Deadly Violet - 04 (17 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

As soon as they got back to her place, Cassie went inside. But Lauren hung around beside the bike a while, trying to take in her surroundings properly. She was still a little bleary from the lack of sleep, but a city-based detective was, well, pretty used to hardships of that kind. She’d gone seventy-two hours that way in the past.

Her gaze swept the length of Rowan Street. East Meadow wasn’t what you’d call a picturesque neighborhood. Too many oddly shaped abodes and tacked-on extensions for that. But underneath its layer of whiteness, it had taken on a gentler aspect. It looked placid. And there were neighborhoods in her hometown where no amount of snow could manage that.

She thought about the lecture Ross had given her. And maybe – from some points of view – this wasn’t such an awful place. Thousands of people seemed to live lives that were mostly normal here. They went to work and raised their families, like any other place.

Other communities got turned upside-down from time to time, didn’t they? There were wars, recessions. Nobody could depend on the course of life progressing at a steady pace forever.

But this town was an extreme example. She reminded herself forcefully of that. Raine’s Landing might have its pleasant side but, not having been raised here, she couldn’t get used to the weirder stuff. And most likely, she never would.

The cold started biting into her. And she was turning to the front door, when she thought she saw the briefest purple flash off beyond it. That was the worst thing that she could possibly imagine, and a sharp tremor ran through her. Then she went ahead a few more yards, trying to peer inside.

“Cassie? she bellowed. “Cass, are you okay in there?”

The door swung fully open, having been pushed from the inside.

Lauren’s jaw dropped, and she stumbled back.

At first, she thought it was a trick of the light. Because the figure she was staring at was caught in silhouette.

But then, there was a leathery rustle. And she caught sight of a pair of massive, bat-like wings protruding from the figure’s back.

It was Cassie she was staring at. But an entirely different version of Cass. One from the past. From the first time she’d been in this place.

When Lauren had been here last, they’d been fighting the Shadow Man. And he had managed to take Cassie over. He had turned her to her own dark side.

She had been physically transformed, becoming a voracious flying monster. But how was this happening a second time? Hanlon was dead. Lauren had killed him herself. And so she couldn’t understand it.

But there was no denying the evidence of her own eyes. Her friend had reverted to the creature that she’d been before.

This couldn’t
be
! It wasn’t
possible
!

Cassie’s body was completely black again, not merely caught in shadow. Her hands and her feet had changed to heavily taloned claws. The only difference from the last occasion was
– whereas before her eyes had been pale gray – they were now shining violet.

Lauren tried to figure out what that might mean, but she couldn’t find it in herself to think straight.

Cassie took a long step out into the snow. Her clawed feet dug into it, and then contracted, leaving furrows. She folded her arms across her chest and studied Lauren coldly.

“Want to put the past behind you?”

Her voice came out like frozen gravel, with a quality so soulless it was almost dead.

“Thought that we’d be buddies from now on?” she asked.

Her chin tipped up and her lips parted. When she grinned, twin rows of jagged white fangs were revealed.

“Wishful thinking, sweetie pop. Don’t you know? The past
always
comes back to bite you.”

Lauren couldn’t pull her gaze from Cassie’s purple eyes. Her thoughts began to blur again, but then she started seeing the truth.

The time they’d spent together – it had been an utter lie. Cassie had been a monster all along, but she had hidden it. And now, the woman’s true form was at last being revealed. And she’d better do something about it, or she wasn’t long for this world.

Lauren drew her Walther. Tried to take aim. But the instant that she did that, her arm started shaking.

Tears were forming in the corners of her eyes. She couldn’t believe this. The hours they had spent together had been something really special. They might have been facing danger for a good part of the time, but they had done it side by side. There’d been a bond between them – they had been a team. Or so she’d thought.

And all of that had been for nothing, merely an illusion?

Cassie noticed her confusion and snorted derisively. She took another step in, spreading both her arms.

