Forty-Four Box Set, Books 1-10 (44) (14 page)

Nathaniel walked slowly toward the back of the house, but then stopped.

“Oh, and, Abby,” he said. “It was fun seeing you last night. You know, with the college
professor
. You were standing in the trees. Or a part of you was. You didn’t exactly look whole. I’m not sure how you were able to be there, watching me as I worked. But it’s apparent that we are linked somehow. It’s intriguing, to say the least.”

I glared at him.

“I’ll be back. Nothing too invasive. I’ll come find you when things have settled down.”

He didn’t seem to be in any rush but before I knew it he had disappeared into the kitchen. A moment later we heard a door squeak open. Dr. Mortimer ran by me in pursuit, but the killer vanished in the cold, snow-filled night.

CHAPTER 33

I heard the sound of a car starting, followed shortly by another.

“I hope Ben can stop him,” Kate said.

“I wish he had let the police go after him,” I said. “I doubt Nathaniel would think twice about doing whatever he thinks is necessary to get away.”

We stood there helplessly until the police finally arrived.

We told them how Nathaniel had confessed to killing those four people as part of some twisted experiment and how his brother had gone after him. We left out the part about my visions. At this point they didn’t need to know that. It wouldn’t help them catch him, just help paint me as more of a freak.

They questioned us for what felt like a long time.

“Well, that’s all for now,” the officer in charge said. “But we’re going to need to talk to Dr. Mortimer and we’ll probably have a few more questions for you in the coming days. We’ve got an APB out on this Nathaniel Mortimer. After what you told us, he’s definitely a person of interest.”

The police left and we were about to do the same when Dr. Mortimer came back home.

“He’s gone,” he said dejectedly. “He was always a better driver than I was. I lost him right away. I’ve been driving around all this time looking for him. I lost him.”

We were quiet.

Kate didn’t say anything but I sensed she was a little suspicious of the story. Maybe she thought he hadn’t tried hard enough. Maybe subconsciously he let him get away. After all, Nathaniel was his brother. Blood was thicker than water. Not everybody would be able to see things as black and white and right or wrong and turn a family member over to the authorities.

“Did you know your brother was a murderer the entire time?” Kate said finally.

I wished she hadn’t asked that. I knew that she wouldn’t be able to live with the answer. The dark answer I had seen around him that night at the hospital, which had led me to jump to the wrong conclusion.

He didn’t say anything right away. Then he let out a long sigh.

“No, not the entire time. Just since the fire. When we arrived that night, I saw Nathaniel in the crowd and I followed him into the woods. But I lost him then too. I couldn’t figure out what he would be doing there and then later I read your story about the body being found. I put it together, but I was hoping I was wrong.”

He looked over at me.

“Abby, you don’t even think twice about what he said to you. It’s not true. None of it. He’s gone off the deep end. His genius has betrayed him and it’s led him down a very dark path. We performed CPR on you and that’s what saved you. And if it wasn’t that, it was a miracle. But it sure as hell wasn’t him.”

I didn’t say anything.

“So it had nothing to do with the serum that he injected into Abby?” Kate said. “You’re sure?”

“I’m certain of it.”

I wished I could believe him, but I just wasn’t so sure.

We all sat in silence for a while. I stared off into the flames in the fireplace.

“Anyway, he’s gone now,” Dr. Mortimer said after a time. “I don’t think the police will find him. He’ll vanish. He has the means to disappear for a long, long time and I’m afraid he’ll just find another place in which to continue his experiments. But he won’t be back in Bend.”

“Oh, he’ll be back,” Kate said dryly. “He’ll come for Abby. He made that real clear before he slipped away.”

Dr. Mortimer sighed again. I could feel his guilt and it made me sad. He was being consumed by it like a log in the fire.

And then, of course, there was Kate. I knew she was troubled by the fact that he hadn’t called the police right away, that he had protected a murderer even if it was his younger brother. I knew that it would be a relationship breaker.

“I want you two to go home and try to get some rest. Especially you, Abby,” he said. “We can continue this tomorrow.”

