dear, but if you’ll just let me —
Bella cut her off before she could finish her sentence.
“A bad day? A bad day? No, no, this was not a bad day. A bad day is when your coffeemaker quits before work and you have to go to work with no caffeine. A bad day is when you rip your pants at work and can’t go home to change them until lunch. A bad day is when you eat sick shrimp for lunch and then can’t leave the bathroom for an entire evening. No, today was not a bad day. It was a horrible day. A mind‑bogglingly terrible day. I’ve seen things today that you wouldn’t believe. I’ve picked up a stalker, been kidnapped, lost my job, found out my new coworker thinks he owns me and wants me to join some psychotic cult and now you’re saying I no longer have an apartment and all of my stuff has gone missing?
“I didn’t say missing, dear,” Velma said at the same time David said, “I am not a stalker!”
Bella ignored David, giving him a scowl.
“If not missing, then what?” she said.
“We had it all relocated. The whole lot. All of it. And it’s safe, don’t worry. We also paid the remainder of your lease in full and told your landlords—sweet people, really—that it would be fine to rent your apartment again as soon as possible. They were, of course, overjoyed, seeing as how they have a two-year waiting list for tenants. They said they could have that apartment rented by the end of the day. ”
Velma could see Bella’s jaw bunch as she tried to hold in her words. Her efforts were for nothing, though, since Velma could hear the young woman’s thoughts as clearly as if she had spoken them aloud.
Of all the nerve! Who does she think she is? And how could Mr. and Mrs. Cooper just let them take my things and terminate my lease like that? Is that even legal? Maybe she’s lying. Maybe they just don’t want to take me back to my apartment.
“Bella, we’ve done this all in your own best interests. You said yourself that you didn’t think you’d be safe there since Lucien also lives in the building now. And, when we visited the Coopers, we removed a compulsion that Lucien had implanted in their minds, and he’s sure to be even angrier about that, since he no longer lives in his apartment, either. However, if you’d like, we can take you by and you can verify with your former landlords that the lease has been paid in full. It would have to be quick, so we won’t chance meeting up with Lucien and I’d caution you against alarming the Coopers in any way. We do not want to draw the attention of the police. It is enough that we have drawn the notice of the Quislings once again.”
“Fine, fine, I get it. You can read my thoughts, too. So, no privacy for me, huh? But you both can just sit up there, secure in the knowledge that I have no idea what you’re thinking!”
“Shielding your thoughts is a skill you will need to learn. In fact, it is the first skill you will be taught if you decide to join our organization,” David said.
He switched lanes and glanced back at her in the rearview mirror.
“If you want to go by your apartment to verify what Velma has told you, I need to know now. The turn for Main Street is just ahead.”
Bella’s conflicting and emotional thoughts were truly painful to hear. Velma tried her best to shut them out, but the young woman was still so upset by the trials of the day that her strong emotions projected her jumbled thoughts loudly.
Chapter Thirteen
Bella frowned, trying to think nothing at all while at the same time wondering what she should do. She didn’t want them to know her thoughts, but at the same time, she couldn’t stop thinking about this latest bit of news that the woman had provided.
Her life was in a shambles. All of her plans for a happy future had walked out the door with Derek. She had no job, no family, and very few close friends—and none who were close enough that she’d want to burden them with the strange events of the day—and if she could believe the woman, she had no place to live anymore, either. She felt stripped bare, as if the day had taken everything from her. She hoped that her savings was still in her bank, otherwise, she didn’t know what she’d do.
The woman cleared her throat, and there was a long pause, as if she had something to say but didn’t want to say it. Finally, she sighed and started talking again.
“And that’s the other thing, Bella. As soon as they’d kidnapped you for ‘reprogramming,’ they also hijacked and modified your identity and drained all of your accounts, siphoning off your funds to use for their organization. They have those among them who have the ability for a bit of illusion, so it was quite easy for one of those individuals to take on your image and withdraw your funds from your accounts. Especially after they had your identification, which they took from your purse when you were kidnapped.”
