A simple matter of Consequence
Author: Sakura123
Genre: Supernatural/Humor/Death/Drama (naturally)
Rated: T+ (PG-13: For Violence, adult content, and partial language)
Summary: What does one do when someone is unintentionally sending visions of their own death through Allison's dreams, thus enabling her to dream, nor see anything otherwise? Set before Allison has her third child Marie. Det. Scanlon (whom I am well aware is no FBI agent, but a local cop) makes appearances throughout the story.
Disclaimer: MEDIUM, and all characters, or familiar places are property of its respective creator and NBC Television Networks. Storyline and Original characters (minor, and major) are copyrighted to me the author. "Our Truth" is property of Lacuna Coil.
Authors' note. This my first Medium fanfiction ever written (11-15-16-05). Constructive criticism is welcome. Sorry for any mistakes, episodic - plotline - character appearances - spelling (A-l-(l)-i-s-o-n Dubois) - and Grammatical error wise. IMPORTANT: I do know any of the streets or names of Arizona, Phoenix, all names mentioned are purely fictional. . .
Clock is ticking while I'm killing time
Spinning all around nothing else they can do to turn it back
Breaking partnership in this crime
Ripping up the past,
condescending smile
Time to forget
The fall of my truth
Time to forget
Our ways of our truth
Come and tease me
Clock is ticking while I'm still in time
Can't you turn it back?
Stop the cycle set me free, run away
Silence sneaking around my path
Wrap the rope off me,
feeling like we'll fly
Feeling like we'll fly
Time to forget
The fall of my truth
Time to forget
Our ways of our truth
Time to forget
The fall of my truth
Time to forget
Our ways of our truth
Chapter Six: Time To Forget
If words could not describe the overall shock and mixed sentiments she was reading from Joe, Fangora would've invented one. Patting Bridget on the head one last time she shooed the girl back to her father. Ariel eyed her cautiously, she swallowed roughly, her eyes shifting to her father. Little brat, Fangora thought resting herself in the office chair. "Daddy, does she have to be here?" Ariel whined. Joe looked down at his daughter clearly sympathizing with her, exhaling heavily Joe left Ariel and Bridget's side. Fangora glanced upward at him through her violet sunglasses in question. Scratching the back of his head, Joe slowly began to formulate a plan of action. This girl had to be dealt with, Allison wasn't here and certainly wasn't doing anything with Fangora aside from having the occasional nightmares that gradually begin to detract from his already sleepless nights. "Uh, girls, could you wait outside? Just for a minute, I promise," Joe added quickly.
The two girls shared a look, their eyes looked toward their father wearily. Before Joe could give the duo the 'parental glare,' the two rushed out of the room. Joe closed the door slightly then turned to the teenager, Fangora's eyebrow raised in question. "Yes?" She mouthed. Joe's brown eyes narrowed. "Why do you keep coming to us? Well, to Allison anyway," Joe corrected himself. Fangora's radiant violet hair fell in her face, her lips parted to say something. "Can I tell you secret?" Fangora asked quietly. At this point Joe was willing to listen to anything to put a logical reason to her stalker-like behavior, his eyes averted to Fangora who was still looking at him in expectance.
"It depends on the secret." Fangora glared at him, it only took a minute for him to say, "Yes you can," Fangora nodded her head thankfully exhaling heavily. Her blue eyes wandered the room for a minute before she spoke. "When I left the asylum I started to have bad dreams. And when I say bad dreams I mean, I saw images of dead people. Every time I was around someone I knew, there was one of their dead relatives beside them or some moment of their lives would play in my head and would bother me all week. I got stone drunk on my parents stash of Vodka, completely finished it off. I woke up with headaches so bad that I heard things worse than I saw them. A while ago, I started dreaming about a missing girl; She was always dead when I saw her, she never smiled. She was always still, very still," Fangora swallowed. Joe's brow creased in growing concern it had been for the last two minutes and if it were possible, Joe swore his eyebrows could touch the other. Silence lingered on between them, Fangora reached up to touch her mouth, with experienced ease her finger nails pulled away flaking skin off her chapped lips. Joe narrowed his eyes in disbelief as he watched her intently continue to pull the peeling skin from her lip, he reached out grabbing her arm in mid-rise. Fangora shot him a look he was completely unfazed by. "Don't do that. It's a nasty habit, its disturbing," Joe finished lamely. Fangora's fingers wiggled but slowly she lowered her hand, she wouldn't be picking on her lip if wasn't for how frazzled she felt on the inside. Joe fell back into his spot, in the corner of his eye he caught Bridget and Ariel peeking over the corner of the door they opened. Their blue eyes sparkled with interest.
