7:5
Jack settled down into his body. It was sore all over and the taste of blood was in his mouth. He had rope burns over his reddening arms and a pounding headache.
He looked up, “Sally?”
She was still in the shadows behind the counter.
“Jack?”
“Yeah. He’s gone.”
She stood up shaking, “How do I know it’s really you?”
“I swear, it’s me. Did you hear what he said? We don’t have much time. Please.”
She slowly made her way around the room to have a look. Even in the dim light of the lantern she could see that the dark circles under his eyes were gone and his face had more color. He was spitting the blood out of his mouth.
She started to untie him, “Jesus, Jack if it’s not really you, I swear I’ll kick your ass.”
“Don’t worry. It wouldn’t take much to kick my ass right now.”
It was getting close to 3:00 A.M. and his body was exhausted.
“God, you were right. My grandmother is part of it. She has to be,” Sally started to cry, “What do we do now?”
With the last knot loose he sat up, stretching.
“We need to find some answers. We need to know who Howard Killien is.”
Sally had an ashamed look on her face.
“I know who he is.”
Sally spent the next hour telling Jack everything she knew about Killien, the cult and Linda.
The lights came back on at 4:00 A.M. She went into the back room to make some coffee. They were going to need it. There would be no sleep for either of them that night.
7:6
Sally quickly shuffled through the papers she had pulled out of the box. Jack anxiously waited, looking over her shoulder. She set a clipping aside on the counter. In tall bold letters it said,
THE BEAST CAPTURED.
It was a faded front page from the Gazette Telegraph. Another shorter article was from the Rocky Mountain News. It read in much smaller type,
SURVIVORS OF MURDEROUS CULT HOSPITALISED.
Sally scanned down the paragraphs searching for names. She saw Howard James Killien, numerous investigators and then, almost at the end of the article, Linda Holland and Lisa Stockard. They had both been taken to the Colorado State Hospital in Pueblo.
7:7
“What if we went and talked to Lisa Stockard?”
Sally was still scanning down the article in the newspaper. Jack was leaning over her shoulder.
“You mean go to the state hospital?”
“Yeah. They have a psychiatric ward there. That’s where Linda was until a few months ago. Maybe Lisa’s still there too.”
“There’s no telling where Lisa ended up. She could be in some other state, as far as we know, if she’s even still alive.”
She looked up, “We have to try. She’s the only one who might have some answers for us.”
Jack agreed. There was too much at stake not to try, but even if they found her, would they be allowed to speak to her?
“Let’s say we do find her, and let’s say they let us in. What if she’s so far gone from everything that’s happened to her that she can’t tell us anything?”
Sally folded the paper and set it back in the box.
“There’s only one way to find out.”
She pushed his coat at him, over the glass showcase.
She smiled, reassuringly, “I’ll drive.”
The Colorado State Hospital was located in Pueblo, normally a thirty-minute drive from Canon City. Due to the slick highway, it took almost an hour. Jack spent most of that hour deep inside his fear and regret. He thought about that woman in the alley, the look of her face as she felt death’s weight on her throat. She hadn’t deserved to die, not like that.
Jack had to clasp his hands together, to keep from shaking. It felt as though the shadow in the alley, his own shadow, was over him now. It stood above him, grinning and waiting. It was ever darkening, casting its anger over Jack. He was sure that if he didn’t find a way out from under its pitch-blackness soon, he never would. His whole world would become the pain, the fear…the blood.
His breath was short and stuttering as he clamped his fingers together tighter. His back muscles seized into a vibrating cramp. Jack’s soul, soaked through with helplessness, made him feel like he was going to explode into a million pieces. He started to slowly lean forward and back, in a kind of rocking motion, in the bucket seat. It was the only thing that seemed to calm the anxious tension.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sally saw him moving back and forth, staring blankly out the window. His torso looked like it was floating gently in a swimming pool. She couldn’t think of anything to say, so she said nothing.
7:8
Jack cleared his throat to get the attention of the woman behind the counter. She had been busy typing on the computer keyboard.
She turned and smiled, “Can I help you?”
Sally spoke up, “Yes. We would like to speak with Lisa Stockard, if that is possible.” She tried to sound polite and respectable. They nervously waited for a response.
They both expected to be asked many questions about their business with Lisa. They also expected to be denied. But they had no other options. She knew more about the cult that anyone, aside from Linda.
The receptionist said, “One moment please,” and picked up the telephone.
After a short pause the person at the other end answered.
The woman looked up at Jack and Sally as she spoke, “Yes. Lisa Stockard has some more visitors.”
Her vision shifted down to the desk, “Yes, all right.”
She hung up. Looking at Jack, she smiled again,
“You can have a seat over there if you like. Someone will be right with you.”
“Thank you.”
Jack tried not to sound surprised.
More visitors? Someone has been here talking to her?
A nurse soon pushed through the stainless steel double doors and approached them. “Hello. I’m Nurse Stephens. I’ll take you down. Follow me please?”
Sally was dumbfounded. This was far too easy. They obviously thought that they were someone they weren’t.
The nurse led them through the doors leading into a long hallway. She continued halfway up, stopping at the elevator. She pushed the down arrow and waited. The light above the doors indicated that it was currently on the fifth floor.
She turned to Sally, “Your people were just here yesterday. I’d hate to upset Lisa. I suggest that you be as brief as possible.”
Sally began to speak, “Actually we…”
Jack interrupted, “Don’t worry ma’am. It shouldn’t take long at all.”
When the woman turned back toward the elevator Sally gave Jack a confused look. His silence seemed to say back to her, you’d better let me do the talking. I don’t want to screw this up.
A ding announced the arrival of the transport they would take down to sub-level two. All three stepped inside and rode in silence as they descended into the hospital basement.
They stopped with a slight jerk, and then stepped out into a large room. A big screen television was playing a re-run of Gilligan’s Island. Five women looked up from their card game at a table on the far side of the room. A Ping-Pong table sat empty. Sally stared at the little white ball next to the red paddles on the floor. It had a dent on one side. The flat spot in the plastic held a dark shadow. Somewhere inside that shadow, she could see what looked like a face. She quickly looked away.
Her vision found a young girl leaning against a wall. This gauze bandages covered both of her wrists. Sally imagined deep scars underneath where the sullen looking girl had attempted to drain the blood from her body. She pressed her eyes closed tightly for a moment and then she felt Jack’s hand on her back. It felt warm, kind.
Her nervousness faded away and they walked quickly to catch up to the woman who had already made it to the nurse’s station. She was talking to a man at the desk.
“You okay?” Jack whispered, leaning close to Sally’s ear.
“Yeah,” she whispered back, “let’s just get this over with quickly.”
The nurse pointed to a woman sitting by herself in a thick cushioned chair in the corner. She hugged her bent legs up close to her chest. Her body bobbed slowly, back and forth. “That’s her.”
She gave them a disapproving glare, “Just like I told’m yesterday. Introduce yourselves politely and speak to her in a calm tone. If she gets agitated, she won’t talk to you.”
copyright ©2002 Brian Holtz
All rights reserved