by Ron Francis
"Okay," she conceded, even though she knew she didn't have a choice. Once Agent Melanie Barlow became involved, her free will disappeared. "What about my car, I'm still feeling a bit tired."
"Don't you worry about that, we'll get it to the hospital."
"Can I bring my backpack? At least maybe I can work on my paper some more while I'm waiting for my sister. My iPad died, but I'm sure I can charge it at the hospital."
"No problem, ma'am, do you mind if I have a look inside first?"
"No," she sighed, "Go ahead." It upset her that they wouldn't believe her. As soon as the tests come back, they'll know I wasn't doing anything wrong. Maybe by then, she would have a better handle on what she saw, and her sister might be able to help her figure out what happened.
The police car had just started off towards the hospital when she began to fall in and out of sleep in the back seat. It was quite comfy and it seemed they believed her enough to not cuff her.
She heard the one Officer talking, "She's really out of it, Bob," he began when he noticed how dazed she seemed. "What do you think she's on?"
"I don't know, but I can tell you this, if it is drugs, she didn't take them willingly. There was nothing out of the ordinary in her backpack except an anthropology text book. She had some granola bars, a bottle of water, her iPad, a notebook some sunglasses and an extra tee shirt. The front pouch had her charger, some pens and a flashlight. If she came here for a good time, she didn't bring the right stuff."
"She does seem like a good kid, so why the big search?"
"Classic combination of an overprotective mom and FBI sibling," Bob replied. "But something did happen to this girl, we just have to find out what."
"Maybe the doctors will have some answers," James said before they pulled up to the entrance to the hospital. "Time to wake sleeping beauty, again."
"Be nice, James, she may actually be sick or something."
"True, but what are the odds?" He shook his head. "I hated that this job automatically made him think the worst of people."
"I'm awake," Tina said, "and I didn't take any drugs!"
Bob felt bad that she had heard that whole conversation. He did believe her. He walked her into the emergency room and she was seen right away by the ER nurse.
Tina sat on the examination table, then the nurse stuck the needle in. She hated needles and cringed a bit. Soon, the nurse was filling several small vials with her blood that would be used for all kinds of tests. They also wired her up for an EKG and a bunch of other tests she couldn't remember the names of. They also kept asking her what her name was, which started to get irritating after a while. The only thing she cared about was that the test would say she hadn't taken any drugs. Then maybe officer Bob would believe her and leave her alone. She still felt really tired and that scared her, maybe one of those guys had given her something. But they seemed so normal, and the younger one was really nice. Then she caught herself, those normal guys, who were also involved in some sort of huge battle in the mountains, where things happened that I can never talk about without winding up in a crazy house. If only Melanie would hurry up and get here, she would believe me.
She plugged her charger into the wall while she was waiting for the nurse to return. She had just remembered that she might have caught some of the battle on video with her iPad. She sat down in the chair by the wall, struggling to stay awake, then her iPad came to life. She went right to her videos and hit play on the most recent one. It all came flooding back as the sound of battle filled her ears once again. She had managed to get almost a minute and a half which included swords, guns, tigers, wolves and a bear. There was debris flying about and people dying, but she was pretty far away. The faces of the people were either out of focus or obscured, but she could see some of what was going on. Her sister would have to believe her. She turned her iPad off and let it continue charging. A few minutes later, officer Bob was back with some food.
She tore into her burger as if she hadn't eaten in days. She couldn't believe how hungry she was. She was sure officer Bob must have thought it was a drug side effect. After she ate, she grew less tired and as she became a little bit more alert, details of her horrific morning came screaming back into her mind. She began trembling and when she noticed Officer Bob looking at her, she wrapped her arms around herself and said, "I'm cold, is there a blanket or jacket I could use?" She finished her dinner and wrapped herself up in the blanket Officer Bob brought her. She was starting to like the burley police officer.
"I don't think you're a druggie," he said with no preamble. "Never did, but I am convinced something happened to you. You may not know what it was, but I'm sure your sister will find out if there was foul play involved."
