Visions Of The Past

by Elizabeth Mahood

  “Go back in there and look for any indication that a hole was dug or anything was buried. Cade.” His father said turning back to him. “Take your girl home and then come right back. I imagine the good pastor will not appreciate you bringing his daughter home looking like that.” Cade was about to protest but the look in his father’s eyes told him he was on thin ice. His father thought he had been messing around with Ellie. He would explain later. The one thing he respected about the relationship with his parents was that they always listened to his side of whatever story he had, they might not always agree, but they always listened.

  “Yes Sir.” Cade said. He turned and took Ellie’s hand and led her towards the house. Once there, he helped her into his car and drove her home. As soon as they pulled up outside the house, Ellie bolted out of the car and through the front door. Cade followed her just in case she needed someone to help explain to her father that he in no way hurt her.

  “Mom, Dad. I’m back.” Ellie yelled. Her father emerged from the kitchen as did her mother who stood behind her father with her head bowed and hands clasped.

  “Where the hell have you been Elinora?” Her father bellowed. Ellie pulled back and turned to look at Cade and then back at her father.

  “What do you mean? Someone took me from the house, I got away but they chased me through the woods. Cade saved me.” She stated looking confused. She held her stomach and Cade moved forward.

  “Sir, she is telling the truth.” Cade stated with more authority then he had intended. Something made him want to protect her. Her father came forward.

  “Son, my daughter is a liar. She claims to have visions but we all know it’s just her imagination. She has real issues and if she does have real visions then she needs to tell us where her sister is because she is the one who is missing.” Her father said with a sob. Cade couldn’t tell if his emotions were real or just for show but either way it got the attention focused on him and away from Ellie. Ellie stepped forward.

  “What do you mean she is missing?” Ellie said. Ellie’s mother stepped up and took Ellie’s hands.

  “Please Elinore, use your visions, please. If you really do have them, find your sister. Find our Allison.” Her mother begged. Ellie pulled her hands away and stepped back into Cade.

  “I don’t know how to control it, you know that. Maybe the same people who took me also took Allison.” Ellie stated looking between her father and mother. Cade watched Ellie’s father move forward and backhand her across the face. His fist came up again but Cade stepped in between and grabbed his hand.

  “Sir, no. Don’t touch her again.” Cade said with force.

  “Sinners and liars must be punished.” Her father said. “You will be punished for helping her with her lies. Your father will know what you have been doing with my daughter. Everyone will know.”

  Ellie pulled away and moved forward with blood trickling down her lip and anger on her face.

  “Stop it father. You can’t threaten him. You want to know where precious sweet Allison probably is right now? Probably out fucking Annawon Beartree. Yes daddy, your precious daughter is mingling with a “dirty native” as you call them behind closed doors.” Ellie’s father moved towards her and grabbed her arms.

  “You get out of here. Pack your bags and leave this house. You are full of sin and hate and I never want to see you again.” Her father said shaking her. Cade moved forward and pulled Ellie away from her father’s hands. He heard Ellie’s mother let out a sob.

  “Thomas no, she’s our daughter.” She cried. Cade watched as Thomas turned to his wife.

  “Evelyn dry up your tears. This one is dead to us. Go in the kitchen and wait for me.” His words made Cade’s skin crawl as he watched Ellie’s mother turn with her head down and walk back into the kitchen. Her father turned back to her.

  “You have 5 minutes to clear out your things or I will come up there and help you do it.” He said with a growl. They were at a stand-off. Finally, Ellie moved slowly towards the stairs then turned to look back over her shoulder at her father.

  “I’ll be out in less than 5 minutes. I know what you did daddy. You are not without sin Pastor Ridley.” With one sad look towards Cade, she moved up the stairs and disappeared out of sight.

