Possession (17 page)

“Another body to steal,” he whispered.

“Another
home
.”
I corrected, staring into his eyes. “We just need more time.”

He raised his hand. “It sounds like Dean’s laid
out a grand plan, and I’m all for it, but I’m going to keep looking for the
spell that lets me fully possess him. I want it in case I need it.”

There was no use fighting him about it. I could
tell by his expression that he had made up his mind and I wouldn’t be changing
it. I just hope Dean can understand. Hopefully he wouldn’t think of this as a
threat. I didn’t want him to view Luke as his
enemy. The only way this weird arrangement will work is if we all work
together.

A cold breeze blew by. Both Luke and I stopped
arguing and looked over at the same corner at the same time.

“We’re not alone,” Luke said.

I nodded my head and watched as the light began to
flicker overhead.

Luke spoke out. “Who are you?”

A
bang
sounded close by. I jumped at the sound.

“What’s your name?” Luke demanded.

The breeze swirled around me. There was a tug at
my arm, leading me toward the still-closed door to the hallway. Without
hesitation I began to move. I looked at Luke, opened the door, and began walking
down the hall, drawn by the spirit.

When I reached Barton’s office, ghostly fingers
brushed against my arm again. I opened the door and Luke followed inside. The
place was neat. Piles of paper sat on the desk and a side table. A row of books
lined the bookshelf behind the desk.

There was a
bang
again, this time centered over one of the filing cabinets.

Luke walked over and tried the cabinet. “It’s
locked.”

I walked around the desk. Only papers. I opened
the top drawer. There was a key ring with two keys. I threw the keys at Luke,
and he snatched them out of the air. He tried the first key and shook his head.
When he used the second key, the locked turned. He opened the cabinet door.

There were manila folders with patient names on
them. I walked over to him, and we stood staring down at the files, wondering
where to start, when one of the folders moved. Papers shuffled and one of the
tabs rose a bit higher than the others.

Luke pulled out the file and opened it. I stood
next to him, watching as he read through the written notes, charts, and papers.
He flipped through them until he came across some newspaper clippings.

ASYLUM MURDERS
ran in bold letters across the
top of one clip.

Luke started to read out loud. “Serial killer in
the asylum… A previously non-violent patient in the asylum started killing
patients… Authorities apprehended him, but not before he killed nine people…
The method of killing was especially grisly, as the murderer often removed the
victims’ hearts from their bodies.”

The girl in the forest…the sound of a beating heart…terrified
screams…the killer eating Gloria’s heart…

“Does it say anything about him
eating
hearts, or about a blood
ceremony?”

Luke gave me a strange look and shook his head.
“No…but look, here’s a picture of the guy.”

“Oh, Goddess—that’s him!” It was the guy I’d
seen in my vision. The tattoo circling his neck was clearly visible.

“It says here the guy’s name was Henry Weatherton, and he died when they were trying to arrest
him.”

“He’s
dead
?”
I was so sure he was alive, hidden in one of the solitary rooms.

Luke flipped to another clipping. “Twenty years
ago.”

“Are you
sure
he’s dead?”

“Policeman shot him to death, according to the
article. See, it says here, ‘Bullet holes riddled Weatherton’s
body.’”

Another dead
end,
I thought dejectedly. If he isn’t the murderer, who is? And why are his
victims’ spirits still seeking closure?

Luke suddenly handed me the folder and hurried over
to Barton’s desk. He lifted a pile of papers and pulled a notepad out from
under them. He shuffled through the top few pages, explaining as he did so. “I
was snooping earlier… Remember how I said the tattoo you described seemed
familiar? I couldn’t remember why until just now.” He stopped flipping through
the pages and examined one with dark concern showing clearly on his face before
turning the pad so I could see.

On the yellow legal pad, someone had drawn a
picture of a dragon eating its own tail—Weatherton’s
tattoo.

* * *

Once back in Luke’s room, he turned toward me. “I think
we have some time before the witching hour ends.”

“Are you getting Mildred’s gift of telling time?” I
teased.

“I can check the time with my own form of magic.”
He walked over to the bed and put his hand under the mattress. When he pulled it
out, there was a silver watch lying in the middle of his palm. “I swiped this
from the lost and found.”

