Chapter 577
The next evening, Katelina dressed and knocked at Sarah's room. The door opened and her friend stuck her head out. "Yes?"
"I thought you were dead," Katelina said sarcastically. "Where were you yesterday?"
"I was-" Sarah broke off to rub her head. "I'm sorry. I had a bad dream and I'm kind of stuck there right now."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. It was just really vivid." Sarah looked past her to Jorick. "It's fine. Let me get dressed and I'll see you downstairs."
Katelina caught the door and said quietly, "We need to talk about Estrilda." Sarah's confusion was obvious so she mouthed, "Your stalker."
"There's nothing to talk about. We solved it and it's done."
"Yes, but-" Katelina leaned out and looked both ways. "You can't tell anyone."
A heartbeat passed and she dreaded Sarah's reply. She'd already told Des, hadn't she?
"I won't," Sarah said finally. "And I haven't. I don't want to talk about it."
Just like she didn't want to talk about her dream. Katelina wasn't sure why she was so upset. She started to look to Jorick for an answer, but stopped. She'd seen things in Sarah's mind; things Sarah didn't want her to see. If she'd done it once maybe she could do it again. Jorick told her to look for something specific, and Estrilda said to relax, and let the thoughts flow.
She met Sarah's eyes and concentrated on something unhappy, something horrible, something disturbing. For a second nothing happened. Sarah started to speak
Then, like a flash of light, Katelina was in the cage in Troy's basement, inside one of Sarah's memories. She was too weak to move, and so hungry. She didn't know how long it had been, but it felt like years. The cold of the wall seeped through her dirty red dress and chilled her back. She looked down at her legs. They were like thin sticks covered in paper-white flesh, marred by purple bite marks.
Across from her, one of her cell mates drank from his own arm. His skin was pockmarked with scabs from previous attempts, some by him, some by the others. Just like her legs. But it did no good. The blood was cold and dead, and did nothing to quench the burning in their throats.
Where was Troy? They knew somehow that he wasn't coming back. His last present was the girls.
Sarah squinted through the bars. Most of their remains were scattered from the cage to the stairs. Back when they still had strength, they'd tossed them out. Even the busted skulls had been chucked, globs of meat hanging from them. The rotten stench made the air thick, and Sarah held her breath against it. She could do that now, for hours. As if she didn't need air anymore.
She felt the tickle of hair on her arm, but she didn't have the strength to shake it off. It did no good, anyway. The girls' hair was everywhere, stuck to them, scattered on the floor, balled in the corner. It clung like guilt with nothing to wash it away. Except Sarah's guilt was long gone. She was too numb to care.
The constant slow banging echoed in her ears and she looked to Kurt. He sat hunched on the floor, his face like a skull, hammering at the metal bars with a chunk of bone. They'd gotten part of it loose weeks ago, and they'd all taken turns working on the rest for a while. One by one they fell away, either too weak or hopeless to bother. But not Kurt. Chisel, chisel, chisel.
There was a sudden clunk and Kurt's body jerked. With a rattling sound of triumph he pushed the bar and it gave way. She stared at it dully, unable to comprehend the meaning.
The scene changed. The basement was gone and the fresh night air stung her skin. She stumbled through snow, lurching like a zombie on toothpick legs, drawn to the smell of blood. Kurt went first. He tore through the back door and the others followed. The family was at the dining table. The father was already on his feet, shouting, while the mother hovered, unsure whether to go for the kids or the gun in the cabinet. Kurt snarled and lunged for her. The father cursed and tackled him, defending his wife and his family.
Isn't that nice? How lucky for them to have such a great fucking father.
His blood was in her mouth before she realized it. He writhed and screamed as she ripped and clawed. Her fellows were there, drinking, shredding, tearing. So much blood.
Katelina tried to steer it away, looking for the nightmare, but instead she was sucked into a barn. Face down on the ground, hay and dirt filled her mouth and nose. She choked and struggled against Kurt's weight, her arms trapped behind her back. He clamped down on her neck with his fangs and drove into her harder. He was in her head, drinking in her terror and her pain, and she knew he loved it.
