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Chapter 7
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2021-09-02 08:09:35We went back to the office and finished hooking up to the cameras through the special app that Nora acquired for situations just like the case we were working. Since I hadn’t studied that part of the new equipment usage, I let her tend to our remote connection while I called a nearby Italian restaurant for dinner delivery. Because we expected it to be a long night, I also made sure that our supply of coffee was up to snuff.
Pasta had a tendency to make me sleepy. This time, it was no different. We’d been so preoccupied with collecting our gear and then taking it to Cecil’s to set up that neither of us had thought to eat lunch. Therefore, we ate more of the sleep inducing cuisine than was advisable for a night on the job.
I was aroused from the light dosing state that my body couldn’t refrain from going into by the sound of the door opening and a disgruntled male voice. “I saw that your eyes were closed through
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Even though I was exhausted, it took a frustratingly long time for my mind to stop racing over the events of the day so that I could fall asleep. It flitted from the glimpse of a man and moving boxes that I’d seen on the computer screen while monitoring Cecil and Archie’s attic to why Anton had come to the future to how Anton and Killian knew each other. To make the Killian and Anton situation even more complicated, they were clearly buddies. What did that mean for me? Would Killian share his stories of conquest with his friend like males tended to do? If he did, I doubted that it would sit well with Anton. I was also fairly certain that Anton would not hesitate to relay this information to Lance.What would happen then?The even bigger question was, what did I want to happen?Anton’s words led me to believe that he’d been sent to fetch me back to Lance’s time. Going back to such a dan
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I was so taken aback by my conversation with Anton about Lance’s marriage to Lilith that I completely forgot that I’d promised to let Nora know when I was going to go over the recordings of the activities in Cecil’s attic. When she stormed into the office wearing a look of disappointment, I felt truly awful.“Anton threw me with some bad news,” I offered with an apologetic tone. “All I could think about was getting out of there. I’m so sorry.”“What bad news?” she asked with a pouty voice that told me that she was trying to understand and forgive me, but wasn’t quite there yet.Don’t ask me why, because I told Nora everything, but, for some reason, I wasn’t ready to admit to her what Lance had done. “I’ll tell you about it later.” I motioned for her to join me at the monitor. “Here. Look at this.”She rushed to my
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Our timing couldn’t have been more perfect. We finished going over the video and made it back to the house just as Killian and Anton were coming up the drive in Killian’s ebony colored SUV. We waited at the door as they pulled up just outside of the carriage house and got out.I could have sworn that I heard Nora heave a sigh that gave away her attraction to his physique and heavy brogue as Anton smiled broadly and said, “Hello ladies. This is perfect timing.”“How did you like driving?” I asked with a sly chuckle that was intended for both his experience and Nora’s obsession.“It took a while,” Killian snorted, “but he eventually calmed down.”Anton gave an embarrassed scowl. “Go away with you. I was nay that bad.”Killian grinned, but said no more as he opened the door and held it for us to enter. I could feel an electrifying jolt go through my b
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“I do not understand what it is that you are trying to tell me,” Cecil pouted after Nora did her best to relay to him our findings. “Are you saying that you believe that there is a timed lock on our attic door and that time travelers are coming and going?”Nora nodded. “I know that it sounds a bit farfetched, but you did hire us for our paranormal investigating skills. So, you must believe just a bit that it could be possible.”I’d sat back and allowed my friend to converse about our findings with our client while I observed his body language as he listened. I’d been trained to read body language when I was studying to be an investigator. There was a lot to learn about a person from it. His behavior indicated to me that, although he was trying to appear interested and reasonable, he didn’t like a word of what Nora was telling him. I also got the impression that he knew
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A rush of adrenaline surged through me at the sound of the gruff, eerie snarls that came from somewhere behind us. I whirled to see what was happening. Faint moans mixed with the snarls. From what I could tell, they were coming from the enormous, grotesque painting in the middle of the room. The moans sounded far more distant than the snarling.Nora stopped in her tracks, but she didn’t look at the painting along with me. She was too paralyzed with fear.I don’t know why I wasn’t. I was afraid, but not paralyzed. By some miracle, I managed to push through my fear and kept focused and mobile. I quickly made my way to the front of the painting to see if I could understand what was taking place.I had to rub my eyes a few times to be sure that I was seeing correctly as I watched the two dimensional painting become three dimensional.“This didn’t show up on the screen last nig
