Dreamscape (25 page)

A cool breeze took Ramona’s breath away. She felt as if she’d just closed her eyes. She staggered to her feet, no longer in Leila’s room. A certain sound emanated from outside, growing louder as she made her way to the door. Her fingers stiffened, fumbled with the knob. The door opened, and the hall filled with blinding sunlight.

Her eyes focused. Laughter, giggling. She stepped outside onto the porch. The sun shone brightly upon her from a cloudless sky. Another feeling filled her as she took a deep breath of clean, fresh country air. A flower garden lay to her right, and a large oak tree stood in the middle of the yard; a swing hung down from its lowest branch. Reflexes made her smile surveying the scene.

A dog barked. She walked down the steps, turned left toward the sounds of children playing. She rounded the corner. A tall lanky boy knelt petting a large German Shepherd who had dropped a stick by his feet. The boy looked up and smiled. He grabbed the stick and ran off, the dog keeping up step for step. A giggle erupted. She turned quickly. A beautiful dark-haired child with telling, brown sparkling eyes stood behind her.

“You came. I’m so glad,” she exclaimed and grabbed hold of Ramona’s hands and swirled around her. The young girl dropped to the ground. Another laugh escaped her. “I called you here. I knew you’d come. Mandy didn’t think you would. I knew, though. She’s scared we’re going to get caught.”

Ramona glimpsed a slight movement to her back left. A younger girl with curly blonde hair slipped behind the house. Ramona swiveled around. The dark-haired girl stood beside her again.

“They don’t want you to be told. I think you should be. I like you. You listened to me.”

The girl looked familiar. The face was embedded in her memory—Brooke, the young girl in a past vision. The girl who died such a cruel, violent death now stood before her smiling, laughing.

“It’s coming back. You remember me,” she cried. “Come on. Follow me.”

Brooke ran through a meadow and to a creek bed. She plopped down. “This is my favorite spot. I can see everything from here.”

Ramona caught her breath as she, too, fell to the ground. The reflection of the water seemed clear, but she couldn’t make out the forms.

“You can’t see them. I can. I watch them,” she said.

“Brooke, you said they didn’t want me to know something. Who doesn’t want me to know? And what don’t they want to me to know?”

The girl slanted a look back at Ramona. “It’s not they don’t want you to know. I can’t tell you that. You’re supposed to know. Why do they think you’re lost, Ramona?”

Ramona sat speechless. There was no answer.

“You know, they told me what you were before I came to you before, but you did listen to me. You helped me. I was so sad. I can’t remember why. Can you?”

Ramona shook her head. “A small favor. You wanted your mother to know you were okay.”

“Oh, yes. I watch her all the time. Here in the water. You can’t see, but I can. My sister too.” She looked at the water as if seeing them at the present moment. She turned back to Ramona. “See everything is as it should be. They say you can’t understand yet. No one can, but that’s why you have faith. Do you have faith, Ramona? They say you don’t.”

“I don’t know,” she stammered.

She took her small hands and cupped Ramona’s face. She talked straight to her. “You should. Out of everyone, you should. There is much you don’t know. You’re wrong if you think they deserted you. You’ve never been alone. You’ve been protected until now. I know. I listen.”

She released her grip and gave Ramona a huge smile. “They say the power is within you. You just have to find it again. You’ll need to. It’s coming, what you’ve dreaded, but you can’t waste time worrying. Take each step as it comes. The others have gathered around you. You need to lean on them, for your strength will only grow.”

The girl’s eyes sparkled. Ramona sensed she knew more. She wanted Ramona to figure it out herself, but she was too tired.

“I know you’re mad at him. I know why, but he was only a baby. You can’t really hold him to blame for your parents’ deaths. It doesn’t make sense, you know,” Brooke said out of the blue.

“Some things don’t make sense.” Ramona stood. “I have to get back.”

