Twenty–three dead, seven survivors, a self-confessed mad man, and a little girl traumatized into silence. Now, fifteen years later the seven survivors are dying one by one.
Rachel Alton returned to Whitten’s Grove for one reason and that was to prevent a massacre. Her attendance at the local wedding of two of her best friends was just for fun. Then Ben Mitchell walked into the picture. Without warning, her oldest friend awakens her dormant heart, giving her hope for the future. She struggles to turn away, wanting to protect him. The clock is ticking, and Rachel alone fights against the inevitable. When forces from beyond throw Ben into the middle of the fight, will she walk away, or sacrifice herself to prevent a tragedy from happening twice?
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Ever the Same
Copyright © 2011 Amy J. Romine
ISBN: 978-1-55487-928-1
Cover art by Angela Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
Published by eXtasy Books
Look for us online at:
www.eXtasybooks.com
Smashwords Edition
Ever the Same
Soulmate Chronicles 1
By
Amy J Romine
Dedication
My husband and three beautiful children, my friends and extended family, including Brenda, Laura and Sheli for all of their love and support. Most of all to my Grandmother for her never-ending faith that I could get here.
Chapter One
Special Agent Ben Mitchell opened the door to the muted interrogation room. Gray walls, a black table and linoleum floors, the office provided a professional atmosphere, but not too comfortable for suspects of some the most heinous crimes. Over the course of his seven years with the Bureau, he had spent thousands of hours in this room, or rooms like it. He had met some truly horrific monsters in this room. Every memory scorched a different mark on his psyche. None of them compared to the monster waiting for him now.
James Denton, the main suspect in the recent murder of thirteen-year-old Alyssa McMahon, sat stiff in the chair across the table. Denton’s back stood straight, hands folded neatly on the table. In dealing with the man over the course of the investigation, Ben expected the cold wall of emotionless intrigue staring back at him.
“Agent Mitchell, so glad you could finally join us. It has only been three and a half hours.”
Ben laid a crisp manila file folder between them and took a seat. “Mr. Denton, let’s talk about where you were on the night of May seventeenth 2011.”
“You know where I was.”
“Refresh my memory.”
“I was in my home all night.”
“Was there anyone else at home with you that night?”
“No, well no one that was supposed to be there. I do live alone.”
Ben squelched his need for breath, not wanting to show any kind of emotion to this monster. It took everything in him to remain calm and rational. The thing that made his gut clench was that Denton knew it. Ben reached out, revealing the crime scene photo from the field where they found Alyssa’s body. Dressed in a frilled pink frock, complete with lace-edged socks, pink ribbons in her hair and white patent leather shoes, she looked like an angel. “Do you know who this is, Mr. Denton?”
“Yes, that is my angel.”
“A name, please, Mr. Denton.”
“Ah, yes if I do recall her name is Alyssa.”
“Her name was Alyssa, isn’t that right, James?”
The man grinned, showing his broken yellowed teeth. “Yes.”
“Was Alyssa at your house the night of the seventeenth, James?”
“Yes, she was my special guest.”
The door of the conference room opened and the FBI shrink entered, taking a seat at the head of the table. George Mahng, a short thin man of Korean descent proved to be one of the best shrinks he had ever worked with. “What do you mean your special guest?”
“I was having a celebration in her honor.”
“Can you expand on your celebration, perhaps what happened at the celebration, Mr. Denton?” George asked, slipping easily into the conversation.
“James, please call me James, Doctor Mahng. It is so nice to speak with you again.”
“Very well, can you tell us what happened at the party?”
“Oh, yes, of course. I made spaghetti, chocolate cupcakes and banana milkshakes, all of Alyssa’s favorites. After we were done eating, we danced and played games.”
“Then what happened?”
“Alyssa was tired so we decided it was time for bed.”
“Where did Alyssa sleep, James, did you have a room for her?”
“Yes, a beautiful room, but she cried and needed me to protect her from the shadows.”
