Chapter Twenty-Three


"Give me a moment please," Bella said to everyone ready to get started. She didn't wait for an answer and closed her eyes, long enough to open her mind, but allow what she learned from Jasper deeper in her mind. She placed all the memories of her past lives, lives she had shared with Edward's soul, into a box, protecting it with walls made of brick, reinforced titanium, surrounded by barbed wire and canons. Sometimes being open made her vulnerable to mental attacks. She was usually good at shutting a spirit out, but her heart was heavier than usual.

Her confidence and faith had taken a stab though, knowing that her relationship with Edward was destined to end in two short years, by death. She pushed the memories further into the back of her mind, closing it until she was ready to make sense of them.

"I'm ready," she whispered a minute later, trying hard to believe her own words. Her eyes opened to find Edward closely watching her. The worry in his gaze only strengthened her defenses, she had to be alert. She had to stay on top of it all if she had any hope in protecting him.

"Bella," he whispered, cradling her face gently and pressing his forehead against hers. "Stay with me." She agreed with a simple nod and kiss. He clasped her hand tightly, and then they turned to face the group together.

For the cameras and official record, Riley needed to give everyone some details of the case. Edward and Bella strapped up with button cameras and digital recorders.

"As most of you are aware, this property belonged to the Caius Lexington, also known as The Nightingale Killer. We believe he killed his victims here, but left their bodies elsewhere. While the alleged suspect was under investigation, our people found the property and were about to obtain a warrant when the suspect died from apparent natural causes." He looked at Bella for a moment, as if he knew she had something to do with his death.

She looked Riley square in the eyes, giving nothing away.

"Ms. Swan stumbled upon a large group of burial sites when part of a historical group insisted on overseeing the property." He skipped over the part where they were attacked, though Edward understood his reasons. "Our team uncovered the remains of over two dozen young women, all approximately between 18-29 years of age, with similar backgrounds and matching descriptions. All dead for more than twenty years. The late Caius Lexington inherited his property from his grandfather Marcus Lexington after his death, two years after the most recent victim was buried."

"What happened to The Nightingale Killer's parents?" One of the paranormal investigators asked, holding up a digital recorder. "And can we just call him NK from now on, or his name Caius? This full name crap pisses me off."

Everyone agreed.

"NK's parents were in a suspicious but horrific car accident when he was a child, the father passed at the scene, his mother survived, but she had some brain damage and had to have around the clock care. As revealed to the media, she died in the nursing home where Caius Lexington found his victims. The hospital was found to be negligent in their care."

Edward leaned toward Bella to ask for some clarification about the number of victims, but another voice stopped him.

"Are we under the impression that the grandfather killed the new set of victims? Or Caius had when he was only a child?" Jasper asked, again for the sake of the cameras and the others. He glanced toward Bella, grimacing at the blank look she had for him, not that Edward blamed her.

He didn't bother to look at him at all.

"That's still under investigation." The detective only offered a shrug as everyone groaned at the typical non-answer from an authority figure. "However, Bella can help with that, but let me say for the record, anything she says is considered speculation and not fact." He waved his hand to her, the cameraman immediately swinging toward her.

"I believe Marcus Lexington mentored his grandson in everything, including murder. His grandmother encouraged her husband's need for such darkness, as he was the long, lost daughter of the late Aro Valentine. Something only recently discovered due to some paperwork found on the property."

"Holy fuck," someone hissed, his hands in his dark hair. Edward couldn't remember his name, but he was with the paranormal team. "One of the biggest mob bosses in history is The Nightingale Killer's great grandfather."

"Yes," Bella said, nodding as she came to a stop, just short of house. The porch wrapped around the dark home, but instead of warming it up, or make it look inviting, it appeared gloomier. As if the railing was ready to claim another victim, some of the spindles having broken away from the top rail. They reached out like bony fingers. "If my memory serves me right, Marcus was allegedly Aro Valentine's right hand man before he fell in love with his daughter Athena."

Riley continued with what information he was allowed to release. "Rumors indicated that Aro was not happy about the relationship, and flat out tried to put a stop to it. Sometime later, Aro Valentine and five of his men were shot in a bloody scene in his home, his daughter missing. Marcus DeMarco was believed to be dead, shot in the face."

"He faked his own death, and made it appear as if Aro Valentine's daughter had been kidnapped," Bella suggested.

"With that kind of bloody history, it's no wonder Marcus Lexington had to kill, he developed an addiction to it. But why women?" Riley seemed to be talking out loud. "And does that mean that his grandson Caius helped him commit those murders? He would've been a kid. And what of his son before the car accident? Was he ever involved?"

