Beautifully Unnatural: A Young Adult Paranormal Boxed Set (50 page)

Buzzing invaded my ears, inner ear tickling so hard it hurt.
Call security!

Startled, I flipped my head around, surveying the desolate room. Nothing. Hmm. Maybe the TV next door? I glanced at the clock—a little after one in the morning—and figured I could’ve been daydreaming. Or nightdreaming. Not just plain dreaming though, since I wasn’t asleep, right? A straight “A” student should probably know this, but grades seemed so unimportant to me now.

A few weeks ago I was a regular teen who wanted more than anything to be Joel Templeton’s girl. Now, I was a mind reader who’d snuck out in the middle of the night to visit a young child in the hospital, hearing voices . . .

Vibrations flooded my ears.
Get Lynn, get Amanda, and get out now!

Fear crawled up my shoulder. No way that female voice in my head could’ve been the TV next door. Way too specific. Plus, my ears felt like they were going to pop even though, technically, I hadn’t heard the words aloud. Now I was freaked. I quickly placed Amanda’s hand back on the bed, and hurried to the door.

Lynn slunk down in a chair just outside Amanda’s room, a coffee cup in hand, her eyes red and swollen from crying. She looked up at me and smiled. “I’m glad you’re here, Kylie.”

I didn’t know how to answer that, but couldn’t think about it right now anyway. “Um, this is gonna sound really paranoid, but. . . ” I closed my eyes, hoping she didn’t call the nurse and demand I seek counseling. “A voice just told me to get you and Amanda and get out. It sounded kind of urgent.”

Lynn jumped to her feet and her eyes darted around us as if in panic.

All was quiet and I started to feel dumb. “I know it sounds loony and you probably don’t believe me but—”

“Unhook Amanda from her IV. Fast.” Lynn pointed toward room 215. “I’ll call for security.”

My heart raced. She didn’t think I was crazy? That was good. And bad. I mean, if I wasn’t losing my mind then I was probably in serious danger right about now.

Chapter Eight

My head filled with questions as I ran to Amanda’s room and flung open the door. Was Bishop here? To finish what he’d started? And whose voice had warned me?

Instead of unhooking Amanda, something made me reach for the plastic phone on the tray table. I pulled the piece of paper from my jeans pocket, read the numbers, and called Trip’s cell phone.

Busy signal.

No, no, no. How could a cell phone be busy? It should’ve gone to voicemail. Maybe Trip was out of range.

I glared at the phone. Neatly typed on a white sticker were instructions to dial 9 and then press # for an outside phone call. “Oh, man. There is so not time to waste on extra buttons.”

With shaky fingers, I hung up, lifted the receiver, dialed 9, #, and Trip’s cell. It rang twice and I willed him to pick up.

He finally answered in a groggy voice. “Hello?”

“Trip? It’s Kylie. Kylie Bates. You were at my apartment earlier?” Boy, did I sound lame or what? “You gave me your cell number and said to call if I ever needed to. Well, I’m at Marmaduke Medical Center with Amanda. Room 215. We’re in trouble.”

I could hear muffled movements. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not exactly sure. It’s hard to explain.” He’d taken my mind reading ability fairly well . . . how would he do with me hearing voices? “I think it’s Bishop. Lynn and I are taking Amanda out of her room and heading down the stairs. We need help.”

Trip paused. “Take the elevator. Less likely he’d use that. Meet me out front. I’ll be there in five.”

Five minutes? He must live close. I wondered how far his place was from mine. Yeah, like now was the right time to be pondering this. Just as I set the phone back down, the door burst open.

I slammed my palm against my chest. “Aagh!”

Lynn and the nurse both jumped back, startled by my scream. Any more surprises like that and I’d keel over from a heart attack.

“The patient should not be moved.” The nurse used an annoying bossy tone as she trotted after Lynn, who in two swift movements had Amanda’s IV out and her sheets pulled back.

“I assure you, she’s perfectly safe here.” The nurse put her hands on her hips. “Why don’t I call the doctor? See if I can get you a sedative.”

Lynn ignored the nurse and hauled Amanda up in her arms. “Grab my purse, Kylie. There’s a switchblade on my keychain.”

I turned to Lynn and held my palms up. This was all too much to take. “Wait a minute. Switchblade?”

The nurse’s eyes widened and she took two steps back like we were the bad guys or something. “Perhaps we should just calm down and wait here for security.”