It was the same barn, but it was over. Sarah tugged at her ruined clothes; a dress stolen from the farmhouse days ago. Kurt lounged back laughing, and the others sat against the wall, guilty eyes everywhere but on her. Just like always. Except now she wasn't starving. Now she wasn't weak.
She launched herself at him. Kurt's surprise shone in his eyes as she slammed him in the face. He reeled and she struck again, and again. He kicked, he snapped, but her anger was stronger. She was stronger.
When she stepped back she was soaked in crimson. Globs hung from her hair and clotted under her nails. She wiped gore from her eyes as she turned to the othersthe others who watched, who sat transfixed, eyes wide, trying to pretend they didn't see her, didn't see Kurt's splayed and ruined body, didn't see his heart and organs spilled out on the ground, crushed under her feet.
A low growl slid from her throat and she turned for them.
Though Katelina ripped away, she had a sense of what came next. Sarah hadn't left the others, she'd killed all of them, except Denise who they'd abandoned in the basement, drained of blood. What followed her massacre were days of wandering alone in the shadows. Finally, sobbing Brad's name, Sarah turned for home, praying he could fix it.
Only instead he said he was happy with Patty.
Jorick grabbed Katelina's arm and pulled her backwards. His voice felt out of place after the visions. "We'll see you at breakfast."
Katelina tried to come to terms with her surroundings and Sarah glared at him, a hand to her head. "What the fuck did you do?"
Jorick met her gaze. Her mouth went slack, then snapped shut. She shook her head, as if she'd forgotten what she was going to say. "What? Oh, yeah. Breakfast."
Sarah shut the door and Jorick pulled Katelina down the corridor, only stopping when they'd turned the corner. She sagged back against the wall and took a long calming breath.
"You've gotten better," Jorick said quietly. Katelina felt him in her mind and didn't bother fighting. "You saw a lot in under a minute."
"It felt like forever." She met his eyes. "Did you know? About the others?"
Jorick nodded. "I saw it the first night, when I asked her about them."
"You might have mentioned it."
"Why? Do you want to know everything I see?"
"Yes."
He coughed. "I doubt that."
"I was looking for her dream."
"I know." He chose his words carefully. "She dreamed that she murdered a child. She drank its blood and dumped it in a ditch. I think this investigation is getting the best of both of you. It might be wise for you to stay away."
Still under the effects of Sarah's memories, Katelina was too disturbed to argue. "Did you make her forget I read her mind?"
"Maybe. If she wants to forget. Otherwise it will be back later." He sighed. "You need to leave it alone. Once we get home I'll help you work on it. Doing it like that-They know, Katelina. When you're immersed that deeply you feel itand they feel it, like Malick. If you don't care about them, it's fine, but if you want to maintain your friendship with her, then it's impolite at best."
Like Malick. "There's no way-"
"You're close to her, and she's a new fledgling with extremely loud thoughts and no mental protection, so she's easier. Either way, we'll sort it out once we get home. For now, it might be best if you stopped practicing. All right?" Katelina nodded and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "If you're feeling better, let's have breakfast."
She followed, though she didn't feel hungry anymore. Sarah joined them. Her stiff shoulders spoke of her upset, though Katelina didn't know if it was the dream, or if she knew someone had been in her head.
After breakfast, Sarah announced that she and Katelina had plans. Jorick gave her an uncertain look, followed by the admonishment to be careful and stay close to the house.
Despite their lack of conversation, Katelina assumed the secret plans involved a lecture or Estrilda. Her certainty disappeared when Sarah steered them into the green salon. Tol and Ren stood like book ends, both dressed in white, their blue eyes the only spot of color. Kali lounged between them on a couch. Long dark hair cascaded around her shoulders and a full, wine colored skirt fell to the floor.
A soft low buzzing started in the back of Katelina's head as Kali smiled. "Greetings, Sarah. You have brought your friend again. Perhaps today she is in the mood for our company."
Tol and Ren met Katelina's eyes, their sinister smiles stretched across their faces. "Hello, Katelina."
Run.
