Four months had passed since I had even seen Brittany Larson’s autopsy report, but here I was running through the darkness, speeding toward The Ancients only knew what, and that document was the reason. It had suddenly become as clear in my mind as if I had only just read it. And, of all the horrors it outlined, the one that came immediately to the forefront was the cause of death: suffocation.
What was standing out even more than the one word conclusion was the why: the technical jargon of the postmortem that explained what had brought about the fatal asphyxia. And, what it all boiled down to was that she had been electrocuted to the point that she could no longer breath.
Everything meshed in that instant. In relation to the electrocution, the bizarre ethereal seizures and the metallic taste in my mouth had been a given for some time. But now, the sound of the small engine made perfect sense. I knew that it could be only one thing. A generator.
I ran toward the house, my skin crawling with each footfall. I didn’t even want to imagine what I might see upon entering, but I knew I had no choice.
I couldn’t keep my mind from flashing on the fact that eight months ago I had done almost exactly the same thing. I had recklessly run into an abandoned building in an attempt to save a member of my coven from death at the hands of Eldon Porter. But, in the end, Millicent had died anyway.
This time around, I simply could not accept that outcome.
Kimberly Forest’s life was not the only one hanging in the balance. The simple fact of the matter was that there were three lives at risk. If Kimberly died, Felicity would follow her beyond the veil in total, with no way to return. The strength of the connection between them made it an inevitability we had both foreseen.
And the third life, well, that would be mine. Being unable to save Millicent had turned me into an emotional wreck. I knew without a doubt that losing my wife would kill me.
I veered off the gravel drive and aimed for the front of the house, driving myself forward with all that I had. Even with the electric buzz crackling in my ears, I could hear the sound of another set of feet pounding behind me. Intermixed with it all was Ben’s angry voice demanding that I stop. I suspected he would overtake me very soon, and my only saving grace thus far had been the miniscule head start.
The house’s porch occupied a space that was carved from the front corner of the building. I reached the foot of the stairs just ahead of my friend, whipping quickly around a wrought iron support trellis in an attempt to dodge him. The maneuver bought me a few scant seconds.
I took the concrete steps two at a time, vaulted myself onto the landing and burst through the front door with absolutely no regard for safety or stealth. I simply didn’t have the luxury.
As I shouldered through the door, I found myself standing at the entrance of what appeared to be a living room. The space spread out before me, roughly a 16-by-20 rectangle. At the far end of the room was a doorway on the left wall. However, that was pretty much all that I managed to see before a large hand clamped onto my shoulder and yanked me back outside.
I stumbled backward, off balance and unable to compete with the force Ben was applying. He thrust me back forward at an angle, driving me away from the doorway and into the wall face first. I knew he was angry, and the severe lack of gentleness he used in planting me here was testimony to that fact. However, I didn’t care. We would have to sort it out later.
“Dammit, Ben!” I screamed.
“Shut up!” he barked.
I twisted to look over my shoulder, trying to wriggle away. I could see that he had placed himself between the opening and me. He was holding me against the wall with one arm, and the other was extended stiffly toward the doorway with his weapon aimed. His eyes were searching, and the way he was postured made me realize that he was just as intent on shielding me as he was in keeping me from re-entering the house.
He spoke quickly, still not looking away from the open door. “Jeezus, Rowan, Felicity’s all seized up back there! What the fuck do you think you’re doin’?”
“Stopping this bastard!” I spat, still struggling to break away. “Let me go!”
“Leave this to us, Rowan! Backup’s comin’.”
“There’s no time!”
“Didn’t you hear me?!” he demanded. “Felicity’s all Twilight Zone or somethin’!”
“Dammit, Ben, he’s killing them!” I shot back. “They can’t take anymore!”
“Jeezus H… You mean…?” His response came as what I was trying to tell him finally broke through. Still, his voice held an edge of indecision, as if he were weighing all options in relation to what I’d just said.
“HE’S KILLING THEM, BEN!” I repeated, screaming at him.
“Dammit, stay here!” he shot back.
My friend pushed away from me and immediately disappeared through the open door. I knew he was violating one of the most basic of police procedures by entering the dwelling without backup, but he realized there was no choice. Even so, now four lives were in jeopardy.
I twisted away from the wall and started toward the opening myself, but for some reason, I hesitated at the door. I wasn’t sure if it was a conscious decision or not, but I stood there watching as my friend systematically worked his way inward, firearm positioned and ready.
There was no way I could simply stand by and watch. We had wasted enough time already, and I feared that it had been too much. I started to step across the threshold once again and felt myself inexplicably stop, unable to press forward.