Wanting to go nowhere near a switchblade, I gestured to the nurse. “She may be prescription happy, but waiting doesn’t sound like the worst idea. Maybe we could shove something against the door?”

Lynn gave me a look that meant business, strode to the door, and nodded toward her purse again. “Get out the blade.
Now
, Kylie. A chair against the door won’t stop these guys.”

“There’s more than one guy?” My heart pounded in my chest. It had to be Bishop and the longhaired, tattooed guy. Maybe I did want that knife after all. My hands shook violently as I unzipped the leather bag in my hands and felt around inside. My fingers grasped a set of keys, removed them, and flipped the blade out. “Oh, geez. What now?”

Lynn took a breath. “The door. Open it, and make a run for the stairs.”

For some reason, I thought of Goth Girl. “This may sound kind of dumb, but do you think we should wait here for Drew?”

“Just go!” Lynn sounded like a general giving an order so I didn’t argue.

I flung open the door, blade held out, dancing wildly in front of me. Nobody there. I peered down the empty corridors as Lynn came out behind me, and headed left. “Wait!” Remembering what Trip had said, I moved right toward the elevators. “This way.”

Lynn’s footsteps pounded behind me as I ran down the hall like it was the 50-yard dash. She moved with lightening speed, impressive considering she was carrying Amanda—who was somehow sleeping through this. Amazing what a dose of sedative could do.

The nurse slipped out of Amanda’s room with a baffled look and hurried over to her station. She picked up the phone and punched numbers frantically. Real smart, lady. Stand behind the desk and be a target for the bad guys. I shook my head as we stopped in front of the elevator.

The down arrow illuminated at first contact but I banged it repeatedly anyway, willing it to hurry up. I was so not ready to die. Trip hadn’t even kissed me yet. “Come on. Come on.”

The nurse shouted into the phone giving our descriptions as if
we
were the problem for taking Amanda to safety. She held the phone to her ear and paused mid-sentence. “Wait, slow down. He did what do the E.R. nurse? She glanced over at me and our eyes met and held.

Something bad had happened. I felt it in my bones. The elevator dinged then and I shot my arm out, blade extended as the doors slid open.

Empty.

Lynn stepped in first and I followed, smacking the button for the first floor, and then banging on the Close Doors button, like I was killing bad guys in an arcade game. I couldn’t shoot them fast enough.

The elevator took its sweet time, then finally dinged. The doors started to close when a high-pitched scream echoed from the hall. Oh, no. The nurse! Was she okay? I didn’t dare peek out for fear of the elevator doors swinging open. Whoever was out there had to be the person I’d been warned about and let me just say, if someone goes to the trouble of sending me a mind message to watch out, I wasn’t about to argue.

I turned to Lynn as we descended. Her hazel eyes swam with a mixture of anger and fear. She hadn’t so much as flinched when I’d told her I’d heard a voice in my head. Something a whole lot bigger than kidnapping must be happening. Scary thought. “What is going on? I want answers and I want them now.”

“I’ll tell you everything,” Lynn said. “But we need to get Amanda to safety first.”

Oh, I’ll tell you later. Hadn’t heard that one before.

“I called Trip. He’s sort of an assistant to the detective on Amanda’s case.” Assistant was a big stretch, but it sounded more respectful than gopher. “He told me to meet him out front, but the only way out I know is through the emergency room. Everything else is locked.”

“The front doors only open from the inside after ten. We’ll go out that way.” Lynn adjusted Amanda in her arms, then held her breath as the elevator rocked gently to a halt, and dinged.

The doors slid open and I charged out with my blade, then promptly smacked into a tall, waif-like figure.

“What the . . .
hey
. Look what you did to my arm!” An elderly man in a khaki uniform stood in front of me, his forehead scrunched, his mouth hanging open. He had a silver badge and wore a gun belt loaded with a flashlight, radio, mace, but no gun. I’d have felt better with a gun right about now, which seemed to be a recurring thought lately.

I looked at the shredded material on the old guy’s shirtsleeve and a thin scratch showed through, bright red. “Sorry about that,” I said, wondering if that was the proper response. Not like I’d knifed someone before. I wondered if I could snatch his mace without him punching me out.

“We need your help.” Lynn stepped forward, adjusting Amanda up in her arms so she seemed to have a better grip. “Someone’s after us,” she said to the security guard before taking off down the hall at high speed, leaving us in the dust.

