Shadows Of the Night
part 10
"Hello?" Cole slowly beckoned to the faded light of the hallway, creeping quietly along the soft carpet. He took a couple more steps, edging his frame of vision around the corner, struggling to see what lay ahead of him in the distance. He cupped his hands to his mouth, raising his voice. "Hello? Is anyone here?" But there was no response once again, as he knit his brows in tight concentration.
"Far away, sailing high, treading down, by and by....far away, oh they die, they can't try and find, the watchful eye...."
"Please, where are you? I'm....I'm here to help you. Please, just tell me where you are."
A sad, soft whimper echoed through the air, as the voice discontinued its tune rather abruptly, as if finally taking notice of his presence for the first time.
"Can you, maybe....show yourself? I can't help you, if I don't know where you are," he repeated.
"Oh, but you would not like what you see," she scolded briefly, following it with a soft hum.
"Are you a guest aboard the ship?" he tried. "Are you lost?"
"Lost. Lost, lost, lost. So very lost. I will never be found. I can't be found."
"If you'd just...if you'd just come out where I can see you, I could-"
"You're different," she slowly sounded out. "I sensed that about you right away. You're not like those who wish to cover up such a horrible truth."
"Miss, I'm not sure I understand. Did you win the free cruise? Is that why you're here? Because-"
"I must go now. I can't stay long. I can never stay too long in one place. Never too long. No one waits, and I can't stay long."
Cole narrowed his eyes, trying to get even the smallest glimpse of a face to match to the sorrowful tone. But still, he saw nothing, calmly placing both of his hands securely in the back of his jean pockets. He nervously bit down upon his lower lip, only half realizing it, as he started to head further down the long stretch of nothingness. His shoes continued to crush the carpet in silence, and he eyed the extended collection of photographs that passed him by, noting the same amount of dust they'd consumed, just like the one Paige had described to him. It was all so faded. "What's your name?"
"What is any name? I am but one of two, and one of four- my name is disaster, and so much more," she riddled out to him, taking on a sing song rhyme with her words, almost as if a note of happiness could now be detected in it.
"I'm sorry, but that means nothing to me," he admitted, shruggling briefly, as he finally came to a stop directly in front of one of the pictures. It was like the energy in the room had propelled him strangely to this sudden standstill, and he glanced up at it with curiousity. Another young girl. Quite possibly the same one they'd been talking about before. What had her name been? He tried hard to recall it, but his own past seemed to want to overshadow the necessary details, and he fought hard to separate the facts from fiction. Jacqueline. Her name had been Jacqueline. Only this girl had on a yellow dress secured with a sash, and her hair lay freely about her shoulders, the blonde color catching him as extremely vibrant and alive, despite the torn expression that sat upon her pretty face.
"Do you like her?" the mysterious drone carried on. "Pity she could never measure up. Pity that those boys wanted them both."
"Both?" Cole emphasized.
"Her sister could have any man she wanted. Her sister could have anything. She was so well loved. Though she remained so selfish in her ways."
"You mean that....thing I was talking to before? The shape-"
"Such danger. Such danger awaits you, if you give in. She punishes all of us for you. You are the cause of it all."
"Cause? Cause of what? I really don't...I can't make sense of this, unless you help me," he reminded her.
"Your heart sees what they never could. Your past will reveal all to you in time. You must not ignore the signs. You must do everything in your power to save us."
That was when he saw it. The nameplate on the photo was strangely pulled free of its own will- all the piles of cobwebs it had been clothed in shedding their skin. It now revealed itself to him, in a frightening revelation. He looked away, and closed his eyes. Once again opening them, he forced himself to settle upon it for a second glance, swallowing hard. "Jessica Graves," he mumbled quietly.
"I was her sister," she told him. "For many years, we were so very close. But then they came between us. She took to the drifter, and he became so very jealous. That temper of his was to be his ultimate downfall- in a way it was something which he would never be aware of...until it was too late."
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't...you must stay away from that man. Keep your wife and child away from him. He means nothing but to harm you. He is working with her."
"Who? The demon? Is that who you mean? Is she- who is she? Please. I need to know. You have to tell me. Please..."
"No. You don't. You'll find out sooner than you think. She's tied to you, you know. She's tied to you more than you may think. You must never give her what she wants. You must keep his memories alive."