"Thanks, Officer Bob, I appreciate that you believe me and all."
"In my experience, no one takes an anthropology text book to go party in the mountains." He left the room when his radio beeped. A moment later, he was back with her sister, Melanie and Melanie's partner, Jason.
"Tina," Melanie cried out and ran to her little sister. "We were all so worried about you, what happened?" She threw her arms around her and Tina leaned into her big sister's embrace.
"I don't know, Mel, one minute I was laying down in my car to take a nap before driving home, the next minute these officers," she pointed over at the State Troopers, "were knocking on my window thirteen hours later. I wasn't doing anything wrong, I promise. I was just so tired."
"It's all right, you're safe now and we'll figure it out." She continued to hold her sister tight. She took out her phone and dialed their mom. "Mom, it's me. Yeah, Tina's fine. They're just running some tests on her to find out why she was so tired. Okay, I'll call you as soon as we leave the hospital. Yeah, she's right here." She handed the phone to her sister.
"Hi, mom. I'm fine, I'm just really tired and no one knows why. I was careful. I didn't drive tired, just like dad taught me. I did, I got some great pictures for my paper. It's gonna be great. I'm sorry I worried you so much. I love you, too. Bye." She handed the phone back to her sister and began to tear up. "What's wrong with me, Mel? I've never been this tired before."
"That's what we're here to find out, kiddo." Jason came over to her and held out a package of Nutter Butters, her favorite. She gratefully accepted them and gave her sister's partner a hug. He was the closest thing to a big brother that she had ever had.
"Thanks, Jason," she said.
"You can thank me by giving me a couple," He said while holding out his hand.
"I knew I got you hooked on these," she said and handed him a few. He held up the cookie, looked her right in the eye and winked. The next thing to happen was both of themm racing to open the cookie up, eat all of the filing and then finish off the two cookies one by one. They had played this game since she was thirteen, and Melanie had just gotten Jason as a partner. He won and pumped his hand in the air in celebration. Tina frowned and said, "No fair, I'm tired."
"I'll take it!" He exclaimed. "Now you're only winning by three hundred or so. I'm on the comeback trail." He beamed in triumph and she hugged him again.
The Doctor came back in the room, looked at Melanie and asked, "Are you family?"
"Yes, Doctor, I'm her sister. What can you tell me?"
"There were no drugs found in her system, but her melatonin levels are very high."
"What does that mean?" Melanie asked.
"That is the cause for why Miss Barlow is so tired, but it's the reason for the high levels that have me concerned. Her heart rate is much faster than it should be and her stress levels are through the roof. She must be experiencing very high levels of anxiety. Is there anything going on in her life that could cause this?"
"Stress and anxiety? Doesn't everyone have that? She is in school, and she does push herself."
"Not at these levels, and I checked her tests from her check up a couple months ago, and they were normal. These levels are through the roof, so this is a recent development."
She looked at her
little sister, compassion filling her eyes and asked, "What's going on, kiddo? What's got you so stressed?"
"Can we talk about this in the car, Mel?" Her eyes were pleading with her big sister to protect her from these questions, but it wasn't enough. There was no way Melanie could understand why she didn't want to talk in front of the doctor.
"It's okay, Tina, it's just you, me and the doctor and he's not allowed to tell anyone. What's up?"
"Doctor," she began, "Could you tell Officer Bob that it wasn't drugs?" She didn't know why, but she wanted him to have a good opinion of her. Her sister thought she was stalling and frowned while she made a 'hurry up' motion with her hands.
"I will, ma'am, they need that information for their report," he replied, "Now, was there something else you were about to say?"
Yeah, but how can I tell him I saw people change into animals and throw things with their mind? "I think I've been a little stressed since dad died, then with all of the hours I've been working and extra classes I've been taking. Maybe it's all just a little too much for me, I don't know." It sounded like a reasonable excuse, even if it wasn't true. She almost felt bad that her sister believed it. She could see the look of sympathy come across Melanie's face.
