Crossroads (11 page)

The stranger watched the light pulsing and throbbing in his palm like a heartbeat. His abnormally long tapered fingers squeezed slightly and it burned brighter. He brought the strange ball of light to his face and inhaled deeply, his black eyes burning with a dreadful kind of hunger. His mouth suddenly split into a grin, revealing brown rotting teeth, a sharp contrast to his skin which was so white it was almost transparent. His other hand dipped into the folds of his long coat and pulled free a small glass bottle. Removing the stopper with his teeth he tipped the glowing ball of light into the bottle and sealed it. Cradling the bottle gently he turned and disappeared through the solid concrete wall, leaving Hayley laying grey skinned and lifeless, alone in her sanctuary of solace.

Jake sat and stared at the screen with a confused frown. He flicked back to the beginning of the security footage he’d retrieved from the Bailey’s store and watched it through again.

‘What the hell?’

He turned it back and watched it again.

‘Shit,’ he swore silently under his breath.

Pulling the disk, he headed out of the room and towards Mac’s office.

‘Don’t you ever knock anymore?’ Mac looked up from the file he’d been reading.

Jake checked to make sure no one else was listening and then closed the door to Mac’s office and rounded his desk.

‘There’s something you need to see’ he told him, handing him the disk.

Raising an eyebrow at Jake’s cryptic mood he took the disc and loaded it up on his laptop.

‘What is this?’

‘The security footage from the Bailey’s store.’

Mac turned back to the screen and watched intently.

‘What the hell?’

He flicked it back and watched it again.

‘Shit,’ he swore.

‘I know,’ Jake shook his head as Mac flicked the footage back and watched it once again.

His eyes narrowed and he unconsciously leaned closer to the screen as he studied the tall dark figure wearing a strange dark hat standing in front of Jonathan Bailey. Some kind of visual disturbance ran across the screen obscuring the stranger’s face but they both saw, clear as day, as he reached into Jonathan Bailey’s chest and yanked out what looked to be a ball of light about the size of a tennis ball.

‘What the hell is it?’

‘I haven’t a clue,’ Jake shook his head.

‘Has anyone else seen this?’

‘Just you and me,’ he replied.

‘Jesus,’ he scrubbed his hand over his face in frustration. ‘I thought all the creatures got pulled back in when we closed the gateway.’

‘Maybe they did, maybe this is something different.’

Mac sighed deeply.

‘Do you remember the days when all we had to worry about was a serial killer on the loose.’

‘Simpler times,’ Jake nodded.

‘I have to admit I don’t even know where to start with this,’ Mac stood and paced his office. ‘Without Olivia and Theo or even, although I hate to admit it, Charles I wouldn’t know how to even begin to figure out what that thing is.’

‘Is there no way to contact Charles at all?’ Jake asked.

‘No,’ Mac scowled, ‘we’re not exactly best friends.’

‘How about Danae?’

‘We could try leaving a message on her cell because I’m willing to bet money that she’s with Charles and Davis.’ He pulled open his desk drawer and retrieved his weapon, holstering it at his side as he picked up his jacket and shrugged it on. ‘Let’s go and see your sister and find out if Mr Bailey has regained consciousness yet.’

Jake nodded and followed him from the room.

Louisa looked up tiredly from the chart she was furiously scribbling in. Her brother strode confidently through the department with Mac following behind him looking equally as serious.

‘Hey,’ she greeted them both.

‘Louisa,’ Mac nodded, ‘we’re here for an update on Mr Bailey. Is he awake yet?’

‘No,’ she sighed, ‘I don’t know if he is going to wake up.’

‘Have you found out what’s wrong with him yet?’ Jake asked.

Louisa shook her head.

‘I hate to admit it but I just don’t have a clue. His test results keep coming back clean, we’ve done bloods, scans and CT’s, in fact nearly every test we can think of but we just can’t find a cause for the coma.’

‘Damn it,’ Mac muttered, ‘I was hoping we’d be able to speak with him. Is there nothing you can give him to bring him around?’

‘Sorry Mac, right now we don’t even understand why he’s unconscious.’

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she saw the look that passed between her brother and the Captain.

‘You know something don’t you?’

‘Is there somewhere private we can talk?’ Mac asked quietly.

