Straight ahead are stairways that lead up and down. The floor directly above me is split into two wings, one for the boys and one for the girls. Each wing has community bathrooms and showers. The third floor housed the live-in staff, each with their own private facilities.
The basement was filled with classrooms on either side of its central hallway during the years the Catholic school owned the property, but when Blackwell took over, he converted them into holding cells for some of the more unstable residents.
Below the basement lies the subbasement and my destination. Several rooms are located on that level including the one that houses the school and orphanage records. However, the room I’m most interested in is the chapel.
I descend the first flight of stairs and am on the landing between the first floor and basement when I hear a loud bang come from above. My heart gallops in my chest and I freeze. Should I ascend or descend? A shout from above followed by a thunderous boom, a loud gasp, and a sickening thud make my mind up for me.
I descend the second flight of stairs and probe my way down the hallway with Esther. The first several doors I try are locked, but the second one on the left isn’t. The door moans when I push it open, but not enough to attract attention. I slip inside the room and leave the door cracked so I can hear if someone approaches.
Scraaape!
The sound reminds me of a heavy object being dragged across the floor. It came from the floor above.
Scraaape!
I stand beside the door and hold Esther like a club. My legs tremble and my pulse races.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
I hold my breath, fearing it will attract attention.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
The sound grows louder with each thud.
Scraaape! Scraaape! Scraaape!
I’d give anything right now to have my sight back.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
I soon realize that something is being dragged down the stairs. But what is it and by whom?
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Maybe it’s the creepy location, but I can’t help thinking it’s a body. The scraping and thudding continue but the sounds are fading. They must be headed to the subbasement.
I lower Esther, open the door, and step into the hallway. Only the scraping sound continues, but it’s muffled through the floor. I step forward and my shoe catches on something and throws me off-balance. I thrust the end of Esther into the floor to keep myself from faceplanting. It works, but the thunderous noise it creates is deafening.
Way to make an entrance, Alice.
It takes me a moment to realize that something quite unexpected is happening. I see a blue circle of light expanding from the point of impact. It crackles and pops like static electricity as it grows ever wider. The floors, walls, doors, and everything else around me light up in my mind like wireframe mesh 3D models. Then my brain begins filling in the mesh with colors and textures and shadows from my memories until the picture is complete. It all happens in the blink of an eye.
Chills envelop me. I turn and can see in every direction. I look down to see what tripped me but it’s only a smudge on the floor. I bend down and touch the dark spot. An old nail head. The smudge morphs into a nail head. “My God…”
I head back down the hallway and to the stairs that lead down to the subbasement. Below the floor that I stand on there is nothing but complete darkness. An inky void into nothing. My vision as it is. I go back over to the room I’d hidden in and open the door wide. A small portion of the floor exists inside the room but then it turns to perfect darkness as well.
I surmise that this ability of Esther only reveals what I can see from where I’m standing and that my brain only fills in what it knows. The other thing I notice is that I feel weaker than I did before it happened. I recall what Rico told me about the energy Esther uses. My energy. I must be strategic in how I use it.
I grab ahold of the railing and descend into the subbasement. It’s cooler down here than it was upstairs and smells a bit earthy and musty. I remember how hard it was to traverse the subbasement when I could see, so my chances of getting to the chapel unscathed are slim. Not only that, but I know someone’s down here. I must use Esther again and pray that I have enough energy left to take on the Braille Killer when I find him.
I exhale, raise Esther, and strike the floor with her. Again, I see blue sparks, a circle of blue light, and meshing. My brain fills in the details with my memories.
I turn around and there’s a dark smudge less than a foot away from me. I start to reach toward it but hesitate. It looks like a large human form.
“Hello, Alice.”
In an instant, my mind fills in the details.
Garlic, pickles, and cigarettes.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
I rouse to a dark world and a splitting headache. The left side of my face is throbbing, and my jaw feels like it’s out of place. My mouth tastes of blood and my lower lip is swollen. Pine-scented candles permeate the air and fill my nostrils, but their scent isn’t strong enough to fully mask the nidorous odor beneath it.
I lie on my back on a cold and rough surface. Concrete? I push myself up and into a sitting position. Why am I on the floor?
A heavy haze distorts my mind and I can’t recall where I am or what day it is. But then he speaks. “Welcome to my sanctuary, Alice.” His voice reverberates in my chest and sparks my fear. “I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time. I’d begun to wonder if you’d ever show up.”
Sunday. The orphanage.
I work my jaw back and forth. It’s stiff but doesn’t seem to be broken or dislocated. “I’m here now.”
“Yes you are. And you were foolish enough to bring your partner as well.”
The contents in my stomach curdle. “Seth?”
Seth doesn’t respond.
“Don’t waste your breath. He can’t hear you.”
Fire rages in my heart. “What have you done to him you bastard?” I roll over and onto my hands and knees.
“He’s a bit incapacitated right now, but otherwise unharmed.”
The thought of Seth dead because of me tortures my soul. “Let him go and I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Ah, you see, therein lies the problem. You’re in no position to bargain. This is my dominion. I make the rules here.”
