“So what now? We heading out to see whatever you needed to see?” he asked.
Jane looked at the digital alarm clock that came with the hotel room and saw that the late afternoon had arrived.
“First thing tomorrow. You need rest; I do too. We’ll eat in a couple of hours and get an early night’s rest. It’ll be plenty exhausting tomorrow, I do believe.”
Darkness wandered into town like an awkward stranger looking for a place to rest his head. It pierced through the hours of twilight and colored the sky a deep purple as it made room for the stars to appear. The moon, shrouded by a black cloud that refused to move, was not allowed to shine its fickle light to aid the town. Before long Brettville was caught underneath the unforgiving blackness that held the town in its ever-tightening grip.
A stormy wind blew through the streets. Without purpose or meaning its considerable force clashed against the houses and rustled through the pines. Roaring and howling as it made its way ever forward. Forward, toward nowhere in particular.
The wind’s primal growl desecrated many dreams and twisted them into the kind of bizarre nightmares that could sometimes haunt you in your waking hours. Minds tainted by the unforgiving force of a raging Mother Nature.
Jane was incapable of dreaming in the way normal people did. Where normal people were swept away by their dreams, caught in a whirlwind of chaos blowing inside their minds, Jane retained complete control. When she slept, her brain, altered by years of unnatural chemicals forced into her system, allowed her to traverse the insides of her mind, completely aware of all that existed there.
Her mind was a dark house during her sleeping hours and, though she could turn on the light, she often preferred to walk through it with just a flashlight. That way, she chose what thoughts and feelings to focus on, rather than become overwhelmed by the everything of all there was to her.
Tonight she was accompanied by the seven little girls that had come before her. They tried to keep up with her as their little bodies got dragged down by the weight of the cancerous lumps on their necks and shoulders.
Jane had met these girls when she was but a child, back in the laboratory. They had scared her to tears as they bounced around her bed, begging for the attention others could no longer give them.
It had been several more years before Jane realized what the girls really were now. Spirits, in a sense; the ghosts of what Dr. Greer had considered the failures leading to his success. His horrible pride had come with the deaths of seven young children.
They wanted attention. They wanted to connect. As Jane had grown older and less afraid, she indulged them until they became part of the depths of her mind.
Now they walked with her through her house. They played awkward games of tag with each other, occasionally tumbling over when their lumps caused them to lose their balance. Laughter filled Jane’s mental house when she slept and for that she was grateful.
She carefully walked up the stairs as she illuminated each next step with her flashlight. Tonight a subtle mist lingered on the floor, bringing a cold that she rarely felt when she slept. It came from her own confusion, she knew. Had she done the right thing, showing Caleb the things she did? Could he help her? Would he, when the time came?
The cold tickled her toes as she reached the second floor of her house. There were two more floors after this one where her most important moments were stored. Below, of course, lay a basement so large that Mount Everest would fit inside twice, containing all her memories.
Jane had memories of everything. Nothing got discarded. It just got piled up underneath the surface where it sometimes screamed at her in the most inconvenient moments. Because she heard so many thoughts she had not only her own memories, but all the memories she found in the minds of others, as well.
She stopped walking when she passed a glass case to her right. Carefully she pointed her flashlight in its direction and saw the stuffed red cat shielded by the glass.
As part of an experiment she had been given a cat when she was twelve. They had wanted to know if she was capable of forming attachments to animals, and, if so, what her attachment style would be.
The experiment hadn’t been a great success. Not because Jane had harmed the cat, but because the animal had been deathly afraid of her. It would not even approach her. When two researchers had forced the animal near her, it had struggled so terribly that it broke its own neck in a blind panic.
Why was this memory important enough to feature on the second floor of her mental house? Animals were supposed to be pure; that was what everybody said. They didn’t care about what you looked like or what kind of clothes you wore. They looked only at what was inside of you. The cat had looked and came to a painful conclusion. Whatever was inside of Jane was meant to be feared.
The cat was not alone. All animals were afraid of Jane and stayed out of her way. They emphasized her inability to connect with anyone. For all the most intimate thoughts she heard, she had never once known another’s loving embrace. There hadn’t been a mother to hold her. There was no father to protect her. No shoulder to lean on.
But at least the girls were with her, Jane thought as she listened to the giggles coming from the floor below her. She decided to join them tonight and leave her worried mind to sort itself out. She turned around and started walking back.
A flash of lightning drew her attention when she passed the window to her right. Then a loud bang sounded outside.
Jane looked out the window and saw only the vast darkness that always surrounded her house. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust, and when they did, she saw him standing outside, looking up at her.
He was gorgeous. His pale, almost silver body was sculpted to absolute perfection. Each and every one of his strong muscles was visibly accentuated, forming the most beautiful man Jane had ever seen. His dark hair, so long that it fell to the middle of his back, graced a deeply distinguished head. His eyes were wide and betrayed an intelligence that was far deeper, and far older, than any normal man could possess.
If Jane had not felt the evil in his heart she would have fallen in love with him. She would have rushed outside and, in the comfort of her sleep, she would have made passionate love to him.
Even now, though she knew how dangerous he was, part of her wanted to jump his perfect body and press it against her own. Run her hands through that perfect, thick hair. Feel his lips on hers.
That wasn’t why he was here, Jane knew. He was here to see who she was and why, even if only temporarily, she had caused so much trouble for him. It was Jane that had prevented him from completely consuming Ethan Walker, same as it had been her that pulled him off Caleb.
Their eyes met and locked, and then he raised his hand to greet her. If nothing else, he appreciated a good challenge and knew that he had just found one.
Jane opened her window and leaned outside.
“I don’t know what you are yet, but I will find out,” she called.
The man said nothing. Instead, he listened to her patiently.
“And if you are truly intent on destroying this town, I will find a way to stop you. I know that you have been doing this for a very long time, and that you are very good at it.”
Still the man said nothing.
“I’m good at what I do, too. This will end before the month is up. Promise.”
It was then that the man first spoke, his grin unnaturally wide. “Before the month is up? Deal!”
Another flash of lightning filled the darkness outside her house and, after it faded, the man was nowhere to be seen.
Jane leaned out of her window a little longer. The gauntlet had been thrown down. They now knew each other and, from now on, they would see each other coming.