Twisted Screams

by Sheri Lewis Wohl

  “Anna,” she managed to say in a deceptively calm voice. It was amazing what she could dredge up when she had to. She solemnly shook the other woman’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you,” she lied. “I’m so sorry it has to be under these circumstances.”

  “Thank you for coming. You have no idea how much this means to me. All of you.” Her gaze took in all four of them. Though Anna sounded sincere, Renee wouldn’t quickly forget how she’d just fallen into Lorna’s arms like lovers reunited after a long absence. No, definitely not going to forget that.

  Jeremy came from around the SUV and gave Anna a quick hug. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “Let’s figure out how we can help you bring Sadie home. You remember Merry?”

  Anna nodded and held out a hand. “Merry, you look wonderful.”

  Merry took both of Anna’s hands in hers. “I wish we were here for just a plain old visit, Anna. I’d tell you all about the baby. Once we find her and bring her home, that’s what we’ll do. I promise.”

  “A baby,” Anna whispered softly as her gaze swept over Merry.

  Merry nodded. “Yes, Jeremy and I will be parents in a few months, but we’ll have time enough to talk about that once we get your wife home.”

  “Thank you.” Anna’s eyes brimmed. “I’d like that.”

  Renee wished she could feel the friendliness that came so easy to Merry. It helped under these difficult circumstances, but it was hard not to be tense around the woman who had hurt Lorna so deeply. It was hard not to feel inadequate when face-to-face with such beauty. Sometimes life could be such a bitch.

  “Come inside, please,” Anna said to all of them.

  Though Lorna kept her arm around Anna’s shoulders as they headed toward the house, she turned her head and looked at Renee. That little bit of eye contact told her a lot and made her feel better. A little better, anyway. She still wanted to run back home, dragging Lorna with her.

  *

  The Watcher was confused. Standing at the edge of the ocean, the waves hitting his feet, he was disturbed and, for the first time ever, frightened. Something was in the air, but he did not know what it was. It was different and so far away he could not clearly make it out. It was like an ominous shadow that continually shifted in the wind.

  She was gone from the big house, called across the mountains once more, and his heart knew she would again put something right. It was not evil that stalked her. Not like before. Nor did he sense the darkness and the pain that had come to her on the other occasions seeking to be brought into the light.

  No, this was something far different, and he did not know how to help because he did not know where to start. Something beckoned from the world beyond, and it stayed just outside his touch and sight. Frustration made his hands shake. How could he guide her if he did not know the path?

  In his ears, the sound of sobs echoed. Despair pulled at his heart at the mournful echo, and resignation weighed down his spirit. Somewhere beyond his vision, beyond his help, souls beckoned. Where? Why?

  Lightning slashed across the sky and thunder roared. He tilted his head to the night sky and watched as the light show danced and crackled. Above the stars the answers awaited, if only he could reach through the veil and touch them. He raised his arm and stretched his fingers toward the night sky. He touched nothing.

  Would she be lost forever if he failed to help her now? He worried it would be so. He wanted to guide her hand and, by guiding her, walk his own path toward redemption. They were part and parcel of each other; of that truth he was most certain. Through this last year he had come to understand they must take this journey together, and by doing so they would come to discover a truth that would open up heaven to both of them. Yet he could see nothing, hear nothing, and the way was blind to him. She was in this alone.

  For tonight, all he could do was pray.

  Chapter Four

  Sadie stayed sitting on the floor with her back against the wall for a long time after her tears stopped. As she sat there thinking about the strange events, it occurred to her that, in a way, this was some sort of twisted fate. She’d come here to scout locations for a television series that had the supernatural at its core. Everything about what was happening to her felt supernatural. If it was coincidental, she’d be very surprised.

  It made sense in a weird way, if she bought in, that is. Except she didn’t believe in the paranormal, the mystical, or the magical, despite the project she was currently working on. Quite the opposite, actually. Sadie believed in what she could see, hear, and touch. She was very much grounded in the here and now. Hers was a world filled with a reality she could touch and feel. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the concept of the mystical, even if she didn’t take it to heart.

  The series she was location-scouting for was great, and she loved being a part of it in spite of its reliance on a supernatural premise. It was intriguing, the actors were all a joy—and she knew from experience that was not always the case—and for a change, she could stay home and work. Too often she was off on location somewhere, staying in hotel rooms and eating at bad restaurants. When she was single, being on the road for weeks and months on end was no big deal. Now that she was married, being home was important. Leaving for extended periods didn’t hold the appeal it used to. This gig was the greatest ever because it gave her the best of both worlds, and she appreciated every minute of it.

  Until right now, that is. Trapped in this room—and she couldn’t find any way to describe it other than by unseen paranormal forces—was not cool. She couldn’t explain any of it. Not how she got here and not how she ended up locked inside a room four floors up. It was straight out of one of the show’s amazing scripts. She was smack-dab in the middle of a case of life imitating art. Just her freaking luck.

  As she sat there, resting her head against the wall and listening to the wind whistling by the barred windows, she watched shadows dance across the ceiling. Outside, the sun had dropped below the mountains to the west, and the daylight had gone with it. The room had plunged into darkness.

