Haunted
Author: NotasboredasIlook
Rating: M for profanity, violence and adult situations.
Disclaimers: CSI: Miami and the characters belong to CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer and they have far more time and money than I do. I'm just using the products of their genius for nonprofit fun.
Category: DuCaine. Angst/Drama/Romance
Summary: "These shadows keep on changing." – Poe "Haunted"
Timeline: CSI: Miami Season 8 through "Bad Seed." After that I take our team in a different direction. No Kyle in Afghanistan and no more Delko and Calleigh rendevous'. This is a continuation from "Her Dark Life" and "Down to One." If you haven't read those, you may get a bit lost.
Status: Work in progress.
CHAPTER 1
Something felt wrong.
Calleigh was quite sure that she there for a reason, but she couldn't recall how exactly she got there.
She knew what the flowers in her hand were for, but she didn't remember buying them.
She was positive that she was in the right spot, but, having never been there before, she couldn't explain her sense of accuracy.
Still, as dusk started to settle in the sky and the surrounding trees swayed in the early evening breeze, Calleigh gazed across the numerous rows of stone markers. Quietly, she blinked and looked down at the cold marble stone at her feet, studying it with a curious melancholy. After a moment of silence, she took a deep breath and delicately fingered a petal from one of the blossoms in her hands, the fragrance of the flowers filling her nostrils.
There was so much she wanted to say. There was so much that she felt, and the combination of the two weighed heavily upon her. Her emotions played a chaotic symphony of guilt, regret and insecurity in her soul.
She needed to understand, to have some concept of their love. The shadow of their brief time haunted Calleigh more than she had ever realized.
She wanted to make amends; to apologize for not doing more when she could.
And most importantly, she sought some peace: A sign that told her it was okay to love him.
A large blackbird, perched on a tree branch above her, squawked loudly as if telling her that her self-loathing was ultimately of no consequence in this place, where nothingness was all-consuming.
And suddenly, Calleigh felt a cold uneasiness. The breeze dissipated and the air became stale and cool, reminiscent of the morgue she had visited so many times.
I shouldn't be here. I need to go.
She looked up at the blackbird, only to find the intrusive fowl accompanied by six more of his kind. They stared back at her with blood red eyes that glowed with harsh accusations. The first one let out a loud, blood-curdling "CAW", followed a few seconds later by the next, then the third, then the fourth and so on. Soon, all seven seemed to be screaming in unison, bobbing up and down on the tree branch like predators homing in on their prey. Their screeches were so loud, Calleigh found herself covering her ears and quickly backing away from the feathered beasts, but she could not escape their hideous cries.
The nightsky fell almost instantaneously, leaving her in the dark with nothing but the glowing red eyes of the birds now circling over her head. Any sense of security she had about this place abandoned her in an instant and suddenly, she was completely terrified. Her hands felt cold and slimy. Looking down at the flowers she had been carrying, she was dismayed to find they were nothing more than a decaying mass of moldy leaves covered with long, fat, grotesque worms. Gone was the exotic floral fragrance, now replaced by the wretched scent of decay.
Calleigh dropped the disgusting bouquet and watched in horror as it melted into the ground beneath her. The branches of the surrounding trees swayed viciously, nearly striking her. Above her, the birds continued their eardrum-shattering howls. If she didn't know any better, Calleigh would swear the beasts were saying "GET OUT!"
She had been so wrong: There was no warmth in this place. Here there was only cold, fear and nothingness. Here she was alone and vulnerable.
Her instincts now screamed for her to leave, to run from this place as far as she could and never, ever return. To find Horatio and the love and protection she had come to find solace in. He would protect her from this madness.
Here she was being hunted by some unseen force. Someone – or something – that wanted to harm her, wanted her to suffer, wanted her to experience terror the way only something from the darkest depths of Hell could make it.
"Go!" her mind told her. She mentally begged her legs to run, to carry her out of this place where she was the prey to something she could never understand. Instead, she stood frozen, unmoving against her better instincts which wanted nothing more than for her to flee.
Looking around wildly, she sought anyone or anything that could help her. She screamed for help, but her voice rebelled against her.
From the acrid earth below, Calleigh felt a shudder and then a shift in the soil. She felt her heart stop, refusing to look down to the horror she knew was waiting at her feet.
A raven swooped over her head, causing her to throw her arms up in defense, and forcing her to look down. Eyes wide with terror, she watched the ground swell once, twice and a third time before the dry dirt split, revealing a boney finger and then a gnarled hand. In her mind, Calleigh was screaming, but her throat would make no sound. The hand flailed around before finally grasping ahold of some firm dirt. As it pulled, a gray and decaying arm emerged from the ground, followed by a shoulder and a head, covered in a mass of dark, matted hair.
