Snap, Crackle ...

by Dale Mayer

  “Yeah, like what?” Hunter said, his mind consumed with packing a few things that he would need. One of the things he wanted with him was his weapons. He quickly slid a knife into his ankle sheath, then a small handgun that he kept in an ankle holster. Then he put on a shoulder holster and grabbed his leathers.

  “You’re going loaded for bear,” Stefan said, his voice quiet.

  “Sure. In this case we’re going grizzly hunting, from the sounds of it.”

  “I think you’re going nightmare hunting.”

  That made him pause. “There aren’t any physical weapons for that.”

  “No, there isn’t, but that’s why it’s important that you understand what she said.”

  Hunter, finally clued in, stopped, and he said, “Okay, what did she say?”

  “She said something about everybody around her gets hurt, and it’s either that or they betray her.”

  “I presume she’s talking about Sugar Mama.”

  “Yes. And Lizzy.”

  “Which makes sense, but one person getting hurt is hardly a be-all and end-all. I’m sorry for Sugar Mama obviously, and I’m sorry for Beth because of the guilt that’ll rack her soul over it, but there wasn’t anybody else—well, the guard who was killed because she escaped—but no one else, or at least nobody she’s told us about.”

  “I think not having told us is more likely. She thinks that she spent a lifetime with the testing, where people got hurt because of her.”

  “Right. That folder on Mitzi spoke of her death. Plus, those two people, one kid, one adult, who were killed in front of Beth. But again she’s not responsible for that. The assholes who forced her into this are.”

  “Exactly. But she also said that she couldn’t stand it if you got hurt. And I read her thoughts. She’s also worried about me and Celina getting hurt.”

  Hunter stopped, and a slow smile broke across his face. “Well, I knew I was making headway, but I didn’t expect to make that much headway.”

  “Oh, she cares,” Stefan affirmed, “but I think she’s scared to care.”

  “Of course. Still, that’s not her decision.”

  “Well, it is,” Stefan said humorously. “And she’s already made it, and she’s keeping you out of it.”

  “Good luck with that,” he said. “This girl needs a friend in this life.”

  “She needs more than that,” Stefan said.

  “True, but, hey, friends is a good place to start.”

  “Yes, it is,” he murmured. “Now it’s a matter of making sure you don’t get hurt because there’ll be no forgiveness in her soul for herself if you do.”

  “And again, she’s not responsible for that. She kept me out initially, but I’m here now,” he said. “Anything else?”

  “Yes.” Stefan paused. “You won’t like this.”

  “What?” he demanded.

  “She wants to find answers.”

  “So do we,” Hunter said, frowning.

  “She’s blocked me now. And you could never reach her telepathically. She’s already chosen to die to save us.”

  “Not acceptable,” Hunter roared. “She has yet to live.”

  “Listen,” Stefan barked. He heard a frustrated groan from Hunter’s end of the call. “She thinks confronting this issue will give her, … us, answers. And finally she’s seen enough of our side of living free that she won’t accept anything less. That means, we may be there for her—you physically, me in the ethers—but she wants to go through hell to get it done. Meaning …”

  “Meaning, I can’t interfere? … Damn it, Stefan. You’re asking too much. She’s asking too much.”

  “I know it hurts you to stand back, but I agree with her on this one.”

  More cursing from Hunter followed.

  Stefan let his friend work it out himself. “Shit.” He sighed loudly. Then exhaled again. “I hate to ask, but is there anything else I need to know?”

  “No,” he said, “I’ll come along with you.”

  “Well, phone me in a couple hours,” he said. “You need rest. I don’t know what’s coming up, but one of us needs to recharge. I haven’t had any sleep since I met her. I’ll check in with you in a couple hours.”

  And, on that note, he headed out the front door, locked it, checked the fuel on the bike, and nodded. With that, he took off.

  Chapter 30

  When Beth finally made the series of turns to get to the compound, she took a moment at the crossroads, and then, determined to follow through, she hit the gas and turned off the main road, heading down the gravel road toward her final destination. “I’m sorry, Hunter. I should have said goodbye at least. I’m sure you’re coming behind me, thanks to Stefan, and I’m so sorry. You don’t have a clue what’s coming.”

  She did though. She just didn’t know how bad it would be. She didn’t know how bad any of this could be. But she knew her memories held the answers, and she knew those memories, the ones she didn’t want to recall, would be the ones that broke this wide open. Whatever that meant.

  She drove carefully in the darkness, feeling a sense of gloom hovering over her soul the deeper and deeper she went. She didn’t even know why she was here, not really. At least all the arguments had been tossed back and forth over the last few hours, but she didn’t know for sure.

  “Stop it,” she yelled at herself in the vehicle. “You know exactly why you’re here.” She came upon the same corner, where they’d found the guard’s body hidden. She wanted to get out and check to see if it was still there but hoped that somebody would have done something about it by now, though the site didn’t look like it had been touched. And that just said more about the power of those who had been part of this nightmare. Shaking her head, she drove on.

  “Nocturne, don’t you get caught with me. You know better right?”

  He rubbed against her thigh giving her a huge sense of relief. “Sorry buddy. Of course you do. I might need your help in there too.”

