GO BACK TO 24 IF YOU HAVE NOT READ IT! I posted both chapters together, so if you think this is the next update, you're wrong! It's 24 :]
25
"I'm gonna kill 'im." Dave growled pacing the wooden floors of Bobby's kitchen. "I'm gonna find him, and I'm gonna kill him."
"Dave," I said trying to calm him down.
"I mean how could he be so stupid!?" He continued. "I asked him to wait, to give me some time just to figure things out. First he blows up on me for not telling him about Dad, which, you know, fine, I get it, I screwed up, but then he goes on and on about how we have to figure out what Dad really meant, and I asked him—no! I begged him—for this one stupid favor, this one thing and what does he do—" Dave came to a sudden halt with his pacing and squeezed his eyes shut for a split second. "I'm gonna kill 'im."
"Well you ain't gonna get very far pacing my floors 'til the woods gone to dust!" Bobby argued. "Get off your ass, call someone, and find your idjit brother."
"Who am I gonna call, huh, Bobby?!" Dave barked. "I don't have a clue where to start. Zach could be friggin' anywhere!"
"How about Helen?" I suggested.
Bobby and Dave turned to me and then back to each other with looks that told me they were performing some sort of nonverbal communication.
"She's right," Bobby said. "Even if Zach hasn't gone to the roadhouse, Ash is fully capable of findin' him. It's a start."
"Arright," Dave huffed dragging his feet to the phone. "Somebody better gimme some answers." He dialed and put the phone to his ear, waiting somewhat impatiently for someone on the other end to respond.
"I'll go look around," I said standing up from my stool by Bobby's table. "Maybe I can remember something." I waited for a response and after not getting one I discreetly left to the room Zach was sleeping in.
Just by looking around there was more than enough evidence of his eagerness to leave. A pile of papers was carelessly pushed to the ground, the bed was unmade, and he even left a few of his clothes behind in his obvious rush.
As I was making my way around the room, trying to put certain pieces together something caught my eye. On the nightstand was a blue motel napkin with what looked like an address written on it. I didn't hesitate for a second.
"Guys!" I called. "I think I found something!"
I looked up to see the two enter the room, their anxiety easily seen on their faces.
"What is it?" Dave asked. "What'd you find?"
"This napkin," I said reaching for it without taking my eyes off of the two of them.
"What napkin?" Dave came up to where I stood to get a better view of it.
Only when I turned to the nightstand my evidence had disappeared. Confused I bent down to the floor to see if it maybe flew underneath the bed. It was nowhere to be found.
"It was here, I swear." I looked at them like they'd already accused me of lying.
"What'd it say?" Bobby wanted to know.
I relaxed, because this was something I knew.
"It was from a motel." I said already sounding at ease. "And it was blue."
"Kay…" Dave scowled waiting for me to continue on. "So what'd it say?"
"Well, it had some…" I blanked for a moment and quickly came to. "It had these… uhm…." Again, I blanked. "There was just… stuff written on it."
"You're kidding me right?" Dave said raising an eyebrow.
"Like what, Ella?" Bobby urged.
"You know, like… letters…" I was starting to panic again.
"Yea, no shi—"
"I think even numbers…." At this point I couldn't tell whether or not I was just pulling things out of my butt. "I think an address…"
"Address!" Dave said with a pleased look on his face. "That's a start. Do you know where to?"
"Ouch!" I cried my hand reflexively slapping over the back of my neck.
"You okay?" Dave asked trying to get a peek at what was irritating me. "Is it your brand?"
I slowly removed my hand and Dave's look of concern turned into bewilderment.
"Bobby, come take a look at this." He said without peeling his eyes off of my scroll brand.
"It looks red like the rest of 'em." Bobby observed. "Maybe somethin's happenin'."
"Something that none of us can notice?" Dave said sounding unconvinced.
"I wouldn't put it like that." Bobby said. "Ella's forgettin' somethin' important. Could have to do with that."
"I thought that my scroll brand gave me more knowledge not less." I argued.
""There's always more to the story." Bobby pointed out
"Goddammit Zach!" Dave yelled almost knocking the table lamp over. "Why didn't he just listen? Just this once?"
