False Healer

Chapter Nine

Once the rest of Haven PD showed up at the farmhouse, Audrey gave them explicit instructions to search the entire house thoroughly from top to bottom. After she finished, she drove herself and Duke back to the jail so that they could go over all the information she and Nathan had gathered on the case so far, hoping that she would find something that would give her a clue to help her find her partner.

After a couple of hours, she threw down the file she was reading in frustration. Duke remained quiet as he watched her pace back and forth. Before either he or she could say anything, Audrey received a phone call from one of the officers at the house, while the town's coroner, Janet Reed, walked in and placed a folder down on Audrey's desk.

Once she got off the phone, Audrey sat back down in her chair and looked up at Mrs. Reed as she asked, "What do you have for me, Janet?"

She answered, "I'm sorry that I couldn't bring my findings to you sooner, Audrey, but I'm afraid I've been too busy. However, I did find something that you're not really going to want to hear, especially since…"

"What is it?" Audrey interrupted, knowing that she was about to bring up Nathan's kidnapping.

"I was examining the victim's tox screens and found various drugs in their systems," she replied. "One of the drugs was used to paralyze them enough so that couldn't fight back. It wasn't real strong, so they still had some mobile capability, such as the ability to speak or cry out. When I examined the bodies I found some kind of bite marks in their skin and that's when I found that the worst toxin in their systems was hemotoxin, or venom from some kind of snake, but I also found drugs that help to counteract the venom's affects."

Duke asked, "Are you saying that this freak allowed a snake to bite them more than once in order to poison them, but then tried to save them?"

Janet responded, "It looks that way. Hemotoxins target and destroy red blood cells as they are transmitted through the bloodstream."

"Why would Abassi use venom on them unless…?" Audrey began to say as she thought about what she had been told.

"Unless what?" Duke asked as he was completely confused.

Ashley and Billy went to Abassi because he claimed to be able to cure them from their afflictions," Audrey answered. "At first, I thought he lied to them in order to lure them and Tom Baker to them, but what if Abassi really believes he can cure them? Abassi is a witch doctor, who's trying to rid of them of their 'Troubles' through voodoo, but because the 'Troubles' can't be cured by killing the blood cells in their systems like other diseases, Abassi's attempts are killing them because he doesn't give up."

Janet replied, "I think you may be right. That would explain why I found the large amounts of the venom as well as the counter drugs that I did. Snake venom is extremely painful for a human being to endure."

"With the amount of venom, as well as the other drugs, how long can someone last?" Audrey asked as she stood and faced the doctor directly.

"It's different for everyone," the woman responded. "In the end, it's the pain that most likely killed each of your victims, not the poison itself, thanks to the antidotes.

Duke stood and clapped his hands together as he quickly said happily, "That's great! That means Nathan's going to be fine until we find him. If this witch doctor performs this ritual on him, he won't feel a thing."

Janet shook her head and answered, "I never said that the poison couldn't be the cause of their death. Just because he can't feel the pain, does not mean Nathan won't die from the venom. He'll still become very ill. If you don't find him in time, he will eventually die as long as the witch doctor keeps his ritual up. Besides, they were stabbed and had symbols carved into their skin as well, causing them to lose a lot of blood."

"We need to find him," Audrey said firmly as the doctor turned and left Audrey's office.

"We've dealt with a lot of strange, creepy things here in Haven since the 'Troubles' have come back, but I never expected we'd have to deal with a voodoo practicing, snake charming, freaky, witch doctor," Duke replied as he began to freak out.

Audrey turned to Duke and he saw there were tears forming in her eyes as she pleaded, "Duke, I really need your help to find him. I can't have you freaking out on me now."

Duke pulled her into his arms in order to comfort her as he responded, "I'm here for you, Audrey. I promise. I promise."

Meanwhile…

When Nathan finally awoke, he found himself inside a large, rusted, old cage out in a clearing in the woods. He slowly sat up in order to get a closer look around at his surroundings and found that he was all alone. There was no one in sight, but in the distance, he saw that there was an altar made of stone in the middle of the clearing. He realized that this was where the cult murdered the two young lovers and Tom.

