RetroCog (a Power Up! story)

by Harte, Marie

  Frank said softly, “Mike, I overheard Peters say that Bill Knowles never offered to help watch over Noah while you went for help. He lied, Mike. And the reason you couldn’t get anyone to help was that they were all on a call, a tip from an anonymous source. Someone had called in that they found Shelly’s body.”

  Mike paused a moment, then finally lowered his gun. He swore up and down, but Noah didn’t have time to wait for him to catch up anymore.

  “Look, Buckman, Chloe’s missing, and Bill’s got her somewhere. We think she’s in that house. We have to get to her before he does to her what he did to the others.”

  Mike shook his head. “Just… Wait. The nurse, I hadn’t heard about that. Was it Suzanne Bond?”

  “Yeah,” Frank answered. “Just like the others. He likes to take his time.”

  The wait was killing him. Noah turned back to face the house.

  Mike cursed. “Fuck. I caught him and Suzanne making out the other night. Right at the same time Shelly saw them and made a big scene. Happened outside Shelly’s apartment building. Oh man.”

  “We don’t have time for this. Bill probably heard the shot. We have to move fast. But at least we can use you with us.” Noah formed a plan. Buckman and he could lead the charge while Frank stayed tight with Lara.

  Another shot rang out. Noah spun around. This time Mike Buckman had been the target. He groaned and clutched his belly.

  “Gut wound hurts like a bitch, don’t it?” Bill asked in a strange voice. The man’s glittering gaze met Noah’s, and he frowned. “You ain’t Finn.” He looked from Frank to Mike and then settled on Lara. “But Cecilia. I’d know you anywhere, darlin’.”

  Lara trembled and took a step back.

  “Uh-uh. You don’t want me to shoot all of ’em right now, do you?”

  “N-no.” Lara glanced at Noah. “No, Michael. I don’t.”

  Bill’s grin widened. “I said to myself, she’ll know me when the time is right. And hey, the time is right. You remember, huh?”

  Lara lifted her head, and a calm seemed to overcome her. Fuck. Please tell me she’s acting, and that’s not Cecilia possessing her.

  “Now Michael. I remember a lot of things. Remember how we used to play together in my room at the saloon? How I’d drop to my knees for you? How I’d touch you just right?”

  Bill’s joy was tangible. “Hot damn. I’ve been waiting years for you. Making do with the others until you’d come back to me.” Tears filled his eyes. Until his gaze settled on Noah. “But I guess you wasn’t waitin’ on me, were you?” He raised the gun again, and Lara rushed to him.

  Noah used the distraction to step away from Lara, not wanting her to be between him and Bill’s aim. Frank must have thought the same, because he darted back and raced into the trees.

  Bill swore and shot several rounds into the woods. Noah used the distraction to launch himself at Bill. But to his shock, a force prevented him from moving. Frozen in place, Noah fought against invisible hands while the ghostly essence of Michael Fury snarled with cruel laughter. Handling Bill was bad enough, but now they had two foes to conquer. One of which they couldn’t fucking touch.

  Whether Bill hit Frank or not, Noah couldn’t say. The gun quickly trained on him once more.

  “Get your fuckin’ feet movin’, asshole.” Bill sounded like himself again as he grabbed Lara and plastered her to his side. He pointed to the house with the pistol. Then his voice lowered, and Noah imagined the ghost linking with the man again. “Time’s come for you to die, hero. You ain’t Finn, but you’ll do. Come on, Cecilia. Time to teach you a much-needed lesson.”

  Noah shifted on his feet, aware he’d fallen into a world of trouble. Frank might bring back help, but there was no guarantee he hadn’t been shot or that he’d bring back help in time. Noah would do his best to protect Lara if she’d let him. A glance over his shoulder worried him. She looked too composed for his peace of mind. Though he didn’t want her screaming in fear, that look on her face didn’t belong. It was too…Cecilia. And that worried him more than anything.