  He meowed softly. He knew exactly how dangerous her trip could end up being. He’d been there with her back then. Hell, he’d been there with her since forever. At least as far back as her memories of him went.

  Approaching the edge of the compound, she parked the truck and hopped out. She stood here for a long moment, hating the feeling of needing to go in, battling that same existing warfare that told her to stay away. But she’d come this far, so, in for a penny, in for a pound. She took several steps forward and didn’t even hear the movement, but, all of a sudden, she knew she wasn’t alone and stiffened. “Who are you?”

  “The better question,” said the man, possibly Peter, “is why are you here?”

  But she never got a chance to answer. Darkness raced toward her, and she collapsed to the ground.

  *

  Beth woke to her worst nightmare all over again.

  She lay here for a moment, seeing the same dripping nasty concrete walls. She was chained to a bed, and she couldn’t even begin to move. She stayed quiet, years of practice holding her in good stead, as she allowed every horrible thought to play through her mind as she remained a captive. Is this what she had thought she would do when she got back? Had she not expected this? Of course she had. So what the hell was she doing here?

  Nocturne?

  A soft faint meow responded. Still there was no sign of him.

  She wanted to close her eyes, yet she wanted to cry out at the same time. She did nothing. She lay here, as always, her body completely relaxed in the bed, as she stared all around her. Years and years had given her the will to live through this. She was not that scared child anymore. She was an adult who understood another world was out there, a world that was a better place to be than here, but a world that required her to make peace with her past before she could move on.

  “Good, you’re awake,” he said.

  She nodded. “I am.” She yawned. “I didn’t sleep too bad. Thanks for knocking me out.”

  An odd silence followed. “Are you sure I knocked yo
u out?”

  “Well, someone did,” she said, rotating her neck. “I don’t remember sleeping that well when I was here before.”

  “You didn’t sleep well at all,” he said calmly. “You kept fighting it all the time.”

  “Yeah, captivity will do that to you.”

  He laughed. “That had nothing to do with it, but I’m glad to hear that you’re in a good mood.”

  “Why not?” she said. “I’ve been here before.”

  “That you have.”

  “So why the chains?” she asked, lifting her wrists and looking at them.

  “Safety precaution,” he said.

  “Mine or yours?” she replied.

  “Both.”

  That was a surprise. She kept calm, sending out a message. Well, Stefan, I’m here and chained up. Not sure if that’s what I expected, but it’s sure as hell what feels normal.

  She couldn’t sense anything in the ethers, but then she’s the one who had sent out that last little message and had slammed the door behind it. Not a whole lot she could do but blame herself now. She opened the door just in case, but also knew Stefan had no reason to even want to cross that threshold. She hadn’t treated him nicely, and all she had done was bring him more pain than he deserved. Such was her life.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “Isn’t that your domain?” she asked curiously. “Aren’t you the one who always decided what we were allowed to think or do?”

  “I wish,” he said, with a harsh laugh. “Then I could have controlled every aspect of your world. But, no, you had a mind of your own, and one that you would not share.”

  “I wonder why,” she said.

  “I get it,” he said. “You’re still angry at me.”

  “You think?” But she didn’t explain further.

  “It won’t be bad,” he said. “It’s just important for you to remember who you are.”

  “Maybe the question should be, why did I think it so important that I forget?”

  “Because you blamed yourself,” he said, “and that was wrong. You weren’t to blame.”

  “I feel like you would … let me blame myself,” she said quietly, searching her mind, her memories, looking for whatever was at the bottom of this.

  “No,” he said, “you took it on very easily on your own.”

  “And you let me?”

  “Of course,” he said, “not like we could ever do very much to stop you.”

  “You make me sound like I was always in control.”

  “Have you convinced yourself that you weren’t? That you were a victim?” He asked, “Wouldn’t it be nice to absolve all your own guilt that way?”

  And, of course, that just reaffirmed what she had been afraid of, that she was guilty. And guilty of some heinous crime for which she got absolutely no salvation. If that were the truth, it would be very hard to deal with, but she was long past treating herself like a victim. “Then let’s get on with it,” she said.

  “Why so eager all of a sudden?”

  “Since when wasn’t I anxious to get started?”

  He thought for a long moment.

  She wanted to twist to see his face, but he kept himself out of sight. “And why are you hiding anyway?”

  A moment of startled silence came. “You’re the one who would never allow us to stand in your view,” he said. “You said it made it much worse.”

  She raised her eyebrows at that. Because she didn’t remember any of it, didn’t remember the orders that she supposedly had given, didn’t remember any of those kinds of instructions, or why would she have chosen something like that. That didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

  “Hey, they were your instructions,” he said, with a mocking laugh. “We were all just forced to follow along.”

  “I highly doubt you were forced to do anything,” she declared.

  “So much spice and vinegar,” he said. “I wonder how you’ll feel when you find out the truth.”

  “Probably lousy,” she murmured, “but then that’s also partly why you’re here, isn’t it? To make sure that I do.”

  A long moment of silence came; then finally, he said, “Just rest.” And then he disappeared. She heard his footsteps echoing in the distance.

