by R. J. Lloyd
He fell to his knees, a puddle of blood blooming beneath him. “But…”
“Shhhh…” She kissed the top of his head.
He wrapped his arms around her waist and laid his head on her stomach. “I only ever wanted you and him to love me.”
“We do.” She choked back tears, head back, eyes closed, not wanting to look at him. “He loved you enough to make you a part of all of this, and I love you enough to end it all so you can move on and be a part of everything. So you can finally rest.”
His body sagged as his energy left his materialized presence. She knelt down, lowering him into her lap as she sat on the ground next to him. “I will make it right, Mitchell. I will do what I can to right all of this.” She kissed his forehead gently. “Let go and finally rest. You deserve to do this for you, not more for him.”
He tried to reach up for her, but his arm dropped. A slight gurgling sound came from the back of his throat. “Love you, Eva. I’m so Sorry.”
“I know.”
Twenty-Six
Ian
“What do you mean, calm down?” Ian paced the living room.
Night had fallen, and nobody had figured out what to do next. Eva simply vanished. In the middle of her anger, she had left, stating she was going to put a stop to everything but not explaining any plan. That left Ian, Michelle and Kyle fearing for Eva in addition to still being scared and furious over Mitchell.
“We will find her.” Kyle put an arm around Michelle. “Where do you think she would have gone?”
“I don't know!” Ian shouted.
“Yelling isn't going to help. Calm down and think.” Michelle waved a hand.
“You know her, too. Where do you think she went?” Ian growled.
Michelle glanced back and forth between the two men. “If my guess is right, she went after Mitchell and Stanley directly.”
He stopped. “By herself?” He thought about his own question. “Yeah. By herself. Of course. She wouldn’t want either of you in harm’s way. If she gave us the option, she knows I wouldn’t let her go without me. But she wouldn’t want you two there or here without someone to guard you.”
“Dreams,” Michelle blurted out.
“Dreams?” Kyle repeated.
She sat on the edge of the couch. “Yes. It’s night time. You two used to meet up in your dreams. I would bet you anything if you’ve not heard from her with your mental talk or whatever by now, she can’t, and she will try to sleep tonight to communicate with you that way. She knows you’re freaking out. She will feel bad and will want you at least updated so you know if she’s safe or not.”
Ian glanced at the clock. “But what if she can’t sleep?”
“You won’t know unless you try.” Michelle ran out of the room, returning with her fist closed. “Take these.”
Ian held his hand out. “Sleeping pills?”
“Yep.” She dropped the two white pills into his palm. “Kyle and I will take shifts and wake you if anyone shows up here.”
Kyle stood. “I’ll take first shift.”
Ian downed the pills and retired to his bedroom, checking
the doors and windows to ensure they were locked and curtains closed along the way. He didn’t think he would easily fall asleep, even with the medicated help, knowing how much his brain was reeling, worrying about Eva. But it wasn't long before his eyelids felt like they were made of lead, and his consciousness drifted away.
“Ian?”
He looked around as his vision cleared. “Eva?”
He felt her wrap her arms around him before he could see her. They were in their usual spot. It was a welcomed place to see from everything in the waking world.
Her face was buried in his chest. “I knew you’d know to meet me here.”
“Actually, Michelle suggested it. You threw me into a panic. I could barely think to do anything but pace and almost throw up.” He pushed her back slightly and looked her over. “Are you okay? Where are you?”
She paused, searching his eyes for a long moment.
“Eva?”
She let go of him and stumbled back several paces.
“Eva, please.”
She swallowed hard. “I killed him.”
“What?” It was his turn to grip her.
“Mitchell. I killed him. He’s dead.”
“Did he hurt you? Where are you? Let me come to you, or you come to me.”
She shook her head. “I’m in the lab.”
He stopped her. “Get out of there!”
“I can’t.”
His fists balled. “Is Stanley keeping you there? Are you trapped?”
She sat in one of the chairs at a nearby table. “I need you to calm down.”
“How the hell do you expect me to calm down? Why does everyone think I should so easily just calm down? If you killed Mitchell, then Kyle and Michelle are safe. Let me help you at least, if you won’t just come home.” He was back to pacing.
“Right now, I’m hiding in one of the rooms. I’m not sure anyone knows I’m here. There’s so much to tell you, but this is a dream, so who knows how much time we have. Basically, when I got here, Mitchell had tracked down Ethan Warner. He killed Ethan with some disk thing he put to his head. I bet that's how he killed Jason.”
Ian’s stomach churned. “A disk? There’s a disk that can kill us?”
She interrupted. “That’s not even the worst part.”
“How is that not the worst part of this? He can kill us all!” Ian threw his arms in the air.
“No. He can’t, Ian. He’s dead.”
He bowed his head. “Oh. Yeah. Sorry.”
“Before he died, he told me what his surprise was.” She walked over to the window in the front of the room and stared out. “He had kidnapped Ethan's daughter, murdered her and materialized her so she could be his and my daughter.”
“What?” The word came out as a breath.
