First Visions (24 page)

She held the hammer with a death grip and
readied her body to spring into action. Sitting there waiting was
worse than anything. She seriously needed to pee, but had no idea
when he would be coming down there. She didn’t want to be off
popping a squat when he decided to check on them. She thought about
having Cori cry out, but decided it wouldn’t be worth the risk. He
threatened to kill them if they yelled out and it may mean he would
bring a weapon down with him. Alternatively, he may be on higher
alert for possible trouble from them. Cori gave her an anguished
look with her watery blue eyes and Kate motioned for her to remain
quiet.

It must have been at least an hour later
before she heard the basement door unlock. Fear threatened to
consume her as she lifted the hammer.

As if on cue, Cori began to cry softly. “I
feel sick, please help me.”

The man said nothing, but began his climb
down the stairs. Kate rose to her feet and tried to keep from
shutting her eyes. As soon as he came to the base of the stairs,
she propelled her body towards him. Swiftly, he turned, but luckily
she had the element of surprise, it gave her a small advantage. His
eyes widened as she swung the hammer and hit his left temple with
as much force as she could muster. She pulled the hammer back again
to hit him again, but the first time seemed to be enough. His
entire body collapsed and he fell to the floor with a loud thud.
She looked him over and noted the large divot in the spot where the
hammer had connected with his head.

“Is he dead?” Cori rose from her fetal
position and walked over to where his body laid. Her voice lacked
any concern, only a hopeful curiosity. At least the Prestons had
money; their little girl would likely need massive amounts of
therapy to ever get back any semblance of normalcy.

Kate peered closely at the man. He was
definitely knocked out, but the rise and fall of his chest
indicated he was still alive. “He’s breathing, should I hit him
again?” Kate asked uncertainly. She looked over at the girl. “Maybe
we should just get out of here.”

Cori nodded enthusiastically at the idea of
escape from her personal hellhole. “We should find a phone and call
the police.”

“Good idea, let’s get the hell out of dodge.
Are you ok to walk?” Cori nodded as a reply and they began to run
up the stairs.

Cori was obviously weakened from being held
captive for weeks and Kate helped pull her along. Exiting the
basement, they ran into the kitchen. Kate did a quick survey and
did not see a phone. On the counter was a butcher’s block. Reaching
in, she pulled out the largest knife she could find. Facing Cori,
she said urgently, “Come here. Let me cut the zip ties off your
wrist.”

Cori held out her arms in front of her and
Kate quickly sawed off the plastic. Rolling her wrists for a few
seconds, Cori was obviously relieved to be freed. “I don’t see a
phone. I know you’re tired, but we’re just going to have to make a
run for it…”

Kate didn’t finish, the basement door flew
open. She could barely scream, “Cori run!” before the man was on
top of her.

She had never seen rage this up-close and
personal. Murder was in his eyes and Kate wanted to kick herself
for being such an inept rescuer for Cori. They’d been in such a
hurry to leave—she should have locked the door behind them. At the
very least, knock him in the head a couple more times to ensure he
wouldn’t be gaining consciousness anytime soon. His powerful hands
wrapped around her throat and she gasped for breath.

“You’re dead now, bitch,” he hissed at
her.

A million random thoughts ran through her
head. How long would it take for her to die? What would her mother
do without her? Would Cori make it out alive? Would Jared throw
himself on her casket and declare to never love another again?

She tried to claw at him, but he wasn’t going
anywhere. He wasn’t a hulking beast and probably only outweighed
her by twenty pounds, but he was pissed off and crazy. Guess she
proved herself wrong that he wasn’t a killer at heart. She
rationalized that anyone hit in the head with a hammer would
probably find it in him to murder. Her pathetic attempts to scratch
him didn’t even seem to faze him.

Blackness seemed to creep around her vision
and she knew it would be over soon. The lack of oxygen was painful,
she almost found it to be a relief to let go and die. Unlike the
last time, there would be no coming back from the dead and she
would get no more opportunities to use her second sight to assist
others.

