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| IMPOSTER BY MARIQUA |
CHAPTER 92 |
"Okay...I'm outta' here," Edwards said, "but don't think I'm not going to check on your "guest" story either."
"Knock yourself out," Sam's voice dropped an octave and then rose again. "Oh, and give my regards to your superior."
zzzzzzzzzzz
Sam...Sam...where the hellare you?
Each person standing in the corridor of the gloomy second floor awaited the passage of time for some occurrence that would knock out the jittery aura hovering around them. Slider's hand remained on the button of his cell phone, and he pressed down hard again as he saw the undeniable change passing over the face of the man whose persona, by rights, should never have seen the light of day.
He's drawing power from her...she juices his energy and makes it all come together for him...
What do I do? He's there...with Slider...they're arguing...Slider said the house belonged to Todd...Nick told me that Todd was an alter...and Tea...he mentioned her again...
Sherry's head swam with the flooding of these fragments of information. Was she in a dream? Would she wake up from all this and be instantly hurled out of a complex net of unreality? This is getting me nowhere...I want answers...and I want them now!
zzzzzzzzzzz
Sykes' body convulsively jerked when he heard the cell phone ring. He whipped the phone to his ear.
"Edwards?"
"Yes...it's me. I've run into a complication."
"Complication? You're in the house, right?"
"Yeah...I'm still here, but I was discovered...you're not going to like this either. Sam Rappaport came out of nowhere, and he and I had a very strange encounter."
"I told you to be careful!"
"I was...he was hiding out in some dark room...who knows why. He laid into me about being there...the usual, threatening legal stuff."
"Sam Rappaport is a pain in the ass...ignore him. You're not there to worry about that jerk...he'll be my problem. Just find out where our fugitive is...ASAP!"
"This is more like a house of horrors in here...and I can't just jump out of the shadows and yell "surprise!" Edwards' voice snapped.
"All I want is confirmation that he's there," Sykes said as calmly as he could. "There's no risk unless you leave yourself open to it."
"You'll get your confirmation," Edwards' tone became more businesslike. "Let me know if the ladies make a move, though."
"I'm watching the car...oh, and Edwards...I want this collar."
"Yeah...I know that, sir," a surly edge crept into Edwards' voice as he signed off again.
Sykes shook his head as he clicked off the phone. Don't you dare blow this for me, Edwards...this could be what shoots me to the top...
zzzzzzzzzzz
"Do you see her, Slider?" Nick whispered so that the woman at the end of the hall could not possibly hear him. "Isn't she a work of art?"
"...remember back then? Michelle was a pretty thing, but she wasn't exquisitely crafted like she is. Her mind was much too pliable and innocent for me anyway...I just enjoyed her enthusiasm and her lust for life. It really fired me up."
"...Sherry...such a sophisticated woman but with a delicate, trusting heart. I like that about her. I can play with her soul and lure her into my world with minimum effort, but she does like to resist...that's what turns me on."
You want me to take a swing at you, don't you? This is all part of your master plan -- to make Sherry think that you're the injured party. I don't know what lies you've fed her in that room either, or if she would believe any of this. It's your word against mine, Nick...but I've got other ammunition...
zzzzzzzzzzz
Sherry's eyes focused in on the shapes at the end of the hallway, and she willed her immobilized limbs to move. Two men were waiting at the end of the hall for her -- men who had influenced her more than other men, and both managing to successfully penetrate the hard shell of her eastern fortitude. She had been a disciplined, single-minded professional before she met Slider, and yet his natural, unaffected ways had stirred her heart and softened her cool, remote manner. Beneath his youthful, unassuming facade was an intelligence that amazed her and often left her breathless to know more about what was behind his sharp, blue eyes. Then there was Nick...at first an apparent drifter who seemed to have had some psychotic break, and yet a mysterious man who radiated such power that it sucked her into his sphere and induced her to forget that she had ever had another life without him. As with Slider, a potent intelligence thrived in Nick's mind, but it was far more disturbing and fascinating to her.
Slider...Nick...Nick...Slider...why do I feel as if I have to make some life-altering decision now? I can just talk to them...I'm no prisoner here...or am I?
Nick's eyes retained their soft, inner glow as she moved silently down the hallway. An iridescent, white light trailed behind her moving form, and for a moment, his thoughts caved in to another vision of her gently draped in white, flowing material. You are my destiny...come to me...
zzzzzzzzzzz
Sam hurried out of the room and into the hallway, finding his way as much from memory as sight. How could he have ever really forgotten this place? It had left a deep scar on his life, and just being here had reawakened the sense of shame that he had left a defenseless boy to fend for himself with an abusive parent. But he knew something else now...something that mattered in the whole scheme of his influence on Todd's life. The boy he had thought he had sometimes been able to help was, in fact, not the same boy that Slider had introduced him to. That boy had been the polar opposite of the reclusive, introverted Todd Manning. An alter had ushered himself into Todd's world to handle anything that he couldn't. As difficult as this reality was to understand, Sam knew that Todd had survived only by his creative mind's ability to erect a hero that would fight the terrible enemy within -- his own paralyzing fear.
Now this conjured up "hero" was growing in power and could destroy the real heart and soul of the boy he once knew. I know that Slider asked me to be here for a reason...I can do whatever is necessary to get Todd back with us...it's a second chance to make things right...
zzzzzzzzzzz
Tea looked at the car clock and resisted the urge to wring her hands. Her nerves were shot from waiting, and Viki's stalwart presence did nothing to ease her apprehension. She had the eerie sense that something was about to happen inside the house. Did she just sit and wait for Slider to signal them? What if something had happened to prevent him from doing so? It hit home again how brutally her husband had been manipulated by the demonic forces that had risen within him. How could she fight power like this?
"Viki...you'd better talk some sense into me...before it's too late."
"Too late for what?"
"Too late for you to stop me from going in."
Viki sighed a small sigh and looked out the car window again, turning her head suddenly toward Tea.
"What do you want to do?"
Tea's eyes glistened as she saw Viki's unquestioning acceptance of her decision.
"What you want to do...get to him...talk to him. Just as you said before, Viki...we both have knowledge of the other Todd -- the one that is being held captive by an invention of his mind."
"Then let's not analyze it any further," Viki said quietly but with new purpose underscoring her words, "...my brother has to be saved."
zzzzzzzzzzz
Sam's foot hit the bottom step of the stairs and looking up, he saw two men above him staring down the hallway. One of the men seemed poised as if in readiness for some potential occurrence, and the other...the other, even in the low light, had an appearance which was intimately familiar and seeing him again struck sharply on the chords of his heart. Todd...I'm here...I'm not backing down this time...no matter what.
Continuing his climb upward, Sam's presence suddenly became known to Slider who raised his hand quickly to check him from coming up too soon. Thank God...just in time...
I've got to reconnect the past...now...in this house...and he's the best way to do it...
Nick's mind had wandered into fragrant meadows with the woman coming toward him -- her ebony hair swaying gently in the breeze and her ruby lips beckoning and demanding his touch. Perfect...perfect woman...perfect world...
The dreamlike image shifted into into a pattern of filmy, melting swirls as a violent awareness of sudden, unprotected vulnerability grabbed hold and savagely shook him. He could feel something ...or someone...rubbing up against the mind he was still sharing with someone else. His blazing eyes cast about for this new interruption.
Coach...
To Be Continued
