Authors: Michelle Love
The blood goes out of my face. I stumble a little. Kyle jumps up, grabbing me, then taking me to sit in a chair at the dining table. Crap! A black bird he choked to death. Not only does he want to kill me, he knows what I am.
I look up at Kyle, and send to him, ‘He knows what I am!’
His arms close around me as I fall, and things go black.
Kyle
“Ally, are you going to faint?” I ask as I sit Ally down.
Laura gets a wet towel and holds it to her forehead. “Ally, you okay? You turned so pale,” she says.
‘He knows I’m a bird,’ she sends to me. ‘This is bad! This is really bad. He has to be stopped. He’ll tell people. What are we going to do?’
“Eden didn’t tell you about the bird?” I ask, knowing damn well he didn’t but I’m trying to talk out loud so Laura doesn’t get confused at how I know certain things that have gone unsaid. “Shit! He’s going to be so mad at me, for running my mouth.”
“No, I needed to know that. He would’ve told me anyway. Don’t worry,” Ally says as she looks at me, then Laura.
“I’ll finish making breakfast, Al. Just sit there and chill. Kyle get her a glass of juice, please,” Laura orders.
I bring Ally back a glass of apple juice, then sit down next to her, putting my arm around her shoulders. Her head drops onto my shoulder. My mind is spinning out of control. I have so much to do, and Laura’s not knowing about what we are is a pain in the ass.
I know she could handle the secret but I have to get Eden and Ally to agree.
I kiss the side of her head, like I used to do all the time. “Everything’ll be alright, Ally. You have a lot of people around you who love you. We won’t let this freak get you.”
Her hand takes mine, and she holds it in her lap as she sends me, ‘I feel safe with you here.’
My arm tightens around her shoulders, and I hug her to my chest. ‘You’re safe with me here, baby,’ I send back.
Laura brings us each a plate, setting them down in front of us, then gets hers and comes to sit on the other side of Ally. “Eat up Al, you need to keep your strength up,” she tells her, with a smile.
Ally grins at her and leans over to kiss her cheek. “I love you, Laura. You’re going to be such a good mother someday.”
Eden comes into the kitchen, sees us all piled in close to each other and smiles. I’m happy to see he isn’t unhappy with me being so close to Ally. She’s tucked into my side with my arm wrapped around her.
“I see you’re being well taken care of Alyssa,” he says, as he grabs a plate.
Laura jumps up. “Go sit Eden, I got it,” she commands him, as she pushes at him to sit down across from us.
He’s still smiling at Ally. I’m not sure if my close proximity to her is making him uncomfortable or if he’s actually happy I’m watching over her so closely. Laura puts his plate and juice in front of him, then returns to her seat next to Ally.
“The police are watching the surveillance video right now. So shortly we’ll know how he got into the house,” Eden tells us. “Laura, I wanted to thank you for saving my wife’s life last night. If you hadn’t been with her or if you had decided to come into the house for even a minute, he would’ve had her.”
Laura looks up at him. “Do you really think so?” she asks in disbelief.
“I’m very sure of it, and so are the police,” he tells her. “I can’t begin to thank you enough.”
“Eden, I’m really sorry,” I say. “I had no idea she didn’t know, but I brought up the bird in the drawer.”
Eden gets a surprised look on his face. “How did she take it?”
“Not real well,” I tell him as I give her a gentle squeeze. “She just about passed out.”
Eden looks at her. “I bet she did. You okay now, Alyssa?”
She nods. “It’s better I know that anyway.”
Eden smiles at her, and I can feel the rate of her heartbeats increase. “I know. I was going to tell you sometime in the near future,” he says with a soft tone to his voice, which makes Ally all melty inside.
God! Knowing what she feels is so damn weird!
I release her from my tight hold, and move my chair over, so our legs no longer touch. I really don’t want to feel her every feeling. It seems like we’re getting more and more telepathy with one another.
I’m not sure I like it.
