Seeking Evil (Looking Into The Mind Of A Killer Series) (30 page)

Lili had wanted Jessie to come with her. But with finals coming up, Jessie's father hadn't thought it was a good idea, so Lili had flown out alone with the reassurances from her great-aunt that her flight would be met. Looking back now, after being awakened by her fear for Lili’s safety, Jessie knew if anything happened to her friend, she would never be able to forgive herself.

The flight to
Bourdaqueste
,
Romania
, the closest city to Vandeburg with any sizable airport, would take a little over ten hours, including a rather lengthy layover in
Amsterdam
. Her father had gone with her to the airport and waited until it was time to board her flight.

Grant Seville kissed his daughter and held her close. "Promise me, you'll be careful. You'll call the minute you arrive."

"I promise. Don't worry. I'm sure it's nothing. You know me, I'm probably just overreacting."

Her father didn't buy it for a minute. "I wish you would wait for me. I'll be able to clear my schedule in the next day or two. I could fly out with you."  

Jessie closed her eyes. She hated disappointing her father, but her heart told her this couldn't wait. "Dad, I can't."

He shook his head.   Her father knew only too well of Jessie’s ability to see certain future events long before they happened, and how reluctant she was to acknowledge that gift. Like it or not, that gift was warning her very clearly of the dangers surrounding Lili. She could almost see it in her mind.

The bond between Jessie and Lili began when they were small children, less than three years old. They’d met when Jessie and her parents had moved into the same neighborhood as Lili’s family, and their connection had grown stronger with each passing year. Jessie and Lili were as close as sisters, and as in touch with each other’s thoughts and emotions as twins. He trusted her and Jessie was mature for her age.

In spite of the early hour of the flight, most of the passengers didn’t seem interested in sleep, including the couple seated next to her who looked to be in their early twenties. They spoke in a language she didn’t readily recognize but guessed to be Eastern European.

She wondered if they were on their way home. If so, maybe they’d heard of Vandeburg and could give her some idea what to expect.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I couldn’t help but wonder if you and your wife are from Romania?” Jessie asked the couple.

The husband was the one to answer. “As a matter of fact, we are. We are returning home from visiting my wife’s sister in
Dallas
. My wife and I live just outside of Bourdaqueste. Are you traveling there as well?” While he spoke with the thick accent associated with the Slovak countries, his English was impeccable. “No, actually I’ll be going a little further. Just past the
village
of
Vandeburg
. Have either your or your wife been to that area before?”

Neither husband nor wife said a word. From the look that passed between them, it was easy to see that not only had they heard of Vandeburg, they knew something about the village they weren’t anxious to share.

“We have been to Vandeburg but once, miss, a long time ago. I’m sorry, but I’m afraid my wife and I remember very little about the village. As I recall, there was once a small hotel, located close to the tavern. Perhaps it would be best if you spent the night there, and traveled on to wherever it is you are going in the morning. I wouldn’t get caught out on your own at night in that area.”

His answer didn't exactly ease her fears. “What do you mean? I'm sorry, I don’t understand.” Jessie couldn't believe it. Why wouldn't they just tell her what they knew?

“Do you have family in that area?” The woman spoke at last.

Her question through Jessie for a second. “No. No, just my friend. I’m going to visit her and her great-aunt. They live near Vandeburg. Maybe you’ve heard of the family. The Von Eyssen's? According to my friend, they’ve been in that part of the country for hundreds of years.”

The woman’s eyes widened in fear. “Miss, you must be careful traveling by yourself in that part of
Romania
. Bad things happen there. Very bad things. It’s not safe for someone young like you. You must be very careful.”

Her words stunned Jessie into silence, bringing back the apprehension responsible for her being on this plane, bound for a country that filled her with dread. Before Jessie could ask the woman what she had meant by those chilling words, her husband said something in their language, effectively silencing any further warnings.

Then he addressed his wife in English, for Jessie’s benefit. “Alaina, I really think you should try to rest now. It is a long flight and we have far to go once we arrive in Bourdaqueste.” Alaina nodded then turned away.

The remainder of the flight slid by in an unending blur of slow, tedious hours that left Jessie going over every single detail of what had happened since she’d awakened that morning. Once the pilot announced their arrival at
Bourdaqueste
International
Airport
, relief so powerful it left Jessie weak swept over her. With any luck, she'd find Lili and this whole horrible day would come to an end. 

From the moment she stepped off the plane onto Romanian soil, a feeling of having been there before rushed over Jessie. It was a haunting feeling of coming home to a place she’d been searching for in so many fleeting dreams.

For most of her life, Jessie simply drifted through life, making few personal connections. As if she were a stranger in a foreign land. Even with her father. Lili was the only person she’d ever had any real or lasting relationship with. Lili understood all about not belonging to anyone, or anything.

As a child, Jessie believed she was adopted, in spite of all of her father’s reassurances otherwise. Those doubts had continued to grow throughout her teenage years, and even as a young adult. She couldn’t explain it, but it was almost as if she were simply marking time in her present life. Waiting for some monumental event that would end the confusion inside her.

Her father attributed the strange, disturbing emotions as part of Jessie’s special gift of clairvoyance, but he didn’t know about the dreams. They’d started around the time she and Lili had met. They were always the same. Never changing, and never altering in their frequency. Each time Jessie would wake up screaming and shivering with fear. Somewhere within that dream was the explanation she’d been searching for, but as hard as Jessie tried, she couldn’t unravel the truth from the dreams.

In them, she stood the middle of a turbulent lake, the water closing in all around her. On the shore, someone stood silently, watching. Jessie wasn’t afraid of that person, just the opposite, in fact. Her only thought as the water closed in was that she would never see that person again. Because of the dreams, Jessie couldn’t go near water. Just the thought made her feel like she was suffocating. All of her father’s attempts at teaching her to swim had ended in tears.

