A Dark Night with a Dark Stranger Ch. 17

"Were leaving," Ragon said.

Clyde opened his mouth to protest but Ragon glared at him.

"Be well," Ragon said to Bell, sweeping down and kissing her quickly on the forehead, before she could move away from him.

Clyde moved instinctively over to Bell also but before he could even begin puckering his lips, Ragon had grabbed him by the shirt, pulling it tight as he held him back.

"But wait, when can Bell come home?" Clyde asked, pulling his shirt free of Ragon's grasp and brushing the new crinkles out of it.

At these words Dr Phillips, who had been preoccupied with scratching his nose, turned to retrieve Bell's chart, which hung at the end of her bed.

"Hmm," he said out loud, as he mused through the details, "I don't see why she can't go home now?"

"But doc!" Officer Ryans said, moving over to face him. "This girl has been attacked; she doesn't remember who she is, surely she shouldn't be-"

But he was cut off speaking when the doctor held his hand up in the air to call for silence, while he continued to scan her hospital sheet.

"Bell has retrograde amnesia," Doctor Phillips said, clearing his throat loudly. "Her best chance at restoring her memories is by being around people she knows; staying in a hospital for several more days will hardly be conducive to her repairing this loss."

"But she was attacked," Officer Ryans said loudly.

"And so should be protected by the police, not being kept in a hospital like a safe house," the doctor said. "Her injuries, though serious after her initial admittance, will heal just as fast at home. I see no reason to keep her captive here, that is if her friends," he said indicating Ragon and Clyde, "will consent to care for her."

Clyde was nodding enthusiastically but Officer Ryans moved quickly over to Doctor Phillips, grabbing him forcefully by the elbow and saying, "I had an understanding with Dr Brown. She assured me that Bell would be able to stay here and-"

"Ah, Dr Brown you say?" he replied, "Yes, that does not surprise me at all. There are people in here that are seriously unwell," Dr Phillips said, taking Bell's pulse, "but Miss Sol here is clearly on the road to recovering. Sometimes the mind takes longer than the body to regenerate, so I see no reason why she needs to be unnecessarily taking up a hospital bed, when she clearly would recover much faster at home, where she can be surrounded by friends and family to help restore her memory."

From the upright posture of the old doctor and the way he checked his wrist watch religiously, Ragon suspected that Dr Philips was an ex medic from the war. His desire to conserve medical resources by discharging patients was fairly indicative of someone who had saved lives during a war. It was almost as if he were afraid that at any moment they could be taken by surprise, at which point they would need ample number of hospital beds and the likes.

"Well, I supposed I could organise having a guard on detail at your premises," Officer Ryans said, looking reluctantly at Ragon. "Though I really think that she would be safer elsewhere.

"I think that we can handle Bell's security a little better than-" Clyde began, before Ragon elbowed him hard in the guts.

For a few moments Clyde looked up at Ragon, menace framing his face, then Dr Phillips cleared his throat, "Well I will leave it up to you to co-ordinate her safety," he said, looking at Officer Ryans. "I think we should keep you in for two more nights, just to be sure, after that we will reassess your condition and likely discharge you, by which point I trust your safekeeping will have been organised."

After that there was no argument. Ragon and Clyde left reluctantly, clinging to the hope that at the very least, in a little less than 48 hours, Bell would be safe and sound back home.

"How much do you really know about him?" Officer Ryans asked Bell, after a long silence.

"Nothing," Bell said, a small smile sweeping her face, before the realisation of these words hit her like a ton of bricks. "Why?"

"I don't know; I just get a bad feeling from him. When I spoke with one of your doctors... never mind," he said, looking at her concerned face. "I just, I don't want anything to happen to you."

Officer Ryans looked at Bell, toying with the temptation to leave the chair by her side and inch closer. His need to protect her was not without reason.

"The second girl who was killed," he said, looking down at his hands which were bawled into fists, "I knew her."

"Oh god, that's horrible. I'm so sorry," Bell said, the concern wrinkling her eyes.

Bell wanted to ask more. The past six months of her life were an absolute blur and so the prospect of discovering something, even anything about why she had been attacked by this serial killer, was very appealing. But this was clearly a delicate topic for Officer Ryans and although he had bought it up, she didn't feel it was her place to ask more.