Laura and I take the dishes from the table as we’ve all finished eating and put them in the dishwasher. Eden takes Ally by the hand, pulling her up to him. They lean their foreheads together, sending things back and forth to each other no doubt.
Ally’s Mom comes in. Her face gets a strange look as she looks at Ally, then back at me, and says, “I’ll get the rest of this cleaned up. You two are guests for goodness sake.”
Eden helps Ally out of the dog house. “She got the news about the bird in the drawer and got a little shaky. So Laura was kind enough to make breakfast for us.”
Her mother gives her a hug. “Oh, it upset you that much?”
Ally looks around the room at us all, and says, “It shocked me at first but I know everything’ll be fine. I have faith. I’m not going to let this guy get into my head. No matter how hard he tries.”
‘That a girl, Al,’ I send her.
She smiles back at me. ‘Thanks, Kyle. I’m so glad I have you,’ she sends me.
Eden looks at her, and in that instant she shuts me out. “How far you’ve come in such a short amount of time,” he tells her.
“I guess it’s just the fact he did such terrible things to his daughter, and what he’ll do to me. If he’s able to get to me that has me thinking I can’t be afraid of him,” Ally says as she threads her fingers through Eden’s. Something she used to do with me. “I have to stop him from doing this to anyone else ever again. I can’t be another victim. I have to be his ending. Our dreams have let me know I have no choice in the fact. He has to be stopped, or it will be the end of us.”
Eden’s face drops as we realize she just said something she shouldn’t have. Laura catches it, quickly. “Our dreams? What does that mean, Ally?” she asks.
Ally’s eyes look frantically at Eden for an answer. Unfortunately, he just looks back at her with a blank face.
Okay, no help there.
I look at Ally’s mom to find she has the same blank expression.
Okay, then I have to come up with some explanation.
My arm slides around Laura’s shoulders as I pull her tight to my chest. “It just means, you know, the stress of this situation must have them dreaming about it. Almost like Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, only it’s before the actual horrible thing happens,” I offer as an explanation for my Ally’s overactive mouth.
“Let’s go see if they’ve finished watching the surveillance video yet,” Eden says, changing the subject as he takes Ally, and leaves the kitchen.
Laura and I follow them, I hold her close to me, and she whispers to me, “Maybe they’re too close, ya know?”
Yeah! No kidding! What would she think if she knew how close Ally is to me?
Eden’s father, Lyle, is coming back into the large living room. He must’ve walked the police officers out. Lyle turns to us and I can tell by his expression they know who helped Stiles.
“That was very productive,” Eden’s father says as he takes a seat on the large sofa next to his wife, Sierra. “We found out who let him in. It was a member of the kitchen staff, a young man named Brady Mathews. He’s been with us for about two years. I know him very well. I can’t imagine what he was thinking. We’ll soon find out though, because the officers are going to the mansion to get him right now. I’m praying they can get the information from him as to where Stiles is.”
Ally looks at Lyle with curiosity and asks, “So there’s no way Linda had anything to do with it at all?”
Eden’s eyes go wide, and he drops her hand. “Linda?”
Ally looks at us all, then says, “They said she could be a suspect, Eden.”
Eden looks at his parents. “Papa, you told her this?”
Lyle shrugs his shoulders, and says, “I said it could’ve been anyone who was here yesterday. That’s all, son.”
Eden turns back to Ally, a bit of a glare in his eyes. “Alyssa, why would you even think such a thing about her?” His question seems to physically hurt her. Her eyes drop to the floor, and she wrings her hands.
Her demeanor makes me feel she’s lost something of herself she had found just before I left her in New Orleans. It brings out my protective side. I leave Laura’s side to walk over and place my arm around her shoulders. “Eden, I’m sure you have to understand all people who’ve been in this house yesterday had to be in question in everyone’s minds.”
Ally sends me a scene. Eden and a lady with brown hair kissing by his swimming pool. I wince at how intense it looks. I look up at Eden, and he knows she shared it with me, by the look in his eyes. He’s hurt.