Fangora seemed oblivious to their presence as she awkwardly pulled at the ends of her nylon hair, her fingers itching to pull at her lip again. Joe exhaled slowly wishing more than anything that Allison was here right now. "As I was saying, it didn't take me long to connect the dots. I went over to the park and I found her lying in pile of misplaced garbage in one of this abandoned cabins where the bees make their hives," Fangora stammered nervously. "She was a lot deader than she was in my dream. I don't wanna go into details." A pause. "I headed to the closest pay phone I could find, I called the police. They took their time getting to the park, the pigs. When I showed them where the body was, it had been moved." Fangora pressed her fingers to her forehead, the throbbing vein under her skin pulsated against her finger tips. "They thought I was crazy, and told me they were gonna call my parents. I knew I couldn't trust them to tell the truth. I ran home, ironically. I was just several feet away from it when I got grabbed by him." Joe blinked bewilderedly at her words, clearly puzzled by her tale still. What was she trying to say? Fangora rubbed her face for a second before rising from her chair. Her hands checked to make sure her violet wig was still on correctly out of habit, Joe watched her weary eyes. "I gotta go," Fangora sighed. Bridget came running into the room immediately effectively dodging her sister's hand as it came out to grab her. Fangora placed a hand on the girl's messy mop of blonde hair, a faint smile on her lips. "You can't go, you just got here. Daddy tell her she can't go," Bridget pleaded, turning her attention on her flabbergasted father. Joe felt like he had been jammed between a wedge. His good sense was telling him to get rid of her before caused anymore trouble for his family, while his parental instinct told him to just invite her in. "Bridge, I can't tell her to do anything. She's old enough to make her own decisions," Joe said. Bridget's brow furrowed in frustration, why wasn't anyone helping Peppy out when she obviously came to them for some!
Ariel leaned up against the wall in the hall watching the people go by unhindered by the goings on inside Joe's office. Fangora sidestepped toward the doorway, Bridget was sure keep her grip around the tall teen's waist, her legs dangled between Fangora's like a doll. Fangora pried the girl from off her waist gently, kneeling down to her level. Bridget was near tears this time, her lip quivering. Fangora looked up at Joe with a pleading look, Joe finally moved from his place moving over to Bridget's side. "Bridget, Fangora's gotta go, but she'll come see you soon," Joe said. Fangora shot him a glare under the long bangs of her violet wig, her gaze shifted back to Bridget whose shoulders were shaking. "No, she won't, Peppy won't----," Bridget stopped in mid-sentence at the entrance of a man. Joe stood up suddenly, taken by surprise by Michael's presence. "Hey, Joe, kids's aren't causing too much trouble are they?" Michael asked. Joe shook his head casually shoving his hand into his pocket, he looked to Fangora who's strong husky-blue eyes had fallen to the ground to examine her feet. Ariel stepped inside the room toward her sister, Bridget did not resist her sister's hands upon her shoulders. "No, Jessica just got a bit spooked is all," Joe said, his voice a lot more cheerier than it had been previously.
Michael nodded his head understandingly, he had three kids himself, all them worse than Bridget and Ariel put together twice. His gaze turned to Fangora, his brown creased in slight awe. "She one of yours?" Michael asked. Joe's face paled at the thought then quicky regained its color when Michael turned back to him. "Umm, no. She's a friend of Bridget's," Joe replied honestly. Michael's jaw shifted at this, Bridget put on a smile for the man and nodded her head quickly. "Her name's Peppy but Daddy calls her 'Fangora'," Bridget chirped. Michael showed no recognition of the name, he looked to Fangora who had stumbled to her feet. She did not meet his gaze instead she looked to Joe. "I've gotta go, it was nice seeing you again Mr. Dubois, Ariel. Bridget, I'll see you tonight okay?" Fangora's voice was sincere. Bridget nodded her head, strands of her blonde hair stuck on her damp face. Fangora turned abruptly and ran down the hall, her mushroom shaped backpack bouncing hard off her back. Joe's brow furrowed, he looked to Michael who was equally confused. "Peppy doesn't like Michael," Bridget said to Joe. Michael arched his eyebrows at the girl, Joe's brown eyes wandered to the other side of the room. Michael leaned over placing his hands on his legs, he put on his best friendly face. "Why is that sweetheart?" Michael asked innocently. "Because, you remind her of a mean man she knows," Bridget replied bluntly. Joe sighed, his head falling forward and his hair becoming untidy. Michael managed a offended smile, Bridget was oblivious to such an expression or she didn't care. "I'll . . . talk to you later Joe," Michael uttered quickly. Joe waved weakly to the man's retreating back. When he was gone he turned to frown at his daughter. Bridget shrugged her shoulders innocently. "What'd I do?" She said artlessly.
Allison followed Scanlon through the crowded lobby her bag bounced against her hip every time someone bumped against her. Devalos hadn't told them much on the way down the department, only that they had to get to the morgue and fast. While panic raced through her veins there was sort of odd placidity inside her mind as she followed Lee into the elevator. She rested her back against the railing behind her. The elevator doors closed behind them without hindrance. Allison sighed her brow furrowed with concern. "Last time I checked, I was off this investigation right?" Allison said, out of the blue. Scanlon nodded his head indifferently unconcerned about her status on the Mui case. Devalos had gotten special permission from one of his friends that worked in the system to allow Allison back on the case. There were probably other reasons as well, but Scanlon thought it best not to pry unless called for. "Yeah, you were. Devalos pulled a few more strings for you. This time try not get yourself booted off the case, eh?" Scanlon's voice was taught and clearly annoyed. Allison kept a straight face nonetheless, nodded with every word that came out of Lee's mouth. He was clearly upset by her stunt the other day, but in some twisted turn of events it got Fangora to open up about something vital to the case.