Suddenly, his grasp loosened and she was able
to draw in a breath. She had no idea what had happened, but he
suddenly grew still. While greedily sucking in as much air as
possible, Kate was able to shimmy out from under his body and climb
into a sitting position. Shocked, she saw Cori standing behind him.
The butcher knife Kate had used to untie Cori now was sticking out
of the man’s back. Cori stood behind him with a blank expression on
her face. It was almost frightening, like one of those freaky
Children of the Corn
kids.

A few weak attempts to pull the knife out of
his back and he was then passed out face first in a pool of blood.
The crimson liquid was pouring out of him at a rate Kate imagined
it unlikely he was going to jump up and surprise attack them again.
Not that she was taking the chance and going anywhere near him to
check for a pulse. Hurrying over to Cori, she pulled the girl close
to her and tried to shield her from the sight of the potentially
dead man.

“Is it over?” the girl asked in a small
voice.

“Yes, you saved us. It’s over,” Kate
whispered.

“I should really transport you to the
hospital,” the EMT was insisting as she examined Kate in the back
of the ambulance.

The woman looked to be about ten years older
than Kate. Her red hair was held back into a ponytail and her green
eyes gave off a stern look. She had a pleasant figure, although the
EMT uniform did nothing to enhance it. EMT Lady lacked the softness
of Kate and it made Kate wonder if the toned woman would’ve done
better in the precarious situation Kate was just in. Maybe she
needed to think about toughening up. It was extremely humiliating
to know you had to be saved by an eight year old.

“Listen, I’m just going to lie here and wait
for my parents. The cops said they are on their way here. Maybe
just give me a valium or something in the meantime,” Kate managed
to croak out.

Talking was still difficult and she had no
idea if her attacker had permanently damaged her voice box. She
leaned back into the stretcher and closed her eyes. It was probably
not even an hour later, but it felt like an eternity since she was
standing over the bloody body in the kitchen. After a minute or two
after Cori had stabbed the guy, Kate realized Cori was in too much
shock to do much of anything and running would probably be too
difficult for both of them. Kate’s throat ached and she was feeling
light-headed. She guessed the lack of oxygen from asphyxiation
might have killed a few brain cells.

It took all of her willpower not to puke
buckets, but she finally gathered up the nerve to conduct a quick
search of the body. In his pocket, she found a cell phone. After
calling 911 and figuring out the address by looking through a pile
of mail on the table, the police were able to get there within
minutes. The ambulance had rushed in and she was barely able to say
goodbye to Cori before the girl was rushed away. The police had
escorted her to a second ambulance as the EMTs worked on the
stabbed man.

Eventually, he was taken out of the house on
a stretcher. Kate was shocked to learn he had actually survived. It
was hard to believe a knife in the back and a hammer to the head
hadn’t done him in. Christ, he was more tenacious than a cockroach.
A part of her was relieved that Cori wouldn’t have to live with the
fact she killed someone. Another side of her was disappointed since
him surviving meant he could always go after them again. The idea
of him spending his life in prison cooking up revenge schemes was
kind of terrifying.

The police had questioned her briefly, but
obviously saw she wasn’t in a state for her answers to make much
sense. They called her mother and told Kate to stay put until she
arrived. The officers later told her that her father was also on
the way. Not exactly the reunion she had been imagining. The EMT
tried to fuss over her again and she attempted to shoo her away by
waving her hands wildly.

Physically, she actually felt things could be
much worse. Besides her neck, most of her wounds seemed superficial
and would probably only require a dab of Neosporin and a few ice
packs. With some rest and hot tea, she imagined her voice would
return as well. Mentally, she felt any minute she would fall apart
and they would rush her to the nearest padded room.

“Katie!” she heard her mother’s call.

Kate sat up on her elbows and saw her parents
running over to the ambulance. Her mother looked like she was
auditioning for a part in a revival of
Sophie’s Choice
with
her eyes pouring out tears and yelling out “my little girl!” as she
made her way over. Her father took quick and measured steps while
steering her mother through the street. A few of the junkies who
had finally rolled out of bed now sat on their porches. They didn’t
even bother to glance their way. Although it was mid-morning by the
time the police and ambulance arrived, the street had been
deserted. She guessed seeing the cops on the street was like an
everyday occurrence for the neighbors and no more exciting than
watching paint dry.

