Ch. 7

" Carl! Carl, hey!"

The voice was familiar. That was a first.

Like a swimmer caught in an undercurrent, Carl pulled and struggled through the thick mire of darkness congealing in his mind. His awareness came to him inch by inch, moving with the consistency of mud. First came the voice louder than the sounds ricocheting through his brain. Next came sensation; pressure on his shoulder, on his chest. He wanted to open his eyes but the lids felt too heavy. The pressure on his shoulders increased.

" Carl!"

He winced. The sound pierced his ears sharp as a nail. Physically he wanted to slip back into the darkness where his body did not feel so heavy and pained. Mentally, he was desperate to get out before the darkness suffocated him.

" Hey!"

He winced again. Finally, his eyelids peeled themselves apart allowing in only a slit of light. He blinked and opened his eyes the rest of the way, then immediately tensed almost habitually for what he knew would come next.

But it should have already come. At the moment, he felt absolutely nothing except for the grip on his shoulders. Playing it safe, he carefully inhaled a slow breath, then released it in a sigh of utter relief.

" Carl?"

He was lying on his chest, and felt the rough texture of the carpet beneath his hands. The pressure on his shoulders became a pulling.

" Carl, get up! Come on, please!"

Carl finally conceded and began pushing himself up. His arms shook beneath his weight, and he would have dropped back to the floor if the hands gripping his shoulders hadn't been doing most of the work for him. He was pulled to his knees, wavered, and nearly toppled again, but someone was holding him up. He was shaking – not with cold or fear – but with the body-draining fatigue of over-exerted muscles coupled with the hallow emptiness in his stomach.

The pressure on his shoulders shifted to the front so that he was being pushed up rather than pulled back. Carl lifted his gaze and looked into Perri's face. Her expression was one of hesitant fear that would topple into panic at any moment should even the slightest thing go wrong.

" Carl?" she asked again in a quavering voice.

" Hey Perri."

Perri's expression melted into a smile, and her relief was palpable. " Oh, man, Carl, you really scared the hell out of me," she said with a weak chuckle. " Are you all right? Any pain?"

Carl shook his head in the negative. Except for the ache of sore muscles and the even sharper pain of hunger, he felt relatively fine.

Perri sighed in another clear-cut display of relief. " Crap, Carl. You really freaked me out, you know that? I was ready to call in an ambulance. Are you sure you're all right? You're shaking."

Carl stared at her in silence for a moment, contemplating on what it was he was feeling – or in fact wasn't feeling, which was nauseas.

" I'm – I'm hungry," he said, perplexed.

Perri nodded, her smile seemingly forever sculpted onto her face. " Good. Great, actually. I'm not a doctor, but considering you haven't been able to eat for a couple of days... Being hungry has to mean something right. Listen, um, you stay right here. I'm going to get you some milk – that shouldn't be too bad."

She helped him move over to the bed and lean with his back against it. He might have been able to do it himself, since the fatigue wasn't so bad now, but he still didn't trust himself. He felt dazed, as though floating between something – light-headed yet still in control. Memories slowly began seeping back into his brain, tid-bits of realizations that he had been ignoring up until now.

Perri stood to go get the milk.

Carl massaged one eye with the palm of his hand. " I'm supposed to go to the doctor today," he said by way of recalling.

" Guess I'm driving you again," he heard Perri reply in good humor. It felt relaxing to hear the smile in her voice.

She came back a minute later, carrying a glass of milk in one hand. " Sorry about your lock... again," she said sheepishly. She handed the milk off to Carl. " I'd drink it slow, if I were you. The thing is, if I'd just checked around first I wouldn't have had to pick the lock. But, dumb me, got a little overexcited."

Carl stared numbly at the milk. " Checked around?"

" Yeah, your sliding door was open. I guess you must have opened it and forgotten or something."

Carl's entire body went cold all over, and his heart thudded.

" Open?"

" Yeah, open. Now hurry up and drink so I can take you to the doctor."

Carl took an obliging drink, clenching his fist to stop it from shaking despite his whole frame being wracked by shivering. Perri didn't let him drink the whole thing, since people who'd been going hungry for a while weren't supposed to just jump right back into eating. She helped him up, and kept one hand on his arm as they headed out the front to Perri's car. It was like yesterday all over again, but without the panic and uncertainty... at least for Perri.