I sit back on my feet. “What do you want from me?”
“Come now, Alice. Don’t play the fool. You know what I want. You’ve always known. Now come forward and make your confession to me.”
I try to stand but my legs are weak. I probe the floor with my hands, but Esther isn’t there. “What’ve you done with my cane?”
I hear her familiar tap ahead of me. “You must earn it. Crawl to me if you must, but don’t tarry. I’ve got a schedule to keep.”
To my left I find a pew and use it to pull myself up. I turn to my right and hobble toward the front of the chapel, using the pews to keep my balance and bearing. By the time I reach the front pew some of my strength has returned.
“Now what?”
“Get on your knees, confess your sin, and beg me for mercy.”
I kneel, and it sickens me, and the words that spew from my mouth taste like vomit on my tongue. “I admit it. I pushed Denise over the banister. I killed her. It should’ve been me that died that day. God, I am sorry. Please forgive me. I beg of you, show me mercy, Russell.”
Whoosh!
Esther slams into my left side and sends me crashing to the floor. I grit my teeth and stifle a scream as pain shoots up both of my arms and into my shoulders. My arms go numb.
He stands over me, nothing but a darker shadow. “You’re unworthy to speak my name you blind freak.”
I cower and protect my head with my arms. “Why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do to you?”
“You took everything from me!” Spittle rains on me.
He uses his foot to turn me onto my back, but I keep my arms over my face. “All I ever wanted was to be with a girl, but my father made sure that it would never be with a normal one. No one with sight would ever look past my scarred face.
“Ten years ago, Denise was in love with a blind girl who turned out to be the same girl I was tasked to kill. She thought that I could be with someone blind because they wouldn’t care what I looked like. Two birds with one stone. Figured I’d give it a go.”
He kicks me in the ribs. Bones crack and I double over, the pain so intense I can’t breathe. “You ruined it all. Your vile, deformed blindness left me impotent. Right then I knew that something as disgusting as you could never give me pleasure.”
Somehow, I manage to find my voice through the pain. “Then why have you raped the other girls? And why were you tasked to kill me? I don’t understand.”
“Rape them? You know that’s untrue. At least not sexually. What I do to them is punishment for your sins. They receive all that you deserve.”
“If we disgust you so much then why didn’t you get together with Denise? Didn’t you love each other?”
He retreats several steps. “Even your mind is deformed, you filthy whore! What kind of sick, twisted person would want to be with their sister?”
Sister? She couldn’t have been by blood. I need to find a way to get to him, so I adapt to his twisted way of thinking. “You’re right, I’m nothing more than a whore but there must be hope for me yet. Tell me what to do. How can I make this right?”
“You killed the only person that ever loved me for who I was. I want you to feel the same kind of loss that I felt. You’re going to kill your partner.”
Seth… Love of my life. “I’d rather die than do that.” I find strength in my defiance and manage to sit up.
“If you refuse to do what I ask, I’ll kill everyone that means anything to you, starting with your partner. I’ll remove every appendage, one by one, until he finally bleeds to death. Next, I’ll put the true fear of God into your dear old mother before I quarter her alive. Then I’ll move on to… what do you call her? Ah, yes, Vee. I’ll get her and her little dog too. Ever seen someone torn apart by wild pigs? You will. You’ll miss nothing.”
I’m not the only one he’s watched.
Each breath sends shards of pain into my left lung, but I fight through it for Seth. “Even if I agreed to do what you’re asking of me how would I kill him?”
“I’ve taken the liberty of stringing him up like a piñata. It’s your job to take your cane and beat him to death with it.”
“And what if it doesn’t kill him?”
“I won’t let you stop until he’s dead.”
I rise to my knees. “And if I do this, you’ll leave me alone and stop killing blind girls?”
“I give you my word. Not another girl will die.”
He said nothing of leaving me alone, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing from his mouth speaks of truth.
I stare at my hands. “These hands… they’ve killed once before. But Seth?” I wail, half in earnest. “What choice do I have? One life for many…”
“That’s the spirit. Now get up.”
I stand but putting pressure on my left leg sends pain coursing through my entire body. He pokes me in the stomach and I realize that it’s Esther’s end. I take hold of her and the opposite end drops to the ground. I turn her around and lean on her.
“Where is Seth?”
“He’s four feet straight ahead of you. Don’t even think about taking your time. Every blow better be as hard as you can swing that cane, or I’ll beat you with it again.”
I step forward, pretend to stumble, and slam Esther’s end into the floor. Blue light and crackling air expand in a circle. In an instant the room comes to life in my mind’s eye, filled in with details from my photographic mind.
Four columns rise two stories to meet the arched ceiling. Seven small, stained-glass windows stretch across the top of the front wall, each depicting a head from a prominent person from the bible. The center window depicts the head of Jesus Christ wearing his crown of thorns.