She felt the same sick feeling wash over her as she did when Mitchell first told her. “I have to go in there. I’d bring you here, but these rooms are blocked. I can’t use any powers. I wasn't sure I’d make it here when I went to sleep. But I promise I will call out to you once I’m in a part of the building I can reach out to you. But I can’t let this continue. And I can’t leave that poor girl here.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I am going after Stanley,” she stated bluntly.
“Stanley?” he asked.
She felt that usual tug as her consciousness was being pulled out of the dream. “I’ll call out. Listen for me.”
“I will.” He stole one single kiss before she disappeared.
After Eva had vanished, Ian sat in the dream world for what seemed to be days. Knowing how the alternate world could skew time still didn't make it any easier when he was worried he might miss her attempt to reach out to him. When he woke, he jumped up and ran to the bathroom. Splashing water on his face, Ian cleaned up, changed and practically inhaled breakfast as he called out to Kyle and Michelle and filled them in on everything. They paused when he told them about Mitchell and the little girl, which made the blow of her having killed him less of a shock.
“Good. He deserved what came to him.” Kyle snarled.
Michelle opened her mouth to speak, and closed it again.
“She’s going to need us. We can’t see what she did as wrong. He would have killed you both. He’s already murdered who knows how many people.” Ian patted her hand. “Besides, I can only imagine that Eva saw it as her giving him peace.”
She took in a sharp breath. “Oh. I don’t disagree with what she did. I just feel bad that she had to be the one to do it. She won’t take it lightly.”
His posture sank slightly. “I know. But we will deal with that later.”
“What now?” Michelle asked.
Ian tilted his head.
“Ian?” Kyle started to stand.
Twenty-Seven
The stand.
The search.
The choice.
Ian blinked when he realized he was no longer looking at Kyle and Michelle in his kitchen, but, rather, Eva. She riffled through drawers and cabinets in a small room. “Where are we?”
She didn’t look up. “Mitchell’s room.”
“Mitchell’s room? Why?”
She paused her search. “Files. He took all the files, and I need to find them. I also want to see if he has any others.”
He touched her shoulder. “He’s dead. Let’s go. We’re free now.”
She shot up. “No. We’re not. Stanley is still alive, murdering, being the ring leader for this whole thing. And on top of that, how many lost souls are in here and out there? Can you imagine that? We can’t just let them stay lost.”
“But we can’t save everyone, Eva.” He sank back against the wall.
Her voice cracked. “But we can try. And we can stop Stanley.”
“Stanley. Yes. We can stop him.” He gripped her arms and turned her to face him. “I will help you stop him, but then we need to move on, Eva. We can’t keep chasing ghosts figuratively or literally. At some point, we need to just move on.”
She yanked out of his hands. “Let me find these files, and then we will go after him. After that, we can talk.”
He could see she was not going to let up on her stance. “Okay.”
The couple scoured the room and found every file they could. Once they had all they could find rounded up, Eva transported the pages to their house, tucking them safely in the office before returning to Mitchell’s room and Ian. She pulled out Mitchell’s key card, and they started going through the rooms, peeking in each window to see what they were encountering first. Many were empty offices. Several more had one person of varying degrees of stability. Then, there were the lab rooms. In the fourth work room, they found Stanley pouring over some books, notepads and a device that sent a bolt of electricity upward every time he touched a finger pad.
Ian reached for the door, but Eva stopped him. “Wait.”
He was still grasping the handle. “Why?”
“Are you sure you want to be a part of this? I mean, he was a father figure to you for years. I am going to kill him. Do you really want to see this, much less participate?” Slowly, she lifted her hand off his.
Ian watched Stanley as he worked, alone in the lab, oblivious to the two people standing at the glass door only a short distance away, plotting his demise. “You watched your father get murdered.”
She leaned into his line of sight. “Right. Watched.”
He let out a breath. “This man is not the man I’ve known for years. He is a psychopath. And he killed you… us. This man deserves the same fate as Mitchell and Marcus.”
She hugged him. “Let’s end this.”
Ian shoved open the door, breaking Stanley’s reverie. “Hey, professor.”
“Well, if the prodigal daughter and her puppy haven’t come home.” He sneered.
“Screw you,” Ian shot back.
“Prodigal Daughter??” Eva rounded the table. “I'm not your prodigal anything.”
“Nobody else has ever been as gifted as my son. I suppose he made up in abilities what he lacked in being able to stay stable in society. But you, Eva, you are so much more in abilities, strength and stability. That's why you two make such a great couple. Don’t get me wrong. You’ve done a fine job with Ian. But really? He's beneath you.”
“Your son? He’s gone,” Eva spat.
“Gone?” He laughed nervously. “He will be back soon. He’s just rounding up some lost cattle.”
“Gone as in dead, Stanley. Dead for good. I killed that insane bastard.” She looked at her own hands, still in shock. “I killed him.”
He started shaking. “Well, good riddance. He's been nothing more than a needy whelp since he was born. Now I can focus on you. And, if you like, Ian. He can be your new catalyst.”
“Catalyst?”