Outside, the sky was still a deep indigo fading at the horizon to gray. Because of her brighter mood, once inside and with the car started, Perri switched on the radio. But instead of music it was a news interruption.

" Candace Haverton was discovered alive by a group of Teenagers from Aversin High on a camping trip about two hours ago, and she is reported to be in fair condition..."

Perri turned the volume up slightly. " Hey, good news for once."

Carl tensed, curling his fingers so that they dug into the seat.

" Also discovered was the body of a man whose name has yet to be released. Sources indicate that the man had been found mutilated. According to Haverton, the man had been about to stab her when he was suddenly attacked by what appeared to be a very large animal..."

" Stop the car..." Carl gasped.

" Perri's gaze flicked back and forth from him to the road. " What, I..."

" Stop the car!"

Perri pulled the car over to the shoulder, and before she was even fully stopped Carl burst out, falling to the gritty ground on his hands and knees. He heaved, vomiting the only food he had been able to get down for days. When he finished, he wiped his mouth, then dropped his head with eyes closed, taking long, steadying breaths.

Can't, can't, can't, can't be, can't...

He heard the crunch of Perri's footsteps approaching from behind.

" I-I guess we spoke too soon," she said with a nervous laugh. Carl dug his fingers into the dirt as he began shaking, again. He felt Perri place her hand on his back, and found its feel – the reality of it – something to concentrate on and focus his awareness.

" It's all right, Carl. You'll be all right."

Carl convulsively stiffened his fingers to stop clawing the earth. " I hope so."

NSNSNSNS

A Day and a half later

The hospital wasn't such a bad place without all the smells and noise. In fact, it was almost peaceful, and Carl didn't mind so much being in it.

He, Perri, and Jain followed the nurse down the sterile-looking corridor to the private room where Candace was staying. Candace's initial report on what had happened to her (more like wild ranting according to the nurse) had been a one time thing. After that, she had passed out from shock and loss of blood. Yesterday, she had still been recovering. Today, she was wide-awake and lucid, but that did not necessarily mean that she would be up for talking. But since she had spoken to the police without incident, the doctor had seen no harm in letting a reporter or two have a try (though the family was apprehensious). Any signs of emotional break down during the questions, or if the family member present didn't like where the questioning was going, then it was over.

As they made their way down the hall, Perri flicked her eyes in Carl's direction every so often. Carl was supposed to be taking it easy. He was supposed to be at home sleeping and slipping back into the normal routine of having three meals a day. The dreams might have stopped, but their effect still lingered as mild aches in his joints and sore muscles. He was thinner, but not in any way that stood out to the naked eye or that was considered unhealthy. Carl was already a fairly slender guy. The only notice taken was when Perri had given him a pat on the back, following it up with some comment on being able to feel his ribs a little too easily.

Carl felt fine, but feeling fine had nothing to do with why he had wanted to come.

He was still trying to figure that part out. Truthfully, the closer they got to Candace's room, the more his heart slowed to tepid beats. He was getting nervous.

Will she know me? It sounded ridiculous, but it didn't feel ridiculous.

" In here," the nurse said, pointing to the room. She then went in first to announce the arrival of the three reporters. The nurse then waved them in. Perri entered first, then Carl and finally Jain. Candace was sitting up with the help of the raised bed. Next to her, sitting stiffly in a chair with his fingers entwined with the fingers of his wife, was the woman's husband. He was young, but tall, with broad shoulders and a somewhat heavy build. His head was shaved, and he was wearing an army green shirt tucked into some frayed jeans. Everything about him spoke military.

Mr. Haverton eyed the reporters sternly, pouring out a silent warning that they had better not upset his wife in any form or fashion.

Carl turned his attention to Candace, and swallowed nervously.

He remembered her. The face – heart-shaped, pale, and dry. No more tears of terror. Her arm was bandaged and clean of blood, and the flowery dress was gone.

That didn't stop it all from flooding back in a tidal wave that threatened to suffocate Carl.

Blood, sand, night, screams, fires, knife, more blood, shattered bones, ripped flesh... the pain of 'if only'.

