Chapter 6

The Psionic message the intruder left played over and over in my head like some kind of demented record player. I couldn’t shake what I had seen, what he was going to do to Bethany – what he HAD done to Bethany.

He used his Telekinesis to hold her down, to hold her together. Then he used another ability to slowly kill all of the cells of her body, starting from her extremities and working in. He thought of it as ‘consuming’ her, along with her power. It was a painful process for her and a grueling one for him, but his hunger for her power was too strong to ignore. He had to have it. Once he was done with her arms and legs, he would start on her lower body and work his way up, but the focus would change. He wasn’t after viscera or blood. He needed her nervous system. He needed every nerve ending, every synapsis, every bit of her spinal fluid, and her entire brain. He consumed more of her body along with it in the process, which was why he needed to hold her with his telekinesis, because she would have bled out in minutes if he didn’t. He also kept her from having a heart attack. He needed her to live through as much of the process as possible. By the time he was done, there would be nothing left other than a pile of goo that would take a number of tests to identify as the remains of her organs.

I didn’t have the stomach to explain all of that to Yaeko, and really, she didn’t need to know. She didn’t like the idea of not knowing, but once I made it clear that he could kill both of us without much fuss, she backed off.

Both of us ended up back outside. Once I convinced Yaeko that the police had to be involved, we agreed that I would talk to them alone.

It took almost twenty minutes for me to calm down enough to be able to dial the number for dispatch. I didn’t have a direct line to Lieutenant Stanfield. It was a small matter.

“Lieutenant Stanfield,” he answered.

“Stanfield, it’s Ral,” I said.

“Hey, Ral. I thought you were done with the internship for the semester?” he said. He and Captain Prewitt were instrumental in helping me get in. Usually first year students didn’t work directly with the police.

“I am, but this isn’t a social call,” I said. “I’m at a friend’s house. I don’t know whether to report this as a kidnapping or murder.”

I heard rustling over the phone. “Kidnapping or Murder?” he asked. “Where are you?”

I gave him the address. “But Bethany isn’t here,” I added. “Someone took her. I saw what he plans on doing to her, if he hasn’t finished already.”

“You saw something?” he asked.

“Yes, but nothing I can share,” I said. “It has to do with ... you-know-what.” Even after the events that led to Jacquelyn’s arrest transpired, Stanfield had issues with calling anyone Powerborne.

“Okay, I’m sending a unit over to sit with you while I drive out,” he said. “Don’t leave the scene.”

“She’s not here,” I said. “He took her somewhere else.”

“Did this person leave an address?” he asked.

It had been a part of the departing message he left me. “Directions from here,” I said.

“Okay, wait there,” he said. “I’m on my way.”

I nodded and he hung up.

Yaeko stood straddling her motorcycle. She was ready to leave. “I’m not sticking around to play for the police.”

I shook my head. “No, you’re right. You should leave. I’ll wait. I’m the one with all the information anyway.”

She studied me for a moment. “You know, Bethany really admired you.”

I looked at her. “What?”

She nodded. “Bethany thought what you did, standing up to Jacquelyn was the best thing anyone could do.”

“You didn’t think so though,” I said.

“I didn’t like the direction Jacquelyn was trying to take the House,” she said. “None of us did, but none of us could convince her to change her mind either.”

I nodded. “Well, I’m glad you found Dianne. She seems far more grounded and willing to help each of you rather than put herself first.”

“Just like you’re doing,” she said. “Only you better be careful. You know enough about what happened here that no one else can prove one way or another. It could lead to the police arresting you for it.”

I couldn’t look at her. She might not be able to hear my thoughts, but she had guessed right in one. I didn’t want to be accused of this. I hadn’t even known that Bethany was missing until a couple of hours ago. If Lady Dianne hadn’t asked me to find her, I wouldn’t be involved at all. Worse, I still hadn’t taken the time to contact my friends to let them know why I missed going out to dinner with them tonight. Granted, the original reason had nothing to do with this, but this, unlike the other problem, could force me to stay in town rather than flying home, as we had planned. What, exactly, would I tell them?

Yaeko pulled on her helmet and started her motorcycle. I watched her ease back onto the street and then speed away. For a moment, everything was quiet. A breeze played through the empty limbs of the trees and stirred the remnants of the fallen leaves from this autumn. And just as I was about to step out onto the street to watch for the unit Stanfield had sent, a police cruiser stopped in front of the house.

I wasn’t sure what I looked like standing there alone in the driveway, but I didn’t want to give the officers any wrong impressions. I went to greet them.

I didn’t know either of the officers. The one getting out of the passenger side pulled out a long handled flashlight, clicked it on, and shone the light in my face. “Are you Ral Sutton?” he asked.

I nodded, holding up a hand to deflect the direct light. I had forgotten how dark the sky had become. My Nightvision allows me to see in the dark slightly better than felines. The light in my eyes, to me, was a bright as the sun when you first wake up. “Is Lieutenant Stanfield on his way?” I asked.