My brain was in overdrive, rifling through every option it could assign to the scenario.
I considered running back to Felicity and trying to hijack the connection from her, just as she had done with me. It would most likely mean trading my life for hers if Ben was unable to stop this monster from killing Kimberly, but that was something I was more than prepared to do. I even went so far as to start in that direction, but by the time I reached the bottom of the stairs, my grey matter was telling me it wouldn’t work. I hadn’t been able to seize the connection from her even when I had myself halfway together. There was no way I was going to be able to do it when I was this close to panic.
As usual, my gut was repeatedly offering the same suggestion- go back up the stairs and run into the house. However, the small shred of logic I still possessed kept rejecting the idea. It knew that doing so was likely to get me shot. Still, even that was a risk I was willing to take.
Somehow I knew it wasn’t the logic that was stopping me. It was something else. And, that ‘something else’ was becoming very insistent that I listen.
The sound of the engine was still droning in my ears, creating a backdrop for the incessant electric crackle. The meanings behind the two sounds had already started making me physically ill, and I could feel my sanity slipping as the panic continued threatening to take over.
I reached up and covered my ears with my hands, trying to listen to the ‘something’ that wanted to tell me what to do. I pressed my palms hard against the sides of my head in an attempt to drown out the torturous sound of the engine. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting to concentrate as I struggled to ignore the noise that simply would not go away.
My skin was beginning to burn with the prickly sensation of unrelenting gooseflesh. I could feel static surrounding me, and random muscles in my body were beginning to spasm. For one brief moment, I even found it impossible to take a breath.
What seemed an eternity was truly no more than a few brief seconds, but in that time, my frustration level grew beyond containment. I was fighting to concentrate, to ground, and simply to keep my sanity. Unfortunately, I feared that I was losing them all.
I wanted to scream, to literally shout out a demand for the drone to be quiet so that I could think. I was on the verge of making the desire a reality when the ‘something’ reared back an ethereal fist and planted it between my eyes.
Realization didn’t creep in- it sucker punched me.
I dropped my hands and listened, tracking the sound of the engine as it hummed into the night. I twisted quickly, focusing right and then left. The echoing sound seemed to be coming from the other side of the house, but I couldn’t pinpoint an exact direction.
A quick glance told me that on my right, there was lawn and darkness. I took a step forward and looked to my left. There was more lawn and a large tree. Beyond them, I could see illumination from what appeared to be a dusk-to-dawn light high atop a pole. And, behind that was a large shed, bordered by a walkway. I didn’t even bother weighing the options. I was already moving to the left, so I just kept going.
I darted around the corner and ran between the side of the house and the tree, skirting quickly around a cinder block well housing. As I came out of the shadows, the light seemed overwhelming, casting a harsh glare across the back of the house.
I kept moving, rounding the second corner and continuing along the walkway at a fast jog. My head kept swiveling, eyes searching frantically for the generator. The drone of the engine was growing louder, so I knew I was on the right track.
On my right was a screened-in porch. The walkway ran parallel to it for two-thirds of the length and then made a quick diagonal turn, leading up to a single stair and door. On my left was the shed. It ran the full length of the walkway and beyond, ending a few feet past the corner of the porch.
I picked up my pace and then suddenly stumbled as an ethereal spasm hit my leg, causing me to jerk uncontrollably. I fell hard on the concrete walk, raking my hands against the rough surface. A stab of pain bit into my knees, but I gritted my teeth and pushed myself back up.
The spasms were coming more frequently now, and that only served to heighten my fear. My connection with Kimberly Forest was nothing compared to Felicity’s, so I could only imagine what they were going through. The one positive thing I was able to attach to the convulsions was that as long as I was experiencing them, it meant that they were both still alive.
The decibel level of the small engine increased with each unsteady step I took until I reached the corner of the oblong shed, whereupon it leapt dramatically. I shot a glance to my left. The large shed was blocking most of the light from the dusk to dawn sentry; however, enough was filtering into the expanse of the backyard to reveal a smaller wooden shed some forty to fifty feet away. My eyes caught a flash of motion, and I saw a flat rain cap flapping in the air where it was hinged atop a vertically mounted exhaust pipe.
I immediately raced for the small structure, limping and stumbling the entire distance as I struggled to deal with the spasms. I was only a few feet away when my entire body froze. I felt my heart jump as I struggled to breathe. My jaw began to clench and blood filled my mouth as I gnashed my already tortured tongue.
With a hard jerk, I fell face first onto the lawn.