“I’m not sure there’s anything to continue, Ben,” Kate said as she got up.

That’s just what I was afraid she would say.

CHAPTER 34

So Nathaniel got away.

He had always been a few steps ahead of everyone.

And even though Dr. Mortimer had said that his brother wouldn’t be back, it was hard not to worry. I felt it in my bones. Nathaniel would never be too far away for too long. After all, like he said, we were somehow connected.

I told Jesse about it at lunch. He saw how upset I was and moved next to me, even putting his arm around me to stop my shaking. Amanda shot us a nasty look, but I just didn’t care anymore. There were bigger things to think about now.

“Craigers, okay, now it’s time to let this all go. Move forward. Think about Abby for a change.”

I nodded. It felt so right sitting with Jesse. I loved him even more than before. He was what I wanted.

“I still want to talk, you know. Not here, not now at school. Stop avoiding it, damn it. I have things I need to say to you.”

He pulled me tighter.

“All right, we’ll talk, I promise,” he said. “But I have a coach I need to see about letting me back on the team and then I’m helping the old man again at the garage. Wish me luck!”

I was happy Jesse was trying to get back on the team. It was where he belonged.

“I know you can do it. Make him listen. And stop skipping practice or I’m gonna lock up your snowboard until summer.”

He laughed. It was a deep and hearty chuckle and it made me smile just hearing it.

“Okay, gotta get going,” he said and walked off.

I threw out my trash and went to the library. I was really going to try harder for the rest of the semester. Maybe I could get my grades up, at least a little.

I thought about Dr. Mortimer. I couldn’t blame him for not wanting Nathaniel to go to jail. I knew Kate didn’t feel the same, but I wouldn’t let anybody take Kate away from me. The way I saw it, it was what families did. I was hoping Kate would see it that way eventually.

After school I headed over to Dr. Krowe’s office. I was expecting him to bring up visiting the lake again. He was right. I was ready and I decided that I would go in the spring, when the weather was better. Different.

I also decided that I was ready to talk to him. About everything. The visions, the Mortimer brothers, how I had seen the woman dead in the river. I knew Dr. Krowe was a key to my healing and I was hoping that by telling him everything, I would get something in return. That all the memories that were trapped at the bottom of that dark lake would rise up and come back to me.

CHAPTER 35

I saw it in the distance as we pulled onto a gravel road. Dr. Krowe was driving and Kate sat in the back. It was May now, but there was still snow on the banks. The water shimmered in the sun.

I told them that I needed a few minutes by myself. They stayed in the car as I walked over to the lake, the warmth feeling good on my face.

It was time. Time to face it.

I knew Jesse would be there. He was standing at the edge of the water, throwing stones and watching them skip playfully across the surface.

“Hey, Craigers,” he said as I walked up.

I smiled and gave him a long hug. It was good to be held in his arms.

“Hey, Jess,” I said.

We sat down on a log. He twirled a pine needle between his fingers. The sun was shifting in the trees that were blowing in the wind. It felt like summer: free, breezy, relaxed. Days where he would ride his skateboard alongside me or we would go to the farmer’s market or shoot some hoops. Or play soccer, just the two of us, at the park by the river, Jesse in goal and me slamming in shots one after another.

He adjusted his hat, squinting in the brightness.

“So, Dr. Krowe has really helped you, huh?” he said.

I nodded.

Even in my black and white world, Jesse looked so real. I put my hand on his shoulder.

“You needed help, that’s all,” he said. “So I figured I should stay around a little longer. And they let me. I kept waking up in my old bed every morning, smelling bacon from the kitchen, hearing my dad talk to himself while he made coffee. I just figured I’d stay and help until you were okay to be on your own.”

He pushed up his hat to the very tip of his head revealing the large, horrible scar that ran across his entire forehead, from where he had gone through the windshield last year when we were driving back from the mountain. I put my fingers on it, rubbed it. It felt real, too. Big, fat tears started rolling down my face as I traced over it.

“So, you understand then,” he said. “That I don’t live in this world anymore.”

“Yeah, I remember now, Jesse.” I held his hand. “I remember everything.”

