“You think the nurse is keeping us here, and that might be true. What I don’t get is why. Even if your grandmother was admitted here, that crazy woman doesn’t make sense. Would someone who isn’t even related come back from the dead to trap you inside this place?”
Sadie had been pondering that issue as well. She’d decided the answer split fifty-fifty. “I think the simplest answer is yes and no. Nurse Thompson, or at least that’s what she calls herself, definitely has an agenda that appears to factor me into it. I’ve been wondering about it since this nightmare began, and I’ve finally concluded that it had to have started way back when my grandmother was here. I also think there’s more to it than just a relative who had something happen to her here. My grandmother keeps telling me I have to help them.”
Anna held out her hands, palms up. “Who are them?”
She sure as hell wished she knew. It would sure make getting out of this mess a lot easier. “That’s just it. I have no idea.”
*
Renee didn’t typically feel any of the vibes that Lorna or even Jeremy experienced when they came in contact with forces beyond the physical world. Her abilities didn’t go that deep. At least they didn’t until tonight anyway. Just like Lorna, she was picking up trouble, because it seemed to vibrate from the very brick of the building. Likewise, her body was buzzing as though she was holding on to a live electrical wire. It made her jumpy in a whole lot of ways. Something just wasn’t right with this place. If it had an aura it would be dark.
In a new twist on her psychic gift, Lorna seemed to be tapping into the unseen and bringing life to it in a way that was drawing them all in. At the very least it was drawing Renee in. Her sense of urgency was rubbing off as well. Rather than reading auras, she was sensing despair and loneliness, as if souls cried out to her for help. Sadness wrapped around her like a thick wool blanket, and she wanted to throw it off to let in the air. Not that she didn’t want to help if she could. It was just that the crushing weight of the emotion was exhausting.
“There’s something not right about this place,” she said as her eyes stayed on the door handle. An urge to grab it, pull the door open, and find out what was on the other side was strong. Her hands stayed at her sides, her fingers curled tight. “Really not right, if you know what I mean.”
“No kidding,” Lorna said. “I’m right there with you. I’m making an educated guess that some bad shit happened inside this building, and I get a very sick feeling that it’s never stopped. Whatever it is, it’s really fucked up.”
Katie put a hand on Renee’s shoulder, which made her jump. “Sorry, ladies, but I’m not in this loop. Would someone care to explain? You know, bring me into your psychic loop.”
Renee patted the hand still resting on her shoulder. “Right, sorry, Katie. We’ve developed a bit of shorthand after a few of these psychic events. It’s easy to forget that others aren’t dialed in.”
“I’m definitely not. Bring me up to speed if you would, please.”
Renee nodded and put a hand on Lorna’s shoulder. “We have the resident expert who can explain.”
“A woman came to me,” Lorna said. “She told me we had to save them. I’m pretty certain she meant Anna and Sadie, but I’m not sure she meant just Sadie and Anna, if you catch my drift.”
Renee absolutely understood. The vibes rolling through her body were too intense to be coming from only a couple of souls. It felt more like an army of them. Apparently she was intimately dialed into whatever Lorna was sensing. “She didn’t mean just the two of them. I’m certain of that. There’s more at stake here than just Sadie and Anna.”
“You saw them too?” There was a whisper of hope in Lorna’s voice, as if she was pleased not to be alone in her touch on the other side. Renee felt bad she would have to let her down. Picking up on senses was one thing, but seeing visions was another. So far, visions were outside of her skill set.
Renee shook her head slightly and tried to clarify it for her. “No, it’s nothing like that. Sorry, babe. I still don’t see visions or hear voices like you do. In a way I wish I did. For me, it’s more that I feel souls, lots of souls, waiting and hoping. I don’t know why, but I think they’re waiting for us to do something.” It was the best she could do to try to make it clear.
Lorna ran her hands through her hair and for a moment closed her eyes. She opened them and said, “In your way, though, you’re tapping into the same thing I am. You’re feeling some of the vibes I am. It’s important.”
That was a fair assessment, although she believed it had more to do with her growing bond with Lorna than growing powers. The closer they became, the more she tuned into her. It was exciting and scary at the same time. “It would appear so, yes.”
She met Renee’s eyes, her face pale and tense. “Ah, crap, here we go again.”
Yes, indeed, here they went again. She knew exactly what Lorna meant. It wasn’t that she objected to the way the two of them were increasingly in tune. Rather it was what they were tuning into that was unsettling. Renee rubbed her hands over her eyes as she thought a few months back to the scene along the perimeter of a cemetery as law enforcement recovered the remains of a dozen young women who had died at the hands of a serial killer. Lorna had found them and Lorna had brought them home. She’d been there as support and, as she was beginning to believe, as a booster to Lorna’s natural gift. They were an incredible team.
“As much as I hate to say it, yes, here we go again. I don’t know what kind of insanity is happening here or went on before they closed the hospital down. But they need our help, and we’re probably the ones who can help them. The only decent choice we can make is to stay here and figure out what they need from us. We can’t leave until then.”
