Forty-Four Box Set, Books 1-10 (44) (41 page)

The risotto was steaming and creamy and I didn’t think I had ever smelled anything so good. When the rice was almost done, Simon added chopped pears and gorgonzola cheese and the parmesan.

Afterwards, we sat on barstools and tasted the risotto. It was even better than it smelled.

“And now you know how to make one of the best dishes in the world,” he said.

I smiled.

“Thanks, Simon. This was fun.”

As I sat there I knew it didn’t make any sense. Here I was, back in my prison, making risotto. But it had gotten my mind off things and I felt better. And there was something else more important.

Maybe, just maybe, I had made a friend.

God knew I needed one.

CHAPTER 21

I had the rest of my dinner upstairs, later. Phil had brought up a tray and when I saw it was him, I went into the bathroom and waited until I heard him leave. I hoped he hadn’t spit into the food.

After I finished, I put in another movie, but figured someone would be up to get me soon. I hadn’t gotten a message from Nathaniel so I figured that the meeting in the library was back on schedule. I hadn’t seen him all day. I suspected he was still mad about the escape attempt. Nothing about him suggested he was the easygoing type. But regardless, I was pretty sure he still wanted to talk to me. I had that over him. I might be able to talk to Kate after all.

Sure enough, Phil showed up to take me down to the library right before eight.

 “Good evening, Abby,” Nathaniel said as I walked in. He poured the usual drinks and put my glass on the table by the chair where I usually sat. I walked over.

“Sit,” he said. “Please.”

He sat down, crossing his legs. I stared at his energy. It was still. He didn’t seem angry anymore.

“Did you have a good day?” he asked, his voice even.

It seemed pretty ridiculous that we talked about our days like this. I was sure he knew I was in my room all day except for the time I spent with Simon.

“It was all right,” I said.

“Good,” he said. “I take it you’ve recovered from your adventure?”

I didn’t answer.

“You know, Abby, after I had a little time to think about it, I realized that you going out there into the Sound like that was completely my own fault.”

I looked back over at him.

“And I’m not talking about how you found that kayak. That was the staff’s fault and they’ve been dealt with. I do want you to know that the island has been carefully scoured today and something like that will never happen again.”

I figured as much. That had probably been part of the reason why I couldn’t go outside. I pictured Jack and Phil out there all day, checking for anything else they missed the first time. I wondered if there was some doghouse I hadn’t seen where they would be sleeping. I smiled at the thought.

“But just the same, tomorrow I will need you to stay in the house once more. There’s plenty to keep you entertained down in the basement. Just one more day, until we finish up out there.”

I nodded slowly.

“My mistake was not realizing how cooped up you would feel, trapped once again by water. I now have a better understanding of you, Abby. And I appreciate this. I see that you need to get off the island occasionally. So, after the second round of tests, I have planned a trip for us. Just us. I think you will enjoy it.”

The risotto threatened to come up.

“When are the tests?” I asked.

With everything that had happened lately, I hadn’t even thought about it.

“Originally we had them scheduled for tomorrow. But everything has been pushed back a day.”

“So can I still call Kate tomorrow?”

“Well, let’s see how our talk goes tonight.”

“All right,” I said. “So what more do you want to know?”

“Did you think any more about what we discussed?”

“Yes,” I said. “I really tried, but I don’t have any more memories of being in the lake other than it was dark and black and terrible. Really, that’s it.”

“There wasn’t a tunnel? Or any deceased loved ones waiting for you? You had none of that?”

I paused, thinking. I couldn’t remember anything like that, except of course seeing Jesse. But there was no way I was going to tell him about that.

“I wish,” I said. “But no. There was nothing like that. It was more just like a nightmare. And then I woke up in the hospital.”

Nathaniel stared at me intensely.

“It was a dark, lonely place. Endless nothingness. There was no light or tunnel. It was…” my voice got shaky and I took a long drink of the soda.