"She was an old friend," he said in a low whisper, as if the memory of her was still painful. "We went to the same high school. Five months ago I got a call and went out to a derelict house in New Farm. When I saw her..." he said, trailing off as his face turned a shade lighter. "You're the first person I've told," he said. "If the squad found out that I knew her, I would be thrown off the case." Officer Ryans paused, but then after a moment of chewing on his tongue he added, "I have to catch this bastard."

Bell nodded; it was suddenly obvious why he was so protective of her. She had wondered about this, having felt a connection to him that she couldn't justify. This connection was thrown into even further disbelief, by the fact that Officer Ryans was particularly gorgeous, young and clearly a very compassionate person. In the hours that she had been awake, it had always been him sitting by her bed. At first it had bothered her that Ragon, her supposed boyfriend, was not there more, but then she would remember that they had only been together for about six months, or at least, she had only known him for six months, and perhaps it was a bit too much for one person to deal with. But there was something familiar about Ragon. His face, though not entirely clear in her mind, seemed to trigger all sorts of memories that were blurred and hazy. A few times she thought she could picture him at the library at university, or else perhaps in a lecture with her, or studying in the great hall.

"Well as soon as I remember, I promise I will do everything I can to help you catch them Officer" she said.

"It's Lee," he said kindly.

Bell nodded her head. She had meant what she'd said. Officer Ryans had spent god knows how many hours in her hospital room, watching her and making sure that no one came back to finish what they started; the very least she could do was help him.

***

Back at the house, Ragon had explained to the coven about discovering that not only had the first girl been killed well and truly before Bell had started freezing people, but also that Bell and the rest of the 24 year old girls, had all gone to the same orphanage.

"But then why do they want her dead?" Thomas asked.

Ragon shrugged but Sandra said, "Clearly someone knows something and I'll bet it has to do with Bell being able to stop time."

Thomas was nodding in affirmation, but it was Ragon who answered, "There is something kind of familiar about this whole situation, like I have read it before, in a story."

"Yes, I think I saw a movie like this," Clyde said sarcastically. "About the girl who was dating a vampire until she started being able to freeze time, so everyone tried to kill her."

Clyde couldn't contain his laughter and Ragon tried ignored him, moving to his library, so that he was away from the ringing noise that reverberated off the wooden floors and sought to follow him down the hallway.

"What cha doing?" Larissa and Sandra asked, knocking on the library door less than ten minutes later.

As they peered into the room, they saw that Ragon was on the second storey, behind a large desk and after a moment they joined him, climbing the spiral stair case gracefully. Nearing the desk they saw that Ragon was looking at his laptop and had begun drawing what looked like a family tree.

"Who are they?" Sandra asked, looking at what appeared to be an old black and white newspaper clipping, torn and crumpled, with two people standing next to each other.

The newspaper article read: 'Police no closer to finding missing couple and child.' It was obvious that Ragon had kept this clipping for many years and when Larissa looked closer she gasped; it was dated the 1st of July 1988.

"These were Bell's biological parents," Ragon said, tracing their faces with his fingers. "Bell doesn't know that I know who her parents were; I was going to tell her the night that..." but he broke off. "And now she doesn't know who I am and I will have to hide this from her all over again, until she is ready to know."

Larissa moved closer to Ragon, touching a concerned hand onto his shoulder and gently prying the article from his fingers and pulling it closer to read. For a moment she stared at the couple, comparing Bell's high cheek bones with her mothers and the shape of Bell's eyes to her fathers, before beginning to read the clipping:

'Police no closer to finding missing couple and child. It had been almost 2 weeks since the mysterious disappearance of Brisbane couple, George and Sarah Hutton, and their 2 year old daughter. Friends of the family say that the Hutton's were a quiet, well like and respected members of the community of Bardon. Police continue to label their disappearance as suspicious. Forensic officers surveying the family home say that there were no signs of their intending to leave and there has been no activity on the couple's financial accounts, or on their passports. While police state that they remain hopeful, the daily searches of the Bardon state forest have now been reduced to every three days. The community is urged that if they have any knowledge concerning the whereabouts of the Hutton family or anything pertaining to the case, that they should contact Crime stoppers or phone the police directly.'