Bella’s heart seemed to stutter in her chest. All of her savings, gone? The money she’d worked years to make, her nest egg for the future . . . it wasn’t there anymore? What was she to do now?
And wasn’t this all so very convenient for the two in the front seat of the car? If she had nothing—no job, no money, no apartment, no one who cared about her—then wouldn’t it seem as if she had to join these people who were so kindly offering their aid?
From the front seat, the woman answered her as if she’d spoken aloud, “Yes, Bella, but that was their goal, not ours. With you completely at their mercy, what choice would you have but to marry Lucien and accept the membership into their organization?”
Bella frowned, trying to sort it all out. It was all so convoluted. She didn’t know whom to trust.
“So, if you weren’t taking me back to my apartment—because it is no longer my apartment—then where were you taking me?” she asked.
“We were going to take you to a coffee shop, have a long talk, explain ourselves, and then, with your agreement, we’d like to take you to our organization’s compound. It’s a very long drive, so we thought some caffeine might help keep us all awake overnight. The compound is where we have had your things moved. We have a place for you there.”
Bella held back a snarl. “That was a little presumptuous, don’t you think?”
“Action had to be taken, Bella,” Velma said. “Now that they’ve made their first move, the Quislings will not stop trying to gain your abilities for their own.”
“What abilities?” Bella asked, nearly shouting. “I don’t have any special abilities!”
Instead of answering, David sighed loudly, meeting her gaze in the rearview mirror.
“I’m sorry, Bella. I’ve made a mess of things,” David said quietly.
Velma reached out a reassuring hand, placing it on David’s arm, as if comforting him in some way.
“You do have abilities, Bella,” Velma explained. “Just as we do. They’re a gift, from the Lord. Everyone has been gifted in one way or another, and all gifts are different. The Lord, in His infinite wisdom, knows exactly what gifts will serve us best before we are even born. Through Him, your gifts can grow stronger. And, some fortunate few are even allowed to catch a glimpse of the supernatural realm that exists all around us. To see the angels and evil spirits. Few in the world receive gifts such as these, Bella, and you are one of the lucky people who have.”
“But, the Lord also allows us all free choice, so the gifts we have been blessed with can be used to serve Him, or they can be used for evil and self‑serving gains,” David said.
“You have been blessed with several very powerful gifts. And they have only recently begun to show themselves. These gifts have put you on the radar, so to speak, for supernatural forces and for those whose gifts allow them to see into the supernatural world,” Velma explained.
“So, you’re saying that Lucien, and the Quislings . . . they’ve been gifted too, and they’ve chosen to use their gifts for evil purposes?”
“Yes, quite evil, dear,” Velma said.
“And you don’t? You use your gifts for good? Is that right?” Bella asked.
“That’s right, dear, we don’t use our gifts for self‑serving or evil purposes. Our gifts are only used to further His Kingdom,” Velma assured her.
Bella didn’t know what to say. These people sounded as crazy as Lucien had sounded down in that stark basement. The only difference was that Bella felt no evil emanating from them, and her instincts urged her to trust them.
“There’s a Starbucks just ahead. And it looks like it’s still open. Do you want to stop?” David asked, cutting into the uncomfortable conversation.
Bella glanced behind them, a spike of fear jolting through her as she again recalled the malefic atmosphere that had seemed to permeate the building that the Quislings had taken her to.
“Maybe we could just go through the drive ‑ thru?” she said.
“So you’ve decided to go with us to the compound? To join us? So easily? You don’t need to talk about it?”
“That depends upon where it is. But I’d still like some coffee.”
“Unfortunately, we can’t tell you where it is until you’ve arrived. And, once you’ve arrived, you’ll have to stay for a while—at least until you’ve learned to shield your thoughts. It’s much too dangerous for us otherwise.”
Oh, well, that didn’t sound ominous at all, did it? Bella thought, and then tried quickly to unthink it. She wasn’t sure how to withdraw a thought from existence, so she just tried thinking of something else. Something benign. Roses. Kittens. Trees. Clouds.
