Lorna amended her earlier thought. She might get her questions answered, only it appeared that the woman would respond just to the ones she wanted to answer. She gave serious consideration to just standing here until she could get answers that gave her at least a little direction. So far that wasn’t happening. Before she could ask anything further, the ghost reached over and touched her.
The hand that grasped Lorna’s was shocking because it felt so real. Warm and solid and real. This vision was getting downright freaky. Briefly she wondered if this was what happened when her powers grew stronger. It wasn’t like she had a psychic mentor she could ask. Someone needed to write a psychic manual because she was sure confused.
The woman tugged her insistently toward the staircase, and Lorna decided the best thing to do was follow. It appeared this woman wasn’t going to be deterred from whatever mission she was on, and holding her ground wasn’t working very well either. If you can’t fight ’em, join ’em. They were halfway up the long staircase when the woman stopped and put a hand to her mouth. Her eyes grew wide with fear.
“Oh dear. No, no, no.” Her words were muffled against her hand. “We are too late. She is coming for us. I told you we needed to hurry. Now we are too late. She is going to find us.”
She whirled and took Lorna’s face between her hands. Again it hit her how real this woman of her vision felt, this ghost of someone who had long ago left this world. “You are the only one who can help now. She has them. She has all of us. Please, please, for the love of God, set us free.”
“Lorna.” Renee had her face between her hands and was almost yelling into her face. Her breath was hot on her skin as they both kneeled on the floor. She didn’t remember dropping to the ground.
“What?” She blinked. My knees hurt like a son of a bitch.
“Are you back?” Renee’s eyes searched her face, and her fingers soothed the hair back from her forehead.
She shook her head a little to clear the lingering cobwebs of the vision. “Yeah, I’m here. That was pretty fucking weird. How did I end up down here?” Rising to her feet, she held her hand out to help Renee up too.
“You should try being on our side,” Katie said. “I’ve never seen someone’s face go as white as yours, and then you just zoned out as you dropped to your knees. It was like you were in a different world.”
“You should have been inside my little pea brain if you want to talk about different worlds.”
“You had a vision, didn’t you?” Renee still had her face in her hands. Katie had said she was pale, but looking at Renee, Lorna didn’t think she had anything on her. There was no color in her face at all. She must have scared the crap of her, and that made her feel bad.
“You could call it that.” She searched Renee’s eyes and, despite her pale face, was satisfied by what she saw in the depths of her gaze. Her woman was tough and could handle the strangeness that came with loving a psychic.
“What do you mean?”
“It was one of those times you had to be there to grasp it.”
“Try us,” Katie said.
“You know I’ll understand,” Renee added.
She did know that, and it would do her good to talk it through. “Well, here’s the deal. I just saw and talked to a ghost, and Houston, I’m pretty sure we have a problem.”
Chapter Twelve
The Watcher’s feet hit the sand with such force his entire body shook, head to toe. With lightning speed, he’d felt the change. She was in deep trouble. Dangerous trouble. So far he had been able to keep her safe and during each step along her journey had been successful in guiding her to a better place. Now everything he had worked so hard to put into place was in jeopardy.
Evil was pursuing her like a cougar stalking its prey, and he was not about to let the cougar take her life or what she was destined to bring to this world. Her powers had grown in the time since she had come here, and the good she had done with the gift God had given her stretched far beyond what he had hoped for. She was, in so many ways, his salvation. In all the years he had walked upon the earth he had never come across one who walked in his grace as she did. It was a miracle he did not discount in any way. He would never allow the darkness to take her. Never.
He no longer cared what his fate was to ultimately be. For so long all he had wanted to do was find a path back to heaven, to reclaim the wings he had lost through no one’s fault but his own. He accepted that his way was the fallen way, and he no longer worried what would happen to him. All he wanted was to protect her, and whatever it took to do so, that is what he would do, even if that meant he would cease to be.