‘Sure’ she nodded, leading them into a small private lounge nearby.

‘Okay what’s going on?’ Louisa asked the minute the door was closed.

‘I retrieved the security footage from the Bailey’s store earlier today’ Jake told her. ‘When we watched it back it seems Mr Bailey wasn’t alone when he collapsed.’

‘Okay,’ she replied in confusion, ‘so what’s that got to do with him being ill? Because I’m telling you now, he has no evidence of injuries at all, especially one that would cause a coma.’

‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that,’ Jake shook his head, ‘the footage showed a very tall figure dressed in black. There was some sort of interference on the recording which obscured his face so we couldn’t get an ID, but the tape very clearly shows him reaching into Mr Bailey’s chest and when he withdrew his hand he was holding some kind of ball of light.’

‘I’m sorry what?’ she frowned rubbing her temples tiredly, ‘some guy shows up at the Bailey’s store and reaches into Mr Bailey’s chest? I told you he doesn’t have any kind of injury, not so much as a bruise.’

‘I know,’ Jake told her pointedly.

‘Well Jesus,’ she blew out a breath, ‘you think it’s some sort of supernatural creature?’

‘It seems to be a distinct possibility,’ Mac interrupted.

‘God,’ she muttered, ‘I’m too tired for this. I wish Olivia was here, this is her deal.’

‘Believe me we wish she was here too, but she isn’t and neither is Charles,’ Jake replied, ‘so until that changes we’re on our own.’

‘You think whatever it is was left behind when we closed the gate?’ she asked.

‘It seems to be the most logical explanation,’ Mac answered.

‘The problem is,’ Jake threw a look at his boss, ‘we need to figure out what it is before anyone else gets hurt.’

‘I think it’s already too late for that,’ Louisa sighed.

‘What do you mean?’

‘One of my interns collapsed yesterday evening. She hasn’t regained consciousness and is showing the same symptoms as Mr Bailey. We’re trying to stabilize her, but like Mr Bailey, her vitals are all over the place, it’s like her body is just trying to give up. We’ve got them both on life support at the moment.’

‘Damn it,’ Mac swore.

‘There’s something else you should see,’ she told them cryptically as she moved towards the door.

They followed her through the hospital corridors in silence until they reached a private room. They stepped through and saw a young attractive woman with pale blonde hair lying still and lifeless on the bed, attached to various tubes and beeping monitors.

‘This is Hayley Adams, she’s one of my interns,’ Louisa told them as she rounded the bed and beckoned them closer. Satisfied she had their attention she leaned over her patient and very carefully peeled back one of the girl’s eyelids to reveal her pale colorless eyes.

‘I take it that’s not her usual eye color?’ Mac frowned.

‘No she usually has really blue eyes, like forget me nots.’

‘Is there any medical condition that could cause this?’

‘We see something similar in older patients, and it’s usually caused by cataracts, a condition very easily corrected by minor surgery but these aren’t cataracts. I’ve had a colleague who specializes in optometry check thoroughly and her eyes are still fully intact, it’s like they just drained of color.’

‘And Mr Bailey is showing the same symptom?’

Louisa nodded.

‘So Hayley has been an intern of yours for how long?

‘She’s been here for several months now, she’s very bright, driven and hardworking.’

‘Does she live alone?’

‘No, she shares an apartment with Lucas Garcia, one of the other interns.’

‘Was she found at her apartment?’

Louisa shook her head again. ‘She was found here in the hospital.’

‘Nobody saw anything?

‘No, she was taking a break down on one of the lower levels and before you ask, that particular corridor didn’t have any surveillance but you can check the rest of the cameras.’

Mac nodded. ‘We’ll do that, how about this Lucas Garcia? Is he in today?’

‘He’s on rotation in the ER at the moment, you should be able to find him down there.’

‘Okay, I’ll take the intern,’ Mac turned to Jake, ‘you head down to the security office and check out the footage. See if this stranger shows up anywhere else.’

Jake nodded and watched silently as Mac slipped out of the room before turning to his sister.

‘I want you to be careful.’

‘Jake come on, I’m perfectly safe.’

‘I expect that’s what Hayley Adams thought too.’

‘Alright fair point,’ she conceded grudgingly.

