The Possessed

Chapter 12

 
"The ferry leaves from Port Angeles at eight-twenty," Anna said as she and Kaitlyn hurriedly changed their clothes in her bedroom.
"It's started raining again," said Kaitlyn.
They all met a few minutes later in the front hallway. There were ominous stirring noises from the back of the house.
"Shouldn't you leave a note?" Lewis whispered.
Anna sighed. "They'll know," she said briefly.
"I'll leave them the files," Rob said. "Maybe they can do something with them."
Gabriel snorted.
Outside, the sky was cold and gray. The rain seemed to come at them horizontally as they drove to Port Angeles. If they kept the defroster on maximum, it cleared the windshield but scorched their skin; if they turned it down, the windshield immediately steamed over. If they opened the windows, it cleared everything but they froze.
At the ferry the water was navy blue with just a hint of green. They waited in a line of cars and finally drove onto a large boat. It cost twenty-five dollars, and Kaitlyn paid because Lydia only had credit cards.
On the passenger deck Kaitlyn watched the deep blue water slipping away on either side. We're on our way, she thought. To Canada. She had never been to a foreign country.
She was drinking a vending-machine Coke that Rob had brought her when Lewis rushed up, breathless.
"Trouble," he said. "I just talked to some kids in the bathroom. They said if you're under eighteen, you're supposed to have a letter of authorization to get into Canada."
"What?"
"A letter. From your parents or something, I guess. Telling who you are and how long you're going to be there."
"Oh, terrific." Kaitlyn looked at Rob, who shrugged.
"What can we do? We'll just hope they don't ask for one."
"I'm eighteen, anyway," Lydia said. "I'll drive and maybe the rest of you can fake it."
An hour later they cruised into Victoria Harbor. Kaitlyn's breath caught. The sun had come out, and the harbor was a picture begging to be painted. There were lots of little sailboats and lots of clean-looking pink and white buildings.
But she couldn't keep staring; they had to go downstairs again and get in the car. They waited in another line at the customs checkpoint while the knot in Kaitlyn's stomach wound tighter and tighter.
"Where do you live?" a sunglassed customs officer asked Lydia.
Lydia's fingers barely tightened on the wheel. "In California," she said, smiling.
The customs officer didn't smile back. He asked to see Lydia's driver's license. He asked where they were going in Canada and how long they'd be staying. Lydia answered everything in a careless, sophisticated murmur. Then the officer bent a little at the waist to examine the inside of the car.
Look old, Kaitlyn told the others. They all sat up straight and tried to look mature and bored.
The customs officer didn't change expression. He glanced at each of them, then straightened.
"Any of you under eighteen?" he asked Lydia.
Kaitlyn's stomach gave a final sickening twist. Their driver's licenses would show the rest of them were all under eighteen. And then he'd ask for a letter...
Lydia hesitated imperceptibly. Then she said "Oh, no." She said it lightly, with something like a toss of her head. Kaitlyn admired that. Although Lydia was slight, her manner was sophisticated and assured.
The customs officer hesitated. He was looking at Lewis - the one of them who looked youngest. Lydia glanced back at Lewis, too, and although her face was calm, her gaze was almost desperate. Pleading.
Lewis's jaw set, and Kaitlyn felt a ripple in the web.
The customs officer had something hanging at his belt, a pager or walkie-talkie or something. Suddenly it began to shriek.
Not beep. Wail. It went off with a sound like an air-raid siren, a vibrating sound that put Kaitlyn's teeth on edge. People turned to look.
The customs officer was shaking the walkie-talkie, pressing buttons. The shrieking only went up in volume.
The officer looked from the device to the car as if hesitating. Then he grimaced, trying to muffle the electronic shrilling. With an impatient hand, he waved Lydia on.
"Go, go," Lewis whispered excitedly.
Lydia put the car in gear, and they glided off at a majestic five miles an hour. When they reached a main street, Kaitlyn let out her breath. They'd made it!
"Easier than I thought," Rob said.
In the back seat Lewis was chortling. "How about that? One for the home team!"
Kaitlyn turned on him. That ripple she'd felt in the web just before the shrieking began... "Lewis - did you?"
Lewis's grin widened, his eyes sparkling. "I figured if those creeps could sabotage us with long distance PK, I could handle a walkie-talkie. I just made a few little adjustments to give it some feedback."
Lydia glanced back at him again, and for the first time there was something like appreciation in her gray-green eyes. "Thanks," she said. "You saved my you-know-what." Lewis beamed.