He reaches his hand out for Ally to take, she looks up at me, then moves away from me. “We’ll discuss this later, Princess,” he says, and gives me a look before he darts his eyes to Laura.
I guess he wants me to leave his wife alone and mind my business. Sorry dude, Ally is mine to watch after, and I’m not going to let anyone get in the way of that.
I made vows too, after all.
ALYSSA
“They brought Brady here to see you, as you requested, Eden,” Lyle tells him as he comes into the kitchen where the four of us are playing cards.
I turn to look at Eden. “You asked them to bring him here, why?”
“I want to ask him some questions. Do you have anything that you want to ask him?”
Dropping my cards on the table, I say, “I hadn’t thought about it, Eden. I’d like to know some things. Can I come with you?”
He stands up, holding his hand out to me. I take it, looking back to Laura and Kyle. “We’ll be right back.”
Kyle frowns at me, and sends, ‘I should be there too.’
He should but Laura would find that more than odd.
I send back, ‘Laura! Duh!’
As Eden takes me from the room Kyle sends me one last thing, ‘You and I will straighten this shit out before the night’s over! I’m not going to be shut out. I’m your protector!’
Great! He’s pissed! And apparently I get to deal with that later.
Lyle leads us to my father’s office, where the two policemen from earlier are standing just inside the door. There’s a young man sitting in my father’s chair. He’s in handcuffs.
Eden and I follow Lyle into Dad’s office. My father comes in too, shutting the door behind him after he asks the officers to give us some privacy, and they step outside.
The man has his head hanging down. “Won’t you please look up at me,” Eden requests.
The man shakes his head. It doesn’t detour Eden though. “You have done my family a great wrong. I would like an explanation for why you’ve done this.”
The man shakes his head again. His wavy brown hair bounces as he does it. I feel this man has much sorrow in him. I move towards him slowly, feeling compelled to touch his head. I slowly reach out to touch him.
Eden looks at me. I stop for a second, and then he nods. I place my hand on the top of the man’s head.
My mind is suddenly filled with his memories. It’s as if I’m him. I’m looking into dark brown eyes with dark circles underneath them. Her hair is brown and messed up, like she just woke up.
My chest pounds as Brady reaches out to touch her. Her shoulder has a big bruise on it. Brady leans to kiss it.
“Does that make it any better, Karen?” I hear his voice say.
The girl smiles. “Yes Brady.”
I hear a door open, then it slams against the wall. “Get the hell away from her,” a gruff voice calls out.
Brady turns, and I see Darren Stiles coming at him, he has a baseball bat. Darren’s eyes are red, and he’s sweaty. A small amount of spit hangs from his bottom lip as he must be so angry he’s practically foaming at the mouth. The smell of stale cigarette smoke, and dirty socks fills the air as he gets closer.
“No, Dad, please don’t. I love him!” the girl screams.
“You don’t know what love is you little slut. He doesn’t love you, who could love someone like you. You’re a whore, not worth a penny!” he yells, then he swings at Brady with the bat.
Brady moves quickly, avoiding contact with the bat. “I should kill you for what you’ve done to her, you sadistic freak!” Brady yells.
“What did she tell you?” Stiles demands.
“How you beat her and rape her every chance you get!” Brady yells at him as he moves to stand in front of the crying girl who sits on the bed.
“She’s a liar, you need to leave so I can deal with her,” Stiles tells him in an unbelievably calm voice. “She’s sick in the head, boy. You can’t believe anything she says.”
Brady isn’t buying it. “I’m taking her with me. You need to leave her alone. Forget you have a daughter,” Brady tells him as he takes the girl’s hand, pulling her out the door with him.
Suddenly the scene changes, Brady is going into a small white house. “Karen, I’m back,” he says, as he walks into the kitchen.
“Karen?” he calls out as he walks into the bedroom.
“Karen?” he yells as he begins to panic, calling her name over and over as he runs through the house, and out the backdoor.
He returns to the house, opening the closet to see if her things are still there. Most of them are gone. Empty hangers and one black sweater is all that’s in the closet. He reaches out, taking the sweater down, and a paper falls out of the pocket.