"I have no idea, but maybe we'll find out more as the investigation continues." Bella looked at each person, a total of eleven people. She was taking a head count, and Edward hoped it was for safety reasons and not because she believed they'd lose someone. "Be on alert out there. You may see full apparitions, shadows, and hear voices throughout the night. For now, we will not purposefully agitate the spirits into showing themselves." She looked at the paranormal crew, well known for such tactics.

"Always be aware of your surroundings. No one, and I mean no one, is allowed to go off alone. Pick a buddy now, he or she will be with you for the rest of the night. Be prepared for anything. I know some of you are upset that I had asked Riley to disarm everyone before we got started. I know that you hoped a gun might be helpful, but I can tell you a bullet will do nothing to a spirit. In fact, it could've increased the chances of shooting one of us. I've seen it happen."

"If we're in trouble, what do we do?" A woman with long blond hair and a member of the paranormal team asked the question, her name escaping Edward. Regina? Raven? Damn it, he wasn't ready for this. His head wasn't on straight and it could cost them. He worked to clear his mind, to close up his memories in a box like Bella suggested for him to try.

"Jasper all handed you a strobe light and whistle. I know it's not much, but trust me, it's best to get as many people around you to displace a spirit. The light and whistle will help guide us to you. The salt bags Edward is passing around now, we're passing around now, will help, a palm full will send a spirit away long enough for you to escape." She turned to the only other woman with them as Edward gave everyone a small pouch with rock salt. "Reya, you match the description of the victims from the cold cases, for that reason, you'll be coming with Edward and me."

"We don't like to separate," the cameraman stated, side-stepping closer to Reya. "She's my girlfriend, where she goes, I go."

"That's fine, William, I'm guessing your sound guy Jason has to come, too?" William nodded, waving Jason over. "All right, that leaves Jasper and Riley, both are wearing cameras and mikes on them. Each of them has to go with at least one of the paranormal team, each armed with their own equipment."

They divided into three groups, Edward and Bella's the largest, with five of them. Riley's team of three was heading to the house to get a general reading of each room and set up cameras and a central station for everyone to check in, but only after Bella stated she didn't expect activity other than residual for a while. Most of the energy seemed to focused on the burial site and barn. Jasper and two team members named Lawrence and Taylor, were visiting the dilapidated barn, one of the locations confirmed to be where Caius killed the nurses and the doctor, including Bella's best friend.

Edward and Bella's group continued toward the trees, to a small worn footpath that led to the large burial site. Awaiting them near the mouth of the clearing was something indistinct, transparent and seemed to be pacing, and large. It made shadows appear darker around it. The others were oblivious, as they continued to go over their equipment and their plan of attack.

Edward was nervous about where they were going, the same area that essentially attacked them with dead bodies. There wasn't any more bones there, but something potentially worse. Restless and angry spirits.

"Remind me again of how many spirits we're dealing with?" Edward asked in a whisper, falling back from the other three.

"You don't want to know," she said, stopping their advance as the others continued. He insisted. "There's almost forty spirits here." She looked up at him and placed her hands on his chest. "Edward, just in case I don't get a chance to tell you later…"

Something warm and welcoming in her eyes caused him to stop her. He immediately covered her mouth with a few fingers. "Don't you dare tell me now, please wait until we walk away from this."

"You have no idea what I was going to say," she said, trying hard to appear mad, but failing. "I could've been telling you anything."

He doubted it, the words were clear in her eyes. "Your timing is fucking incredible, but I'm going to take a chance and say ditto in response to whatever you were going to say."

Yeah, he went there.

She shook her head, jumping to her toes to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him. "You ready?"

He felt ready now. It wasn't the best time to be open about their feelings, but knowing she felt the same grounded him in a way he hadn't expected. "I am now." They joined the others who remained yards away from the trees.

Reya, a local college student dressed in a t-shirt with the words Fairfield Paranormal Investigation across the front stood beside Bella, the others just behind her. "Did they tell you I was a sensitive, too?"

Bella smiled. "They didn't have to tell me. I knew it when I first saw you."

"Same here with you two," Reya said, looking between Edward and Bella. "You and Edward give off this sense of power I only feel with others like me." Edward was surprised by the news, Jasper said he had a glow in his aura that others didn't have. It didn't seem to be what Reya was describing. "Except about a hundred times stronger."

Bella's brow tightened in confusion, as if she was trying to work out what Reya was saying. The others were all listening to the conversation, but mostly kept the questions or concerns to themselves. Before Bella had a chance to ask Reya for some clarification something ahead of them called out.

