Possession fa-5

by J. R. Ward

  “You sure you’re ready to do this?” he said gruffly.

  “Yes.”

  But she didn’t move.

  At least now he could help her.

  Exiting, he went around behind the truck and remembered what a bitch his own postmortem check-in had been like—namely, him waking up in the morgue at St. Francis and enjoying the truly bizarre experience of looking at his own dead body. This had to be the same for her, consciousness and reality colliding in a way that just shouldn’t ever happen.

  Man, even after all the atrocities he’d seen and done, that shit had stopped him short. He couldn’t imagine what it was like for her.

  As he opened her door, she dropped her arm. “Do you want to know why I didn’t come out all day long?”

  Desperately. Anything to give him a clue where she was. “Yeah.”

  “The thing that bothers me most is their pain. I don’t care what happens to me—that’s a whatever. But to see their suffering? That’s a hell I will not survive … so I wanted to make sure they were sleeping.” She got out and faced off at the house as if it were an opponent. “Guess I’m a coward.”

  Measuring her set shoulders, he shook his head slowly. “Not what I’m thinking. Not in the slightest.”

  Sissy didn’t seem to hear him as she hit the walkway, her feet carrying her haltingly up to the front door. Before she opened the way in, he had an impulse to stop her, thinking of how he’d found her mother sitting in that chair in the living room, the woman’s grief as tangible as a black shawl covering her whole body.

  But maybe Mrs. Barten could go to bed now that Sissy’s remains had been found.

  As he stepped forward too, more memories came back to him, making him rub his eyes, like that might stop the videos from streaming. He hated thinking of how he’d found Sissy in that cave at the quarry, everything that had made her a living, breathing entity left to rot in the damp earth, discarded as if she had been nothing but garbage.

  Goddamn Devina.

  “How do I get inside?” she said, as if she were thinking to herself.

  Shaking himself back into focus, he cleared his throat. “Walk right in.”

  After a hesitation, she gripped the doorknob and turned. “It’s locked.”

  “I didn’t mean that way.” Taking her arm, he urged her forward. “Just trust me.”

  A bright flare of pain in his forearm told him she was gripping him hard, but he didn’t mind—her reliance on him as she got scared made him feel strong in a way that had nothing to do with his body, and everything to do with his soul.

  It helped him deal with the sense that he’d failed her back in the beginning.

  “Wait,” she cut in, pulling away. “I can’t … just go through.”

  “I think you will.” After all, that newspaper kid hadn’t seen her—so there was a chance that “solid” objects were not all they were cracked up to be for her. “Trust me.”

  This time she followed as he stepped forward … and she let out a strangled sound as they passed through the panels of the door, the sensation of buffering only the briefest interference; then they were out the other side, breathing the warm air of the house, taking up space along with the living room furniture.

  Sissy looked down at herself, flaring her hands, flipping them over and checking out her palms. “I…”

  She didn’t finish as she looked up and seemed to realize where they were.

  No mother in that chair across the way. But yeah … you only kept vigil for someone you hoped would come home, not if you had a coffin to bury.

  “Oh … God,” Sissy whispered, putting both hands up to her mouth.

  Jim let her go, watching from just inside the door as she walked into the room beyond. He couldn’t see her face, but he didn’t need to. The horror was in the way she moved: her shoulders shrugged in, her head going all around, her breathing forced. And then she turned around. In the dull light coming from the one lamp left on in the hall, there were tears rolling down her face.

  “I’m dead,” she choked out. “I’m dead…”

  “I’m so sorry,” he said roughly.

  “Oh … God…”

  In spite of the fact that he was awkward with compassion on a good day, he walked over to her. “I’m … so damned fucking sorry.”

  He was unaware of his arms reaching out to her, but a split second later, she was up against his chest. And as Sissy clung to him, he found himself cupping the back of her head, urging her onto his heart, holding her even closer. Syllables were leaving his lips, but goddamned if he had a clue what he was saying.