Asshole,
I need a favor from you as you work for the bastards who fucked my daughter and me over.
I want you to get me into that house
If you refuse, then I will kill Karen
You have until tonight to get me the information I want:
The code to get into the gate
A map that shows me how to get to the newlyweds’ rooms
And a picture of any windows or balconies that enter their rooms
Leave this information in your mailbox and I will pick it up tonight
Brady shakes his head and starts to cry. He picks up the phone to call someone, only to slam it back down.
“I can’t do this, I can’t do this to them,” he yells.
He leaves the house, getting into his car. He drives to an old trailer house and gets out. Stiles comes out of the shabby trailer.
“Why did you come here? You must want her dead,” Stiles yells at him.
“I don’t have any of the information you want,” Brady lies. “I’m buzzed in at the gate, and I stay in the kitchen. I can’t help you. So just let me take Karen.”
Stiles gets a smile on his round red face. “I guess you better go find that stuff out then, because I’m keeping her until you do. As a matter of fact, you have until nine tonight to get me that information or you can look for her on the street,” Stiles informs him.
Brady shoves Stiles to the ground, and runs into the house, calling out Karen’s name. Suddenly Stiles is behind him. His demeanor is unbelievably calm for someone who just got shoved to the ground. He’s still smiling.
He sneers at Brady. “You must think I’m an idiot. She isn’t here. Now go get what I want.”
Brady goes back to his car and drives away. I can actually feel the pain in his chest. Random thoughts are running through his mind. He’s torn between his allegiance to us and his love for her.
The scene changes again, it’s dark, a light goes off as his cell phone buzzes on the table beside his bed. “Hello?” he says.
“This is Doctor Jones at the Pendleton Memorial Methodist Hospital in New Orleans, I’m looking for Brady Mathews,” a voice tells him over the phone.
“That’s me.”
“A Karen Stiles has asked me to call you. She was raped and beaten, then left for dead in an alley, in town. She said she needs to talk to you,” the doctor tells him.
“Okay, can you put her on the phone?”
“Brady?” Karen says, weakly.
“Karen, oh my God! What did he do to you?”
“Brady, it was bad. I don’t know what he asked you to do, but can you please do it? He told me to tell you if you don’t get it done he’ll come to the hospital and kill me.”
“Okay Karen, I will. Get better, you hear me. I love you. I’ll come see you soon.”
“I love you too, Brady. Please just do what he asks.”
He turns the light on, and writes the code to the gate, draws a map of the house, putting an x on our rooms and on the balcony doors, then walks outside, placing it in his mailbox.
I pull my hand away from his head. Slowly I go to my knees in front of him. I take his chin in my hand, bringing his face up to look at me. His eyes are void of any expression. It’s as if a major piece of his soul is gone.
“Brady, I forgive you. I won’t let them do anything to you. Now please talk to us, so we can stop this man,” I tell him.
As I stand up, he keeps his eyes on mine. “You forgive me?” he asks, hoarsely. “Why would you ever do that?”
“You would’ve never done this on your own. He made you do it. You felt you had no other choice. You couldn’t see him kill Karen. I wish you would’ve come to us in the beginning, as we could’ve helped you and her before this happened. Now please tell us how he came to know what Eden and I are?”
“I didn’t know he knew that. That’s terrible. He must’ve overheard us talking in the kitchen when he snuck into the mansion that morning. My only contact with him after I left the note was yesterday when he called me. I guess he follows me because he called my cell phone right after I got here yesterday. He told me I had to get him in here, or he would kill Karen. I’m so sorry. You don’t know how sorry I am. I have to be punished for what I’ve done. Don’t drop the charges, I must pay for my crimes against you,” he begs me.
I hold my hand out to Eden, sharing with him what I saw in Brady’s mind. “There will be no charges, Brady. My wife and I forgive you. You’ve already suffered, as I feel your heart is heavy for what’s happened to Karen. I want you to move forward with your life with her. We’re going to make sure she gets better. The two of you should live a happy life from here on out. Once she’s had counseling, if you so wish it, she can join our organization,” Eden tells him.
