Page 77 of Now Until Forever
As the storm raged over Anchorage on Wednesday morning, residents expressed relief that the weeks-long manhunt had finally ended.
“This is Alaska,” Banbury said in a written statement. “Evil might know how to survive the wilderness, but not forever.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The first time Eliana awoke in the hospital, she wasn’t alone. Her throat felt thick and tight, and swallowing against it hurt. She had no idea how long she’d been here, but night had fallen and she was awake now. What on earth time was it?
A woman stood facing the curtains that hung floor to ceiling on the right, over the big window. The room had a tiny bathroom and another sink in the wall unit where the TV had been mounted.
“Mom?” Eliana tried to sit up, but her whole body felt weighty. The covers were aggressively tight, and the handset for the bed controls lay beside her hand. “Mom.”
The woman had long dark hair, but now she didn’t seem as tall as Eliana’s mom.
“Who are you?”
The woman stared out the window, between a slit in the curtains. Dark clothing. Her features in shadow. Now she seemed younger than Mom—older than Eliana.
Eliana tugged at the covers, trying to move.
Finally, the woman turned from the window, and Eliana saw a small box in her hands lit only by the small yellow light above the tiny sink. It looked like…it was her box.
The woman placed the wooden box with the odd symbol on the blanket beside Eliana. “I came to return this to you. I know you lost it.”
“Are you on the Board of Governors?”
She shook her head, and light reflected in her eyes, but she remained in shadow such that Eliana couldn’t even tell how old she was. “Keep it safe. It seems you may need its protection.” She ran slender fingers over the surface of the box. “The Greek letter psi.”
“I know.” Eliana had looked it up but couldn’t remember all that it’d said right now. “Mind, or soul. Right?”
“Perhaps it offers protection.” The woman had a highbrow accent that Eliana hadn’t heard in small-town Wyoming or really here in Chicago either. It seemed as if she belonged somewhere like the Harvard campus or a fancy New York restaurant.
What had she said?
Perhaps it offers protection.
“Protection from what?” Eliana asked.
“I think you know now.” The woman took a step back, receding into the shadows. “I’ll do what I can. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”
Eliana watched her walk to the door, not really all that comforted. Her parting words had actually sounded more like a threat. A swath of light came in from the hall, and she disappeared out the door. For a moment, Eliana caught a glimpse of dark hair with red tones and a long blue trenchcoat with a waist tie and wide collar.
Her breath caught in her throat, and she erupted into coughing.
The woman from my nightmare.
The coughing went on long enough that she had to sit up. A nurse came in and turned the light on—apparently, she’d made enough noise coughing to draw attention.
How could she calm down? She’d given her statement to the police and even the FBI for goodness sake, telling them all what had happened in that apartment. Two women were dead, and the two men who’d been there had somehow managed to get by the police surrounding the building.
Now the woman from her nightmare, the one whose name she couldn’t remember, thought she needed protection? How was Eliana supposed to knowshewasn’t this “Mother” person everyone was so afraid of? Maybe she was the one Eliana needed protection from.
“Hey, you’re—” Carlos came in, carrying a brown paper bag in one arm and flowers in the other. He rushed around to the other side of the bed. “Is everything okay?”
“I was coughing. I got excited.” She handed back the cup of water the nurse had given her. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” The nurse smiled. “Hit the button if you need anything.”
“Thanks.” Eliana watched her walk out, closing the door behind her, then looked at Carlos. “Are those for me?”
