Don't Slay the Dragon (The Chronicles of Elizabeth Marshall Book 1) (19 page)

Chapter T
hirty-Five

It was Thursday before my schedule had cleared enough that I could make the trip down to the hospital again.  I sat through a blistering twenty minute lecture from Dr. Ross before I was even allowed into the “observation room”.  He wasn’t too happy with me about my unscheduled visit this last weekend.  He said that he may have lost valuable ground in her treatment because he had not been able to be there to observe and document the visit.

He made it very clear that all future visits would be
scheduled and cleared through his office and the only place I was allowed to visit with her would be in the observation room. Everything must be documented.

I tried not to let my anger and frustration towards Dr.
Ross show as I waited for Lisbeth to come into the room.

When she arrived, I was still surprised by how healthy she looked.  She wore an over-sized plum colored sweater and gray sweat pants.  She had on gray socks and no shoes.  She walked right over and gave me a big hug.  I wasn’t sure how to take it.  Affection wasn’t something she expressed often.  When she pulled back slightly, her face was
beaming, her eyes clear green and shining.  I realized that I could no longer tell if this was Lisbeth or Sophie.

“Dr.
Ross said you’d be coming for visits more often.  I’m so glad to see he was right.”  She smiled and pulled me down with her to sit on the couch. 

“You look great,” I told her and it was true.  Her hair was clean and
shiny, her skin was clear and smooth.  She was putting on a little more weight and it looked good on her.  I was still cautious though.  If it was Sophie I was talking to, there was no telling what she was capable of.

“I’m sorry our visit the other day was so short.  Sometimes I get sleepy all of a sudden and I just have to crash. 
I’m feeling much better today.”

“You look much better.  Are they still treating you well?”

“Not bad considering.”  She shrugged but seemed content.

“I have to admit, you really surprised me on my last visit.”  I had to be careful how I approached this. 

“I did?”  She gave me an innocent look.  “Well, from what I hear, any number of things could happen during a visit with me.  What did I do this time?”  She was resigned to hear whatever I told her.

“I met Sophie.”

Address it directly, that was usually the best way to deal with her.  This was one way to tell if it was Lisbeth I was talking to right now or Sophie.  She didn’t even try a surprised look this time.  What I didn’t expect was an apology.  He voice was low, soft enough that I wasn’t sure if it would be picked up by the cameras in the other room.

“I’m so sorry, Caitlyn, it must have been very difficult dealing with her.  It’s hard for me to control her.”  It seemed to be Lisbeth speaking.  I hoped it was. 

“How long has she been around?”  I asked casually.

“She’s new
, relatively,” she smiled at the inside joke. “She’s been with me a few years.  I know she’s a lot to take.  Did she mouth off to you?”

“She said a few things that were disturbing.”

“You’re being vague, Caitlyn.  Spit it out, what did she say?”  This was something Lisbeth would say to me.  I relaxed only slightly.

“She suggested that she might have actually killed Barbara.  She hinted that after you and Barbara had fought and then you left, she might have come back and killed her.”  I watched a variety of emotions flicker across her face.  She went from s
urprise to shock to horror.  At any moment I expected Jade or Maxine or Sophie to appear.  I held my breath, looking for any sign of a transformation.  There was none. 

“No, Caitlyn, that can’t be. 
Sophie likes to play mind games.  She was just messing with you.  Don’t believe her, please!”

Was this really Lisbeth appealing to me or was I being played by Sophie?  I really wish there was a way to know.  Her eyes were still bright green and sincere.  I hated not knowing.

“Can Sophie talk to me?”  I decided to ask. 

Her face twisted with some kind of eternal struggle.  It was so hard to tell now what was real and what
was an act.  I watched as she drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them tightly.  Her shoulders bunched as the muscles tensed.  You could feel the battle in the air, as tangible as her earlier emotions.  Finally, she laid her head upon her knees in an exhausted motion.  She looked up at me with world-weary eyes.  There was no grin or smirk that I had come to associate with Sophie.  She looked tired, lost, incredibly young and confused.

“Sophie?”  I tried.

She shook her head slowly. 

“She won’t come out, she’s sulking.  She’s upset you told
Lisbeth about how she was acting the other day.”

