INK: Abstraction (22 page)

“Her wheels are
turning and she's already planning on how to eliminate Shay.”

“Goddamn it,
Carl, how did you let this get so out of control?” He’s
angry with
me
now?

“This situation
has never been in control. It’s getting worse because of
outside forces and she’s broken. She needs your strength.”
I plead with him.

“I’m
heading back to Lubumbashi now. I’ll get the first flight out.”
His breathing picks up again. “Carl.”

“Yeah?”

“Keep her safe
and get Miranda the hell out of there.”

I should feel some
comfort that McNab is on his way back, but he can’t get here
soon enough. I walk down the hallway in time to see Eli coming from
the bedroom clicking the door closed gently.

“Carl.” Eli
looks at me wide eyed. “What the hell was all of that earlier?
Is that what she’s been seeing?”

“Yes and no. She
sees him in her dreams, but I’m fairly certain this is the
first time she’s seen him while she was awake,” I answer,
waving him closer.

“Well, what do we
do? How do we stop it?” He’s borderline losing it.

“I don’t
exactly know just yet. McNab and I are working on a plan.” I
rub the whiskers on my chin reminding me that I need to shave.

“What sort of
plan? How can I help?” He’s eager to hear the solution.

“First we have to
get Miranda the hell outta here. She’s dangerous; she will kill
Shay if she has the chance. That’s how the organization works.”
I look directly into his eyes. There’s no time for
pussy-footing around, he needs to know how dire this situation is.

“Consider it
done.” He says, “What else?”

“We have to keep
her safe. She can’t be left alone; there are too many threats
right now.” I’m counting them all in my mind. “From
the Specter, to Glass, to Miranda, no one can be trusted.”

“Can’t you
just do some psychic whammy on everything and keep her safe?”

“I wish I could,
I’m having a few problems. In training her I’m becoming
weakened. Not much, but enough that I can’t keep the Specter
from manifesting.” I hate admitting it, but I need Eli to
understand how much danger we are all in.

“Alright, I’m
going to convince Harry to take Miranda out of here. What’s
next?”

“We continue on,
I’m going to keep training her, and you do what you do best,
just keep loving her.”

“I can do that.”
He smiles and relaxes a bit. “But how can we keep the Specter
from killing again?”

“That I don’t
know, but he obviously doesn’t need her anymore to do it.”

Eli’s expression
is riddled with remorse. “What about Nigel?”

“He made the
choice to leave, that’s not on us or Shay.” I inhale a
breath. “Just keep her safe.”

“What about us?”
he asks simply.

“What do you
mean?”

“Do you think
we’re in danger?” Eli feels the shame of his question
immediately.

“None of us are
safe.” I push past him through the hallway to check on Pitch
and Quag. I don’t want to be drawn into a conversation that
can’t have a satisfactory end.

Bailey

“So
Bailey, was this all part of your grand plan? Now you will be unable
to reach her,” the Specter chides. I’d like to smash his
smoky face in.

“I will reach
her; she can’t hide there forever. Besides, I’ve gotten
in there before, I can do it again.” A confident smile rises
from my lips.

“Well you’d
better come up with something good.” He floats around me,
taunting while I pack a few things from my room.

“I want to kill
Carl.” I say it as fact. “I need your help though.”

“Oh, you need my
help now?” He swirls down to me at eye level, waging a menacing
stare. “You’ve always needed me.”

“I need you now.
I want to eliminate everyone that’s keeping me from her. I want
to off that attorney too.”

“Yes, of course
you do. That’s so trite, though, and unnecessary. Besides, he
is still of use to us.” The Specter’s voice is lulling me
into calm, but I’m snapped out of it as soon as I think of her
lying with Eli.

“I want him
dead.” I slam my top drawer shut. “He’s an
interference, just like Carl. I don’t see why we can’t
kill them both.”

“Because I think
it would cause her to go overboard, do things that are unpredictable.
The more predictable she is the more…pliable to our ideas she
may be.”

“Yeah, well I’m
feeling her slip through my fingers and I don’t like it.”
My fists ball at my sides trying to control my anger.