Storm clouds gathered in the sky above, and he turned his face toward the coming downpour. He had grown accustomed to weather that cried as often as it shined. As he expected, the rain began to fall, and his long black hair ran with water. Seeming to pick up on the mood of the sky, the ocean began to churn. Violent waves slammed against the beach, racing across the sand to swirl at his feet. Its cold spray struck his face, the taste of salt bitter on his tongue. It was no more bitter than the pain in his heart. Frustration at being bound to this place made him scream into the night. There had to be a way to go to her. She could not fail in this battle between dark and light because he was tethered to this place.
He turned his face to the sky, where in the eternal curtain of black velvet and sparkling stars, he put voice to this heart’s desire. He had little to lose while she had everything to risk.
“I come to you now, oh Lord, a humble servant who fell from your grace. Hear my prayers. Release my feet from the grip of the sand that has held them captive for millennia after millennia. I beg of you, release me so that I may go to her, so that I may keep her safe. Hear my words, oh Lord, and set me free.”
*
Sadie awoke to find herself once more in the darkened empty room. Or was she? Her heart was pounding like a drum as she pushed up from the floor and stared into the corner where not so long ago she’d gaped into the mirror as she’d stood side by side with the woman from her vision. It was empty now.
Understanding seemed to come slowly, and as it did, with it came more questions. The face, so much like her own, was from a past long since gone. A great-grandmother, a great-great-grandmother—she didn’t really know where she fell in the branches of the family tree. All she did know was that they were of one blood and that something terrible had happened to her in this place. The truth of it crept along her skin.
Rose had tried to tell her, not in so many words, which would have been helpful, and Sadie simply hadn’t been able to understand. Nice, clear communication had apparently been too much to ask for, because Rose had opted for cryptic.
Perhaps that wasn’t being fair. She had seen her face, touched her hand, and what she’d picked up from the ghost of the woman who was her ancestor was that she’d been scared to death. Whatever had happened to her in this place, Rose had been terrified, and that terror had lasted beyond her own death. How messed up was that? Incredibly sad too. It wasn’t right for any soul to be followed into death by that kind of emotion.
Even in the face of her overwhelming terror, Sadie couldn’t shake the sense that Rose had a greater purpose in coming to her than just finding her own peace. Something more than her own salvation was at stake, and that’s what Rose seemed to be trying so hard to get Sadie to understand.
Except she still didn’t get it. Yes, she realized at this juncture that she was a direct descendant of this woman. She couldn’t deny their uncanny resemblance. In different clothes and with different hairstyles, they could easily pass as sisters. That wasn’t the critical piece of the puzzle. Something else was driving Rose, and Sadie struggled to figure out what it was. Seemed odd that she was wishing for a hallucination, but right at the moment, that’s exactly what she was doing. She wanted to spend more time with Rose, to understand and help. If she could do that, then perhaps she could find a way out of the locked room.
She went still as a sound broke th
e silence in the once-more empty room she found herself in. Was that footsteps she was hearing? Oh, dear God, had Anna found her at last? All thoughts of Rose fled as hope surged in her chest. Going home had never sounded as wonderful as it did right now. It had taken a lifetime to discover the kind of love she shared with Anna, and she was far from ready to give it up. Not even this crazy situation she found herself in could shake her belief that Anna would come for her. She hoped that moment was now.
She jumped up and ran to the window, peering out between the bars. The grime of decades was thick, making everything appear dusty and distorted. Not enough, however, to block her view. Three cars were parked near the entrance to the building. Three glorious cars. She choked back a sob. They hadn’t left her here; they’d returned.
Once more she raced to the door and grabbed the doorknob, shocked when it turned in her hand. She was so surprised that her hand fell away, and for a moment all she could do was simply stare at it. Tears started down her cheeks, and she didn’t bother wiping them away. She was free after what seemed like an eternity of incarceration, and the reality of it left her a little stunned. Once more she grabbed the doorknob and, wrenching the door open, took three quick steps out into the hallway before abruptly coming to a stop. The hallway wasn’t dark and it wasn’t empty. Coming toward her with fear painted across her face was Anna.