Even Gabriel seemed grudgingly impressed. But he asked Lydia smoothly, "Who are those creeps, by the way? The ones who've been trying to kill us with psychic attacks."
"I don't know. Truly, I don't. I know my father has been doing something with the crystal - and he may have people helping him. But I don't know who."
"I wonder if they've stopped," Anna said suddenly. "I mean, there wasn't an attack last night. Maybe they've lost track of us."
"And maybe they're relying on somebody else to keep track," Gabriel said, with a meaningful look at Lydia. She gave something very much like a flounce without interfering with her driving.
"Where am I supposed to go now?" she asked.
There was a pause. Then Rob said, "We're not sure."
"You came here without knowing where you're going?"
"We don't know exactly. We're looking for - "
"Something," Gabriel said, interrupting Rob. Lewis frowned and Kaitlyn gave Gabriel an impatient look.
We decided to trust her. And she's going to find out anyway, as soon as we find it...
"Then let her wait until we find it," Gabriel said aloud. "Why trust any further than we have to?"
Lydia's lips tightened, but she didn't say anything, and she didn't flounce again.
"I figure we have two choices," Rob said. "We can drive up and down the coast blindly, or we can ask people around here if they know where the - " He changed for an instant to silent speech: the rock towers are. "If Anna's mom recognized them, people on the island should know them."
"Can't you remember anything, Anna?" Lewis asked. "Your mom said you were on that trip, too."
"I was five," Anna said.
They decided to ask around. A man at a tourist shop sold them a map and directed them to the Royal British Columbia Museum. But although the museum people recognized Kaitlyn's sketch of an inuk shuk, they had no idea where any might be found on the island. Neither did anyone at the camera shop, or the bookstore, or the British imports store, or the native crafts shop. Neither did the librarians at the Victoria Library.
"Is it time to start driving around blindly?" Gabriel asked.
Lewis pulled out the map.
"We can drive either northeast or northwest," he said. "This island's sort of like a big oval and we're at the bottom. And before you ask, nothing on here looks like our Griffin's Pit. There're thousands of little peninsulas and things all over the coast, and no way to tell any of them apart."
"It's probably too small to be on the map, anyway," Rob said. "Flip a coin: Heads we go east, tails we go west."
Kaitlyn flipped a coin and it came up heads.
They drove northeast, following the coastline, stopping to check the ocean every few miles. They drove until it was dark, but they found nothing resembling the place in their dream.
"But the ocean is right," Anna said, standing on a rock and looking down into the blue-gray water. Gulls were crowded thickly around her - they took off when Kaitlyn or the others came near, but tolerated Anna as if she were a bird.
"It's almost right," Kaitlyn temporized. "Maybe we need to go farther north, or to try going west." It was frustrating to feel she was so close to the place, but not to be able to sense where it was.
"Well, we're not going to find anything tonight," Gabriel said. "The light's gone."
Kaitlyn heard the note of tension in his voice. Not just ordinary Gabriel-tension, but a fine edge that told her he was in trouble.
All day he'd been quieter than usual, withdrawn, as if he were wrapping himself around his private pain.
His control was getting better, but his need was getting worse. It had been nearly thirty-six hours since Kaitlyn had caught him on the beach in Oregon.
And what on earth is he going to do tonight? Kaitlyn wondered.
"I beg your pardon?" Rob said, looking at her quickly.
She'd forgotten to screen her thoughts. Desperately hoping he'd only caught the last bit, she said, "I was wondering what on earth we're going to do tonight. To sleep, I mean. We're almost broke - "
"And starving," Lewis put in.
" - and we certainly can't all sleep in this car."
"We'll have to find a cheap motel," Anna said. "We can afford one room, anyway, since it's off season.
We'd better head back for Victoria."
In Victoria they found the Sitka Spruce Inn, which let them have a room with two twin beds for thirty-eight dollars and didn't ask any questions. The paint inside the room was peeling and the door to the bathroom didn't shut properly, but, as Anna pointed out, it did have beds.
At Rob's direction the girls got the beds. Lydia chose to share with Anna - clearly she hadn't forgotten the strangling. Kaitlyn curled up on the other, pulling the thin coverlet over her. The boys, sleeping on the carpet, had usurped the blankets.
She slept, but lightly. All that evening Gabriel had avoided her, refused to speak with her. Kait could tell by his cold determination that he was bent on solving his problem alone - and she didn't think that he was going to lie there and quietly endure it again tonight. By now she was closely enough attuned to him that she thought she'd wake up when he did.
It worked - mostly. Kaitlyn woke when the hotel door closed with a click. She could sense that Gabriel wasn't in the room.