A communion table sits to my left and several dark, narrow smudges rise from it. An eight-foot-tall crucifix stands straight in front of me, but most of its vertical beam is smudged with darkness. I know that darkness must be Seth, but the smudge doesn’t fill in like the nail did on the floor upstairs. It takes several moments for my brain to make sense of what I’m looking at before the picture in my mind completes itself. Seth hangs upside-down on the crucifix.
I crumble to my knees, weakened both in spirit and in body. I look behind me. Russell stands a good five feet away. His scarred, demonic face and his tan, rubber-soled boots are the only things I see in my mind when I look at him.
He doesn’t move to stop me, and I wonder if I’m the only one who sees the light and hears the crackling air.
Russell snarls. “Get back on your feet and fulfill your penance.”
It takes every ounce of willpower and strength to rise again but I do. I move forward, my hand outstretched and probing the air even though I can see. I reach Seth and rest my hand on his cheek. Blue light flows from Seth’s cheek and into my hand, restoring some of my energy. I stagger back a step. What did I just do?
“Now, Alice.” Malice warps his voice.
I look down at my shoulder. “Can I at least say goodbye?”
“And why would I allow you to do that? You took Denise from this world without a moment’s thought.”
“But you’re better than me. You exude mercy where I have none. You’re a righteous man and I’m a weak and sinful woman. Show me mercy this one last time and I’ll give you my life. I’ll do anything you ask. You’ll be a god to me and I will serve you in any way you see fit.”
“I am merciful, but I’m not stupid. Do as you’re told.”
I step back a couple feet, turn to the side, and raise Esther over my shoulder. “I’m sorry, but it must be this way. You shouldn’t have come here, Seth. Now you must die.”
Seth moans. “Alice? What happened?”
“Yes, yes. Do it!” Russell moves into my peripheral view, a shadowy smudge. “Bash his skull in. Make him bleed the way Denise did.”
A plan formulates in my mind, but Seth won’t like it. I yell at the top of my lungs like a warrior in battle, arch back and swing Esther full-force at Seth’s thigh. She connects with a sickening thwack and Seth yells.
Russell moves closer, his eyes locked on Seth. “Lower! Aim for his head. I want to hear the crunch.”
I arch back to take a big swing and turn the top of Esther counterclockwise ninety degrees. Esther glows blue and crackles. Russell turns toward me, but I’ve already committed. I press the button atop Esther and swing her at him with everything I have as I lunge forward.
Russell’s eyes widen, and he raises his arm to block the blow, but it makes little difference. Esther morphs into a whip and strikes with such force that it rips into Russell’s arm and cracks bone.
Russell’s scream echoes through the chapel, but then blue sparks ignite the air and thunder crashes, drowning him out. Russell flies backward, toppling several rows of pews, and comes to a rest atop them. He groans but doesn’t move.
I turn Esther’s top back ninety degrees clockwise and she ceases to glow. I walk over to Russell, but he doesn’t even attempt to move. He breathes raggedly.
My father’s words rise in my mind and I can’t help but wonder if they’re true. You must kill to regain your sight. Had it been Denise’s death that gave me vision ten years ago and not the blow to the head that I suffered? Or something else? Will my vision truly be restored if I take Russell’s life? Can I take his life?
I reach into my shirt and take out the cross pendant that hangs from my neck. I wrap my fingers around
it, close my eyes, and hold it tight. This man doesn’t deserve to live.
My entire body quakes as I relive the last minutes of Sarah’s and Cara’s lives once again. Then my mind takes me back to the mill and Yolanda’s stitched-open eyes. He forced her to watch him rape and maim and kill her precious daughter.
Fury swells in my chest, burns within my heart, and begs to be released. I stare at Russell, the man who ruined my life, and feel nothing but hate for him. “You’re a monster and monsters don’t deserve to live.”
I wrap Esther around Russell’s throat and hold both ends loosely. One strong tug and I could end his life. “It’s time to put you down, you bastard.” I spit in his face.
His lips curl into a snarl. “I’ll admit that I didn’t see the cane thing coming. You certainly surprised me with that. You’re full of surprises, but we both already knew that.”
I glare at him. “That’s it? No begging for your life?”
His eyes are cold and without fear. “I will tell you one thing. You’ll never find the next girl in time.”
My pulse kicks into overdrive. The next girl?
I twist Esther tighter. “Tell me where the girl is, and I might let you live.”
Russell coughs. “You still don’t get it, do you Alice?”
“Alice!”
I look up. How had I forgotten about Seth?
“We need him alive.”
I turn my attention back on Russell and fight the urge to end him. “What is there to get? You’re a sick bastard who likes to kill little girls because you can’t get it up. You need to torture them because you were tortured, and they must be blind so that they don’t see your ugly face. Did I miss anything?”
Russell laughs and chokes on his own spit and blood. “Vision or not, you’ll always be blind to the truth.”
I loosen Esther. “Then explain it to me. Help me understand what I’m missing. What is your grand plan? To become famous? Isn’t that what you psychos always want? To be understood and heralded as some great mastermind?” I spit on him again. “No, this has been personal from the beginning.”
The Braille Killer (An Alice Bergman Novel Book 1) Page 30