Chapter One: "You Don't Love Her"

Saturday, December 14, 2013, 1:17 am

"Katrina!" Crane screamed as he struggled to catch his breath. She was fading away, and he couldn't reach or even see her any longer. "Katrina! Katrina!" he screamed again, distressed by the loss he was feeling. "Please come back to me Katrina!" he franticly shouted, tears emitting from his eyes and running down his cheeks.

A few minutes later he could hear Katrina calmly yelling from the distance, "Wake up, my love. You will die if you stay asleep! Wake up!"

Becoming cognizant of the meaning of her words, Crane struggled to open his eyes. As he did, however, he gasped desperately for air like a drowning man having been brought to the surface. The pain on his throat was becoming unbearable. As the moment became clear to him, he saw Morales standing before him with an out-stretched hand grasping tightly over his throat. During that moment, the two men stared intensely at one another. Morales was apparently too crazed to comprehend the fright in Crane's eyes and the impact of his actions.

Crane recognized that look from the night before. It was a look of a man under a spell in an altered, demonic state.

"Oh my God," Crane thought to himself. "It's happening again." Before his life could dissipate before him, Crane gathered his wits to bring up his leg so he could knee Morales in the groin.

As the pain registered with Morales, his grip lessened on Crane's throat. Crane then used his leg to reach back up and shove his foot into the middle of Morales's gut, knocking the air out of him and sending him backwards and onto the floor.

What Crane was unable to figure out a few hours before was becoming much more clearly to him now. "Oh my God," he repeated aloud, his voice barely audible from the pressure having been put on his windpipe. He felt ignorant for not immediately seeing this.

Crane, having fallen asleep sitting by his fireplace as he read through ancient texts collected by Sheriff Corbin, was bootless and coatless. But he knew he needed to get out of the little cabin and away from Morales. He needed to reach Abbie. As he struggled toward the door, he could feel Morales jumping on his back from behind.

"You don't love her," Morales chanted. "I do."

Crane struggled to break free of Morales's tight grip on his back, knowing that in order to survive, he needed to break the spell. But, at that moment he had yet to figure out exactly what that entailed, so he needed to get to Abbie.

"I…know…" Crane struggled to say in a rough, throaty half-whisper. He then felt a blow to the back of his head. The pain was excruciating, and he struggled to stay on his feet. No longer able, Crane collapsed onto the floor near the door he had managed to get halfway open.

Within what felt like a minute later, Crane opened his eyes to see Morales standing over him. His eyes were glazed and fixed. "Morales!" Crane yelled as loudly as possible. "Don't do this!"

"You don't love her. I do," Morales flatly answered. He then reared back his leg and landed his blow on Crane's ribcage.

The kick felt like his side had landed on an explosive. Crane knew at that instance that if he didn't get out of there, Morales would kill him. As Morales attempted to rear back his foot again, Crane reached forward and grabbed his foot. Morales tripped, and Crane grabbed the wooden lamp from the end table and crashed it over Morales's forehead, momentarily causing him to be knocked unconscious. Crane then got to his feet and headed out the door. He ran wildly toward the woods, his feet stinging with the cold ground and his throat burning from the rawness created by the chocking. Crane struggled to fill his lungs with air as he ran into the woods for a safe place away from Morales.

As he ran, he heard a few minutes later from the distance Morales shouting, "You don't love her! I do! You don't love her! I do!"

Crane continued to run through the woods toward town. But it was a four mile distance, and he knew in his present condition that he would never make it. Blood from the head wound was beginning to run down his neck and shoulders, warming his neck against the frigid night. His vision began graying with spots of bright lights exploding in his eyes. Knowing that he could not go much further, Crane found a large tree and put his back toward the trunk so he could slide down to the ground. The pain in his ribs was horrific, but he continued to slide down slowly until he landed safely onto the ground. He then worked to control his breathing. His breath blew out in small clouds of vapor into his face.

He then remembered and felt in his pocket the small device Abbie had given him to call her if he needed her when they were not together. She had called it a cell phone and had instructed him to hit the number one key and wait until he heard her voice. Fumbling to open it up and press the key, Crane then waited as he heard ringing in his ear. He wondered if it was the contraption or the head wound. He then heard Abbie's voice as clearly as if she were sitting right beside him.

"Crane? Is that you? You okay?" Abbie asked.

"Lieutenant?" Crane asked, confused by the tiny device. "You said to use this if I were in trouble…and needed to garner your assistance."

"Yes?" Abbie answered.

"Well, I think…this is one…of those instances."

"What is it Crane? It's after midnight…" Abbie said as she pulled her alarm clock toward her. "No, I take that back. It's after 1:00 am."

"It's Morales…"

"What?" Abbie asked as she pulled herself to her feet. "What about him?"

"I think he's under that spell…like the one we just saw this evening. I know now what it is, Miss Mills. This is not…."

Silence.

"Crane!" Abbie yelled.

No answer.

"Crane! Stay with me. Are you hurt?"

No answer.

"What's going on? Crane!" Abbie yelled, getting more anxious as the other end of the line continued to be silent.

After a few minutes, Crane quietly said into the phone, "Miss Mills, I don't feel…well."

"Stay with me, okay? Keep your phone on, and I will track you there. Okay? Just keep talking to me!"

"Lieutenant, I am the tracker…not you," Crane shakily whispered.

"I can find you through the phone you're speaking into. Just keep it on. I can find you."

Crane was confused by such a thing but trusted his partner. "I can hear…Morales…in the distance. Not sure…how much longer…I have until…he finds me," Crane responded.

"I will get there…don't you worry. Just hold tight," Abbie answered.

"Hold on…to what, Miss Mills?" Crane asked, still having difficulty with colloquialisms of the modern day English language.

