INK: Vanishing Point (Book 2) (2 page)

The faces multiply and go on endlessly.
I recognize one of the boys from the signing and approach his
dangling body. His eyes are closed and he looks peaceful. I wrack my
brain, trying to remember his name. “Lobster.” It rides
out on a distant memory.

His eyelids spring open to reveal hollow
shafts and his arms begin to flail. In my effort to get away from him
I trip over a root, and then get up to try to run again, but my
efforts are still fruitless.

My vision blurs and nausea overcomes me
until I have no choice but to vomit at the collective carnage
surrounding me. I drop down to my knees. The smell of mud, algae and
blood fill my senses and threaten another volley of sickness.

Darkness consumes me. Now my panic drags
me down under the mud, into the hopelessness that is my life until
all that’s left is suffocation and absence of light. The
Specter whispers softly in my ear, “I’m here for you
love. I’ve got you.” His tone is laced with caring and
triumph coupled to create a mixture of misery. I succumb.

Shay

Hushed voices that are too distant for
me to make out the words waft by on the wind. There’s something
beeping, probably my alarm clock. Open your eyes, Shay. My lids will
not comply. Everything has an echo to it, like I’m in a tunnel
or some kind of metal box.

I feel myself being jostled about, but
not by my own power. Coldness surrounds me, and a shiver runs through
my thoughts but doesn’t reach my body that is completely
disconnected from my will. It simply will not obey any of my
commands.

A deep humming followed by the sensation
of movement coaxes me further to open my eyes. Voices drift through
again, muffled and unintelligible. There’s someone there, but
who? Beep. Beep. Beep.

I perceive a muted light on the other
side of my lids. What is that? What’s happening? Why can’t
I wake up? I’m trapped somewhere, in something, someplace, but
where?

It feels like a quasi-nightmare where I
can’t open my eyes while I’m driving or trying to take a
test in school. My lids refuse my demands to lift.

My body feels warm again, the sensation
of moving has stopped. Someone is touching my feet, I think. Now my
legs, there’s pressure I can feel it. I can’t move or
open my eyes. I’m totally at the mercy of whoever is touching
me. This, I do NOT like. Beep. Beep. Beep…

Fear grows and spreads through my mind,
it plays at my vulnerability. Anger pierces the haziness of wherever
it is that I am. Open your eyes. I wait for my lids to get the
message but they don’t. Beep Beep Beep.

What the hell is that incessant beeping,
I need to turn off the alarm clock. Hit snooze.

Exhaustion overcomes me and I sink
deeper into the unknown, losing my grasp.

Someone touches my hand, holding it,
shaking it a little. I feel moisture, my hand is wet. Why is my hand
wet? My neck feels warm and I hear the voice again, it’s
muffled but I hear it.

“Shay, please I love you. Please
don’t do this.” The voice low and pleading.

“Don’t do this.” I
said those words; why did I say those words? When did I say those
words? What did I mean?

The memory of something distant comes
into focus. The thunderstorm; Aiden and me on the porch. A warming
sensation comes over me when I think of it. That’s good, a
sensation I initiated. I imagine Aiden’s hands on my back and
the heat rushes over me again. I travel forward through the memory,
invoking X-rated visions.

My mind stops, my body goes cold,
remembering Aiden’s grasp on my wrist; it was too tight, his
voice beyond harsh. The memory plays on like a movie in my head. I
see the Specter, then the gun in Aiden’s hand. Please don’t
do this.

“Aiden!” I shout, jolting
forward. My eyes are wide open, my breathing labored. I still don’t
know where I am. Nothing will come into focus but I hit my head on
something and it hurts. Dizziness overcomes me, forcing me to lay
back. Everything is blurry; my eyes refuse to focus. “Aiden?”

I hear yelling, I think. My lids become
heavy and try to close. No. I won’t let them. “No, no,
no.” It comes out hoarse, my throat swollen and raw like I’ve
been screaming for days. I know I just yelled that, but I barely made
a noise.

Somebody’s here, holding me.
“Aiden?” I try to reach my arms up to return the embrace,
hoping he can help me stay awake.

“No sweetie, it’s me.”
A man’s choked voice whispers in my ear. “I’m here,
I’m here.” His arms tighten around me.

Another voice, a female voice with
authority says, “Excuse me, sir.”

