Iona Portal (25 page)

At first, nothing happened, but as he watched, a shadow seemed to fall across her face.  The shadow darkened and resolved into a large amoeba-like mass that now covered more than half her face.  It had grown since the last time he’d seen it.

The creature was covered in something like dark undulating fur, and from it extended three black tentacles.  Two entwined around her head, while the other coiled around her neck and down her back.

“I can see it, Erin.  It’s on your face, but I’m not sure what to do.”

“Michael, just do
something
.  I trust you not to get weird.  Get that thing off me!”

Keeping his left hand in place on her shoulder, Michael tentatively extended the index finger of his right hand, and touched at the center of the creature, expecting to be able to feel it as well as see it.  But his finger encountered nothing.  It passed right through the shade, until his finger was gently touching the soft flesh of Erin’s face.

“Erin, I’m sorry… this seems quite strange.”

Michael’s finger traced the path of one of the dark tentacles around to the side of her head, thinking he could pull it free.  But again, there was nothing tangible to grasp.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” he continued, “and this probably looks very strange.”  Michael glanced around the pub, but all the other guests had gone back to their rooms, and he heard the clatter of the pub keeper washing dishes in the kitchen.

Michael remembered that when Piper placed her hands on Lys, some kind of energy was transferred to release healing.

“Let me try one more thing.”

“Michael, just do it.  It’s okay.”   She said impatiently.

He placed the palm of his right hand gently across her face, completely covering the dark creature’s body, and held it there.  At first nothing happened, but then he seemed to feel a tingling, like a flow of energy, in his hand. 
Was that just his imagination?

Then there was movement.  The tentacles began to slither from side to side, as though trying to obtain a firmer connection.  The creature clearly did not like what was happening.

The creature continued to slither and squirm, but did not dislodge.

“Erin, what emotion are you feeling right now?”

“Fear,” she replied, “dark unreasoning fear.  Incapacitating fear.”  Her body was quivering as she spoke.

 “My theory is that these creatures are somehow nourished by the emotions they induce.”  Michael explained.  “Try to resist the fear.”

“I’m not sure I can.  It’s overpowering.” 

“Yes, you can.  Remember, that fear is not from you.  It’s not
real
.  It’s being placed in your mind by an outside force.  Resist it.  Stand against it. 
Will it
to leave.”

Erin closed her eyes, trying to find a way to stand against the engulfing current of fear that swirled around her.  She repeated to herself,  
This is not REAL.  This is NOT REAL!

Her mind filled with pictures from the ranch.  The manacles in the storm cellar.  The derelict crying for help as Rex lifted the knife over his head.  Then the pictures changed.  She saw herself on the dais with Rex standing over her.  Grat and Bryce were holding her arms.  Rex was lifting the knife. It was beginning to descend.

No!  This is NOT REAL!
 She said to herself again as she struggled to push the pictures out of her mind.

She remembered Eliel, risking her life to save her.  She thought of Araton, waiting for her in the beat-up pickup truck.  She remembered Holmes and Piper, rushing to her rescue in the middle of the night.

She wasn’t alone.  She had people and forces standing with her, defending her.  She didn’t have to give in to this.

“Erin, I don’t know what you’re doing, but it’s working.  My hand is burning hot, and the creature on your face is waving its tentacles around wildly.  I think it’s almost off.”

“Now, Erin, tell it to leave.  Command it to go.” 

Erin clenched her teeth.  Every muscle in her body was tense and struggling… From deep within her rose something like a growl, and through clenched teeth came one word, barely audible, “Go!”

“Again, Erin.”

Again, there seemed to be a titanic struggle within her, a fight to even speak the word.  But again she said,
“Go!” 

There was a battle in her mind.  Pictures of death and torture and destruction were struggling to hold their position, but scenes of life and hope and strong companions were pushing against them.

“One more time,” Michael coaxed.

She leaned hard against his hand and every muscle again tightened.  The word rose from deep within her, and exploded out of her mouth,
“GO!”
  And then her mouth opened in a scream that could be heard throughout the pub.  She collapsed forward onto the table.  But the creature was gone.

