Chapter 57: Baby Steps

The look on Frank Watkins's face when Allison began ripping his guts out didn't make up for the atrocities he had visited on his daughters, but it was a good start. And it felt really, really good. I guess that qualified as ending on a high note.

Saturday morning I made a surprise announcement to the family. For several weeks I had been watching the paper, going online to check values, checking maintenance schedules, and checking insurance rates. I was now sixteen years old and having passed the test my driver's license would be coming in the mail sometime soon. I had been diligently saving for quite some time in the hopes of being the only freshman at my school with a car. I had around $2000 in my savings to spend and my dad had graciously consented to take me out this weekend to look for something. As everyone was gathered at breakfast I dropped the bomb that I had decided not to buy a car just yet.

"What?" asked Allison, "Why not?"

"I can't afford it," I answered.

"Jimmy, you've got two grand, there are a lot of cars out there you could buy."

"True, but it's not that simple. I've been looking and anything descent would take pretty much everything I have. Taxes and registration eats up about ten percent right up front, which drops me to eighteen hundred, even minimal insurance for a teenage driver is a hundred a month with two months up front. That drops me to barely over fifteen hundred."

"But you see ads all the time for insurance for like, twenty nine dollars a month," she argued.

"Oh sure, you can get insurance that cheap, but you might as well not be insured. I checked them out; those rates get you the bare minimum of liability coverage required by the state. If I got into an accident that was actually my fault it wouldn't cover much of anything. If someone got injured it would almost guarantee that Mom and Dad would get sued because the coverage is so minimal and it wouldn't cover my car at all. Even if the accident wasn't my fault, if the other driver was un-insured, I still wouldn't be able to afford to fix my car. Add it all up and no matter what I buy, with insurance, gas, and just basic maintenance, it's going to cost me between 100 to 150 dollars per month to drive. I'd have to get a job."

My parents were looking at each other as I continued.

"So in order to drive, I have to gut my savings, and give up all my free time after school and weekends. When I got to thinking about it, there is no place I need to go that badly. I can keep taking the bus to school and back. I'm not really into hanging out in public for the sake of it so it's not a big deal if I can't drive to the mall to hang out with everyone else that couldn't come up with better plans. If I have something important to do I'm sure Mom or Dad would still take me."

"Actually son," my dad said, "I'm sure if it's something important, or if you have a date of something, you could just borrow one of our cars. We can add you to our insurance as an occasional driver; the cost is minimal if you're not listed as a primary driver. I must say I am very impressed with your decision, and the reasons behind it. I am curious though, is there more to this than you are saying. Maybe another reason you don't want a job?"

"Mostly I just don't want to give up my time with Allison after school in the afternoons. I've gotten really attached to being able to just sit and talk to her. It really helps when there is a lot going on. I think that may be very important in the near future."

That got their attention.

"What do you mean?" Mom asked.

"Well, this is going to sound strange, I probably shouldn't say anything as it's an active investigation but then, I'm not an officer of any kind so it's not like they could do anything to me. The killer is most likely stalking his next victim as we speak. The girls have all been kidnapped shortly after graduating high school. You remember those weird dreams I started having? We've decided that I am most likely picking up images directly from the killer. I'm trying to watch for anything that may give us a clue as to who he has in mind. I spend a lot of time talking to Allison and Bob about what I see as a way to try and sort it out and make sure I'm not missing anything that may help us catch him before he can kill another girl. If I could identify the victim he has selected then maybe we could catch him in the act of trying to abduct her. It's a stretch but right now it's all we have." I didn't feel like elaborating on my new project. If working with the FBI to catch a serial killer freaked my mom out, working alone to catch a ring of sociopathic assholes who were using their daughters as sex slaves and passing them around like party favors would certainly not go over well. Especially if she found out that the FBI couldn't even get involved. No, that was something I felt no desire at all to share with my parents.

My mom got up and hugged me, "Jimmy, I'm so proud of you I just can't find words. Of course you can use my car if you need it. Just try and let me know as far in advance as you can and I'll make plans around you as much as I can." She kissed me on the cheek then turned and kissed Allison as well. "Help him where you can, Sweetie."

"Cool, then can I take Allison and Shannon to the movies today? I mean after I do the lawns and my regular chores of course."

"Certainly dear."

That pretty much settled the car issue for the time being. The girls and I headed out to the mall and did a little shopping as well as catching an afternoon show. Then we spent an energetic night at the beach.