  “I’m dead,” she sobbed. “I’m … gone.”

  “I know. I know…”

  As he held her, his eyes lifted to the bookcase that stood next to the bay window. Photographs of the family were lined up on its glass shelves, the frames all different sizes and shapes, the pictures taken in various eras starting when the children were really young, and then later as gangly preteens, and finally as near-grown-ups.

  There were going to be no more images with Sissy in them, and this crying right now? No matter how concerned she was for those she had left behind, in this moment, he had a feeling she was experiencing her own loss for the first time.

  And Devina had done this to her. To all of them.

  The bitch had to go down.

  Chapter

  Fourteen

  When Cait headed back into downtown a little after ten o’clock, there was no traffic getting in her way, no messenger bikes weaving in and out in front of her, no buses crowding the four-lane surface road route. Nothing but a couple of red lights, and a cop car that went screaming by her.

  It was as she pulled over to the side to let the CPD unit pass that she realized she was on Trade Street. And what do you know … she was right in the midst of all the clubs.

  Not far from one specific club, as a matter of fact.

  As she hit the accelerator and got back in her lane, she told herself there was no reason to slow down in front of the Iron Mask. But a couple of blocks later, she found herself letting up on the gas and coasting into her second pullover.

  No cops going like a bat out of hell this time.

  Just Duke’s supposed workplace.

  With her foot on the brake and staying there, she checked out the scene. She’d never been to the club before. For one, it had opened up after she was out of college and past her barhopping days. For another, going by the black facade and the Gothic lettering? Didn’t exactly look like her kind of venue.

  And yup, the long wait line at the double doors confirmed the extrapolation.

  Right, the last time she’d seen that much drippy black hair and clothing? A Nick at Nite Munsters marathon. In fact, it was like her vision had gone fifties monochrome on her.

  Strange to think that somewhere inside the low, windowless building, that man was working—at least in theory.

  She had Googled him.

  As soon as she’d gotten back to her house, she’d gone to her laptop, fired up Internet Explorer, and typed in “Duke Phillips, Caldwell, NY.” The good news? No articles about him murdering or stalking anyone, no mug shots, no crime-blotter mentions—and there was a picture from an old Union College yearbook that indicated he had at one point been premed. No address or phone number, but he could be a renter and only have a cell phone. No LinkedIn profile. Nothing on wife or children or parents.

  She’d even gone on Facebook and searched under the name. No profile that matched him.

  G. B. Holde on the other hand? After doing a search on him, she found that the guy had nearly nine thousand followers on Facebook—almost ten thousand on Twitter. No college profile for him, but plenty of articles on his singing, shows, and fans.

  Cait frowned. The club’s entrance was being manned by two guys, and as one of them walked over to address somebody, she realized … it was him.

  Her mystery man.

  Okay, not hers.

  And yeah, big surprise—he was not tak
ing any lip from the Goth aggressor who’d stepped out of line, literally. He marched right up to the vampire wannabe, his arms hanging loose, his jaw clenched, his height acerbated by the ass kicking he was clearly prepared to dish if that was the way things went.

  Except what do you know. Mr. Darkness Personified with the walking cane and the pseudo-Victorian leather duster backed down, his eyes dropping away as Duke got up into his face and stayed there.

  Cait braced herself for a fight, but there wasn’t one coming—once Duke had established his dominance, the drama was over. He went back to his post, and the guy with the mouth turned into a pussycat with an anachronistic collar.

  Pulling herself out of stalker mode, she got back on the right path, heading down Trade and navigating Caldie’s grid pattern of one-ways. Her second foray through the Palace’s parking garage wasn’t quite as successful as her first. The only vacant spot she could find was waaaaaay up on the top floor that was open to the elements, and when she got out, a stiff, cold wind shaved her head. Burrowing into her coat, she hurried for cover, jogging around to the way she’d just come up because that was closer than the stairwell.