Bile rose in Carl's throat, filling his mouth with a bitter taste that made him want to spit, as though blood still lingered. His chest tightened, his throat closed off, and he had to look away, so looked at the wall to the left.

" Mrs. Haverton, I'm Perri Reed," Perri said, breaking the silence. She introduced Carl and Jain, but Carl barely heard it. The images would not stop flashing through his brain.

" We're from the Beacon, and we were wondering if we might ask you a few questions. Nothing too much, I hope, but enough to get a clear picture of what happened. First off, you told police that the man who had taken you was the same man that was labeled the Ghost Man?"

Candace cleared her throat. " Um, yes."

" May I ask why?"

She cleared it again. " He kept saying that... um... he was going to cut out – out my heart."

" Okay then. How was it that he took you? You were at home..."

The room went silent for a moment. Carl chanced a glance at Candace, and saw her forehead wrinkled in consternation. she opened her mouth, shaking her head.

" I – I'm not sure. It was strange. I thought it was my husband who came into the room. He asked me to come outside, to the back, because he wanted to show me something. But when I went, he wasn't there. That's when I was grabbed from behind. A bag was put over my head. I screamed..."

At this point, she faltered. Mr. Haverton squeezed her hand and glared at Perri. Perri, however, was looking at Carl with raised eyebrows.

Carl couldn't even give her so much as a ' I told you so' look. It didn't matter now, none of it did because it was over.

Perri looked back at Candace. " One more question, if it's all right."

Candace nodded.

" How you escaped. You said that some kind of animal had saved you?"

Candace nodded. " Yes."

Carl tensed, his heart began to hammer, and sweat ran cold down his spine.

Candace smiled a nervous, false smile. " It's weird, but I remember that part the most. I couldn't see it too well, since it was so dark. But I remember it's eyes. Kind of like yellow full moons. I want to say it was a coyote, but it was way too big to be a coyote. Maybe a wolf or something. It was just really big."

Carl's stomach churned, and he shivered.

" It – um – it attacked the man. Killed him..." tears threatened to spill from her eyes. " It was horrible. I thought I was dead too, and that it would go for me next. But it didn't. It looked at me for what felt like forever, then turned and ran off. So I ran to those campers. That dog or whatever it was saved my life. And, I hope you don't mind me sayin', but I'm kind of a religious person, and I have to say that that was a miracle if I ever saw one. It scared me, but there was nothing evil about that creature."

At that, Carl looked directly at Candace. Tears fell freely down her cheeks, but she was smiling.

" It saved me," she said again, reinforcing the words, unknowingly driving it home to Carl's brain.

It saved her.

I saved her.

I became something, could do something, and I saved her.

Carl stared at her, dumbstruck, confused, both frightened and amazed. Candace did not notice since she was still talking, telling about how the campers had driven her to hospital and all that.

When she finished, Perri smiled. " Thank you, Mrs. Haverton, that's all we wanted to know. I'm glad you're all right."

Perri and Jain headed from the room, but Carl lingered. Both Mr. and Mrs. Haverton looked at him as though noticing him for the first time.

" How's your baby?" he asked, out of no where, it being the first and only question to pop into his mind.

Candace blinked in surprise. " Um, fine. The baby's going to be fine." she then squinted at him. " Do I know you?"

Now it was Carl's turn to blink in surprise, but immediately shook his head. " No, I don't think we've met."

Candace smiled, and it was a bright and warm smile. " I'm sorry. You're right. You don't look familiar. It's just... a feeling, I guess. Like deja-vu, you know?"

" Yeah, I do know... I'm glad you're all right, you and your baby."

Before Candace could say anything, Carl slipped out of the room. Perri and Jain were waiting for him in the hallway, both staring at him incredulously.

" How did you know she was pregnant?" Perri asked.

For the first time in what felt like a long while, Carl grinned. " Reporter's instinct."

Perri cocked her head back and furrowed her brow. " O-kay." She then grinned in return. " Nice to have the old Carl back. I kind of missed the cryptic remarks."

" You sure?"

Perri, still smiling some, nodded. " More than you know."

It was a heartfelt reply, saying more with tone than with words.

" Thanks," he replied.

He was still worried, nervous. But not afraid.

NSNSNSNSNS

A/N: One more tiny chapter to go.