  “Rest,” she murmured. What was she supposed to rest up for? She knew she wouldn’t want to know, but it also felt oddly familiar, as if all this was something she’d done before, many times over. She wouldn’t like it, but that didn’t stop the fact that she’d survived it before, so she could survive it again. If only she could remember what the hell all of this was about.

  She knew that the torture was partially self-inflicted because of her own guilt. But also a huge part of her understood something else was going on here. Peter seemed content, happy to have her back. And she understood that too. It just made her feel even more disenfranchised from everything. She wished she had a better understanding of how this was all supposed to go, but, as she had walked in blind, she was still blind. There wouldn’t be any answers until this started. So be it.

  She closed her eyes and rested. Even in the darkness, she hoped against hope that maybe her dismissive attitude to Stefan hadn’t completely blocked him from helping her.

  Although she didn’t know what help he could give, she was still hoping he could do something. If only to make sure she didn’t stay here for the rest of her life. And knowing he would at least do that much, then she could believe that she wouldn’t be stuck here forever. And that was enough to keep her buoyed attitude from collapsing.

  *

  Hunter was in the shadows, watching in shock as two men came up behind her, knocked her out, bundled her up into the back of a truck, and left. That’s not what he had expected at all. Hey, Stefan, he called out to his friend. They’ve knocked her out and taken her away.

  Good, he said, maybe this will work after all.

  Hunter frowned at that but kept a little distance back, noting they were going farther up that same road past the compound. They’re taking her someplace close by, but she still won’t know where she is because they’ve knocked her out.

  Exactly. So it’s all part of the disorientation process. Bastards, Stefan said without rancor.

  Hunter wished he understood more, but he was willing to go along with this—he hoped.

  It’s important you stay hidden, Stefan reminded him.

  That’s the plan, he said. He watched as they pulled off to the side, where another vehicle was. They’ve stopped. We’re only maybe a few hundred meters from where she was. They just drove around in a circle.

  Partially to disorient her, if she were awake, Stefan said. That’s an old technique for keeping her lost and separated and isolated.

  I get it, he said, but they’re going through an awful lot of trouble for that. I don’t think they have a whole lot available to them. So they’re doing whatever they can.

  I don’t know, but we need to follow through and figure it out, before she becomes so lost that there is no future for her.

  “Which is another scary thought,” Hunter muttered to himself, and not one he planned to entertain. He kept watching from the darkness, keeping his energy tight, close against his body, in case these people were the scary energy workers she thought they were. The jury was still out on that, as far as he was concerned.

  So far, Hunter hadn’t seen anything scary about them, just irritating and frustrating—aggravating, as they preyed on children. Children who became women who were vulnerable to whatever particular brand of poison they were serving. These guys were assholes, no doubt about it; the question was whether any answers could be found here, or if there would only be more questions.

  As he watched, she was lifted and carried inside a broken-down building that looked to be barely standing. Whatever had happened here had left them without much of a home base. Good or bad, Hunter didn’t know, but they were still utilizing it—surely not permanently. It would likely only be for whatever purposes they were dealing with r
ight now.

  Hunter watched as they carried her in. He parked the bike in the shadows, out of sight, camouflaged it with branches to give himself an exit when the opportunity arrived, then cloaked his energy, as Peter was probably here, and followed them inside. As soon as he got to the doorway, he stopped, looked around. They were a long way away. They’d gone down a hallway that had almost no roof, even above the structure. This wasn’t the records building that he and Beth had searched earlier. This was a second building still standing that had obviously been damaged by whatever blast had happened here.

  As he looked around, everything coming to a central courtyard, but the damage looked like it happened somewhere there and had blasted outward. The buildings on the outside perimeter were still standing, but the ones on the inside circle were just piles of rubble. He shook his head, and, instead of going inside the building, he crept along the outside, down to where she had been taken.

  He was horrified, as he watched through cracks in the building, when she was placed on a bed and quickly clamped in place and locked, and then a door, whatever part of a door that remained, was closed behind them. The two men spoke quietly for a moment and then disappeared down the last remaining hallway.

  Hunter hesitated. His natural instinct was to rescue her before they could hurt her more. But, damn it. He had to let this play out here.

  Noting exactly where she was, he followed the two men down to the far side and lost track of them, as they exited the building. He saw no other building or part of a building here. He saw a generator and a battery system, where somebody had attempted to make coffee. He shook his head at that. Obviously this was not a permanent setup, so what the hell was going on?

  Just as he turned to slide back around, he caught sight of somebody coming toward him. Even though his energy was cloaked, he remained visible to everyone. He raced into the woods, keeping his presence a secret. And that’s where he stayed until the morning light broke through the sky. At that, he felt her stirring and waking up.

  He smiled. “Keep fighting the good fight, little one.”

  Too bad he couldn’t be in there and fight it with her. But she had brought this on herself, and clearly she needed to bring this to some conclusion. All he could do was hope that he was around when the time came to help her out. But he couldn’t do it right now. It wouldn’t achieve the results she needed, so he had to wait. He had to be patient and see just what the hell would happen.