“Here I am, a sitting duck. Take your best shot, you blond bitch.”

Lauren’s trigger finger squeezed all by itself. The Walther pounded, but the round went wide.

Cassie laughed, glancing across her shoulder and then looking back.

“Oh, was that a trashcan that you hit? A trashcan isn’t going to split your skull and rip your brains out, girl. But I am.”

Lauren fought to steel herself. It was the hardest thing she’d ever done. Her nose was clogged up and her head was spinning. But then she thought about the way that she had been fooled and betrayed. She steadied her grip. Clenched her teeth and fired again.

But the next shot spanged away from Cassie without even touching her, just the same as the last time that she’d transformed this way. There was some kind of invisible shield protecting her.

“Would’ve hit my heart, if I had one,” Cassie sniggered. “I’d call that provocative behavior.”

Alarm bells started ringing in her head, and Lauren yelled out, “
No!
”

And then she was wheeling around and trying to run away. Because Cassie’s wings had now spread open, with a noise like a tarpaulin being ripped apart. They were huge, spanning a dozen feet apiece. The sound of their beating filled the air, next second.

And how fast was she capable of flying? Lauren didn’t know.

It occurred to her
– at that point – what had gone before had merely been a dream. She’d
dreamt
that she and Cass had made amends.
Dreamt
that they’d become good buddies.
Dreamt
that they had shared a house and worked together.

And it was nonsense. Because this was the reality.

The snow around her was some two feet deep, slowing her down badly as she fought to get away. And it hadn’t been that way before. When they’d first turned up, there had been five or six inches at the very most. So how could this be right?

She was forced to haul her boots out vertically to take a single step. And she only managed four of those before the thrum of wings closed in behind her. A fierce draft came skirling past her neck.

Pain went through her shoulder blades like red-hot lava.

“Having trouble?” came a harsh voice from above her. “Need a lift?”

Cassie’s claws sank in until they hit the bone. Her wings pounded harder, and Lauren was yanked out of the drift, leaving her boots behind.

She was howling with agony and crying. How could this be happening? She still had her gun, and tried to lift it. But her palms were very damp by this stage, and the Walther went slithering out of her grasp. She watched helplessly as it hit the snow and vanished.

“Better off without it!” Cassie crowed. “Guns don’t kill people –
I
do!”

She changed direction smartly. Lauren felt her entire body being swung around. And then she was let go of, and plummeted down.

She hit the icy center of Rowan Street, and skidded several yards on her back. And then those jet-black wings were blurring down across her.

Lauren managed to raise both her feet, and tried to use them to fend Cassie off. Moaned with pain as her legs were knocked brutally to one side. Then Cass landed on top of her. Was all over her like stink on cheese, her claws coming at her and those sharp fangs snapping inches from her face.

Lauren had her eyes shut and was struggling insanely, yelling, “Cassie, please! This isn’t you! You’re a good person, and we’re friends, we’re friends, we’re
friends
!”

“Of
course
we’re friends,” came the woman’s voice.

It had returned to its usual tone, the rasping deadness gone. Although it did sound pretty mystified.

The claws had gone away as well. Cassie’s hands were back to normal. They were not attacking her in any way, merely clasping her around the shoulders gently.

Lauren’s eyes came back open, her sight clouding at first. But when it cleared, she could see Cassie’s face above her. Back to the way it ought to be. No violet in her gaze. No fangs.

“Are you okay?” the woman asked her nervously. “What are you doing on the ground? What’s wrong?”

Lauren put a hand up to her shoulder. She could feel no damage, and there was no blood.

But when she managed to sit upright, she could see that her feet were bare. Her gun was no longer in its holster. And there were skid marks on the ice, where she’d been flung from up above.

So
some
of this, apparently, had really taken place. Which made not the tiniest bit of sense.

What on earth was happening this time?

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

I got out of my car and went inside my house, heading directly to my bedroom, with the sole intention of throwing myself full out on the mattress and getting some more badly needed shuteye.