"My father. You...you knew my father?" he inquired, his expression immediately brightening.
"I know not of him in a personal capacity. But I have heard of him through her. She speaks of him constantly. She wishes to hurt him. You must not let her. You can't."
"It's not...it's not your sister?"
From beneath the shadows, she merely shook her head. "I shant say anything more. You must wake up now, Cole. You must face the world now. Our time here is finished."
"Jessica, I don't....how can I possibly hope to- I don't even know the way it really happened. I don't-"
"You will," she assured him. "You have my undying, promise. Now, wake up. Wake up, Cole. Please wake up."
"Jessica?"
"Cole, wake up. Dammit, get up."
"He's having a nightmare again, isn't he?" a familiar voice noted. "Hey, do you...think he might be dying in it? Oh, wait. I could never be so lucky."
"Paige, I never thought I'd say this. But please- shut up. Cole? Cole, can you hear me? Cole...sweetheart?"
The ex demon finally revealed his intense blue gaze to the reality around him. Phoebe knelt by his side, and had a firm hold of his hand, as she gently looked into his face with a great concern. He blinked a few times, before he parted his lips. "Phoebe?"
"That must have been some dream," she whispered.
"Dream?"
"Well, yeah. You've been asleep this whole time. I was over at the cafeteria getting something to eat for us, and you told me you wanted to take a little nap instead. Remember?"
"But...but you were here. I- that's impossible. You don't understand. I saw her. I found the voice."
"Alright. You know, maybe I really don't want him to work on my case, afterall," Paige sided, rolling her eyes. "Think he's going crazy again?"
"That's exactly what Phoebe said to me," he pointed out. "She said I was crazy, right before I walked out the door."
"Okay. You know, this isn't funny, Cole. We were upstairs before, yes. But then we came back down here. You told me you were feeling a bit tired. I took Paige and the girls, and we went to the cafeteria. We got something, brought it back here- look, it's sitting right on the table over there. You can go and look if you want."
"She told me I had to save them," he said quietly. "That I seemed to be the only hope she had. She...she knew who I was, Phoebe."
"Who knew, honey? We haven't talked to anybody but Sterling, and even that demon, or whatever, doesn't seem to want to make another cameo appearance. We've been fine since we left you."
"I told you to wait here," he protested. "I told you to stay here, while I went to check everything out."
"Well, you know what Freud would say to this?" Paige interrupted, offering him a steady glance. "He would say you're too self involved, because you've had to repress the tension between you and Phoebe for this trip. That's what Freud would say."
"Paige, don't even start with me."
"I just...wanted to offer my opinion. Geez. What you saw must've really done something to you."
"It wasn't a dream," he insisted. "It was real, and I'll prove it to you."
"Yeah, okay, Cole. Look, I'm not the one who's losing it here, okay? So don't take it out on me."
"She was singing," he started. "We all heard it. You were playing a game of Fish with Ally and Melinda, and we found this map. It was in a jewelry box in the one room."
"Wait. Do...do you mean like a premonition?" Phoebe put forth. "Because we both know that's not possible."
"Not a premonition. It...it was too real," he surmised. "She was too real."
"You just didn't meet another woman on this ship, and you don't want me to find out about it, did you?" his wife asked curiously, as she carefully raised an eyebrow.
"Pheebs, I hate to break it to you, but even if he was, do you really think he would tell you about it?"
Cole offered her a sad glance, as he slowly took one of her hands in his. His blue eyes gently pleaded with her. "I can show you. I remember where she took me."
"And her name was Jessica," she mused, shaking her head.
"Listen, where are the-"
"They're over in Paige's cabin," Phoebe explained. Her eyes grew dim then, as she quietly pursed her lips, her mind set deep in thought. She narrowed her brown eyes, as her gaze traveled to the door. "Playing a game of.....Fish Listen, how did you know that? Because I-."
"What?" Paige stammered. "Please tell me you're joking. There's no way he could've. It's just not...there's no way."
"No. No when I left them, they were playing with cards. They were so involved, that I just thought...."
"Jessica Graves is the sister of Jacqueline," he cleared up. "She...somehow came to me, and I don't even know how she did it. It all just seemed like it was really happening. I even talked to you and Paige. I also talked to Ally a few times. We found a map consisting of secret passageways aboard the ship. It had Sterling's name on it. Paige made her usual wisecrack, and then we heard the singing."