"I thought we were over dwellin' on that." Bobby said, growing frustrated.
"Yea, well guess again." Dave muttered. "You know, I'm more angry at myself for not hearing the bastard get away in the dead of night."
"I didn't hear anything either," I said trying to make him feel better.
"That doesn't count," Dave said. "You fell asleep before I did."
One look at Bobby's reaction, my face instantly grew red hot. Seconds later, Dave found his mistake.
"What do you mean she was asleep before you were?" Bobby wondered.
"Uh…" Dave was at a sudden lost for words.
"How'd you get to know a thing like that?" Bobby's eyebrow was raised in that way that you knew he'd caught you red-handed in something or another.
And now Dave was doing his stupid laugh where it was obvious that he was nervous and trying to cover it up.
"Oh well you know," He said with a chuckle. "I was so worried about Cru, I checked on her before heading off to sleep myself."
"Oh, I see." Bobby said with a nod that told Dave he hadn't really gotten away with anything just yet.
"Yep," Dave said awkwardly standing there for a moment.
"What did Helen say?" I asked trying to break the ice.
"Huh? Oh, she said that Zach's on his way out to Lafayette, Indiana to find out about this kid that got murdered a month back." Dave explained. "His name's Scott Carey, and he was a super special kid just like our Zach. Doesn't exactly make me feel any better about him going AWOL."
"Maybe there's a connection to Lafayette, Indiana and this so-called blue motel napkin with the address on it." Bobby said.
I took note of the "so-called" he decided to add in there.
"What kind of connection?" Dave asked intrigued.
"Maybe that's where Zach is, or maybe that's where the cemetery where Carey's body lies." Bobby said.
"Or maybe he's meeting someone there." I said casually.
They both looked at each other and then to me taking a few steps closer.
"Why? You remember something?" Dave asked.
"No," I replied with a shrug. "It was just a thought."
"You're jumpin' in this too fast." Bobby warned. "I think a blue motel in Lafayette, Indiana ain't a bad start, so I'm gonna see what I can dig up."
"Sounds good," Dave said. "I'll help Cru out in here in case she remembers anything."
"No you're not." Said Bobby. "You're comin' with me so that you can help me out. Cru can handle herself in here."
"Oh, and what, you can't?" Dave wondered following Bobby out the room. "Honestly, Bobby, you can't be telling me that you're still having problems working a computer." He joked, his voice trailing away.
"Shut up, y'idjit."
I roamed around the room, stopping to look for anything I could pick up on, hoping I would remember something vital that would get Zach back. After a while I knew I wouldn't find any real answers from the room he left behind in a hurry. I had to turn to my unreliable memory, and hope something useful would come up. It was just so hard with so many things on my mind, from the mystery of my brandings, to the nightmares that made it hard to sleep at night.
Then I thought; maybe my nightmares weren't simply nightmares. They could've been memories of episodes. Before making another decision, I had to let Bobby and Dave know what I'd realized.
I was about to run down the stairs just as I heard hushed voices in what sounded like some dispute. I tiptoed my way down, and listened in behind the closed doors of the study both Dave and Bobby occupied.
"You know full well why I dragged you down here." Bobby scorned.
"No, I don't." Dave replied. "This shouldn't be that hard to find."
"Dammit, Dave," Bobby let out an exasperated sigh. "What are you doin'?"
There was a silence, before Dave turned back to the computer.
"I'm helping you out." He replied.
"That's not what I meant and you know it." Bobby said. "Look, I get it. Ella's older now and you two are still young but you can't be sneakin' away in the middle of the night just to—"
"It ain't like that Bobby." Dave said.
"It ain't like what?" His voice was starting to raise a little. "Because from where I'm standin' it looks like you two are gettin' a little more friendly than what's good for the either of you."
"Bobby—"
"Now normally I wouldn't give a damn but this is different." Bobby continued. "Ella is important. She's stickin' around, and we need her to."
"I know."
"Well, how bad do you think she's gonna wanna stay after you toss her aside for the next pretty thing that walks into town?"