  Chapter 1

  November 2006

  My Journal

  My granddaughter came to my house tonight, cold, shivering and bleeding. She begged me not to take her to the hospital. I did my best to stop the bleeding and used my herbs and medicines to clean the wound and take away the pain. I can’t take away the pain of rejection that she is feeling from my son. It hurts me that I can’t fix it and I know the only solution is to send her to someone who can help develop her abilities and learn to control them. She has been shunned by friends and family alike and doesn’t deserve to live the rest of her life in pain. It hurts my heart to send her away but I know it is the best thing for her. She will read these journals one day and I hope she understands why I could never tell her everything there was to know about her family. Until next time.

  Greta

  Present Day

  Seattle, Washington

  Nora Ridley sat at the back of the large rectangular shaped room behind rows of old wooden chairs covered in worn brown leather. Across the room on the opposite wall, was a row of windows looking out into a large field and a short distance away, Nora could see a metal fence and the large guard tower that loomed over the yard. A guard paced back and forth with his automatic rifle, watching for anything or anyone who might be trying to escape.

  A long wooden table sat in front of the windows and at the table were three men and three women all looking quietly through files that sat in front of them. The room was suddenly very warm and Nora looked up to see the ceiling fans barely turning.

  Walla Walla State Correctional facility in Walla Walla Washington, sat in a pocket just behind the mountains and in the summer was known to be stifling. It was early fall and Washington was having unusually warm weather.

  Sweat ran down the middle of Nora’s back but it wasn’t just the heat that was bothering her today. No, her problem was just beyond those doors. Any minute the steel doors would open and prison guards would escort a man to the seat that was sitting empty in the middle of the room in front of the parole board.

  Nora had been dead set on attending the day she had gotten the letter to inform her that Terrance Allen Jones was up for parole after only serving a five-year sentence out of 10. The closer the day got the more she had started having second thoughts.

  The jingling of keys made her snap her head in the direction of the doors on the left and when they opened, a large African American prison guard, who barely fit in his guard uniform, walked in followed by a man in an orange jump suit. His hands were handcuffed in front of him and his ankles were cuffed as well making him shuffle across the floor to his chair. Immediately following him was an even larger Caucasian prison guard whose muscles were bulging out of his uniform.

  They ordered Terrance to sit in the chair and commenced cuffing his hands behind his back and his ankles to the front two legs of the chair. The guards then stepped back and moved over to stand next to the door they hand just come through. They turned and crossed their arms in front of their chests and stared at the prisoner like he was going to jump up and run.

  Fear sliced through Nora. It had been over 5 years since she had sat in the courtroom and listened to the judge hand out the 10-year sentence to Terrance. Now, she wasn’t sure if she could stand up in front of everyone and plead for herself and the other 5 women to keep him locked up. According to the letter she had received, Terrance had been a model prisoner and shown nothing but improvement in his 5 years in prison. Nora rolled her eyes. Of course, he had been on his best behavior, that was his game. He excelled at making people believe he was this amazing guy but Nora knew different.

  “Good Afternoon Mr. Jones.” Said the woman on the far end of the table. “We are here this afternoon to talk about the p
ossibility of parole for you and you will have the opportunity to plead your case. We will then discuss the matter and decide how we will proceed. We do have one person here who will be speaking against your parole and we will here from her first.” She watched Terrance stiffen. The man sitting at the far end of the table leaned forward and spoke.

  “Dr. Elinora Ridley, would you please come to the podium?” Nora cringed at the sound of her full name. No one ever called her that except her father and she hadn’t talked to him since she was 16 years old. She didn’t have the time nor the strength to think about him today. She just needed to get through the next few minutes without passing out.

  She made her way to the podium which looked like it had seen better days and when she cleared her throat the sound system gave a high- pitched whine as if in protest. She took a breath and in her peripheral vision, she could see Terrance looking at her. She willed herself not to turn his way or she knew she would not be able to give her testimony.

  She knew him, she knew his body movement and what each one meant and she knew that with only a look, he could put the fear of God into any woman or lure her into believing he was completely innocent. She took a breath and closed her eyes.

