Saving Cassie (Fairfield Corners) (16 page)

Two hours later we hug
goodbye, promising to spend Saturday together.  I head back to the bookstore,
trying to keep from losing my mind.  Thankfully, the bookstore is busy for the
rest of the afternoon, keeping my mind off of everything I learned today.  I
don’t think I will tell Logan about Ragan’s vision, it would just make him
worry even more.

I decide it’s time to
close at about five.  I’m just counting the register when James walks in,
looking exhausted.  “Hey, Cassie, how was your day?”  He pulls off his hat and
runs his fingers through his hair.  “I think this whole town has gone crazy!  We’ve
been out on calls all day, some domestic disputes, some are neighbors getting
into fights over nothing.  It’s just been crazy and I’m tired.”  He rubs his
head, “and it feels like I’m getting a headache”.  I turn around but he is bent
over tying his shoe so I can’t see his eyes.  He looks up at me and I’m glad to
see his eyes and not the glowing green eyes of my nightmares.

“I’ve got some aspirin in
the bathroom. I’ll get a couple for you.”  And I head to the bathroom.

When I come back, James
has his back to me, looking at the new arrivals shelf.  I look around but I
don’t see Princess.  “Where is Princess?” I ask, “Did you put her out back?”

“Yes, I did.  She acted
like she needed to go out.”  He takes the aspirin with the glass of water I
brought for him.  “I just wanted to stop by and make sure everything is OK
here.”

“You look tired, James.  You
should go home and sleep.”

“Yes, I should but I have
to get back to it.  Call Logan when you’re ready to go.  He can take a break
and walk you home.”  He smiles as he says that, knowing we will use that time
for some really intense kisses.

I give him a kiss on the cheek.
 “Be safe James.  Don’t take any unnecessary chances.”

“I will, Cassie.  Don’t
forget to call Logan when you’re ready to go.”

“Yes, mother.” I say
sarcastically as I’m pushing him towards the door.  “That should be in about half
an hour.”

Finally, I get him out the
door so I can close up.  I finish counting the drawer and realize I left the
bank slips in the office.  I wrap a rubber band around the money and head for
the office after turning off most of the lights.  I am thinking about
everything that has been happening, and how it all ties back to Reverend Jake
and the demon.  I go to my laptop and pull up the picture of Reverend Jake
again.  I finally realize what has been nagging me about the picture.  It’s the
eyes, they’re Matt’s eyes.  This gives me an idea so I pull up a genealogy
website I was using to research the Holts.  Sure enough, there it is in black
and white.  The Reverend’s son, Luke, changed his name when he turned 18.  He
changed it to Matt Brewer, my ex Matt.

With shaking hands I send
Logan and James a text showing the name change.  I fill out the bank slip and
attach it to the money and then head back out to the front to get my gun from
under the counter.  I see someone standing over by the paperback book rack with
their back to me.  I swear I locked that door when James left.  Who in their
right mind would think the store was open with the lights off?

“Excuse me, but we’re
closed for the day.  You’ll need to come back tomorrow.”

He turns around and grins
at me, it’s Matt, but it’s the Matt I remember from the undercover days, the
Matt possessed by the demon.  As I look at his face, his eyes start to glow.
“That won’t work for me.  We need to finish our business tonight, Cassie.  It’s
time for you to die!”

I cross my arms, I don’t
want him to see how my hands are shaking.  I remind myself to breathe,
concentrating on that for a moment until I feel like I can speak without my
voice wavering, “Why Matt?  Why did you let the demon back in?”  Maybe if I
keep him talking something will distract him so I can grab my gun or my phone.

“I’ve known the demon for
years, Cassie.  I was there the night he was called over from the other side.  I’ve
spent most of my life with this demon in my life.  I never told you, but
Reverend Jake was my father.  When he was killed in prison the demon came to
me.”  He picks up a book off the shelf, turning it over in his hands.  “I
couldn’t believe it when you walked into my life.  I fell in love with you but
the demon was too strong, and you know what happened when the demon took over.” 
He looks at me with sorrow.  He is the old Matt for a moment before his eyes
start to glow again and then it’s the demon again.

