Red Rain: Lightning Strikes: Red Rain Series #2 (21 page)

* * *

S
cott woke
up in a New York City hotel room. He hadn’t slept in New York before, and he briefly recognized that as he opened his eyes and looked out the window next to his bed. He’d spent a good deal of money on the room, giving him a view over Time Square. He knew this would be the one and only night he slept here, not just the room, but the city. Whatever he found out today would probably put such a horrible taste in his mouth that he’d never return.

He had a few hours to kill but didn't really know how to spend them. He hadn’t thought of sightseeing when he booked the trip; he made the two most important reservations, one being the hotel, and then flew out of Dallas.

His phone had been off since he boarded the plane and he didn’t plan on turning it back on. He would hear this out and then make whatever decisions needed to be made by himself. He didn’t want to hear Alicia’s worries or even John’s. Not yet. Lori left this up to him and so he would be the one to carry it.

Scott toured through the early morning trying to see as much as he could. His mind wouldn’t let him, though, not really. His mind focused on what was coming next, and so the sights all fell to a secondary, perhaps even third-rate issue.

And, finally, he found himself at the building that housed the man he came to see. A tall thing with a lot of offices, which surprised Scott, given the man’s age he wanted to meet. Scott followed the signs, up the elevator, and found the correct office. He told the lady up front who he was here to see and then sat down to wait.

“Mr. Hilt?”

Scott had been staring at the wall, completely oblivious to the world.

He blinked and looked to the door that led to the individual offices. “Yes, Dr. Brighton?”

“That’s right, come on back.”

The man was old. Even older than Scott, but he stood straight and appeared to have a wiry strength underneath his tailored suit. He wore a tie but not the suit jacket and his face was clean shaven.

Scott stood and walked across the office, where Dr. Brighton shook his hand. “Nice to meet you,” Scott said.

“You too, I’m right this way.”

They went through a brief hallway and then Scott found himself in the nicest office he’d ever seen.

“Wow.”

“Working until seventy-eight does have its perks, I suppose.”

Scott didn’t turn around but just took in the size of the office and the immaculate scene around him. The window was wall to wall, showing New York City's skyline. Multiple couches sat around a marble desk as if this was a living room and not a psychiatrist's office charging five hundred dollars an hour.

“Go on, sit anywhere you like.”

Scott didn’t know exactly which couch to take, so he went to the one on his right and sat. The doctor walked around the marble table and took the one sitting diagonal, with the arms of the couches touching.

“You really piqued my curiosity asking about Vondi. At my age, and with this work, it takes a lot to make me curious, so thank you for that. I hadn’t thought of him in ten years; I moved out this way right after his death.”

Scott smiled, though he didn’t want to. “I wish I were here about something a little more pleasant.”

“So you’re wanting to talk about Vondi? May I ask why?”

Scott looked at the table in front of him, not fully sure what he wanted to say—or rather, how to say it.

“My son used to see him a long time ago. My son and my wife … Jesus, this is going to sound absolutely ridiculous. My wife died a little over ten years ago, and she told me some disturbing things while she was in the hospital. I thought, back then, that … well, I guess that she was dying and didn’t know what she was talking about.”

Scott looked to the doctor.

“Some things have happened recently that make me wonder if I was wrong, though. I know this is a real long shot, but I wanted to ask if Dr. Vondi ever talked to you about my son.”

The doctor leaned back on his couch, placing his hands on his knees. “What’s your son’s name?”

“John Hilt.”

Dr. Brighton didn’t move one way or the other, just kept that peculiar position.

“Have you heard of doctor-patient privilege, Mr. Hilt?”

He nodded. “Yes, I knew this was a long shot, but I just hoped … I want to know what’s wrong with my son.”

The doctor stood up from the couch and went to the large window, giving Scott his back. He put his hands behind his back, clasping one with the other.

“I’ve never seen anyone die like Vondi did. It was something out of a horror movie.”

Scott nodded. “I heard.”

“So, you’ve only just heard? A few days ago? You didn’t know when it happened?”

“No,” Scott said. “No one spoke about it back then.”

“Your son, John—he was seeing Vondi when it happened, right?”

“Yes.”

“All that happened a long time ago,” Dr. Brighton said. “I suppose at this point I have enough money that I don’t need my medical license if I’m called before the board. There are some ethical issues with me talking to you as well, but I don’t think Vondi would mind.” He paused for a long second, almost to the point that Scott wasn’t sure he’d continue. “I wanted to say something when it happened, but I didn’t, because I didn’t know all that much.”