“Are you okay, lady?”  The pub keeper stuck his head into the room.  “Is that man bothering you?”

Erin lifted her head weakly and smiled.

“No, it’s okay.  I’m fine.  It’s just a game we’re playing.”

The pub keeper shook his head, and retreated into the kitchen.

“I really
am
fine,” she muttered.  “I feel lighter. The fear is gone.” 

“Now, let me check you over…” Michael said, “The one on your face was the largest one, but there had been others also.” 

Keeping one hand on her shoulder, Michael quickly looked over her body, feeling a little self-conscious about closely examining the body of a beautiful woman.  He was greatly relieved to see that when the creature on her face had left, the others apparently had gone also.  No other creatures were visible.

Just then, the glass on the table in front of him began to shake and clatter.  The remains of the
Guinness
were sloshing from side to side in the bottom of the glass.  The glasses on the shelves behind the bar were shaking also.  One tumbled to the floor and smashed. 

But before anyone could speak, the shaking stopped.

Both Michael and Erin were looking around in confusion, not certain what had just happened.   When no further shaking occurred, they both took a deep breath.  “Well, Erin, I believe we just had a small earthquake.  I’ve never encountered one of those in this part of the world.  Quite a rarity.”

The pub keeper was already at work with a broom and dustpan, cursing under his breath as he cleaned up the broken glass.

“Can I get you anything to drink?”  Michael asked.

“No,” Erin answered, “I think I’m fine.  I’m just very tired.”

Michael walked Erin back to her room, and paused briefly at her door.  She looked up at him, and for the first time in many days, Erin smiled.  “Michael, thank you so much.  I can’t tell you how much better I feel.  I think I can go to bed now and actually sleep.”

 “Do you still want to turn back… go back to Oban tomorrow?”

“I don’t know,” she said.  “The unreasoning fear is gone, but Rex
is
still on Iona.  I know the kind of man he is.  If he ever catches me, I hate to think what he’d do.”  She shook her head.  “I just don’t know.”

Unlocking the door, she turned back to Michael and without saying a word, gave him a quick peck on the cheek.  Then she reached out and grasped his hand, just for a moment.  “Thanks again.”  She smiled, and pulled the door closed behind her.

Erin was exhausted, but slept peacefully for the first time in weeks.

Chapter Twenty-one:  Kidnapped

THE PORT OF OBAN, ARGYLE, SCOTLAND

At 6:30 A.M. Wednesday morning, Lys Johnston was awakened by a sound outside her room on the third floor of Oban’s historic Caledonian hotel.  Cautiously drawing aside the drapes, Lys peered out, blinking her steel-blue eyes against the light.  Dawn was breaking, and from the window she had a panoramic view of the Bay of Oban with the green island of Kerrera just offshore, and the distant mountains of Mull glowing red in the morning sun. 

In the harbor, brightly painted fishing boats were already heading out for their day’s work.  Further to the south, the massive ferry, the
Isle of Mull,
was alive with activity as crewmen prepared to take on vehicles for the first crossing of the day.

To the north, Lys caught a glimpse of the four men Erin had seen the night before.  They were walking south along the quay on Queens Park Place, heading for the ferry terminal parking area.  As they passed in front of her room, they paused to talk to a woman who was leaning against the concrete railing at the edge of the quay.  The woman was tall and slender with a pallid complexion and long, jet-black hair.  After an animated discussion, the four men continued toward the ferry terminal.  As they departed, the woman turned, looked directly at Lys, and smiled.  There was no mistaking her.  It was Kareina.

Lys quickly pulled on jeans and a tee-shirt, slipped on a pair of sandals, and ran down the stairs.  Exiting the hotel, Lys looked around frantically.  Kareina had already reached the corner of Queens Park Place and George Street and was walking north toward the Corran Esplanade.  

Damn!
 Lys said under her breath,
 I forgot to pick up my cell phone.  I should let Holmes and Piper know where I’m going.
  But there was no time to turn back.  Sprinting to catch up, she reached the corner of George Street just in time to see Kareina turn right on Argyle Street.  Lys ran to the corner of Argyle and peered down the street. 