Brooke reluctantly stood with her. “I know. They’ll find out I talked with you. You helped me, and now I’ll help you. Remember, everything has a purpose. They say you know that but you seem to have forgotten. For your problem at hand, your abilities have expanded. Use your Pathfinder.” The girl laughed again. “Goodbye, Ramona.” She started skipping down a path running by the creek. She abruptly turned. “It’s probably funny. It’s like the name suggests. You go down a path, and he’ll find you. It’s funny, don’t you think?”

She laughed again and was gone.

* * * *

The doctor checked the chart in ICU one more time. He’d have her moved out in the morning. It’d been touch and go there for a while. He’d breathed a sigh of relief when the anti-venom finally kicked in. Morton had advised rattle anti-venom, thought it looked like a diamond back bite. He, though, had listened to the mysterious stranger who had brought their Jane Doe in. Once awake, she’d only managed yes and no answers. It would come. She’d been through a lot. He didn’t have a clue where one would have gotten bitten by a cottonmouth around here, but there again, how the hell did they just appear literally out of thin air?

The girl cleaned up nicely after washing off layers of mud and dirt. Matter of fact, most would consider her a beautiful girl. If the press got hold of the story, they’d have a field day. He held everyone off including the police because of the condition of his patient. In the morning it would be out of his hands. He rubbed the back of his neck. He could finally get some sleep.

“Thank you.”

Startled, he fell backward, felt as though his heart wanted to jump out of his body. He regained his composure, holding his chest. “My God, you’re going to give someone a heart attack.”

“That wasn’t my intention. I apologize, but it was necessary,” Ramona said softly. She began removing Callie’s IV drip, taking a string of tape and a wad of gauze to bandage the area. The doctor made a slight movement toward the call button.

“We’ll be gone before anyone can get in the door,” she said and whirled back around to face him. “She’s going to be okay?”

He nodded. “She should be. She’ll need more care for the next few days.”

Ramona smiled. “I’ll make sure of that. Can you do me one slight favor? The daughter of the woman who died, tell her that her mother is where she wants to be—with her father. She’ll be okay.”

* * * *

Thorpe had Jackson meet him at his rental cottage. Ramona lay down in his bedroom. She’d been exhausted when she handed Callie over to him. Jackson took her to the Cape hospital. The news sounded promising. They kept her in for observation for the next few days but expected a full recovery.

Jackson looked ragged, worse than Ramona, if the truth be told. Ramona had spent the last couple of days striving to save this girl. No one could have been more surprised than Thorpe when the two appeared in the middle of his bedroom last night. The immediate need had been Callie.

Jackson had driven down to Lewiston in record time. Thorpe helped with correlating medical care. No one wanted to explain the last few days. Jackson had only at this moment returned, saying at least for the moment that Callie was safe.

“Ramona’s sleeping?” he asked, taking a seat on the couch. “I need to talk with her and get a report of exactly what happened. I’m a little confused about what Ramona did. What exactly can she do, Thorpe? Where did she go? Does she know who they were running from?”

Thorpe shrugged. He handed Jackson a drink in one of his juice glasses and sighed. He needed to work on his kitchenware. “Told you. I was sleeping soundly. Then Ramona shows up in my dream, calling to me. Then she and Callie were in my bedroom. Relax. She’s not going anywhere. I’ve used all my resources assuring her today. Finally talked her into getting some sleep.”

Jackson took a sip and shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense. None of this. I don’t think this has anything to do with the case we’re on.”

“I can’t tell you. Ramona rambled on and on today,” Thorpe said. He sat on his old recliner. “But I don’t think any of this is going away any time soon.”

Jackson rubbed his forehead. “To be able to fight this thing I need to know everything. I don’t have time to wait around.”

“Whether you do or not, you’re going to have to. Ramona needs to sleep. She rambled on about being lost, faith. She was deeply concerned about Leila. I assured her that the Dills have her. When I talked with them this afternoon, Jeffrey told me that Leila thinks her mother had come to visit her.”

