Chapter Twenty-Four

She stopped at the gift shop to pick up a bouquet of flowers before she went up the Donna's room. As she was paying, she glanced up at the glass case behind the cashier. A man was walking past the shop, catching her eye. She whipped her head around, but he was already past where she could see. The cashier handed her the change and she grabbed the flowers and rushed over to the door.

Walking out the exit was a tall, bald man. Dana turned around quickly, in case he might turn around and see her. She didn't think he would recognize her, but she didn't want to take any chances. She hurried to the elevator, pulling her hair down in front of her face. When the doors opened, she went in, willing the doors to close quickly.

Getting off the elevator, she walked down the hall to Donna's room. When Dana walked in, there was a nurse checking on her, looking at the back of her head where they had done the surgery. She was awake and smiling, though she looked pale and worn out.

"Dana! They're beautiful, set them over here so I can see them," Donna said, "I'm so glad to see you." "And I'm glad you're finally feeling better," Dana answered, setting the flowers on the stand next to her bed. They chatted for a while until Donna started getting tired. Dana was standing up to leave when Donna stopped her.

"I need to tell you something," she lowered her voice. Dana pushed the door mostly closed. "I keep remembering something very odd. I keep having these dreams about a striped person," she said in an exaggerated whisper, 'he has no hair, but he has these stripes across his face. He scares me." Dana wondered if the surgery had caused any problems with Donna's memory or personality. It was possible it might be some drug she was on as well.

"I told the nurse, but I don't think she believed me." Dana looked at her guiltily. "I'll find out about that, I promise."

Donna closed her eyes. Dana quietly left the room, wondering what that last comment could possibly mean. She shrugged to herself and adjusting the strap of her purse, she headed back to the elevator to leave.

When she got down to the parking lot, her phone beeped, letting her know that she had voicemail. Dialing the voicemail number, she listened as she heard Detective Allen's voice.

When she called him back, he asked her if she would do him a favor and come in to his office as soon as she could. It was an odd message, but it wasn't completely unreasonable. She drove downtown and parked her car, walking about a block to the building his office was in.

Dana walked toward his office and stopped in the doorway. Inside, Allen was standing behind an older black woman that was sitting next to an extremely effeminate young man. They were all looking at a laptop computer screen. The detective looked up when he noticed Dana standing just outside.

She walked in and stood behind the two people seated at the desk. She looked over them to see the screen of the computer. She held her breath when she saw what they were doing.

There was a face on the screen and the woman there was changing certain features according to what the young man was saying. The man�s face on the screen looked familiar to her, and she realized who it was that they were trying to make the sketch of.

"The eyes are deeper set in his face," she told the woman. Jacob looked at her sharply, and Dana turned to face him. "I saw him, the other night. And then today as well. He was at the hospital when I went to see Donna."

"Hi there, I'm Mikey," said the younger man, holding his hand out. She shook it, smiling at him. He tilted his head as he looked up at her. His eyes went solemn and his smile left his face. He looked back to the computer screen. Dana raised an eyebrow, not sure what it was that warranted the sudden disapproval, but then went back to the picture. Between the two of them, they came up with a picture that was an uncanny match.

The woman closed up the laptop and took it out of the room. She told them that she was going to go have copies printed out for them. When she was gone, the two men left in the room both turned to Dana.

"I thought you were going to tell me if you found out anything," Jacob said to her as she stood next to the recently vacated chair. Dana looked down guiltily, then back up to meet his eyes. "I did tell you. I just didn't tell you everything, is all." She suddenly remembered what Donna had told her at the hospital.

"I have a question for you. Did any of those autopsies show any paint? Any black paint on any of the bodies?" He looked at her for a second, and then nodded. "They found traces of black latex paint on two of the bodies."

"I think that he is the same guy that attacked Donna," she told him. "Can you have them compare the DNA to any of the others?"

"We can talk about that later. Right now, I need you to just stand here for a minute, okay?" he said.

Jacob was looking at Mikey expectantly. Mikey looked at Dana for a moment before his eyes went unfocused. She wrinkled her forehead and looked at him, waiting.

In a strange monotone, he started to speak. "There is a dark cloud around her, surrounding the bright white light at the center. She needs your help to get rid of the shadow. You must help her."

Dana looked at his made up face and feminine clothing dubiously. He shook his head and he brought his eyes back into focus. He looked at her closely now, she felt like she was being inspected for something.

"What exactly is going on here?" she asked. The two men looked at each other, then Jacob started to talk.

"Mikey is a psychic. He came up with that sketch from a dream he had. He says he's never seen this person, but that Rachel or someone kept telling him that this is who killed her and that he needed to contact me."

Dana looked at him in surprise. "That picture was so close, even before I came in. That's incredible."

"Turn around for a minute, please?" Mikey asked her. She turned her back to him and looked at the whiteboard standing in the corner. Jacob watched as Mikey held his hands out about six inches from her body, and started moving his hands around her back with a scraping motion. Every couple strokes, he would shake his hands off, as if there was something on them. She shivered as a cold draft went up her back. He finished by moving his hands in small circles around her back, as if massaging the air behind her.

Mikey stood up to leave. He held a hand out to Jacob and shook it, nodding to Dana as he walked out. She waited until he was down the hall before shutting the door and turning to the detective.

"Are you absolutely sure he had nothing to do with this? It seems really suspicious to me," she said, crossing her arms across her chest. It was a very defensive motion, and she knew it the second that she did it. Jacob sat down in his chair. He ran his hands through his hair, and then rubbed his eyes.

"Dana, you worry me," he said as he looked up. "Sit down, please."