Touched by Darkness (43 page)

Gonzales's house?

She shrugged it off. Lots of people owned those

trucks. She got her briefcase from the backseat and

walked up the cracked cement steps. The front door

was slightly ajar, so she knocked lightly, pushed it

open. "Sara? Julie? It's Dr. Kara."

Nothing but silence answered her. She walked

further inside. "Hello! Anybody here?" Still only

silence, and a familiar oppressive feeling that she'd

felt...
at Doris's house, the day she'd found her

body.
A chill swept through Kara. She put her free

hand in her jacket pocket, fingered the pepper spray

there.

"Sara? Julie? Where are you?" She looked around

as she walked toward the kitchen at the back of the

house, but there was no sound or movement, no

indication of anyone around. Where was Damien?

Maybe they were all in the back yard. It was a

beautiful day, and it would be nice by the river.

Kara walked toward the back door. It felt even

more oppressive in the kitchen. She wondered if it

was residual energy from Michael's murder.

Thinking about that chilled her more. She found the

back door unlocked and stepped outside.

At first she saw nothing, but when she looked to

the right, she saw a form on the ground.
What
—
?

Shock roared through her when she realized it was

Damien, lying on his side, blood on his face.

"Damien!" Dropping the briefcase, she leaped off

the stoop and ran toward him.

As she got closer, she realized his hands were

secured behind his back. He was conscious, and he

glared a warning at her.
"Go!"
he shouted. "Get out

of here!
Now!"

Shock made her sluggish, but she understood the

urgency in his voice. Just as she understood, with

abject horror, the Belian must be nearby. But she

wouldn't leave him here, defenseless like this. Her

gun was in a case in her trunk, for target practice

tonight. If she could just get to her car—

"Hold it right there!" came a female voice from

behind her. "Turn around, slowly, dear Kara. No

tricks now, you hear? I've got a gun on you. And I

know how to use it."

A voice Kara knew. Another shock wave went

through her.

"Turn around.
Now.
Or I'll shoot the spawn of The

One."

Kara turned and faced the Belian.

Although Luke assured him he could handle the

ghost if it came back, Alex avoided his room on

Sunday, and sneaked into his grandparents' bed

after they were asleep that night. It hadn't returned,

though, and he felt better on Monday. It seemed

safer in the daytime, especially since he was

outside in the backyard, playing with a neighbor's

cat. Grandma was inside, fixing their lunch, and

after that, they were going to go play miniature

golf.

It happened so suddenly, Alex didn't sense it

coming. One minute, Princess, a gray tabby, was

chasing the string he was dangling. The next

moment, she hissed and arched her back, her fur

standing out like porcupine quills. The low, eerie

growl coming from her throat had Alex's own hair

standing on end.

He felt it then, the energy tingling along his skin.

Heard the insidious whispering. Her tail puffed as

big around as her body, Princess hightailed it out of

there. A breeze whirled around Alex, jerking the

string he held. A
Star Wars
action figure lifted from

the ground and hovered there. Yep, it was the ghost,

all right. His heart pounded like a Death Star

explosion.

He looked toward the back door. Maybe he could

make it past the ghost and get inside, and maybe it

wouldn't come after him, especially with Grandma

in there. And maybe—

Maybe he needed to act like a Sentinel.

Alex remembered what Luke had told him

Saturday night:
"You can't
understand the ghost

because you're listening with your physical self,

instead of your spiritual self. You have to use your

third eye. "

Luke had explained a lot of stuff about colors and

chakras—a word that sounded like chalk the

teacher used. Then he'd shown Alex how to go

inside himself and hook up to his sixth chakra and

his third eye—an invisible eye everyone had! Only

you could hear with it as well as see with it.

The wind picked up, and the whispering became

louder.
"Aaaalex...Heeeeelp
..."

Shaking like a wobbly wheel on a Rollerblade,

Alex shored up his shields. He was going to do it—

try to listen to this ghost, like Mr. Morgan or Luke

would. Taking a deep breath, he turned inward, as

Luke had showed him. He 'looked' for the

purple/blue color of the sixth chakra. He was

terrified, but he reached for it, felt like his head was

getting bigger. The muttered sounds became clear

words. He could hear the ghost!

"Aleeex... help. "

"Help who? Who is this?"

"Tho
—
rn , . . Tho
—
rn
—
ton. "

"Thornton?" Confused and disoriented, Alex tried

to think. "Mr. Thornton? Is this Mr. Thornton,

Mikey's dad?"

"Yesssss."

Somehow, knowing the ghost was even more

frightening. His heart doing somesaults in his chest,

Alex tried to stand. He wanted to get inside to

Grandma.

"Heeeelp your mommm."

Did the ghost say
mom?
"What?"

"She's after your m-mom."

My mom? Is my mom in danger?

"Yessss. And Mooorrgan. St-stop h-her. "

Freaked, Alex rocked back and forth. "Stop who?"

His voice squeaked.

"Ssssaaaarrr."

"Who?"

"Saaaraaaa."

"Sara?" Wasn't that Mrs. Thornton's first name?

Alex made it to his feet. He didn't know what to do.

"Where's my mom? Where's Mr. Morgan?"

"M-my hooooouse."

"Mom and Mr. Morgan are at your house? Mikey's

house?"

"Yessss."

"And they're in danger?"

"Yessss. Got M-Miiikey. Stop her!"