“The demon came back to me
a few days ago, but this is the first time I’ve seen you alone.” 

I know I’m in big trouble.
 I think my phone is in the office and my gun is behind the counter.  There is
no way I can reach either one before Matt would get to me.  I look over at the
door, knowing I would never make it in time.  I hear Princess barking and
scratching at the back door.  I wish I had let her in before I came back from
the office.  I start to back up, maybe I can get to the office and lock the
door.

Logan finishes up the
report he’s writing on the latest domestic dispute, hoping this is the last
one.  There have been more than 10 domestic disturbance calls in the last two
days; it’s as if the town has gone crazy.  He rubs his temple, trying to will
the headache away.  He’s grateful it’s not as bad as the headaches he gets when
the demon tries to possess him while he is asleep.  This headache is probably
just stress related.  He goes over to the water cooler for some water to wash
down some aspirin.  He looks up when he hears the door open.  “Hey, James.  Any
more calls come in?”

“Only a report of an
abandoned car out on Wheelock Road, thank God.”  James looks at his watch,
noticing the time.  “Why don’t you head over to the bookstore, Reggie should be
about ready to close up.  Take her out to dinner and then get some sleep.  I’m
going to head out and tag the abandoned car for towing before I head home.
Steve can call me if any more calls come in.”

“Thanks, James.  Feels
like I haven’t slept in a week,” he says as he heads out the door and across
the street to his cruiser.  He notices the flower shop is still open and stops
in for a bouquet of flowers for Cassie to apologize for the long hours he’s
worked the last couple of days.  He then walks into the liquor store next door
for a bottle of Cassie’s favorite wine, thinking he might as well do it up
right.  Maybe tonight he will give her the ring he’s been carrying in his
pocket for over a week.

Fifteen minutes later he
is almost back to his cruiser when his headache suddenly escalates to a
shooting pain, bringing him to his knees.  He sees flashes of red hair and
blood and knives, the same images as the dreams he’s had since he was a kid.  “Cassie!
 Gotta get to her, gotta save her,” he says, willing the pain back to a
tolerable level.  He staggers to his cruiser as the pain starts to subside,
knowing that she is in great danger; that the demon is trying again right now!  He
speeds towards the bookstore, calling James on radio, praying that he’s
listening, telling him that he needs to get to the bookstore because the demon
is trying again.  “God, I hope James heard me,” he prays, “We’ve got to keep
her safe.”

I see a sheriff’s car pull
up behind the store, the siren on and lights flashing.  Good, someone heard
Princess and called the sheriff.  I hear Logan’s voice trying to calm Princess
but she’s having none of it. I hear Logan pounding on the door, “Cassie, you in
there?  Why is Princess out here barking?”

“I’ve waited years for
this,” the demon says through Matt, “The reverend helped me find you and then
he died and I had to start all over again, hopping from body to body until I
found Matt.  After you walked into Matt’s life, I had to gather the energy to
kill you,” it says as it walks Matt’s body over towards me.

I hear the back door open.
 Thank God Logan’s here.  I hope he stays out of site!

I look over at Matt but
he’s gone.  He’s probably behind the shelves.  I make my way towards the back
door and Logan, hoping to get close enough to tell him about the demon being in
Matt.

Logan walks over towards
me, his gun out of the holster.  I look up at him, not wanting to let the demon
know he’s here.  I hurry over towards Logan, hoping he sees the fear in my
face.  He sees me and puts his gun back in the holster.  “No Logan, he’s here!  I
think he’s behind the shelves!” I whisper loudly, hoping he hears me.

No such luck, he walks
over towards me with questions in his eyes as he puts his hat on the counter.  “Hey,
Darlin’.  Why was Princess outside barking her head off and scratching at the
door?” he asks.

