The Dregs of Murder

I slid the second bale across the room and nestled it in beside the others. By the time I was finished, another bale was waiting. I grabbed it, unhooked, and slid it across the floor.

With a grunt I stacked it. Shaking my hands, I walked to the edge of the loft as another bale arrived. "You have some gloves? The ropes are cutting into my hands." A moment later, first one, then a second gloved arched over the edge to plop onto the floor. They were the gloves Jim had been wearing. "You don't need them?" I asked.

"No."

"You're sure?"

He chuckled. "I'm sure."

For the next forever, I pulled the bales to me, released them, slid them, and stacked them. I was quickly panting and sweating from my efforts. Jim never said anything, but there was always a bale waiting for me when I returned to the edge. I picked up the hook and--

I was in a tatty room. In the center of the room was two beds with a woman sitting in a chair between them. She had a cloth bag over her head and her arms and legs were bound to the chair with zip ties. She was turned so she was facing the small table mounted to the wall between the beds, and standing behind her was a man with his face covered by a Halloween mask of Donald Trump.

"Please, please, please don't hurt me," the woman begged. I recognized the voice immediately! It was Aunt Vicki.

"You freak. You don't deserve to live," the man growled. "I've called my superiors, and they're on their way."

"Aunt Vicki!" I screamed.

I rushed to her and knelt beside her as I tried to loosen or break the zip ties. She flinched away from my touch. "What are you doing?" she whimpered. "Please, don't hurt me!"

I could tell the man was confused. Aunt Vicki had felt my touch, but I couldn't break the ties. I felt the plastic, but when I pulled on them, they seemed to slip from my fingers. I struggled with the tie another moment before I gave up and rose slightly.

"Aunt Vicki... it's Cam. Don't say anything. Nod if you can hear me," I said in her ear. After a long moment, she nodded slowly. "Do you know where you are?" She barely shook her head. "Do you know what's happening?" Another subtle shake of her head. "Where's everyone else?" Another shake.

I stepped away from her and turned to the man. I reached up and tried to remove his mask, but like with the zip ties, I felt it but couldn't move it. Or maybe I could, because the man suddenly touched the mask as if he felt it slip or something. Gritting my teeth, I grasped the mask with both hands and yanked as hard as I could. The man again touched his mask, adjusting it on his face and running his fingers along the strap holding it on.

I turned my attention back to Vicki. "I'm not here," I said, not bothering to bring my lips close to her ear. "I'm in a vision. I'm going to get help, but I need to know what's going on. Ask the goon what he wants."

"What do you want?" Vicki demanded.

"I want you to shut up!" he snarled as he brought a knife to her neck and pressed the edge against her skin.

I flushed with panic as he threatened her with the blade... but then I realized it was a butter knife. What the hell was going on?

"Ask him who he works for," I said.

"Who do you work for?" Vicki repeated.

"A secret government agency. I've contacted them, and they're on their way to get you. Now shut up before I slit your throat!"

Something wasn't right. The man, despite his snarls and growls, didn't sound like he wanted to hurt anyone. It was like he was speaking lines. But why...? "Hey, asshole!" I shouted. "Who are you?"

He stepped back and glanced around. I smiled. He'd heard that. "I'm the fucking angel of death, you asshole! You better not hurt her or I'm going to rip your fucking nuts off and shove them up your ass!"

He looked around again. "You can't save her!" he yelled.

"Watch me," I snarled.

He jerked and twitched, the knife flailing about as if possessed before he lunged at the chair and brought the knife to Vicki's throat again. "Stop it, before I cut your head off!" The man relaxed. "Try that again and I'll kill you," he growled.

"You're a dead man," Vicki snarled. "You have no idea what I can do."

"I know exactly what you can do," the man said, holding the knife against her throat. "That's why I'm not taking any chances with you."

The butter knife might be dull, but it was still deadly if used properly, and the neck was a vulnerable area. I knelt and brought my lips close to her ear. "I'm coming. I'll find help, and we're coming to get you, okay?" Vicki nodded slowly. "I love you, and I won't let anything happen to you."

"I love you too," Vicki whispered.

I was back in the loft. I spun on my toe and belted for the steps, charging down them with reckless speed. "Aunt Vicki's in trouble!" I yelled as I raced past a very surprised and confused Jim.