"I knew that she was adopted, but I just assumed that she knew who her parents were," Larissa said, returning the article to the desk.

"I should have told her but..." Ragon began, breaking off as he stared into the distance.

"It's ok honey; don't dwell on this now. Let's just focus on getting her better; you'll have plenty of time to talk about such things later," Sandra said.

Ragon nodded sadly.

"Why do you have this out now?" Larissa asked.

Ragon pulled the large piece of white paper that he had been drawing on before and showed it to both girls. As soon as they saw it, it became clear exactly what Ragon was doing. There were a few names written on the paper, all culminating to one name: Bell Sol, which was joined by one line to two other names: George and Bridget Hutton, whose names were also linked to other various names.

"You're tracing her family tree?" Sandra asked. "But why?"

"I think it is the only way to find out what is going on. There is something different about Bell, something special and I don't know what else to do. Obviously someone wants her dead. There must be a reason why and this is the only place I can think to start. I can't protect her if I don't know who I am supposed to be protecting her from," Ragon said.

"But how did you find all these people?" Larissa asked, looking down at the many names that preceded her parents, so that it was possible to discern her grandparents and great grandparents.

"I know your old," Ragon said, winking once at Sandra, but you have heard of the internet: haven't you?"

Larissa rolled her eyes and Sandra ruffled her hair teasingly. For a moment Ragon continued to read, then traced another line from her great grandmother, to her great, great, grandfather and added wrote 'Dolores Grand.'

"Why are you only tracing her fore-bearers? Do you not think it would be better to include other immediate family, like aunties and uncles or cousins?" Sandra asked.

Ragon looked up at Sandra, moved the piece of paper so that he was once again in the region of Bell's name and drew a straight line across from her, where he wrote the name 'Jamie Hutton.' He then took the pen and wrote '1st July 1982 -- 1st of July 1982' and put a small letter d above the name.

"Bell had a brother?" Sandra asked, looking down at the name.

"Yea, but he died when he was only 2 days old. I found his death certificate on the internet," Ragon said. "Her parents were all she had."

"And her mother and father; they didn't have any brothers or sisters?" Larissa asked.

"None that I can find," Ragon said, throwing his pen down in frustration.

"What's wrong?" Larissa asked.

"I can't trace it any further back than Dolores Grand," he said, beginning to close the internet search pages he had opened, clicking the mouse a little harder than necessary as he furiously shut down his search.

"So what are you going to do next?" Sandra asked, looking down at the incomplete family tree.

He had left only one search engine opened and typed in the words, 'department of births, deaths and marriages.' After a moment an official looking website loaded and Ragon clicked on the link that said, 'titles office'. Another moment passed and Ragon clicked the contacts link and a new page loaded. It was completely white, with an official government banner on the top of the page and small black cursive writing that said: 'All letters should be addressed to Central Titles Office, Room 101, Floor 7, 121 Adelaide ST, Brisbane QLD 4000. Response may take up to 10 business days.'

"There," Ragon said, pointing to the computer screen and the address of the Central Tiles Office.

After that his eyes strained to the large trap-door which led to the roof. He didn't bother opening it; he knew that it would be morning already and that meant that he would have to wait another ten or so hours before he could put his plan in motion.

***

Though Ragon was loathed to invite Clyde on his mission to trace back Bell's lineage, he knew from their most recent trip to the morgue, that Clyde had valuable lock picking skills. It therefore made sense to include him in his scheme to break into the Central Titles Office. Once again Sandra and Larissa had volunteered to watch Bell while Cambridge and Thomas remained at home with Patrick to keep an eye on Ryder.

At the mention of babysitting Ryder, Ragon couldn't help but feel a little guilty that he had not honoured Bell's request to ensure that Ryder's transformation went smoothly. Though he had not spent any time with the little fledgling since his making, Clyde had heard that Ryder was slowly beginning to act more like a vampire and less like a monster.

"What's the difference?" Ragon asked sarcastically, when he and Clyde were clothed all in black, dressed once again for breaking and entering.