"Look, Bobby we haven't—" He shifted in his seat. "We weren't… you know—" He buried his head in his hands and ran his fingers through his hair. "We're not sneaking off at night or anything like that, okay? She just walked in and fell asleep next to me. I mean we talked a little but that's all."
"That's all?"
"Like I said, it ain't like that, and she doesn't even want it to be so I don't know what you're getting all worked up about." Dave muttered something under his breath before returning his focus back to the computer.
Without responding, Bobby rested his hand on Dave's shoulder giving it a sympathetic squeeze.
"We weren't made for that life, son." He said in a tone I hadn't heard him use before. Not since I came to this universe anyway.
All of a sudden I didn't feel too good about eavesdropping, so I walked right in before anything else could be said.
"I had a nightmare last night," I started. "There was an explosion, and I think someone may have died because I saw this burnt boot on the ground. And I just got to thinking, that maybe it wasn't just a random nightmare. Maybe I'm remembering something. Something that could help us find Zach."
"One question," Bobby said. "Your feather wasn't doin' anything strange was it?"
"Well yea…"
"Then it ain't a memory," He said. "It's somethin' that was happenin' at the time."
"See I thought about that when I woke up," I said. "But in the dream it was daytime. It couldn't have been something that was happening simultaneously unless it was in another half of the world. I don't think that's very likely."
"Maybe it was a dream," Dave said with a shrug. "Just not yours. Maybe it was someone's dream that was showing up on your… you know… TV screen. Doesn't your feather take you to whatever was on your TV?"
"You think Zach could've had a nightmare and decided to leave because of it?" I asked.
"It wouldn't be the first time Zach's acted impulsively to one of his dreams." Dave pointed out. "Remember how badly he wanted to go to Iowa to kill Azazel? I know he almost left me and Dad hanging in Colorado."
"But that doesn't make sense." I argued. "Zach knows that his premonitions come at least a week or so before they actually occur. He would've told us before he left."
"Zachie's upset right now, especially after what I told him yesterday." Dave said reaching for his beer. "I don't think he was willing to wait."
I stood there in silence, unable to imagine everything that Zach was possibly going through. I wished that I could somehow transport to where ever it was he decided to go just so that I could talk him into coming back. It probably wouldn't have worked anyway. I was starting to understand Dave's anger and frustration.
"Found something." Dave said sitting up in his chair.
Bobby took a closer look as I made my way to their side of the table to get a look at the computer screen. A list of motels in Lafayette, Indiana with the word "blue" in them appeared along with their image results.
"There's Blue Moon, Blue Flower, Blue Rose, Blue Lagoon," Dave read.
"That's it!" I cried.
"Blue Lagoon?" Dave asked.
"No, Blue Rose." I leaned closer, and took the mouse from Dave, clicking on the picture of the motel. Its sign was the first thing that sparked my memory.
"Look familiar?" Bobby asked trying to read the expression on my face.
"Dave," I panicked. "We've gotta go." I walked to the chair that my leather jacket was slumped upon and zipped it up.
Dave just stood up trying to keep up with me.
"Cru, you gotta give me more than that." He said following me around the room as I gathered up some things.
"There's no time." I told him. "Zach needs us. I think my nightmare was about him." I made my way to the computer looking for the address and directions to The Blue Rose Motel in Lafayette, Indiana.
"You got all that from a motel sign?" Dave asked dubiously.
I was so irritated at his questions I couldn't stand it anymore.
"Look Dave!" I cried spinning around. I didn't realize how close he'd been following behind, and his body was just inches away from my face. I took a step back and let out an exasperated sigh. "Look, Dave," I repeated more calmly. He raised his eyebrows and folded his arms waiting for me to say something else. "Your brother is in trouble. Isn't that enough reason to get up and go?"
"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" Dave wanted to know. "You haven't really given me much to go on."
"Look, my nightmare, with the explosion and the burnt boot, and the possibility of somebody dying," I explained. "That somebody is Zach."
"You're telling me that Zach is going to die?" He asked unfolding his arms.
"Not if we're there to stop it." I replied. "As long as we don't separate."
"Alright," Dave said with a nod. "I'm all for sticking together, but what happens on the off chance that we do get separated?"