Now, in an unknown country, Jessie felt as if she’d returned home. As seconds slid by, Jessie clung to the reality that her feelings were unfounded because she’d never been to
Romania
before.

And yet...

Even as she reminded herself over and over again, it was little comfort as the strange, disturbing emotions continued to surface, filling her with so much heartbreaking sadness that she found herself crying silent tears. All of the answers to the questions she’d struggled with since childhood were about to be revealed. Jessie had known from the very first moment she had awakened that something beyond her concern for Lili’s safety was responsible for bringing her to
Romania
. The truth had been there all along, waiting patiently for her to untangle it. Just ahead, the young couple from the plane disappeared into the crowd of people leaving the airport. She wanted to go to them and ask Alaina what was so frightening in Vandeburg, to plead with the woman’s husband to tell her what he was keeping from her.

But the fear of what might be revealed was more terrifying than not knowing, so Jessie left the terminal alone and more frightened than ever. Above her, the afternoon sun slipped a little further in the sky, and a shiver of uneasiness at what awaited her in Vandeburg slowed her footsteps.

The tiny airport terminal was crowded with people, making it almost impossible to move, much less breathe, as Jessie stepped outside into the gentle afternoon breeze. A group of run-down taxicabs lined up next to the curb, a few feet from the exit doors. Their neglected appearance did little to lift Jessie’s uneasiness as she walked toward one of the drivers.

The man took her approach as permission to load her luggage into the trunk of the car before opening the passenger door. Once Jessie settled into the back seat and the driver pulled away from the curb, he asked her where she wanted to go, his voice showing little interest.

“I need to get to Vandeburg tonight. Can you take me there?” she asked, hoping the man understood her urgency. At the mention of Vandeburg, the driver whipped around, his startled eyes regarding Jessie in disbelief. She glanced past the driver at the street as the taxi swerved recklessly into the neighboring lane.

The man began to speak hurriedly in broken English, waving his hands in distress. “No, miss, I cannot take you to Vandeburg.”

“I beg your pardon? Why not?” Jessie couldn’t believe she’d heard the man correctly. “If it’s a matter of money, then please, don’t worry. I’m prepared to pay extra for the trouble. I know it’s a long drive, but I have to go there tonight.”

“No, miss, you do not understand. What you are asking is impossible. I cannot take you there, I will not. It will be turning dark soon. It is too late. No, it is too late to go to Vandeburg tonight. Maybe tomorrow, if you still wish to go, then I will drive you there. But not tonight.” He wagged his head anxiously, the fear in his eyes reflected in every agitated movement of his hands.

“No, I’m sorry, but that won’t work. You don’t understand, I have to go there tonight. I can’t wait until tomorrow.” Even as Jessie said the words, the man tossed her another frightened look in the rearview mirror. She fought to control her growing frustration with his strange behavior. “Okay, you can’t take me, I get it. Fine, just let me out and I’ll find another driver who can. This can’t wait until tomorrow, I have to go to Vandeburg tonight,” Jessie stressed as she watched the road nervously. The driver’s agitated movements sent the car swerving back and forth across the narrow lanes.

“Miss, it is you who does not understand. No other driver will take you to Vandeburg, not tonight. It will be impossible for you to get there tonight, I can assure you.”

“This is crazy! I don’t believe you. Please, just stop the car.”

The man’s nervous gestures became more and more frightening. He yanked the car back into his lane, barely missing another passing car. Why was this man so afraid? She wasn’t going to be of any help to Lili if she ended up in a wreck or worse, dead. Jessie prayed she wouldn’t live to regret this decision. That one more night wouldn’t be one night too many for Lili’s sake. “Okay, fine, you win. Can you please take me to a hotel, somewhere close by where I can spend the night? I’ll find my own way to Vandeburg in the morning.”

The man visibly relaxed but said nothing as they made their way along the narrow, broken streets of Bourdaqueste. As Jessie stared out the window, she couldn’t help but wonder what awaited her in Vandeburg.

The hotel the driver selected was in one of the older sections of the city. It looked as if it might have once been the home to one of the country’s wealthier families, perhaps royalty, maybe even one of Lili’s own ancestors. In its time the hotel would have been spectacular, a reflection of both elegance and grandeur. Jessie could almost imagine it as it had once been, filled with love and laughter. In contrast, tonight the hotel appeared to be almost completely empty.

She was given a corner room on the second floor, overlooking both the main street and another, smaller side street. She walked across the room, pausing to study the antiques and old portraits hanging on the pale yellow walls. She looked out the window to the empty street below. The room, the street, the whole town was bathed in an unearthly silence. Jessie shivered, hugging herself.

There was no activity on the streets. No one walked the sidewalks, taking in the beauty of the charming old city, in spite of what had to be an unseasonably warm evening. Jessie’s thoughts strayed to the strange emotions that only grew in strength since arriving at the Hotel Bourdaqueste. What was causing this heightened sense of familiarity? She’d never even seen so much as a picture of this place.

She pushed those troubling thoughts aside. Until she was certain Lili was safe, maybe it was best to leave things as they were and concentrate on getting to Vandeburg safely.

She left the room to ask the desk clerk if there was some place in Bourdaqueste where she could rent a car. At the thought of yet another confrontation like the one she’d had earlier with the taxi driver, she’d decided it would be best for her to find her own way to Vandeburg.

As she descended the spacious spiral staircase of the Hotel Bourdaqueste, the oppressing silence of the night beyond the elegant walls closed in around her, enveloping her in an eerie sense of impending doom.