Jonah took that to mean she hadn’t told her sister about the female voice she had heard either. “Wait here. I’ll take your equipment and go with Cole.”
Grabbing his wrist to keep him eye-level, Kaylyn said, “I know you’re not going to listen to me, but I don’t think either of you should go back up there.”
“We’ll be careful.” Jonah squeezed Kaylyn’s shoulder as he walked by. Whatever happened had taken a toll on her, he saw it in the dim glaze of her eyes. Her young skin was thatched with deep lines as she watched them walk away.
Cole led the way to the back staircase. “She seemed a little off on the way up, but when we skipped to the top floor, she was fine… aside from the birds. On the way back down, she collapsed and curled up in a ball on the stairs.”
“How certain are you that it has something to do with the building and not—” Jonah flinched back as the light from the flashlight blinded him. He pushed Cole’s hand down. “You’re sure it’s not whatever else has been going on with her?”
“It was always around the second floor; what else would it be? Kaylyn’s never—”
“Never operated at less than a hundred percent on the job? The council already thinks you’re covering for her. I need honest answers”
“She’s been a little out of it, but,” Cole said as she continued up the stairs, “never before last month. She had a bad break up, and I think she blames work. She mostly blames herself. They’d lived together for about six months, and then he said he couldn’t take her secrets anymore and left.”
“That’s rough, but if she needs time, she should pull herself off of field work, before putting herself, and everyone around her, in danger.”
“You really don’t know Kaylyn. That’d be just another blow to the gut. Another sign she’d failed somehow,” Cole said, moving up the last few stairs.
On the second floor landing, Kaylyn’s flashlight lay, still lit, on the floor, illuminating the remains of the rooms and casting long shadows down the hallway. Shifting his camera and flashlight into one hand, Jonah picked it up, switched it off, and put it in his coat pocket. There was no way to determine room numbers, but there were only about five rooms in the small section, and all evidence pointed to the room in the back corner. With cautious steps, they moved through the debris, taking readings and recordings in each room as they passed.
“Feel anything?” Cole asked.
“No, it seems quiet.” He pointed he flashlight to the back corner. “Looks like we’re at the end of the road.”
“I’m not even picking up any disturbances with the equipment. The temperature has varied a bit, but the whole building’s been around forty degrees. With the power cut off, the EMFs have stayed low too.”
They jumped at the sound of a bang, and Jonah pulled the camera to his chest to avoid dropping it. He directed his flashlight toward the stairs, where the sound seemed to originate. “Cole?”
“Not me, but you should see this.” She pointed out some old charring on the wall.
“I think it’s safe to say this is the area we’re looking for.” They stood near the doorway, as Jonah debated whether it was best to check on the origin of the loud noise or to keep moving forward. A series of creaks and groans traveled through the floor below them. Then, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the mezzanine.
“Someone is in here.” Jonah aimed his flashlight at the archway leading to the mezzanine, as Kaylyn rounded the corner.
She stopped when she saw them, out of breath, with her face twisted in a painful scowl and her eyes vacant.
“Kaylyn. I told you to wait—” Jonah yelled.
“Please,” she collapsed to her knees, screaming in pain again. “Outside isn’t enough, can we get away from here? Please.”
Jonah and Cole rushed to her. Jonah turned off his camera and pocketed his flashlight, hooking his arm around Kaylyn’s back. She twisted away, screaming as he picked her up and carried her down the stairs, relying solely on the light from Cole’s flashlight to navigate through the dark building.
Jonah sat Kaylyn against the hood of his car, repeating her name as he patted the side of her face. She stared at him for a minute but didn’t answer or change her expression.
“Kaylyn!” He spoke louder, struggling to balance her swaying body.
She closed her eyes and went limp against his chest. “My stomach and back… it burns,” she whispered.
Jonah held her up with one hand, and he lifted the back of her shirt with the other. Her skin was striped with red, raised welts as if she’d been scratched.