  “Let’s go, hero. One foot in front of the other. Have I got something in store for you.” Bill chuckled.

  Not good. Not good at all.

  Chapter Twelve

  Lara had faith everything would work out. She crossed her fingers and wished like hell Frank had gotten away. She could only hope Mike wouldn’t bleed to death before they had a chance to help him.

  Walking up the steps to the house, she followed Noah, so incredibly in love with him that it took everything she had to keep her terror under wraps. If Bill shot him, she’d kill him. She really would. One way or another, Bill—Michael—whoever inhabited that body, would pay for this.

  Noah looked over his shoulder at her again, his concern obvious.

  “Up the steps. All the way up.” Bill aimed the gun dead center on Noah’s back. He sounded nothing like the Bill she knew, and everything like a vicious dead cowboy.

  “Tell me something,” Lara murmured as they walked up the steps behind Noah. “Are you Bill, or are you Michael? Was Bill always Michael Fury, or is he possessed?”

  Bill laughed. “Honey, we’re the same. I seen the ghosts a few times, Cecilia makin’ eyes at me like she was pissed, but I knew better.” Then his voice changed. It smoothed out, more cultured, more in the now. “Lara, he and I are the same. I won’t say he’s haunting me, but I’m him. Just like you’re her.”

  She didn’t think so, the more she pondered the idea. Cecilia had called her here, had talked to her and laughed and teased and warned. But she didn’t dwell in Lara’s thoughts for more than the moments she tried to get Lara’s attention.

  “So you’re Bill, with Michael Fury’s memories?”

  “Curious, aren’t you?” That was Bill. They stopped at the second floor. “Okay, hero, go to the end of the hall and open the door. It leads to the attic. Your little friend can’t wait to see you again. What a pretty gal.” He sneered, then turned to Lara with a straight face. “Don’t be jealous. The others have always been play while I waited for you. You see, Lara, you’re the spitting image of Cecilia, Michael’s true love. He lost her years ago to his faithless younger brother. But he set that to rights. Now it’s just you and me.”

  He hugged her, and she forced herself to ignore the spot of blood on his collar. Oh God, where had that come from?

  “I still don’t understand. You’re Bill Knowles, with Bill’s thoughts and feelings. So Bill wants this?” She spoke slowly, not wanting to rile him with her questions. But as long as he concentrated on her, Noah remained clear of his direct attention.

  Bill ended the hug and shoved her toward the stairs. He waited for her and Noah to walk up in front of him; then he stopped them at the top, and they entered the attic in a small group.

  Chloe drooped, unconscious, tied to a wooden chair. She looked a little bruised but still wore all her clothes, none of them bloodstained. Her chest rose and fell evenly.

  “Sit there,” Bill ordered Noah and waited until Noah sat on the ground next to Chloe.

  There wasn’t much space for him to move, trapped on one side by Chloe and surrounded by lit candles all around. Everything centered around the portrait Noah had come to claim.

  Bill suddenly slapped Lara across the face. The sting and unexpectedness of his action stunned her. Noah yelled out and rose but stopped when Bill aimed the gun at Chloe.

  “One move and she dies.” He waited for Noah to resume his seat. “You sit there and wait for your turn.” An unnatural wind ruffled the thick drapes by the attic’s lone window. Bill slid the gun along Lara’s bruised cheek but didn’t take his gaze from Noah. “Don’t talk down to me, whore. I don’t like it. Now, to answer your questions. I’m fully in my right mind. I don’t need the ghost of Michael Fury to tell me what to do. I like women, Lara. Their smell, their taste, the way they moan when they’re riding a nice hard cock.” He fitted her hand around his erection.

  She wanted to gag but stayed silent,
letting him have his say. Frank, where are you?