The doctor turned around.

“I remember the name Hilt because it’s unique. He spoke about your son a few times. Did he ever leave the States?”

Scott nodded.

The doctor’s lips formed a thin line.

“Vondi spoke about him before he left and then he spoke about him when he came back. He was worried about your son—what’s his name?”

“John.”

The doctor nodded. “What’s going on with him now?”

Scott still looked at the doctor’s back, and was glad for it, because he didn’t know what in the hell to say. “I … This is just going to sound stupid.”

“You came a long way, Mr. Hilt; I wouldn’t worry about sounding stupid in a shrink’s office.”

“It’s nothing. That’s the point. He missed his mother’s death anniversary. His wife and his sister say he’s been acting differently. There’s not really anything to shake your finger at. Just what his mother said to me when she was dying.”

Scott sighed.

“John’s gone through a lot of dark spells.” He watched the doctor nodding, though he remained silent. “He came out years ago and told us he was an alcoholic, and that’s why he went through those spells. I think he’s heading into another one of those, except he doesn’t sound like he’s drinking.”

“Has he ever sounded like he’s drinking? Have you seen him drunk?” the doctor said, interrupting Scott in the briefest pause.

“No.”

“How long do these spells last, Mr. Hilt?”

“A few months, usually.”

Dr. Brighton turned around so they faced each other. “What did your wife say?”

Scott hadn’t recognized how much he already gave this man, opening up more than he ever planned. And now he would tell him something he hadn’t told anyone, ever. He met the doctor’s gaze; Scott could tell the man understood the dilemma, how much to give up in his search for answers.

“She said that I had to protect his wife and kids. That one day he’d hurt them.”

Again that slow nod from Dr. Brighton.

“Has he hurt them?”

“No. Never.”

“I don’t know what Vondi thought, exactly,” Dr. Brighton said. “That’s why I never said anything. He was scared of your son, though. That, and he felt some kind of
duty
to stop him.”

“Stop him from what?” Scott said.

“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me; I’m not sure he even knew. He was searching, though—looking for something on your son that might support whatever he had in his mind. To be honest, I thought he was going a bit overboard until he wound up with a knife lodged in his neck.”

* * *

T
he notebook sang
to him the same as sirens once sang to sailors.

Scott knew that if he opened it, just as the sailors knew if they responded, that a lot of pain waited. Yet, the allure was growing too great. He knew it, and yet he sat in the plane not opening his carryon.

Where the notebook resided.

Vondi had been worried about John.

Lori had been worried about John.

Now, Alicia and Diane worried about John.

The only person that hadn’t worried, apparently, was him—because Scott worried about nothing.
Always laughing at those that did, ribbing both Lori and Alicia every chance you got. And now it feels like the world sits on your shoulders, doesn’t it? Because you ignored all of this for far too long.

So open the goddamn notebook and find out what you’re so scared of.

Scott reached under his seat and grabbed the small, leather bag. He reached in and pulled out Lori’s journal.

Someone sat on either side of Scott, but he didn’t notice them at all—didn’t even consider what they might think if they glanced over at Lori’s notebook. His attention focused only on his hands and what they were doing.

He flipped past the first few pages, already finished.

He had a five hour flight. He figured he could finish it by the time he landed.

E
ngland
.

John’s in England now and I’m absolutely horrified. I don’t know how I ever thought this was a good idea. Here, I can watch over him, but there? What the hell can I do?

Vondi’s here. But so fucking what? I could have had John stop seeing him, could have gotten a restraining order if necessary.
We
could have moved. Instead I sent my only son across the ocean just as he’s becoming a man, and I haven’t prepared him for what’s to come.

That’s what scares me the most.

I
have done nothing to show him what is about to happen, and I’m the only one that knows. I’ve never told anyone, not Vondi, not other therapists, none of them. Perhaps I’ve been too scared to face it … but I could have helped. I know more than I’ve told Vondi.

Facing it, though? That means I have to face the fact that she was human. Because in my mind … she’s inhuman, a monster. I’ve wanted to keep her in that box for so long and talking about anything other than the horrid things she did … goddamn it. I just don’t know if I even want to think about it. Even now.

John.

That’s what I have to remember.

It’s not about me anymore. It’s not about my life. John is the one about to live through this, what my mother already did.