Clutching the handle of her bag she turned to Scanlon with a curious expression, Scanlon in turn responded by shifting his gaze to her. "Your sure the information she gave you was valid?" Allison asked, biting her tongue briefly at how harsh she sounded. Lee let out a dry chuckle as the elevator came to a complete stop. "I didn't expect that coming from you, of all people," Scanlon said. Allison followed quickly after the man finding it hard to keep up with his long strides across the virtually empty hall, lacking ample lighting and heat. "I know, but I just get this feeling that's she prone to lying about some things. Its just a feeling though," Allison finished quickly. Scanlon continued to regard her in weary manner, the things that would come out of her mouth sometimes. "Don't worry about. There were only three Michael Strife's that showed up in the system. Two of them didn't have a rap shirt longer than my hair cut. The third is what you have in your hand right now," Lee grumbled. "I'm pretty sure that's our guy." Allison opened her mouth and shut it again, having no proper defense to back whatever that was going to come out of her mouth.
The two entered the dissection room where they found Devalos standing next to a surgical table with the local morgue employee. "Its about time you two got here. I was afraid Scanlon didn't get a hold of you," Manuel muttered dryly. Allison raised her arms in a 'what can you do' manner, a genuine smile plastered on her face. Scanlon joined his friend's side while Allison stood in the center of the floor in front of the half-covered body of Kira. Allison drew back from the smell that assaulted her nostrils with such strength, Allison stumbled. "How long has she been dead?" Allison asked, blinking back tears. The morgue employee stepped forward with a small cough, apparently even he wasn't used to smelling such a rancid corpse. Must be new here, Allison thought. "J-Judging by far along the decay is in the body: Half a year or more," The young man stammered. Allison nodded glancing briefly at the sunken face and bald head of Kira, her jaw hung open like she were screaming. But her vision clearly depicted Kira being as still as the water that she was dumped into. Allison glanced up at Devalos who wore a perplexed look about him. "So why I am down here?" Allison asked dumbly.
Manuel Devalos raised an eyebrow at his loyal friend and employee. Remaining calm he said, "I was hoping you could tell me, Allison." The medium looked slightly baffled at his words, then was quick to remind herself of the dream she had. Devalos knew she look she was giving him and promptly asked the morgue employee to leave them for a few moments. The man seemed hesitant at first, there was no telling what a person could do to a body without an attending, but their intent did not seem ill-mannered so there was reason for him to worry. With a swift nod of his head the morgue employee hurried out of the room, Allison turned her attention back to Devalos. "Sir, what did you mean you were hoping I could tell who this was?" Allison began slowly.
Devalos gave her a strange look, like she had grown two heads. Allison was accustomed to these sort of expressions thrown in her direction, they had been sent her way ever since she was in grade school. "Well, surely you've dreamt of something that could give a leg up on the investigation?" He said quickly, his arm sweeping over Kira's body. Allison nodded again. She had been dreaming plenty of things that would help them, but wouldn't hold up so well in court without the cooperation of Fangora and some solid evidence to boot. Shoving aside her reluctance she explained to Devalos her dream in every detail she possibly could. The district attorney was not shocked to say the least by the description of her dream. "I think you should also know, Det. Scanlon had a talk with our suspect. Fangora," Allison said. Devalos' eyes widened in surprise, he looked to Scanlon who nodded his head nodded his head in affirmative. "Is she still at the station?" Manuel asked.
Lee shook his head quickly. "She left before I had a chance to detain her," Lee answered sheepishly. Devalos pressed his fingers against his forehead in dismay, he could feel the vein beneath his skin pulsing hard. Allison stepped around the slab toward her boss. "From what Scanlon told me on the way here, she give us the 'leg up', on the investigation," Allison said. She handed Manuel the thick folder Lee had given her earlier. Manuel removed the folder from her grasp. Allison watched as he skimmed through the pages for vital information, his brow creased with every page he turned. He looked up from the open folder at his two companions who wore two slightly pleased looks on their faces. They stood before him like a couple children proud of their finger-paint. Devalos raised the folder showing Scanlon the page that held two mug shots of Fangora's parents. "These are the girl's parents?" He asked. Scanlon nodded his head, his eyes shifting over to Allison. "Yes, I had them arrested for battery," He sniffed. "Fangora tells me she went over to their house and was attacked when she entered. She also tells me her parents disowned her." Allison watched Devalos' passive face show a ghost of satisfaction before handing the folder back to her. "Good work. Scanlon get a APB on Michael Strife, see if you can't flush him out. Allison, see if you can't get a hold on Fangora," Devalos said. "And have a talk with her parents. See if you can't get anything out of them about her." Allison nodded her head, Scanlon and Devalos left the room ahead of her. Allison stared down at the dead woman's body. She ignored the Kira and Maggie in the shadows of the corner. With one last glance Allison made her way out of the room after Devalos and Scanlon.
