CHAPTER TWO: JAYE

The beeping alarm clock awakes Tru, who immediately stops the noise, but she doesn't stir for several minutes. No matter how long she contemplates what had happened, she can't make sense of it. A wax lion had spoke to her!

"What the hell is going on?"

Less than an hour later, Tru once again pulls into the parking lot of the Midtown Motel. She doesn't have enough information on the Tyler woman to be of use, but Tru can't shake the feeling that the mysterious Joan Girardi and her Special Connections are behind all of this weirdness.

Once again Joan is in front of her motel room, pointing at something in the newspaper, and arguing with an odd character. Only it isn't the Goth Kid, but instead is a bizarrely dressed Little Girl. Once more the conversation ends with Joan sighing and nodding her head. The Little Girl walks away, giving an identical backhanded wave as had been given the day before.

Joan notices Tru lingering nearby and joins her.

"So what's the deal, Tru? I avoided the alley and didn't get killed, so why are we repeating this day yet again?"

"Someone else died in your place."

"My God, who? How?"

"Under identical circumstances as your murder. As for who, I'm not sure. She was an attractive woman in her mid-20's with long brown hair. Her last name was Tyler. I was hoping you could help me find her before she goes back into that alley tonight."

"That actually might not be so hard."

Joan knocks on the door of the room next to hers. It is answered by a wild-eyed young woman who is obviously shaken. Tru recognizes her as the latest victim.

"Is- is that today's newspaper?" she asks.

Joan replies, "Yes, and don't bother looking at the date. It's Monday again."

"Oh God, this can't be happening… but I remember getting shot last night! How is this possible?"

JOAN: "I wish I could tell you. Yesterday, or is it the day before, the same thing happened to me. Maybe the three of us should talk and compare notes?"

Reluctantly, the Tyler woman invites the other two into her room. It has the typical appearance of a tourist's motel room, except for the numerous items with animal faces- tee shirts, posters, stuffed animals, a brass monkey, and the wax lion.

TRU: "Okay, it's time for cards-on-the-table. My name is Tru Davies, and from time to time, someone who has recently died will ask me for help. My day rewinds and I do all I can to prevent that person from dying again. On the first rewind of this day, Joan asked me for help."

JOAN: "Which was really freaky. I remember getting shot and dying, and the next thing I knew I was on a table in the morgue with some doctor examining my naked body. Tru was there and I asked for help. That's when the day started over."

TRU: "I tracked down our Miss Joan Girardi, fully prepared to try to save her without being able to explain the circumstances. Only this time, for the first time ever, the victim remembered everything- including her time at the morgue."

JOAN: "So naturally I avoided that dark alley where I was shot, and that should have solved the problem."

JAYE TYLER: "Only on the second go around, I ended up in that alley and got shot. By the way, I'm Jaye Tyler from Niagara Falls. I work in a souvenir shop called Wonderfalls, and I'm here… uh, on vacation."

JOAN: "That sounded as lame as the excuses I usually give for my weird actions. So, you asked Tru for help also?"

TRU: "Actually, no. It was that wax lion that spoke."

JAYE: "What? That's silly. Inanimate objects don't…"

Suddenly every animal face in the room becomes animated and cries out in unison: "TELL THE TRUTH!" Tru and Joan automatically back away, clearly shocked. Jaye notices and smiles.

JAYE: "You heard them? You really did! Oh thank God, I'm not crazy."

TRU: "Yeah, but maybe we are. An explanation, please?"

JAYE: "A few years ago inanimate objects began speaking to me- anything with an animal face. They would tell me to do things, not like hurting people, but odd, goofy stuff that made no sense. At first I tried to ignore them, but you wouldn't believe how persistent they can be. Eventually, I got in the habit of doing whatever they asked. For a long time I wasn't sure if I was crazy, possessed or working for God."

JOAN: "What did you finally conclude?"

JAYE: "That God was behind all of this, because when I obeyed, things would work out for the better."

JOAN: "Good ripples, I'm familiar with that. You see, a few years ago, God began speaking to me. One on one, face to face conversation with the Almighty. He began giving me these odd, quirky assignments that in the end, caused everything to work out for the better."

TRU: "Wait, each time I've come to this motel, you were speaking to a different odd character."

JOAN: "God, in one of his or her many forms. God told me to come to this city and at six p.m. to block the Tenth Street entrance of that alley. To let no one through. At exactly six, a thin blonde girl of about 18 tried to enter the alley. She was really insistent, and I couldn't persuade her otherwise. So, I used a stun gun on her. I hailed a taxi, put her inside, and told the cabbie my friend was drunk and paid for a ride to an address across town."

TRU: "How did you get shot?"

JOAN: "I heard a strange noise, and like a damn fool, I went to investigate. Someone in that dark alley shot me."

JAYE: "Wow, this is amazing. My story is almost identical. My animals guided me to the Eleventh Street entrance to that alley. I even used the stun gun/drunk friend routine to take care of the blonde girl. Then, just like Joan, I went to investigate a noise…"

TRU: "Hold it. The first time the blonde girl tried to enter from Tenth Street, but on the rewind, she used Eleventh? That means…"

JAYE: "She remembers the rewinds too! So that's why she muttered: "Not again" just before I zapped her."

JOAN: "So who is this blonde girl, and why is she so determined to enter that alley?"

TRU: "I'm sorry to say, we have to go back there tonight to find out."

All three women sigh and nod their agreement.

TBC/PLEASE REVIEW