My body is no longer wrapped in warmth
but feels lonely and cold. My vision won’t focus. “No,”
I rasp, reaching out for the warmth to come back.

Oh bright light. That’s awful; it
hurts. An unrecognizable noise comes from me and I squirm. My legs
are moving, I’m slightly relieved, but there is so much pain.

“Miss Baynes, I need you to hold
still.” The woman’s voice is soothing.

“Where am I?” I croak,
settling back and squinting at the light.

“You are at Holmes Hospital. I’m
Dr. Shah,” she states simply.

“What? Why am I in the hospital?”
My throat is on fire. Someone give me some “Water.”

“Miss Baynes, please. I need you
to lay back. We’ll explain everything.” Her voice is kind
but there is an edge that says she’s losing her patience. “I
don’t like the look of her pupils. Miss Baynes, are you able to
see?”

“Just shapes, everything is
fuzzy.” I’m lying as still as possible.

“This is pretty normal; we’re
going to watch closely. Please let the nurse know as soon as things
come into focus.” I think she puts the flashlight in her
pocket. “I want another full blood workup.” She turns to
me. “Miss Baynes, I need you to rest as quietly as possible. We
are going to send you down for an MRI.” She pauses for a
moment. Her blurry figure turns around, then back to me. “You’ve
undergone two surgeries. It is of the utmost importance that you
don’t get excited or upset. Are you feeling any pain?”

My voice has bailed on me; all I can do
is whisper “Yes.” I raise my hand, touching my head, then
my neck.

“Your head and neck? Are you
feeling any other pain?” She asks.

I try to motion to my whole body but I
fail. My arms feel weak and I can only move them a little.

“It hurts all over? But your head
and neck hurt the most?”

I nod, trying to sit up again, but I’m
not comfortable. I’ll bet I would feel better if I sat up. Dr.
Shah puts her hand on my shoulder. “Please just lay back and
rest." She walks away from the bed and addresses a nurse. I
can’t understand half of what she’s saying; it’s
something about cc’s and scans or something. “Miss
Baynes, I’ll be back in after your results are in and we’ll
talk more.” With that she leaves the room.

The nurse fiddles with the equipment for
the moment and another figure moves in closer and picks up my hand.
“Hey, welcome back!”

My vision is clouded and my hearing
feels like it’s filtered through an old phonograph. “Aiden?”

“You can’t see me?” He
asks, his tone laden with disappointment.

“Not really.” I reach up
touch his hair; it’s not long enough to be Aiden. “Eli?”

“Yeah,” he says, voice still
heavy with sadness. “We have all been really worried about you.
I called your Dad and let him know you were awake."

“What happened? Where’s
Aiden?” I rattle out. There’s a terrible feeling in the
pit of my stomach, like something is very wrong.

“You were shot.” He
hesitates. “Twice.” His grip tightens on my hand.

The words he just said blow my mind. I
would remember that. Wouldn’t I? My heart races. I try to
swallow the lump in my throat but I can’t; it’s too dry.
“Who?”

“Shay, you need to calm down. The
machines are going crazy.” Eli tries to soothe my nerves,
running his thumb along the top of my hand.

A nurse bursts in the door. “Mr.
Walker, you’re going to have to leave. We can’t have her
getting upset.”

I shake my head and affirm my grip on
Eli’s hand. “Stay.”

“I’ll keep her calm, I
promise,” Eli pleads with the nurse. There’s desperation
in his voice that I wouldn’t be able to refuse.

I put my hand to my neck and whisper,
“Water.”

“You need to stay calm. I’m
waiting to hear from Dr. Shah if it’s okay for you to have
liquids. Just sit tight.” She’s curt but sympathetic. I
realize that my vision is starting to come into focus as she walks
away.

Eli looks down at me with worried eyes.
Not even his heavy concern can cloud the beauty of his crystal blue
orbs. I blink several times, hoping it will continue to coax the fine
lines into focus. His raven-black hair is disheveled and there are
dark circles under his eyes. The sleeves on his wrinkled white dress
shirt are rolled up just past his elbows. An involuntary smile
spreads across my lips and I tighten my grip on his hand. Now that
I’m able to see him completely I whisper his name.