  “But the best is watching the life leave their eyes. For just a moment, you can see that spark, that part of the soul that makes us what we are. Of course, that’s before it leaves. A rush of blood, of cum, maybe some other nastier body fluids. Whatever’s there just pours out along with that spark of life.” He sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I love most about women. I’ve had my share, but you were my biggest challenge. Michael has been with me for a long time. He helped me overcome a lot in my life, but he’s not always here. I let him in sometimes.” He snickered. “Hell, when we’re fucking, it’ll actually be like a ménage. You, me, and Michael.”

  He glanced at the portrait, and his features slacked. Michael had returned. “I’m so happy you’re here, Cecilia. I missed you, even though you are a two-timing slut. But Finn was like that, stealing whatever was mine. His fault Mama died, you know. I didn’t mean to kill her, but she asked for it. She took his side over mine. And then…”

  His voice changed; Bill was back. “It happened all over again. My mother loved me, I know, but sometimes love hurts. I had to kill her. Her and her younger sister. The fire wiped them clean. And then Aunt Ida came. She knew what I’d done, but she loves me.” He frowned. “I thought she did. She knew what I was doing, the women I played with. The fun we had. She and I were in it together, forever. And then she fussed at me because of my cousin, her dear little nephew, the Keystone Cop. He’s not a problem any longer though, is he?”

  “And Ida?”

  “She’s not either.” Bill’s smile gave her the shivers. Nothing sane lived in that gaze. “In fact, she’s lying in bed, trying to hold her intestines in. Just like Aunt Brenda died. Waiting for the flames to lick her right up.” He beamed. “Now we’re going to play a game. You get to pick which one of them”—he looked at Noah and Chloe—“I cut first. In fact, we’re going to cut them together, just like a real couple in love, Cecilia.”

  Bill Knowles or Michael Fury, the man standing so close to her was a danger to them all. She had no doubt he’d kill her once he finished with the others.

  “No.”

  Bill tensed. He withdrew a blade from his pocket and shoved the tip of it under her chin. “Don’t tell me no. I love you. You always hurt the one you love, Cecilia.” He laughed, a maniacal chuckle that convinced her she was living a nightmare.

  She smiled at him with all the warmth she could muster. It threw him off balance, enough for her to back toward the stairs. He followed her, as she’d meant.

  His laughter ceased. “Get the fuck over here, now.” A shadow of a man appeared next to him. An image of anger, brute strength, and a helpless devotion to a woman he could never have. Michael Fury.

  “Lara, listen to him,” Noah ordered.

  Instead of answering, she threw Michael Fury and Bill Knowles a dare. “Come and get me, sugar.”

  He/they growled and took another step closer.

  Everything happened then in slow motion, all at once. Noah launched himself from his spot on the floor but was too far away to reach her. In doing so, he knocked a few candles over, which lit the dry floorboards on fire. Something crashed through the large attic window and got caught in the drapes blocking out the light. Lara embraced Bill when he neared her and swung them around so that his back was to the stairs. Then a ghostly shove and an inhuman shriek knocked them both down the stairs. They tumbled down head over heels, and the gun went off.

  Pain flared in her leg. Bill gripped her shirt and refused to let go, sputtering and shouting before his head hit one of the steps a little too hard. They landed in a heap at the base of the stairs, neither of them able to move.

  “Get Chloe,” she heard Noah shout. “Lara.” He raced down the stairs and leaped over them. Then he pulled her to her feet and took her in his arms. “Lara. Are you okay?” He paled. “Oh shit. You’re hurt. Baby, you’re bleeding.”

  Frank appeared at the top of the steps holding Chloe in a fireman’s hold over his shoulder. Behind them, Mike Buckman stood glowering.

  Then Bill laughed, still curled up in a ball on the floor. Lara swore she could see a faint glow over his body, as if he moved with Michael Fury working him like a puppet. She’d swear Bill’s neck looked bent at an odd angle, yet that didn’t deter the gun in his hand. Noah spun Lara around, his body between her and death readying to fire. “Fuck y—”

  “You,” Deputy Mike Buckman finished as he fired into Bill’s body. Five shots in a row before he stopped. “That was for my mother, you piece of shit.” He lowered the gun to his side and tapped the frame of the painting against his legs with his other hand. “Party’s over, folks. The attic’s on fire. We need to get out of here. Noah, get Lara out. Frank, take Chloe. I’ll check on Ida.”

