I Am Chosen

The Waking Sleep

Kacey sat at the end of her bed, looking again at the timeline. Hollis leaned against the wall near the bedroom door, having driven her here from the cemetery. Both of them had been at a loss as to an explanation for Hanson's grave. Putting a pin in that for now, they decided to address the most urgent matter-the killings. And to try to figure out a way of getting ahead of them.

"There's still too much we don't know," Kacey said. "Until we know more we're just reacting. We need to go on the offense."

Hollis nodded. "I agree. We have to understand our enemy in order to defeat it."

"I'm telling you, I think that stone is the key."

"It's a rock," Hollis said. "Between continuing to protect the people on that list and chasing after some cockamamie theories about that... lump, I choose protection."

"'I choose...'" Kacey muttered.

"Huh?"

"Don't think I'm going to let go of the fact that you actually used the word 'cockamamie,' alright? But first, you said 'I choose.' It's what Rhonda White said before she killed herself..." Kacey stood and approached the board. "Not 'I am chosen,' but 'I choose.' Then she died and came back, just like Declan."

Kacey was eyeballing the strings of the timeline. "She also said Declan brought the victims into his office..."

"So?"

"What if Declan kept the stone there, in his office? Maybe he brought it in with him each day or he left it there each night, I don't know but what I'm saying is, if Declan was constantly exposed to it and Rhonda was constantly exposed to it because it was right there, day after day... And Declan brought those people in and he used it on them, to make them kill, just like he did to the people in the hospital who tried to kill me... see? They were 'chosen.' But Declan... he 'chooses.' Like Rhonda. Because she worked close to him, because she was near it for so long."

"Let's say you're right," Hollis said. "How does any of this help us?"

"Because if that's the case then Declan and Rhonda are just puppets. If we really want to get ahead of this, if we want to be proactive for a change... we need to start by destroying what it is that's pulling their strings: the stone."

Less than an hour later, Kacey stood a good distance away, watching as her Daytona was hooked up to a tow truck. Hollis, it turned out, happened to be old friends with the owner of Berkley Towing. Old Hollis was full of surprises. He had worked a deal with the towing company, sidestepping insurance issues. Once the car was secured, Hollis would get a quick lesson in how to disconnect it, and Kacey would drive the tow truck while Hollis followed behind. They would maintain constant communication. When they reached their destination Hollis would put his instruction to the test and they would unhook the car.

Both Hollis and Kacey had agreed that they had to get the stone far away from civilization. The whole tow truck idea had taken some convincing. It seemed silly, providing just that little extra bit of distance, of separation, between her and the stone, but Kacey had insisted. She had no way of knowing whether or not even this distance would prevent the stone's power from having an affect, but they had to have some kind of safequard while they transported it.

Their destination would be a hunting cabin out in the county. It had belonged to Kacey's uncle, but he had died several years ago and the cabin had stayed in the family. They had even used it a few times as a little getaway and Kacey still had fond memories of hiking and fishing in the nearby lake, back when her family was whole and happy. If they played their cards right, they could get the stone out to the cabin, destroy it, and be back before nightfall. Even if for some reason they failed to destroy it, they could be back before sundown and be ready to face off against Declan and Rhonda once again.