  Would Anna wonder where she was? A better question would be, would she care? Lately things had been strained between them, and she really didn’t know why. Or perhaps she did. Though she never said much about it, Sadie knew Anna harbored a great deal of guilt over her breakup with Lorna. In a lot of ways, so did Sadie.

  Right from the beginning, Anna had been up front about her involvement with Lorna. Despite an immediate attraction to Anna, she’d stepped away. Sadie hadn’t been interested in stealing a woman from her current love, and that was the last thing on her mind with Anna. She’d liked her a great deal yet knew it could never evolve into anything serious. As far as she was concerned, they would be friends. End of story.

  Of course, everything went sideways the moment she touched Anna’s hand. Despite all her good intentions, she’d been drawn to Anna like a magnet. She’d never felt that kind of desire before, and it was intoxicating. Before long, she’d come to realize it wasn’t a case of simple attraction, and all her well-intentioned rules went out the window. She was flat-out in love with her.

  If what she’d been feeling had been a one-sided thing, she could have found the fortitude to let it go and get over Anna, though it would have taken her an eternity to heal. It wasn’t long before she learned it was far from one-sided, and she wasn’t embarrassed to say she rejoiced. Anna was right there with her, passionate and loving. Together they dived into a relationship that was hot, intense, and the best thing that had ever happened to Sadie. For her and Anna it was a bit of heaven.

  Never did she imagine she would turn out to be the “other woman,” yet that’s exactly what she was. She should have felt terrible, and on one level she did, at least when she was alone and her thoughts turned to the woman Anna had still lived with. She hated the sneaking around and the lying. When she was with Anna and staring into her gorgeous eyes, she knew they were meant to be together and nothing else mattered. It was fate, and who could argue with fate
? What being with Anna did to her heart was life-altering. What it had done to Lorna was ugly and unforgiveable. By the time it all shook out, she got Anna and Lorna got a broken heart.

  Though she’d always pushed it to the back of her mind, she did feel more than a little guilty. No matter how she looked at it or how she tried to justify what they’d done, it hadn’t been fair to Lorna. But none of it changed how she felt about Anna. Love happens, usually when least expected, and she couldn’t have walked away from Anna even if she wanted to.

  Now she wondered if the recent distance between her and Anna had something to do with the guilt Anna harbored for the way she’d treated Lorna during their breakup. It was possible she was reading something into what was an incredibly busy time for them both. Her schedule was nuts, and Anna was, likewise, really busy. She wanted to believe that Anna still loved her as much as she did on the day they exchanged their vows. In her case, she knew she loved her even more than on that very special day. She hoped and prayed Anna felt the same way and that the unease of late was nothing more than growing pains of a normal relationship.

  “Please come for me,” she whispered to the ever-darkening shadows. “Please find me, my love.”

  For a moment she closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing in and out. If she could stay calm, her mind would focus. She used the technique time and time again when dealing with difficult producers, directors, and other industry professionals. It worked so well in those high-tension situations that surely it would help her now. She focused her mind and pictured Anna’s face, her smile, her sparkling eyes, and soon her shoulders relaxed and her breathing became even. Slowly she opened her eyes and then screamed.

  *

  As they reached the front door, Anna stepped away from Lorna, who’d stood unmoving when she’d enveloped her in a hug. It might have been better not to throw herself at Lorna like that, yet it had happened as if she had no will of her own. She pushed the door open and then stood back, unable to stop wringing her hands. For someone who prided herself on control and decorum, she was out of control. Everything in her life at the moment was messed up in a big way, and she had no one to thank but herself.

  Lately she’d been a huge bitch, and she knew it. So did Sadie. She’d been able to see it in her eyes and did nothing to make it better, even as she saw the effort Sadie was making to ease the tension. Selfishness was the name of her game lately, and now she was suffering the consequences. As her mother liked to say, “You reap what you sow.” Got that one right, Mom.

  In the back of her mind a tiny little voice was whispering that maybe this was her fault. If she’d been a little less moody and a lot more communicative, perhaps none of this would be happening. Maybe the police were right and she had, in fact, driven Sadie away.

  She stopped wringing her hands. That little voice could just go to hell because no one would ever be able to convince her that their love wasn’t strong enough to weather a few ups and downs. It was, and her faith in Sadie was as strong as ever. Only something terrible could keep them apart like this. She had not driven her away.

  The only ray of hope in the whole mess was Lorna. The second she stepped out the car, it was all Anna could do not to burst into tears. It was more than the fact that Lorna was able to set aside the justified bitterness of the way things had ended between them. Until she saw her, Anna hadn’t realized what it would mean to see her one more time. She had grown apart from her and had most definitely fallen deeply in love with another woman, yet in that moment she realized she would always have a special place in her heart for Lorna.

  It also warmed her to see that the time apart had done wonderful things for Lorna. She’d always been a striking woman. Not beautiful, at least not in the conventional sense. No, Lorna was athletic, strong, and attractive. Now, all of it was intensified. Part of it, she knew, was the result of her training for the upcoming Ironman triathlon. The hours and hours of work showed, and she’d never looked stronger, healthier, or more attractive.