“Magic, indeed. They have a lost and found?”

“Over in the office by the common room. One of the
visitors must have lost it.” He held up the watch. “The clasp is broken.”

“You might have been caught.” It was bad enough remembering
when I’d been in restraints and had pills forced down my throat. I didn’t want
to think about those things happening to him.

“I was careful.” He tapped on the watch’s surface.
“We have exactly twenty minutes.” He gave me a slow smile. “What can we do to
pass the time?”

I recognized that look in his eyes. I smiled. “I’m
getting pretty good at checkers.”

He slowly walked toward me. “Sorry, not a checker
in sight.”

He made a lunge for me and I faked trying to get
away. He grabbed me and twirled me around before sliding me down against his
body. Our faces were now only inches apart. It amazed me how strong he’d gotten
in such a short time. For a brief moment, I hesitated. The face in front of me
didn’t belong to the guy I had fallen in love with…it was someone new I was
getting to know. But Luke was in there. I could see him in those gray eyes. I
could see the attraction and passion he felt for me shining out of them.

“Say my name,” I said, closing my eyes.

“Colina,” he whispered. “I want you so much.” His
lips were suddenly on mine. His kiss was soft and sweet.

I melted against him. His tongue was like velvet
against mine. I felt hot and feverish all over. Chills of pleasure raced across
my body where his fingers brushed against the bare skin of my neck.

Then his hands were on me and I no longer cared
about Dean, about the asylum, about Weatherton. All
that mattered at that moment was that the two of us were together.

“Colina, I need you.”

With my eyes still shut, I let Luke’s voice glide
over me as his hands ran across my body.

* * *

I opened my eyes, and for a moment I didn’t know where I
was. My mind was groggy with sleep. My head was laying against Luke’s chest.
His arms were wrapped around me. I must have fallen asleep. I lie there for a
few minutes listening to his heartbeat, enjoying the feel of his body against
mine.

I wasn’t sure what time it was. I raised my head,
but before I could say a word his mouth captured my lips. His kiss was soft and
sweet.

I felt a rush of heat race through me as his lips
pressed against mine. And then the kiss deepened and my body hummed in
response, but there was something about it that didn’t feel quite right. And
then I realized… I was not kissing Luke.

I pulled away and looked into his eyes. They were
blue.
Dean
. Shocked, I pushed myself
upright and started to get off the bed.

“Wait, Colina—” Dean said as his hands made
a grab for me.

I wasn’t really thinking. I was just
reacting—I raised my hand and slapped him hard across the face.

He sat up and rubbed his cheek, then gave me a
wide smile. “You can't blame a guy for trying.”

“Why did you do that?” I demanded.

“Seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“I'm with Luke!”

“Luke is dead.”

I flinched as though he’d struck me. “You don’t
know what you’re talking about.” I turned away.

He got off the bed and grabbed my arm, spinning me
around. “I know you loved him, but you have to let him go.”

I jerked my arm away. “Never.”

We stood there staring at each other before he
reached up and put his fingers to his lips. “I know you felt something when I
kissed you.”

I didn't answer him. When he kissed me, I kissed
him back because I’d felt something…but even as the thought surfaced, I pushed
it away.
I thought he was Luke, that’s
all.

I stared at him, not sure what to say. He gave me
a sheepish smile when he realized I wasn’t going to answer. “I’m sorry about
the kiss. It was an impulsive thing to do.”

Dean’s only supposed to come out in the daytime
…
My head spun around and I looked at
the window in horror. Sunlight streamed through the glass. “Why didn’t Mildred
come get me?” I tried not to give into the panic rising inside me.

“Maybe it’s still early. Maybe you can sneak back
to your room before anyone notices you’re gone.”

The watch Luke had found was on the table next to
the bed. I made a grab for it and shook my head once I read its face. “It’s six
o’clock. The nurse will be here any moment. One might have already come into my
room.”

Dean went to the door and opened it. He popped his
head out, looked right and left, and then he looked back at me. “Coast is
clear. Can you get back into your room?”

“Mildred doesn’t lock the doors behind us, not
until we make our way back,” I thought quickly out loud. “They should still all
be unlocked between here and there.”

“Good. Stay here for a few minutes, then head out
as fast as you can.”

“What are you going to do?”