He didn’t say anything and waited for me to finish, his eyes glowing.

“It was Hell, is what I think,” I said, taking a deep breath. “And I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Not even you.”

He sat back in his chair, quiet.

“Okay,” he finally said. “But I’m wondering now about a few other things. I’m thinking if during all those minutes in which you were clinically dead, if something else developed. If you now have some psychic gifts that you didn’t possess before you died. This seems to be fairly common with people who have had near-death experiences.”

I shook my head, hoping he couldn’t read my lie.

“Come now, Abby. At least give it a little thought. You certainly had some of these abilities when we met. Remember? You were right next to me as I conducted my research in your hometown.”

My skin crawled and I tried not to shiver. He was talking about the visions I had of him killing people.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” he said. “It was the strangest thing. You were there, with me every time. You looked different, more like an apparition. Translucent. But I saw you nonetheless, hiding behind trees and such. It was very odd. Unexpected, but interesting and I’ve wanted to follow up on this for quite a while.”

I glared at him. His dark eyes danced, but he remained quiet, waiting for an answer.

“Sure. Okay. You’re right. I had forgotten about those. I’d never had any kind of visions like that before. They started after the accident. I don’t know why I had them. But I haven’t had one since you left that night.”

“Thank you,” he said. “Thank you for your honesty.”

He stood up and walked around while I looked over at the wall of books.

“Anything else?” he asked. “Other psychic phenomenon that you wish to discuss? Remember, Abby, only honest answers in this room.”

“It’s not like I can see the future or anything, Nathaniel. I’m not really sure what you’re getting at. Except for not seeing colors, I’m pretty much back to normal these days.”

He laughed a little.

“Oh, I seriously doubt that, Abby,” he said. “I don’t believe you will ever be normal again. You’re a very special person and someday you’ll see that too.”

I walked over to the fire, warming my hands near the flames. I would never tell him about Jesse. Not even if it cost me my phone call.

My back was turned but I could feel his eyes on me.

“You do look lovely tonight, Abby. I meant to tell you that.”

I walked back over to the chair and quickly sat down.

“I’m not your enemy. In fact, I want to be your friend. More than that, if I’m being honest. But I will give you time. I promise.”

I had nothing more to say. I just wanted to go back upstairs.

“Feel free to ask me anything, anything at all, and I will answer.”

I did have a question for him.

“I don’t understand you, Nathaniel. You’ve had everything given to you. You have a brother who loves you. Still. Even after everything you’ve done. You are a doctor. Why do you do this? That’s what I want to know.”

He paced around, his hands together behind his back, taking his time before answering. 

“That’s a very good question,” he said. “But I must cut our meeting short tonight. I’m needed in the lab, and must get back.”

He looked over at me.

“However, know that I am honored that you asked, and, if you permit me, I will share my story with you tomorrow evening. And I will tell you why this all began.”

CHAPTER 22

I woke up the next morning with Jesse staring at me, his face close to mine.

“Jesse!” I said, reaching up and throwing my arms around his neck. It was good to see him. More than good.

“Hey, Craigers,” he said, smiling.

I didn’t want to let him go.

“Everything’s different when you’re here,” I whispered.

I sat up and pushed my hair behind my ears, looking at the clock on the nightstand. It was just after seven. I moved my pillow up against the headboard and leaned against it. Jesse walked over to the other side of the bed and sat next to me.

I glanced outside. It looked like another beautiful day. The kind of day where I could close my eyes and almost feel what blue looked like.

“I wish we could go for a walk, but he won’t let me out of the house.”

“That’s new. How come?”

So much had happened since I had last seen him. I filled him in about finding the kayak and my escape attempt across the strait. And about some of the things Nathaniel had said.

“I wanted to ask you something. Something about what he told me.”

“Sure,” Jesse said, pulling me closer. “What did he say?”

“Is it true that his serum brought me back to life?”

Jesse smiled.

“Now why do people always think the dead know everything?”