"You've honestly lost me," Phoebe admitted, shrugging. "Granted, it may just be a coincidence with the cards. But about this Jessica. It's not adding up. Crane would have told Paige about her. If she was as famous as Jacqueline in her time, she would have at least gotten a mention. It doesn't seem right to disregard her completely, does it?"
"All I know, is she wanted to contact me."
"Well, aren't you just a magnet for all of the women aboard this ship," Paige quipped. "Living or dead."
"They were twins," he said, ignoring her. "And my guess is Lowell coming to the Crimson Star like he did must have stirred things up between them. Something just went so wrong after he came. Something to make Jacqueline's boyfriend feel like he was some kind of threat."
"But that was jealousy, remember? There's no other-"
"Yes, but the demon bitch also said that Lowell became what he never thought he could," Paige reminded them.
"Okay. Heh. You know what? I am going to go upstairs, get some fresh air, and then come back down a little later, and sort this out calmly and collectively. Alright. Because I have absolutely no clue what you two are saying. It's making my head spin."
"Well, don't you even want to see if it's there?"
"See if what's there, Cole? You had a dream, and you thought it was real. It's not entirely uncommon for something like that to overtake a person in such a way, that they actually believe the images were a part of reality. It's how some authors make a living, for crying out loud."
"But regardless. For some reason, she was getting in touch with me. That has to speak for something."
"Like I said, it's your past. It's beyond your control, but-"
"Daddy, are you and Mommy getting into another fight?" a soft voice asked, as Alex's tiny frame revealed itself in the doorway, her head casted downward, as she stood with a fairly forlorn expression.
"No, sweetie. We're not fighting."
"Melinda says I'm cheating. But I'm not, I swear. She's mad, cuz she didn't win."
Cole finally offered his daughter a smile, kneeling down in front of her. He gently grabbed a hold of her, and lifted her up into his arms. She slowly threw her arms around his neck, and returned the smile, the corners of her mouth eagerly lifting themselves into a bright grin. "If I know you, young lady, I would have to say I strongly disagree with that statement."
Her lips formed a brief "O" of surprise then, as she stared at him with wide eyes. "Why?"
"Because you were cheating," Melinda Wyatt echoed, as she appeared not long after her cousin, having followed her right across the hall.
"Was not!" she shot back.
"Were too. Don't be such a baby about it."
"Does it really matter?" Cole asked.
"Mom says that it isn't good to tell lies," Melinda filled him in. "She says you should always try and tell the truth."
"Well, Cole's too late for that, because when you consider his upbringing, it's clear to see he most likely skipped kindergarten altogether."
"And tell me, Paige. Why is it that you seem to spend more time in our room, than your own? You know, I'll bet if Freud were analyzing this, he would-"
"Unless you're well educated on the subject, I suggest you stick to Demonology 101," she tossed back, crossing her arms neatly over her chest.
"Did you have a nice nap, Daddy?" Alex returned.
"Yes I did, sweetheart."
"The bad lady didn't haunt your dreams?"
"Nope."
"I'm glad. Because the lady we saw, said she was wasn't coming back for awhile yet."
"Lady, Ally?"
"Melinda and I saw her. Didn't we?" she questioned, looking below to her cousin.
Melinda slowly nodded. "She had light hair and wore white. She was flying too, Uncle Cole. Really high."
"They saw a guest," Phoebe tried. "She probably just had on a long coat-"
"No, Mommy. She was there, and we could see right through her."
"This wouldn't...by any chance, happen to be the famous Jessica we've all heard so much about?"
"She never told me her name, Mommy. But she was so pretty. And really nice too."
"Was she?"
"Yes."
"Well, I'm sorry, but the joke is up. This has gone way too far," Phoebe stammered nervously, throwing a single glance her husband's way. "This woman never even came to me in a premonition, and far be it for me to claim to be anything special here, but usually I'm given a warning about these things well in advance."
"Not true," Paige admitted. "You once said it yourself that sometimes you're only minutes away until some of what you see becomes reality."
"Do you really think all the entire crew of the Mary Celeste really died though?" Cole suddenly brought forth. "Or do you suspect that there are still more of them here than we know?"
"And the points go to Cole, who just stated something clearly out of nowhere."