He gave me a smile. “I’m going to create a
diversion.”

I took a step forward into the hall. “If you get
caught they’ll throw you into restraints…maybe even drug you.”

“If you survived it, so can I. Come on—if
they catch me, they’ll go easy on me since it’s my first offense.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“I don’t want to see you get hurt,” he said with
obvious sincerity. “Besides, how often does a guy get to play knight in shining
armor?” He smiled shyly, his face transformed by boyish charm, which quickly faded
as determination slipped into place and he headed off. “Give me five minutes
and then get back to your room. Got it?”

“Dean,” I called after his retreating figure.

He came back to the doorway.

“Be careful,” I whispered.

He raised his hand to his cheek. It was still red
from where I hit him. He gave me a half smile. “If I didn’t know you better, I
might think you actually care.” He turned and ran down the hallway. As he went,
I could hear him singing at the top of his lungs.

I watched the minutes slowly tick by on the watch. The
morning staff had more supervision and couldn’t afford to spend their days sleeping
at their desks. The nurses started rousing patients around six. Once up and
medicated, the patients shuffled off to breakfast, which they started serving
at seven o’clock.

After a few minutes passed, I pushed the watch into
my pocket. I double-checked the hallway to make sure it was still clear, took a
deep breath, and headed out the door. I sprinted down the black-and-white
linoleum floors. I skidded through the twisting maze, racing to reach the
safety of my room before they could trap me in the open. When I hit the stairs,
I took them two at a time. I left doors quietly swinging back and forth behind
me. I only slowed when I neared the last corner before reaching my room. I
didn’t immediately turn past it; instead I leaned against the wall, gasping for
air. One more quick run down the hall, and I would finally be at my room.

I slowly peeked around the corner and quickly
pulled back when I saw a nurse heading in my direction. I started back down the
hall I’d just run up, trying each door as I went. When I found one open, I
darted inside. It was a janitor’s closet. Huddled down in the dark, I waited to
hear the nurse’s footsteps pass. Once she went by, I would make a mad dash for
my room.

I sat in the dark and went over the night’s events
in my mind while I waited. Why did Dr. Barton have a patient folder from twenty
years ago in his cabinet? Wouldn’t records that old be stored somewhere else?
Why had he drawn that tattoo on his notepad? Was he suspicious of the deaths at
the hospital? Had he pieced together that the deaths weren’t accidents or suicides?
I had a hard time believing Dr. Barton was someone who actively worried about
the well-being of his patients, but then again, I’d never really cared for him.
Something about him had always creeped me out.

I had a dozen questions and not one answer. But
the biggest question of them all was how the killings connected to a man who
died twenty years ago.

An image slid across my mind of Luke, not as he
was now, but as he was when I first met him—those broad shoulders and his
shaggy blond hair. My heart gave a tug as I pictured him. But that Luke was
gone. Luke had died, but he was back now, existing inside Dean’s body. A sudden
thought stopped me cold.
What if
Weatherton
came back like Luke did?
Luke was now inside
someone else. Possession didn’t happen often, but was the spirit of Henry
Weatherton
, at this very moment, squatting inside someone
at the hospital?

I remembered the violence I had seen in Dr. Barton’s
eyes—a violence he seemed to hide just below the surface—and the
answer clicked into place.

Is it possible that
Weatherton
is possessing Dr. Barton?

Heavy steps shuffled past the door. I waited a few
seconds before venturing out. The hallway was empty, so I walked quickly to my
room. I said a small prayer that the door would still be open. The doorknob
turned in my hands, and I opened it and took a step inside before stopping dead
in my tracks.

Blood covered my bed.

In the middle of the bed was a set of keys. The
keys Mildred always carries. Next to the keys was the velvet pouch containing her
runes. Blood soaked both items. My heart stopped beating for a moment. The
killer got Mildred. He killed her last night—that’s why she didn’t come
back to the room and wake me when the witching hour was up!

There was a trail of blood leading from my bed to
the bathroom. For a moment I couldn’t breathe.
I forced myself forward and
headed
toward the door, trying to prepare myself for what I would see inside. The
killer always made it look like suicide or an accident. Would Mildred’s body be
lying across the floor, her veins cut wide open?

My hand trembled as I grasped the doorknob. I
forced myself to open it.