“That’s
because you went outside the plan. I could have protected you, I
could have helped you with your kills, but you refused. Now, if you
wanted to reconsider and start doing my bidding again, we may have
something to talk about.” The Specter starts negotiating.

“What do I have
to do to be with her? I’ll do it.” I’m desperate
and I don’t care if he knows it.

“You have to let
me back in. It’s a fair trade.” He knows he has the upper
hand.

“I’m not
really up for a full-on possession, I sort of like having control of
myself.” I turn away from him and let him fume a solid minute
at my refusal.

The Specter swoops
around and wraps his vaporous hand around my neck, choking me.
“Listen to me, you insignificant little twit. I made you and I
can destroy you with even greater ease. You will let me back in
willingly or I’ll force my way in and you’ll never
reemerge. You’ll become an echo of who you were, a spectator in
your own life. You’ll watch me being with her. I’ll be
the one making love to her and you’ll be watching from the
distal pit of your soul. Choose well Bailey, you may only choose
once.”

He releases me from his
grip and I gasp for air. With my hands on my thighs I hold back the
vomit threatening at the back of my throat. There’s an urgency
brewing in me to answer, but I can’t find my voice. I nod my
head in agreement. The Specter’s smile is luminescent against
his dark form. He’s been placated and I’ve been spared,
for now.

Eli

This
is the first time since I found her that she’s slept restfully.
I marvel at her beauty and her strength. I still don’t know the
extent of what she went through, but I’m betting it’s
something most people couldn’t survive.

The covers are pushed
down to her waist revealing her arms. So many marks, I trace each
line with my eyes and want to take the pain away. I know that some of
these will heal, some won’t, but the scars I’m most
concerned about are the ones no one can see.

Her skin is so pale
still, but I know she’s as soft as the petals of a rose. She’s
the strongest person I know, but so soft. I don’t care how
tough she is, I just want to hold her forever. Protect her from
anything and anyone that would hurt her. I want to insulate her with
my love. The dream I had in the hospital still haunts me in my waking
moments. I don’t know how I would continue without her.

She stirs and inhales
deeply through her nose and stretches her arms upward. She turns to
see me hovering over her. “Hey there, beautiful.”

She smiles and turns
toward me. “Morning.” She puts her arms under the covers
to hide them.

All I can do is stare
at her and take in her beauty. I will be amazed every time I look at
her.

“What are you
doing?” A half smile blooms on her lips.

“Being amazed.”
I can’t help the foolish grin on my face. Being near her is all
I need.

“You are a dork.”

“Possibly, but
really, I just love you.” I nuzzle into her.

Her features darken at
my words and she pulls the covers up to her neck. I don’t want
to be forceful, but she needs to know how beautiful she is. How
powerful she is and that she doesn’t need to hide. She has the
power to decide whether these scars define her or not.

While I look deep into
her eyes, asking permission, searching for the slightest hint that I
should stop, I pull the covers back down to her waist. Lightly I
trace my fingers down her arm. Her skin reacts with goose bumps. Her
eyes are begging me to go slow, and I do.

“Shay, I’ve
never before in my life seen such beauty. I could see a million
sunrises on the beach, drink the brilliant colors of the sunset, hear
the coos of a thousand doves but never could I be in such awe of
anything as I am of you.” Cautiously I lean down and press a
soft kiss on her shoulder.

Her face fills with
color, but it’s quickly replaced by her seriousness. “Thank
you.” She’s silent for a moment and can’t look me
in the eye for long.

My hand finds her
shoulder to tell her she doesn’t need to say anything, but she
still feels compelled to break the silence. “I—I—”
She presses her lips together in frustration. “Just thank you.
I don’t know what else to say.”

“You don’t
have to say anything, just be here with me. Let me hold you, let me
be amazed at how incredibly brave you are. That’s all I want.
You don’t have to talk to me about what happened. You don’t
owe me any explanations. Just be here with me. That’s all,
nothing else.” I feel like I’m running off at the mouth.
I need to be careful navigating these dangerous waters and try not to
crash into her independence or force her hand.