As she strode through narrow hall way she thought about what Lee had said to her. It was odd of her to have doubts about Fangora's validity now. Even more so late in the investigation. Allison rubbed her temples. When she left the narrow hall way she felt her stomach twist in knots, she now stood in a hall way with four directions. Allison looked down every corridor without moving, the lights flickered rapidly like something out of a horror movie; water dripped onto the light bulbs from the ceiling. Allison walked into the middle of the floor, she turned around in a slow circle. She stopped she found herself facing the right corridor. At the end of the corridor stood the large White wolf she had seen before. "You again," She said. The white wolf bowed its head to her as it stood from his sitting position, he shook his thick fur coat of the water that took residence upon it. This time when the Wolf took off down the hall Allison was quick to follow, her heels click-clacked loudly against the bare concrete, she rounded the corner and pushed on. The wolf was ahead of her with every step, Allison was never quite sure how she kept with up the creature at all. Allison brought herself to a halt having caught up with the wolf, the four-legged animal stood on his hind legs and scratched at the rusted door. He howled loudly, it echoed throughout the halls like alarm. Allison walked over to the creature with hesitation.
He continued to howl his head turning to her every time, beyond the scratching of his nails against the rusted door Allison could hear someone pounding against the door on the inside. "Mommy. . . .!" Muffled sobs and cries were becoming louder, Allison recognized the voice as one of her daughters. Be it Ariel or Bridget Allison did not know, she had already grabbed the door knob and made her way inside. "Mommy's coming!" Allison cried hoarsely. The medium brought herself to a halt in an instant, she stood in a pool of blood. Below her once again was Fangora face down on the pavement, this time with a bullet wound to her lower back and neck. She had not fallen from the building but was shot down by the Shadow Man who resided across from her staring blankly ahead. Bridget sat next to Fangora, weeping for her mother. Her small hand clutched in a vice grip of the teenager's convulsing hand.
Allison watched Joe run up to their daughter and grab her up from the ground, Bridget willing let go of the girl's hand wrapped her arms around Joe's neck and continued to sob. Allison watched the scene for another minute before the wolf reappeared before, his yellow eyes boring into hers. "Excuse me, miss? Miss?" A voice called hesitantly. Allison blinked and she was back in the lobby of the morgue, she glanced to the janitor staring at her oddly. He was a young man, perhaps in his early twenties looking like a character straight from a amateurish high school musical. "Are you all right? You were just standing there. You looked kinda zonked out of it," He said. Allison recovered herself quickly plastering a smile on her face. Tucking a part of her hair behind her ear she straightened her suit. "Ah yeah, I was just thinking about . . . . something. Thanks," Allison walked off quickly leaving the janitor confused.
Allison pressed her hand against her chest for a time, her heart raced inside like she had run a marathon for the summer Olympics. She stepped into the elevator, she pressed her head against the cool surface of the wall. She gazed thoughtfully into the dull track light above. Allison looked down when she felt a nudge against her knee. The wolf sat next to her his muzzle dripping with blood that fell onto her clogs. Allison remained still watching the wolf bear his fangs with pride, he nudged her again which caused her hand to drain her purse. As if on cue her cell phone started to play the familiar ring-tone jingle.
The elevator doors slid open and the four-legged creature trotted out, Allison followed suit but when she left the elevator there was no sign of the white wolf anywhere. She headed for the door. Pushing against the glass door Allison made her way into the busy hall which lead directly to the lobby, she nodded her head to a familiar face sitting at the clerk's desk. The woman nodded back before her eyes fell back on the task before her. She reached into her purse and she pulled her cell phone out. With a press of flick of her wrist the flip-phone opened. "Hello?" Allison breathed. "Hey, you won't believe who came to see me," Joe's lazy voice said. Allison smiled happily at the sound of her husband. "Hey, Joe. How are the kids?" She asked. "Just fine, behaving well I might add," Joe chuckled. "With the exception that they raced all around the office, scaring half of the employees in their path." Allison's smile grew wider picturing her daughters racing around on a office chair scaring half a dozen workers.
Devalos and Scanlon nodded in her direction when she came into sight, Allison waved to them then pointed to the cell phone. Scanlon glanced in the opposite direction while Manuel nodded his head falling back into his passive stature. Allison went to a more quiet area in the lobby. "Anyway, guess who came to see me," Joe repeated, eagerly Allison noted. "Who?" Allison asked. "Bridget's best friend ---- Peppy, otherwise known as Fangora," Joe mused, his voice fell . Allison's good mood dampened at the mention of 'Bridget's friend', a dead Fangora flashed before her eyes causing her cell phone to slip slightly in her grasp. "Al?" Joe sounded worried. "I'm here," Said the blonde staring out the window illuminated by the afternoon sunlight. "Fangora was there, at your job? Why?" She asked. There was a hum from Joe followed by a squeal of laughter and a cry of objection. Ariel and Bridget were behaving like they did at home, hopefully with a little more restraint though. "If I knew the answer to that question, I'd be a very happy man right now. I gather she wanted me to tell you something," Joe grumbled.