An impending sense of certain doom finally kicked Calleigh's legs into gear and she quickly backed away, just as the corpse pulled itself halfway from the ground. The monster emitted a low, inhuman laugh as continued its jerky movements. When it was finally freed from it's deep grave, the creature crawled along the ground toward Calleigh's feet.
Just as she finally convinced herself to run for her life, the corpse tilted its head up and the long dark hair fell away from its face. While the rest of the body was decaying, pieces of desecated flesh hung loosely from chalky brown bones, the corpse's face had remained as beautiful and intact as it was the last time Calleigh had seen it.
All except for the empty sockets where her once warm, brown eyes glistened with life.
"Marisol." Calleigh whispered, stunned.
The creature grinned evilly and skittered quickly across the ground toward Calleigh again. Its laugh was something from the worst kind of nightmare.
"Calleigh, Caaaaaaalleeeeeeeigh, ," Marisol screeched, her voice gravelly and low before she began laughing manically again.
Then, she caught Calleigh by the ankle and with an amazing strength, yanked her to the ground.
Terrified, Calleigh tried to pull herself from the creature's grasp, but the monster was too strong for her. She screamed as Marisol's corpse pulled herself up over Calleigh's legs and reached for her neck.
"Caaaaaaaallllleeeeee," she growled, worms and insects falling from her eye sockets and mouth onto Calleigh's chest. "He'll never love you like he loves me. Never. ."
And though Calleigh desperately struggled to fight the creature off, Marisol soon overpowered her, wrapping her skeletal fingers around the soft white flesh of Calleigh's neck. She began to violently choke as the sharp bones of Marisol's hand pressed on her esophagus.
Please God, don't let me die! Calleigh's mind cried out in vain for salvation. Horatio, help me!
But neither God, nor Horatio appeared to stop the monster above her. And as she struggled, her panic intensified when she realized she was sinking into the pungent ground underneath her. She felt the cold soil overtaking her legs and arms, and she knew that if she didn't free herself soon, Marisol would bury her alive.
Struggling against the creature, Calleigh flailed and fought. She clawed and kicked and battled for her life. But Marisol would not be budged. The creature's weight only intensified, pushing Calleigh down deeper and deeper into her own lonely grave.
As the wet dirt overtook her face, Calleigh screamed one last time:
"Horatio, please! Horatio!"
"HE IS MINE!" she heard the creature laugh as the blackbirds screamed above them. Slipping into the dark ground, all she could hear was Marisol's gravily voice mocking her: "MINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINE!"
Calleigh's green eyes popped open and there was a blinding white light. There was no creature. There was no weight on her body. There was no cold ground. The darkness had been replaced by florescent lights and the smell of death had been replaced by the bleached smell of a sterile environment. The hard ground beneath her was replaced by a hard bed.
A second later, however, a pair of hands were on her. These hands, however, did not push her down. These hands were warm and full of life and reassurance.
"Whoa, easy there, Cal. It's me, okay?"
Natalia's voice broke through the fog of her anxiety, but it still took several minutes before Calleigh could calm down. Breathing heavily, she looked around the room she was in and frowned.
"Nat," she breathed. "I'm in a hospital?"
Natalia Boa Vista took her friend and coworker's hand. Perching herself on the side of the bed, the beautiful caramel-skinned woman smiled slightly and nodded.
"Yeah. You had an accident. Do you remember anything?"
Calleigh closed her eyes for a moment. She remembered being at the club with Natalia and going to the bathroom … and then nothing.
Licking her dry lips, Calleigh opened her eyes.
"I remember being with you, but that's it," she said. "What happened to me? Why am I here?"
The other woman hesitated and looked away from the bed. Calleigh followed her eyeline and looked in the same direction, out the window of her room.
In the hallway, Horatio and Ryan stood talking to a tall man in a white labcoat, presumably a doctor. They both looked concerned, but right away Calleigh noticed how tired and sad the man she loved appeared. His copper hair and white dress shirt were both disheveled. His head was hung as he rubbed the back of his neck, nodding along with whatever the doctor was telling him. When he looked back up, she caught his eye through the glass. Instantly, he looked relieved, but it was then that Calleigh could see the very noticeable dark circles underneath his eyes. Her heart broke for him.
The last time he had looked this out of sorts was after Marisol had died.
Calleigh shook her head to clear her mind of the remnants of her nightmare. The sheer horror of it still clung to her psyche like strands of fiberglass. She tried to raise her right hand up, but flinched when a shot of pain ran up her arm. Hissing, she looked at it, only to find it in an awkward black brace that reached nearly to her elbow.