Sunday morning was a family outing. We were taking the girls to meet Lynn & Melinda at the park for volleyball. The five of us would start a little rotation 2 on 2 and see if we couldn't pick up some pigeons, I mean players. It didn't take long and we had a pretty good line of volunteers. Eventually we ended up with the five of us and another guy, Stephen, taking on pretty much all comers. It was a rotation event. Winners kept playing as long as they could hold the court. After 5 straight victories we finally lost but I credit that to exhaustion. It turned out Stephen was a hitter for one of the other local high schools. He and the coaches recognized each other. He was a senior and already had offers from UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State. He had other offers but they would mean moving out of California. The only one currently tempting him was Hawaii but he didn't think he wanted to risk being trapped in the islands for four years. It sounded like a dream trip but it's still an island and most of the people there were just visiting. Besides, he was a business major and unless you were interested in the hospitality industry, the prospect of an internship or work related position was pretty limited.

The dream time the girls and I had been putting in practicing had been paying off big. We had all improved dramatically, both the coaches, and Stephen, were very impressed. Allison and I spent most of our time alternating between setter and back court defender, shagging balls that got past the blockers up front. With both of us on the same team it meant one of us was almost always available to set up the next attack. The parents had come along to watch, Tom and Karen brought an ice chest packed with hamburgers they had prepared in advance. Tom's mastery of the grill netted us a great meal. We invited Steven to join us but he declined stating he had report due the next day and he had to finish proofreading it and making any last minute changes. We shook hands, said goodbye and then settled in to make the most of lunch.

"I can't believe," Lynn said, "how much you guys have improved since we started."

"Yes," Melinda added. "It's hard to believe you just took this up four months ago, you girls, and you especially, Jimmy, are awesome. I can't wait until fall. We are going to kick ass this year!" In case you were wondering the sports schedule for the two schools were different. Junior High played volleyball in the spring, High School played in the fall.

Lynn just gave her a condescending smile and said, "You're welcome. You know I'm getting a little tired of giving you all these great players just so you can come home and rub your winning records in my face."

"Come on now, Lynn, it's called growing up, maybe you should try it."

"Oh!" Shannon sputtered around a mouth full of chips. "She did not go there!"

Allison was stomping her feet and trying hard not to spit food all over the table. Just watching her almost made me lose my mouthful.

I swallowed hard and said, "Alright you two don't make me separate you." I found out later it was all a set up. I never saw the wink but suddenly Mel got very defensive.

"She started it."

"Did not!" answered her partner, and she elbowed Mel in the ribs for emphasis.

Mel started to respond and then I made the mistake of the afternoon. I got up and forced my way onto the bench between them. Huge mistake. I saw Allison roll her eyes at Shannon and realized something was up just as four hands found my ribs. Dèjá vu times two. I sat there with my legs pinned under the table and two of the most physically fit women I have ever met working in tandem to tickle me senseless. It didn't take long. I'm not sure how long it lasted or if I passed out at some point but when I regained my senses the two teachers where doing there best to extricate themselves from the table enough to put up some sort of defense against my two little angels. The girls had taken pity on me and jumped in to save me at the last minute. Eventually Dad and Tom stepped in, each picking their daughter up by the waist and pulling them out of reach. Mom and Karen were laughing too hard to do anything. It only got worse when the two women jumped up and each attacked one of the men telling them that if they had wanted their help they would have asked for it and to mind their own business. The girls of course took advantage of the distraction and the two dads each found themselves double teamed. I was in no condition to help and had learned my lesson. I stayed where I was.

Finally Mom picked up Mel's keys and blew her whistle. Karen yelled, "Time out! Neutral corners!" And we all dissolved into laughter. Fresh water bottles were passed around and the meal resumed as if nothing had happened.

Sunday night I took Allison and went to visit Samantha again. She was just... drifting I guess was a good word. No real pattern or reason, just sort of floating in sleep. I decided for simplicity sake we would take her someplace familiar so we went to the cabana and I was about to wake her when Allison stopped me.

"Let me do it."

"Okay, but why does it matter?"

"Because I want you invisible, I want to see if she remembers what you told her."

"Allison, what are you..."