Allison's eyes wandered over to her boss, Devalos looked as though he was pressed for time, Lee remained calm. "Well, can it wait? Devalos is getting Ancy," Allison said. There was a disappointed groan from Joe, they said their good-byes and hung up. Allison put her cell phone back into her bag, she proceeded over to the two men who waited for her. Manuel turned to Allison his eyebrow raised in suspicion. "Is there something the matter?" Devalos said quickly. Allison shook her head explaining it was her husband who had called her. "Well then if there's no problem, I suggest you follow Scanlon back to the department. I'll see you later," Manuel said in usual curt voice. Allison nodded her head, Devalos headed down the hall toward the exit. Scanlon shifted his gaze to Allison briefly then headed for the elevator which would take them to the upper level of the building, where the police department resided. Their trip up was silent. Allison could sense there was something bothering Scanlon ever since they left morgue, she couldn't put her finger on it, she got nothing more than stress from the man.
Lee and Allison stepped aside allowing several policemen on the elevator, they squeezed past the crowd of bodies into the stuffy office. Allison watched as all eyes locked onto her. Most of gazes were friendly others were unfamiliar or unfriendly altogether, Allison smiled briefly walking past them. Scanlon lead her into a narrow hall, Allison followed him down the hall. They stopped at the two-way window peering on the parents that were once Fangora's. The McAllen's did not seem the least bit concerned in spite of their situation, Allison stared into the eyes of the mother. A memory of Persephone sitting in a chair (dressed in white hospital attire) across from the doctor between her parents who soaked in everything the doctor was telling them. Persephone looked ready to cry as she scratched at the raw bleeding skin beneath her tightly wound bandages. "So, should I go in first or should I?" Lee Scanlon's voice brought Allison back to reality. She looked up at the man who sent a look of concern in her direction. Allison took one last glance at the two adults inside the room, she shook her head. "I think I can handle them," Allison answered. Det. Scanlon nodded in agreement, Allison stepped inside the room, Demeter gazed in her direction and let out an exasperated sigh.
Allison pushed aside the animosity welling up inside her chest continuing toward the vacant chair against the wall. She made herself comfortable in the chair once it was pushed up to the table. Laying the folder next to her on the table she placed her hands on the table. "Hello, I'm Allison Dubois with the district attorney," Allison introduced herself. George was courteous enough to reach over to shake her hand, Allison noted his grip was firm. "Hi, can you tell us why we've been detained to this room? What have we done?" George asked. Allison flipped through the file before her a few more times before answering his question, she glanced at Demeter who looked as if she were sending her a silent warning. "I understand you've been arrested for assault charges?" Allison inquired. They both nodded in unison, Allison's lip straightened. "We told them that our house was broken into and we attacked the thief," Demeter explained.
Thief, yeah right, Allison was tempted to speak her thoughts aloud to the woman but shied away from unneeded confrontation. "Det. Scanlon tells me that it was not a thief that entered your house but your daughter, Persephone McAllen," Allison interjected. On the outside of the room Scanlon felt his hand press against his eyes in dismay, this wasn't going to end well. Allison continued. "And that you knew it was your daughter and yet you continued to attack her until she was forced out of the house." George's face went white as a sheet, Demeter's was impassive but didn't hide the shock that reflected strong her eyes. "I don't know where Det. Scanlon gets his information, but we don't have daughter named Persephone! We have two little girls that is all," Demeter said snidely. Allison was fighting to keep her temper in check, Demeter was really pushing the wrong buttons at the wrong time. Going into her bag she pulled out a crumpled copy of Fangora's picture and slammed it on the table. George licked his dry lips as he stared at the picture of a girl singing in front of a microphone. Demeter simply refused to stare at the picture. "You don't know this girl? This girl you sentenced to a asylum because she said she saw things invisible to your eyes, this girl who was kidnaped and forced into a life of prostitution and smut. Your telling me you don't know Fangora McAllen --- your daughter, your first daughter?" Allison's voice was strained, angry and hurt. "Do you have children Mrs. Dubois?" George McAllen asked.
"Yes, I have two girls. Ariel and Bridget Dubois," Allison answered sharply.
"And you would do anything to protect them?" He asked.
Allison responded this time with a nod.
"Then you have to understand where we've coming from. Fangora---- I mean, Persephone, was an unstable child. She wouldn't communicate with us. She kept saying she was talking to her grandparents, to murders, rapists. At 10 years old! The older she got the more bizarre the stories became. We were considering to adopt more kids --- maybe we thought, it would help her--- but she got the point where she said she was dreaming about horrible things and it became too much to try and handle on our own." George paused. Allison's finger nail tapped against the table impatiently. ". . . We tried every kind of therapy to try and fix this obsession with death and attention getting, but nothing worked. If anything Fango --- Persephone began to do it on purpose just to annoy us until we couldn't take it anymore. We sent her to an correction facility -- an asylum. They didn't get anywhere with her either, I wasn't so keen on keeping her there for as long as we did. So I finally had her pulled out upon finding out she was hurting herself and dosing herself with drugs in several attempts to take her own life. I thought if she was back home then all of this would stop finally."