Alex didn't understand the reference to Mikey, but

he understood his mother was threatened. Fear

raced through him, and he couldn't hold the link.

The ghost wailed as the connection slipped, but

Alex had heard enough. He had to help his mom!

Instinctively, he knew Grandma wasn't the person

he needed. He raced around to the front of the

house, down the driveway, and across the street.

"Luke! Luke!"

Luke was just coming out of the garage as Alex

hurtled up his driveway. "My mom's in trouble!"

"Whoa, slow down!" Luke squatted, laid a

reassuring hand on Alex's shoulder. "Take a deep

breath, bro, and tell me what's going on."

He listened intently as Alex gasped out what had

happened, and what the ghost had said. His eyes

glowing with approval, he squeezed Alex's

shoulder. "Good job, young man. You handled that

like a true Sentinel."

Pride swelled inside Alex. He had done it! He had

talked to a ghost! But worry quickly took the upper

hand. "We gotta help my mom. What do we do?'"

"No tough decision there." Luke stood, pulled his

cell phone from his belt clip, and flipped it open.

"We call in the troops."

#

"Perez." Kara stared at the Belian. "I can't believe

it."

"You would never have figured it out. You're too

stupid." Serafina Perez jerked the gun toward

Damien. "Just like him. Idiots, both of you. I'm

going to enjoy watching you suffer."

Kara saw Damien was sitting up. Blood oozed from

a nasty cut on his right temple. Even though his

ankles were bound together with a length of chain,

he managed to shift to his knees. His shoulders and

arms strained against the handcuffs pinning his

hands behind him.

"Give it up, Sentinel. Even you're not strong

enough to break those handcuffs. They're police

issue, made of the finest carbon steel." Serafina's

smile was like an evil caricature. "I took them from

Allen Spears's house, after I fucked his brains out.

Men are so easy to fool. Easy to kill, too."

Memories of Richard's death flashed through

Kara's mind.
No.
If only she had her gun. She

reached into her jacket pocket, found the pepper

spray. She wrapped her fingers around it, thumbed

off the cap. She'd have to wait for just the right

moment to use it. Having a plan calmed her a little,

and she suddenly remembered Sara Thornton.

"Where's Sara?"

Serafina gestured toward a crumpled form on the

other side of the yard. "Such a weak being," she

sneered. "Drank so much, she ruined her liver, and

what few brain cells she had."

She looked back at Kara, still holding the gun

steady. "It was easy to control her mind, to get her

to call you, and plant exactly what I wanted her to

say to lure you here. Easy to make her sound

convincing. And you fell for it. Then I brought her

outside and..."

She mimed shooting the gun, looked over at

Damien with another sneer. "Nothing you could do

about it, could you, Morgan? I know how you light-

seeking Sentinels claim you can't stand to watch

innocents die. Hey, at least she didn't suffer—not

like you're going to."

Kara battled rising nausea. She had to stay calm.

Had to find some way out of this. She eased the

pepper spray higher in her pocket, adjusted her

grip.

Serafina stroked the gun tucked into the waistband

of her jeans. "Nice of you carry two guns, Sentinel,

even if the smaller one is only a .38. Gives me

plenty of bullets to use on you." She glanced back

at Kara. "But I'm not going to kill you, bitch. I was

planning to at first, but you have a young, healthy

body that I can use. And you're a respectable citizen

in Zorro, a doctor, no less. No one will suspect you

of the kills to come. And there will be many more,

praise be Belial."

"What's wrong with the body you've got?" Damien

asked, shifting subtly.

"Serafina was another stupid being."

"Was?" Kara asked, wondering what had happened

to the soul, the essence of Luz's sister.

The Belian gave that chilling smile again. The

person/thing standing there looked like Serafina,

with the same long, wavy midnight hair and dark

eyes, the general build and resemblance to Luz.

Even the nails on the hand holding the gun were a

glossy red. But it wasn't Serafina facing Kara. It

wasn't even human. There was no spark of

humanity in those cold, dead eyes.

"That pitiful excuse of a spirit is long gone from

this Earth plane, an offering to Belial," the Belian

said. "It was easy to force it from its weakened

body. That slut fucked any man who paid the

slightest attention to her or offered her cheap

trinkets. She didn't care who they were.

"Screwed David Thornton, right under that tree

over there—the one you found so interesting,

Sentinel. Even went behind her stupid sister's back

and flicked Matt Brown. Managed to get infected

with HIV. Her weakened body provided my entry

into this plane, but its usefulness is at an end. For

that matter, so is yours, Sentinel." It cocked the

gun, swung it toward Damien.

Kara lunged forward, bringing the pepper spray out

and up. The Belian whirled with superhuman

speed, grabbing and twisting Kara's wrist. It was

strong; Kara felt her wrist snap, as intense pain shot

up her arm. She dropped the spray.

"Bitch!' It backhanded her, sending her to her

knees.

Whirling, it raised the gun toward Damien, who

was on his feet, jumping toward them. The

explosion of a gunshot ripped through Kara.

Damien!
She clambered to her feet, her wrist

throbbing.

"Stay right there! Or I'll shoot him again," the

Belian said.

Feeling utterly helpless, Kara studied Damien

anxiously. He was faceup on the ground, his chest

heaving. Red bloomed just below his left shoulder.

He shook his head at her in warning.

"See?" it jeered. "It's a nonfatal wound, and I used