by Beth Manz
Blair knelt on the ground, his hands bound behind his back. Brackett was beside him. Alex walked around the two men, gun in hand, staring down at her prisoners. "Traitors," she sneered.
She had moved them into the main part of the lumber mill, the large area on the first floor that had once been used to cut the massive trees. It stood empty now, the dirt floor littered with pieces of broken glass and chunks of discarded wood. Darkness claimed most of the room. Yet on the far wall, Blair could see sunlight filtering in through cracks in the boards. On the other side of that wall was the outside world. Was freedom. If he could somehow escape, maybe he could find help. Maybe he could get back home.
Alex stopped in front of Brackett and reaching out, grabbed a fistful of his hair. "I knew I couldn't trust you."
"Alex, come on," he soothed. "I would never turn on you. I was just trying to gain the kid's trust. Tell him what he wanted to hear in order to get his cooperation."
Blair glanced at Brackett out of the corner of his eye. Was that possible? Was Blair so gullible that he could be fooled that easily? Because he had believed him. Had finally hoped that this whole thing would come to an end before Jim had to ever be put at risk again. Alex jerked his head back hard. Brackett grunted, gritting his teeth. "Do you really think I'm that stupid?" she growled. Her gaze shifted to Blair. "And you." Her hand left Brackett's hair and found a home in Blair's. "You're worse than him." She yanked back, straining Blair's neck, sending currents of pain down his back. "You're supposed to be my Guide!"
"I have never been your Guide." He kept his gaze locked with hers, his voice calm.
She laughed, her hand keeping its tight hold in his hair. "Such loyalty. You really think Ellison cares that you're gone?"
Blair kept his gaze neutral. Would not give her the satisfaction of any kind of reaction.
She leaned down, her hot breath caressing his cheek when she spoke. "Don't you prefer me, Blair? Just think about it. You and me, together. Don't you see the endless possibilities?"
Blair did not speak. He knew if he lied, she'd know. He'd told Jim once that he was a walking lie detector. Alex had the same ability. So he said nothing. Just continued to stare ahead.
"Answer me!" she screamed when he remained silent.
"You don't want to hear my answer," he whispered.
She released him and stepped back. "Fine. You just be that way." Her fingers played over the barrel of the gun in her hand. "The question is what to do now?" Her gaze once more fell on Brackett. "You I don't need anymore." The gun swung toward him, stopping inches from his face.
"Alex, you don't want to do this," Blair began, using his most grounding tone. "You haven't killed anyone yet. You don't want to start now." Her eyes shifted toward him but the gun remained leveled at Brackett's forehead. There was no love lost between Blair and Lee Brackett. After all, this was the man who had pumped Jim full of tranquilizers. But he just couldn't stand by and let her kill him. Besides, if Alex began killing, would she be able to stop? Or would it push her so far over the edge that the gun would turn on him without thought?
"You just have to think, Alex. Think about what this will mean." Blair kept up the steady stream of words, hoping his voice would soothe her, that maybe, just maybe he could convince her to untie him and put away the gun. He never got that far. As soon as she began to lower the weapon, Brackett made his move.
Launching himself to his feet, Brackett slammed into her, sending her flailing backward. Blair spent only seconds processing what was happening before struggling upright himself and running in the opposite direction of Brackett. If they split up, he reasoned, she could only follow one of them. Problem was, Blair had a pretty good idea which one of them she was more interested in.
He reached a wall, slid around the corner and pressed himself into the darkness, trying to disappear into the deep shadows of the massive room. His breath raged in and out. He clamped his mouth shut against the harsh sound. A sound he knew Alex would hear. He twisted his bound hands, looking for any leeway. The coarse rope bit into his flesh, drawing blood but did not give. Dammit! He scanned the area, squinted against the almost overwhelming darkness. Brackett had run toward the wall with the sunlight filtering through. No doubt straight to the door and outside. "Bastard," Blair muttered. The man had managed to get himself out of this mess but had left Blair behind, the proverbial lamb to the slaughter.
No. There had to be something he could do. Someplace he could hide.
She'll just hear your heart beating.
