Jeremy shook his head. “Time is absolutely important. So is getting eyes-on at each spot. We’re better together, especially since there aren’t nearly as many locations as what we had last time.”
“Jeremy’s right,” Renee said as she put a hand on Lorna’s shoulder. “Think about it, Lorna. You need us all with you. You’re turning into an incredible psychic, yet if we’ve learned anything over the last few months, it’s that we are better together.”
Merry grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I second that. The stronger we are, the quicker we’ll find Sadie.”
It was no wonder he’d been so quick to jump on Renee’s proposal to create a new business including Renee, Merry, and him. They often seemed to be in sync when it came to thoughts and ideas, just as the three of them were in sync right now. His sister might be convinced she could do this Lone Ranger style. Like him, Renee and Merry were not. They understood the power that linked them together, and it made them a pack of sorts. Wolves did better when they ran together, and they were going to run this together.
Lorna opened her mouth to argue with them and then snapped it shut, her lips pressed together. He could almost see the wheels turning in her head. She could be stubborn when she felt like it. And she could be a very reasonable and rational woman as well. Her nod was all the affirmation Jeremy needed that she was taking his advice. Reasonable and rational was winning the day. He leaned over and kissed Merry on the cheek, then opened the back passenger door for her. “Everybody pile into the Yukon. Let’s pool our powers and get this done. Let’s get Sadie home.”
*
Sadie closed her eyes and counted to twenty. This couldn’t be happening. The only explanation that made any sense at all was that she had to be sick or hurt. What else could explain the hallucinations that seemed oh so very real?
“Twenty,” she murmured and opened her eyes. A sob escaped her throat, the sound reminding her of a hurt animal. Dim light filtered in through the dirty windows, highlighting a swirl of dancing dust mites. With her back against the closed door, she reached up and tried the doorknob. Please let it turn. As it had the previous hundred or so times she’d tried already, the knob refused to move even a millimeter.
Think, Sadie, think! There is a way out of here. With shaking arms, she pushed herself up from the dirty floor. Slowly she walked around the room, forcing herself to stay calm and focused as she studied every inch of dusty floor and faded walls. Despite the fact that she worked on a show predicated on a belief in the paranormal realm, she didn’t buy in. In her mind it was all fantasy and nothing more.
But whether she liked it or not, whether she wanted to buy in or not, she had been thrown into a paradigm shift. And if she was going to make it out of this hell, she was going to have to unleash a heretofore untapped part of her imagination. She was going to have to consider the idea that things happened outside of the explainable world.
Okay, if that’s what she needed to do to get out of this hellhole, then that’s what she’d do. Her hands still trembling, Sadie rubbed her palms over her face. It occurred to her that she’d probably just wiped dirt all over herself. Then again, what did it matter? There wasn’t anyone around to see or care. Nothing mattered except figuring out what was happening to her and why.
Oh, and getting out of here. Alive.
What would Anna do? Sadie was the creative one of the pair, and she liked to see the possibilities in the world around her. Anna was the logical one who made sense of everything. Their personalities blended in a way that was perfect, and she loved the symbiotic nature of their relationship. It was dependable and heart-warming, and she wished with all her heart that Anna was here now. She’d know what to do; she always did.
Except Anna wasn’t here. Sadie was locked inside this crazy dream and had to find a way out. She had to find her way back to Anna.
As she walked the length of the room studying the cracked and peeling walls that she suspected had been a bright white once and running her fingertips over the ancient bed frames, her mind turned back to what she’d seen in her vision. For reasons she couldn’t explain, the face of the sobbing woman stuck in her mind. Something about her hit a distinct chord with Sadie. It was like finding that perfect set location. She couldn’t always pinpoint what made it special; she just knew it when she saw it. Something about the woman was like that.
At the far end of the room, she reached for the bed frame where the crying woman had been seated. As her fingertips met the cold, rusting metal, a shock went up her arm, and once again the room turned black.
Chapter Seven
Anna’s sense of panic rose higher with each stop they made, and each one they left without coming any closer to finding Sadie. She couldn’t speak to the wisdom of Jeremy’s plan for searching each location together. They could certainly have covered more ground if they’d split up, and maybe that would have been good. Except it wouldn’t have changed the results. Of the seven locations on Sadie’s scouting list for the day she went missing, they’d covered five and were just now arriving at number six. One through five had yielded nothing more than when she’d searched them on that first day, which was a big fat nothing. She’d been crushed the day she went alone. Now she wanted to scream. She’d believed Lorna when she suggested that fresh eyes might see something she’d missed. It had drawn her in and filled her with hope that was rapidly fading with each stop.
Instead of screaming, she tamped down the urge, jumped out of the passenger’s seat before anyone else even had their seat belt unbuckled, and started toward the massive buildings of the abandoned factory. It struck her as odd on the first day and did so again today that Sadie would pick this for a potential filming location. It was old and dirty, and many of the buildings were clearly falling apart. Anna thought about how excited she’d been when she told her about the place. Sadie had been confident it would be perfect for the show. To Anna it looked like an accident—and a lawsuit—waiting to happen.