The group stilled, except for the cameraman. William whirled until his camera pointed toward the sound. Jason lifted his mike higher above William, making tiny adjustments on his equipment in his bag. He motioned at Bella, Reya, and Edward to move ahead with a tilt of his head.

"Did you hear that?" Reya asked, keeping her eyes on the break between the trees leading to the burial site. The shape Edward had seen earlier was looking more defined, though still transparent, he could make out the shape of people. Several of them moved in some kind of hypnotic dance.

"I'm picking up a few voices," Jason murmured, shaking his head. "They're distorted, and I can't make out what they're saying."

"They're singing." Bella stepped forward, keeping Edward's hand in hers and her voice low. "The media isn't aware, but The Nightingale Killer left a piece of paper with two lines of a song on each of his victims."

The hair on the back of Edward's neck and arms started to stand up, as the voices grew louder. Rising and falling with the notes of the eerie melody. More and more voices joined the first, filling the air around them with a dark energy, sending chills up his spine.

"They also found an old record player with the song on it, here on the property. We think he played the song as he started to kill them, and the two lines he left behind was where the victim died in the song."

As if they heard Bella, a strong wind swept toward them, carrying a scent of death and blood.

"Oh God," Reya whispered, covering her stomach with her hands. "I think I'm going to be sick." Bella cursed, helping Reya to her knees as she dry heaved. Her wide blue eyes filled with tears.

Bella held her hand over Reya's stomach for a second, cursing a few times as she stood up. "You need to leave."

"What? Why?" William seemed less concerned about capturing video than whatever was wrong with his girlfriend.

Edward's oh-shit-meter was pretty spot on and he knew when something horrible was on the way, as Reya's memories filled his head. "She's exactly what he wants." He helped Reya to her feet, pushing another flashlight and a bag of salt in her hand. "Get out of here."

"Why?" William wanted answers, Edward couldn't blame him. But it wasn't the time.

"All of NK's victims were nurses or a doctor." Edward radioed Riley and Jasper, they had to get Reya off the property. "And she matches the description of his victims. Blonde hair, twenty-two years old, no parents." She was perfect candidate for Marcus Lexington to continue his grandson's work and his own.

It wasn't long before Riley and the others joined them halfway between the house and the forest.

William insisted on answers. "And they all worked the nursing home that his mother stayed at. Reya never worked there."

Reya grimaced and grabbed her head. "Yes, I did. I had to complete my hours there."

"Oh fuck," William said whatever was thinking. "You never said that!"

"I never should've agreed to allow his kind of investigation," Riley hissed, hauling Reya by the arm. "If I'd know you matched the victims to a fucking T, you wouldn't be here. Even I know he'd come after you and I'm still a skeptic." He had a car with two of his friends down the road from the property, a safety precaution in case something went wrong and they didn't check in with them every hour. All he had to do was make a call and they'd call for help. "The entire paranormal crew is leaving."

The members of the team protested, even though they agreed Reya needed to leave. Riley was having none of it. He turned to Bella and pointed at her. Edward stepped between him and Bella, reading Riley's misplaced anger easily. "Can you guarantee no one will get hurt?"

"Back off," Edward said, barely resisting the urge to push Riley out of Bella's personal space.

"There's no way I can do that, Ri. They're getting angrier, so it won't be long before something makes a move."

"Then that means she's leaving. I'll let the others stay, but we're…"

A blood curdling scream came from behind them, the entire group turning toward the sound. Another came from the right, and soon, no matter where they turned, screams could be heard all around them.

"It's too late," Bella whispered. "Stay together, they're coming."

"Who's coming?"

"Are you all seeing this?" William asked, adjusting the camera on his shoulder. "The camera is picking up several shapes, people or whatever, surrounding us."

Riley and Jasper kept everyone in a tight circle, Reya and Bella in the middle. Edward remained by Bella's side, trying to determine what to do next. She grabbed the back of his jacket, and whispered in his ear. He nodded at her instructions, and rolled his neck in preparation. One look at Bella, a palm full of salt, and he ran toward at one of the spirits, displacing it immediately. It wailed in response, appearing several feet away from the rest of the group. Catching on, the others started to the same, except for Reya and Bella.

"I thought we were here to help them crossover," Riley said after several minutes, gasping for breath. "Why are the victims coming after us?"

"They're scared. He has this power over them, at least they think he does." Bella leaned her head on Edward's shoulder, trying to catch her breath. "This is going to be harder than I thought. I had hoped to see a few at a time, help them crossover and move on to the next. He's not going to let them."

"Vicky," Edward said, grabbing Bella to look her in the eyes. "I know you aren't ready to let her go, but she's the answer we need."