But I held his stare and saw a flicker of something pass over his eyes. He knew something.

“Because I think you do. At least in this case. Come on, just tell me. I can take it.”

“Okay,” he said in a serious voice. “I’ll tell you what I know. It’s just something that I’ve noticed.”

“What?”

“Well, you kind of glow. You look different to me than anyone else in this world. You’re brighter. Part of it might have to do with how I feel about you. But I think that there’s more to it. That’s why I can find you sometimes.”

“Really?” I said.

“Yep. I don’t know for sure if it’s because of his serum or not. But really, Craigers, does it matter? It’s just good that you’re alive. That’s all that matters.”

It wasn’t the answer I was hoping for, but maybe it was the one I had known deep down all along.

“So he was there at the hospital that night,” I said. “Kate was sure that he was lying because she didn’t see him. She’s usually pretty good at remembering those kinds of things.”

“Kate was only focused on you. And can you blame her? You were dead,” he said. “But I saw him. And I saw him inject you with something.”

I stood up and paced around the room, trying to release some of the pressure that was pushing down on my chest.

“Thanks for telling me,” I said. “I can’t say I’m glad, but it’s better knowing the truth.”

I looked out the window for a while. It was starting to look like I might owe Nathaniel my life. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I would have to think on it long and hard someday. When I was far away from this island. The only thing I knew right now was that he wanted to collect and that I wasn’t ready to pay up. I had too much living to do.

“Hey, you want to come with me?” I said after a while. “I was going to explore the basement.”

“Sure,” Jesse said.

I changed into some sweats, put my hair up in a ponytail, and we headed downstairs.

***

We walked around the house for a while, looking for the stairs that led down to the basement. Finally, we came across a hall that I hadn’t been in before. We reached a large bedroom and I looked inside as we walked by.

“It’s his,” I said, looking at the suit hanging up on the closet door.

“Do you want to take a look? See if you can find anything?”

I stayed in the doorway. It made me shake just thinking about it.

“No, let’s get out of here,” I said.

We walked to the end of the hall and found the stairs.

“I didn’t think he even slept in the house,” I whispered to Jesse as we went down. “It’s always so quiet in here, like nobody is around. I figured he was in the lab day and night.”

“Nope, I don’t think so,” Jesse said. “Maybe those doctors that he’s hired are working all the time, but I think he spends some of the time watching you.”

A chill ran through me, but I tried not to think too much about it. When we reached the last step, we both stopped in our tracks.

“Wow,” I said.

“You got that right.”

We stood staring at the full basketball court in front of us, complete with a scoreboard hanging from the high ceiling and benches on the sidelines.

“Where are we exactly?” Jesse said as we walked across the shiny wood floor. “Who has this in their house?”

No wonder Nathaniel had wanted me to come down to the basement. We walked from hoop to hoop while Jesse pretended to shoot and score from different spots along the way.

By the benches, there was a cart with basketballs and towels and water bottles.

“Is this Heaven, Craigers?” Jesse said.

“Wrong zip code I’m afraid, but I can see why you might make that mistake.”

Behind one of the baskets there was a large room sectioned off by floor-to-ceiling glass.

“Let’s go check out what’s in there,” I said, tugging at his arm and pulling him away from the basketball game going on inside his head.

It was a game room. There were two giant flat screen TVs, sofas and chairs, a small refrigerator, and a cabinet full of video games and consoles. A ping pong table and a foosball table were pushed up against the wall in the back.

“Come on, let’s get back,” Jesse said.

He took my hand and dragged me out on to the court, grabbing a basketball and spinning it on his finger.

“Ready for a game?” he asked.

I couldn’t help but smile. It was good watching Jesse in his natural environment again. It made him so happy. It had been a long time.

“Hey, how come you can pick the ball up like that? I thought ghosts couldn’t do those things.”

“Once a
playa
, always a
playa
,” he said. “It’s who I am. Some things transcend death, I guess.”