“Wait up!” I remembered the nurse’s scream and turned toward the wimpy security guard. I mean, what if she’s upstairs right now being bound and gagged? She needed this security dude’s help more than us. “Listen, there’s a nurse on the second floor—”

“Are you sure someone’s after you?” His voice shook and he gasped for breath as if he might pass out. Oh, just what we needed. A lightweight. The poor nurse was undoubtedly on her own. I let out a frustrated grunt, turned and hurried after Lynn. Marmaduke totally needed to beef up their security.

I’ll give the old guy a tiny bit of credit though because he started running down the corridor with us. My money would’ve been on him hightailing it in the other direction. “This guy your ex-boyfriend? Relationship gone bad?”

Oh great, now this was my fault? “Why do you assume he’s after me? Don’t jump to conclusions just because I’m a teen, buddy.”

“I’m Vern. This is my first day solo on the job.” He paused between breaths as he ran with his elbows bent. “Did you get a description of the guy?”

“Short, bald, and evil,” I said, filling him in. Did evil count as a description? It should in my book. We turned right and flew down another hall. “I’m sorry about your arm, Vern.”

He threw me an angry look as he huffed and puffed down the hall, obviously way out of shape. “Knives . . . aren’t . . . permitted . . . on the premises, young lady.”

Glancing down at the blade in my hand, I gripped it for dear life and wasn’t giving it up for anything.

We hurried across the dark mat in the front lobby and right on cue, the doors slowly slid open. The cool air rushed over me, causing goose pimples up my arms. Or maybe running for my life had caused them. Either way, we’d made it outside but there was no sign of Trip. Had it not been five minutes? Could he have gone to the wrong hospital? What if Bishop killed us while we were waiting? Maybe we should’ve just gone to my car!

Lynn adjusted the sedated girl in her arms while at the same time frantically checking around the lighted circular drive.

Completely deserted.

She turned to me with a desperate look. “Where is the detective?”

“Assistant detective.” It sounded better than gopher and let’s face it, the guy was dedicated.

I scanned the area behind us, making sure we weren’t being followed. Thankfully, the lobby was still empty. My heart pounded, knowing he could catch up to us at any minute. “Maybe I should call him again. Do you have a cell?”

“Yes. Of course.” Lynn nodded, her brown hair flying up behind her in the breeze. “It’s in my purse. Hurry.”

“I think I left that back in the hospital room.” I quickly checked my shoulder, my arm, and even my hand. Switchblade, yes. Purse, no.

Lynn’s mouth fell open.

“You didn’t ask me to bring it along.” I know, passing the buck is a cop out but I didn’t want the blame for getting us killed.

Lynn pressed her lips together and looked down the street fruitlessly. “If the detective doesn’t get here soon, we should just go to my car.”

“He’s not a detect—”

“Did I hear you right? We’re waiting for a detective? Thank heavens.” Vern came and stood next to me, checking his arm again with a frown. Head of security? What a joke. I had the sinking feeling we’d be defending ourselves. Again, I contemplated snagging his mace—at the rate I was going, it was bound to come in handy sooner, rather than later.

Headlights lit the dark street and swung toward us as a vehicle zoomed into the driveway. A faded blue truck. Must be Trip. We were saved!

The doors to the lobby rattled open behind us. “Get back here, Lynn.” The man’s voice was deep and low.

A chill rang through me. I swiveled around, prepared to meet Bishop once again. Only this time, it wouldn’t be with armed police officers protecting me.

The figure coming out of the hospital doors was not short, not bald, and definitely not Bishop. This guy had dark eyes, a muscular build, and resembled Orlando Bloom. I would’ve begged for a date if he weren’t trying to kill us.

Images flashed in my mind and I recognized him from when I’d read Bishop. A man. Long dark hair. A tattoo on his right forearm. Look-a-like Orlando had to be Bishop’s partner in crime.

He held out a knife, three times the size of mine, and I’d bet he knew how to use it. “Tell me where she is, Lynn.”

Who was he looking for? Could he not see Amanda right there in Lynn’s arms?

“Never.” Lynn shook her head and took a step backward toward the curb, where Trip’s truck screeched to a halt.

Orlando pointed his knife at her and then twisted it clockwise in a way that made my insides turn. “You tell me where you’re hiding her or I slice your throat.”