Ella Awakened (19 page)

“Yes, the
door’s not locked, come on in.”

“Are you
ready to go?” Burke asked as he opened the door.

“No, I was
just about to change into some jeans and a t-shirt.  I still need to throw a
few things into a bag if I’m staying at your place tonight.  Speaking of which,
I already told Jeremy I wouldn’t be home.  Sarah’s gonna stay here with him. 
She’s a little wigged out.”  Ella got out a backpack and started packing a
change of clothes and a few toiletries.  “Do you have anything in your car we
can leave with them?  Some kind of weapon – but not a gun.  I’d feel better if
I knew they had some kind of protection.”

Burke shut
the door and leaned against it.  “I have a Taser.  It’s pretty easy to use.  It
looks kinda like a gun.  The range is 35 feet.  When you pull the trigger two
electrodes fly out but stay attached to the main unit by conductive wire.  It
completely incapacitates the subject’s neuromuscular function.  Now whether or
not it would affect the Demon in any way, I have no idea.  Also, it’s
government property.” 

“Please show
him how to use it and leave it with him just for tonight.  I’ve got a funny
feeling about what just happened at the movie.  I don’t want to leave them here
absolutely defenseless.”  Ella zipped her backpack and tossed it on the floor
by her bedroom door.

“Okay,
Hutsool, I’ll show Jeremy how to use the Taser.  They’re still leaving in the
morning to go to your Aunt and Uncle’s house to look after Sophie, right?”

“Right,
which is good.”  She went to her dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans and a
t-shirt and tossed them on her bed.  “They’ll probably stay at least two days. 
Sarah’s doing her classwork online now and Jeremy’s calling in sick.  Just tell
him to leave the Taser in the kitchen pantry when he and Sarah leave.  My uncle
has a hunting rifle and Jeremy knows how to use that.”

Burke walked
over and pulled Ella into his arms.  “You seem a little tense; even more than
warranted by the situation at hand.  You okay?”

“I’m okay,
I’ve just been thinking about a few things.  We’ll talk in the car.  Let me get
changed while you show Jeremy the Taser.  I’ll be out in a sec.”

Burke smiled
reassuringly and ran his hands down Ella’s arms.  “It’ll be all right,
Hutsool.”  He wished he believed that himself.

~~

A short time
later they were headed toward the M.E. office.

“So what
were you thinking about in your room?” Burke asked.

“Quite a few
things.  First, I just get the feeling the Demon is responsible for this
death.  I can’t explain it.  Call it warrior’s intuition I guess.  Of course, I
could be wrong, but I’ll be surprised if I am.  I didn’t feel this way at all
when you took me to the crime scene in the woods this morning.  Second, so far
it seems to me the Demon has kind of gone out of his way to make the deaths
look like accidents.  Why would he do that?  Why does he care?  It’s not like
the humans would believe it was a Demon from another world anyway, so why not
just leave a random bloody trail?  Why not let the authorities think it’s the
work of some kind of serial killer?  And why is he sticking around here?  He
could travel all over the world taking random victims.  I mean how hard would
it be for him torture some rich guy, make off with a ton of money and live it
up in the tropics - or even better Mexico - where people go missing every day? 
You and I must be the key as to why he’s staying here; it’s the only thing that
makes sense.  So, first we have to figure out why we’re so important, and then
we have to figure out what we’re going to do about it.”  Ella’s ideas came out
in a rush.  She needed to get all of her thoughts out so that she and Burke
could analyze everything she had questioned.

“You’re
right, everything you’re saying is completely logical.  Even on Quintar the
deaths looked like accidents.  Why didn’t we ever notice that?  I guess we just
figured the Demon didn’t know the healers could see how the victims died, and
that by making the murders look like accidents he was able to stay hidden and
more easily choose his victims.”

“You told me
that after my parents died you left and he followed you.  Did he ever try to
kill you?  Did you ever actually fight him?”

