Chapter 9
There were ways to track somebody down, specially if you got friends all over the country who could do the research for you. And for some of it, she could count on Amy's help, now that she was doing part-time work at the local newspaper.
And the beauty of it was that she could do the research while Verhoff was sleeping like a baby, unaware that like it or not, he was going to provide her with a magazine article.
"Why are you so interested in this Verhoff?" Amy asked her.
"It is a matter of historical research. It has to do with Sigmund Freud. This guy knew him and he will not give me what I want. But I think that I can convince him to."
"How do you plan to do that?"
'Oh, there are ways."
"And you want whatever I can find on him, is that it?"
"Yes. And I will be forever grateful to you. And I mean it."
"Hmmm. I imagine that it will serve me as training."
"Yes. It will."
"And you'll owe me, later on."
"That's the idea."
Then, that business being taken care of, they could get down to the personal level.
"So it didn't work out between you and Barnabas." Amy said.
"No. I guess that he waned to get more serious than I could afford, so..."
"I guess more or less the same thing happened to Chris and Sandy."
"You mean they split up?"
"Yes. They did. Chris is alone again. And, as you can expect, he gets possessive with me. It is a bitch to have a brother old enough to be your father. I wish he found someone again.
"No, it is not this, either." Xavier said, discouraged.
"But this one has a box-like shape like the one we saw."
"The dimensions are wrong. And in this one you can see something like tail fins."
"But still it is the one that looks more like it. And remember, this is not a photo. It is an artist's rendition from a description. Probably the man who saw it was mistaken about the tail fins."
"Maybe." Xavier was not convinced.
Sandy hoped that the would not want to go through the file again. It was quite large and she did not feel like reviewing it right now.
It must have taken quite a long time for Xavier to put this file together.. And he was doing it for free. The dedication this must have taken...
"I guess that we'll have to accept this one temporarily, then. If only I was sure that it was flames that I saw around it..."
"Carolyn, come here."
Carolyn came to her mother's side. "Don't ask that of me." she begged again.
Liz shook her head. "One more day, Carolyn." she took Carolyn's face in her hands. "My baby, it has to be."
"Please, mother."
Liz moved one hand behind her daughter's neck and pulled it to the side. Then she flashed her fangs...
"Mother..." Carolyn protested, as Liz drank. Then she fell under her influence.
"I am sorry Carolyn. Go and call Barnabas."
Elsa pouted at him.
"I see that you haven't forgiven me yet, for not having bitten you." Barnabas said, good-humoredly.
"I can't understand why you don't want me."
"I told you. You are too young."
"I am not! Everyone says that I am too advanced for my age!"
"Your body says otherwise."
"I am old enough to know what I want."
"What you want. I see. he thought about it. "look into my eyes, Elsa."
"Why, there is no need. I want it and..."
"Look into my eyes, Elsa." he caught her head and made her look at him."
He held her now.
"Elsa, listen to me...Sarah... your name was once Sarah, wasn't it?"
"Yes. It was."
"You once asked me not to call you Sarah. You said that you had to grow up and learn all that Sarah never did. Do you remember?"
"I remember, but..."
"I saw this girl, Cecily. She's older than I am, but she still has this little girl body. Like yours. She will never have a woman's body, even if she is a woman. She can't get herself treated as a woman, loved as a woman." he hugged Elsa "that was I did not want to touch you nor any other child.; I know, you do not want to be called a child. Ever as Sarah you did not want to be called a child. And even less she wanted to remain a child. You don't want that either. Give your body time and one day you will be grown up. and maybe by then I will not be so important to you."
"You will always be important to me."
"Other things are important too. You will have to discover them."
"I don't want to."
"Sarah, please. You know what I mean."
'No, I don't."
"You know better, Sarah. What did you tell me that you had to do?"
"That I had to grow up. she admitted.
"Then grow up. That's all I ask of you. Be patient. and don't make me lecture you like this again."
Alma came into the room.
"Barnabas, Carolyn is here. She's looking for you. She says that Liz wants you to come, and you know what that means."
"What is eating you, little sister?" Chris asked Amy.
"It is that favor that Oriana asked of me."
"You don't want to do it?"
"It is not hard to do. I got the information easily enough. And I don't mind doing it for her. She is a friend and..."
"And she can help you with your career." Chris said with a half-cynical smile.
"Yes."
"So, what's the trouble?"
"I have this feeling that she may be getting into trouble and then..." he hesitated.
"You took out the card and you did not like the spread."
'I know that you don't like them."
"It is not that I don't like them. For a while I was afraid that you thought that you could make a living out of them. I wanted you to go to college and have a career. Now you want it too, so I no longer have any objections to them. What did the cards say?"
"It is very odd. I keep getting all kinds of weird distributions. No figures, except for a Pope every now and then. Swords. The Ace of Cups, which in this deck is represented as having a building inside the cup. And sometimes the Sun... I got to thinking that the Sun is the only card with children in it... I don't know why that scares me. Sometimes clubs. Sometimes cups. Pips all of them. And once I got the Judgment card next to the Sun.
"The sun. And corpses rising... it might mean Barnabas."
"You mean that Barnabas could be in danger?"
Chris made a face. "Make a spread for him, instead of Oriana. Maybe we'll know more that way."
Barnabas knew why Liz had called him. He had made her a promise, and he would keep it.
It would be silver bullets. He had discussed it with Liz and she had agreed. It would be quick enough that way. And the body would not be so mangled as it could be with a stake. Sunlight was out of the question. Not after what Roxanne had told them.
Carolyn was weeping openly when he came int. "Don't do this, please."
"She wants me to."
"But I don't want it!" Carolyn said stubbornly, reminding Barnabas of the spoiled child she used to be.
"Do you want her to suffer?"
"I want... I want..."
"You want things to be as they once were. I know. I have been there, too. But it just can't be done."
"Why couldn't we have more time?"
"I don't know. But I know that at least you got some of it."
"It isn't fair."
"It never is, Carolyn." he took her by the shoulders "I know how bad it is for you. It is even worse for your mother. Won't you make it easier?"
"How? By helping you kill her?"
He kissed Carolyn's forehead "I will help you." he said "both of you. You know that it is no kindness to allow her to go on. It is almost as bad as what my father did do me. How can you be so cruel as that?"
"I... I am not." she reluctantly said.
"Then let me come in."
Liz stood up, straight, even if she had to support herself against a bookcase. "Did you bring it with you?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Good."
Carolyn was weeping. "It will be all right, Carolyn." Liz said softly 'Leave us alone now."
There was raw pain in Carolyn's eyes. She embraced her mother once more, fiercely, then left the room.
Liz smiled at him. "Ready when you are." she said.
He took out the gun. She did not flinch.
"You can't miss me at that distance."
"No." she was in control of the situation. He understood it. She did not have much. She could have this at least, this gesture of refusing a blindfold.
"Liz" he said softly "I wish I could give you more than this."
"I know."
He shot her.