I burst into the house, Jim pounding to a stop behind me only moments later. "Aunt Vicki has been kidnapped, or something," I shouted even though I was out of breath after my mad dash from the barn.

"What?" Maggie yelled. "Kidnapped?"

"Yeah... or something! We have to help her! She can't be far, right? She has to be in Burlington, or somewhere close!"

"How do you know that?" Keller asked, leaning forward in his chair. He didn't seem very upset, and probably thought I was making shit up.

"I saw her! She's in a room with a bag over her head, and she's tied to a chair!"

"Oh my God," Mattie whispered. "Where's Mom and Dad, and that other, Lando, guy?"

"I don't know! I don't know anything, but we have to help her!" I looked at Jim, silently pleading with him.

"Let's go," Jim said, turning toward the door.

"Go where?" Keller asked. "Do you know where she is?" He was infuriatingly calm.

"I don't know, but we can at least call the police!"

"And tell them what?" he asked.

"I'm not making it up!" I shouted at him.

"I believe you," he said calmly as he rose. "Reach back, Camille. Go to Victoria and find out where she is, then we can go to the police."

"We don't have time for that!" I screamed. "I don't know if I saw the past, the future, or what! Maybe, if it's the future, we can get there before it happens and stop it!"

"Then reach out," Keller said again. "If you saw the past, we don't have time to waste."

"That's why we need to go," Jim growled as he turned toward the door.

"Everyone wait," Keller said, his voice ringing with authority as I turned and started to follow Jim. "What did you see, Camille?"

I told him everything I saw in the vision, and what I'd done, as quickly as I could. "Amazing," he murmured. "So they both could hear you?"

"Yes! What difference does that make now?" I demanded.

"Camille," he said softly, "if you want to help Victoria, it's up to you. Maybe you saw the future, maybe you saw the past. If you saw the past, it may already be too late, and we have to know where they're taking her. You've got to do this, Camille... you've got to find out where they're taking her. Do it. Do it to save your aunt like you couldn't save your mother."

I glared at him. "You bastard," I growled.

"You can call me names later. Find Victoria, and we'll do everything we can to save her."

I stood, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. "I can't!" I wailed.

"You have to! It's now or never! Do it, Camille! Save Victoria!"

"I sense it," Lena said softly.

I was back in the same room. The man was crumpled in the corner, kicking and thrashing, his mask askew as he fought against an unseen assailant. "Vicki... stop!" he croaked. "It's me... Lan--"

I wailed as I grabbed my head to keep it from exploding. I fell to my knees, barely catching myself with my hands before my head crashed into the floor. Crying out my pain and sickness, my sides twisted in effort as I emptied my stomach onto the floor with a splash. Mattie and Lena knelt beside me as I gasped and panted, the muscles of my stomach burning as they coiled and twisted. I heaved again, adding to my slowly spreading breakfast on the floor. I panted and swallowed convulsively for a long moment.

"Cam? You okay?" Mattie murmured.

"Yeah... I think," I croaked, my voice raw.

I tried to stand, but my head shrieked with pain. I moaned softly as I waited, gathering my strength to try again. Lena knelt beside me with a damp cloth.

"Here you go," she whispered as she wiped my face. "I'm sorry."

Mattie and Lena helped me up, my face twisting with pain. I tried to focus as I blinked my eyes. Keller was on the floor, and Jim was trying to rouse him.

"What?" I murmured, confused by what was happening.

"Here... come sit," Lena said as she led me to a chair.

My head was pounding, but I was recovering quickly. I jerked my arm free. "No. We have to help Aunt Vicki."

"Vicki will be fine," Lena whispered.

"No. She's still in the room, and she had the guy trapped in a corner. She was killing him, so if--"

Lena's color drained from her face. "What? She was killing Landon?"

"No! They guy in the room with her!"

"Oh my God! Cam, you've got to go back, right now, and stop her!"

It was so hard to think. "Stop who?"

"Vicki! You've got to stop her from killing Landon!"

Mattie and I stared at Lena a moment. "What have you done?" I whispered.

"We don't have time for that now! You've got to go back!"

"Not until I know what the hell..." I paused when I heard the sound of an approaching motor. "What's that?" I asked. "Is that the boat?"

"Oh, God," Lena murmured as she turned to stare at the door.

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded, then grimaced with the pounding of my head.