"Be careful." Sandra said, pushing herself in front of Clyde so that she was facing Ragon while Larissa moved over to the front door.

Before Larissa could leave the house however, Cambridge had swept over to his mate and kissed her passionately on the lips. She smiled after this and reached a hand out to cup his dark cheek saying, "I love you."

***

"Let me have a go," Ragon said when they had reached Adelaide Street and were staring up at the tall government building.

"Bobby pins and cards won't work on this one," Clyde said smiling.

Ragon was confused by the eerie smile on Clyde's face, until he saw him take a giant leap, springing off the pavement and landing smoothly onto the second level of the building.

"We're going to have to climb the rest of the way," Clyde said, looking up and then beginning his accent.

Ragon also looked up at the building. It had to be at least fifteen stories high and there was no other landing until the tenth floor. For a while the pair struggled to scale the old brick building, using their inhuman abilities to propel from window to window, until they were finally standing on another small landing on the tenth floor.

"That's our ticket in," Clyde said, walking across the small landing and shaking a relatively flimsy door.

After that Clyde reached for a bobby pin and handed it to Ragon, who took it apprehensively. For a while he fiddled with the lock, frustrated at how easy Clyde had made it look yesterday.

"Would you like me to-" Clyde began, but Ragon held up his hand, unwilling to admit defeat.

"Almost got it," Ragon said, his tongue between his teeth.

Then suddenly he felt the bobby pin bend and snap in two. Clyde grinned and let out a small low laugh, which was instantly silenced when Ragon furled his hand into a fist and smashed the door down. There was no alarm, simply a loud noise that signified the glass breaking.

"Smooth," Clyde said.

Ragon growled but reached his hand through the broken glass door and unlocked it, so that he could slide it open. As soon as they were inside, they quickly found the fire escape stairs and climbed the next two staircases in a blur, arriving at the twelfth floor in seconds.

"Which room?" Clyde asked, looking down the long hallway they found themselves in and scanning the numbers above the doors.

"101," Ragon replied, quickly finding the right door and pushing it open.

Immediately the pair was faced with what looked like an enormous storage room. There was one large computer off to the side that appeared as if it pre-dated the century. There were several keyboards attached to the one monitor and an enormous server driver that hummed noisily, as if several fans were needed to keep it from over-heating.

"So what are we looking for?" Clyde asked, moving to sit on a leather roller chair, before propping his feet up onto the table.

"Anyone related to Bell," Ragon said, moving also over to the computer. "Accept her name will be registered as 'Sarah Hutton.'"

Clyde's eyebrows rose half way up his forehead; clearly this was news to him.

"I have traced back her great, great, grand-mother; her name was Dolores Grand," Ragon said. "Maybe we should start there."

It took them almost half an hour to figure out how to turn the computer on and another ten minutes for it to warm up. When finally an ancient search program opened Clyde typed in the name and waited.

"Here we go," Clyde said, double clicking on the only Dolores Grand. "It says that her file is reference GR 45638."

The moment Clyde had yelled out the reference number, Ragon was whizzing around the huge room, searching for a matching number. It was less than a minute later when he swooped back in front of Clyde, a large folder of dusty files clutched tightly in his arms. For the next hour the pair scanned through every document in the file, desperate to find a reference to Dolores Grand. After what felt like a very long time, Clyde cheered dramatically and puffed his chest out, holding out a crumpled and torn piece of paper as if it were the most wonderful thing he had ever seen.

"Dolores Grand, daughter of Philip and Georgina Grand, who were sent to the Australian penal colonies in 1788 for crimes against the British Government," Clyde read out loud.

"That's it?" Ragon asked, snatching the paper away from Clyde and scanning the document.

There were no pictures in the files, but what looked to be a scanned copy of the original transport document.

It was difficult to read the leger but Ragon squinted and read out, "'Georgina (with child) and husband Philip Rogers, transported from British isle correctional.' What does this say?" Ragon asked, handing the delicate document over to Clyde who took it and scanned over it carefully.

"'Transported from British Isle Correctional facility in 1766. Sentence: shipment to the Australia's. Survived by parent Lady Geraldine Grand.'"