“Oh, my God, Anna,” she said on a sob. Anna shook her head ever so slightly, and it was only then she figured out why she hadn’t rushed to her. Her heart sank.
Behind her was Nurse Thompson.
Without another word, she backed up until she was once more in the long room. As Anna and Nurse Thompson followed her inside, the room became as cold as a walk-in freezer. All her joy at seeing Anna’s face turned to dread. This wasn’t just a harmless vision. Whatever was happening here was centered on the nurse, and Sadie was convinced she meant them harm. It wasn’t just her life in jeopardy now; it was Anna’s as well.
“Now,” Nurse Thompson said as soon as Anna and Sadie were standing side by side, their hands clasped together. The feel of Anna’s flesh against hers was the only thing keeping her from charging the nurse. “You two can find a bed and make yourselves comfortable. You will be staying here a long time.” As she talked, she’d backed up until she was once more at the door.
“You can’t keep us in here,” Sadie said defiantly. She was getting pretty sick of this bitch. Maybe taking her down wasn’t such a bad idea, although she’d have to let go of Anna, and she didn’t want to do that. Her bravado was much stronger when she was holding on to Anna.
“We will see about that, now will we not?” The snide tone to her voice made Sadie want to launch herself at the witch. Before she could, the nurse backed out of the door, and Sadie heard the dreadful click of the lock. That stupid, stupid lock. When they were alone, she immediately flung herself into Anna’s arms and let all the emotion from the last few hours wash over her. She began to sob, as much for herself as for Anna. “You idiot,” she cried. “You shouldn’t have come back here for me, but I’m so glad you did.”
Anna’s arms were strong as they held her tight. She kissed her all over her face. How she loved the tenderness of her lips and the scent that was so uniquely hers. “I couldn’t stand it anymore. I knew you were in this place somewhere, and I couldn’t leave you here.”
Words that made her heart soar at the same time they gave her pause. Sadie stepped back out of her embrace and looked at her. “Why did you leave earlier? I tried like a crazy woman to get your attention. I screamed and pounded on the windows. You should have been able to see and hear me, yet you never even looked up. You just left.” She held out her bruised hands. “These are going to take weeks to heal.”
Anna was shaking her head, and she took Sadie’s damaged hands gently into her own. Her touch was tender as she stroked her thumbs over the bruises. “None of us saw you or heard a thing, and we checked everywhere. Every door, every window, and every building in this complex. Oh, Sadie, I’m so sorry you were hurt.”
“I still don’t understand why you didn’t come inside to check for me. I was stuck in this room for so long, and I couldn’t get out because the door was locked. I thought for sure you’d get inside and find me. Why didn’t you come?”
Anna continued to stroke her bruised hands, and the warmth of the gesture touched her. “The entry door on the first level wasn’t open. Locked up tight, I mean. We tried it a few times and couldn’t get it to budge.”
Sadie shook her head vehemently. “No, that’s not possible. I had the key, and I wouldn’t have locked it behind myself when I came in. There would have been no point since it usually only takes me maybe half an hour to scout a location. Besides, out here there’s nobody around for miles. You should have been able to walk right in.”
“Well, I’m telling you, darlin’, the door was locked up tight. Most of the ground-level doors were not only locked; they were chained and padlocked as well. We tried and couldn’t find a way in. Lorna was convinced you were here because she was getting some kind of weird psychic vibe, but we had to go call a police friend of hers before we could get access to the inside.”
“So where’s Lorna now? How did you get in without her friend? Or are they with you?”
Anna was shaking her head, her mouth turned down in a frown. “I went home, and it drove me crazy thinking you were out here. I finally decided it was stupid to wait for the keys. Lorna’s cop friend Katie was trying to get them, but after about a million calls, she said it would be morning before she could get us in. I managed to hold it together for a couple of hours before I couldn’t stand it any longer. I grabbed a pry bar and came back out. I had to get to you whether it was legal or not.”
