Midnight Ruling (2 page)

Inside, we found a little blue marble door that should have opened to the roof. Instead, we opened a gateway to a demonic world. The Demon’s Grave, otherwise known as the darkness between worlds.

Dismal and dark…

The guardian, Damien, sentenced us to a series of Challenges, six for the six of us. If we won, we got to go home. If we lost, we were his forever.

Only Aidan Birket and I made it out alive. The most unlikely of the group.

Aidan had a chance to get them all back. He could have sacrificed me to Damien, but he chose not to. Why? I’m uncertain. Damien had found out some things while we were there and used them against us. Like how Aidan’s grandfather had guarded the Demon’s Grave. It was a birthright that should have passed onto Aidan’s cousin, but he died too soon. That just left Aidan, the next in line. Aidan had been unaware of his new sentinel title as Keeper and of what lurked in his grandfather’s home.

My own dirty little secret belonged to my Aunt Nell, who wanted entry into the Demon’s Grave. She tried to sacrifice me when I was five. She murdered my twin sister instead, and somehow it botched the whole thing. She tried to gain access by sacrificing her two accomplices, but that only earned me a fun zombie Challenge. I didn’t want that for my friends, to die and stay in the Grave forever as Damien’s puppets.

He’d asked me before I’d left if I wanted to stay. He offered to free them all in exchange for me.

I touched my lips. I could imagine feeling his lips, just before he shoved me back into our world.

There was only one option left, and we were going to find it out today.

Part of me was eager to get my friends back and stop the nightmares, while the other part would rather stay where it was safe. This world was snug and warm. There were people here who loved me and cared about me. The Demon’s Grave, though…that’s a whole different can of crazy.

The ride to Windmane Asylum felt like eight hours instead of two.

The winding roads curved to reveal yet another falling rocks sign. Each time I saw one my eyes involuntarily roamed up the craggy mountainside. Aidan’s old station wagon was sturdy but not enough to keep us from being crushed.

There were several tunnels in the side of the mountain. I couldn’t help but notice both of us stiffen the second we entered the darkness in the middle of the day. With the sun so abruptly banished, the dim fluorescent lights weren’t enough to put either of us at ease.

Doubt started beating up my courage. Did I really want to do this? Did I want to find a way back in there? To face Damien? I bit my lips together, remembering his farewell.

Mostly, I didn’t want to go back. I wanted to stay here where it was safe, while another voice whispered in the back of my mind, a pleading, small voice. I wanted to go back but not just to save them.

I squirmed in my seat. We finally cleared one of the last tunnels.

Aidan rubbed his leg with his free hand. His limp had lessened, but it was obvious that it still bothered him. My cuts had healed, and the bruises had faded past the disgusting green. Despite the physical healing, our minds were still screwy. The nightmares drained me and reminded me of that strange warmth I always felt while there.

I didn’t want to drag Aidan with me, but he got this hostile look about him each time I brought it up. So I stopped. If it weren’t for this mission to save our friends, I believe we’d go crazy.

It was ironic to be driving to an asylum with that idea.

The
Welcome to the City of Windmane
sign came into view. Dread began to wrap tendrils around me, and I reached into my bag to reassure myself that I brought everything.

I had a pad of paper, a pen, and my ID for permission to see my aunt. Only family members were allowed to visit or bring visitors. Aidan brought a tape recorder, the old fashioned kind with the wind-up tape, because cell phones weren’t allowed. He said it belonged to his mother during her digs, before more advanced technology came along.

I glanced at Aidan. He returned my stare. “You want to turn back,” he said, not making it a question.

He must have seen it in my face.

A choir of voices cheered in my head.

Resigned, I tugged at my new button-up blue shirt and shook my head. “Nope.” I looked away. “Noper’s, nope, nope.” I realized how silly I sounded popping my P’s like a little kid. Straightening my shoulders, I cleared my throat and looked to him. “We’ve got to do this.”
There
, I thought,
that sounded self-assured
.

Aidan’s electric blue eyes focused back on the road. His jaw clenched hard enough I saw his cheekbone and temple twitch.