"Do you want to sit up?" Natalia's soft voice broke through Calleigh's thoughts and kept her from sinking back into the terror of her dream. Lowering her hand, Calleigh nodded softly.
"You gave us quite a scare," Natalia said softly as she adjusted Calleigh's bed to a more inclined position. "You don't remember anything at all?"
At that moment, she heard the quiet "click" of the door and watched with regret as Horatio and Ryan entered. While she had noted Horatio's fatigue, she hadn't noticed until that moment how exhausted Ryan seemed as well: His five o'clock shadow was thick enough to be ten o'clock shadow and his shoulders drooped in weariness.
Despite his obvious fatigue, he still smiled broadly at his friend and co-worker.
"Look who's back with us," Ryan joked lightly as he came up behind Natalia and smiled. "You don't know how happy I am to see those pretty greens of yours Cal."
Before she could return his smile, however, Horatio's tired voice cut in.
"You … are very lucky," he said wearily, his normally brilliant blue eyes bloodshot. "The doctor said you have no broken bones, just a fracture in your wrist and a nasty gash on your forehead. You are also going to be very sore when that IV of painkillers where's off."
Frowning, Calleigh lifted her uninjured left hand to her face, taking extra care of the IV in her hand, and flinched again when her fingers came in contact with the soft cotton of the gauze pad. She closed her eyes and sighed.
"You were hit by a car, Calleigh," Natalia explained soothingly. "Witnesses said you walked right into the path of a Porche just as it was making a turn. Fortunately, the driver wasn't going too fast … but it was still with enough force to toss you onto his hood. The driver and his passenger weren't hurt, just freaked out. And we're just grateful you weren't injured worse than you were."
Calleigh groaned as the memory of the oncoming headlights broke through the haze of her head injury.
"I was … I was trying to hail a cab," she whispered in frustration. "So stupid … I didn't even look to see if the path was clear. I'm so … I'm sorry."
She opened her eyes and looked over to Horatio, who was now standing on the other side of her bed across from Ryan and Natalia. She smiled apologetically at him, though he could only nod in return.
The truth was Horatio had been to Hell and back in such a short period of time. And though he was relieved and grateful beyond all measures that Calleigh's wounds were superficial, he couldn't help but be frustrated that she had been so reckless with her life. He had already lost so much … he never wanted to think about losing her as well.
He still hadn't told his son that his mother was dead.
He had been picking up the pieces of his shattered table when he had gotten the call from Natalia. That moment when his subordinate had explained to him what had transpired had been one of the most frightening moments of his life. He was out the door before Natalia had hung up, speeding his way to Saint Matthews Hospital … to Calleigh.
The whole time, the only thing Horatio could do was to beg God to take him this time. Him, instead of the woman he loved.
Natalia had also called Ryan, who pulled up to the Emergency Room entrance at the same time as Horatio. Natalia had met them at the doorway and filled them in with what she knew. Though he had been relieved beyond measure that Calleigh's injuries were not life-threatening, that one glimpse into the darkness was enough to shake him to his core.
"Natalia, Mr. Wolfe, could you give us a minute, please," he voice was soft, yet commanding.
Calleigh looked at Horatio, then back at Natalia and Ryan. Natalia nodded as she eased off the side of Calleigh's bed. Ryan, placing a hand on her shoulder, steadied her movements.
"Of course," Natalia said as she stood.
"I need some caffeine anyway," Ryan joined in as he followed Natalia toward the door. "Do you guys want anything?"
"No thank you," Calleigh smiled appreciatively while Horatio merely shook his head.
Ryan held the door open for Natalia, who surprised Calleigh by grabbing the privacy curtain, and pulling it closed as she left.
When they heard the door click, Calleigh turned back to Horatio, once again ready to apologize, but her words were cut off when he laid his finger across her lips.
Gently, so as not to aggravate her injuries, Horatio leaned over and softly kissed the area on her forehead that was not covered by cotton gauze. His lips were so warm and loving that Calleigh closed her eyes and relaxed against him.
But when she felt his lips begin to tremble against her skin, her eyes opened again.
"Horatio?" she asked cautiously, as he pulled back, his eyes downcast. Calleigh searched his face, tenderly lifting her braced hand to his face.
"Horatio, I am so sorry, I didn't mean for this to …"
Her words were cut off as tears began to stream down her lover's tired face. Before she could say anything further, he leaned down, placing his head against her midsection, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
Conflicted with confusion and regret, Calleigh placed her uninjured hand on his head and softly stroked his hair.
And while she wanted nothing more than to comfort the man she loved, she couldn't shake the dream of his dead wife … of her wicked laughter and her words:
"He'll never love you like he loves me. Never."