She wasn’t sure if it worked, but she thought she saw a smirk twist up the corner of David’s mouth, so she was fairly certain that he’d read those thoughts, too.
She frowned. He thought it was funny? It was NOT funny!
Another thought occurred to her, and she tried her best to hide it, tamp it down, bury it under a million images of cute, cuddly, furry kittens, but still he seemed to know it before it was even fully formed.
“There is no need to leap out of the car at the drive‑thru and make a run for it, Bella. I can pull over here if you’d like. You’re free to leave Velma and me whenever you want. At least, until we arrive at our compound, and then you’ll have to stay a while until you learn how to protect the secret of its location within your mind.”
Bella sighed. She hated this mind‑reading thing. But she really wanted to put some distance between herself and Lucien and those Quislings. She never wanted to feel the kind of fear she’d felt inside that building ever again.
“Fine, coffee it is, and I’ll decide on the drive whether or not I’ll join your ‘organization’.”
Chapter Fourteen
Bella sat in the back seat sipping her mocha double chocolate chip and nibbling at her lemon cake while David drove them out of Portland. Night had set in, shrouding the landscape in darkness, but as Bella stared out the window of the sports car, she was sure that she saw red‑eyed shadows everywhere in the night. As they passed by in the car, Bella could see them clearly. The shadows seemed to be meandering the busy sidewalks near pedestrians, crouching inside cars next to drivers and passengers, crowded up against patrons in busy restaurants.
To her eyes, they seemed to be everywhere that people were. After the events of the day, she no longer questioned whether she was crazy, or whether they were real. She now knew that they were. And she was slowly coming to terms with it. Slowly.
David and Velma seemed content to let her stew in her own thoughts as they drove toward the compound that would be her strange new home for the next few months if she chose.
She wasn’t sure that she was ready for that, but, if she were honest with herself, she really didn’t have much of a choice. With no money and no place to live, what else could she do but rely on their offer?
She’d borrowed one of their cell phones earlier, and, while waiting in the drive‑thru line at Starbucks, she’d called the Coopers and verified that her lease had indeed been paid in full and that her apartment was already rented out again. After hanging up, she’d logged in to her online banking accounts and checked the balance. Both her checking and her savings were empty. So, she really was very much at their mercy. She couldn’t even begin to fathom where else she’d get help if she decided to leave their company and rebuffed their offer of membership into their organization.
“Now, dear, that’s not—” Velma began, but she was
interrupted by David.
“Let Bella think, Velma. She needs to sort this out on her own.”
Bella scoffed silently. They already knew what she was thinking, so what did it matter if they let her do it in silence?
She wasn’t used to this level of mental intimacy with anyone. She had always been very careful what she did and did not allow herself to say to people. She only allowed the thoughts that she had to pass her lips on rare occasion. Now, with the two of them able to read every single thought, it was as if her very soul was laid bare to for their perusal. She didn’t like it. Not one bit.
“No, go on, what were you going to say, Velma?” she asked, knowing that speaking was unnecessary, at least on her part, but doing it anyway because it seemed normal. And, today, she liked normal more than she ever had before. In fact, she dearly missed normal and desperately wanted it back.
“I was going to say that you do have a choice. We can relocate you to any city in the United States if you wish. You will not be forced to join our organization. We even have a special fund that we use for relocations, which we will happily give to you so that you can start over without financial hardship. The choice is entirely yours, Bella.”
That was good to know, Bella thought, but what she really wanted to know was how to keep her thoughts to herself. She didn’t like that David and Velma could read her mind, but it made her slightly ill to think of men like Lucien being able to read her every thought, too.
“You haven’t ever told me what the name of your organization is. And what it is exactly that they do.”
“We are called the Invisible,” David said, just a slight note of pride in his voice. “And we do many things. Mostly, we use God’s goodness to fight the evil that permeates the world.”
“And we seek out others, such as you, whenever our sources indicate that one of you may be coming into your abilities. That is when you are most vulnerable to the Quislings.”