  Sure, the ramp was for cars, but she was not going to ruin her blowout by staying in that stiff breeze any longer than she absolutely had to—

  Shoot. She was turning into a chick.

  As she emerged onto the level below, she was at the far end, the red Exit sign to the stairs and elevator glowing in the distance. But at least the wind-tunnel effect wasn’t happening down here.

  With any luck, she’d gotten back in plenty of time. She’d be waiting for G.B. in the lobby if she could get inside, or the outer foyer if she couldn’t—

  A second set of footsteps joined her own.

  Cait frowned and looked over her shoulder. Someone had come down the ramp also, the dark figure about ten yards behind her.

  She could not make out the face … or much of anything else. It was almost as if a haze had settled in and thickened the air between them.

  Cait picked up her pace, the sound of the hard soles of her loafers like a heart beating faster and faster. Glancing around, she realized there was no one else in the vicinity—and there wasn’t going to be for a while. The concert didn’t end for a half hour, and no one was going to be parking or unparking a car anytime soon.

  The person behind her sped up, walking more briskly. Keeping up. No, zeroing in.

  As she broke into a jog, she felt a little paranoid—she’d probably been dwelling too much on Sissy Barten’s story. But then she looked back again…

  They were coming even quicker.

  Panic surged, and as she wrenched back around, she locked eyes on that Exit sign like it was a safety hatch—except if she got into the stairwell, what then? Would they chase her down it?

  Even faster. She went even faster, her shoes smacking into the concrete, her arms pumping—and right behind her, whoever it was sped up, too. Terrified, she took her purse off her shoulder, and held it in front of herself because it was the only “weapon” she had—wait, she should go for the eyes, right? The groin of the head—

  Was she really channeling Dwight Schrute at a time like this?

  Just as she came up to the heavy steel door of the stairwell, the elevator next to it binged and opened. No one was in it. No one had punched the down button, either.

  Who the hell cared?

  Cait tripped as she jumped inside, and threw herself at the lineup of buttons on the panel to the right. Punching the number “1” over and over again, she looked out of the open doors. The dark figure was running, closing in on her—

  “Please, please … please…” she gasped.

  Cait hit that lit numbered button with both hands, her purse smacking against the elevator’s wall, her breath exploding out of her mouth.

  “… please … shut … oh, God…”

  Her eyes shot to the row of numbers that glowed up above. The number “4” was lit—

  Abruptly the wind shifted direction, hitting her in the face even harder than it had up top—as if that figure, racing for her, coming at a dead run, was a menace from the Old Testament, its presence marshalling the elements, and sucking the illumination from the fluorescent lamps that glowed on the columns—

  The lights flickered over her head, strobing everything as the parking lot ahead of her abruptly went dark.

  Evil was coming for her.

  Blinded by the blinking lights above, she couldn’t see its form, but vision was unnecessary. Her bones, her very soul recognized the threat as time slowed to a crawl and reality twisted into a nightmare.

  Was this how it went down for people? When a victim was struck, did they all feel this careening terror, this tunnel vision, this sense of, No, not me, not now, how is this happening?

  As if her brain were retreating to safety, flashbacks of earlier in the night flickered through her consciousness, images of her in her car, of her at a stoplight, of her in front of the Iron Mask … of her turning into the parking garage one hundred and twenty seconds ago … tantalized her with the false idea that she could somehow go back in time.

  If only that ticket had been waiting for her at will-call, this would not be her destiny. She’d be safe in the theater, listening to music along with five thousand other people who didn’t have a clue about what she was actually facing.

  Tragedy was about to happen.

  If only she had not stopped to look at that man at the club. Or if she had decided to try to park on the street. Or if—

  “Please, God … close—”

  The doors abruptly got with the program, shutting so fast it was as if they were spring-loaded. Thump. Ding.

  Whoosh.

  The elevator began its descent.