Jeremy followed her and stood staring up at what had once been a thriving factory employing hundreds of local people. “How the mighty fall,” he muttered.
He wasn’t wrong. A couple of decades ago it had been a major coup to grab one of the coveted jobs with the company that once had made the building hum with work and pride. The massive parking lot had been perpetually filled with late-model cars and shiny pickup trucks. The steady flow of activity surrounding it in its heyday had gone on twenty-four seven. Now it was a ghost town. Discarded drink cups, empty booze bottles, faded newspapers, and other assorted trash floated across the asphalt, where weeds and spindly trees were shoving up through the cracks. Its post-apocalyptic atmosphere was depressing.
Without saying anything, they all began to walk in different directions. It was even more of a wasteland once she skirted the perimeter. If anyone had been here lately, she’d be surprised. If anyone had wanted to be here lately, she be even more surprised. It was dangerous and sad, though perhaps that’s what had drawn Sadie to the place. Often in her work she searched for locations that evoked emotion. This place certainly did that.
Within fifteen minutes they were all once more gathered around the Yukon. Their faces were all grim and her heart sank.
“She’s not here,” Anna said and couldn’t suppress the despair that filled her words and her heart. She felt as desolate and defeated as the old factory looked.
Lorna stepped up next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. The gesture was as welcome as it was shocking. She would always be grateful Lorna had come when she called, yet she realized that forgiveness was doubtful. To have her be the one to offer comfort in this moment made her want to believe in miracles. If Lorna could forgive, then surely God would see fit to bring Sadie back to her. Her sins could be absolved.
“Don’t give up, Anna. We’ll find her.”
“Promise?” She wanted to believe Lorna. How she wanted to believe that any moment Sadie would come strolling around the corner of one of the crumbling buildings, her bag slun
g over her shoulder, her cell phone pressed to her ear. It was a sight she longed for more than anything in the world.
Lorna squeezed lightly before letting her go. “I promise. Now, when you came here before, did you search the place?”
The confidence in her voice was encouraging. “Yes and no. I was alone, so not every nook and cranny, but I pretty well walked the whole grounds just like we all did now. I didn’t see Sadie’s car here, and because of that I figured I wouldn’t find her here. I still looked around just in case and found nothing.”
With her hands stuffed in her pockets, Lorna stood staring up at the dilapidated buildings. Merry, Renee, and Jeremy flanked her and also were studying the buildings. Whatever the three of them were seeing passed her by. All she saw were decrepit buildings threatening to fall to the ground in giant heaps of rubble, and if an earthquake hit the area, these would surely be the first structures to crumble. All she heard were the birds that now claimed the highest peaks as their own personal domains. It was as empty and desolate as the first day she was here.
No one said a word for few minutes until, unable to stand the silence any longer, she asked no one in particular, “What? Are you seeing something?”
Lorna shook her head, the first to look away. “I’m getting nothing. I don’t see anything, I don’t feel anything.” Her gaze swept across the others. “You guys?”
Anna thought Lorna was the psychic, yet she spoke to the rest as though they held the same powers. Did they? She hoped so. Four psychics had to be better than one, and she’d take power in numbers. Surely one of them would be able to find Sadie.
Jeremy spoke up first and, like Lorna, shook his head. “I don’t believe she’s here. It feels empty. Like real empty, if you know what I mean. What do you think, Renee? You getting any aura vibes?”
Renee reached out and took Lorna’s hand. For a moment, she closed her eyes and stood very still. Then she opened her eyes and shook her head. “No, she’s not here. How about you, Merry? Do you have any thoughts?”
Merry shrugged. “You all know I have nothing in the way of superpowers beyond the expectant-mother thing combined with a good eye for detail. I’ve walked all over the place here, and I’ve got nothing at all to contribute that might be helpful. I don’t believe she’s here. I didn’t see anything indicating that Sadie, or anyone for that matter, is or was here.”
Anna held back tears, just barely. She didn’t want to hear any of this. Number six of seven locations and still nothing. Sadie had to be somewhere. Why couldn’t she be here? Why couldn’t this nightmare end? It was like she was a lost hunter who’d fallen off a cliff in a wilderness area. Or a fisherman who fell from a boat and was caught underwater.
She had to tell herself she was thinking about it all wrong. Sadie had been out doing her job in a series of urban locations, and people didn’t vanish from places under circumstances like that. They were going to find her. That’s all there was to it.
Silently she followed everyone back into the Yukon. No one said a word as they buckled in and Jeremy drove them out of the parking lot. Anna focused on the scenery outside of the windshield, watching as he left the downtown corridor and pulled onto the freeway. She saw shadows at every corner, her eyes searching for the one face she longed to see.
The last place on the list was the farthest away. Miracle Lake was twenty some odd miles west of Spokane proper. Of all the locations it was the least urban, though it wasn’t exactly wilderness either. A small community had grown up around the lake, and a few hundred people called the area home. It was a quiet, family-friendly place very different from the crumbling factory.