“You broke the door?” Sadie was shocked. This was so not like Anna, who did everything by the book. Actually, more than being shocked, she was a little impressed. The scofflaw version of Anna was pretty intriguing. She wanted to hug her tight and run right home with her.
Anna’s expression grew puzzled at the question. It didn’t seem like a particularly hard question to Sadie, but it appeared to come across that way to Anna. She’d said she came out with a pry bar and there were basically only two things to do with a tool like that: pry open a door or use it to smash a window. The only question was, which route did she go?
“Actually, no, and that’s what’s so odd about me getting in the building. I was going to smash the hell out of that pretty oval glass in the door, and then I decided to try the door handle one more time before I started to go postal on the glass. Strangest thing was, Sadie, it was unlocked. Three of us tried it earlier, and that door wouldn’t budge a millimeter. You might have left it unlocked when you came in, but by the time we got here, it was bolted solid. Until a few minutes ago, that is. When I grabbed it this time, it swung open as though it was expecting me.”
That sentiment gave Sadie the chills. Given everything that had happened since she woke up here, she suspected someone, or something, had indeed been waiting for Anna. “I hate to say it, but I think it probably was.”
“It?”
She waved her arms. “This place. It’s like we’re caught in an episode of The Twilight Zone or a chapter of a Stephen King book. Something really creepy and really weird is going on around here.”
“I actually sort of understand. I feel it too.”
“You want to hear the strangest thing of all?”
“I don’t know what can get much stranger than being held hostage by a ghost.”
“I talked to my great-great-grandmother.”
“Rose?”
Sadie’s eyes snapped up to meet Anna’s. “How did you know that?” Not even she knew of Rose’s connection here until just a little bit ago. It was insane that Anna had just rolled her name off her tongue as though they were old friends. Her woman surprised her more and more every minute.
“The condensed version is that Lorna had a vision, or whatever it is she gets, when she touched the neckl
ace I had made for you. When it did its woo-woo stuff, Lorna wanted to know the history of the stone. Apparently the vision she got wasn’t about you, which is what I was hoping for. Instead it was Rose, and that’s why Lorna wanted to know more of your family history. I tracked down your mother, which by the way was quite an accomplishment given she’s hopping around Europe, and she was able to tell me where it came from. I guess that’s why when Nurse Crazy grabbed me on the stairs, I wasn’t totally surprised.”
“I would have been.”
“I probably would have too, except having Lorna here to open my eyes is most likely why I didn’t freak out or find it a big shock when I saw the nurse. I was more concerned about you than being scared of her.”
“Maybe not to you, but that bitch scares the bejesus out of me.”
Anna wrapped her arms around her again. “I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am I didn’t get here sooner. I should never have left in the first place. As soon as Lorna said she believed you were here, I should have just broken that door right then and there. I’d never have forgiven myself if something had happened to you.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over that. I’m stuck in some bizarre nightmare that includes the ghost of my great-great-grandmother, but other than that, I’m okay. I’ve got to say I’m glad you’re here. Though, baby, we still have a problem.” Anna might not see it yet, but she certainly did.
“We’re together now. There isn’t a problem we can’t solve together.”
Sadie loved the sentiment and loved that Anna felt that way about the two of them together. Unfortunately, it really didn’t solve their immediate dilemma. “We can’t get out of this place. It’s more than just the fact that crazy nurse locked us inside. It’s like we’re in a different dimension. Did you notice what she’s wearing? It’s got to be a least a hundred years since anyone wore a get-up like that. You know I notice things like that.”
She did too. Her job working locations didn’t mean she paid any less attention to the costume department. They often worked hand in hand to get the right look for a film or television show or whatever it was they were working on at the time. That woman’s outfit screamed turn-of-the-twentieth-century, which also happened to coincide with the date the main building was constructed. Nothing too supernatural about that.
Twisted Screams Page 14