From the corner of his eye he saw Ramona standing in the doorway. She held her head with the look she could fall at any moment. She attempted to take a few steps, but the unstable steps sent her crashing down. Thorpe quickly jumped up in a futile attempt to catch her. She lay on the floor motionless, curled up into a ball. Thorpe picked her up.

“You should still be in bed.”

“No,” she uttered in a weakened voice. “No.” She screamed, holding her head. “Oh, my God. It hurts.”

Thorpe instinctually pulled her into his chest. Jackson stood helpless in an attempt to help, but neither knew what was the matter.

“Ramona, do we need to get you help?”

“No,” she said. “No. He’s out there. Trying to get in. Oh, my God.”

Darkness enveloped the room; a shadow formed. Jackson grabbed hold of Thorpe’s shoulders and stepped in front of him and Ramona. A cool wind blew. Jackson reached for his revolver. Newspapers on the floor flew around the room. Jackson’s drink tipped over. Ramona’s fingers gripped Thorpe’s shirt tighter. He caught Jackson’s attention and nodded toward the door. Without warning, objects launched into the air. Thorpe raised his arm in a defensive position as a picture frame hurtled past them.

He crouched with Ramona in his arms, surrounding her. Jackson crawled over to them. Just as quickly as the darkness ascended, it dissipated. The wind subsided. Lights again illuminated the room. Ramona’s body relaxed.

“Whatever it was, it’s over,” Thorpe whispered in her ear. He softly rubbed her head. The room was left in disarray. His recliner rested on its side, and lamps lay broken on the floor.

* * * *

Barbara Reese had been a nurse for over thirty years. If she could she would do it for another thirty. She walked down the corridor as she had done a million times before on her night shift. Most nights, complaints from roommates about television volume, a confused patient waking in the middle of the night, or even the patient with insomnia broke the calm. She stepped into the last room at the end of the corridor, the only private room on the wing. Midnight. She needed to check the patient’s vitals.

A cold blast met her upon entering the room. Her teeth chattered. She couldn’t move. Her legs numbed with cold. Her eyes widened, disbelieving the sight in front of her. Her patient’s body levitated above the bed, motionless. Cold savaged Barbara. She stood as if frozen to the floor, incapable of movement. To the side, a form took shape. A man, tall, she couldn’t make out his face. He saw her. An evil smile appeared, and an immense fear overcame her. She knew he sensed it.

A ray of moonlight shone through the window. He stood in a black robe with a hood, as best she could make out. He pushed back his hood to plainly reveal his face, his hair dark, pulled back in a ponytail. His dark eyes stared at her as if he stared into her soul. His features stood out uncannily distinct, a wide, tight mouth and narrow nose. His face tapered abruptly to a pointed chin. He said nothing—most terrifying.

His eyebrows arched. Her heart pounded. Something in his movement told her the figure before her couldn’t be human. His dark eye color intensified to a reddening flame, the last thing she saw in this life.

* * * *

Jackson stood by Callie’s bedside and held her hand. He stared down at the girl that had been on the road to recovery that now lay in a coma. The doctors couldn’t explain it. They’d found her in this state when they discovered the body of a nurse, Barbara Reese. The autopsy revealed she’d died of a heart attack, but Jackson had seen the body. Her face frozen in fear.

Thorpe had a theory. The same beast that Ramona had dealt with in the past, the one that had killed his cousin, had resurfaced. A beast, a monster so evil, that even with Ramona’s abilities he scared her beyond reason. The course of their investigation against this serial killer served as a diversion for this beast to obtain his objective. Jackson’s instinct couldn’t shake the feeling that Thorpe could be right.

Chapter Twenty

The sun shone brightly from a cloudless sky, a contrast to the gray, depressing, bitter cold snow days of a usual February day in New England. All the snow of the winter had melted, awaiting the next wave of flurries to whiten the exposed, dull brown landscape.