The Awakening

Jealous.

That's what she was. And stupid. Real stupid.

Why should she give a damn if the detective liked Ann? It wasn't as if the two of them had any future together, anyway. And no one in her right mind would expect Luther Cross to play in celibacy. Not long.

Gaby was deep into her own misery when from somewhere to her left, a small voice said, 'Hi.'

Jerking her head around so fast that she almost gave herself whiplash, Gaby eyed the girl—the one she'd told Mort she wanted to see—standing on the sidewalk behind her.

'You!' Gaby couldn't credit such a coincidence. Hell, she didn't believe it. No way.

What did it mean?

Overly cautious, the girl inched closer. 'You remember me?'

'Course I do.' Cleaned up and without the blood and tears, something recognizable remained. It was in her eyes, some world-weary cynicism too deep for one of her young years.

What stumped Gaby most was the soft yellow aura enveloping her in a loving embrace. The color of mental ability and great purpose seemed out of place on one so… misguided. The girl probably had no idea yet of the important role she'd play in life.

Hopefully she'd realize it before it was too late.

Today, she wore a super-short denim skirt and a pale pink T-shirt that hugged her body too closely, showing off details better left undiscovered.

With an eerie foreboding, Gaby gave the girl a questioning look.

The high, chunky wooden heels of her sandals clunked on the sidewalk as she shifted. 'You live around here?'

Thoughts moiling, Gaby chose a deliberate, casual pose, relaxing her spine, propping her elbows on her knees. 'Not too far away. You?'

'Not really.' The girl eyed the spot beside Gaby. 'You mind if I join ya? My feet are killin' me.'

'It's a free country.'

'Not really, it ain't.' The girl sidled up and carefully lowered herself to the curb. 'Not for girls like me.'

'Like you?'

'Yeah, you know. A whore. Alone and poor and stuff.' She stretched out her legs and wiggled her dusty toes. 'I've been walkin' and walkin' for hours, it seems.'

She sat so close that Gaby inhaled the stale odor or overused cologne, sweat, and sex. Nose wrinkling, Gaby eased away a few inches. 'What's your name?'

'Bliss.'

That had Gaby's eyes rolling. 'You going to tell me that's your real name?'

'No.' Bliss picked at a tiny scab on her knee. 'But it's pretty, don'tcha think?'

'I suppose.' Gaby also supposed she wouldn't get the truth from the girl, so she didn't bother trying. What she called herself didn't really matter. Not in the bigger scheme of things.

What did she want? 'I'm Gaby.'

Bliss nodded, let out a long sigh. Attempting an overt friendliness, she shook back her hair, folded her hands in her lap, and smiled at Gaby. 'I usually hang out with Rose, but I haven't seen her for a couple days now.'

'Rose?'

'Another hooker.'

The smile shrank away.

The idle hands grew fidgety again.

'She's my friend. My only friend, I guess. I was lookin' for her down this way, and that's when I saw you.'

So much worry hung in Bliss's words, Gaby had to ask. 'Where did your friend, Rose, go?'

Rounded shoulders lifted. 'I dunno.' She stared away. 'I'm thinkin' maybe she got tired of me hangin' around.'

Sympathy wrestled with Gaby's natural sense of caution. Something wasn't right, but she couldn't put her finger on it. 'I doubt that's it.'

'Well, she used to come lookin' for me at nights, almost like a momma would.'

Bliss's bottom lip quivered, but Gaby sensed it wasn't so much with sadness as with fear.

'Sometimes,' Bliss whispered, 'if'n she wasn't workin' she'd even let me stay with her.'

'Rose has a house?'

Bliss gave her a look of incredulity. 'No.'

'Ail apartment then?'

Arms wrapped herself, Bliss shook her head—and couldn't meet Gaby's gaze. 'Most of us on the street jus' look for a place out of the weather, where cops won't trip over us. Rose found a place in the woods.'

'In the woods?'

'Yeah. Me and her sometimes stayed there, in this old abandoned place. That's all.'

Old abandoned place. The pieces—the conspiracy—began to click together. 'Where, Bliss?'

Something in Gaby's tone made Bliss withdraw. 'We didn't break in or nothin'.'

'Where?'

At Gaby's stern voice, Bliss jumped and looked at her with accusation and hurt and… more fear. 'It's an old hospital or something.'

Oh God.

'It stinks real bad, and it's sort of scary.' Bliss swallowed hard. 'Do you believe in ghosts?'

How could she not? She'd destroyed many of them. 'Of course.' Gaby looked back at the theater door, but there was no sign of Luther. 'Listen to me, Bliss, You should stay out of those woods, and you should definitely stay away from that hospital.'

'But…'

'It's scary because disordered, rancorous spirits possess it.'

Bliss's eyes went round. 'Spirits?'

Nodding, Gaby said, 'Not just spirits from the deceased either. The average person has such a fairy-tale perception of evil. They think energized emissions come only from those who have passed.'

'You mean from dead people?'

'Exactly. But that's not the case. Not always.' Gaby visualized the isolation hospital, the way it had made her feel, and she almost shivered. 'Definitely not the case with that place.'

'You're scaring me, Gaby.'

'Good.' Maybe she'd heed Gaby's warning and stay away from the hospital, 'Dead, alive, sick, tormented, and tortured spirits stir the air all around that place. It's wicked, and treacherous.'

In awe and worry, Bliss stared at her. 'You've been there?'

'Yeah.' Gaby had to make the girl understand. 'Malevolent discarnates overrun that hospital and the grounds around it. Not just the dead, Bliss. But spirits of deranged people, desperately unhappy people whose circumstances have adversely affected their behavior.'

Bliss whispered, 'So you're sayin' there's live people there who'd wanna hurt me?'

How could the girl be so stupid? 'Exactly. They might not be consciously evil. They could be confused, desperate, unaware of how their actions hurt others. But that makes them no less dangerous for someone like you.' For someone like Gaby, it was a whole different story. 'Promise me you won't go there again.'

'I… I never wanted to go there in the first place. And now without Rose…' She chewed her lips. 'But that's what I was gonna say to you—what if somethin' happened to Rose? What if she's there and hurt and I'm too chicken-shit to check on her?' Big tears spilled over Bliss's painted lashes, leaving muddy tracks on her cheeks. 'What if them spirits have her is why I ain't seen her?'

It amazed Gaby that one person could look so pitiful and pathetic. Against her better judgment, with warning bells going off all through her system, Gaby said, 'Don't start sniveling on me, okay? I'll go there to look for Rose.'

Relief nearly melted Bliss over the curb. 'You'd do that? Really?' She wiped at her eyes—and in the process removed some of her makeup, too. 'When?'