Keller groaned as Jim helped him to his feet. "Keller," Jim began, his voice cold and hard, "what the fuck is going on?"

"I need to sit down a moment," Keller gasped as he staggered to the chair he'd claimed as his own. He leaned forward, propped his elbows on his knees, and held his head. "My bloody head is killing me."

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" I demanded. "How do you know Aunt Vicki will be okay?"

"Because she was never in any danger," Lena said softly. "I wish I could say the same for poor Landon."

I rose from my chair. My headache was beginning to ease, and I started for the door. Jim and Mattie followed, and nobody tried to stop me. I was only a hundred paces or so from the house when I saw a group of people following the cart path from the boat. I'd recognize Vicki's flaming red hair anywhere, so I burst into a run.

Sobbing, I flung myself into her arms and held her tight. "I was so scared!" I wailed.

She held me, held me securely. "I know, Kiddo. Me too... but then when you arrived, I knew everything was going to be okay."

"What's going on?"

"I'll tell you later. Go pack your stuff. We're leaving."

As Vicki stomped away, everyone glared at Landon. He was bruised, and clearly had been bleeding from his nose and mouth. Lena's words suddenly clicked. Landon looked down, unable to meet my glare.

I stepped closer. "Landon... look at me." When he looked up, I drew back and punched him in the face as hard as I could. "Ow! Shit! Dammit!" I snarled as I danced around, shaking my hand furiously.

Movies don't show the part where the heroine hitting someone with her fist hurt! I knew it was a cheap shot, but I had the satisfaction of hitting him hard enough to knock him down. At least the pain in my hand distracted me from my headache.

Jim reached down and hauled Landon to his feet. "What have you done," Jim growled, his nose only millimeters from Landon's.

"I'm sorry," Landon whispered. "I thought I was doing the right thing."

"Cam! Come on!" Vicki yelled before she turned and started striding toward the house again. After a couple of steps, she stopped and turned back. "Everyone else, stay away until I say it's okay." She turned and started again for the house.

I ran to catch up with her. "Do you know what the hell is going on?"

"I do now."

"What?"

"I'll tell you when we get to the house." I followed Vicki. Even though I was taller, I almost had to trot to keep up. She slammed through the front door. "You-son-of-a-bitch!" she snarled as Keller was jerked from his chair and slammed against the wall by an invisible hand, his feet dangling more than a foot off the ground.

"Vicki! Stop!" Lena yelled as Keller crashed to the floor.

Aunt Vicki whirled to Lena. "Let go of me, you conniving bitch, before I kick your ass the old-fashioned way!"

"Vicki! Calm down! It was the only way!"

"I don't give a shit! I nearly killed Landon because of you!"

"Everyone stop!" I yelled at the top of my voice. "What the hell is going on!"

"These two assholes conned poor Landon into staging a kidnapping to try to break through whatever wall was stopping your gift."

I slowly turned to Lena as Keller staggered to his feet. "Is that true?" I asked, my voice deadly.

She couldn't hold my basilisk like gaze and looked down. "Yes... it's true."

"I thought you wanted to help me," I murmured.

"I did. I do, but I was out of ideas, and nothing we were doing seemed to work."

"I don't understand. How does what you did change anything?"

Keller cleared his throat. "Try to access your gift now."

"Screw you, Keller," I growled.

"Camille..." he said gently, "you bloody well near made my brains run out of my ears, but with Lena pulling your gift forward, I could see the block in your mind... and I removed it. The least you can do for almost turning me into a vegetable is to see if it worked."

"Block? What block?"

He shook his head. "You are a remarkable woman in so many ways. Somehow, and I can't explain how you did it, but you put a natural block on your gift to prevent yourself from accessing it. It was nearly identical to the block we put on people who use their gift to the detriment of others, or who advertise their ability... but somehow, you did that to yourself. More amazing still, you could override it when you wanted to... when you needed to. I've certainly never seen that before, and I suspect nobody else has either."

I stared at him. "So why all the stupid games. If that was the problem, why didn't you remove it before?"

"Because I didn't know it was there. It wasn't until I could see your gift that I could see the block."

"And that's why Lena couldn't see my gift?"

"I assume so, yes."

I held his gaze for a long moment. "How do I...?"

"Imagine a place you want to go," Lena suggested.