“What shadows?” Ben’s fists clenched, rage slowly curling in his chest. His mind churned forward, the crime scene photos of her body and the house running like an endless barrage in his mind. I need Denton to say it…confess what he has done.
The man looked at him as if he were insane. “The shadows, Agent Mitchell.”
Ben looked at George. “What Agent Mitchell meant to say is…which shadows, James. Which shadows were scaring Alyssa?”
Yes, which shadows, James? Which shadows are you going to use to plead insanity and spend the rest of your life in a mental hospital instead of jail where you belong?
Ben lifted his bruised body off the ground his eyes searching for the source of helpless sobbing. Deep guttural laughter overtook the cries of anguish.
Her small shoes were covered in blood.
“Agent Mitchell?” Ben’s head snapped around. George and Denton stared at him with blank expressions. “Do you need to take a break?”
“No, I apologize, please continue.” Ben wasn’t sure what had happened, but he rolled his shoulders, feeling the tension rising in his neck. His gaze wandered, landing on the photo of Alyssa at the center of the table.
“She…she wouldn’t listen to me. She just kept crying. I told her I would make her feel better. I told her I would take her to the heights of any rainbow she chose, but she screamed and pushed…”
Something wasn’t right and she wouldn’t stop crying. He thought if they ran far enough she would. “Mitch!”
His heart skipped a beat, but he pressed on. He should have stopped, but his gut told him no. A scream bounced off the trees and her hand slipped from his. He spun, her patent white shoes kicking high in the air.
Denton’s voice sliced through the image. “I just wanted to love her… I wanted to love all of them. Why didn’t they love me, Doctor? I never see love in their eyes.”
Her favorite dress lay torn and blood-soaked, the red dripping off the glass of her white shoes.
“So you removed them.”
“Yes—”
The once red blood was now gray and he quaked in fear, his ears filling with her cries of torture.
“Agent Mitchell!” His heart pounded, his fists moving again and aging, the gray dripping off his hands. “Agent Mitchell, stop!”
Ben’s senses came flooding back. James Denton lay on the ground beaten to a pulp. Ben couldn’t breathe, the air had vanished from his lungs.
What happened?
* * * *
NSA Special Agent Rachel Alton counted to three. Frank, her partner of five years, pushed open the door. The stench of rotting food rode the blast of air leading into the house. I Graffiti of dark shadows and faceless eyes covered the walls. Two halves of the same force, they scanned the immediate area and continued down the hallway, listening closely for any sign of life. Frank signaled that he would go left.
Rachel nodded, taking the second door on the right. She pushed open the door with her foot. Her heart pounding, Rachel cleared the room, finding no sign of the kidnapped child. Kevin just turned eight, and his parents were hard working middle class citizens. No ransom note of demands emerged. This monster wanted Kevin for a very different reason, his gift, an extrasensory perception and source of powerful psychic energy. Rachel discovered a psychic vampire as the abductor. They fed on the psychic energy of others and Kevin would be a meal fit for a king.
Rachel pulled on the next door. It whined as if in pain, and she cringed at the eerie sound. The air, stale and dust-filled, moved in waves like smoke while the floor creaked with her every step. From the scattered garbage, empty beers bottles and cigarette butts, she thought it fair that the local teens used this as a place to party away from their parents.
Rachel exited the living room, toward the bedrooms. She passed the kitchen. The appliances had been removed, leaving only the skeletal remains of exposed tubing and wiring. She saw two bedrooms ahead. The first on her left consisted only of a mangled mattress and broken glass from a since-boarded window. A few steps further and she gazed into the second room.
An ashtray and a few beer bottles, but otherwise, empty. She felt the gentle heat of a warm glow. A blue haze came from behind a closed closet door.