They made the entire trip in silence. It didn’t surprise her. What was there to talk about? Sadie was gone, and they weren’t any closer to finding her than they were when they started. Anna was as silent as the rest. She didn’t know what to say, even if she’d felt like talking. She massaged her temples with her fingertips and wished they were already there. Sadie had to be at Miracle Lake, and it seemed like it was taking forever to drive the twenty miles to get there.
Behind the wheel, Jeremy’s eyes were focused on the freeway traffic. Lorna sat in the passenger’s seat, her head tilted back and her eyes closed. Beside Anna, Renee peered out the side window, and Merry sat quietly in the third-row seat behind her. From all appearances, they were relaxed and unconcerned. Maybe they were quiet and calm because they didn’t believe her. Perhaps they’d concluded she was crying wolf over nothing. Sadie could have bailed on their relationship and, as the police had not so kindly suggested, just taken off. People did that sort of thing all the time, and whether she liked it or not, it was actually true. Adults walked away, it was that simple. But in her heart, she’d never believe that’s what had happened with Sadie.
In a way she was screwed. If that’s what they were thinking, how was she going to make them believe it wasn’t the case when she’d been the one to pretty much do exactly the same thing to Lorna? While she hadn’t physically taken off, she most definitely had checked out mentally and emotionally. She had walked away from Lorna in every way that counted.
This was different. Sadie was different. As much as she’d loved Lorna at one time—and whether Lorna believed her or not, she had loved her—when Sadie had come into her life she’d discovered the difference between love and destiny. Sadie was her destiny, and she’d be damned if she was going to lose her now.
It didn’t matter what any of them thought. Not really. She knew the truth and she’d make them see it one way or the other. Something terrible had happened to Sadie, and it was up to her to save her. No way was she going to not find her woman. It would be easier with their help, but she would go it alone if she failed to convince them that Sadie was in trouble. Giving up wasn’t an option.
After what seemed like a couple of hours, Jeremy took the exit toward Miracle Lake. Usually she would enjoy the winding road that bridged the distance between the I90 and the popular lakeside town. It was bordered by small farms, rolling hills with occasional outcroppings of basalt rock, and beautiful swaying wild grasses. The trees were an interesting mixture of pines, evergreens, maples, and aspens. Today she saw the scene as more of an obstacle between her and Sadie.
A few more miles on the country highway and the little lakeside town finally popped up. The main street was lined with small shops and a couple of mom-and-pop cafes. A high school with an expansive football field and fenced-off tennis courts was close in. A nicely maintained county park with a nicely groomed public beach appeared at the edge of town. They drove past it all as they followed the directions they’d pulled up off the Internet for the old hospital complex that was the final location on Sadie’s list.
They made a few wrong turns before they found the tall brick pillars that stood sentry on either side of the long driveway into the abandoned mental-health facility. A tall, curving sign that read Healing Waters Sanitarium hung suspended over the driveway. It was old and rusted, and little about it felt healing.
This, she realized now, was the one location she hadn’t found when she first went out in search of Sadie. Actually, she’d thought she’d found it, but she’d been in the wrong place and about a mile off course. She wasn’t sure what the other building was; she only knew it wasn’t the location Sadie had been interested in.
Now as she studied the beautiful red-brick structure that was the main piece in a compound of at least half a dozen buildings, she realized why it would appeal to Sadie. It had the design and structure popular a century past, and it was solid and interesting. Massive lawns bordered by shrubs and trees that once were probably well-tended were now yellowed and grown over. When green and trimmed, the yard must have been an impressive sight. Today it looked sad and neglected. With the exception of the large carved sign over the front entrance, its pretty façade didn’t hint at the tragedies of the lives spent inside the four walls.
“No car,” she murmured after Jeremy brought the Yukon to a stop and she’d swept her gaze over
the large, empty parking area. Emphasis on empty. This was no different from any of the other locations they visited. Her stomach turned and she wanted to sit and cry.
This time it was Jeremy who shifted around in his seat, reached back, and gave her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. “Anna, if you’d seen the things the four of us have over the last few months, you’d realize that doesn’t mean squat.”
“But…” Tears started to well up in her eyes. She couldn’t help it. The vast emptiness of the place had just crushed her last hope.
“He’s right,” Lorna said. “Don’t focus on the car. It’s not the most important piece of the puzzle. Come on, let’s look around.”
From the back, Merry added, “You’d be surprised what this group sees when us regular folks see nothing. Trust me, Anna. Go with them.”
They all seemed so unconcerned by the lack of concrete suggestion that Sadie was here. Even Merry, who of the group seemed the most like her. She didn’t get it. The first thing she’d expected to see was Sadie’s car. It made no sense to her at all that she could be here without her car being somewhere close by. It wasn’t exactly a leisurely walk from town. “If the car doesn’t matter, what does?” she asked once she was out of the Yukon and standing on the cracked sidewalk leading to the front entrance. The place looked as though no one had stepped foot here in decades, let alone a couple days ago.
Lorna’s face was pale as she studied Anna, and it made her nervous. She wanted her to be animated and full of life, not looking as though she’d seen a ghost.
“This.” Lorna patted her hand against her chest. “It’s less about what we can see with our eyes and more about what we feel.”
Twisted Screams Page 7