“I wounded
him once.  He was attacking a young girl.  It was just to the point that he was
starting to steal her breath.  I threw a knife and hit him in the back.  He
dropped the girl and ran.  As he fled I managed to get another knife into him,
but then I stopped to help the girl.  Maybe I should have pursued him and tried
to finish him off.  I only had a split second to make my decision, and I chose
to save the girl.  Sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice.” 

“You saved
someone’s life.”  Ella grabbed Burke’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

“I know, but
if I would have chased the Demon I might have ended it right then and saved
more lives than one.”  He ran his thumb over her fingers.

“Don’t
second guess yourself, Burke; you went with your healer’s instincts.  Had my
father been with you, or if I had been with you, it wouldn’t have been a
decision you had to make in the first place.”

Burke didn’t
say anything because he didn’t want to argue with her, but he knew in his heart
if she had been with him all those years ago he would not have let her go after
the Demon alone.  They had arrived at the M.E. office anyway, so there was no
reason to sit here arguing about something neither one of them could change. 
“Well,” he said, giving her hand a hard squeeze, “let’s see how good your warrior’s
intuition is.”

~~

Ella and
Burke were standing in the autopsy room.  The victim from the city park was on
the table, his body covered up to the neck with a thin white sheet.

“How do we
do this?” Ella asked uneasily.  She knew she needed to see the vision but she
was nervous as hell.  She stood staring at the body.  It was like watching a
train wreck – almost impossible to tear your eyes away.  She was about to share
this man’s death.

Burke took
Ella’s chin and turned her face so he could look into her eyes. “Are you sure
you want to go through with this?”

Ella held
her breath for a second then slowly exhaled.  “Yes, I need to see.  Maybe I’ll
be able to pick up on some detail or more likely be able to find some
correlation later if he kills again before we destroy him.  Which, though I
hate to admit it, you and I both know is a very likely scenario.”

“How about
if I look first, and then if it was a Demon attack I’ll try to share the vision
with you.  Ella, we don’t even know if this is possible yet.”

“So no one –
ever - that you know of -
in the entire history of Quintar –
has ever shared
a vision with anyone else?”

Burke shook
his head.  “I never said that.  But I don’t know of anyone who wasn’t a healer
ever seeing a vision, alone or through someone else.  I have heard of two
healers witnessing a vision together.  If a non-healer was bonded to a healer
and saw a vision through them, I am unaware of it.”

Ella was
getting the feeling that they could stand around here for hours arguing about
this.  Burke did not want her to see the vision.  She would have to compromise.

“Okay, you
look first.  If this was a Demon attack you try to show me.  If not, I won’t
ask to see.  Keep in mind that I will know if you are lying to me.  I want you
to promise me - on our bond, Burke - that if this was a Demon attack you will
do everything within your power to share the vision with me.”

“Okay,”
Burke agreed, but Ella could clearly see that he wasn’t happy about it.  Geez,
how awkward – she hated trying to talk him into something she wasn’t really
thrilled about anyway.  Couldn’t he understand that this was necessary?

Burke walked
around to the head of the table and placed one hand on each side of the victim’s
head.  He closed his eyes and waited.

Ella watched
Burke intently.  He stood motionless, cradling the man’s head.  Ella could see
his eyes moving behind his closed lids.  It made her think of a dreaming
child.  Occasionally Burke would grimace or his features would harden.  After
what seemed an eternity, but in reality was only four or five minutes, Burke
released the young man’s head and stumbled backward.

Ella rushed
to his side and led him to a chair to sit.  “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yes,” Burke
stared at the floor.

“Was it the
Demon?”

Slowly he
raised his eyes to meet hers.  “Yes.”

“Do you need
a few minutes?”