He squeezed his eyes shut. Think. Think!
"Blair." Her voice echoed through his head, high-pitched and teasing.
His eyes snapped open. She was close, too close.
He pushed away from the wall and stumbled further into the darkness. Ahead, he could see the outline of a door. Maybe it was an exit. If he could just reach it. His feet caught on something protruding from the floor. He fell hard, landing on his left side. Before he could get his feet back beneath him, she was there, standing over him, gun pointed at his chest.
"Now, Blair, you weren't planning on leaving without me, were you?"
Jim slammed the truck to a stop in front of the lumber mill and cut the engine. Sandburg was here, he knew it, could feel it. Before he could get out of the truck, he saw a lone figure running from the building.
Pushing out of the truck, Jim headed toward the fleeing form of Lee Brackett. He caught the man by the shoulder and slammed him into the nearest tree. "Where's Sandburg!"
Shock widened Brackett's eyes. "Ellison. What the hell?"
"Where is he!" He pressed his arm against the man's throat, effectively cutting off his air supply.
"Inside," he choked out.
Jim's gaze cut to the mill. He sent out his senses, seeking the heartbeat that was more familiar to him than his own. Silence. The mill was empty. He turned an accusing eye on Brackett. "There's no one inside."
Brackett struggled for breath as Jim increased the pressure on his throat. "If he's dead, so are you." He released his arm and hauled the gasping man back to his truck. He cuffed Brackett's hands to the handle of the driver's side door before refocusing his gaze on the line of trees behind the mill. It was the only place Alex could have taken Blair. The only thing that made sense.
Jim moved forward a few steps, working slowly, scanning from left to right. And then he saw it. A small amount of blood smeared against the side of one of the trees. He jogged to it and leaned down. Fresh from the look and smell of it.
Sending out his sense of sight and sound, Jim pulled his weapon and headed into the forest. It wasn't long before he picked up the distant sound of voices. But they were garbled and he was having trouble deciding on a direction. I need Blair for this. The irony of the thought was not lost on him. He closed his eyes. Concentrated. Tried to pinpoint the direction. Wind ruffled over him, raising the hairs on the back of his neck. The sound seemed to drift on the breeze, coming from his left one minute then off to his right the next.
In that moment, Jim felt as if he were back in his dream, knowing his partner was near, in danger, but unable to find him.
Maybe in order to save the tribe, you were supposed to let me die.
Blair's words spun through his mind. Jim gritted his teeth, pushing them away. No, he did not believe for a second that Blair Sandburg was meant to die. That somehow it was his fate or his punishment for helping Alex.
As if in answer to those thoughts, Jim heard Alex's voice, sharp, angry. Distinct. He looked to his left. The sound repeated and he took off at a run.
Alex shoved Blair before her. He stumbled on purpose, falling into a tree, smearing blood from his wrists across the bark. Jim could see that, smell it. And could track him. He didn't know why he thought Jim would somehow find him. But the minute Alex forced him from the mill, he just had a feeling that his partner was near.
"Come on," she commanded. "We're almost there."
Blair looked into her feral eyes and knew she was gone. Whatev
er thin thread had been holding Alex Barnes' sanity in place had snapped. When she'd dragged him toward the woods, babbling about finding the temple from her dreams, he'd thought that maybe his theory about her had been wrong. He quickly realized that that wasn't the case. Alex's dreams had not returned. Instead, she'd simply convinced herself that the temple from those dreams was here. That if she could just get to it, she would then have complete control of her senses. Would be powerful beyond her wildest imaginings.
"Alex, the temple is not here." He knew if he let her believe in her fantasy, that she would kill him the minute she found out it wasn't true. "Think, Alex. We are in Cascade. Do you really think that temple would be found in Cascade?"
"Shut up!" She pointed the gun at him, her hand shaking. "You don't know what you're talking about!"
"The dreams are just that -- dreams. That temple--"
She smacked him across the face with the gun. Blair collapsed to his knees. Blood trickled down the side of his face from the cut she had opened in his cheek. Her hand once again found a home in his hair.