But when a brief purple flash came from the direction I was going, I slowed to a halt. And drew my revolver, returning to alertness fast. Every muscle in my frame had seized up tightly. What had I run into?

This was my home. Anger began replacing my initial fright. This wasn’t something I was going to stand around for. But I used to be a cop, and am trained in such matters. So I took things warily and slowly.

Peered at the half-opened doorway. Could see nothing beyond it, not so much as a moving shadow. And there were no noises emerging. So, stretching my gun arm out in front of me, I started to edge along as silently as I could manage.

I reached the frame, took a better look inside, and from a different angle. Then I glanced in through the jamb as well.

Nothing returned my gaze. There were no purple objects in there of any description, that I could make out.

I used the fingers of my other hand to ease the woodwork open slowly. That still got a zero point reaction, and the only sound that I could hear was my own heart.

So I stepped in smartly, turning sharply left, then right. Nothing came at me, or drew into my field of vision. I relaxed, and lowered my aim a little.

Maybe the flash had come from out beyond the window? I went to it, but there was nothing taking place out on the street.

My lungs deflated and I let my gun hand drop.

It was possible I’d simply been imagining it. I’d seen so many purple flashes the last few hours that they had to be imprinted in my skull. I tried to smile and put my gun away. But then I noticed exactly how cold the place had gotten.

I needed to switch the heating on before I fell asleep. And so I turned back to the hallway, thinking about doing that.

And my gaze swept across Alicia’s dresser. None of it had been touched since the day she’d disappeared. Everything was left precisely in its place, waiting for the happy time when she returned. Her make-up boxes, her lipsticks and perfumes. The beautifully enameled heart-shaped box in which she kept some of her jewelry.

And I was reflecting
– in a heavy-hearted way – how badly I missed her. When I noticed something odd.

There was a small mirror on the dresser top, the kind that swivels to an angle when you push it. And I ought to have been looking at my own reflection.

But its surface was reflecting nothing.

And had started to shine, with a faint purple glow.

I stepped closer to it, but with no result. The glass still did not reflect an image of my face. The purple hue on it was deepening. And then that wash of color parted. And I felt a spasm running through my frame.

I was gazing at a scene that had nothing to do with this room, or this house, or even this part of the world. It looked like a cavern I was staring into. Raine’s Landing has none of those.

Its walls were rough gray stone. And by the shadows that were gathered, it appeared to be deep underground. There was some kind of illumination coming from a source that I could not make out. But the light was pretty dim and warmthless.

Standing at the center of this gloomy space was my whole missing family. Alicia, my slim blond wife, with three year-old Tammy tucked in the crook of one arm. Pete was standing by her side, holding himself very straight. Five years old, and already a little man.

It began to occur to me that they had grown no older since the last time that I’d seen them. And the best part of three years had elapsed. I couldn’t figure that, and so I let it pass.

They didn’t notice I was watching them, at first. But then Alicia’s pale head came up, and her eyes widened. She was staring at me through the glass.

“Ross?”

How could I see them, after all this time? It made no sense. There was a part of me that simply didn’t care, though.

I lurched at the mirror, yelling, “Yeah, it’s me! Where are you?”

She stared around in desperation, her face partially veiled by the shadows and the gloom.

“I don’t know. We wound up here when Goad used his magic on us. And we’ve been searching for ages, but we can’t find a way out.”

“You’ve been there this whole time?”

My brain was pounding in my skull. And my heart was almost breaking. Because both my kids had noticed me as well. Pete was jumping up and down, delight spreading across his face. And Tammy was smiling sweetly, and had reached out an arm in my direction.

“Is there water? Is there food?” I shouted.

Because, from what I could see, that was not likely. The place that they were in looked wholly barren.

“I don’t get this,” I asked. “How have you survived?”

But did it really matter? They were still around. That was the only thing that counted, surely?