"Oh, Tina," she said, and wrapped her arms around her sister. "I was so worried about mom. You looked like you were doing so well with everything. I'm sorry, I should have checked on you more. Why don't you cut back on your classes a little, and maybe your work hours, too."
"I would like for her to stay and talk to someone, Agent Barlow."
Tina pleaded with her eyes and this time Melanie took the hint. "I think we would prefer to see our own doctor. He'll squeeze us in today or tomorrow, he owes me a favor." Tina was anxious to leave, and she knew Melanie knew it when she asked her last question. "Is there anything else we need to know, Doctor?
"No, she should take it easy for the next few days, nothing stressful, including school work. As long as she sees someone in the next day or so, I'm satisfied with that."
Tina didn't think he looked satisfied, but Melanie said, "Thank you, Doctor. Come on, Tina; grab your bag and your iPad. Mom is anxious to see you." Jason packed her iPad and charger into her bag and carried it for her. They thanked the doctor and were on their way.
When they were exiting the hospital, Tina saw Officer Bob. She hugged him and looked up at him. "Thank you for believing me, Officer Bob."
He smiled and patted her back, no problem, ma'am, you just feel better."
"I will," she promised. Then she waved, and got into her sister's car. Jason was driving and Melanie was sitting in the back seat with her arms around her sister. "Mel, what about my car?"
"We've got an intern already driving it back for us. Don't worry, everything is going to be fine, kiddo," she promised. "And no chauffer jokes from you, mister." She pointed at Jason who raised his hands in surrender, but winked in the rearview mirror at Tina. She acknowledged his attempt to cheer her up, and he returned his eyes to the road.
Tina began taking out her iPad while her sister was watching. "Mel, if I tell you something crazy, do you promise not to think I've lost my mind?"
"Of course not, sweetie, what is it?" She placed her hand on her sister's arm for reassurance.
"It's what really happened to me today. I didn't want to tell the doctor because I didn't want him to think I was crazy."
She could see the concern in Melanie's eyes when she asked, "Tina, what happened?"
"I was in the cave taking pictures, and when it was time to leave I heard all of this noise outside the cave in the big clearing. There were wolves howling, gunfire, people screaming and even explosions. I came to the cave entrance and saw a huge battle going on, hundreds of people and then a gunshot hit a tree like ten feet away from me, so I ran back into the cave and hid for a couple hours. When I finally came back out, it looked like the battle was over, but then a different group of people attacked the survivors. They threw a knife right into the chest of a guy, I think he was a prisoner, then they tried to kill another guy but a girl jumped in front of him and took the knife right in the chest. Then the fighting started again." She didn't want to say more because the story already sounded crazy enough.
Melanie encouraged her to continue. "It's okay, Tina, Jason and I are still listening." The sun was just coming up over the mountains as they drove. "Keep going, Tina, what else happened?"
"The man who was saved by the girl let out a loud cry of grief and then threw almost thirty of the attackers with his mind. I know it sounds crazy, but that's what I saw. Then when the fighting stopped, his hands started glowing and he healed the girl with the knife in her chest. Then, one of them spotted me watching and two of them turned into eagles and captured me." She started crying and continued. "I thought they were going to kill me, but the one who healed the girl, he said his name was Thomas. He said they were the good guys and that I had nothing to fear. He sent me down the mountain with two guys on dirt bikes. One of them was a cute college boy from Texas and they took me to my car. Then I woke up when Officer Bob tapped on the window." She saw the look in her sister's eyes and began to sob. "I knew it! I knew you'd think I was crazy."
"No, Tina, no, I don't think you're crazy. Maybe your mind was playing tricks on you, but you're not crazy."
"I know what I saw, Mel. I don't even want to believe it myself."
"We can talk about it more, later. You must be very tired."
"I slept for thirteen hours, Mel, I'll manage!" She was so upset; she almost forgot she had a little video footage. Her face brightened when she picked up her iPad. "I almost forget. I managed to get a little on video before my battery ran out." She turned it on and Melanie's eyes widened.