To my simultaneous relief and disgust, it wasn’t
Mildred’s body lying on the floor—it was a human heart. I gagged at the
sight of the putrefying heart, turned gray by age and rot. A large chunk was
missing, marked by the shape of teeth. The bite was distinct, with large gouge
marks leaving tracks through the rotting flesh. I knew the human heart well, as
did all healers. It was both the most vulnerable part of the body and the
center of its power. I had spent countless hours learning the details of its
workings, how to diagnose and heal every malady that could strike it. But I
don’t think there is anything I can do for the girl to whom I suspected this
heart belongs. Gloria.
I’d seen the
killer biting into the heart, had seen her watch him do it.

Thank the Goddess it wasn’t Mildred, but the
relief I felt was short-lived. There was fresh blood on my sheets, a trail of
still-wet blood across the room leading to the bathroom. The heart wasn’t
Mildred’s, but was the blood?

I stood staring at the pool of blood on the bed.
Whatever might have happened to Mildred, I couldn’t help her now. Not if I got
myself shoved into a straitjacket again. Whatever I was going to do, I had to do
it quickly. Any minute now a nurse would be coming into the room to wake me up.
I had to clean up the mess—if she saw it, she’d blame me for it. I was
sure blood and body parts would call for a much more severe punishment than a
straitjacket or medication.

I ran back to the bed and forced myself to pick up
the blood-soaked keys and runes. I ripped off the top bed cover and carried it
into the bathroom. I stepped over the heart and bloody mess on the floor and
threw the keys and runes into the sink. I used the bed covering to scoop up the
heart and then used the corners of the material to wipe up as much of the bloody,
sticky goo off the floor as I could. I stuffed the ruined blanket behind the
toilet.

I washed off the runes and keys. I tucked the keys
under the waistband of my sweatpants, tucked the runes inside my pocket, and
headed back into the room. I went straight to the dresser. Inside I found two
folded robes and three hospital gowns. I pulled out the clothing, got down on
my hands and knees, and started to clean the thick line of blood spread across
the floor. The last of the blood I wiped away with a water-soaked gown.

A thick plastic mat covered the bed mattress. It
stopped anything from soaking down into the mattress, but a thin streak of
blood had gathered on the mat. I wiped it clean and then rolled up all the
blood-soaked clothing and stuffed it alongside the bloodied bed covering behind
the toilet. I washed my hands and arms and went back into the room, where there
was no longer any evidence of blood. As long as the nurse didn’t go into the
bathroom, I would be okay, but how would I explain what happened to the sheet
and bed covering?

I heard movement in the hallway. I rushed to the
door and was only a step away from it when it opened. Nurse Harrington stood in
the hall, her normally brisk manner momentarily derailed by my sudden
appearance. I greeted her in my best cheerful, nothing-to-see-here, tone. “Hi.
I got up early. I’m starved.” I gave her a wide grin. “Do you think there might
be any coffee or rolls I could grab in the cafeteria while they set up for
breakfast?” I walked past her, out the door, and into the hallway. And prayed
that she would follow me.

She had a surprised expression on her face. For
one long moment she lingered in the doorway of my room. I held my breath. Then
she slowly turned and shut my door to follow behind me.

“You know the rules. Breakfast starts promptly at seven
o’clock.”

I nodded my head. “I guess I’ll wait in the common
room.”

She followed me down the hallway to the common
room. Once inside, I motioned to a table by the window and started babbling
nervously. “If it’s okay with you, I’ll just wait over there until they’re
ready to serve breakfast. It’s such a beautiful day out. Too bad I can’t go for
a morning walk. I did that a lot when I was home. I never asked…are you from
this area?”

“I was born not far from here.” Harrington said.
She reached out and patted my arm. “The doctor gave specific instructions that
a nurse or orderly accompany you at all times when you are out of your room.”

I gave her what I hoped was an innocent smile. “Surely
it’s okay for me to stay here. I know you have a lot to do in the mornings. It
must be a tremendous chore getting all the patients up and ready for the day.”

She was watching me closely.

I gave her another smile. “I promise not to move
from this spot until breakfast is ready.”

I tried to look relaxed as I sat down in the chair
and stared out the window, a model of good behavior.