“I don’t know,” Alicia replied, with a slight stutter. “I can’t remember the last time we ate. The usual rules don’t seem to apply. We’re simply … stuck here. And we can’t get out.”

She blinked some tears out of her eyes, then begged me, “Ross, please help us. Get us home.”

But I was only looking at their images in silvered glass. And when I pushed a hand their way, the only thing it did was hit the surface of the mirror and then stop. I couldn’t reach them. Helplessness rushed through me like a massive surge of poison.

This was exactly like the last time. Like the afternoon when Jason Goad had spirited my family away. I’d been forced to watch that too. And there was nothing I could do to stop it.

God, what use was I?
My eyes began to burn.

“You’ve
got
to help us, Ross,” Alicia yelled, “because this place is getting smaller.”

What the hell did that mean? I reached out and grabbed the mirror’s frame.

“It’s been doing that for quite a while,” she added. “It’s already down to less than half its size. And if it keeps on shrinking, then I don’t think we’ll survive. We just won’t be here any more.”

And the only thing that had kept me going, these past few years, was the notion that they might come back someday.

Maybe if I broke the glass? I began slamming at it, but it wouldn’t give. It didn’t even crack. Pete had stopped moving around, his features going heavy with dismay. And Tammy was peering at me sadly.

“
Do
something, Ross!” Alicia was yelling out. “Please,
save
us!”

“I’m trying!” I shouted back.

I was pounding at the mirror like a lunatic, with no effect. And I think that I began to scream. A bellowing was emerging from the deepest regions of my soul.

I couldn’t see straight any longer, and was hollering and thrashing.

Hands grabbed me around the upper arms, next instant, pulling me away.

“Take a deep breath and then calm back down,” a quiet voice told me, right next to my ear. “You have to understand there’s nothing there.”

And it was Willets.

I’m ashamed to say I tried to fight him off at first. Caught him a glancing blow on the side of his head with my elbow. But he soaked it up with little protest, refusing to release his grip. And hung onto me until I’d simmered down.

My thoughts began to untangle. My vision cleared. And I began to see the truth of this.

It wasn’t the case that my rain of blows had had no effect on the mirror. The thing was broken to bits – there were shards of silvered glass lying all over the dresser and surrounding carpet. And my fists were bleeding.

Of my family, there was no sign. But part of my mind still wanted to cling onto the illusion that I’d seen them.

Willets understood that, and he gave me a light shake.

“They were never
there
,” he hissed in an insistent tone. “You need to get your head around that.”

The world’s realities came flooding back. My heart slowed down. I doubled over slightly. And the doc was forced to let me go.

“So I was imagining that?” I gasped

“Not exactly.”

He looked terribly grave, when I straightened up to face him.

“Reality is slipping away faster than I thought. And in a different way to last time. A whole load of people are now seeing their worst fears take on the semblance of reality. I had to rescue Levin from his study, and he almost had a nervous breakdown.”

All that I could do was stare at the man blankly, struggling to get a proper grip on what I was being told.

“I still can’t figure this,” I muttered. “Was it real or not?”

Willets shrugged. “A bit of both, perhaps. It seems to depend on the individual.”

Which didn’t really do a great deal to enlighten me.

“The barriers between what’s real or not are almost gone,” the doctor told me.

Sounds from outside began drifting to me. Muffled yells and screams. I stepped back to the window, a new sense of urgency filling me.

Could these be what I thought they were … the cries of people trapped in their own personal nightmares?

When I looked back at the doc, his grave expression hadn’t changed.

“Okay. So what exactly do we do?” I asked.

“Go from house to house, and try the same thing that I did with you. Snap people back into the here and now.” The man blinked tiredly. “While the Amethyst is still in play, nothing else is going to work.”

“So there’s no way
anyone
can fix this?”

I had been so convinced that I was talking to my family. And I was starting to get pretty mad, now the initial shock was gone.

“The only chance we’ve got,” Willets replied, “is if Raine manages to come up with something.”

And that made me feel even worse than I had done before.