"She could lead them," Bella whispered, tears filling her eyes. "If I can reach through to her, she could help me, help them." The others already knew that Bella's best friend was one of The Nightingale Killer's victim. Other than Riley and Jasper, they had no idea she was one of the spirits among them. It was too bad they had ordered James, Jane and Shelley from helping this time. Bella moved into position, everyone flanking her on each side, facing the disquieted victims. They all seemed at a loss, as if they were unsure and afraid.

The question was who were they afraid of more, Bella or Marcus Lexington?

"Vicky, can you hear me?" Flickering shapes paced between the house and the tree line, some more solid than others. The doctor, the strongest and most recent victim other than Vicky approached Bella with caution. Her hair was tied up in a bun, the lab coat she wore once was a crisp white, now looked gray and caked with blood.

"She's not with us," the spirit said, her voice carried along a cool breeze, whispering in their ears, as if she was standing right beside each of them. Several of the crew cursed, trying to find the owner of the voice. "He has her in the barn." A few of the other victims stepped closer, nodding in agreement. "He takes us all there, making us relive the horror of our deaths. Hoping that one day another victim would come on the property."

The doctor lifted up a bony looking hand, her skin appeared stretched too tight, and seemed ready to tear apart if she moved too fast. She pointed at Reya. "He wants her."

Bella closed her eyes and swayed. "He's forcing her to relive her murder."

"Yes," all the spirits whispered as one. "Help us! Help us!"

"With all of you here, he has more power. I need to send you away."

"I'm ready." The doctor nodded, but the other spirits hissed and disappeared, appearing near the entrance of the forest. "They are too scared, none of them know what's in store for them on the other side."

"And neither do I," Bella answered. "If I open a doorway, I can send you all to where you belong, but it has to be fast. The longer the door remains open increases the chance that something will come out of it. I can't promise you anything else."

The doctor nodded once again, gliding toward the other spirits to talk to them.

Edward tried to count how many of them they were, NK's victims all appeared to be wearing the same thing, scrubs and other than Vicky were all accounted for. Marcus Lexington had some power over them, but not enough, since he wasn't the one that killed them, his grandson had. It was the other spirits, his original victims, once buried on the property who remained under his control. They were still somewhere on the property.

"Lay your hand in mine," Bella whispered, her voice taking on a quality Edward heard in his own whenever he reviewed tapes. It sounded like another voice lay on top of hers, another frequency that the dead could hear. "Those that wish to leave now, can do so. Please, there isn't much time."

A scream broke the otherwise quiet surroundings; it was coming from the barn. Bella whimpered, swaying, and Edward had to hold her up. Was she witnessing her best friend's death in her mind?

"Please," she pleaded with the spirits. "It's time to go home." The doctor lay her hand on Bella's phased palm, and slowly, one by one, six others joined her, stepping into same place as the doctor. Edward watched in awe as spirits all appeared as one, becoming more solid. He heard the others behind him gasp and curse, the spirits finally becoming a clearer apparition to them.

"Thank you," they said, nodding one by one, the face morphing into each victim. "Thank you."

Bella nodded once, holding up her free hand, palm out. She seemed to vibrate, phasing in and out as a light so bright made them instinctively cover their eyes, turning away from the light. Edward managed a glance, there was a crack, a tear in the fabric of their world, the edges rough and jagged, the light spilling out from within it. It towered over Bella by at least three feet, leaning toward her as if it wanted to swallow her whole. His hand reached out, grabbing a fistful of her jacket, to keep her with him. She couldn't leave him.

One by one, the doctor and the other victims of The Nightingale Killer walked through the crack. The second the last passed through, the tear stitched itself so quickly, so forcefully, the energy rippled through the ground, throwing everyone off their feet. Edward rolled off his back and curled his body around Bella, just in case something had come through the doorway.

A roar of pure malevolence and violence filled the air, reverberating in their heads. They all cried out in pain, and Edward noticed a trickle of blood coming from Bella's ear as she screamed. He watched the others curl up in a fetal position, holding onto their heads as the sound continued to assault them. He whispered through the pain, his lips just a breath away from Bella's ear, "I love you."

And just as quickly as it started, the sound stopped. For now.


AN: That was part one, this investigation should conclude in the next chapter I hope to have ready next week. If there's any confusion, please ask questions, I'll do my best to answer. I know its a lot of information to process, I had to go over the entire story to make sure I had names and victims right before I finished this chapter. This fic won an first place award in the Fanatic Fanfics Multifandom Awards, for Best Horror Fic! Thanks to everyone that voted and helped with the awards. Love you!