“He asked us to make sure you didn’t leave,” he said. I couldn’t see whether he nodded, shrugged, or what. Even my ability to see auras wasn’t telling me much. Mr. Shepherd said as I gained more and more control, I would start to instinctively shut them down when I wasn’t actively using them.

I shook my head. I never intended to leave. What I had to tell Stanfield was too important. “He’s going to need to see what I need to show him.”

“And what exactly is that?” the other officer asked. His tone suggested something wrong. These guys were supposed to be impartial. Emotions were not supposed to have an effect on their jobs. However, they were human. I instinctively looked for his aura. It was steel blue and mistrust floated among the swirls.

“If we could wait for the Lieutenant to arrive, I would be happy to explain everything to all of you,” I said. I looked at the first officer. His name was Beckford. His aura was a pleasant orange. He was somewhat annoyed at my answer, but otherwise okay.

The other officer, Bastian, looked up at the house. “You weren’t breaking and entering were you?”

I looked at him. “Bethany was a friend. We hadn’t heard from her in four days and came by. Her door was unlocked so I let myself in.”

Bastian looked at me with a sly smile. “I’ll just bet you did.”

I sighed and shook my head. There was no point in arguing. They were going to think what they wanted.

Beckford looked at his partner. “Let it go John. He’s telling the truth.”

I looked at Beckford. He didn’t have any powers. Maybe he was just following his instincts. I could appreciate that.

Bastian chuckled under his breath and then strode toward the house. Yaeko and I had left it unlocked, just as we found it.

Beckford waited with me. After Bastian had gone inside, he looked at me and asked, “I wasn’t wrong was I?”

I shook my head. “I only wish I was wrong about what I’ve found.”

I could see the quick confusion in his aura. “What did you find?”

“That Bethany is dead.”

He glanced up at the house, his whole body became alert. For a second I thought he saw something that had startled him. I glanced over my shoulder but saw nothing. When I looked back at him, I could tell what had happened. He was worried that I’d found a body in the house. “She’s not here.”

His aura told of his suspicion. “Then how do you know?”

“How long have you known Lieutenant Stanfield?”

He considered that for a second. “I’ve worked with him for a few months.”

“And you remember the arrest that led to the biggest circus of a trial the city’s seen in years?”

He nodded once. “What about it?”

“Do you remember the ‘prize witness’ in that case?” I had hated the term the DA had labeled me with, but now it had some potential.

He seemed to look at me again, even though he hadn’t looked away. “I thought you looked familiar.”

I nodded. I didn’t feel the need to drive the point home any more than that so I let it go.

Beckford looked past me again. I looked back. Bastian was coming back out of the house. His aura said he was relaxed. When he was close enough to talk without yelling he said, “The place looks clean.” Then he looked at me. Smug would have been too polite a word for the look on his face. I liked sanctimonious better.

“I guess he wasn’t lying about coming by to see about his friend, but I didn’t see anything that suggested anything happened here other than her leaving without saying goodbye.” Then he grinned at me. “What’s the matter kid? Did she dump you for someone else and skip town?”

I didn’t roll my eyes. It took some effort. After counting to ten I asked, “And did you see the notes left by Bethany and the kidnapper?”

His face closed down as he studied me. “If there were any such notes, you’d better hand them over, now!”

I shook my head. “I can’t...”

Before I could say anything else, Bastian grabbed my arm and marched me over to the cruiser. “Spread em!”

I did as he ordered. He searched me from the top of my head to the soles of my shoes. When he was done he pulled me around. “Okay smart ass, what notes? You don’t have any notes on you.”

I waited until I had counted to twenty this time. “IF you had let me finish, I would have said, I couldn’t hand them over because they weren’t paper notes. They were Psionic notes.”

Bastian looked like he wanted to say something in response, but his eyes glanced past me and he held his tongue. I really needed to grow eyes in the back of my head.

I looked. Lieutenant Stanfield was walking up to us from his car followed by a woman. She had long flowing auburn hair, steely gray eyes, and an aura of neon yellow. Both of them stopped in front of me.

“Mr. Sutton, it’s good to see you again,” Stanfield said. He glanced at the woman. “This is my new partner, Detective Bell Hathaway.”

I nodded to her. “Detective.”

She nodded back.

“You said you have some information for me?” Stanfield asked.

I nodded. “Bethany has been kidnapped. From what we’ve been able to put together, she’s been missing since Monday night.” I stopped and swallowed. “I came by to see what I could find out. Bethany and her kidnapper left Psionic notes. She hoped I would find them and find her, but I don’t believe we will because the kidnapper also left a Psionic note describing what he intended to do to her.”

Stanfield wasn’t writing in his little notebook, but Hathaway was. She looked up at me. “You said they left ... Psionic notes?” She emphasized the word as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

I nodded.

She glanced at Stanfield. “What exactly are Psionic notes?” Then both of them looked at me.

I knew what this was going to sound like and it wasn’t good. “Imagine watching a rerun, only your television doesn’t give you a perspective from a particular point of view. It’s more like you’re right there in the middle of it. To see the whole thing you have to turn around on your own as everything is happening. You have no control over what happens, how fast, or how often it replays.”