Getting out of bed stealthily was almost routine now. The only shock came when Kaitlyn looked at the other bed and realized that there was only one figure in it.
Lydia was gone. Not in the bathroom, either. Just gone.
Kaitlyn crept out of the room feeling very grim.
She tracked Gabriel by his presence in the web, feeling him move away from her, following. She wondered if Lydia was with him.
Eventually she came out by the harbor.
Kaitlyn hadn't been afraid walking down the quaint, old-fashioned streets of Victoria. There were a few people out, and an atmosphere of sleepy safety blanketed the town. But here by the harbor it was very quiet, very lonely. The lights of boats and buildings reflected in the water, but it was still dark and the wharf was deserted.
She found Gabriel pacing in the shadows.
He looked something like a wild animal, a captured predator pacing out the confines of his cage. As Kaitlyn got closer, she could sense the intensity of his hunger.
"Where's Lydia?" she said.
He swung around to stare at her. "Can't you leave me alone?"
" Are you alone?"
There was no sound but the soft swish of water for a moment. Then Gabriel said with careful precision,
"I have no idea where Lydia is. I came out by myself."
"Was she still in bed then?"
"I didn't look."
Kaitlyn sighed. All right, then, forget about Lydia, she told herself. There's nothing you can do. "Actually, I came out here to talk about you," she said to Gabriel.
Gabriel gave her a searing glance. All he said was "No."
"Gabriel - "
"It can't go on, Kaitlyn. Don't you see that? Why can't you just leave me to deal with things my way?"
"Because your way means people get hurt!"
He froze. Then he said distinctly, "So does yours."
Kaitlyn didn't understand - she wasn't sure she wanted to understand. Gabriel seemed... vulnerable...
just now. She slapped down the strange, impossible thought that sprang to mind and said, "If you mean me, I can handle myself. If you mean Rob..."
The vulnerability disappeared instantly. Gabriel straightened and gave one of his most disturbing smiles.
"Let's say I meant Rob," he said. "What's he going to do when he finds out?"
"He'll understand. I wish you'd let me tell him. He might be able to help."
Gabriel's smile just grew more unpleasant. "You think so?"
"I'm positive. Rob likes to help people. And, believe it or not, I think he likes you. If you weren't so touchy - "
Gabriel waved a hand in sharp dismissal. "I don't want to talk about him."
"Fine. Let's talk about what you're going to do tonight. Going hunting? Going to find some girl walking alone and grab her?" Kaitlyn stepped closer as she spoke. Dim as it was, she could see the immediate wariness on Gabriel's face.
That's it, she thought. All I have to do is get near enough. His control is so close to breaking...
Gabriel didn't say anything, so she went on. "Whoever she is, she won't know what you're doing. She'll fight you, and that will hurt her. And she probably won't have enough energy, so you'll probably kill her____"
Kaitlyn was very near now. She could see Gabriel's eyes, see the tortured struggle there. She could feel just the flash of his thought, quickly muffled. Danger. Quietly she said, "Is that what you want to happen?"
A muscle in his jaw jerked. "You know it isn't," he raged, equally quiet. "But there isn't any other choice - "
"Oh, Gabriel, don't be stupid," Kaitlyn said and put her arms around him.
He managed to resist for about one and a half seconds.
Then, with shaking hands, he pushed her hair off her neck. His lips were so near the place already.
Kaitlyn bent her head to make it easy for him.
A feeling of something blowing open, breaking through... and then something being released. Something like an electric current or a streak of lightning. Kaitlyn relaxed, giving willingly.
And felt her emotions rising to the surface, like blood rising to the surface of heated skin. Her caring for Gabriel, her longing to help him. She could sense his feelings, too.
It was only then that she realized, that she remembered, what the true danger in this was. Only then that she understood what Gabriel had meant by his warnings.
Because she could feel what he felt. And along with the gratitude, the sheer satisfaction and relief, were other emotions. Appreciation, joy, wonder, and - oh, dear God, love...
Gabriel loved her.
She could see herself in his mind, an image so cloaked in glamour and ethereal grace that she could scarcely recognize it. A girl with red-gold hair like a meteor trail and smoky-blue eyes with strange rings in them. An exotic creature that burned like an eager flame. More witch than human.
How could she have been so stupid?
But it had never occurred to her that Gabriel, prickly, untouchable Gabriel, could fall in love with anyone. He'd changed too much since he'd loved Iris - and killed her. He'd become too hard, too bitter.
Only he hadn't.