My father opens the door. “You can take the cuffs off of him now, officer. There’ll be no charges pressed on him,” he tells them.
They look surprised, but do as my father has told them to. They look at Eden and me. I guess to be sure this is something we really want. I nod my head, yes at them. They turn and leave as Lyle walks them out.
Brady rubs his wrists. “I can’t thank you enough, Mr. and Mrs. Fontaine. What can I do to help you catch him? I’ll do anything.”
“You need to let him know you can deliver my wife to him,” Eden states, shocking us all.
“Have you thought this through, Eden?” my father asks, with concern.
“Not entirely, sir, no,” he answers truthfully. “I just know we have to take control of this situation. He wants Alyssa, so we need to use that information to catch him. Brady can trick him into thinking Alyssa is going somewhere by herself, or going to be here by herself. Stiles will try to get to her if he thinks that. Only, she won’t really be alone. With your help, and everyone else’s, sir, we can figure this all out.”
Dad claps Eden on the shoulder. “Then I guess it’s time for us to brainstorm,” Dad tells us as he motions for us to follow him.
As we walk into the living room I see Kyle and Laura sitting side by side on the sofa. Our mothers sit across from them on the other sofa. Kyle stands up when we enter the room. He’s looking at Brady, then he looks at my father.
“What’s he doing out of cuffs and still here?” Kyle demands to know.
Eden looks at me. “Alyssa, maybe it would be best if you take Kyle and Laura upstairs while we work this out.”
Kyle sends me, ‘Let him know I’ll not be shut out of this, Ally. You take Laura up, and I’ll stay down here. I have to be in on this. Your safety is my number one priority.’
I look up at Eden, and say, “Let Kyle help out, babe. I’ll take Laura up. Come on Laura, let’s go upstairs.”
As we reach the top of the stairs, Laura pulls me to my room, shutting the door behind us. “Ally, why do you think you can trust that guy, I mean he gave the freak all the information he needed to get to you?”
“This is hard to explain,” I tell her. “I can tell he was forced to give Stiles the information. Brady is the boyfriend of Karen Stiles. Darren Stiles told him he had to get him into our house, or he would kill her. Apparently he told Brady to give him the information by a certain time. When Brady didn’t get him the information by his timetable, Stiles raped and beat his daughter almost to the point of death. He actually meant to leave her alive, just barely, so he still had something to hold over Brady’s head. That’s what he’s been doing, and he’ll keep doing that until he finally gets me.”
Laura throws her arms up in the air as she paces around my bedroom. “How in the hell can you be so gullible? You can’t believe a word the guy says. Of course he’s going to say he was blackmailed. It’s like, step one when you get caught, blame someone else.”
Crap, this is so much harder to get her to believe. I wish I could just tell her I have this gift, but I can’t.
I sit on my bed and look out the window. “I see where you’re coming from, Laura. I really do, but these people are a lot savvier about the ways of the world than we are. I have complete faith in them, and my husband, so I’m ready to do whatever it is they come up with, I trust them that much.”
Laura sits next to me, sliding her arm around my shoulders. “I’m not positive these people have your best interest in mind. I’ve thought some brainwashing might be going on. I’ve done a lot of research on this Phoenix Foundation they’re so big in, and that you and Eden are going to a part of. Ally. A couple committed suicide or something like that about the same time as you got married. Apparently they were long-standing members of the Phoenix Foundation. Their obituary said the husband died, followed minutes later by his wife. Al that crap doesn’t happen.”
Man, this is getting harder and harder not to tell her, I can’t though.
“I heard about that too,” I say as I take her hand in mine. “It turns out they were old, like really old, and just like a weird fluke they died like that. I haven’t been brainwashed in any way.”
“This foundation is more like a religious cult in my eyes, Al,” Laura throws at me. “Have they made you attend any meetings or anything at all?”