It took a moment for me to adjust to the change.  I rummaged through my memory, trying to decide whom I was speaking with.

“Bethany?”  I guessed.

“Hi Cate,” she gave me a tired smile.  I didn’t see Bethany often.  She was one of the more shy and insecure of the personalities.  She was usually kept more to the background, protected by the others, the same way Lizzy was.  I thought her a strange choice to come forth in Sophie’s stead.

“I haven’t talked to you in a while.  Have you been doing ok?”  I was careful to be gentle with her, she was very fragile.

“It’s been kind of quiet.  They’ve been keeping me away from Dr.
Ross.  They know men like him scare me.”  I remembered her fear of men and nodded.  The reminder caused me to unconsciously glance up at the large mirror and at the said doctor I knew was behind it.  He was getting a show today.  I bet he was thrilled.  Which I found even more curious.  Lisbeth and Sophie knew Dr. Ross was watching these sessions.  Why did they send out Bethany?

“Why are you here, Bethany?” I asked quietly.

She gave a small shrug, hid behind her knees for a moment then peeked back out.

“Slayer sent me.”

I pulled back involuntarily in shock.  Did I hear her right?

“Why would Slayer send you?”  I managed to ask.

“He usually protects me.  He makes sure no one harms me.”  She looked down at her closely bitten nails, as if reluctant to meet my eyes. 

“Then why did he send you?” 
Silence.  Her shoulders drew in towards her chest and she seemed to want to curl up into a little ball.  “Bethany, talk to me.  Why did Slayer send you?  Does he want you to tell me something?”  Her eyes met mine at that last question.  Was I on to something?  “What does Slayer want you to tell me?”

Her eyes gave me a pleading look, as though she was being forced
to tell me something she didn’t want to.  I felt helpless.  Too much pressure would make her withdraw and I would never find out what she was trying to tell me.  I wanted to reach out and touch her hand, but that was always a risk when dealing with any of the family members. 

“It’s ok,” I tried to reassure her, “you can tell me anything.  It might help you.  Maybe it will help all of you.”

She took another moment to think before she gradually opened her mouth in a whisper.

“I was there
the night it happened.”

Chapter Thirty-Six

I felt myself tense at her words.  What night?  Was she talking about the night of Barbara’s death?  Was there even more to that night I didn’t know?  I kept my questions to myself and fought for patience.  Don’t push her, I had to remind myself, she was very fragile and was prone to disappear easily. Hopefully, if I was careful, she would explain on her own. 

“Slayer wants me to tell you about that night, but I really don’t want to.  It scares me to think about it. 
I’ve tried to forget but they’ve made me the Memory Keeper.  He says I have to tell you.”  Her shoulders started to shake slightly.  I could tell this was very hard for her.  “I don’t want to. I don’t want to remember.”

“Start
at the beginning,” I suggested calmly.

She didn’t speak immediately.
She wrapped her arms around herself and started rocking back and forth a bit. The steady, consistent rhythm seemed to sooth her. Her voice was a soft whisper when she spoke.

“I was really excited that night.  I had been looking forward to it for weeks.  I had my costume all ready.  I was going to dress as the Bride of Frankenstein.”  This threw me.  She was talking about something completely different than what I had thought.  I kept my confusion to myself and let her continue.  “There was a party I was invited to and I was happy and scared about it.  It was my first boy/girl party.”

I was struggling to wrap my mind around the night she was referring to.  Could it possibly be?  Was she talking about that Halloween night?  The one that had caused the change in Barbara?

“
I was all dressed and ready to go, but at the last minute, Barbara said I couldn’t go.  She said we had other plans.  We were going to the house of a friend of hers in Salt Lake.  I remember being so angry at her.  I didn’t speak to her the entire way there.  It turned out to be a friend of ours that we used to do the medieval festivals with.  Their house was all decorated for Halloween.  If I still hadn’t been so mad at Barbara, I would have thought it was pretty cool.”

She gave a slight smile here but it gradually faded away, only
to be replaced by a hollow, haunted look.

“It was fun at first.  Everyone was dressed up and there w
ere all kinds of food.  But later on, as it grew closer to midnight, they decided to have a séance.”  Her eyes grew hooded and it was evident she was forcing herself to get this out.  “Someone brought out an Ouija board.  I didn’t want to join in, but Barbara made me.  She said it was just harmless fun.”