"Jimmy, don't. I have to make sure she takes it seriously. You know what could happen if she gets caught, if she makes a mistake. They will try to find out who she's been talking to and she doesn't know who or where we are. Do you seriously think they will believe that she doesn't know? Do you want to be the reason she gets to spend a weekend in that chair? And that may not be the worst that they have. If she doesn't answer they may decide they can't risk it and do something permanent. She could be another 'runaway' or 'teenage suicide.' And what if she does talk? It's unlikely that they will believe her story but then where does that leave us? Do you really want an unknown number of these people to hear about a boy that walks around in other people's dreams? How long before someone starts putting rumors together and thinking there may be more to it than just a few wild stories. We have to know. She has to know. I'm sorry, but we have to do this. Now kiss me and try to behave yourself until it's time."

"And how will I know it's time?"

"If she does it right, then fine, if not then stay out and wait for something to happen."

I thought about what she had said. Sometimes I really hate her being right all the time. I really didn't want to do this but, at the same time, I knew it was necessary. Not just for Samantha's sake, but for my own, our own, safety as well. I brought Samantha in asleep on the bed, then faded out, and let Allison get on with it.

Samantha was sleeping in just her panties, I started to put a long shirt on her but that might hint that something was wrong. If this was how she saw herself... the fact that she had really nice breasts didn't hurt either. I watched as Allison transformed into Alice in just her panties as well, then spooned up close, and wrapped her arms around Samantha. I released the girl from sleep and 'Alice' kissed her hair and gave her a firm hug to wake her. Samantha's eyes opened and she looked scared as she took in her surroundings. Recognition dawned and a smile started to crease her face. Before it reached her eyes the smile froze and then faded as fast as it had come. She gently hugged the arms that enfolded her then pulled way enough to turn and face the owner of those arms.

"Good morning, sunshine." Alice said. "I thought you were going to sleep all day."

Samantha lay with eyes downcast, seemingly staring at Alice's breasts but in reality just not looking at her eyes. "Forgive me, my lady, I did not mean to keep you waiting."

"My Lady? Samantha, it's me, Alice. Hello, dream, cabana in the middle of nowhere. Any of this ring a bell? I just wanted to see how you were doing, that's all. The others were busy so I came by myself."

"As you wish, my Lady, how may I serve you?"

Allison reached out a hand, caressed the girl's face, and said, "You don't need to do this for me, sweetie. We're friends. I'm on your side, remember?"

"I do not know what you mean, Lady, please, I only wish to serve, how might I please you?"

"Stop it. Stop pretending you don't know me. Look." She changed to my likeness. "Now do you believe me?"

"I would never doubt you, my Lady," Samantha said, eyes once more downcast. "I simply do not know you. Please tell me what you desire and I will do my utmost, you are new to me and I do not know your whim."

Allison's face softened and she took Samantha's hand in hers and kissed it gently. She changed back to 'Alice' and said softly, "I'm sorry, Samantha; I had to know that you wouldn't fall for a trick." She raised her head and said, "Jimmy."

Still invisible I placed my hand upon Samantha's shoulder and the bracelet changed. Samantha's eyes got wide and she launched herself into Alice's arms, hugging her fiercely.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you for truly being here. I so wanted to believe it was you. But I feared that it would be a trap and I didn't want to give you away."

I faded back in and she left Alice to hug me instead. She kissed my cheek and pulled back again. "Thank you for testing me. You don't know how important it is that I don't fail. You think you do, but you don't, you can't. Please, test me, test me often, keep me sure."

I didn't know what to say, so I put shirts on both of them and changed the subject to the point of the visit. "I came to talk to you about Rachel. I want to help her but I need something that I can give her without her knowing it. Something that I can tie to Amanda's memory, something that will mean something to her and help her to remember. Is there something like the bracelet that would mean something to Rachel? I think she is too young to use jewelry, and I can't tell her what it is."

Samantha's brow furrowed in thought. "I don't know. Father took almost everything that was Amanda's when she died, pictures, jewelry, clothes. Even stuff of hers that I would borrow, he got rid of it all, or hid it away."

"Pictures!" Allison said. "That's it, Jimmy. You can make her a photo album. We can use Samantha's memories and some of Rachel's too. Then anytime she wants she can just open it up and look at it."

"Can you really do that?" Samantha asked. "Oh, I hope you can, it would mean so much to her."

I smiled and said, "Yeah, I really can, let's go make some memories."

I took her hand, concentrated, and moved us all into Rachel's dream. It was kind of cartoony in a way; very simple, almost two dimensional with a lot of bright, primary colors, and a tendency towards pastels.

We watched invisibly as Rachel played with her dolls in her room. She wasn't alone but the figure was at best a shadowy image of Amanda.