Chapter 21

It was dark when I awoke again and I knew I'd have a hell of a time setting my clock right again. My watch said it was almost three am. I laid there for a while, drifting in and out of sleep, finally rolling out of bed when I realized the voices I'd been hearing weren't coming from the television.

I walked through the open doorway and saw Morgan and Chadwick sitting side by side, gazing at her sketches as she added details. Neither of them looked up as I entered, focused upon their task.

I slowly crossed the room and glanced over Morgan's shoulder. "Was there another vision?" I spoke softly and Chadwick answered.

"Yes and no. It was another look at the vision of yesterday, but something changed and she could better see the Place of Now."

I watched as a room developed. The floor was a light color except for around the front door, the walls boasting half-panels of wood below the light-colored wall paper. A large sofa stretched in front of two windows on the west wall; a fireplace and chair to the south with two more small windows. The whole eastern wall was taken up by a massive entertainment center and shelves; one could just make out a door down the short hallway to the northeast.

"I always did hate to vacuum the beige carpet on the stairs here," I gestured to the shadowed area off the tiled entryway, "and the hall leads to a bathroom." Two sets of immortal eyes stared at me in shock. "That's the house I grew up in, my father's house."

Morgan was dialing numbers before I could blink and I collapsed on the sofa, unable to tear my eyes away from the picture-perfect rendition of my childhood home. Chadwick sat beside me and his cool hand grabbed mine gently. I suddenly felt calm instead of numb as I listened to Morgan speed-speak into the phone, my panic held in check.

"How?" I asked him, knowing that this euphoria had to be coming from him.

"Subliminal," he told me simply and I nodded wisely, not really caring at the moment, lost to the peaceful feelings pouring into me.

"Tricia," Morgan turned to me, the phone gone from her ear. "Connor's coming for you. He and Marcus and Davis are going to hide you somewhere for a while."

"Connor's coming for me?" I asked, managing to feel hopeful, thanks to Chadwick.

"Yes, they're getting on a plane. We'll meet them at the airport and get you somewhere safe." Her voice was gentle, coaxing. Something was nagging at me as she spoke, trying to break into the bubble of calm that had enveloped my mind.

"What about my father, Morgan?" I asked her, the calm giving way to the panic again. "She's coming for him!" I started squirming and Chadwick's grip tightened. They tried to sooth me with words and gestured but it wasn't working. "It's won't matter, don't you see?" I told them, quieting their assurances. "How many people can you protect? Sooner or later she's going to beat you to the next target."

"We'll catch them, Tricia," she answered me.

"And what about you? Do you thing I only care about the humans around me? If you got hurt, if she attacked you..."

Chadwick grabbed my chin, forcing me to look into his blazing gold eyes. I could see his lips moving but not hear what was said. I felt my eyes grow heavy and my body relax; it took me a long moment to realize what was happening and I started fighting.

"NO!" I yelled and pushed against his shoulders, falling backwards and breaking his hold on my face. "You can't make me sleep. I don't want to sleep!" I stumbled to my feet and into the bedroom, slamming and locking the door, not that I really thought it would stop them.

For two hours I paced and fidgeted, sometimes sitting, though not for very long as my mind chased around in circles, trying to come up with some way to make everything right again. Only one presented itself and it wasn't one that anyone else would agree with, but it was the only thing I could come up with that might end this nightmare.

I heard the phone ring and I opened the dividing door, my posture meek and regretful as I walked into the living room, feeling horrible for my tantrum earlier. Morgan was speaking quickly, writing down something before she hung up.

"They've just switched planes in Denver and should get in at about eight this morning." She started moving quickly around the room, gathering their few belongings and stowing them away again.

"Where's Chadwick?" I looked around but didn't see him.

"He went to check out."

"You're leaving?"

"Yes, we're re-locating somewhere closer to your father's house." She was almost finished already and I took a steadying breath, trying to convince myself that everything would work out when the phone rang. "Hello?" I was instantly by her side. "Yes, she's fine, she's right here." Claire she mouthed, confused. She wasn't the only one.

"Hello?" I asked in turn, wondering how she'd gotten this number; I'd called her on my cell phone. "Aunt Claire?"

"Thank goodness you're alright, Patricia," she said in a rush that didn't sound like her at all and I sighed.

"I'm fine, Aunt Claire, I told you I'd call when I got home. How did you get this number? Did Dad call you?" I paused and didn't hear anything. "Claire?"

"There's no need for panic, is there?" The voice coming through the telephone was a soft alto, a sexy purr that was very definitely not Claire. "Now, very carefully, I need you to repeat after me: 'Yes, Aunt Claire, everything is fine.'" She waited a moment then sighed heavily. "I really don't want to hurt anyone besides you so I would advise you to obey me."

"Yes, Aunt Claire, everything is fine," I said numbly.

"I can tell this won't be easy," she tsked and I shivered. "I need you to walk into another room now so that your very expressive face doesn't betray you." Her voice was seductive, friendly even, if you managed to miss the violence laced into every word. "Nobody else needs to suffer, do they?" Now walk and say, 'I'm sorry I made you worry.' Go on."

"I'm sorry I made you worry." My voice was lifeless as I carefully made my way back to the bedroom, gently shutting the door in Morgan's concerned face. "Are you by yourself?" I asked.

"Now, now, none of that. We wouldn't want your babysitters to become suspicious. And, of course, she's just fine here." I could hear the smile in her voice and I tried to reign in the wave of anger that rose.

"That's not true, you know that," I said, letting my anger slip a little, over-riding my panic.

"Oh, you are clever, aren't you? You're right, of course, though that makes little difference. However, it was an easier voice to fake than your father's." My anger left me and I collapsed on the bed. "Now that I have your attention again, say 'You're right, Aunt, I'm sorry.'"

"You're right, Aunt, I'm sorry." I spoke like I was dead.

"Very good. I'm sure you've been worried about him, but don't worry," I heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh, "I've got him and he's just peachy. Now, they can probably still hear you, yes?"

"Yes," my voice wobbled and broke, my mind reeling from the emotional blow she just dealt.

"And I assume you're still human, since you are talking so slow. I need you to get away from your keepers. Can you do it? Yes or no?"

"No."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I was under the impression that you were more inventive. How about if your father's life depended on it?"

"Like it already doesn't?" I snapped back, not caring.

"Careful," she warned and I heard a crack followed by a hoarse moan, "my patience is not limitless. Do you understand?"

"Yes, perfectly."

"Once again, do you think you can escape them?"

"Yes." I would think of a way out of this, there had to be a way.

"Very good, that's better. I'm sure it won't be as easy for you as it was for me but I do believe you'll manage. Oh, and believe me when I say that I'll know if you have followers and I'm not sure how much more you're father can take. He was already in quite bad shape when I found him. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly." My voice was cold and I knew that, if I bothered to look into a mirror, my face would look like a statue- lifeless and uncaring.

"This is what you need to do. Go to your father's house, you'll find a number written next to a set of instructions. Follow then exactly and your father goes free. Do you understand?"