She pushed up her sleeves and rubbed her arms.  I could see the goose
bumps rising on her pale skin.  She wasn’t even looking at me now, her gaze was far off, back into the past.

“It was a very old house.  They said it was haunted. 
There was an old family legend about a violent death that had occurred in that house a long time ago. A man had viciously killed his wife there many years ago. They told this scary story about how she still haunted the house. That it wasn’t just her but other evil things happened in that house. They were calling for the spirits of the house to talk to us.” 

She took a deep, shaky breath, as if forcing herself to continue.

“Nothing much happened at first.  The board shook a little, then the table.  I thought it was just someone in the circle trying to scare the rest of us.  I thought it was over.  I asked Barbara if we could go home.  It was then that she challenged the spirits.”

Her hand reached out and grabbed one of mine.  Her skin was ice cold and clammy.  It was a grip of fear and desperation.  I tried not to jump at the cool sensation of her skin against mine.

“Barbara actually called out the spirit.  She said she didn’t believe in ghosts or spirits or demons.  She wanted proof.  She demanded proof.  She said she refused to leave until she got proof.  What happened next….I can’t explain….I can’t…”

Her voice trailed to silence and she seemed frozen in place.  Her hand covering mine became limp and lifeless.  Her eyes were blank and expressionless.  I began to get alarmed.  Should I call out to the doctors next door?  Was she ok? 

I was about to call for help when her hand moved.  Very deliberately, she removed her hand from mine.  Her eyes darkened and focused.  Her body stopped shaking, came under complete control.  Her feet dropped to the floor, her shoulders straightened, and grew rigid.

“She won’t tell us much more.”  It was Slayer’s voice talking to me now.  Before, I had been so frightened of him.  His voice was cold and life
less. I hadn’t been prepared to deal with him.  This time I listened and heard something different.  There was emotion in his voice, concern.  He was concerned for Bethany.  He was her protector.  Maybe he wasn’t as threatening as I had first thought.

“What do you think happened that night, Slayer?” 
He seemed just slightly more approachable than before.  “What do you want me to know?”

“I think Barbara challenged someone or something that night. 
Something that shouldn’t have been disturbed.”  His eyes were so dark now they were almost black.  I found myself gripping the leather cushion beneath me as the words he spoke sunk in.  “I think whatever she provoked stayed with her, came into her.”

“Was it Atrus Dracona?” 
I whispered.

His dark eyes glowed with satisfaction.  He nodded as if pleased I was putting it all together. 

“What more can you tell me?”  I urged.

“Keep looking. 
You have access to more information than we do here.”  He gazed around the room as if surveying his territory.  I didn’t miss the look of distain he had as he glanced towards the large mirror.  He knew who was on the other side.  His focus came back to me.

“Why are you trying to help me?”  I asked. 

“You need to find the truth.  When you find the truth you’ll understand.”  With those cryptic words I watched as his eyes lightened and his body relaxed. 

“Wait!  Don’t go, Slayer,” I wanted to know more.  There had to be more he could tell me.

“Don’t bother, sweets,” the bright, jewel green eyes sparkled at me.  She lounged across the couch like a lazy feline.  “He’s long gone.”

I was coming to recognize Sophie a bit more now, at least her tone of voice.  She enjoyed playing with me, and that, if nothing
else, differentiated her from Lisbeth. I wondered if she realized it.  She laid her head back against the arm of the couch, brought her feet up onto the cushion next to me and gave me a sly smile. 

“What do you want, Sophie?”  I tried not to show how reluctant I was to deal with her.

“I don’t like it.”  She folded her arms across her thin chest. 

“What is it you don’t like?”  I felt like crossing my arms and digging my heels in too.

Without warning, she bounded to her feet like an energetic child.  She gave me a half smile and began walking towards the door. 

“Wait, Sophie, where are you going?”  I stood up, ready to follow.

“This visit is now officially over.”  She was at the door and had her hand on the handle, ready to leave. 

“Can I talk to Lisbeth before you go?”  I suggested.

“No, you’ve learned enough for one day.”  She opened the door and walked though it and out into the hall.  “You’ve learned too much.”

And with that she was gone.