  The athletic training accounted for a lot of the change in Lorna but not all of it. Her walk was different. The way she talked was different. Her very essence was different. This was not the woman Anna had turned her back on.

  And that broke her heart just a little. She hadn’t lived with this woman, and she wondered how things might have turned out if she had. Then she almost smiled because she realized it wouldn’t have altered a single thing. The end result would have been the same. Regardless of how either one of them might have changed in the intervening time, they were still two very different people, and their destinies were separate as well. Hers was with the woman who had stolen her heart, and Lorna? Well, Anna had to believe that perhaps her heart belonged to another as well.

  The epiphany of the moment didn’t make this meeting any smoother. She stood shifting from foot to foot, trying to think of what to say in order to break up the uncomfortable silence. The truth, her mind kept repeating. The truth was the only thing that could make this right. She opened her mouth to give voice to what was inside, yet before she could utter a single word, Lorna’s quiet voice stopped her. “It’s water under the bridge. Let it go.”

  The tears she’d managed to hold back earlier now dripped down her cheeks, and she swiped at them with the back of her hands. “I owe you an apology,” she insisted. She’d promised herself to do the right thing if Lorna was able to set aside her bitterness in order to come help. In a perfect world, she should have done it a long time ago and not waited until now, when it would look like she was apologizing only because she needed her help. She had never been really good at the perfect-world thing.

  Lorna shook her head. “That’s not what I came here for. I don’t expect or need an apology.”

  “I know that’s not why you came, and you don’t realize what it means to me that you’re willing to do this, considering what I did. Even so, after everything I put you through, I still owe you an apology. I should have done it a long time ago.”

  Lorna shrugged but didn’t meet her eyes. “Duly noted. Now what we really need to worry about isn’t ancient history but current events.”

  Anna deserved the cold shoulder, and she owned it. Lorna had come when she called, and for that she’d always be grateful. Her hope that they could mend the rift between them at the same time was perhaps a very unrealistic dream.

  “Agreed,” she said softly. She would have to learn to live with the fact that some sins could never be atoned for. It was one of those big-girl-panty moments, and as much as she hated it, she was pulling hers up. “The here and now.”

  Lorna finally met her eyes. It surprised her to see no hardness in them. It hurt her to see no trace of warmth. Once upon a time those lovely eyes were filled with joy and caring, and every time she’d gazed into them, she’d smiled. The day she’d started avoiding that gaze was the day it all changed. Expecting to see that warmth of emotion in them now was stupid, as she was the one responsible for wiping it all away. It was as if the universe was aligning all of her sins and bringing her to atonement in one come-to-Jesus moment. What a world it would be if one didn’t have to live with regrets.

  If she focused on the positives it would probably go smoother. She’d extended the olive branch, and that’s all she could do. She was grateful for the kindness Lorna was showing her. Friendship was probably off the table for good, and that was something it was far too late to change. Lorna was here, and that was a godsend. She could be bitter and angry, but from all appearances she wasn’t. That too was a godsend. All in all, it was more than she deserved.

  She gave her a slow nod. “Yeah, the here and now.”

  Anna took a deep breath. “What can I do to help? What do you need from me to help find Sadie?” Her mind whirled with a thousand thoughts, none of which seemed very helpful. If they were, she’d have already brought Sadie home.

  Sticking her hands into her pockets, Lorna rolled back on her heels and seemed to consider her answer, her head tilted back, her eyes focused som
ewhere beyond those in the room. When her gaze returned to meet Anna’s again, she had a different look in her eyes, one she’d never seen before, and she couldn’t put a name to it. Yes, this Lorna was so very different from the woman she’d turned her back on, and she didn’t consider it a bad thing.

  Lorna bit her bottom lip as she appeared to think. “Tell me everything that happened the day she didn’t come home.”

  Running her hands through her hair, Anna tried to pull her thoughts together. If this was going to work, she was going to have to be in it one hundred percent. No more dwelling on the past and no more focusing on regrets. This was about Sadie and the reality of today. This was about taking all the small details and putting them together to form a picture that would help Lorna see Sadie, wherever she was. It was starting right here, right now. She shook all over and her chin trembled. “All right. Where do I start?”

  Lorna put a hand on her shoulder, her touch gentle and warm. “Just start at the beginning. Tell me everything from the first moment you realized something was wrong so we can figure out how to find your woman.”

  Anna calmed as she stared into Lorna’s eyes. Something in the depth of her gaze filled her with strength. Her words flowed.

  *

  The Watcher jolted upright. Power unlike anything he had experienced before struck him with the force of a hurricane. At first he didn’t understand, and then it came to him. This was it. He had waited millennia for this, and it was almost too much to take in.

  Tears came into his eyes, and he fell to his knees on the damp, sandy beach. Wind whipped his long hair around his head, the wet strands stinging his cheeks. His heart pounded against his ribs, and he curled his fingers into the wet sand as if holding on so as not to be swept out into the angry sea.