"I don't know," I said with a shrug. "Something bad."
Dave reached into his pocket and threw me the keys.
"Get 'er started." He instructed. "I'll get our things."
I smiled and after giving Bobby a quick hug and kiss goodbye, I made my way out to the car and started it up as I was told. I slid down to the passenger seat as Dave climbed in, his brown leather jacket on, and our bags tucked away in the back seat.
"You don't have to use the bathroom or anything do you?" He wanted to make sure. I shook my head in response and he began driving us off the lot. "Good, 'cause I don't plan on making any stops."
He meant it too. About two hours into the trip my bladder really started to kick in but I didn't want to say anything in fear of Dave not responding well. Luckily, the Impala was not known for it's excellent mileage, and we had to stop anyway. The bathroom at the gas station was like another hell, but I wasn't in the position to complain.
Six hours and one stop later I was on the verge of falling asleep. My eyelids grew heavy, and despite the rock and roll that was blasted in the car, I wanted desperately to sneak in a nap. The moment I closed my eyes, however, my feather brand was starting to bother me. Which meant I was going to disappear soon.
"Dave!" I gasped.
"What!?" He turned off the music and looked over to me.
"Dave, my feather, I'm leaving!" I realized I wasn't forming a real sentence, but I was panicking too much to care.
He pulled over, and reached for a flashlight in the glove compartment.
"Let me see." He said turning me over. He pushed my hair away, and pulled down my shirt. "It's red," he examined, "but you're obviously still here." His fingers brushed over it and he clicked the flashlight off. "Maybe it's just acting off." He said with a shrug.
"Yea," I said, "You're probably right."
The next thing I knew I was in the middle of a motel room, and a shrill scream startled me so I spun around to see a short, chubby girl with the largest and most frightened blue eyes I've ever seen. The moment I laid my eyes on her I knew who she was.
"Ava?" I asked in bewilderment.
"Who are you?" She cried. "Please don't kill me! Please!"
"Would you shut up?" I hushed. "I'm not going to kill you."
"You're not?" She was so shocked by my presence she was shaking where she stood, tears already formed in her eyes.
"Where's Zach?"
"Ava?" Zach barged in a gun in hand. I threw my hands up in defense. "Ella?!"
"It's just me." I said with a faint smile.
"You know her?" Ava questioned, turning to Zach.
"Yea, she's my… she's my sist—uh she's a friend." He replied.
"How does she know my name?" She wanted to know.
"It's a long story." I replied. "Zach what the hell were you thinking?"
"Look, I needed answers and Dave… he means well but he's not always going to be there and he can't protect me from that." Zach said trying to explain himself.
"Yea, well now you are in a lot of danger, and so is Dave." I told him. "I wasn't supposed to leave him behind and somehow I did. Now he's alone and vulnerable."
"You guys weren't supposed to come after me." Zach said.
"I know, but what did you think was going to happen, Zach? Did you really expect to just get up in the dead of night without telling a soul where you were going and not have your brother come after you?"
"It just happened like that, Ella, I wasn't planning on leaving."
"You should've come to me." I said. "I could've helped you. You could have done this the right way. We could have done this together."
Zach looked guiltily down at the floor without saying a word.
"Look, I hate to get in between your little bonding time," Ava said, "but we need to get back to Planet Earth and Zach here needs to leave town before he gets blown to bits, and he is refusing for some stupid reason!"
"Look," Zach said turning to Ava. "Don't you want to know what's happening? Doesn't it scare you that you have visions of people's deaths? You said yourself you've never been so afraid than when you dreamt of Scott Carey's death days before it happened." There was a silence as Ava's breath began to grow heavy. "If you walk out that door, you might never know the truth. I need you're help okay?"
"Okay," Ava succumbed. "I don't know why you need me now that you have your magical friend, but okay."
She took a few deep breaths and rushed to the bathroom, locking the door behind her and turning on the faucet.
"You need help with what?" I asked.
"Figuring out what's going on for starters." He replied.
"How's that working out for you?"
"Well so far, we know that Scott had the same issues as we do. He had headaches, nightmares, premonitions, he even saw a therapist about it. A Doctor Waxler. I was thinking of somehow getting into the office and taking the files."