"No…no…I just mean, um, stay right where you are," Abbie answered, still forgetting the barrier that was often prevalent between them that the differences in their language presented.

"I am here, Miss Mills…and hope that…you locate me…before Detective Morales… because he is out for…blood," Crane said. He then added, "My…blood."

Trying to keep Crane awake, Abbie asked, "You think you know what this is…what's causing this?"

"Yes…Lieutenant…I think…I know," Crane replied.

Abbie could hear his voice getting weaker. "Crane!" she yelled. Stay with me! I'm almost there."

"Be careful…Miss Mills," Crane warned.

Abbie arrived in a grinding halt at the location closest to the woods where the red blip of the GPS tracker on her phone indicated Crane was hiding. Dust flew all around her as she emerged from her car. She then ran into the woods toward her partner's location. She could hear Morales yelling into the woods, "You don't love her! I do!" His voice appeared to be a good distance from both her and Crane.

"Lieutenant, I need…to sleep," Crane whispered.

Abbie could hear his teeth chattering. "I'm almost there," she said, trying to reassure him as she trudged through the dark woods, branches hitting her in the face and body.

"No offense, Miss Mills, but…you said that…awhile back," Crane responded.

Abbie decided it best not to banter back. His voice was weakening with each response. "I am here, okay? I'm almost to you."

"Okay, Miss Mills," Crane said as he leaned forward to relieve the pressure off his head wound. But that movement intensified the unbearable pain in his ribs.

With that small movement, Abbie was able to see him in the immediate distance before her. Her heart rate spiked as she saw him helplessly propped up against the tall Oak. Running toward him, she got to Crane's side and tried to muster up a smile as she knelt beside him. "Can you walk?"

Crane opened his eyes as wide as they would go and returned her smile. "Glorious…to see…you, Miss Mills." His voice was faint and intermittent.

"We need to get out of here. Can you get to your feet?"

Crane leaned back and answered in a raspy whisper, "I shall…try."

As he leaned forward and pulled up his knees to get to his feet, Abbie could see the blood that had soaked into the back of his shirt from his head wound. "Come on, let me help you," Abbie suggested as she put her arms across his back to support him as he got to his feet. She could see him gritting his teeth and presumed it was to fight against the pain.

"Thank you…Lieutenant…for coming to help…me. Morales has…been cursed…."

"Let's wait and talk in the car, okay?" Abbie asked.

"He can't…be blamed…" Crane added.

"Now that's big of you. Come on, we're almost there." Abbie put pressure on Crane's back to encourage him to walk faster.

Together they headed through the dark woods toward Abbie's car, hearing in the distance the monotonous chanting of Morales, "You don't love her! I do!"

His voice continued to get closer and closer.

Crane could feel his knees weakening as together they stepped around the trees and through the thickets. "Miss Mills, I…need…to…rest…a…moment," Crane struggled to say as he could feel the last bit of consciousness slipping away from him.

Abbie held on to Crane tightly as he leaned heavily on her shoulders. "Stay with me, Crane!" She begged as she could feel him slipping downward. Much taller than she, Crane was too much for Abbie to support. Beginning to fall, Crane gave in as Abbie reached downward to try and grasp his lanky frame.

Hitting the ground, Crane could feel the pain intensifying in his broken and bruised ribs. "Awwww," he moaned. The pain shot an adrenaline rush throughout his body.

Abbie crouched down beside him. Moving the hair stuck on his forehead over his eyes, she realized how cold his skin was to her touch. "We've got to get you out of here before you freeze to death. Crane!" she whispered loudly into his face. Turning him over onto his back, Abbie could see from the change in his facial expression the pain he must be enduring. As she pulled up his shirt, she could see the bruising over the right side of his ribcage. She surmised that he had a broken rib or two and remembered how horrific the pain of broken ribs was. "I know you're in terrible pain, but we have to get out of here."

Crane roused and looked up at her. "Okay…Miss…Mills," he whispered in response.

Abbie reached down and scooped her arms up around his back, pulling him upwards. She saw him gritting his teeth against the agony. "Just one step at a time. We're almost to my car."

Crane leaned heavily on Abbie and concentrated on each step as they moved forward, continuing to hear Morales's sardonic chanting in the background as it appeared to get closer and closer to them as they slowly made their way to her car up ahead.

"You don't love her! You don't love her!" he chanted.

They made their way to Abbie's car within a few minutes. She held tightly to him with one hand as she opened the door with the other and gently pressed down on his shoulders to guide him into the front seat. Crane panted in and out to try to relieve the pain on his ribs, head, and throat. Abbie then ran to the driver's side and started the ignition, turning on full blast the heat and shifting the vents to blow the warm air onto Crane.

Emerging from the woods was the dark form of Morales as he stepped onto the road a few hundred feet in front of their car. "You don't love her! You don't love her!" he screamed as he barreled headlong toward their car.

Abbie could see that Crane was struggling to stay alert, probably in an attempt to try and protect her if necessary. Throwing the car into drive, Abbie bore down on the gas and blew past Morales as he continued to stand in the road, screaming, "You don't love her!"

The car flew down the road toward town.

"What the hell do we do now?" Abbie asked in an incredulous tone of voice.

Crane turned slightly to look at her.

Abbie could see Crane looking at her from her peripheral view so she turned to look at him. "What the hell is happening, Crane? Who is doing this?"

"I fear…it's…Succorbenoth," Crane answered, turning back around and leaning his head against the cold window.

Abbie didn't know who that was, but at the moment she knew she needed to get Crane to safety. She could hear his muffled, strained breathing as he sat beside her in a restless half-sleep.

They continued to speed toward town.

TBC