"I used to say, there's dead.....and then there's dead. Meaning, sometimes the soul is there, waiting to find peace, and sometimes it isn't. Sometimes the purity of the evil wins out. One of these people was out for something a lot bigger than a few murders along the way. Something provoked them a great deal. Something had a higher say in it all."
**********
"How close are we?"
"Oh, extremely. Everything is falling into place so very nicely, wouldn't you agree?"
"But he's buying it," Crane reminded his opponent. "He's actually buying all the drivel yet."
"Well, now that we know of her connection to him, I've no doubt he is," Sterling echoed, as he carefully stepped halfway out into the hallway, offering a slight grin.
"But how exactly can she hate someone so close to her so much?"
"Well, it isn't a crime, you know. He was harboring the very thing she's been after all this while. Of course, wreaking havoc on him on her own time would have been better, but it falls right into our own plans. She's famous for her accomplishments on the dark side. What could be more exciting than that?"
"Oh, well, nothing. Except that if she fails, we're all going down with her. Haunted ship, or not."
"A word of advice, Mr. Crane? Please don't exaggerate quite so vividly. The word just doesn't suit you."
"I would refrain, only I do have reason to believe there's another party at work here, Mr. Sterling."
"Another party? I won't hear of it!"
"There's another form of energy here, and it's not the big bad witch of all demons. It's something else."
"Have you never heard of a distraction, you idiot?"
"Elizabeth....I...we...we didn't hear you come in. Will you sit down?"
The woman pushed a strand of brown hair over her shoulder, and offered a shrug in response. "If you sit, gentlemen, you waste your time. Time contains such precious moments we have no business talking ourselves out of. To sit on one's ass, is hardly the behavior of a novice in this profession."
"Yeah, well, forgive us. We're new," Crane added.
"Oh, speak for yourself," Sterling cut in.
"But yet you had no idea who Cole Turner is to me," she snapped cruelly, throwing up a hand to calmly examine its contents. Discovering a brief chip in a long nail, she frowned, throwing it down to her side in a tight fist.
"How would we? He seemed perfectly-"
"But don't you get it? That's part of his charm- part of who he is. On the surface, he can go as a mere mortal, undetected. But I know where his true roots lie."
"Now, Lizzie, you wouldn't harm your own-"
"Oh, wouldn't I? It's just too bad your little creature is going to do all the work for me."
"Ah, but you know as well as I do, he has a name."
"A name which holds no consequence for the actions he only brought upon himself."
"Look, I think you're forgetting something."
"Oh, and do enlighten my understanding, Mr. Crane. Please."
"You don't know the half of it. We met up with you when we were well on our way to making this happen."
"And you have to admit I made an awfully good choice for someone who apparently knows slim to none about the guests you have chosen."
"Maybe it would be better if you just kept your mouth shut and executed your part of it as planned," Crane snapped suddenly.
"I beg your pardon?"
"You heard me."
"You're actually going to address me like that, and expect me not to care?" She propped a hand lightly beneath her chin, as she gently put a black heel out in front of her, crossing her legs.
"Mr. Crane, that was honestly not wise on your part," Sterling conceded, turning around to stare at his partner thoughtfully, as he placed his hands neatly into the pockets of his khaki's.
"Oh, and what's she gonna do about it, hmm? She's all talk, boss. All talk."
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows, giving him a soft laugh. "Unfortunately, I don't think this one will ever learn the ways of our kind. His days are numbered."
"Numbered?" Crane repeated, narrowing his eyes. "Since when?"
She waved her hand at him, as his body became engulfed in a series of flames, his screams muted among the chaos, as his body was cleanly ripped to shreds. She quietly rubbed her hands together, as if she were finally wiping them free of a terribly troublesome mess, her black dress swaying slightly from the light breeze. "Since now. And Mr. Sterling? If I were you, I would pay more attention to detail. If you want to go through with this sacrifice, I need you to comprehend the fact that you're working for me now. No one else, just me. From this point on, we play things my way. Then you'll see what evil really stands for."
Sterling shrugged. "He was careless."
"Too carless. At least you probably still have a few of those brain cells left yet."
"Why didn't you just stay buried where you belong?" he snarled.
"Because. The world needs me to destroy it. And I've only just come to the realization that I'll need my son to do it."