Demeter was practically glaring daggers at her husband the entire time he was speaking, Allison though it served her right. "She was with us for a while but didn't speak to us at all. She was as you say, kidnaped and we didn't bother to look for her ourselves after the search was called off. Demeter convinced me it was for the best and we should go on about our lives like nothing happened, like she never existed to begin with. We adopted two months later." Another pause. ". . . So when Fango–- damn—- Persephone came back home, I just, I dunno, we reacted badly. I didn't want to go through all that pain and nor did my wife, so we kicked her out of the house and disowned her. And that's all there is to it." George decided that was all that needed to be said and lapsed back into silence. Demeter met the eyes of the angry medium with no remorse for what she had done, Allison continued to frown as she grabbed the folder off the table and rose from the chair. Before she left Allison turned back to meet their gazes. "I think, what you could've done was listen to her. I mean really listen to her. She or you wouldn't be in this bind if you had," Allison resumed walking. The couple watched her leave the room, slamming the door behind her. Scanlon took his eyes off the two people residing inside the room, he looked to Allison who had her face buried in her hands. "You okay?" He asked. Allison took her time answering him, she felt her heart twist itself in knots. She had never felt so angry in her life. "I'm all right," Allison answered finally. "I think, I'm gonna go home right now. Tell Devalos to call me if anything happens." Set. Scanlon nodded understandingly. Allison did not waste another minute standing against the door. She hurried down the hall all too eager to escape this seemingly confining area.
The trip home was even worse than her conversation with the McAllen's, she left around lunch time. Apparently everyone seemed to have the exact same idea as she and decided to leave around the same time as herself. To make a long story short, Allison was stuck in traffic longer than she would've liked. The heat radiating off the cars gave her a worse headache than her occasional nightmare did, the gasoline smell didn't help much either. When she finally was able to get out of traffic she headed to the nearest Rite Aid and purchased strong Aspirin tablets for the very long nap she would taking once she got home. Back on the road she was stopped about three times for going over the speed limit in a school zone, her mind momentarily drifted to her daughters, which made her think about the McAllen's again. Allison was tempted to bash her head against the steering wheel for being stopped a fourth time.
All she wanted to do was go home and sleep off this frustration bubbling up inside her. "Ma'am do you know how fast you were going?" The officer's words were muddled by a thick southern accent. Allison stared at the arrow behind the glass of the speed gage, it was currently at zero so it wouldn't help her determine how fast she was going before she was stopped by the boy in blue. Bitting the inside of her lip Allison made a guestimate. "Uh, over the speed limit?" She answered unable to hide smile. The police officer made no sign that he was at all amused by her response, immediately he pulled his pen and note pad. Allison gritted her teeth underneath her closed lips. No more than half-a-minute passed when the police officer handed Allison her fourth consecutive ticket for speeding. "Try to stay under the speed limit this time, Mrs. . . . ." He looked at her ID-tag. "Dubois."
Allison nodded her head at the policemen's retreating back and pressed no sooner than the light had turned green. Her car zoomed down the street at the required speed, her face brightened at the sight of the street that would lead down to her house. At first, Allison did not notice anything out of the ordinary (not even the fallen windmill on the lawn), climbing out of the car she made sure she had everything in her bag. Allison paused in mid-step at the feel of air blowing harshly around her, her brow furrowed, distress was mucking up the air she breathed. A low moan from the door caught her attention, Allison watched in disbelief as the door opened at the command of the wind that blew against it. Forced entry. Allison hurried up the path toward door, her feet threatened to fall out her shoes the faster she went. A million thoughts ran through her mind, Bridget would be simply heartbroken if any of the kittens (or the mother) had left the house. Halting abruptly she checked the lock on the door, there were no signs of forced entry, maybe Joe just forgot to lock it all the way. Allison disregarded the thought immediately and stepped inside with caution. The hall was undisturbed, she ventured further into the house until she reached the living room. To her surprise every single kitten was lying on the couch surrounding their slumbering mother. Meeko looked up in her general direction gracious enough to acknowledge her presence, Allison waved to the mother-cat before returning to the hall way to the lock the door. When that task was done, she proceeded to check every inch the house. Nothing seemed disturbed in the least, at least externally, Allison had not the will power to overturn everything to see if something was stolen. Allison shuffled into the kitchen where she found one more kitten sitting on the table, chewing happily on a napkin. "Hey, you know better than that," She said.
The kitten glanced up from its meal to regard the presence in the kitchen, it meowed as if he were objecting. Allison took the napkin from the kitten who hooked its claws into her sleeve, Allison picked the kitten up off the table and placed against her chest. The Kitten meowed resting its chin on her shoulder, Allison made her way out of the kitchen after getting a cold beer from the fridge. The kitten's small tail wagged against the medium's exposed skin, she was rather comfortable where she was in spite of the disappointment of not being able to finish her meal. Through her large golden eyes she watched the kitchen vanish from view, Allison's voice tickled her senses. "Here you go, go with your family," Allison put the kitten down on couch next to her siblings. Those who ever were not sleep greeted the kitten with excited mews, Allison grinned tiredly heading to the bedroom. She sat on the edge of the bed with a sigh, now that everything was still Allison found her mind lapsing back into its calm state, she laid back on the bed with exhaling. The bottle of beer was still clutched in her grasp, perspiration rolling down its body. Allison closed her eyes for a while, listening to the birds chirping outside the window, hopping along the grass. Pretty soon the medium lapsed into slumber, surprisingly had a dreamless sleep. When she awakened she found the sun completely gone from the sky, and the beer in her hand missing. Outside the bedroom the hall light shined dimly through the crack of the open door, sliding out of the bed Allison headed out of the room. Her socked feet padded down the hall in their usual manner, the televison broadcasted the news on a low volume, she faintly heard the sounds of kittens meowing. She entered the living room with a yawn, Bridget and Ariel sat on the floor scooping ice-cream into their mouths, Joe laid sprawled across the couch with the remote clutched in his hand. Ariel glanced up at their mother with genuine smiles, her upper lip was covered in a ice-cream mustache. "Hi girls," She said. "Did you eat?" Both little girls nodded, they had spaghetti and meatballs with orange soda. It was best Joe could manage without burning the pots or waking Allison.