“Yes. Mitchel’s powers didn't start until you fed them to him. It was the mixing of both of your energies that allowed for him to gain abilities,” Stanley explained. “You see, none of the others could do anything more than semi-materialize until we figured out that combining their energies is what allowed them to get stronger. Well, except for you. You seem to come with your own battery pack. So, when you pair with someone, you…” He smiled at his thoughts, proud of whatever he envisioned. “You are your own being, surpassing all of our expectations. You just keep growing stronger and stronger with or without someone to feed you. But having someone makes it even more.”
Eva and Ian exchanged looks. They processed the concept, but Ian wasn't swayed. “We can figure all that out later. We can’t detour from our plan.”
“And what is this plan?” Stanley asked, condescendingly.
Eva picked up one of the utensils from the counter and started for him. “Killing you and putting an end to all of this.”
Stanley laughed as he stumbled back. “You think killing me will stop this?”
“Yes. Since you seem to be the ringleader.” Ian crossed his arms.
“Oh, my boy. You don't know anything.” Stanley held a hand out to Eva. “Killing me won’t stop this.”
“But it will stop a portion of it.” She lunged at him. “And it will give us some closure.”
He covered his head with his arms, bracing for the blow, but Eva was knocked out of her path by a young girl. They both crashed into the wall and fell to the floor.
“Eva!” Ian ran for them.
She scrambled to her feet and looked at the petite girl, who checked on the older man. “You must be Sage.”
“How do you know my name?” She whipped around, her expression lacking any sign of trust.
“That’s Eva, my dear.” Stanley rested his hands on her shoulders in a very fatherly move.
“Eva? But why was she trying to harm you?” Her face twisted.
Stanley knelt down and brushed a hair out of the scared girl’s face. “Remember how I told you that my son, Mitchell, didn’t always make good choices? Well, he chose not to tell Eva that you were here. And she is just very angry about how he’s been doing things.”
“And you, Stanley.” Eva added. “You are just as psycho as he is.” She reached out for the girl. “Come here, honey. Ian and I will explain everything, but you need to get away from him. He’s dangerous.”
She clung to his arm. “No!”
“Sage?” Ian stepped forward. “Stanley might have given the order for Mitchell to murder you. I don’t know. But we do know that he killed your father and us… and many others.”
Stanley pulled the tween’s face to look at him. “I have not always done good things, but it was always for a good cause.”
“But my father? You killed my father? My actual father?” Her eyes filled with tears.
“No! No, no. I just brought him back, Sage.” He pled for her to believe him.
“Liar!” Eva went after him again.
Sage held her arms out, and Eva bounced off a field several inches from the both of them. “I need to know more.”
“You don't need to know anything. I told you. Knowing and remembering is dangerous.” Stanley clasped his hands together.
Ian picked up a sharp object from the station next to him and started making his way toward the two.
Stanley knelt down. “Sage. You need to trust me.”
The young girl looked at Eva, who was slowly getting up from the ground where she landed. “I don't know what to believe. And since you keep telling me I can’t remember, how am I supposed to know?”
The former mentor sighed. “I told you already we need to have a tight group, or the whole thing doesn’t work, and your place here won’t be necessary.”
Eva snarled. “Threats? Really? Get away from her! Sage, honey, come here.”
Sage turned around and looked at Eva, who held her arms out to the girl. “I’m so confused. I just want my father.”
“No!” Eva shouted. “Don’t let yourself re
member. Not right now. Please, Sage.”
Stanley reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, disk shaped device. Seeing it, Ian threw himself at the man, the identical, stolen object in hand. But Sage got to him first. Before Stanley could connect the disk to her temple, she placed her hand on his arm, and they were both gone.
Ian stumbled several paces, coming up just short of the wall. “What? Where?”
“Oh no.” Eva ran around the room. “Sage? Sage!”
They were both gone.
Ian opened the door into the hall. “Sage?”
“She can’t have gone with him. He was going to kill her, Ian. That was the thing Mitchell used on her father.”
He grabbed the keycard and threw open the door across the hall. “Sage!”
They both went through the entire building, leaving only the rooms the rooms that held others captive. Fourteen rooms and offices and the basement. Sage and Stanley were nowhere to be found.
Eva wrapped her arm around herself. “He’s going to kill her, Ian.”
“We don't know that. She seemed like she had some powers. Maybe she got away.” He tried to reassure her. “But we need to deal with all of this.” He waved his arm around the room.
“She’s just a girl.”
He gripped her shoulders. “Do you know where they went?”
Her eyebrows pulled in. “But …”
“But there’s others here we can help.”
She covered her face and took a couple deep breaths. “You’re right. Where should we start?”
“The offices.” He motioned down the hall. “Let’s get anything out of here we may want like other files, evidence, tools.”
“Then we get the people?” she asked.
He kissed her cheek. “We will need to be very careful. We don’t know anything about them—who they are, what they can do or what they’ve been through. That’s why I hesitated doing much more earlier. But seeing what that bastard has done to that little girl? I don’t want to leave them here.”