There was no possibility of misunderstanding.
Kaitlyn could feel his emotions clearly - she was surrounded by them, immersed in them. After two days of deprivation Gabriel's control had splintered and his barriers dissolved completely. He realized what she was seeing, but he couldn't stop her, because he was too desperate in his feeding to fight.
Kait had the sense that they were staring at each other across a narrow chasm, both frozen in place, unable to hide from the other. She was seeing into Gabriel's naked soul. And that wasn't right, that wasn't fair, because she knew what he'd be seeing in her. Friendship and concern, that was all. She couldn't love Gabriel; she was already in love...
But with Gabriel's emotions swirling around her, crashing around both of them like a storm-swelled wave, it was hard to remember that. It was hard to keep any rational thought in mind. Gabriel's love was pulling at her, dragging at her, demanding that she return it. That she give herself completely, open and give him everything...
What are you doing to her?
Kaitlyn's heart stopped.
It was Rob's voice, and it shattered her world like a bolt of lightning. In one instant the sea-swept warmth of Gabriel's passion disappeared. The connection between them was cut off, and they sprang apart...
Like guilty lovers, Kaitlyn thought.
Rob was standing just below one of the wrought-iron Victorian streetlights. He was fully dressed, but his hair was still rumpled into a lion's mane from sleep. He looked angry - and bewildered.
And despite his words, he hadn't grabbed Gabriel or tried to pull them apart. Which meant he knew. He must have sensed in the web that Kait wasn't being attacked.
There was a long moment when all three of them just stood. Like statues, Kaitlyn thought wildly. Pillars of salt. She knew that every second she delayed explaining made the thing look worse. But she still couldn't believe it was happening.
Gabriel seemed to be in shock, too. He stood as paralyzed as Kait, his gray eyes dilated.
At last Kait managed to speak through dry lips. "Rob, I was going to tell you - "
It was a terrible choice of words. Rob's face drained of color, and his golden eyes went so dark they were lightless.
"You don't need to," he said. "I saw." He swallowed and then said in an odd, husky voice, "I understand."
Then he turned quickly, almost running. Running away.
Rob, no! That's not what I meant! Rob, wait -
But Rob was almost at the concrete stairs leading to the harbor street. Hurrying to get out of range.
Kaitlyn cast one wild look after him. Then she looked at Gabriel, who was still standing motionless in the shadows. His face revealed nothing, but Kaitlyn could feel his pain.
Her heart was pounding madly. They both needed her, and she could only help one of them. There was no more than a moment to choose.
With an agonized look at Gabriel, she whirled and ran after Rob.
She caught Rob beneath another streetlight, one with hanging baskets of flowers suspended from a crosspiece.
"Rob, please - you have to listen to me. You - "
She was almost hysterical, unable to finish her sentence. He turned, his eyes the wide hurt eyes of a child.
"It's all right," he said. With a jolt Kaitlyn realized something else. Those eyes were blind - he wasn't really seeing her. And he certainly wasn't listening.
"Rob, it's not what you think." The dreadful cliche rolled off her tongue before she could stop it. Then she said, with ferocious intensity, "It isn't. Aren't you even going to give me a chance to explain?"
That got through. Rob winced and recoiled just a bit, as if he'd rather run away again. But he said, "Of course you can explain."
She could see him bracing himself, waiting for an explanation of why she wanted to leave him.
Frustration crested in her, overriding her fear. Words came out in a breathless rush.
"Gabriel and I weren't - we weren't doing anything wrong. I was giving him energy, Rob - like you do when you're healing. The crystal did something awful to him, and now he needs life energy every day.
He's been in hell this last week. And if I don't help him, he'll hunt somebody down on the streets, and maybe kill them."
Rob blinked. He still looked like some tousled kid who'd been dealt a mortal blow, but now doubt was creeping into his expression. He repeated slowly, "The crystal?"
"I think that's what did it. He was never like this before. Now he needs the energy to stay alive. Rob, you have to believe me."
"But - why didn't you tell me?" Rob was shaking his head now, as if he had water in his ear. He looked dazed.
"I wanted to tell you, I did, but he wouldn't let me." And now I've betrayed his confidence, Kaitlyn thought. But there had been nothing else to do. She had to make Rob understand. "And no wonder he wouldn't, after the way you guys all talked about psychic vampires. He knew you'd be disgusted, and he couldn't stand that. So he kept it a secret."
Rob was wavering. Kait could see that he wanted to believe her, and that he was having trouble.
Struggling for a leap of faith.
A voice behind Kaitlyn said, "It's all true."