‘’Look until we figure out who this guy is or even what he is, you need to be careful. We don’t know how he’s picking his victims or what he’s doing to them. So just make sure you’re not on your own if you can help it.’

‘I’ll try,’ she sighed, ‘but I still have a job to do.’

He wrapped his arms around her and dropped an affectionate kiss on her head.

‘I’ll stop by and see you and Tommy later.’

Louisa nodded and watched as he also stepped from the room.

Jake was deep in thought as he approached the security office. Knocking lightly on the door and entering he found the security guard, who would normally be seated in front of the screens, standing off to the side of the small enclosed room, his arms folded in front of him and a scowl on his face. In front of him was a technician kneeling on the ground with a hard drive in several pieces.

‘Hey Todd,’ he nodded to the security guard, someone he’d known since high school.

‘Jake,’ he replied.

‘What’s going on?’

‘Something’s wrong with the equipment, we keep getting a line of interference over several of the cameras.’

Jake glanced over at the screens on the wall, some still showed feeds from the cameras and a couple were showing snowy static.

‘Is it constant?’ Jake asked, ‘the interference? Is there a pattern to it?’

‘Nope, doesn’t happen all the time. We caught it on some of the cameras last night. They’ve been checked and they seem to be working just fine but Kurt here can’t seem to find the root of it.’

The skinny tech looked up and scowled back at Todd.

‘I know how to do my job but I’m telling you it isn’t a hardware problem.’

‘And I know I wasn’t imagining it, I got the tapes to prove it.’

‘You have recordings?’ Jake repeated.

‘Yeah, because some of us know how to do our jobs properly.’

‘Now just a minute,’ Kurt threw down the screwdriver clutched in his fist.

‘Whoa, time out you two,’ Jake stepped in between them and turned to Todd. ‘Can I see the recordings.’

‘Sure,’ he replied, still shooting daggers at Kurt as if somehow it were all his fault.

He hit a few buttons and turned back to the screens.

‘Take a look at three, four, eight and twelve.’

Jake flicked back and forth between the four different screens.

‘These were taken last night?’ he queried.

‘Yeah.’

Jake turned back to the screens and watched. Although each feed was taken from a different camera, in different parts of the hospital, they all showed the same thing. A tall thin dark clothed man wearing a wide brimmed hat and a line of interference running across the screen obscuring the features of his face.

‘This man,’ Jake leaned forward and tapped the screen, ‘have you seen him in the hospital before?’

Todd squinted, leaning closer to the screen as if noticing for the first time.

‘No,’ he shook his head frowning lightly. ‘I’d remember someone like that, he’s pretty distinctive. He looks like he’s at least seven feet tall.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Positive.’

‘Can I get a copy of these?’

‘No problem,’ Todd replied, ‘I’ll get them sent over to the station for you.’

‘Appreciate it,’ Jake nodded.

As Jake stepped out of the small airless room, the sound of raised voices began once again. Ignoring them he clicked the door closed behind him and headed down to the main entrance where Mac was waiting for him.

‘Any luck?’ he asked as he approached.

Mac shook his head.

‘Roommate didn’t know anything. What about you?’

‘Same thing on the security cameras that we saw in the Bailey’s store, tall dark figure, face obscured by interference. Todd’s going to send the footage over to the station.’

‘Damn, so it looks as if it’s the same guy then.’

‘Looks like.’

‘According to the roommate Hayley had been fine in the days leading up to the incident, she wasn’t acting strange and she hadn’t mentioned being followed. Both she and Mr Bailey have nothing in common, no connection that I can see.’

‘Could be he’s picking his victims at random then,’ Jake mused. ‘Opportunity?’

‘Maybe,’ Mac agreed. ‘I think you should go talk to Veronica.’

‘What?’ his eyes widened in panic, ‘why?’

‘Is there a problem?’

‘No,’ he shook his head, ‘why, why would there be a problem?’

‘You’re just acting weird,’ he shrugged, ‘anyway, she’s the best person we’ve got when it comes to research and you said yourself she has access to all of Olivia’s books. Show Veronica the security footage from the Bailey’s store and see if she can figure out what that thing is and what that ball of light was.’

‘Maybe you should go and see her instead?’

‘Jake,’ Mac frowned, ‘what’s wrong with you? I thought you two were friends.’

‘We were,’ he shook his head, ‘I mean we are.’