Something sticky and wet suddenly dripped down over his eye. As he moved his hand over his forehead and then lowered it into his eyesight to find out what the substance was, he found that it was blood. Nathan realized his head must have been injured in his fight against the men, who attacked him down at the docks.

"That's just perfect," Nathan said to himself. "Another head injury for Audrey to worry out about."

"I'm afraid that's not the only injury your partner's going to worry about by the time she finds you," Sandri Taymor replied as he walked into the clearing from behind Nathan. "In fact, there will be nothing left for her to worry about at all. You'll be dead."

Nathan glared at Taymor as he answered, "I wouldn't continue to act so smug if I were you. You won't be free for much longer. My partner will be locking you and your boss behind bars soon."

The bald man responded, "Abassi isn't my boss. He's a friend; a friend, who makes it possible for us to become very rich."

"What are you talking about?" Nathan asked. "Neither of the families said anything about a ransom being paid."

"I'm not talking about a ransom," Taymor replied as some of the other followers came walking into the clearing. "You obviously haven't figured out the whole story yet. We didn't kidnap anyone. They came to us. They wanted to be free of their curse and they were willing to pay for a cure."

Nathan looked at him angrily as he asked, "But Abassi didn't cure them? They were murdered!"

Taymor answered, "It wasn't Abassi's fault that each of them weren't strong enough to endure the pain."

"I never wanted to kill anyone, Chief Wuornos," Abassi said as he came walking over in front of Nathan. I assure you. I only wanted to save them from their afflictions. I am a witch doctor from Africa and a good friend of Reverend Driscoll. He begged me to come up here to Haven before he died. When I learned of his death, I knew that I needed to answer his call in order to honor him."

"The Rev was not a man, who deserves to be honored," Nathan responded firmly. "And you didn't save anyone. You killed them."

Abassi grew angry himself as he replied, "They were weak and they were terrified, but they knew what they were getting themselves into. I did all I could to save them. I have never dealt with an affliction as powerful as the 'Troubles' here in Haven before, but you will make it so that I can save anyone else, who wants to be free."

Nathan asked, "They may have come to you voluntarily, but you took advantage of their fears of themselves in order to perform your voodoo. I didn't come to you. You took me against my will. Call it whatever you want, but you're a kidnapper and a murderer and my partner will make sure that you pay."

"Perhaps," Abassi answered sadly. "But by the time your partner comes, we will be long gone. I hope that you survive, Nathan Wuornos. I really do. Sandri, my friends, prepare him. I must prepare myself."

Nathan could see that most of the men and women, who were Abassi's followers, were residents of Haven as they gathered around his cage and he was disappointed that they had allowed their fear of the 'Troubled' to commit to something so evil. Taymor walked to the front of the crowd gathered around him and roughly pulled Nathan out after he opened the cage's door.

He pushed Nathan into the crowd, who held onto him tightly as he struggled to break free, while Taymor held up a syringe that he picked up from a box that was placed on top of the altar and then injected the needle into Nathan's neck. Nathan didn't feel the pain from the injection nor from the syringe's drug as it flowed into his bloodstream, but eventually the effects caused him to collapse into the people, as he no longer had any strength or mobility throughout his body.

They lifted him up and laid him on top of the altar, then tied him down with strong cords; his arms down at his side with his palms face up and his legs apart at the bottom of the stone slab. Nathan attempted to struggle as he wasn't completely paralyzed, but to no avail. All he managed to do was cuts his wrists as the cords bit deep into his skin.

"What did you inject into me?" Nathan asked sluggishly.

"Only something to keep you from escaping," Taymor answered as he tore open Nathan's shirt to reveal his bare chest. "We would usually give you a minor sedative to help you with the pain, but seeing as you can't feel any, there's no need. I may not be getting paid for you, but I will certainly enjoy seeing if Abassi can cure you from this affliction. I guess we'll find out if we eventually hear you scream out in pain. As you can see, I don't exactly share Abassi's sympathy."