"You know where it is, don't you." The gun came to rest against his left temple. "You told Brackett. That's where he went, isn't it? Isn't it!"
"Alex," he began and stopped. He could hear the quiver in his voice. He took a deep breath and tried again. "Alex, I want to help you." Better. His tone was smooth, even. "Just listen to the beating of my heart. It centers you, remember? You told me that."
She dropped down in front of him, a teasing smile playing on her lips. "You liked it when I told you that, didn't you?" The weapon remained at his head. "Didn't you!" She pressed harder with the gun until it dug painfully into his flesh.
"Yes, I liked that, Alex." He could feel his heart slamming against his ribcage. Knew she must hear it. But instead of confirming the fact that he was lying, she seemed to take the racing sound as a sign of his excitement for her.
Reaching out, she laid her free hand flat against his chest, just over his heart. She closed her eyes, seeming to relish the out of control pulsing beneath her fingertips.
"Listen to my heart," he whispered an idea beginning to form in his mind. If he could get her to concentrate hard enough... "Hear only my heart. Let it calm you. Flow over you. Through you."
A low moan escaped her slightly parted lips. Her eyes remained closed. Her face went slack. Blair remained utterly still. Barely breathed. Waited. Seconds passed with no change and he knew he had accomplished what he had set out to do.
He had gotten Alex to zone out on his heartbeat.
But as he continued to kneel on the wet ground, he was no longer sure this was the best idea he'd ever had. He had thought when she zoned, that her entire body might go slack. That she would drop the gun. She hadn't.
Blair strained to see out of the corner of his eye. Tried to determine if her finger still rested on the trigger of the gun pressed hard against his temple. If he moved, if the rhythm of his heart changed, if the wind shifted direction, would she flinch, pull that trigger, and scatter his brains across the forest floor?
Jim came into the small clearing and stopped cold. Blair knelt only a few feet away, his hands bound behind his back. Alex knelt before him. She had one hand flat against his chest. The other held a gun which rested against his partner's left temple. It took Jim only a moment to realize she had zoned.
Quickly, Jim did a scan of Blair's vitals. His heart beat strongly. His breathing steady and even. He had several cuts and bruises on his face and Jim didn't like the gray pallor of his skin. But overall, he seemed to be okay.
Blair's eyes met Jim's. They widened with a mixture of surprise, relief and fear.
Don't move, Jim mouthed. Blair rolled his eyes heavenward as if to tell Jim that that little piece of advice was the most unnecessary he'd ever been given. Without realizing it, Jim had remained tuned in to Blair's heartbeat. It still pounded steadily. Jim prayed for it to stay that way. He had no idea if a change in that rhythm would bring Alex out of the zone-out. And when she came back, it would take only the slightest movement and the gun at his Guide's head would go off before she even realized it was happening.
Jim licked his lips. The gun was the problem. If he could get the gun away from Blair's head, then they would be home free.
He took a step closer. Blair's heart rate increased slightly. The quickened beats pounded through Jim.
Jim tilted his head to the side, indicating to Blair that he was listening. Then he placed his hand on his own chest, over his own heart.
Blair closed his eyes, obviously understanding Jim's message, and tried to get himself under control. Seconds later, the rhythm was back, even and normal.
Blair's eyes opened again, his gaze locked once more on Jim. He offered him a weak smile of encouragement and Jim was amazed by his partner's courage. Even in the face of such an obvious threat to his life, Blair was trying to reassure Jim.
Okay, the gun.
Just as Jim prepared to make his move, the distant sound of sirens rang in his ears. Simon! He swung toward the sound, his heart jack-hammering in his chest, before his gaze cut back to the two people kneeling several feet away from him. He detected a slight stirring from Alex and zeroed in on her trigger finger. It twitched.
"Blair! Move!" The two words burst from him just as the gun went off.
Blair jerked backward. Fell hard on his side, grunting. Blood trickled down the side of his face.
"No!" Jim screamed. His eyes locked on the small wound on the side of his partner's head.
Grazed. He's just been grazed.