  “Any time you are ready Dr. Ridley.” Stated one of the men sitting at the table. Nora opened her eyes and looked at the people on the panel. The women were all smiling and all three of them were staring at Terrance with the same look she had once had on her face. That look of pure awe and enchantment. With determination, she leaned forward and began to speak.

  “6 years ago, I started a relationship with Terrance Jones. It started out like most relationship, sweet and kind, gentle. I’m a doctor in Abnormal Psychology and occasionally I assist the FBI in profiling difficult cases. They asked for my help because several massage therapists had turned up murdered in their homes and the FBI asked me to help profile the killer.” Nora stopped and for the first time since she had entered the room, she turned to look Terrance directly in the eye.

  “It was him. He had completely fooled me into believing he was this great guy and all along he had been going into these women’s homes, brutally sexually assaulting them and leaving them for dead. I made the mistake of confronting him about it without any kind of back up and if it wasn’t for the FBI, I would be dead. They got to my house just in time and I spent months in the hospital recuperating from my injuries. Unfortunately, he could only be charged for one murder and attempted murder because he didn’t leave seaman in any of the other victims. There was an issue with the investigation and so he was only sentence to Rape in the 3rd degree. I’m here to tell you he isn’t cured. He will do this again and no kind of psychotherapy or cognitive behavior therapy is going to change that. I do believe in helping people change if they can be changed but Terrance…” She looked at him again and saw him smiling. He was freaking smiling at her. She could feel her temper rising.

  “He will rape again. There is no doubt about that because he likes it. He likes to have power and control over his victims and he likes to see them beg and suffer.” She hadn’t even realized it but, tears were streaming down her face. Suddenly, the court room was gone. She couldn’t breathe. Oh no. Not now. It can’t be happening now. She felt herself grab her head and she tried to control the vision by squeezing her eyes shut. She felt a cool breeze, then suddenly someone was in front of her. It was a man but she couldn’t see his face. He held out his hand to her and the sound of his voice echoed in her head.

  “Ellie, take my hand baby. Take my hand now, we have to get out of the cold.” She reached out her hand and heard a gunshot in the distance. Red seeped out of the man’s coat and she felt his hand slipping from hers.

  “No, oh god no.” She screamed. “Help, someone help.” Suddenly, she was shaking and heard people talking and calling her name way in the back of her subconscious.

  “Dr. Ridley, Dr. Ridley.” Nora opened her eyes slowly to see the African American prison guard holding her head and talking to her softly. “That’s it ma’am, nice and slow.” She tried to sit up and he held her down with one large hand. “Oh no, you just stay right there. We have EMT’s on the way right now.” EMT’s? What the hell had happened to her? She tried to look around and she was still on the floor of the parole room and when she looked up, Terrance was sitting just right of her with a smug look on his face. He had always called her crazy with her premonitions and now with this episode right in the middle of the hearing, her testimony would not look credible.

  “Please, I’m ok. I just fainted that’s all. It’s very hot in here.” The prison guard allowed her to sit up but looked at her skeptically.

  “You hit your head ma’am. I don’t think you should be moving around.” He took her hand and assisted her off the floor to a nearby chair. She shook her head.

  “No, really I’m fine. I…I would just like to finish what I came here to say and be done. Please.” She looked at him pleadingly and then to the panel. They turned to look at each other and the man on the far end nodded.

  “I think we have heard enough to make our decision. Terrance Allen Jones. You have served your time and been a model prisoner since being at the Washington State Correctional facility. We have taken Dr. Ridley’s statement into consideration and have made our decision. We will grant you parole but on the condition that you remain under house arrest for the next 5 years. If you have no issues, you may petition the court for a new hearing in order to get yourself released from said house arrest. The conditions are as such, you may work but you must check in and out with a probation officer when coming and going to work. You will wear an ankle monitor which will track every move you make. Also, there will be a 10-year restraining order in place in regards to any and all massage facilities and you will have no contact with Dr. Ridley. Now none of the other women that accused you of the crime have asked for a restraining order but if I were you Mr. Jones, I would steer clear of them just to be on the safe side. You will also be mandated to see a Sex Addiction counselor for the duration of this sentence. Do you agree to these terms?” Nora felt like she had been punched in the gut. She felt the ground move and then the prison guard’s strong arm around her shoulder.