Over the last months it had been becoming clearer and clearer that destiny had brought Renee and Lorna together for more reasons than simply to discover the love they’d both been missing. For some time now, Renee had come to deeply believe that she was destined to spend her life with Lorna, and she was pretty certain Lorna felt the same way.
Seeing Anna and Lorna together had shaken her a bit at first, and she couldn’t deny it. Still, her belief that Lorna was the woman who would always have her soul remained strong. She held an equal belief that their love came with some very unique strings. They were not simply friends and lovers. Together they had the power to help the voiceless. It was a higher calling they’d never be able to escape. She didn’t want to escape it.
Lorna laid her palm against Renee’s cheek. The gesture chased away the chill, and the look in her eyes made her warm all over. She would never get tired of her touch or of staring into her deep, expressive eyes. “We’ll do whatever we must to make this right. You and me together.”
Renee covered Lorna’s hand with her own. “Together.”
“Always.”
“Always,” she echoed.
Katie looked from Lorna to Renee and back again before picking up the pry bar. “Okay, so we’ve settled that you two are a kick-ass, cohesive, crime-solving unit, and what I’m also hearing from both of you is that something inside this place is messed up and dangerous. Am I getting that right?”
Lorna’s hand dropped away and she turned to look at Katie. “I would say that’s a definite yes. Anna and Sadie are most certainly in danger. I believe terrible things happened to people who were housed in this place and somehow their being here is tied to whatever tragedies occurred.”
It made Renee a little nauseous to even think about the sort of things that might have occurred within the walls of a turn-of-the-century mental hospital. The kinds of treatments that had started off with the best of intentions had too many times morphed into something far different. History books were full of stories that made her cringe. To think that just across the threshold in front of them such horrors may have occurred was heartbreaking.
“I agree with Lorna,” Renee told Katie. “Bad things happened in this building, and if we don’t hurry, I’m worried more bad
things will. We’ve got to get inside.”
Katie studied the heavy pry bar and then gave them a curt nod as she pulled her arms back and brought it up high in the air. Her eyes on the big door, she said to them, “What I call that is probable cause, so screw protocol and waiting for keys. Ladies, we are getting into this mausoleum right fucking now.” She swung the pry bar, sending it crashing through the century-old glass of the front door.
Chapter Thirteen
Jeremy slid the armless gray chair next to Merry’s bed and laid his head on his arms. His head felt so heavy, he couldn’t keep it up any longer. Exhaustion and concern were kicking his ass. The room was bathed in shadows, and a constant murmur of activity floated through the door even though it was pulled most of the way shut. The faint unpleasant scent of cleaning solutions that seemed always present in hospitals filled his senses. Too tired to care about any of it, he closed his eyes.
He was grateful that Merry slept peacefully and that a blush of color was creeping back into her thin face. Loving someone as much as he loved her was harder than he’d ever imagined. In the past he’d always been so cavalier about fuzzy emotions like love and passion because, frankly, he didn’t get it. Now at long last, he did. What he felt for Merry and their unborn child was so deep it was almost painful.
No, it wasn’t almost painful; it did hurt. When she went into distress, his actions kicked into automatic and he moved quickly to do what had to be done in order to save her and the baby. On the outside he was calm and focused. On the inside he was a goddamn mess, fear and frustration warring silently inside him in equal measure. The very idea that he could lose one or both of them was a reality he refused to consider. Nothing was going to take either of them from him.
With his head resting on his folded arms, he smiled in the darkness, thinking of his mother. She used to tell him he was a boy in a man’s clothing and that one day the little boy would grow up. He’d ignored her—as boys were prone to do—and went on his oblivious way acting like a typical guy with no sense of deep connection. Wouldn’t Mom be surprised, and pleased, to see him now?
His smile faded as he thought of how much he wished she were here tonight. He wanted her to see that he’d left that boy behind and become the man she’d always believed he could be. He wanted her to know Merry and to be around to meet her granddaughter when she came into the world in a few months. She would be proud; he knew she would.
“I’m trying, Mom,” he whispered into the darkness. “I’m really trying.”
His head popped up as he jerked back in his chair and almost fell out of it. Jesus, what the hell was that? It felt like someone had stood right behind his chair and skimmed the back of his neck with their fingertips. Except that was impossible, given that he and his sleeping Merry were the only people in the room.
“Mom?” His voice shook. “Is that you?” It seemed a little too coincidental that he was wishing his mother could be here with him and then he felt a touch on the back of his neck. Just like he remembered her doing a hundred times when he was a kid. “Mom?” he asked again.
Nothing happened. No more butterfly whispers on the back of his neck. He wasn’t psychic like Lorna, yet all of a sudden he was wondering if maybe this thing Lorna seemed to be channeling since moving to Aunt Bea’s house was creating the ability to imagine the impossible in him as well. Things like sensing his mother standing beside him in one of his darkest hours. Or feeling her touch on the back of his neck in the moment when he needed comfort the most. Yeah, like that.