Her parents climbed into the back of the
ambulance and her mother pulled her into an embrace as she sunk to
the floor next to the stretcher. Her dad joined in and they kind of
embraced in an awkward three-way hug for a few minutes. Her mom was
sobbing and her dad looked kind of misty eyed. Kate wanted to cry
along with them, but strangely enough, felt numb and couldn’t allow
the tears to come.

“Thank god, you’re alive!” her mother
cried.

“Oh honey, we couldn’t believe it when we got
the call. We’ve been combing the streets all night looking for
you,” her dad explained. Kate was grateful she was found when she
was. Her dad worked in finance and her mother sold make-up. The two
of them out roaming the seedier sections of the area would likely
put them worst off than she had been.

“I’m ok. I only want to go home and forget
about this whole nightmare,” she groaned in a painful whisper.

Her mother looked at her uncertainly. “Honey,
you look and sound like hell. You need to go to the hospital and
get checked out.”

Kate looked down at herself and did feel the
urge to cry as she took in the state of her dress again. Blood,
dirt and god knows what else covered the fabric. The crystal
beading on the bodice had mostly fallen off. The hem was ripped and
frayed beyond repair.

“Look at what that dick did to my dress, it’s
ruined!” she shouted out with a great degree of difficulty. If her
voice never returned to normal, she would have to consider getting
a job as a sex phone operator.

Her mother and father exchanged glances. Her
father said as gently as possible, “Katie, you’ve been through a
horrible ordeal and you can’t go home without making sure you’re
physically fine.” The mental part of the sentiment went unsaid, but
was still understood.

She fell back onto the stretcher and looked
at the ceiling of the ambulance. The last thing she wanted was to
be poked and prodded at the hospital. Shutting her eyes tightly,
she decided to tune her parents out for a few minutes. She
appreciated their concern, but didn’t have the energy to debate
them about seeing a doctor. A hot bath followed by a few days
hiding under her comforter sounded like the best possible cure to
her ailments.

She heard her mother’s fake cheerful tone.
“Honey, look! It’s Jared, you remember him, right?”

“Mom, I was almost killed, I don’t have
amnesia,” she mumbled opening her eyes.

Turning her head, she met Jared’s worried
gaze as he took a spot behind her parents next to her stretcher.
His eyebrows were knitted in concern and his gray eyes did a quick
survey of her unkempt appearance. His eyes lingered on her neck and
she imagined it wasn’t from a desire to give her a hickey. Maybe a
mirror should be checked to see what that animal had done to her
delicate throat. She couldn’t help but feel her vanity hurt at the
thought of him seeing her in this half-dead state. Even in an old
t-shirt and worn jeans, he was utterly gorgeous.

“Hi, how is she doing?” he addressed the
EMT.

The EMT looked flustered for a moment and
Kate couldn’t blame her. Jared was definitely a heartbreaker and it
was easy to become distracted by his good looks. Why was he blessed
with the ability to roll out of bed and look like he belonged on
the cover of
GQ
while she always felt like she should be a
regular on the People of Wal-Mart website?

Kate closed her eyes again as the EMT
answered Jared’s question. “She’s refusing medical attention. Maybe
one of you could talk some sense into her. The only thing she wants
is a valium.”

God, EMT Lady was making her look bad in
front of the guy she liked. The woman shrugged after she saw Kate
shoot her a hateful look. Wasn’t there such thing as girl code or
something?

“We think she’s in shock,” her mom whispered
to Jared while clearly still in earshot of Kate.

“Also, not deaf, Mom. Fine, I’ll go to the
hospital if it gets you all off my case,” she replied haughtily.
She addressed her question to Jared. “How’s Cori?”

“She’s going to be fine, thanks to you. I
talked to Nikki briefly on the drive over here and Cori had just
arrived in the emergency room. She’s dehydrated and malnourished,
but nothing that’ll likely affect her permanently. The Prestons are
beyond grateful for everything you’ve done,” he said.