“Because of me,” Matt
replies, showing himself from behind the bookshelves.  “Just one more person to
kill before I can take care of Cassie.  You should have stayed away deputy.  This
is Cassie’s destiny and now it’s your destiny too,” the demon says.  “Today is
the day you are going to die.”  He pulls out a butcher knife, a knife that is
familiar to me from my dreams.  Suddenly I remember why I always dream about
that knife.  That is the knife that killed my parents, and I saw it happen.  I
cover my face as I remember that night so long ago, that night that I had
blocked from my memory.

“You were the one who
killed my parents.  I saw you, I saw it all!  And it was with that knife!”

“That’s right Cassie, it
was me.  I was the one who killed your parents.  Reverend Jake was a great host
body, he welcomed me.  Made it easy for me, easy for us to coexist.  Now his
son welcomes me.”

“Why did you kill my
parents?  Why do you want to kill me?”

“Because, Cassie, your
death will set me free.  Your death will open the door between our worlds and
allow me to come through completely and exist as a separate entity instead of
having to possess someone else’s body.  Reverend Jake believed that you would
cause his death, and he was right but I really wanted him to kill you so I
could be free.”

“I was only six, how could
I have caused his death?” I asked, trying to give Logan time to get away.

“It was all your fault.  If
not for you he wouldn’t have killed your parents and gone to prison for it.”

He moves towards me
brandishing the knife, just like in my dreams.  He gets closer and prepares to
stab me with it.  Then Logan is there between us, and Matt is stabbing him
instead of me.  “Logan!” I scream, “No!”

I hear a shot and the
sound of breaking glass.  Red blossoms on Matt’s chest.  I look up and see
James running through the broken door, making sure the knife is out of Matt’s
reach just in case he’s not dead.  I look down at the bloody knife in horror.  “Reggie,
focus!  I need your help here!”

Suddenly, James’ eyes are
glowing green but I don’t care, all I can think about is Logan, lying there,
bleeding on the floor.  I drop to my knees beside him, trying to stop the
bleeding with my bare hands.  There is so much blood, way too much blood.  He
looks at me and whispers, “Love you forever, Darlin’,” and then he yells, “Come
and get me you bastard, I invite you into me now!  Come on you piece of shit!  Possess
me!”

Tears are running down my
face as the pool of blood around Logan grows bigger.  “No, Logan, no!  Don’t do
it!”

“Got to, Darlin’.  Someone’s
gotta take him to hell.”  He coughs, I can see how much it hurts him.

“There’s got to be some
other way.  I can’t lose you now.”

I see when the demon takes
over, when his eyes change.  They turn green and begin to glow.  I can see the
struggle as the demon tries to get away but Logan won’t let go, won’t let the
demon loose to wreak more havoc on the world.  His eyes close and he takes one
final shuddering breath.

James comes back to
himself and sees Logan lying there bleeding and me trying to stop it but
there’s too much blood.  He pulls out his radio and calls for an ambulance,
practically screaming that it’s an officer down.

The tears are running down
my face, Logan’s blood is spreading in a pool around him.  There’s so much
blood, too much blood.

James comes over and tries
CPR, but all it does is pump more blood against my hands.  I am crying and
saying over and over, “You can’t die because I love you.  You can’t die because
I love you.”

I finally hear sirens, but
I’m afraid they are too late for Logan.  I lay my head on his chest, wanting to
be as close as possible for as long as possible.  I wish I had found the
courage this morning to tell him what’s in my heart.  I feel something hard
against my cheek, there’s something in his shirt pocket.  I pull out a ring and
that makes me sob even harder, a ring meant for me.  I put it on so I can feel
closer to him, the love of my life.  I lay my head back down on his chest, all
I can think about is that he will never know this child.  This child we created
together.

The paramedics immediately
begin working on Logan but I’m afraid it’s too late.  I am sitting against the
wall with my head resting on my knees, sobbing for the life I almost had.  James
is talking with the state police, darting glances at me when he can.  I hear
one of the paramedic’s say, “He’s back! Where the hell is that chopper?”

I look up, not daring to
believe what I just heard. I watch them working on him, seeing his chest rise
and fall slightly.  James picks me up off the floor and holds me tight.  “He’s
alive, Reg!”