The nurse watched me for a few more moments before
saying, “Stay here until I come back for you. Someone will escort you into
breakfast.”

I turned and looked at her. “Great. Will do. I
won’t move a muscle until it’s time to eat.”

I watched her walk across the room, sagging in my
chair when she was out of sight. I was alone in the common room. I got away
with it, but for how long?
All it
would take was one person popping their head into my bathroom to spot the bloody
mess.

I shuddered at the memory of the decaying heart laying
on the bathroom floor. Of the blood smeared all over the place. I lifted out
the pouch of runes from my pocket and placed it on the table in front of me. I’d
tried to rinse the blood off, but I hadn’t been entirely successful. I could
still see the dark shadow of bloodstains on the pouch. Was it Mildred’s blood?
Was she still alive? The keys and runes were her most prized possessions—no
way would she part with either of them willingly.

I opened the bag and pulled out one of the runes.
I turned it over in my hand.

“Are you doing a reading?” a soft voice said from
behind me.

I whipped around and saw a girl standing only a
few feet away
. She appeared to be a teen, about my
age.
She had very pale skin and ink-black hair that hung down past her
shoulders.

The surprise I felt at seeing her must have shown
on my face.

She lifted her hands as if in surrender. “Sorry. I
didn't mean to startle you.”

“I thought I was alone.” I held up the stone in my
hand. “These aren't mine. I'm…holding them for a friend.”

She came around the table and sat down across from
me. She held out her hand. “Do you want me to do a reading for you?”

“You know how?”

She gave me a ghost of a smile. “Sure. I've been
reading runes for years.” I put the stone back and passed over the bag. She
took it from my hands and looked down at my wrist. “You’re a healer. That’s
cool. My aunt’s one.”

“No—” I started to correct her, but then
stopped myself. I was sure word had spread throughout the hospital that I was a
death dealer, but if this girl didn’t know about me, I wasn’t going to
enlighten her. I knew the way people felt about my kind.

She passed the bag back to me. “Hold the bag in
one hand, then reach in with the other and shuffle the runes around. While you
mix them around, think of a question you would like answered.”

I followed her directions and held the bag in the
palm of my right hand and reached in with my left. My fingers touched the
stones, and I moved them around the bag. I realized there were a dozen
questions swirling around in my head. Could I narrow it down to just one? I
handed her back the bag and watched as she began to pull out runes.

She slowly laid out six runes in a line. And then
she pulled out one last rune and laid it below the line of six. Her face took on
a look of pure concentration as she stared down at the runes.

Minutes passed as I sat, watching her.

She finally let out a deep sigh and looked up at
me with a frown on her face. “I’ve never seen a layout like this before.”

I looked down at the runes. “What’s wrong with
it?”

“There is so much negativity. So much darkness.”
She pointed at one of the runes. It looked like a partially written
R
. “It’s
Raidho
. Reversed like it is, it
means crisis. And that one,” she pointed at a stone that looked like a slanted
F
, “
Fehu
. I’m positive that one is
representing bondage or slavery.” Her fingers came to rest on a deformed
N
. “
Hagalaz
.
Because it’s next to a reversed
Uruz
, this now signifies
domination by others.” Her fingers moved to a stone with a single straight line
on it. “This one reversed means treachery—it’s
Isa
.” And she pointed at the one lying by itself that looked like
the letter
P
. “This one is
Thurisaz
.
Reversed, it means…evil.” She suddenly looked off into space, and her eyes
became unfocused. “There is darkness in your future. A deep abyss of darkness
reaching for you. I see evil and death. It surrounds you. And there are flames,
a circle of flames scorching the ground around you.”

Her words should have surprised me, but they
didn’t. Long gone were the days of my childhood innocence. My life had been
full of darkness and shadows ever since my parents’ deaths.

But before I could ask her more questions, an odd
expression crossed her face and a slew of words came rushing out.
“
I’ll come for you
when the time is right, Colina, and what fun we’ll have!”

A prickling sensation
rushed through my body as I remembered where I had heard those
exact
words before. They came from the
mouth of the demon I had released. Those were its parting words to me.

The girl’s eyes rolled
back in her head, her body shook, and she started to talk in a high-pitched
voice, but what she was saying no longer made any sense. It was all gibberish.