"I could do that for you." I said. "We might need some reinforcements just in case I somehow turn visible, but I could sneak in undetected."
"Really?" He sounded so surprised.
"I'm on your side, Zach." I said taking a seat on the table. "Just waiting for you to see it too."
"I do," He said walking towards me. He stopped suddenly and sighed. "It's just that after whatever happened at the clinic, I didn't think you would understand."
"I told you that I got over it." I reminded him. "You didn't believe me?"
"I did, it's just that I knew that if I were you I would've told Dave any chance I got."
"The most I would've done was maybe try talking you out of it, but that's all!" I cried. "I wouldn't have said a single word to Dave."
There was a long silence and Zach slumped down in a seat. He looked deep in thought and then straightened himself up and looked back at me.
"Are you angrier at Dave because of what happened at the clinic?" He asked.
I sighed.
"I don't know," I replied. "I guess I'm kind of upset at him for lots of reasons, I just can't explain them all if that makes any sense."
"Is it…" He paused and then started over. "Is it because he kissed you?"
"Oh no." I said leaning my head back against the wall.
"It's not a big deal," Zach tried.
"You knew?" I questioned. He nodded sheepishly. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"What was I supposed to say? 'Hey guys, good news: I'm not an infected zombie, oh and by the way I totally saw the two of you making out'?"
"We weren't making out!" I exclaimed.
"Whatever!" Zach said. "That's not the point. I asked you a question, Ella."
"I don't know! I guess, maybe… yea, sure! And why not, you know? He just kissed me out of nowhere apologizing for treating me like a kid, for not trusting me, and not five minutes later I'm trying to fight the both of you off to keep you from sticking a needle in me! I think that's reason enough to be a little upset."
"You should've said something." Zach told me.
"I shouldn't have had to say anything!" I yelled. I folded my arms and leaned back against the wall.
"You're right," Zach said. "We shouldn't have done that."
"We already went over this at Bobby's." I said. "I meant it when I said I was over it and that I understood. I do. It's just something that's still lingering in my head, that's all. And it doesn't mean that I'm holding it against you two, or that I ever will. It just means that it's something that's a little hard to forget."
All of a sudden the bathroom door swung open.
"I don't know about you two, but I'm beat." Ava yawned dragging her feet to the bed. "And from what you've told me, it looks like we've got a long day ahead of us. So I'm gettin' my rest."
"She's got the right idea." Zach said. "You can sleep on the other bed if you want. I'll probably stay up."
"Are you kidding? I can't sleep." I said. "I just left Dave in the middle of nowhere, after I told him how vital it was that we stick together. The fact that he's so vulnerable now, is making me way too anxious to sleep."
"I don't think you've gotten a good nights sleep ever since you got here." Zach said standing up. He grabbed my hand and got me off the table. "I'm still trying to figure out a solid plan anyway. You get some rest."
"Alright, I will." I reluctantly walked over to the bed but was surprised to find that I was actually exhausted.
I took off my jacket and boots and buried myself under the blankets desperate to fall asleep before any anxieties could creep up on me.
Again, my dream consisted of a series of mini explosions that were slowly coming after me. I couldn't move, or for some reason chose not to, and in the distance I could hear a voice screaming, "you're not dead!" The voice continued on until the final explosion took me.
I woke up with a start and found Zach facing the other way, breathing heavily next to me. Ava was looming over us and pushed Zach awake.
"Listen, I've got wedding invitations to take care of," She said. "So can we get a move on with this thing?"
"Yea," Zach replied in a tired voice. He turned to look at me and seemed surprised to see me like he'd forgotten I'd come. "Sorry, Ella." He said. "I just got really tired I guess."
"Are you kidding?" I said trying to make him feel less awkward. "Sleeping next to you is like sleeping next to a giant cuddly bear. It's awesome."
He chuckled and bent over to put on his shoes while I slipped on my jacket and boots.
"I made an appointment online yesterday through Doctor Waxler's website." He said standing up and stretching. "Ava's going to go in, and you can slip in and try to steal the files."