  Backing up against the poster-size ad for the theater’s new season, she focused upward on those numbers overhead, praying that the lift didn’t misfire again and stop at the floor below. One flight down the stairs was no big distance to cover…

  Every creak of the car was magnified until her ears burned like she was at a concert. Each foot down was like a mile at walking speed. Moments stretched into hours, days. Hands cramping up, fingers cranked into claws, her body was in full fight-or-flight—

  The phone, she needed to get her goddamn phone. With a jolt of action, Cait fumbled in her purse, things falling out; she didn’t care what—

  Ding.

  Bump. Halt.

  Cait’s head jerked up to the doors as the “3” lit up, and the descent stopped. “No … no…!”

  Lunging forward at the panel, she hit the bright red stop button. As a ringing alarm exploded into the enclosed space, she had no idea whether she’d shut down the opening mechanism.

  Phone—where was her phone! Shoving her hand back into her purse—with enough force to break one of the straps—she rummaged around until her fingers ran into the thing. But she couldn’t keep hold. As she brought the cell out, it slipped away from her, bouncing across the floor, sending her on a goose chase as she fell to her knees to catch the—

  Are you sure you would like to make an emergency call? the screen asked her as she got it and began working the screen.

  “Hell, yes!” She nailed the green button and put the phone up to her ear, staying frozen in that crouch, her eyes locked on the double doors as she prayed they’d stay shut—

  “Yes!” she shouted over the din as she plugged her free ear. “I’m in an elevator in the Palace Theatre’s parking garage.” What was the address? What the hell was the— “Yes! On Trade! Help me—there’s someone trying to—”

  Above her head, the inset lights in the ceiling started to flicker again.

  “I’m alone, yes—I’m in the elevator!” She kept shouting, because the alarm was still going off loud as a jet plane—and because being scared shitless really wasn’t conducive to library whispers. “I’ve stopped it at the third floor—what? That’s the alarm, ringing—no! It wasn’t a malfunction—I stopped the elevator! There was someon
e chasing me and I ran into—excuse me?” She actually took the phone away from her cheek and glared at it. “Are you kidding me—lady, no offense, but he would have just followed me down the stair—no! My car was on another level.”

  Was this woman on the other end actually critiquing her choice of escape?

  “Thank you—yes, I would like the police!” Much preferred over an embalmer at the end of all this. “Thank you!”

  As they went around in circles for what felt like an eternity, Cait told herself to try to reel in the frustration. Not a good idea to fight with the source of the cops. But for godsakes…

  “No, there’s no telephone—wait, there is a call button, yes.” Why hadn’t she noticed it on the panel? “Yes, I’m hitting it now.”

  A buzzer cut in through the alarm. And then … a whole lot of nothing but that screaming, ringing sound. Maybe the security guard was on break?

  “No, no, answer—oh, God, please just send someone—”

  Pounding on the double doors made her scream.

  Chapter

  Fifteen

  As Sissy stood in the center of her parents’ living room, she held on to the only thing that seemed solid in the world.

  The man who had returned her home.

  And it was strange. Even through her hysteria, she had some vague thought that he was hard all over: His back was as unforgiving as stone, his arms like bridge cables, his chest a table to rest her head on. He was strong, so very strong; she could sense it in the way he held her to him. If she fainted again? He was going to do what he’d done before with ease.

  Pick her up. Carry her somewhere safe.

  But was there any true safety to be had anymore?

  Probably not. And that was another reason she’d locked herself away all day long.

  She hadn’t been sleeping; that was for sure. Nope. She’d been reliving the past—and not as in distant history, not the happy or sad or poignant stuff she could recall from her real life. No, she’d passed those solitary hours mourning the prosaic trip out of the house that she’d made however many evenings ago: She’d replayed in her head everything she could remember about the night she had been abducted … in the kitchen, going to the fridge, looking for ice cream. None. Calling out to her mother, who was in the family room, watching TV and cross-stitching.