Rachel heard a small whimper. She froze in place, her breath lying still in her chest. A cry of pain echoed in her mind. Kevin. She reached for the doorknob, the door creaked and two beams of light shot into the room. Rachel immediately raised her shields in alarm. The two beams materialized, grabbing her by the arms. The pain hit her all at once as the floating lights singed her skin and her nerves screamed. The door pushed open and her legs were pulled out from beneath her. Her back and shoulders bounced off the wooden floor and her mind spun.
“Frank!” She recovered and moved as far away as the arms of light would allow, another flash of light erupted from just beyond her feet. She saw two hands reaching for her and she grasped them tightly in her own.
Kevin…
The top of the closet radiated light into the room and with it came tentacles of light that leapt outward, wrapping around her legs and dragging her toward the shining abyss. She hauled the boy’s small form onto her chest, while struggling to break free. Using her abilities, she sent wave after wave of psi ammunition at the entity and watched as it had no effect.
The glowing tentacles unexpectedly released her arms and reattached themselves to her legs. Rachel kept one arm around the listless child, the other grabbed aimlessly for anything to slow the wanting forces. An ear-piercing bellow from the closet consumed the room as she continued to struggle.
Out of the blue, Rachel felt warm hands wrap around her wrists and looking up, saw Frank struggling to keep hold of her. She felt like the rope in a tug of war. Frank gave a hard tug and they were released out of the grasp of the illuminated creature. Once free, Rachel shot off a psi blast at the closet. A final scream wailed and the door slammed shut.
Rachel looked down at the child in her arms, his face bloodied and bruised, he gasped for breath again. The gifted psychic healing hand of her partner glowed with a strong paranormal energy. Rachel prayed he would be able to save the child. The child’s hand gripped her shirt tightly. Her heart cried out in agony, feeling the pain of the life slipping from her arms.
Hang on, baby, hang on…
Rachel couldn’t breathe. Her stomach twisted painfully. Kevin’s small body suddenly became heavier in her arms. She cradled the boy, and it took everything in her just to look at him. Covered in blood, his eyes stared back at her, now clouded and lifeless. “Rachel, it’s—”
Her heartbeat thundering in her head, the events around her hummed. She searched for relief, pleading for silence, peace. Frank took the boy out of her arms, leaving her alone in the house while they waited for the scrub team.
It’s too much, too much…
Chapter Two
A full parking lot. This is a first. He didn’t think they even managed to fill the parking lot during their senior prom. Now that was a night. Special Agent Ben Mitchell turned off the rental and glanced toward the booming activity just inside the largest and only hotel in his hometown of Whitten’s Grove, California. He’d left nine years ago and never looked back.
What the hell am I doing here?
Oh, that’s right. The suggested two-week vacation his boss insisted he take advantage of. Apparently it wasn’t healthy to beat a self-confessed child molester and killer within an inch of his life. Yet he had no memory of the incident.
Maybe it is time for a vacation.
He got out of the car and reached into the back for his jacket. He shut the door and leaned against the car.
“It’s a little late to be chickening out now, Mitchell.”
Ben turned, knowing the voice. His chest tightened and he couldn’t help but smile the instant he saw her. Her brown hair swayed and bounced a little against her shoulders, the subtle highlights of blonde lighting up her face. Her deep brown eyes, olive skin and pink lips made the usual cosmetics unnecessary and he felt his stomach tightening.
Friends, always friends.
His best friend Ryan‘s girl in high school, and the sweetest girl Ben knew, Rachel Alton. They had spent a lot of time together over the years, through school functions, sporting events and parties.
After high school, when Ryan entered his car racing phase, Ben sat with Rachel in the stands, holding her hand while reassuring her that Ryan wasn’t going to die. She became the closest of all of his friends.
Life moved on, Ryan went to Wall Street, Rachel left for Europe and he went to Virginia. Ben had heard that the couple broke up shortly after Rachel arrived in Europe. For a fleeting moment, Ben thought about calling her, but then he met Emily. No matter what, he knew that they would always be friends.