“Believe me now?” she breathed as she lost consciousness.
Kaylyn
Kaylyn woke to hushed chattering voices, mixed with the clicking, whirling, and beeping of machines. She tried to open her eyes, but her muscles wouldn’t respond, her heart thudded and her mind reeled, but nothing responded, until her body jerked from the darkness. Biting back a yelp of surprise, she took in the dim hospital room and the familiar faces on both sides.
Cole jumped from her seat under the window and walked toward the bed. “You okay, sis?”
Kaylyn moaned and rubbed her burning eyes. On the other side of the bed, Jonah closed in as well. She usually wasn’t bothered by closed in spaces, but close spaces created by people standing over her with worried expressions were another story.
Kaylyn swallowed, her throat feeling dry and unused. “What happened?”
“You passed out,” Cole said, stepping back to a table to pour a small glass of water that she handed off to Kaylyn. “We brought you out of the hotel and…”
Kaylyn shook her head. “What do you mean you brought me out? You left me outside of the hotel.”
Jonah leaned against the bed railing, his face was shaded with the same exhaustion that Kaylyn felt sludging through her veins. “After we left you,” he explained, “you came running up the stairs. Begged us to get out, and collapsed in pain, so I carried you outside. Your stomach and back were covered in red streaks. You don’t remember any of that?”
“I was sitting on the stoop, you said to wait there. That’s it, I don’t remember moving.” Kaylyn groaned, squeezing her eyes closed. Had she really blacked out again? She struggled to keep her chest from collapsing on itself while she looked for a rational explanation. “What’d the doctor say?”
Kaylyn’s stomach churned when Cole’s gaze dropped to the floor. Her brain projected an unbelievable number of scenarios in the short time it took for Jonah to speak.
“The doctor said your body was extremely fatigued. The marks we saw had disappeared by the time you were brought into the ER, so they believe it was a reaction to stress.”
“So, what? Everyone thinks I had some kind of psychological break?”
Blackouts, crazy dreams, no sleep… she considered the possibility, and that scared her even more.
“We didn’t say that, Kaylyn,” Jonah’s voice wavered, leveling when he began to speak again. “It’s also not uncommon for an entity to target a specific person. We’ll review the evidence, and hope we find something that tells us more.”
“And if not?”
“We have to wait and see. In the meantime, you need rest. The doctor wants to keep you overnight.”
“I have a better chance of getting rest at home. Trying to rest in a hospital is counterproductive.” Kaylyn sat up, but her head felt full of water, sloshing about with each movement.
Jonah straightened his body, but his fingers remained clenched around the metal bar of the railing. “I insist that you follow doctor’s orders. You blacked out, and whether that was due to the hotel or another stressor, you’re better off under medical supervision. Dr. Pierce knows about Aicil—”
“I'm familiar with Dr. Pierce,” Kaylyn snapped. “I’m from around here, remember?”
Jonah made a sound in his throat and backed away.
“Calm down, Kay,” Cole said. She lowered her voice to a calm whisper. “You should let them keep an eye on you tonight.
We’ll figure out what happened.”
“Sorry.” Kaylyn closed her eyes and let her head fall back onto the pillow, passing out before she heard another word.
Even with the sedative—which the nurse woke her up to administer—Kaylyn didn’t sleep in the hospital any better than she had been at home.
At least at home, she thought, I wouldn’t have to listen to squeaky shoes and carts, doors constantly opening and closing, alarms, pages, and chatty nurses gossiping about their lives to pass the hours.
But if she couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t dream.
As the rays of the sun crept across the floor, Kaylyn gave up hope on ever being released. Her legs itched and begged to be released from the bed, so she tossed off the covers, and climbed free of the creaky contraption to search the closet for her clothes.
“Good morning, Ms. Anderson,” a male voice startled her as soon as she bent over to check a bag. “How did you sleep last night?”
She straightened but didn’t let go of the bag. “As well as can be expected in this splendid little hub of excitement. Can I get out of here now?”