The kittens paraded across the top of the couch happily, one of them ---Allison recognized the kitten as the one eating tissue earlier--- was attempting to pull a strand of Joe's hair along with it to the top of the couch. The only white tabby among them awaited the troublesome kitten anxiously, mewing every so often. Joe buried his face deeper into the pillow, the kitten fell atop of his shoulder. Joe barely sat upright when the kitten meowed in his ear, he seemed unaware of his surroundings at the moment too. Allison waltzed over to the couch and sat on the edge of the couch (the only available space), the kittens greeted her excitedly and immediately started to play with her hair. "Hey, none of that," She warned taking the kitten off the top of the couch. The small creature meowed louder as she was held in the woman's arms. "My God, where did all these . . . cats come from?" Joe said in a most bewildered voice. Allison regarded her husband carefully as he gently pushed the kitten off of his leg. "Oh wait . . . never mind. Our daughter has adopted kittens from our dear Peppy, 'cuse me," Joe yawned. Upon hearing her friend's name Bridget leaned backward and stared up at her parents. "Peppy said she'd be coming over tonight. How come she isn't here yet?" Bridget asked. "Maybe she got hit by a car," Ariel said in teasing tone. "Did not. Peppy doesn't get hit by cars!" Bridget objected. Ariel stuck her tongue out at her little sister then resumed eating her ice-cream, Bridget frowned deeply and turned back to her parents.
Joe was a sure loss of words. "Well, maybe she forgot sweetheart," Allison said in a sweet tone. "A million things could've happened from then to now." Bridget's brow creased with confusion, what was that supposed to mean? Joe sat upright finally, the kitten that had played with his hair made himself comfortable on his lap, Joe sighed. The kitten sat with its tail curled around his feet indicating he had no plans moving from his spot anytime soon. "Anyway, don't worry about it, if she does come around then she does. If she doesn't . . . .," Joe threw his hands up in the air to embellish the point he was trying to make. Allison nodded in practical agreement. In spite of all they said to her Bridget felt no more reassured then when she first popped her question, she turned back to the television screen. Allison sighed, she turned to Joe who was now patting the kitten on the head. "Joe, what did Fangora come to you for?" Allison asked. Joe paused in mid-stroke, the kitten purred loudly. "She, uh," Joe nodded his head to the hall. Allison nodded and the two of them left their children in the living room, they snuck into their bedroom like two teenagers would if they were conducting in a illegal act.
Allison made herself comfortable on the bed while Joe proceeded lean up against the door. "So?" Allison insisted. Joe was a bit hesitant to speak at first, his mind was still a bit fuzzy from his nap. He recalled events of earlier and opened his mouth. "Fangora says she can see things. She sees things like you do, dreams of seeing dead people," Joe said hesitantly. Allison remained silent her thoughts drifting back to earlier events. Looking up she found Joe staring expectancy at her, a bit bemused himself. "Well I gathered that much . . . they did sent her to a crazy house," She paused for a moment. "Why did she tell this?" Joe's eyes wandered the bedroom like he was searching for an answer. "I dunno, maybe she figured you didn't know or something," He grumbled. Allison nodded in agreement, Fangora didn't exactly say to her that she could see the dead only that she was sent to an asylum for declaring this to her parents, it didn't have to be true. "Did she tell you what she saw?" Allison insisted. Joe shrugged again then explained in the best way he could what Fangora had told him, Allison's eyebrows raised considerably. This surely added more pieces to the puzzle, a puzzle she was beginning to put together in the correct order. "Did she tell you anything else?" Joe shook his head. "She got a bit edgy when Michael came into the office," Joe answered. He forgot to mention what Bridget had said to Michael, he figured it didn't have anything to do with what Allison was mixed up in. Allison rose from the bed with a sigh, her brain felt like it was twisted in knots. She shuffled over to Joe and embraced him. They stayed like that for the longest time until there was a small knock on the door. Reluctantly Allison let her husband go and they stepped away from the door. Allison opened the door allowing Bridget's head to poke into the room, as usual her brow was creased in a scrutinizing manner. "Bridget, baby, what is it?" Allison asked. "I can't tell you with daddy around, it's a secret!" Bridget said immediately.