He forced his attention back to the very real threat still facing them both. Raising his weapon, he was met by a mirror image of his own stance -- Alex arms locked forward, gun aimed at his chest. They were separated by only a few, short feet.
"Drop your weapon," he growled through clenched teeth.
"Drop yours!" she shrieked.
Jim could hear her heart racing wildly. See her shaking hands. Knew she was barely holding herself together. He had to get this situation under control and fast if he and Blair were going to walk out of this alive.
"Alex." Blair's voice flowed over both of them. Low, controlled.
Jim chanced a look at his partner. He stood to the side, halfway between then, swaying slightly, barely managing to stay upright. Fresh blood trailed down the left side of his face like crimson tears.
"Jim just wants to help you," Blair continued, somehow able to maintain a calm tone to his voice even through his obvious pain.
The gun wavered in Alex's hands but did not move from its target. "Blair, tell him you want to stay with me." Her voice cracked. Her lips trembled. "Tell him to go away!"
"Alex, look at me." Blair inched a step closer.
"Blair, stay back!" Jim ordered.
Blair advanced another unsteady step forward. "Alex, you need to calm down." She shook her head, her eyes never leaving Jim. "Look at me, Alex. Listen to me."
"Tell him to go away," she whined.
Somewhere close by, Jim could hear the sounds of Simon and his backup. They were in the woods now, approaching quickly. "Alex, it's over. There are others coming."
"You're lying!"
"Listen," he urged.
She licked her lips, tilting her head to the side, straining to hear. "No," she breathed, her eyes widening as the sounds finally reached her. "No! It's just supposed to be me and Blair. Just me and Blair!" And then Jim heard it. The depression of her finger on the trigger of her gun. He squeezed his at the same instant.
The next few moments seemed to happen in slow motion. Both guns discharged. The sound exploded through the woods. Jim braced for the impact of the bullet in his chest. It never came. Instead, a blur of color flashed before him. He realized too late that it was Blair. Alex's bullet struck him in the right side of his chest. Jim's high in the back of his left shoulder. He spun around once, fell face down in the dirt and stopped moving.
Alex cried out in primeval rage as her gaze locked on the fa
llen man. She re-aimed her weapon at Jim. He pumped off three rounds before she could pull the trigger. Alex Barnes staggered backward and was dead before she hit the ground.
Jim's gun slipped from his fingers. He stumbled toward Blair's prone form and dropped down to his knees beside him. His gaze darted to the stain of red on his shoulder. Knew the bullet hole there had been delivered by his own hand.
Not again. I can't do this again.
This scene felt all too familiar. Too similar to the one he'd so recently played out at Rainier University. This time, at least, Blair's heart was still beating. But his breathing was strained, uneven.
With shaking hands, Jim untied the ropes binding Blair's hands God, Blair. Why'd you do this? before gently turning his Guide over. He inhaled sharply at the sight of the growing stain of deep red across the front of his partner's shirt.
Blood. There's too much damn blood.
He ripped open Blair's shirt and stared down at hole in his friend's chest. At the blood bubbling out of the wound. He reached toward Blair, his hands moving ineffectively over him. What can I do? What....? But he knew there was nothing he could do. No way he could help. The damage was too severe.
"Somebody help me!" The words tore from his throat, raw, desperate.
And then Simon was there. But just like before, he was being pulled aside, told to let the paramedics do their job. And if the moments when Blair was shot happened in slow motion, the moments spent trying to save his life seemed to go by in a blur.
The paramedics hooked up IV lines, shouted words about stabilizing his vitals and stopping the bleeding. They strapped him to a gurney and carried him out of the woods. Jim trailed behind, vaguely aware of Simon beside him. He thought the captain might be speaking to him, asking him something. But Jim's sole focus was his Guide and the sound of his heart as it struggled for each beat.
Don't die, Blair. Please, don't die! He sent out the silent plea as they loaded his partner into the ambulance. He didn't try to go with him. Didn't deserve to. He had shot Blair.
Suddenly he saw it all again as it had played out. He and Alex firing at the same time. Blair throwing himself between them, taking both bullets. And then the utter stillness of his partner as he lay on the ground, his life's blood pouring from him.
