Chapter 14

Find Sandy... Easier than a needle in haystack, but little more than that...

He wished he shared Trask's faith in his abilities. He had taken blood from her once, and thus made contact with her mind. But that was very far from being a sophisticated homing device.

He had her mind pattern stored somewhere in his memory. But he had many others, too. He consciously forgot them, so that they would not flood him with their feelings and perceptions until there was hardly place for himself.

Some of them remained because, for one reason or another, they had become important to him. But Sandy...she was just a minor irritation that had gotten under his skin on a bad day. How could he sort it from all the other faint patterns that insisted in inhabiting his mind? How to tell her from the Parallel Time Sandy?

But he kept flying, not sure whether it was her he was now listening to, not sure what direction it had come...

The trees stood skeletal along the way, as Tom's car climbed the path. They shot up their bare branches, their points made shiny by the moon overhead.

Sandy looked at them, huddled in the passenger seat, knowing that the more trees they passed, the further lost she was. No one would see, or hear her in the woods. No one would know what happened to her.

Tom licked his lips again. It had been fun at the cellar, but nowhere as fun as it would be now. Even now and then his hand would touch her, trying to get a reaction from her.

The car stopped. Sandy heard the motor die, and the tinkling of the key in his hand.

"End of the road, Mrs. Miller." he said.

He slung her over his shoulder and carried her to a tree stump, where he laid her down.

"You'll get a head start, I promise you." he said while releasing her legs. "You can start running now."

But she wouldn't move. She just sat there, shoulders sagging and eyes closed.

"Run, will you?" he shouted at her. She had no right to do this! He had to have the thrill of the chase before he killed her.

He went down on all fours and bit her angrily in the ankle.

She reacted to the pain. She bit her again, in one arm, one tight... not severely, because she should be able to run.

He forced her to get up this way, and kept doing it until she began running.

Sandy...where could be Sandy...

Try to think of her. The one who made you so mad. The one as the Davenport Center.

...in the woods?...could that be her?"

The signal was faint, but it was there. He followed it, feeling it become stronger as he did so.

Yes. It was Sandy. And she was in trouble.

Sandy ran, slipping over ice patches, getting scratched by the bushes, not even daring to look back and see the wolf's eyes staring at her.

She needed to breathe... If only she could get the gag out of her mouth. Maybe she could try rubbing her face against a tree,...no, she did not have the time for that.

She knew that her legs were bleeding, some from thorns and some from Tom's teeth.

She tried to listen to his footpads. He was near, she knew. But all she could hear was the furious beating of her own heart.

She skirt caught in a branch. With her arms bound, she would not shake it free. She pulled at it, and fell down on her knees.

And the wolf stood in front of her, his eyes glaring.

She could not run anymore...

He circled her, taking his time. Maybe she would get up again and run some more... Maybe he had to end it now..

He stepped back, preparing himself for the jump as a beating of wings came from above them.

Then Barnabas' arms were around Sandy.

"Sandy!" Barnabas pulled her to her feet. "Are you all right?"

It was obvious that she was not. But she was alive, and she would be all right after he took her home.

He was about to undo her gag when he noticed the snarling wolf a few feet away.

He reached for his cane. The sword inside could prove useful now.

Then the wolf stood on two feet.

"Chris! he said, shocked. "You? You did this?"

"Let me have her." Tom said menacingly. "she's mine."

"You are mad..."

"I let you have Oriana, unharmed, but this one belongs to me."

"I am taking her with me" he said with finality.

Tom growled again.

Barnabas grabbed his cane so that the silver handle pointed towards Tom.

"If you don't let us go I swear that I will kill you" Barnabas said with quiet menace "I'll beat you to death with this."

Tom growled again, but moved to a side.

Then Sandy began to whimper.

"I'll release you" Barnabas promised to her. "But I want to beat him to the car."

They made it, thanks to Barnabas using all his vampiric speed. And the key was actually lying on the car seat. Evidently, Barnabas thought, Chris did not want to risk losing it when he went out hunting.

"This is good" he said, depositing Sandy on the seat. "It means that I will not have to learn how to be a car thief in one hard lesson."

Sebastian was worried about what Roxanne was asking him to do, but managed to hide it.

"You want me to keep her like this?"

"Yes, Those manacles stay on her at all times."

"But if you bit her..."

"I want to make double sure."

Angelique moaned. When would it end? Roxanne, Tom...who else would come demand accounts of her? Sam Evans? Sarah? Josette?

"What do you want to do with me?" she asked.

"I told you." Roxanne was annoyed. "I need you. I know that you are not in the habit of being needed. But it was time that you learned how to be useful. You now go with Sebastian and do whatever he says."

Sandy wailed. Even since he had taken the gag off she had been doing it in spite of his efforts to calm her.

He could not untie her hands while she was like that. Suppose she got hysterical and grabbed him while he was driving? He was not that good a driver to chance that.

He had tried to get hold of her mind, with no success.

What had Chris done to reduce her to such a state? Yes, he and Maggie... But that had taken weeks. While here, in one day...

He put his hand over her shoulder, trying to reassure her. It didn't work, it only made her warier.

He understood why this must be so, and didn't insist.

She curled in her seat, turning her back to him

The sight of her bound wrists made him wince. How could it be so tight? It must be terribly painful for her.

He stopped the car. He'd rather take a chance on her losing control that leave her that way.

He took the sword out of this cane, trying not to notice Sandy's shudder as he did it.

The edge was somewhat blunt after so many years of not using it, but it was good enough to slice the rope with.

"That's better, isn't it?" he rubbed her wrists, wishing that either his hands or his breath held some warmth in them. The marks were so deep... just as Oriana's had been.

Why hadn't seen then how much in trouble Chris was? He should have tried to have him committed then.

Sandy did not move, staring dumbly at him.

But he had to make sure she did not make him lose control of his car. He took off his tie and used it to bind her wrists in front of her, loosely. Then he wrapped the Inverness coat around her, both to hold her arms, and to keep her warm.

He started the car. He' better take her to the hospital right away. She seemed to be in bad shape. From the hospital he'd call George and tell him to put an APB on Chris.

And then, he'd have to tell Amy the bad news.

Tom circled angrily the spot where his car had been.

He would never be able to overtake them now. Yes, he could catch a fast deer... but deer get tired while cars don't. And it had a full tank...He had lost Sandy. Not only that. By now Barnabas had talked to the sheriff, and soon the place would be full with deputies hunting for him.

He growled. Barnabas was going to pay for this.