  Before any of them could move, a psychic blast knocked them all back a step. Then nothing but the crackling of flames could be heard.

  Noah carried her outside, far from the house, and refused to put her down. “Don’t ever do that again. Christ, you scared the life out of me.”

  “I’m okay. We’re all good,” she said to reassure herself as much as him. Michael Fury had finally gone. She could feel it. A sense of ease, finally.

  He leaned his forehead against her own, and she started crying.

  “Baby, don’t. Please. You said it. We’re good now.”

  “He was going to kill you, Noah. And Chloe, me…”

  “Shh. It’s over now. It’s all over.”

  Chloe, Frank, and soon Mike met them outside.

  Mike wiped away soot from his cheek. “Frank said this belongs to you.” The portrait of Cecilia Fine didn’t have a smudge on it.

  “How… Mike, we saw him shoot you.” Lara couldn’t help feeling caught in the aftermath of a huge storm. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  “Me too.” He gave her a small smile and tapped his chest. “When all this shit went down, I knew something wasn’t right. I had the vest and put it on, knowing I was coming out here to grab the killer, or who I thought was the killer. Ever since Noah left the hospital, I’ve been keeping an eye on him.”

  “Thanks.” Noah exhaled a deep breath. “I mean that.”

  “Yeah.” Frank sighed. “And for the record, because I know how Chloe will distort this story later, I wasn’t running from you guys. I was waiting for an opportunity to take Bill down. I was going to follow you into the house when I saw Mike get up. He and I used the trellis on the side of the house to climb to the attic.”

  Mike shook his head. “I used to play here as a kid. With Bill, if you can believe that.” His eyes took on a suspiciously glassy sheen. He cleared his throat. “Shit, Lara. What was all that talk about Michael and Bill and killing? Was he that Fury guy or not?”

  “I don’t know. I think maybe he was always kind of crazy, but I saw Michael Fury. I heard him. We all felt him there at the end. Maybe Fury’s ghost made Bill into what he was, or maybe Bill was born a killer. We’ll never know.”

  Frank shook his head. “And Ida. What the hell, Mike? Your aunt knew about Bill killing your mom and her sister?”

  Mike sighed. “I don’t know. I do remember my mom wasn’t that close to Ida. Only to Nancy, Bill’s mom. But he killed her and my mother.” Mike grew quiet. “And Ida. Now they’ll all burn.”

  “Like history repeating itself,” Frank murmured.

  Noah hugged Lara tight. “Not exactly, Frank. I think this is the start of a new beginning.”

  The fire burned bright under the light of day. The ugly reality of the past and the present right there for them all to see. And then something magical happened.

  Cecilia Fine and Finnegan Fury appeared with smiles on their faces.

  Mike stared. “Holy shit. I’m seeing this. You’re seeing this too, right?” He turned to Frank, Lara, and Noah.

  Chloe moaned. “It’s done, finally. The cycle’s broken, or so they say.”

  “Who? Them?” Mike asked, but Chloe passed out again.

  Chloe leaned on
Frank until he lowered her to the ground. He groaned under her weight. “I’m not—oh man, they’re coming closer.”

  “It’s done. Thank you.” Cecilia smiled, and her beauty lit up an answering smile on Finn’s face.

  “We have things to do, but we’ll be around.” Finn considered the sheriff and his gun. “Need to be faster on the draw, son. Work on it.”

  They faded, holding one another, and Lara felt Cecilia’s relief like it was her own. And then she realized the pain in her leg had faded to a numbness. Happy, dizzy, and on the verge of passing out, she stroked Noah’s cheek.

  “Lara.” He sighed her name.

  “It’s over. Now you’re supposed to ask me…” The world grew fuzzy.