I start to shiver from
shock and cold, he takes off his coat and puts it on me.  One of the paramedics
comes over and gives me a quick check, wanting to make sure I’m not going into
shock.  I must look OK, he nods to James and returns to Logan’s side.

I continue to sob,
thanking God for this second chance at a life with Logan.  I can hear the
medivac helicopter getting closer.  Oh God, hurry!  I’m glad James is holding
me tight, I feel like I could fly into a million pieces right now.  I hear him
talking to the paramedics.

He looks down at me.  “Hey
Reg, they’re getting ready to move Logan to the helicopter.  Do you want to go
with him?”

I nod yes, not trusting
myself to talk.  I grab Logan’s hand, so thankful that it’s warm.  The
paramedics take us out to the helicopter.  I almost can’t make myself let go of
Logan’s hand to climb in, and I grab his hand as soon as I’m in, even before I
sit down.  The trip to Fort Wayne seems to take forever.  I am willing the
helicopter to go faster, I’m so afraid it will take too long.

We finally land at the
hospital and they whisk Logan off, leaving me standing in the waiting room.  One
of the nurses takes pity on me, and leads me over to the waiting area to sit
down.  She says she’ll let me know about his condition and she gets up to go check.
 About 10 minutes later James comes running into the waiting area.  “Any word
yet, Reggie?”  I shake my head no and look up hopefully when the nurse returns.
She comes over and tells us that Logan is in surgery and there is no news yet.  She
leads us to the surgery waiting room.

James wraps me in a hug,
telling me everything will be OK.  “God Reggie, how am I ever going to be able
to forgive myself?  I should have gotten there earlier.  It’s as if I’m the one
who stabbed him, it’s all my fault.”

“James, it’s not your
fault, it could never be your fault.  It was the demon who stabbed Logan, not
you.”

“It could have been you.”
he holds me tighter, pulling me into his lap and stroking my hair.  “He’ll be
OK, he’s got to be OK.”

I wake up later on the couch
covered by a blanket.  James is pacing and I see Marie walk into the waiting
room carrying some cups, smells like coffee.  I know I shouldn’t drink it but I
do anyway, I need something.  Marie comes over and sits next to me after she
talks with James.  “You know he’s beating himself up about this, he blames
himself.”

“I know, I tried to tell
him it wasn’t his fault but I don’t think he really heard me.  Has there been
any news?”

“No, not yet.”

A doctor walks in wearing
scrubs, “Sheriff Marsten?”

We all rush over to him,
anxious for any news, it feels like it’s been days since we got here. “Deputy
Miller is being taken to ICU, he lost a great amount of blood.  We lost him
once during surgery but we were able to revive him.  At this point we don’t
know if the blood flow was cut off to his brain, we’ll have to wait and see.  He
had extensive internal bleeding which we hope we have under control.  The next
24 to 48 hours are critical but every hour increases his chances.”

Two days later I am
sitting in Logan’s hospital room, holding his hand and willing him to wake up.  “Please
wake up, Dudley.  I don’t think I can do this on my own.  You helped create
this miracle.  You need to be here to watch him or her grow up.”  I rub the
back of his hand against my cheek, afraid to think about a life without him.  I
am so scared!  There are some many wires and tubes that I am almost afraid to
touch him, but the doctor says to keep talking to him, that sometimes they hear
us even when they are in a coma.

I get up to take a short
walk down the hall, willing myself to hold back the tears until I am out of the
room.  I am trying to be strong for him but it’s becoming harder each day he
doesn’t wake up.  I am standing looking out the window when I see the
reflection of someone walking towards Logan’s room.  I turn around and see Adam
Bricklin.  He gets to the door and stops, as if he’s gathering the courage to
open the door.  The nurse stops him as he starts to open the door.  They talk
for a minute and the nurse lets him into Logan’s room.  I start walking towards
the nurse when James walks off the elevator. “James, Adam Bricklin is here.  Who
called him?” I ask.

“I did, Reg.  He’s listed
as Logan’s emergency contact.”