He smiled at the mere thought of his mother being here with him in spirit. Maybe it was true and maybe it wasn’t. But it didn’t really matter because he chose to believe it was his mother standing beside him and that she’d reached across the veil separating the living and the dead to let him know she understood. The comfort it gave him made his heart a whole lot lighter. No matter how old a guy got, he always needed his mother.
“What?” Merry murmured as her lashes fluttered and her eyes opened. “Is something wrong?” A note of fear crept into her voice, and her hand moved to her belly.
He leaned over and smiled, putting his hand on top of hers. Her eyes were only partially open, sleep still weighing heavy on her. He kissed her cheek and smoothed her hair back with his other hand. “No, baby, everything is really good. Go back to sleep. I’m right here with you.”
She leaned into the hand he rested against her cheek. “You won’t go?”
“No, I won’t go. You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not.” She probably had no idea how stuck she was with him. He—and Mom—were here for the duration. That’s what loved ones did at times like this.
A ghost of a smile crossed her lips. “Good. I like being stuck with you.” Her eyes closed, and in less than a minute, her chest was once more rising and falling in the smooth rhythm of sleep. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead before he laid his head back on his arms and closed his eyes again. The warmth of her body so close to him and the whisper of her easy breathing drew him toward slumber. Right at this moment and in this time and place, all was right with his world.
Thank you, God.
*
Lorna felt it the second they walked over the threshold. Energy pulsed through the building as if it were coming from the walls, the floors, the ceiling. This place was alive with a vitality that was impressively powerful. Or would it be more accurate to describe it as frighteningly powerful? Everything she’d felt outside the building was magnified many times over now. It was a bit like walking into an obstacle course riddled with live electrical wires. Yes, it felt exactly like that.
“They’re here,” she whispered, feeling, without knowing why, that it was important not to make a lot of noise. An old familiar saying, the walls have ears, took on a brand-new, rather ominous meaning.
“Where?”
Lorna held up her hand as Katie’s question echoed off the walls. While she’d uttered the word in a low, quiet voice, it nonetheless came across far too loud in the otherwise silent room. “Shhh. We don’t want her to hear us.” Instinct told her they had to come in undetected if at all possible.
“Her?” Renee, likewise, said the single word so softly Lorna almost didn’t hear her. “Anna?”
She did hear her, though, and the question actually stopped Lorna. Her? She had indeed said her, and she had no clue where the word came from because she hadn’t been referring to Anna or Sadie. It was pulled from somewhere deep inside and was as important as it was unexpected. It had the same feel to as it as when John McCafferty showed himself. She, whoever she was, was waiting and probably listening. Every sense in her body, physical and paranormal, was screaming danger. She was evil, and she would hurt them if she could.
The entryway where they stood seemed like a safe place, or should be anyway. It appeared they were the only three in the cold, dusty, empty building. But she sensed at a very deep level that they weren’t alone, despite the quiet. In fact, when she thought about it, things were a little too quiet, as if someone—or something—was masking sounds and movement. Sadie was in here, she was absolutely certain of it, and judging by the car outside, she’d lay odds Anna was in here somewhere too.
“Okay,” she said in a low voice as she swept her gaze over the entryway. “You want to play sneaky? Yeah, well, we can do that.”
“Who are you talking to?” Renee whispered in her ear, her hand gripping Lorna’s arm.
A valid question to which she didn’t have a very good answer. She narrowed her eyes and studied the room. Where are you? I know you’re here.
“Don’t know…yet, but she’s going to show herself.” It was the best answer she could come up with at the moment.
“There’s the she again. Who is she?” Katie had her hand on her gun. Lorna suspected the uneasy ripple in the air had her feeling a little off too. It was somewhat comforting to know she wasn’t the only one sensing something off. It was also comforting to have Katie, and her gun, at her back, though honestly, sh
e wasn’t sure in this instance the gun would do them any good at all. Was it possible to take out a spirit with a forty-five?
Chills crawled down her back. “I don’t know. I just know she’s here and she’s an evil bitch.”
Lights flickered at the top of the stairs, drawing Lorna’s gaze upward. At the same time, quiet laughter cut through the silence. It wasn’t a happy sound, and it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Sometimes it really sucked not to be wrong. She was making her appearance and doing it in style. Shades of the egotistical John McCafferty all over again.
Lorna took one step toward the staircase, and just as she did, the touch of a hand on her shoulder stopped her cold because Renee and Katie weren’t close enough to be able to reach her. Cool air whispered across her ear as a woman’s urgent voice breathed “Run” into her ear.
She didn’t stop to analyze, didn’t second-guess the command. She whipped around, yelled “run” to the others, and took off at a sprint toward one of the hallway doors. Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed Renee and Katie following her closely, and she silently thanked God that they’d done so without question.
The laughter coming from high up on the staircase grew louder. “You can run, my dears, but you cannot hide. This is my kingdom, and I know all and see all. There is no corner you can huddle in that I will not find you. No door I cannot open. No window I cannot lock. You are mine.”
“Bet me, bitch,” she said under her breath as she ran. “I’ll catch you first.”
*
Twisted Screams Page 15