We were coming back from Mt. Bachelor. We had just finished the best day ever of snowboarding. The snow had been fresh and perfect, pure powder magic. We had great runs and ended the day with a cheeseburger and fries at the lodge, and then started driving back home.

Metallica blasted in the background. Jesse was driving his blue Land Rover. Too fast, as usual. I never told Jesse to slow down, but I remember that on that day I had on account of the weather. And he did, for a while, but picked up speed again. He was always such a speed freak. He couldn’t help it. On the basketball court, behind the wheel. It was just who he was.

He passed cars that were going slow. Music filled the car, drum solos pounding around our conversation. We were talking about Amanda. She didn’t like that we were hanging out together so much. She knew what was developing. She had sensed something was happening between us, now that I had split up with Conner. She knew that Jesse loved me.

“Okay, don’t get mad,” he said as we drove. Big flakes were falling and sticking to the car. I could see dark shiny patches of ice on the road. “I didn’t tell her you were coming up with me today. I told her I needed to think about our relationship on my own. So if she asks, you weren’t here.”

A wave of guilt radiated through me. I didn’t like lying, didn’t like sneaking around. I didn’t know what would end up happening with us, but they had been together for a while. And seriously together. I didn’t want to be the cause of the breakup. It made me feel terrible.

But it was obvious, and Jesse knew my feelings for him had changed since the night under the stars.

We loved each other.

“Don’t worry, Craigers, I’ll fix this. It’ll all be fine.”

He placed his hand on my thigh and the music was loud and my heart thumped like crazy and I felt so good inside.

“Okay,” I said.

“I feel bad too, you know, but I don’t love her. I love you. I always have. I wish it hadn’t played out like this, but I’ve been waiting for you since we were kids,” he said, his green eyes melting into mine. “I’m not ever letting you go.”

And then we hit the ice.

“So your memory is back,” he said.

“Yeah, seems so,” I said, more tears streaming down my face.

Jesse sighed a heavy, sad sigh. It was the saddest sound I had ever heard in my entire life.

“It’s all my fault. I was so stupid. I am so, so very sorry,” he said, pushing my tears away with the back of his hand. “You and my dad were right. I was always going too fast. I’m a fool. Don’t you see? I ruined us.”

“Jesse,” I said, “you need to forgive yourself.”

He shook his head, and I could see his eyes were filled and glassy. It broke my heart to see him so sad.

I put my head on his shoulder and felt his arm around me. We stared out at the lake. The sun was hitting the soft waves at such a perfect angle now. It looked so beautiful. It was hard to believe that it held such darkness.

“I hate this place,” he said.

“Do you come here a lot?” I asked.

“All the time,” he said.

He pointed.

“See there, that’s where you went in. Somehow, you flew out of the car before it crashed into the tree. You mustn’t have had your seatbelt on, because you were thrown clear, right into the lake. There was a layer of ice on top back then, of course. You went through, but some guys pulled you out.”

I remembered that white surface cracking under my weight and then the icy water engulfing me. My body was in shock. I was so cold, and I was trying to hold my breath. I tried for as long as I could until I couldn’t, until I had to breathe, inhale that dark icy water. And then I sank down.

“And there’s the tree that the car finally crashed into,” he said, pointing again. “I died instantly. There was no pain. I want you to know that. You’ve had a much harder time with everything.”

I sighed.

I looked behind me. Dr. Krowe was in the car, smoking, and Kate was doing something on her phone.

“What are you exactly? Are you just in my imagination or a real ghost? I don’t really understand.”

Jesse stared out.

“I think I’m real. I feel real, but I’m not sure. I’m in contact with others sometimes. They say that I’m trapped between two worlds. Like you, Craigers.”

“What?”

“Well, you weren’t supposed to come back,” he said. “You were supposed to have died with me. But the doctor pulled you back as you were transitioning, just as you were coming over.”

I wiped my face. We were supposed to be together.

“And I was waiting for you too. And then suddenly you weren’t there and I was alone. Terribly alone. I found out that you were staying in this world. Mostly.”