I look up and see Adam
through the glass, it looks like he’s yelling at Logan.  I go over and open the
door and hear Adam, “Dammit Logan, you stubborn son of bitch!  Wake up and tell
me what the hell happened!” he sits down heavily, as if he doesn’t have the
strength to remain standing.  He grabs Logan’s hand and looks at him with tears
in his eyes.  He notices me standing in the doorway with hundreds of questions
in my eyes.  “Hey, Cassie.  Judging by the look on your face Logan didn’t get
around to telling you the truth.  To answer the most obvious question, Logan is
more than just an ex-employee to me.  He’s my cousin.”

I walk over to him and he stands
and hugs me tight.  “Why would Logan keep something that important from me?  He
told me he didn’t have any family.”  I look up at his face and notice that they
have the same eyes.  I was too star struck to notice when he did the private
concert for us.  No wonder he was willing to do that for Logan. 

“It’s because of who I am.
 When I was just becoming famous, girls would act like they were interested in
Logan in order to get close to me.  I’m sure he was going to tell you the truth
soon.”

James clears his throat,
letting us know he is in the room.  “Reggie, I just wanted to let you know that
I’m heading down to Indy, I’m going to call Marie and have her come and sit
with you while I’m gone.”

Adam looks at me strangely
when James calls me Reggie.  I’ll have to ask him why later.

“There’s no need for that
sheriff.  I’m not going anywhere until Logan wakes up, and if I know my cousin,
he will wake up.  He’s too stubborn to die like this.  I’ll be here so Cassie
won’t be alone.  Go do what you need to do, I’ll make sure she’s OK.”

“Thanks, Mr. Bricklin, I
appreciate it.  You OK with this Reg?”

“James, go.  Adam and I
have a lot to talk about.  He deserves to know the truth about what happened.  I’ll
be fine.”

James hugs me, whispering
that everything will be OK, and then shakes Adam’s hand.  “Thanks for this, I
don’t want her to have to deal with this alone.”

Adam looks at me.  “She
won’t.  We’re almost family and I take care of my family.”

James leaves and Adam
pulls the two chairs in the room closer to Logan’s bed.  “Come and sit Cassie,
I have some things I need to tell you about Logan.”  I sit and look at Adam,
waiting for him to start.  “Believe it or not, Logan has been searching for you
since he was nine years old.  It all started with a dream he had in April that
year.  He couldn’t tell me what happened in the dream, only that he dreamed of
blood and knives and red hair, and that he had to save Reggie.  For years, he’s
been searching for a red-headed Reggie, it really threw him for a loop when he
figured out it was you.”  He sees the look of disbelief on my face.  “You Ok,
Cassie?”

“Yeah, I just can’t
believe this.  You’re going to think I’m crazy when I tell you everything that
has happened.  It all started 20 years ago, the day before I turned six, on
April 3.”  I can see when he starts putting two and two together.  “Reverend Jake
killed my parents and was planning on killing me but our neighbor showed up
before he could get to me.”  I continue with the story, telling him about
coming to live with Gram and moving to New York when I turned 18.  I explain
about meeting Matt, and what happened that night nine months ago.

“What date was that?” he
asks, “I had a show in New York around that time.  That was one of the shows
that Logan was working security.”

“It was January 16.  I had
tickets to go to that show.  I can’t believe I was that close to Logan on that
night.”

“That actually explains
something that happened the night of that concert.  After the show, we were in
the limo headed for the Plaza when Logan got a blinding headache, it made him
physically sick so I had the limo driver rush us to the nearest hospital.  We
were waiting for Logan to go to the x-ray department for an MRI when suddenly
the pain was gone. He said “Thank God, she is safe.”

“Don’t tell me… You were
at Manhattan General Hospital, weren’t you?”

“How did you know?”

“That’s where I was
treated that night.  I thought my life was over.”  I start to cry silently,
tears running down my face.

Adam pulls me into his
arms, letting me cry, somehow knowing that holding me is the best thing he can
do.