I closed my eyes and imagined that day almost a year ago.

I was standing in Coffee w/ Cream, watching the jostle of the morning rush. Mom was there, taking orders and running the register as Sam and Karen hustled at the espresso machines and handled the drive thru. As I watched, Mom excused herself from the register and walked quickly into the prep room. Behind me the bell jingled. My stomach flipped over as I watched myself burst through the door.

"Where's Mom?" I demanded as the door slowly closed behind me.

"Camille?" Sam asked, clearly surprised at seeing me, the other me. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Where's Mom!" I asked again, louder this time, and I didn't like the slightly harsh sound of my voice. I looked like a crazy woman. No wonder everyone was staring at me.

As I watched, Mom reappeared with milk, and I began to sniff as I fought to hold back my tears. Experiencing this again, knowing what was going to happen, was tearing my heart out. I had to do something. I couldn't let this happen again.

I followed myself into the prep room after Mom asked me to take a look at the cooler. "Cam!" I called. "You have to listen to me!"

A chill passed over me when I watched myself pause and call to Mom, asking her what she wanted. I'd forgotten about that. It hadn't been Mom calling me... it'd been me calling me!

"Cam! Can you hear me!" I called loudly as my other self stepped off the ladder, grabbing my arm and trying to turn myself to face me. I didn't seem to notice, though I did pause as if I were listening. "Don't go! Stay here with Mom! You can't leave her! Cam! Dammit!" I snarled as I watched myself shrug and return to what I was doing.

I waited and watched, following my past self around until my previous self had everything I needed for the trip to Grand Rapids before I made one last attempt to save mom. "Cam!" I screamed as loudly as I could while standing in front of the door to block my exit. "You have to stay here with Mom!" My heart leapt with victory as I watched myself stop and turn back toward the counter, pausing briefly, before walking through myself. "No! Cam! No! Don't go!"

I was back in the house on the island. "I couldn't stop myself," I whimpered before I began to cry.

"Cam... what happened? What did you see? Where did you go?" Vicki asked softly.

I sniffed and gasped, trying to stop my tears. "I went back to the day Mom died. I tried to stop myself from leaving... but I couldn't!" Admitting I'd failed to save her a second time made it hard for me to breathe, and I began to cry again. "I have to go back. I have to try again!"

I reached out, straining, reaching, struggling to reach the past, but I remained firmly in the present. "It's gone!" I wailed. "I... I can't do it anymore!"

"Release her," Vicki snarled.

"No," Lena said softly. "Not until she calms down."

As I sniffed and gasped, trying to gather myself, Vicki took my arm. "Come on... we're leaving."

"If she leaves this island, I'll block her," Keller said, his voice calm but firm.

"Haven't you done enough?" Vicki snapped.

He shook his head slowly. "She's incredibly dangerous... perhaps the most dangerous gifted to ever live. She can't leave... not until she understands the potential consequences of her actions." He held Vicki's gaze. "Kill me if you must, kill us all if you have to, but know that the Council is aware of her, and if they don't hear from me by tomorrow, they'll send the Guild for her."

"The Guild?" I sniffed.

"The Hunting Guild," Keller said as he turned his attention to me. "They'll hunt you down, and you'll be brought before the Council where they'll decide your fate." He paused. "I don't want that. I was wrong about you Cam, but I wish I weren't. Your gift has unimaginable power. Power to destroy the world, or the power to teach us so much, but you must learn to control it. You must! If you refuse... then we will have no choice but to block your gift... or worse."

"Worse?" I asked.

"Kill you," Vicki growled. She glared at Keller. "Over my dead body."

He looked sad. "If we must, but I hope it doesn't come to that," he said softly. "Let me report to the Council. Let me tell them you're going to remain on the island and allow Lena and me to work with you." He held my gaze for a long moment. "Give me your word you won't access your gift without our guidance, and I won't block your ability."

"Why should I trust you?"

"It's not a matter of trust, Camille. This is your only option to avoid being blocked."

I looked at Aunt Vicki. "What do you think?"

She glared at Keller. "Be smart, Victoria" he said softly. "Help us help her. She may be the most valuable person on the planet right now, and people, bad people, won't hesitate to kill thousands, maybe millions, to claim her for themselves... or failing that, kill her to prevent anyone else from having her. We have to protect her... or we have to do the unthinkable."