“Shhh, don’t try to talk, I
know it must hurt.” Relief replaces the worry. He brings my
fingers up and presses his lips into them and keeps them there.
“Don’t scare me like that again.”

“What happened?” My facial
expressions are exaggerated with my limited ability to make any real
noise.

“We’ll talk about it later.
What’s important is that you are okay, you’re safe and
you’re awake.” He’s really hedging the question,
which causes me to try to dig deeper into my memory to try to figure
out what happened. What’s the last thing I remember?

I remember being at the law office and
looking out onto the river. Eli was there with his boss and detective
Glass, that douchebag. Then it hits me. “I’m not in
trouble anymore.” I whisper with a smile.

Eli looks at me with remorse. “We’ll
talk about it. I don’t want you to overdo it right now.”

Dad walks in the room, and then he stops
and looks at me with his watery eyes as though I’m some kind of
apparition, “Hey, Doodlebug.” He comes to my bedside,
careful not to disturb any of the tubes or cords attached to me.

This reminds me that I’m probably
looking less than stellar. I try to wrap my arms around him, but
can’t manage it. “I’m okay.”

He turns to Eli. “What did the
doctor say?”

“Nothing really; her throat really
hurts and we’re waiting for the nurse to tell her whether she
can have any water.”

Three nurses enter the room, and then
the one I’ve seen before announces, “We are going to take
you down for an MRI. When you get back, Dr. Shah said you could have
some water.”

Eli stands, keeping hold of my hand. The
nurse gives him a look of warning, “Mr. Walker, you’re
going to need to stay here. There isn’t enough room in the
hallway for her entourage as it is.”

I give Eli a questioning look. He smiles
and says, “I’ll explain that later too. Everything’s
going to be fine.” He leans over and presses a kiss on my
forehead. His scent is intoxicating, I inhale deeply and smile.
Locking onto his gaze, he smiles back, “I’ll be here when
you get back; I’m not going anywhere.”

With all the equipment unplugged from
the wall, the nurses wheel my bed out of the room. Outside the door
are a uniformed police officer and someone else that I recognize. I
search my memory for where I know him from. Carl, that’s it. I
wave, remembering he’s McNab’s friend. Then I remember
the fiasco at the signing. It’s coming back to me now bit by
bit. But why is the cop here?

Carl waves back and gives a reassuring
smile. He looks relieved to see me. What the hell happened? I bet
McNab would tell me. Where is McNab anyway?

“He had to go back to L.A. for a
taping and some other business. He’ll be back when he can,”
Carl says.

I’m a bit startled by our
seemingly one-way conversation, but go with it. Where is my pendant?
Carl pats his coat pocket. “Not to worry, we’ve got you
covered in other ways."

***

Harry

Eli and I are left in the room devoid of
the hospital bed. Eli runs his fingers through his hair then gets up
and pours himself a glass of water. He has the shakes, judging from
the amount of water he’s spilling. Poor bastard; I’ve
been there.

“How are you holding up?” My
meaning is layered.

“I’m better now. I know they
said she was going to be okay, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t
worried.” He takes a long drink from the Styrofoam cup.

“No, how are you holding up?”
I raise an eyebrow hoping he’ll get my meaning. “You’ve
gone a week cold turkey. That’s not easy.”

“I’m good.” Eli
affirms with a nod. “Seeing her open her eyes made it all worth
it.”

“What does she remember?” My
hope is that she doesn’t remember shit; it’ll be best for
her if she doesn’t have to relive it over and over in
interrogation.

“Not much. She was asking for
Aiden.” He leans against the counter.

“What did you tell her?”

“I didn’t tell her anything.
The only thing she knows is that she was shot.” Eli’s
hands are still shaking slightly as he rests the cup behind him. I
wonder if it’s the lack of booze or the fact that the first
person she asked for was Aiden?

“The less she knows right now the
better. Once she’s out of here we can go over everything with
her.”

“What if she remembers? What if
she keeps asking for him?” The concern on Eli’s face is
genuine.

“You’ll think of something.
Just hear what I’m saying here. The most important thing right
now is to not upset her. The quicker she heals the quicker she’ll
be out of here." I sit in the chair next to where the bed was
giving him a knowing look.

“Yeah, but when she gets out of
here there’s a good chance she’ll be going straight to
jail.” Eli puffs in frustration.