She pulls the comforter
back up to hide under. “I can’t stay forever.”

“I know you
can’t, but stay while you can. I just need to be close to you,”
I plead.

“Eli, I have to
get back to my life, back to taking care of myself. I appreciate all
you’ve done—” She pauses as though she’s
looking for the perfect words. “I don’t need to be taken
care of.” Her tone is certain and adamant.

A laugh rumbles through
me. “I know you don’t
need
taken care of. One
thing I’ve learned is that you don’t need me, and it
scares the living shit out of me. I’m working through it. What
I want you to know is that I need
you
. I need to be near you
and I never want to be far from you ever again.” Emotionally or
physically.

“How can you feel
that way?” She looks away from me to avoid finding agreement in
my eyes. “I’m so broken, damaged.”

I tug at her hip so
she’s facing me completely and look into her pale blue eyes,
full of uncertainty and fear. “Shay, this is part of you and
will be part of you forever.” I lean in to gently kiss the
raised skin on her arms where the knife carved her. “And I love
every part of you—the broken parts, the damaged parts.” I
pepper soft kisses down her arm, picking up her hand to kiss each
finger. “The happy parts, the sad parts. I love all of you and
I want to be with you however you will have me; as a friend, a lover,
your lawyer, it doesn’t matter to me. I just need to be near
you, be part of your life, because you are the strongest, most
powerful person I know and I need you.”

Her eyes fill with
tears and the worry melts away to be replaced by knowing. She reaches
up and pulls me down closer, finding my lips, and presses a chaste
kiss against them. “I love you, Eli.”

She holds me tight and
I return the embrace. Something in her has changed in this moment.
She nuzzles into my chest as though she could never get close enough.
I hold her there until her breathing becomes regulated and I know
she’s asleep.

I watch her rhythmic
breathing for a good long while and silence my alarm as soon as it
starts bleating that it’s time to get up. Quietly I slink out
of the bed and put on my robe to head straight for the coffee maker.
There’s a silence in the house that hasn’t been here in a
long while. It feels wrong, unnerving.

There’s equipment
set up in the great room; it’s churning away at something, but
the only sound coming from it is from the cooling fans. No bells or
whistles. No one sleeping on the couch. Curiosity draws me down the
hallway to check the guest rooms. The first door on the right is
open, but it’s empty. The bed is crumpled but not unmade.

The room where Harry
has been staying is across the hall; no one’s in there. At the
end of the hall is the final bedroom, I check to find nothing. No one
else is in the house. While it’s nice to think I could take off
my robe and go commando in my house again, there’s still
something strange. It doesn’t feel right. I look in on Shay and
see that she’s still sleeping soundly and Rex is on the bed
warming her feet.

I go back to the
kitchen, get a cup of coffee and head for my office, when the
doorbell rings. “Who the fuck is that at this hour?”

No one’s there
when I open the door. Did I imagine the bell? Maybe it’s so
quiet that my brain is making up sounds. The sound of static draws my
attention out the door. There’s a cell phone on the ground
playing something on the screen. I pick it up and recognize the scene
from
Poltergeist
immediately. There’s a sharp pain in my
neck and someone grips me from behind. The last thing I hear is a
menacing whisper in my ear, “Go to the light, Eli.”

Shay

Just
when the bed was starting to get really cold from Eli being gone, he
comes back. I don’t bother rolling over, I love the way he
spoons me. I wasn’t expecting him to come back in for a while.
I heard his alarm go off but I’ve been just enjoying lying in
bed in the comfort of his scent, the down comforter and just the
general feeling of being at home. “Huh, home.”

Eli’s weight
shifts the bed slightly and he climbs in, spooning me from behind.
Something’s not right, something’s very wrong. This feels
wrong. My mind starts racing. The smell of sulfur and cheap cologne
fills my senses. He wraps his arms around me, pulling me into him
tight. He feels wrong, too soft, not solid like my man. I try to turn
around to face him but he won’t let me.