“No, I’m
fine.  I’ve done this many times.  If you’re determined and I can’t change your
mind, then let’s just get it over with.  There are a few things you need to
know first, Ella.  The vision cannot hurt you; it’s not actually happening to
you.  You will feel the victim’s pain and fear, but unlike him – you will
survive it.  This vision will become a memory for you.  You’ll never forget it
– especially with your photographic memory.  This is your first vision, your
first death.  You’ll think about it often, and you’ll relive it in your
dreams.  Are you sure you want this?”

Ella glanced
at the table then back at Burke.  She tentatively bit her lip.  “Yes,” she
finally said.  “We need as much information as possible to stop this evil.”

“Okay.” 
Burke took Ella’s had in his and led her towards the autopsy table.  “Spread
your fingers as far apart as you can and place your hands on each side of his
head.”

Ella did as
she was told.  The man’s head was unnaturally cold, but Ella did not flinch. 
Burke stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her.  He laid his hands over
hers with his palm covering the back of her hand and his fingers making contact
with the victim’s head between her fingers.  “Now close your eyes and wait.”

At first
Ella thought it wasn’t going to work, then suddenly she found herself storming
off from her girlfriend at the movie in the city park.  All he and Julie did
anymore was fight!  It was getting fucking ridiculous.  He and Mara were just
friends – okay so they had fooled around once.  But they had been drunk, and that
really couldn’t be held against him!  Besides, the thing with Mara had opened
his eyes to the truth.  He wasn’t happy with Julie anymore and he knew she
wasn’t happy with him.  He needed to get some balls and just end it.

Someone was
quickly walking towards him.  “Hey Buddy, can I borrow your cell phone?  My
battery just died.”

“Sure,” Ella
reached into her pocket for her phone.

“Thanks
man.”  Instead of taking the phone, the guy grabbed Ella’s face between his
hands.  His eyes glowed red and his mouth opened wider and wider almost in slow
motion, revealing rows of angry jagged teeth.  Ella was too hypnotized by the
horror to scream.  No fuckin’ way was this for real.  The creature pulled her
closer and started inhaling over her face.  She struggled and kicked but only
briefly.  She was paralyzed – but whether by fear or some side effect of the
Demon’s kiss she couldn’t be certain.  As her body went limp, he threw her into
the gully.  There was a sickening thud accompanied by the crunch that was the
side of her head caving in.  It was strange how the sound echoed through her
body.

Ella
released the dead man’s head like one would release a venomous snake.  She fell
backward into Burke’s arms, trying to catch her breath.  He dropped into a
seated position on the floor and cradled her against his chest.  “Ella!  Ella,
listen to me.  It’s not real.  You’re okay.”

Ella looked
towards his voice and her glazed eyes cleared and focused.  “It was him!”  She
spun around in Burke’s lap and grabbed onto him.  “It was him Burke!  He was
right there; we saw him and let him walk away!”  She put her head between her
knees and took several deep breaths.   “Holy shit!” she exclaimed.  “You’re
actually there - it’s actually you.  You can feel it.  You can see it and you
can feel it.”

“I tried to
tell you.”  Burke held Ella tight, hating that she had been exposed to this.

“I know, but
dear sweet lord!  No amount of pre-briefing can really prepare you for that.”

“Are you
okay?”

“Just give
me a minute; I think I need a drink of water.”

“I cannot
believe he was right there not twenty feet away from us, and we just let him
walk away!”  Ella said for about the third time.

They were in
Burke’s truck headed to his house.  It was late.  Burke and Carl would start
the autopsy together first thing in the morning.

“We had no
way of knowing it was him, Ella.”

Spun up did
not even begin to describe how Ella was feeling.  It had taken awhile for her
to calm down after the vision.  The young man who had walked away instead of
plugging the popcorn machine back in was the Demon.  She kept replaying both
the vision and seeing him before the show’s start over and over again in her
mind.

“You’d think
I would have known, that I would have gotten - I don’t know - some kind of
feeling or something.”

“If it were
that easy he wouldn’t have lasted five minutes on Quintar.  The warriors would
have known.”