"What is it, Mel," Jason asked from the front seat.
"She definitely saw something, Jason, and it's intense. Let's swing by and take a look at the clearing, it's on the way."
"Won't your mom be expecting us?"
"We'll tell her we hit traffic. If half of what Tina is saying is true, something big went down up there and we need to get on it while it's still fresh. If we wait and come back, it may give whoever these people are enough time to cover their tracks."
Chapter thirty-seven
Jason pulled off the highway and parked at the foot of the trail Tina had hiked. She was happy they were checking it out. They exited the car and began to look around. "Look, dirt bike tracks," He pointed out. "Looks like they're coming down the hill, too. So far, so good, kiddo." He winked at her.
When they reached the clearing, all they could see was hundreds of freshly cut trees. "It's illegal to cut these trees down. This is all within the last couple days. Mel, whatever happened here was covered up, and covered up well." He walked a little further and pulled out his gun. "I've got blood," he called out.
Melanie instinctively pulled Tina behind her and drew her weapon. "I've got blood over here, too. And more on the west side."
"I've found a couple bullets. I can still smell the powder. There were definitely guns fired up here recently. Tina's onto something." Tina almost pumped her fist in spite of the tense situation. Jason had always gone out of his way to encourage her, and hearing him say she was on to something almost felt like vindication, even to her own doubts. She and Mel were now over by the cave entrance. She ran over to the tree that had been hit and pointed it out.
"I've got a bullet in the tree, right where Tina said it would be," she yelled to Jason who came running. She turned to her sister and placed both hands on her shoulders. "I'm so sorry I thought you were seeing things. Between this physical evidence and the video, it's clear that something huge went down here."
"What about the mystical stuff?" She asked with hope rising inside her. Half of that hope was that she wasn't crazy.
"I'm still not sure about all of that, Tina, but I'll keep an open mind. For now, let's get some pictures, bag these shells and call a forensics team up here. Something big went down."
They began heading o
ver to the trail, and they noticed an old man walking towards them. "Hello," he called out in an easy going manner. "Are you guys with the loggers that came through here yesterday?"
"No, we're Agents Barlow and Edison of the FBI. What can you tell us about these loggers?" Jason asked with one hand on his gun. Mel once again pulled Tina behind her.
"Nothing, I came through this morning and saw all of the damage, they're not allowed to cut these trees down, you know. Are you investigating this?"
"Not yet, we're here on an unrelated matter, but we'll have people up here within the hour and they'll figure it out, Mister."
"Jones, Obadiah Jones." He thrust his hand out in a friendly manner and Jason shook it.
"Well, Mister Jones, is there a number we can reach you at, if we have any further questions?"
"Nope, but I'm always hanging around up here. I'm sure I'll bump into some of your people."
"I'm sure you will. Have a nice day." Melanie replied in a dry tone. They turned to leave, but Jason had his eye on him. Tina took a picture of the man and she was pretty sure he hadn't noticed. When they got back to the car, she emailed the picture to Melanie and Jason.
"Good thinking, kiddo, we'll make an FBI agent out of you yet." Jason called out while he was saving the picture on his phone, then he started the car.
"I already told you, I want to be a forensic anthropologist and work alongside the FBI like—"
"Bones, we know. You do realize that it doesn't happen the way it does on television, right Tina?" Mel chided.
"Leave her alone; let the kid have her dreams. The real world will crush them soon enough so that we don't have to."
"Nice, Jason," Melanie looked annoyed, but Tina started laughing. "All right, Tina, let's go over a few things. First, I am going to need your iPad for a while. Second, the forensic team will be at the site in under an hour, if anything is hinky, we'll blame Obadiah, and last, but most important, I believe you saw a lot. I even believe you saw some things we might consider paranormal, but you can't tell anyone else about it, do you understand? We can't even broach that angle until we have proof or the director will have our badges and send us on a permanent vacation. This is very important. And especially, you can't tell mom. She can't handle this right now."