"How are you going to go in without being seen?" Ava wondered. "I mean it's not like you can go invisible or anything like that." She laughed.
"Don't worry about it," I told her. "Just try and focus on being a distraction."
"Okay," She said. "I'm ready."
The building in which Dr. Waxler's office was located looked a little sketchy to be honest, but once I followed Ava inside, it had that "shrink office" feel. I spotted the filing cabinets through the window of the door to his private room where he spoke with his patients. If only I could get in there already.
"Ah, Miss Wilson," the secretary greeted her with a handshake. "Dr. Waxler is waiting for you in his office. Please step right in."
"Is it alright if my cousin comes in with me?" Ava asked pointing to me.
My candle brand felt a tingly and was already turning a little red. Uh-oh.
"You're cousin?" The secretary asked with raised eyebrows. "Will she be coming up later?"
Ava turned around and was surprised to not see me there.
"Huh." She said. "I could've sworn she was following me in."
The secretary made a face that suggested she was under the impression that Ava's cousin wasn't really her "cousin".
"I see," She paused trying to think of something to say in response. "Why don't you tell your cousin that you can only go in yourself? One patient at a time, Miss Wilson."
Ava scowled like she was offended.
"No, I'm not crazy," she snapped. "She was right behind me like two seconds ago."
"I'm sure she was," replied the secretary. "And I'm sure she still is."
"Okay, whatever, lady." Ava rolled her eyes and walked inside the office.
Aside from certain bits and pieces of Ava's entertaining talk with the doctor, I was mainly focused on the finding the files. There were more A's and B's than expected, and it took a little bit to find Scott Carey (there was Jack Carey, Molly Carey, and Patricia Carey). Something caught my eye as I was rummaging through his things. I was surprised to find a recording device with his file.
I quickly rushed out and met Zach in the parking lot, letting him know about my most important find.
"I mean, honestly, forget the sessions and the prescription medication, this handy-dandy recording is pretty much all we're going to need." I said in excitement.
"We'll check everything out just in case." He said. "But we can start with the recording."
The moment he turned it on, Scotts voice came up.
"Everything's about to change." He said. "People like me are going to be soldiers for a coming war."
"What else did this yellow-eyed man say?" Dr. Waxler's voice asked.
Zach and I looked at each other, knowing that this solidified our previous assumptions of Azazel being behind his death.
"He tells me that I'm not fighting hard enough," Scott answered. "He says that there are so many people like me that could do so much more with their abilities than I can do with mine. He says if I want to live, I have to be stronger."
I shut it off.
"What did you do that for?" Zach asked.
"I think we should wait for Ava." I said.
"We'll just play it again when we get to the motel."
"Something isn't sitting right with me," I confessed. "I don't think Azazel killed Scott Carey."
"I think you're right," Zach said with a nod. "Why would he kill someone he was trying to encourage to keep living? Clearly there's a purpose for us to stick around."
"I'm worried that someone else knows what that purpose is and doesn't like it," I said.
"Could you blame them?" Zach replied. "If there is some purpose that Azazel has set out, it can't be a good one."
"You're not understanding me," I continued. "I think that person killed Scott, and if he did, who's to say he's not after you next, or even your… brother…"
"What?" Zach was beginning to grow concerned.
"Zach, we have to find Dave, now."
"Who's Dave?" Ava's voice asked from behind.
"He's my brother," answered Zach.
"Great so you have a sister and a brother I didn't know about? Who else is going to join us on this trip? Your uncle?" Ava complained as she followed Zach and I into the car.
"Ella thinks he might be in trouble." Zach said while he sped towards the motel. "And I never said she was my sister."
"Yea, well you were about to for some reason," Ava reminded him. "What kind of trouble are we talkin'?"
"Let's just get to the motel," Zach said. "I left my phone there."
The moment we walked in Zach began hunting through his belongings to find his phone, and Ava listened to the recording.
"Oh, Gosh." She said. "He can't mean us can he?"
"I'm afraid so," I replied.
"But how can we turn into that—"
Out of nowhere the glass from the window shattered and as Zach leapt on top of Ava, shielding her body with his. Someone was shooting at us.