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My worries for Nora slowly subsided as I focused on my own wellbeing. I had no idea where I was and what I was walking into. My captor moved through the darkness with a steady ease. Perhaps he was able to see after all? My fear of being left alone in such acute darkness was intense so, I made sure to closely follow him.When a plain looking red door appeared in front of us, he slowly waved his hand from left to right in a way that reminded me of a magician performing a magic trick. The door groaned loud and long as it opened with reluctance. I had to squint my eyes in order to tolerate the bright light that assaulted them while the door created an opening that was wide enough for us to walk through.My head pounded from the intensity of the light. I was forced to give in and completely close my eyes in order to find some relief. Even with them closed, I could see the brightness that was in stark contrast to the blac
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The first thing that came to me when I opened my eyes was the fact that I was snuggled beneath a down comforter while lying in a soft bed and warm from head to toe.“Where am I?” I heard a slightly familiar voice say.After a moment of silence and a few seconds of concentration, I realized that the voice was mine. It was strained and hoarse from almost freezing to death. Or, perhaps it was the result of being forced to breathe the putrid air of the hell dimension that I was whisked off to by Marduke.“You’re home, my sweet Esmerelda,” Killian said with a soft and gentle voice. “We found you wandering Tillman’s property.”“Where is Nora?” Roger asked from across the room. “We went looking, but she’s nowhere to be found. What happened to her?”“What happened to both of you?” Killian asked. “We were worried sick. Di
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Doctor Jeffrey Goodman was a comely man in his late thirties. His smile consisted of slender lips beneath a platinum mustache that matched his well-groomed platinum hair and slightly imperfect, pearly white teeth. It was so warm and friendly that I found it infectious.Grey, twinkling eyes that sat in just the right position on either side of a nose that could only be described as the perfect size and shape for his strong jaw and ruddy, high cheekbones assessed me from a few feet away. “So, Miss Sleuth, I understand that you’ve had quite an adventure.”“Esmerelda,” I said, softly. “Call me Esmerelda.”He nodded. “Alright. Esmerelda, can you tell me a bit about what happened?”I hesitated going into detail with someone in the medical profession. It was such a crazy story. What if he thought me just that? What if he thought me crazy? Sure, he was a me
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Unlike when I passed through the portal to rescue Nora, winter was no more. It was clearly summer.It was dusk and the gnats were out full force. I brushed at a few that were attempting to feed on me while I studied our surroundings.“Amazing,” I mused. “This is the same place that the portal Gail and I used was located.”“It is a power point,” Lance explained. “Unfortunately, the power is predominantly dark.”“That would make sense, since the land belongs to a very dark man,” I said. “He had me kidnapped and used most of the magic that you put in the box so that I couldn’t contact you.”A look of hate filled his normally gentle eyes. “Tillman and I have some business to settle.”“He is locked up,” I assured him. “In fact, the society that holds him was supposed to be holding your brother
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I’d wrestled with the temptation to free only Jason and not bring attention to ourselves. To my relief, Nora had settled my mind’s debate by making sure that all of the cell doors got opened. I understood why she felt compelled to release them all. No matter how much I didn’t want the chaos, I know in my heart that I couldn’t have walked away and left those poor people to such a fate.My hesitancy in freeing the mob because of the raucous they’d cause soon turned to relief. The madness distracted the guards to the extent that I doubt we were even missed.The sounds of the chaos that ensued after the release of the captives slowly faded as we raced into the woods that bordered the city. I was fairly confident that we were safe, but I didn’t want to take any chances.Lance was surprisingly winded when we stopped for a short rest. “The sun will be setting soon.&nbs
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Jassy’s claim that the cafeteria was packed was no exaggeration. I’d been their guest for about a month. During that time, I don’t believe I ever rubbed elbows with as many diners in the oversized hall. It was not only disheartening to realize just how well protected the kingdom was, but creepy knowing that the people I was mingling with weren’t people at all, but were lizard-like creatures who ate humans.I forced this fact into the recesses of my mind as I lightly mingled in a practically elbow to elbow environment with the crowd so that I could discover which part of the border was less guarded. I questioned if there was a need for me to be careful to ask inconspicuous questions while I by-passed the meat dishes in favor of the vegetables amidst the array of savory cuisines on the buffet. Their attention was so focused on the topic of returning Nora’s humanity to her that little thought was given to what I a