“Soon, but first, we should go over a few things,” Dr. Pierce pulled a stool close to the side of her bed and place the clipboard across his lap. He nodded toward the bed and waited for her to take a seat. “You seemed extremely fatigued last night. Have you had any symptoms? Headache? Inability to concentrate? Feeling restless?”
Kaylyn shrugged, trying not to clench her jaw as she humored the doctor by climbing back onto the bed. “Maybe a little. I have a hectic job.”
“Any trouble sleeping?”
Kaylyn went over a dozen possible half-truths in her mind while the doctor stared at her. “I’ve had a lot going on. Sometimes—” Kaylyn’s gaze fell to her hands, her fingers twisted into knots on top off her gown-covered thighs. Stop fidgeting, she ordered herself, or the doctor’s going to know something is up.
“You seem anxious,” Dr. Pierce said.
Damn it. Kaylyn let her eyes fall close in an attempt to channel an inner calm. She’d tried to practice meditation on a few occasions but, like now, her brain never seemed to want to run in any gear except overdrive.
“Do you feel anxious at night? Like you have too many thoughts to fall asleep?”
Kaylyn imagined rolling her eyes but nodded. “Sometimes. Is all of this really—?”
“You can answer my questions, or we can keep you here until we find out the answers.”
“I just can’t sleep. My mind doesn’t want to shut off. Even when I do sleep, it’s not… always restful.”
“We can try some—”
“I don’t want drugs,” Kaylyn said in a monotone voice.
The doctor raised his eyebrows, and tilted his head. “Have you tried herbal teas? Do you drink a lot of caffeine?”
Kaylyn smacked her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “No and yes.”
“Try cutting back on caffeine. Chamomile can help reduce stress and aid in sleep, but shouldn’t be taken if there’s a chance of pregnancy.”
“Not at all.”
“Okay, then, I can give you a list of suggestions. Changing a few habits and lowering your stress level may do the trick. You should follow up with a regular doctor, but once we go over everything, and you get someone here to pick you up, I’ll release you.”
Dr. Pierce kept his word, and by the time Cole showed up, all the paperwork had been filed. By three o’clock, Kaylyn was stretched out on her couch with a cup of chamomile tea. She frowned at the contents of the cup as she swirled it around. Apparently, the doctor had cornered Cole, who then insisted on picking up some tea and preparing it before she’d leave Kaylyn alone.
She took a sip and sat it on the coffee table. “Guess it could be worse.”
Pulling a throw over herself, she wondered if it was possible that chamomile also worked on bad dreams.
If anything worked on bad dreams.
As exhaustion threatened, she forced her eyes open and considered retrieving her laptop, or least changing into something more comfortable than her day old work clothes, but sleep claimed her with little more than a yawn as its battle cry.
Jonah
Jonah pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms and slid under the covers of his three-day-old bed. He’d spent the evening reviewing paperwork, and trying not to think about Kaylyn and the ramifications of letting her investigate the hotel. Thoughts of all the things waiting to be finished bounced through his head, like a mental game of badminton, but his new position left him low on time and energy.
The bright clock face blared the late hour in his face, so he rolled away and relished in the feeling of lying in a quiet room with his eyes closed.
Just before he could drift off, the doorbell rang. He opened his eyes but didn’t move. The doorbell went off again, followed by a series of thuds on the door.
“No wonder no one functions around here,” he threw the covers back. His bare feet slapped against the wood floor as the doorbell rang again. “Yeah, yeah.”
He stumbled down the stairs, stopped short of the door to punch a code in the alarm panel and threw open the front door, ready to strangle whoever was there. “Kaylyn!”
“It’s dangerous,” she mumbled, holding on to the doorframe as if she was about to be blown away.
“What?” Too tired to control it, his voice was gruffer than he intended.
“The hotel,” Kaylyn urged louder.
“I got that. You didn’t have to come here in the middle of the night to tell me.”
“It’s coming.”
