this one will work for Katelynn.'
'I can always order her to use the stone,' Damon said.
Sam stopped pacing and looked at him incredulously. 'Oh, right. And when she refuses, what are you going to do? Force her to do it at gunpoint?'
For just a moment Sam thought that Damon was going to say yes. There was anger in the man’s eyes now, and a level of frustration that Sam could easily identify with. Common sense must have reasserted itself, however. Damon stared at him a moment, then turned away, shaking his head in answer to Sam’s question.
'We’re going to have to convince her that it’s the only way of locating this thing.'
Sam agreed. He didn’t know how they were going to manage it, but it was the only option they had left.
Katelynn had to help.
Surely she’d understand that.
.
She met them at the door with a wary look, but let them in nonetheless. They moved into the living room, with Damon and Sam choosing seats on one side of the coffee table and Katelynn and Loki seated on the couch on the other.
Damon let Sam do the talking, explaining how they had acquired the stone and what they wanted her to do with it.
She listened to their story, a false veneer of calm plastered across her face.
Then, just as calmly, she told them no.
'Can’t you see we don’t have any other option, Katelynn? You’re the only one who can do this!' Sam said in exasperation.
For the first time emotion flared in Katelynn. 'Bullshit! You don’t know that! You don’t know anything; you’re just guessing.' She wrapped her arms around Loki’s neck, a sign of her unease. The dog whined in reply.
Damon nodded, to show his agreement with her statement. 'You’re right, Katelynn. We are guessing. It won’t work for Sam or me. It might not even work for you.' He kept his tone calm, reasonable, to help defuse the frustration and anger that was rapidly filling the room. 'But what would you suggest we do? We know the stone has worked for you in the past. We don’t have the original, but we are hoping this one will work the same way. We need you to try.'
Sam looked like he was about to speak but Damon silenced him with a swift glance.
'I don’t want to do it,' she answered stubbornly.
Damon could see she that was starting to break. He let the silence stretch for a moment, then played his trump card.
'If you don’t, someone else will lose someone they love. Just as you lost Jake.'
It wasn’t fair to play on her emotions like that, but Damon was getting desperate. He agreed with Sam; they needed to find this thing as swiftly as possible, and Katelynn was the quickest and easiest means.
Katelynn stared at him. He watched the emotions flash across her eyes: anger, fear, pain, worry. For just a moment he felt the power of that emotion jump the distance between them. Then Katelynn turned away and the link was broken.
No one said anything.
The silence stretched.
Loki whined again, and licked Katelynn’s face.
She turned and looked into the dog’s eyes. What she saw there Damon didn’t know, but when she turned back to face him, he knew before she had said a word that she would do it.
'Okay. Give me the stone.'
Sam suppressed a grin and dug the object out of his pocket. He tried to hand it across the table to her, but she refused to take it. He left it lying in the center of the table in front of her.
'It will be okay, Katelynn,' Damon said. The other times you’ve done this you weren’t prepared for it. You had no one to help you out of the trance if you got into trouble. This time both Sam and I will be here. At the slightest sign that you’re in danger, we will pull you out of it.'
Katelynn ignored him, knowing that while his intentions were good, they would be of no use to her if she did get into trouble. She knew how powerful the Nightshade actually was. She had done her best to free herself of its loathsome grip in the car that night; in the end, she had failed.
Now, she was being forced to put herself in danger again, and she wasn’t happy about it. Who knew what kind of power the beast could send back through that link with the stone? And yet, the Sheriff was right. She didn’t have much of a choice. To let the thing roam free and continue its slaughter was unthinkable.
She would have to use the stone.
Pure evil seemed to emanate from the it and Katelynn had to force herself to pick it up.
She lay down on the sofa, the stone clasped between both hands. Loki sat on the floor next to her. Sam took a seat on the table itself, while Damon stood behind it.
'If I look like I’m struggling, or in pain, do everything you can to wake me up. Taking the stone out of my hands should do it. Shake me, slap me, do whatever it takes,' Katelynn told them insistently.
They agreed.
With that said, Katelynn went to work.
Much as Sam had done earlier that night, Katelynn set out to clear her mind of all thought, letting a dark, empty void fill her. Instead of concentrating on the stone, however, she cast her thoughts outward, seeking the beast. She pictured it as she’d seen it in her dreams, its long wings stretched out on either side as it soared through the air. She listened for its heartbeat, that three-chambered rhythm she’d heard before. She imagined the caress of the wind across her flanks, and the flicker of her tongue across her teeth…
Abruptly, she made contact.
The Nightshade was crouched atop a high structure, staring out into the night. Through its eyes she could see the University grounds and knew immediately the spot it had chosen for its vantage point.
Keating Hall.
A high stone tower projected up from the building’s roof, and it was there that the beast was perched. Instantly Katelynn knew that this was the creature’s new lair. It had chosen high, lonely structures previously, and this was no exception. The clock tower had been unused for years, and the beast would be free to come and go at will, provided it avoided drawing attention to itself.
Having achieved her objective, Katelynn attempted to abandon the trance.
Her gaze never strayed from the campus grounds.
She struggled harder, willing herself to awaken.
Nothing happened. She remained linked to the beast, trapped within its consciousness.
A strange lethargy began to seep through her. Darkness loomed, then overwhelmed.
Just as quickly, her vision began to return, but she was no longer seeing the dark campus grounds. Instead, she found herself looking into Loki’s face, inches from her own.
The dog growled, deep and low in its throat.
'It’s okay, Loki,' Katelynn tried to say.
No sound issued forth from her throat.
Katelynn began to panic.
The two men watched as Katelynn quickly slipped into her trance. One minute she was with them; the next, lost in whatever realm her consciousness had fled to. Her body visibly relaxed. Her breathing deepened and slowed. Her eyes flickered beneath their closed lids.
Her hands remained securely locked around the stone.
They waited.
Five minutes passed. Ten.
Katelynn remained locked in her trance.
Suddenly Loki jumped to his feet and moved closer to Katelynn. He sniffed at her face, then pulled back to watch her.
Damon and Sam watched as Katelynn’s eyes slowly opened.