Kareina was much closer now.  Lys slowed her pace.  Moving away from the tourist area on George Street, they walked past rows of plain, three-story tenements.  Lys followed as Kareina turned left on Tweeddale Street, passing an old Congregational church and more three-story tenements of grey granite.

Tweeddale was a narrow street jammed up against the base of the mountain.  On the right, Lys passed a set of steep stairs known to the locals as
Jacob’s Ladder,
leading up the hillside toward McCaig’s Folly.  Further ahead, the street dead-ended at the rear of the famed Oban Distillery.

Halfway down the street, Kareina turned into a narrow alleyway that passed between two shabby tenements.   Peeking around the corner, Lys caught a glimpse of Kareina slipping through the door of a small carriage house at the rear of the tenements.  

Lys cautiously approached. 

The carriage house had been plain and utilitarian in its day, and that day was long gone.  Its grey slate roof sagged like a sway-backed horse, while its broken windows and crumbling walls confirmed that it had gone unused for many years.

The left-hand panel of the door had been left slightly ajar when Kareina entered.  Lys walked quickly to the door and peered through the crack, but could see nothing in the darkness within.  She waited a minute, listening, but no sound emerged from the dilapidated structure.

Logic told her that she should turn back, but Lys didn’t want to let Kareina get away again.

Easing the door open a few more inches, Lys stepped inside.  Pausing while her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she looked around, but could see no one.  The building smelled of mold and decay.   The bare rafters over the coach area were rotten and badly bowed, and the hay loft over the horse stalls in the back had collapsed many years earlier.

There was no sign of Kareina.

Lys noticed another door at the rear of the structure and was cautiously making her way across the liter-strewn floor when she was startled by the sound of the door slamming shut behind her.  She whirled around and found herself face-to-face with Kareina.

Kareina studied her in silence, with lips drawn into a sneer and eyes burning with hatred, then took two steps in her direction.

“So we meet again… my good friend
Lys.”
 Kareina smirked, then slapped Lys hard across the face.

Recoiling from the blow, Lys felt two sets of hands grab her arms from behind.  Turning her head, she found herself looking into the leering eyes of the men from the BMW.

“Let me introduce my subordinates, Botis and Turell,” Kareina said.  “I know you’ve seen them before, but you’ve never been properly introduced.”

Lys struggled frantically against their grip, but they held her arms firmly.

Kareina stood back and eyed Lys for a moment, while Lys continued her futile battle to break free.

 “You’ve grown stronger since I saw you last,” Kareina finally observed.  “When our last attempt to kill you failed, I had hoped to possess you and use you for our purposes, but I see you’re beyond that now.  What a pity.  It would have been interesting to possess a
singer.”

Looking to Botis, Kareina said simply,
“Bind her!”

Lys was stunned by the superhuman strength Botis and Turell both possessed.  Ignoring all her struggles, the two calmly forced her hands behind her back and bound them securely with duct tape.  Almost immediately, they stuffed a foul-smelling rag deep into her mouth, wrapping a strip of duct tape around her head several times to hold it in place.

As Lys fought to keep from gagging, they roughly threw her body to the floor and bound her legs as well.

When they finished, Kareina spoke again.  “On our first attempt to kill you I spent three long weeks setting up the scenario.  It was such an amusing game.  You tried so hard to be a good friend to poor, lonely Kareina.”  Grinning sadistically, she continued, “It’s too bad your Irin friend, Araton, spoiled everything by cushioning your impact when the Corolla went off the cliff.

“But I wouldn’t count on help from your Irin friends this time,” she added, “They’re all fully occupied now … on Iona.”

Lys looked on in horror as Kareina withdrew a small hypodermic from a pouch and filled it with yellowish liquid from a vial.  Plunging the needle into her thigh, Kareina smiled, “This should keep you quiet ‘till we’re ready to move you.”

Lys felt an unpleasant warmth spreading through her body.  The carriage house began to swim around her.  She caught a glimpse of Botis standing over her, darkened eyes glaring.  His lips went taut and he bared his teeth in a demonic grin.  Then only darkness.