I remember when those eyes used to give me the creeps. I still knew when he was close. The air hummed, like standing close to one of those massive power lines. Aidan felt something similar, though apparently not as intense as what I felt. He felt it when we stood close or touched. We’d concluded that it was because we were connected to the Demon’s Grave through our families.

Aidan set his square jaw before saying, “I bet they’ll let me go with you if you wanted me to.” He even combed and groomed his usually wild reddish brown hair for the event and had shaved his scruff down. He wore jeans that looked far too good on his butt and a button-up dark shirt for our presentation.

“I don’t know if they will let you come in the room with me, but I’ll try,” I admitted. Hell, they’d probably turn me away. With my recent news-worthy amnesia, it might make a person wonder why I’d decide to see her now, after all this time. I’d likely be checked for weapons.
That’s what I forgot
, I thought with some levity,
weapons
.

The last time I faced Nell alone, I was almost thrown into a bonfire to appease a demon. After everything I’d been through, I didn’t think I’d hesitate beating her head in at the first chance I got.

The silence stretched, making me tug at my new blue shirt all over again.

Shops passed in a blur until we started to reach the other end of the city. I tried to focus on them and the people milling about. I tried to imagine being them, being ignorant again. Wouldn’t that be nice? The trip only lasted a half hour, but it made the time go faster.

Aidan slowed as he neared the opened gates leading to the Windmane Asylum and turned into the parking lot.

The institution was a series of five large, squared buildings. It was the largest psychiatric ward in the west. Each bricked building looked as if it’d been constructed in the 1940’s and painted a hundred times over. I doubted a hurricane could tear the sturdy buildings down. A well-manicured lawn and shrubbery tried to cast away the foreboding nature, but it didn’t do it well. At least not well enough for me. Neither white-clad patients nor staff could be seen. It was an eerie lack of activity for the sunny day.

Pulling into the nearly vacant Visitor’s Parking, Aidan turned the bulky station wagon into an open space.

The main building loomed before us.

Aidan and I peered out the windshield at the white sealed doors separating us from insanity. Overhead, I half expected to see dark clouds rolling in, probably because my mood demanded it. However, the weather wasn’t cooperating.

Aidan reached over and took my clammy hand, giving it a gentle squeeze in his warm, dry palm. He didn’t pull away when that little jolt zapped between us on contact.

I squeezed his hand back, feeling the space between our hands grow hotter. I attempted a weak smile. “I hate this.”

He smiled back, not showing teeth, and nodded. “We can do this.” It was the
we
that helped.

Opening the passenger door, I slip my fingers from Aidan’s. Slamming the door shut, I stood at attention, hand shielding my face from the sun.

Aidan shut his squeaking door and moved first. He nodded at me, and I followed like an obedient dog.

I lengthened my strides to catch up to him, my hand snatching his. “Thank you,” I whispered, not looking at him and ignoring the
zap
.

The white double doors were getting closer as my heart began to beat louder.

My hand gripped Aidan’s so hard that he shook his wrist to get my attention. “Be brave, Nora. This is for our friends.”

Taking a deep breath, I tried to relax my grip on his hand. My other hand twisted the bottom of my shirt, wrinkling the new fabric with the sweat of my palm.

We stepped onto the sidewalk. My rubber knees threatened to knock me askew, but thankfully, I made it to the front doors.

Aidan opened the first one for me, and my foot paused. I knew that if I hesitated too long, I might not move at all.

For your friends
, I thought, hearing the anger in it and letting the guilt pull me forward.

Stepping through the threshold, I was reminded of the Challenge. There, each door represented a step closer to freedom or something very, very bad.

We shuffled through automatic doors and approached the horseshoe-shaped desk that dominated the waiting room.

Three women looked up, all still busily tapping at their computers.

The one nearest us offered a polite smile. “How may I help you?”

I opened my mouth, but to my horror, nothing came out.

Blushing, I stepped closer to the desk and cleared my throat. “Sorry,” I said, embarrassed, my voice still squeaking as I fumbled for my ID. “I would like to visit my aunt.”