Over the next few days I
am grateful to have someone here with me.  James and Marie are here as much as
they can be.  James is still dealing with the state police and Marie has Olivia
to take care of. Adam and I are walking down to the end of the hall to stretch
our legs.  We have turned around and have started back when we hear alarms
going off and a code blue call to Logan’s room.  God, no!  I run back to his
room but the nurse won’t let me in, she says they need us to stay out in the
hall out of the way.  I call James, but I can’t even talk when he answers the
phone.  “Hi Reggie, any news?”  When I don’t answer I can hear the panic in his
voice. “I’m almost there Reg, hold on!”

The doctor is just coming
out of Logan’s room when James gets there, breathing hard from running up the
stairs, not even taking time to wait for the elevator.  Adam is holding my left
hand so I grab James’ hand with my right, holding on for all I’m worth, willing
Logan to be OK.

“There’s been a
complication.  A blood clot broke loose and traveled up to his brain causing a
stroke.  It looks like we were able counter most of the effects of the stroke
but we won’t know for sure until he wakes up.”

All I hear is stroke and
my mind shuts down, and I start shaking my head no.  James looks at me and sets
me in a chair as Adam goes to get a glass of water.  “God, Reg.  When was the
last time you ate?  You look like shit.”  He gives Adam a dirty look, as if
he’s not taking good care of me.  “I’m going down to the cafeteria and get you
something.

I nod and he heads off to
the elevator.  Marie comes off the elevator and James fills her in on the
latest developments.  She hurries over to me and puts her arm around me.  “He’s
still with us Cassie.  Obviously he’s fighting to stay here with you.  Keep
praying Cassie.  We’ll get him through this.”  Only after she has comforted me
does she look up and acknowledge Adam’s presence.  “Hi Adam, I’m Marie. I
didn’t know you and Logan were such good friends.”

“Actually, Logan and I are
family,” Adam begins, “We are first cousins and we grew up together. He called
me last week and asked me to be his best man.”  He turns to me, “He’s tough,
Cassie.  He’ll pull through this.”

“I’m just so scared.  I
almost lost him again today.  I don’t know if I can hold it together much
longer.”

James walks up with a
container of soup.  “Here, Reg.  You need to eat this.”  He pulls the lid off
and sticks a spoon in it and hands it to me.  I get a whiff of chicken soup and
that’s it, welcome back morning sickness!  I stand up and shove the soup at
James and run for the nearest bathroom. Unfortunately I’m not going to make it
that far, but there is a trash can right here.  I manage to get sick into the
trash can while everyone just stares at me.

I turn around and look at
them all staring at me.  “Don’t look at me like that. Haven’t you ever seen
anyone with morning sickness before?”

“What?”  James asks as he
continues to stare at me.  I can see when my words start to make sense to him. 
I haven’t seen him that happy since Olivia was born.  “I thought that wasn’t
possible? Come over here and sit down.  Have you seen a doctor?  Are you sure?”
James asks.

I grin at him, “Yes, I’m
sure.  I saw Doc the morning that all this happened.  He says everything looks
good.  I wanted to tell Logan first as he’s the reason for this miracle.”  My
eyes fill up with tears again, it seems like all I do these days is cry.  “He’s
just got to be OK, I don’t want to do this by myself.”

“When was the last time
you ate?  I haven’t seen you leave Logan’s room for two days.  Do you think you
can eat something now?  I’ve got some crackers I brought up with the soup.” 
Seeing James acting like a mother hen makes me smile.

The doctor comes back out
of Logan’s room. “We’ve got him stabilized now, you can go back in.”

I head back in to Logan’s
room, grateful that he’s still here with us.  “Come on, Dudley.  Time to wake up
now.  I’ve got some big news for you.”

Adam comes in to sit with
us for a while, asking if he’s intruding.

“No, you’re family.” I
respond.

“I don’t want you to worry
about any of the hospital bills, I will take care of it.  Logan would never let
me help him, but he will this time.  I want to make sure he has the best care
available.”

I give Adam a big hug.  “Thanks,
Adam.  That’s one less thing I have to worry about.”  He gets up to leave, “I’m
going to stay at Logan’s house if that’s OK, I really need to get some sleep.”