“Kaylyn,” he pulled her inside the door. It was freezing outside and if he had to stand half-naked in the foyer listen to her rant, he’d rather be warm.
Kaylyn’s body swayed, then went limp. Jonah caught her just before she hit the floor.
“I give up,” he grumbled, scooping her up and carrying her to the couch. As soon as he laid her down, she groaned and pushed him away.
“Jonah?” She jolted upright and looked around, “What’s going on?”
He raised his eyebrows. “I was hoping you could tell me seeing as how I had just gotten to bed.”
“Bed?” Kaylyn shook her head, looking around the living room with wide eyes. “How’d I get here?”
“I’m assuming your car, since it’s in my driveway.” Jonah forced his voice to soften, and sat down on the coffee table facing her. “You don’t remember anything?”
“I remember falling asleep on my couch.”
“You blacked out again?”
Kaylyn dragged her legs off the couch and took a deep breath. “I should let you get back to bed.”
“Kaylyn.” Jonah rose to block her path. “You shouldn’t be out driving until we figure out what’s going on. You’re blacking out, for goodness sake.”
“I’m not staying here.” She ducked away, checking her pockets as she slipped past him and toward the door. “Where are my keys?”
Jonah groaned and threw up his arms. “I have no idea.”
Kaylyn huffed and stalked out the front door, with Jonah following behind. Still barefoot and in his pajama bottoms, the cold snapped at his exposed flesh. He considered letting her go, but he’d rather have her alive and somewhere he could keep an eye on her—even if she was completely infuriating and slightly insane.
Maybe more than slightly insane.
“Kaylyn, come back inside.” he pleaded, his bare feet stinging as they hit the cold cement of the sidewalk.
She pulled on her car door, but it refused to open, so she peered in the window. “Of course.” She yelled, and smacked the roof of the car.
Jonah smirked, but hid it before Kaylyn turned around. “Do you have a spare set? I’ll take you somewhere in the morning, but for now, will you please come back inside?”
Kaylyn opened her mouth, but froze.
Not again, he thought, waiting for her to start ranting or pass out again, but her gaze raked over him.
“Nice outfit.”
/> Crossing his arms over his bare chest, he wondered again why he was outside, in the middle of winter, trying to reason with her. “I told you, I was in bed. And, if you haven’t noticed, it’s freezing.”
He watched a series of emotions flash over her face, then she nodded and allowed him to lead her back into the house.
Jonah closed the door and reset the alarm. “Can I get you some water?”
“That’d be great.” Kaylyn retreated to the couch, curling up against the armrest.
In the kitchen, the center island and most of the floor were still covered in unpacked boxes—half of it was brand new and provided as a “convenience” by Aicil for dragging him through three separate living arrangements in the course of the last few months. A single box sat open next to the sink, and he plucked out two glasses, washed them, and filled them with cold water from the tap.
Kaylyn hadn’t moved from her huddled position.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, handing her the glass.
Kaylyn pressed her lips together as she took it. “Like I’ve given you one more reason to think I’m a defunct nut.”
“I’ve seen people go nuts from what we do. I’ve also seen a lot of things I can’t explain…” He took a seat next to her and leaned back, staring off toward the center of the room.
“So, you’re not convinced I’m crazy.”
“Not entirely,” he smiled, and although he wasn’t ready to categorize her as insane, unless she decided to open up and let someone help her, he was fairly certain that things would only get worse. “I’ll sleep down here, you can take my bed.”
Kaylyn shook her head, “That’s really not—”
“Don’t argue, Kaylyn.” He took a swig of his water, wishing it was something stronger.
“What I said in the hospital…” Kaylyn trailed off. “When I snapped at you—”
“Don’t worry about it. It had been a long day for all of us.” Jonah slid his glass onto the side table, and tilted his head toward the stairs. “Speaking of which, I’m beat. I’ll show you to your room.”
Fractured Legacy (Darkness Bound / Frqactured Legacy #1) Page 7