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I spent the next few weeks continuing my training. I didn’t let Nora’s vicious vampire attempt to harm me dissuade me from wanting to keep up with her progress in regaining her humanity. In fact, it made me all the more eager to assure myself that she would soon return to normal. I made a daily quest to see her, but was consistently denied access to the area where she was kept. I even alternated the time of day of my attempts in hopes that I’d encounter a more lenient guard. The frustration was practically overwhelming. When I approached Jassy for help in this matter, she was adamant that it was best for me to stay away until Nora was finished with her transformation.She never said humanity, but, since she emphasized the word transformation, I allowed myself to believe that was what she meant. I couldn’t, for one second, let any other fate for my dear friend enter my thoughts.&n
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“Do you think that the kidnappers were from this time period?” I asked Jassy after she’d put me through a particularly grueling magic lesson.Because I was surprised to discover that the world that I was in and the three dimensional homeland that I longed to return to existed on parallel planes and along the same timeline and the fact that I was a traveler, I couldn’t help asking the question.The look on Jassy’s face as she considered my question made me think of a cartoon showing a lightbulb going off in the person’s head. She spoke with a hint of excitement. “It is not something that I considered. I question if anyone has until now.”I thought about it for a moment while I wiped the moisture from the back of my neck. The magic that I was learning proved physically demanding to the extent that my body perspired heavily. “Do you have people who travel in time? Or, do they
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Several days passed with minimal interaction between me and my hosts. They provided me with a comfortable room within the queen’s large mansion and plenty of delicious food and drink, but little in the way of conversation. I was given a change of clothes that closely resembled what Fergie and the other women who I’d encountered wore. It took a while for me to adjust to such form fitting clothing, but I eventually learned to appreciate the freedom of movement that it provided. It was also surprisingly warm during the cold nights.I asked if anyone had seen Jason whenever the opportunity to speak with someone arose, but received no definitive answer. I determined that they knew of his whereabouts but didn’t want to share that information with me. Admittedly, I didn’t ask with a great deal of zeal. It felt good to be clear headed and free of his constant sex. It was more curiosity than anything else that mad
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It was dark and I was alone. I didn’t realize it at first. The alone part, that is.I’d fallen into such a deep slumber that it took some time for me to regain my senses and even understand where I was and why I was there. The fact that there was minimal light to help me identify my surroundings didn’t help matters. It was during this time of organizing my senses that I realized my companion was missing.After taking my time standing up, I waited to see if my legs would behave as they should. To my relief, not only did I feel refreshed and invigorated, I was steady on my feet. The lengthy nap may have left me in a precarious situation, but it was clearly something that my body needed.I stepped out of the grove of trees in hopes that the faint rays of the moon would assist my eyes in scanning my surroundings. I needed to be able to better evaluate my situation and decide what to do and
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I was glad for the early start the following morning. My body was overly tired and sore. Starting early gave me an opportunity to set a pace that wasn’t terribly taxing on my overused muscles. I hadn’t spoken to Jason since he’d fed me that aphrodisiac tea. It was a wicked trick to play on me and I wanted to get my point across about it. I’d already learned that complaining to him about things that he did, that I’d prefer he didn’t, met with deaf ears. Perhaps silence was the better approach.The amount of sex that we were having weighed heavy on me. It couldn’t be healthy. Even if it was fine on a physical level, it was eating at my emotions during the infrequent downtimes. I couldn’t understand how Jason could keep at it like he did. I, for one, needed to be free from it.Prior to meeting Lance, I’d had minimal sex and didn&r
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Since time wasn’t measured in the same way there as it was in my home dimension, I could only guess at how long I’d been performing the tedious task of opening and closing portals at Marduke’s leisure. I tried to keep track with my wristwatch and a journal, but that fell by the wayside during my second month of service when I learned that clocks didn’t work in the same way in alternate dimensions. Since their purpose was to measure time, it was conceivable that they wouldn’t measure equally. So, I gave up on the journal and just tried to keep a record in my head.As close as I could fathom, I’d been serving Marduke for almost a year. My agreement with the other world leader was that I’d decide whether to stay on for 10 years or give my notice of leaving after a year or two. I would soon have to make that decision.The primary reason that I’d agreed to do it at all was becaus