My mother.

Not Clara, but the person who gave me life; the person who gave John life as well.

She spoke to me sometimes. That’s what I haven’t told Vondi. I’ve told him some of the dark times, but there were other times too. Perhaps not joyous or happy, never those, but … not horrible? Yes.

She told me she knew the day that it happened, the very day she started changing from normal to what she became. I still remember the words.

“I can’t help what I am, Lori. I know you don’t believe that and I don’t expect you to, but it’s the truth. Something changed in me when I was a teenager.”

She didn’t look at me. We sat on our porch, both of us in a rocking chair like the Cleavers or something. My father was dead almost four years at that point. I had a year left before I could legally leave. She was sick by then, even though she didn’t know it. One of the guys she brought home had a surprise for her, too, though it took a lot longer. AIDS takes the normal and the abnormal, I suppose.

But all that came later. That day, she was sick—thinking she had a cold, and so her mania was tempered.

“My dad used to beat me. Did I ever tell you that?”

“No,” I said, but I don’t think she heard me. I don’t think she was really talking to me at all. Maybe she knew she was dying, subconsciously, and that’s why she spoke.

“I think the beating started before I even had the ability to form memories. The fucking, he didn’t start doing that until I could remember, though. It all jumped off from there, I suppose. When you’re that young and Daddy is sticking his dick in you, the brain is going to naturally do some things differently. I don’t know much about the science, but I know by the time I was ten that I didn’t care about anyone. I didn’t care about my mom or my dad. They both could have burned alive or been made the President of the United States. All the same to me.”

She paused for a long time and I was too scared to move. She had never spoken like this, and if I’m being honest, a part of me craved it. Fear and desire are strange emotions if you try combining them.

“Not caring, though, and what I am; they’re worlds away from each other. That came later. I was seventeen when the flip happened, and at prom. Actually
at
the damn prom. I remember that movie, Carrie; a girl has her period and somehow gets super powers. That didn’t exactly happen, but something close to it.

“I let the boy get on top of me; we snuck out of the gym and into Mrs. Greer’s history classroom. I didn’t care one way or another whether he fucked me—my dad just stopped doing it the past year when I threatened to kill him and he knew I meant it.

“He was getting real hot, about to cum, and something inside me just clicked. It felt like ….”

And she looked over at me then, the only time she even gave notice that I was there. She looked me dead in the eye.

“It felt like home.”

She turned back to the lawn.

“I won’t go into details about what I did, but he didn’t hump anyone else for a while. Before that, I didn’t care. After that, I enjoyed hating … It’s weird, when I think about it, how quickly the change happened. There wasn’t any going back, though.”

There’s more to it. She told me a lot more, but … I think John’s at that point. Somehow. I think his time of tipping over is about to happen, and Christ, I sent him away. I haven’t told him.

ALL I FUCKING SAID WAS TO BE CAREFUL.

I didn’t even give him the knowledge my mother gave me.

* * *

V
ondi knows
. He hasn’t said it, not completely, but he knows. And he’s going to do something.

I don’t know what, but it won’t be good for John.

John is back now and he was careful in England, at least
I
thought so. Vondi, though? Why? Why does he care so goddamn much? And whose fault is this, really? Mine. I’m the one that sent John there in the first place. And now look at the whole mess.

John doesn’t know about Vondi yet.

I’m scared to tell him.

Because I know what will happen to Vondi if I do. He’ll die.

I didn’t ask John what he did over there, but Vondi seems to know. He kept tabs the whole time. The bastard was researching, and all the while he kept seeing me, kept asking me questions, kept
working
with me.

Ha!

Once he met John, this had nothing to do with me anymore. John captivated him, and I don’t know if it has something to do with being able to catch an actual psychopath—maybe the bastard is thinking about some kind of book deal, movie rights, and a lot of zeros on a check.

“I’d like to start seeing him again, I think. I have some questions that I want to ask him.”

“Some things happened in Europe that you might not be aware of, Lori.”

That’s what Vondi said.

He didn’t smile, but looked at me with all the seriousness of the dead.

I moved away from the conversation. I had to. What could I say? How do you know what John was doing? What do you think he did? The rabbit trail would have gone on a long way and ended somewhere I’m not ready to go.

I have to find out from John what happened. I have to ask. And then I have to find out what Vondi knows.

I’ve done too much for
him
to end us. I won’t let it happen.