  “I can’t believe this.” Nora whispered to herself. The guard was escorting her out of the room and she turned to look at Terrance as he stood with the other guard moving him back into the holding cells. Their eyes met and she knew that no matter what that restraining order said and no matter what the law said, she was not safe.

  A few hours later, Nora stood looking out the large picture window that looked out towards the Puget Sound. She loved her downtown apartment in Seattle. The day she walked into the apartment and had seen the windows she hadn’t hesitated to sign a lease. She hadn’t cared about the size of the kitchen because she hardly ever cooked and she hadn’t cared about how cramped her bedroom was because it was just for sleeping but the windows in the living room, that was the money shot. The light came streaming in no matter what the weather was like. A sadness filled her heart as she watched the rain slid down the windows as if Seattle was crying for her. She heard the doorbell ring and sighed deeply. As she opened the door, her best friend and FBI superstar Karen Walters walked through the door.

  “I can’t believe that piece of shit is getting out of prison. What the fuck do we do all that investigating for, just so the lame ass parole board can let him walk?” She took Nora into her arms and hugged her tight. Nora let her continue to vent. “So now what, this fuck tard gets to walk around on the streets of Seattle, preying on innocent women? You know he isn’t cured right; I mean people who do that shit don’t just miraculously stop being creeps.” Nora laughed in spite of her sour mood.

  “I know. I just feel really numb.” Nora stated. Karen stopped pacing and finally turned around to face her.

  “Well I’m moving in. If that asshole thinks he is going to come after you, I have a bullet with his name on it.” Karen’s hands were on her hips and she was scowling. Nora started laugh
ing and then couldn’t stop. “What is so funny?” Her laughter finally died down and she shook her head at her friend. They had been friends since the first case they worked together. Nora’s special insight on cases had unnerved Karen at first, but once she saw that Nora wasn’t some crack pot, they had hit it off.

  “You are funny. You can’t just stop your life because some jail bait might come after me. He will be on house arrest and if he tries anything, the cops will arrest him and he will go back to jail.” Nora said. Karen rolled her eyes.

  “Do you really believe that? How long have we worked together and how many homicides have we worked where the restraining order or no contact order actually worked. If he wants to get to you, he will.” Karen stated with anger in her voice.

  “I know. That’s why I’ve decided to leave Seattle.” Nora stated as she watched Karen’s face pale.

  “Leave Seattle, but you love it here and what about me?” Karen stated sadly. Nora felt deflated. She didn’t really want to move and where she had decided to go really wasn’t on her top 10 list of favorite places but, she knew it was the last place Terrance would look for her. She had talked enough about hating her home life and how she would never go there even if her life depended on it. Well now her life depended on it and she hoped that it would only be temporary.

  “I’m going home. My Aunt Helen is gone and my grandmother left me her cabin in her will. I’m going to fix it up and maybe write a book. I don’t know.” She shrugged. Karen watched her and then moved towards her.

  “You are scared, aren’t you? You would never think about moving back to Wisconsin if you weren’t scared. I can protect you Nora.” Nora shook her head.

  “Are you going to be with me 24/7? Are you going to tell Marc that you are moving in with your best friend and screw your relationship? I won’t do that to you Karen and you don’t deserve to put your life on hold for me and yes, I am scared, I’m so scared that I’m running back to the one place I swore I would never go but I…I just need to get away for a little while, clear my head.” Nora had tears in her eyes and she watched Karen’s face turn from anger to sadness. Karen moved forward and enveloped Nora into a hug.