"Oh a secret! I love secrets!" Allison exclaimed happily turning to her husband. Joe's shoulders hunched slightly but didn't feel too bad for being singled out of a secret tell-all session. He had his share of them today already. "All right Bridget, I'm leavin'," He said in mock-grouchiness. Bridget slipped her way past Daddy making her way toward the bed, Joe headed down the hall stretching his arms over his head. Once Joe was out of the hall and into the living room (hopefully) Allison closed the door and rushed over to the bed and leapt onto the mattress. Bridget giggled gleefully at the brief up and down motion the bed made from her mother's landing. Allison laid on her side she propped her head against the palm of her hand and awaited patiently what Bridget had to tell her. Well, not so much patient, but playfully impatient anyway. She tickled Bridget's tummy and chewed on her ear while making monster sounds. Bridget laughed trying to keep herself from toppling over. "C'mon, tell me your secrets, tell me all your secrets!" Allison said in her 'wicked witch' voice. Bridget's little face was red from her laughter, once Allison was done tickling her Bridget was allowed to catch her breath. Now she had to use the bathroom. "So, what is it you wanted to tell me?" Allison asked.
Bridget played with the ends of her mother's hair. "Well, I wanna know why everyone's so mean to Peppy?" Bridget asked. Allison smiled almost in an apologetic way to her daughter. "No one's being mean to Peppy, Bridget. She's giving us older people a hard way to go," Allison answered. "You mean like Ariel when she's angry?" Bridget inquired. Allison nodded her head quickly. "Yes, exactly," Allison said. "That was the secret you wanted to tell me?" Bridget shook her head just as quickly as her mother did. "Uh-uh, I wanted to tell you that I think Daddy's worried about Peppy, but he won't say nothing 'cause he said all those mean things," Bridget said in a low voice. Allison was relatively silent after that relavation, she felt her jaw shift unconsciously. Her mind shifted back to the nightmare-ish vision of a dead Fangora lying on the pavement; Joe's lingering and sorrow-filled expression on his face when he looked down one last time at the teenager before he was ushered back to the sidewalk, Bridget in tow, made Allison wonder. "Mommy are you mad?" Bridget's voice brought the woman out of her trance. Allison nodded her head, her lips pressed hard against each other as she hand her fingers through Bridget's messy hair. "No sweetie, I'm just thinking. Go and watch some more TV, call daddy back in here please? I wanna talk to him," Allison shooed her daughter off the bed. Bridget hurried across the bedroom floor and out the door in a flash. Allison's eyebrow twitched mildly. That Joe.
Scanlon wiped his brow wearily with one hand. Responses for the whereabouts of Michael Strife had been quick, usually coming from either dealers or hookers. Most of the information, naturally, had been complete lies and simple motives to gain some kind of reward money. Scanlon simply told them leave their addresses, what they had heard or seen about the perp and he would get back to them. Some he did call. When he did they were bogus numbers or disconnected numbers. The others he didn't bother with calling, he simply narrowed down the list of snitches down to a few people whom he discovered had ties to the perp (somehow or another). The most helpful out the seven out of forty people that came to him had to be Jem Holdervan; A retired hooker who knew the underworld of Arizona like the back of her hand. "Best place you'd be able to find Strife would be at the Diamond Bouquet, it's a new place he's recently invested in. He'll be there today," Is what she told him. Scanlon wasn't one to complain, it was better than nothing and he was getting tired of shuffling through papers for leads.
Now he sat at the counter of what had to the foggiest bar he had ever stepped into. Strife was just mere inches away from him, separated by three men that sat between them. Michael sipped lazily on his tequila staring at the reflection of a woman singing in a low tone of voice on stage. Dressed in a satin silk dress, her head wrapped in a sparkling head wrap. Lee chewed absentmindedly on a lemon, he glanced slowly to the man who was paying not attention to him but to the woman who stared back at him through the mirror. Now was his only chance to catch him off guard, Scanlon swallowed the rest of his drink before pushing away from the bar. He kept his glasses on the edge of his nose as he walked across the sticky hardwood floor. His eyes wandering over to the woman. She did not look toward him, she knew better. She continued to sway her hips and sing into the microphone. Hypnotizing the surrounding men. Scanlon was thankful he didn't have to think of way to distract Michael or attract him for that matter, this woman was so much better than idea he had concocted in his head. Much Prettier too. Scanlon strayed away from such a thought and finally came up to Michael Strife. The man didn't notice him at first being too engrossing in the singing to glance at him. "Hey, you got a smoke on you? I'm fresh out," Lee spoke in a heavy Brooklyn accent. Strife looked up in his direction with lazy eyes, he turned to look at Scanlon who raised his eyebrows expectantly. Michael glanced down wearily into his jacket pocket, his hand fishing around for a cigaret. "Uh, here you go man," He grumbled. When he looked up he found a badge staring straight back at him through the mirror and a cop with a gun to his head. Michael dropped the cigarette horror-struck. "You've gotta be kidding me," He moaned. Scanlon shook his head closing his wallet. He kept his gun on the man who began to raise his arms. "Afraid not. Michael Strife you are under arrest for the murder of Maggie Mui and Kira. . . ."
(TBC . . . .)
Authors note: Goshthis took me forever to write (curse writers block sometimes!). Hopefully It won't take as long to write the next chapter! This story isn't gonna be too long; Allison having visions about Fangora's impending doom can go but for so long before the story becomes repetative. Positive Reviews people! ------ Sakura123
