Schism

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Memories formed and melted in the fog faster than William could fix on them.  In one, he stood with Jess beside the ambulance, tried to reassure her.  In another she put the first pills into his hand.  Then he lay in the bed as an orderly pushed him onto his side.

He closed his eyes.  No more.

The sound of a car rose from the street below.  William looked down over the edge of the building and saw the sedan park.  Bryan got out and looked all around.  William ducked back as the detective turned his head up to the rooftops.

He put his back to the brick and shivered.  The fog had dulled his injuries, but there were so many of them that the pain was taking over.

He is here to take her away.  The Advisor stood beside him.

William looked down again and saw Bryan entering Jessica's apartment building.  He was going to take her away: away from the fires, away from danger…away from him.

"Good," William said.  Would that end it?  The voices had brought him out of the institution to protect Jess, but if Bryan protected her, maybe William could stop.  Maybe it was all over.

No.  The Advisor looked down at William.

The Caretaker formed beside him.  She laid a hand on his burned leg.  The pain began to ease.  He tried to straighten his knee, and the charred skin on his calf cracked and bled.  Would it heal even with The Caretaker's help?

"Can I just rest?" he asked.  He wanted the pain to end.  He wanted to forget Jessica.  He wanted the voices gone.

The Hunter perched on the edge of the roof.  Get up.

They will die without you, The Advisor said.

Even with The Caretaker's help, pain still shot through his leg as William stood.  He looked down at the building.

There was no way to get what he wanted.

He had always known that one day the voices would push him too far, that he would fail and die.  The wound on his leg would be enough, given time.  Or Jared Smith and his helper would finish the job.  But, maybe he could protect Jess and Bryan before it happened.

Below him, another car pulled up.  William stepped back when he saw Dr. Westen inside it.

*

The door opened at the first knock.  Jess pulled it open.  "You knew it was me?" Bryan asked.

"I had a hunch."

He frowned, saw her bag by the couch.  "Double check next time, okay?  Gotta be safe."  He walked in and closed the door behind him.

"Aren't we going?" Jess asked.

"I've got some backup coming in a few minutes.  We'll go when they get here."  He saw her tilt her head.  Her eyebrows scrunched together.  He had to not stare at her face, her mouth.

"Backup?  Are you that worried?"

He blew out a breath and Jess reached a hand out, found his shoulder.  "I know you don't want to hear anything like this, and I'm not trying to come between the two of you," he said.

"There's nothing to come between."  She stepped forward and stroked the side of his face.  It felt good, reassuring.  But at her touch his heartbeat only sped up.

"Good," he said.  Another deep breath and he closed his eyes.  "William scares the shit out of me."

Both of her hands were on him now and she stepped closer.  His arms raised, moved up her sides and stopped just below her shoulders.  He could just pull her in, so easily, but he kept his arms stiff, held her away.  "What you said about dysfunctional men putting the moves on you.  I'm a card carrying member."

She smiled for him.  "What do you mean?"

He opened his eyes and looked down, away from her face so he could focus.  "He talked to me and I thought he was warning me about you dying in a fire.  I think I put you in danger because I started to trust him.  I thought he and I were alike."

"Why?" she asked.

"The fire, two years ago.  He and I both lost something that night.  He lost you and I lost my wife and my son.  They died."  He knew he shouldn't have said it, but it was the right thing to do.  The words would push her away.  He could keep her safer that way.

But she moved in close and wrapped her arms around him, hugged him.  "Bryan, that doesn't make you crazy or dysfunctional.  That just makes you sad."

She pushed a few inches away and her hands slid up to his face.  Bryan watched as she pulled him down close.  He couldn't bring himself to stop her.

*

The vent pulled away silently from the wall.  Harold had removed the screws weeks ago, along with the long baffle that separated the two apartments.  He'd had to do some of the work from her apartment as well, but she worked such long days, that had been easy.

He set it down on the floor and stepped back up onto the ladder.  He could squeeze his head and one shoulder inside enough to get a good view into her apartment.

He'd spent many hours in the empty apartment next to Jessica's.  But tonight was different.  The detective was in there.  Mickelson.  He'd hated that man for years and Harold wouldn't let him have Jessica too.  He wriggled in tighter and got a good view down into her living room.

Immediately he regretted it.  She stood there, pressed against Mickelson.  Her hands at the back of the man's neck as they strained to stand closer together and kiss each other more deeply.

He scrambled back and stumbled off the ladder to the floor. 

Not again.  He wouldn't let Mickelson have the woman he loved again.

"No!" he screamed.

*

William saw the flash of red in the fog and felt it before he heard the man scream.  He'd seen Bryan and Jess melt into each other through a window in the fog, had seen them kiss, but the protest brought his attention to the apartment next to hers.

The window slid over and William saw the small man standing, shaking in the otherwise empty room.  It was the same one he'd seen before.  The one who had started the fire in Bryan's car.  Energy swirled around him, unfocused.

Now.  The other man is coming, The Advisor said.

As The Caretaker wrapped herself around William, The Hunter leapt off the building.  William looked down the five stories to the concrete below.

He stepped off.

As he fell, he turned to face the building and reached out for the first window sill with his right hand.  He caught it, and his body slapped against the side of the building as he stopped.  He pushed out with his left and let go.

At the next window, he grabbed with his left hand and then pushed off again.  He continued until he reached the bottom of the second floor window, where he pushed off, twisted again and dropped to the concrete.  Ignoring his leg, he ran to Jessica's building.

As he neared the door, he heard a car door open behind him.

*

(Author’s note: This is it, gang!  Chapters 36 and 37 are the end of act 2.  If you thought there had been some action before…well, let’s just say it wasn’t anything compared to what is coming your way in the rest of the book.  So, thank you all for the votes and notes!  Please tell your friends about Schism and what a great gift it makes…  Talk to you all soon!)