“Name?” The nurse, probably in her mid-forties, kept that polite smile plastered, making me fidget.

“Eleanor Fuller,” I said.

“Eleanor Fuller?” the second young woman draped in a nurse’s uniform parroted. “Are you family?”

Aidan and I nodded together, and I felt the heat of controversy summoning itself. Here’s where they’d tell me ‘no’ and send me on my way with a pat on the butt.

“She’s in the high-security building,” the young nurse said to the one attending us.

“Oh,” the older one said as if this were significant.

I glanced at Aidan, eyebrows raised.

“Please fill these out,” the young nurse said, passing us two clipboards. Before we could ask, she explained. “Because you’ve never been here before, we require some basic information. The second page is a waiver stating that you will not sue Windmane Asylum if…well, if you should slip or hurt yourself.”

Or get attacked by a patient
, I thought, taking the clipboards from her.

I wiped my sweaty palm on my skirt to try and hide the anxiety. There was no use lying about who I was, so I wrote down everything.

After a brief once over and giving us back our ID’s, she forced the plastic grin. “You’re family too?” she asked Aidan.

“Please,” I said before he could speak, “he’s with me. I need some…support.”

She eyed me for a long time before the older woman nudged her. The younger woman passed us two laminated badges.

When we clipped them on, we were officially
Visitors
.

“Alright,” she said, charging up the brightness with another smile. “I’ll call ahead, and there will be someone waiting for you.” She gave us brief directions and a map.

Stepping back outside, Aidan and I headed down the sidewalk to the far end of the campus-sized lot in silence. He held my slick hand without complaint.

“Told you I’d get in,” he said smugly.

“You’re welcome,” I said.

The building dominated my vision, and my rubbery knees started acting up again.

“Nora,” Aidan said softly, catching my attention.

My eyes unhinged from the sliding doors that were only twenty paces away.

“Nora, listen.” Aidan let go of my hand and grabbed my shoulders to make me face him. “I’ll go in alone. I can ask the questions and record them. You can stay out here. You don’t have to do this.”

Puffing up with a deep breath, I almost caved. I was glad I held my breath before I could blurt it out.

“No,” I said, exhaling. “I have to go in there, Aidan. She won’t talk to you. But she might remember me.”

“How do you know?”

“I don’t,” I admitted, feeling the doubt threatening to breach. “But I know the consequences if we fail.”

Our gazes leveled in several prying seconds’ understanding. His pale eyes were so stern and full of concern, I had the unexpected urge to lean in and kiss him. His constant concern for me over the previous weeks had been flattering, but I had to stand on my own here. I had to stop being afraid of being alone.

They were brave words. If only I felt them too.

I felt myself leaning closer. In that instant, he appeared startled but didn’t back away, his face drawing closer to my own. I felt my eyes close when the sound of repetitive pounding caused us both to pause in mid-motion.

My face an inch from his, I opened my eyes. The moment we made eye contact, it was like we’d been caught masturbating.

Jerking away from each other, we both looked up at one of the large windows of the High Security Facility. A figure, maybe a man, pounded on the window. It wasn’t long before another figure showed up and led him away. By then the damage was done; the moment was over.

Sighing, I began to walk toward the front door, Aidan at my side. We weren’t holding hands anymore, so I curled mine into fists and crossed my arms.

Aidan kept clearing his throat until we were close enough to alert the sliding doors.

A woman in her early thirties at a similar front desk as the previous building hung up her phone and smiled, all teeth and sunshine. “My name is Susan.” Stepping out from behind the crescent desk, she said, “So you’re here to see Eleanor Fuller, correct?”

We nodded together.

“I’ll be escorting you to her room,” she said, motioning to the double doors behind her. It was equipped with heavy deadbolts and a security pad beside the wall.

When neither of us said anything, she gave a little nod and turned. The white slacks and top were too tight for her, though she wasn’t a big girl. Probably picked them out that way. Her light brown hair was in a tight bun. She had a sharp nose that pointed downward to the pert, ruby lips. She wasn’t wearing any make-up, making her lips a surprising color.