JC choked on the intoxicating fumes. Smoke surrounded him, enveloping him in a hot cloud. Flames from the outer stone provided a small amount of light. JC tried screaming, but his voice was too hoarse. “Help…somebody…”

Feather and Gabriel ducked behind several tombs, weaving out of the cemetery. Onlookers from the nearby funeral noticed the blaze, and began screaming or shouting for help.

“Think they’ll get to him in time?”

“No. He’s a goner.”

***

Lance grit his teeth to keep from moaning. Hunger pains combined with stark fear were taking their toll on his health. Wick had disappeared earlier, fortunately removing the tape from his eyes. “Now don’t go anywhere,” he sneered.

Lance sat on a stool in a run-down apartment. Mice and roaches scurried along the floor. Yellowed, peeling wallpaper. His only real light coming from the single bulb lit overhead. Heavy metal music played from a stereo.

With his hands taped behind his back and his ankles taped together, Lance licked his chapped lips, combing the area for a weapon of some kind.

What are you gonna do? A voice inside his head sneered. You’re helpless.

“There’s gotta be a way!” Lance screamed in frustration. A cool breeze blew on his neck. Curious, he clumsily twisted his body on the stool. Lace curtains billowed softly from a broken window. Renewed hope gleamed. Broken window! Glass shards littered the moth eaten rug.

Counting to three, Lance threw himself off the stool. Boom! Pain shot through his left shoulder. “Ouch!”

Lying on his side, Lance raised his head to get a sense of direction. The glass was in the corner near the right. Wiggling, Lance slowly squirmed along the floor, thumping the wood. Dull pain throbbed in his ribs until he reached the mess.

Lance scooted upward into a sitting position by the dresser. Using his numb fingers, he picked up a large shard. Positioning the glass, he attempted to cut the tape (he did a better job cutting his hands.)

Footsteps echoed in the hall outside. An elevator started running. Lance gulped nervously and continued working. He didn’t know how long it had been since Wick left. And what about Feather and Gabriel? When would they come back for him?

Finally, he felt the tape go slack. Air poured on his sticky wrists. Rotating his sore shoulders, Lance brought his freed hands around. Circulation was returning to his bluish fingers, but his palms were covered in bleeding cuts.

Excited, Lance found the bloodstained glass shard and sawed at his ankles. Snip. Snip. The tape broke in half.

Reaching onto the dresser and pulling himself up, Lance quickly surveyed his options. The chain was snapped in place. More than likely the door was locked. He looked out the window. Straight drop from six stories. No chance in surviving a jump.

Running to the cockroach-infested kitchen, Lance yanked open every drawer and cabinet, searching for a tool to use. Then, as he pawed under the sink (and found a couple unpleasant surprises), Lance grasped a pair of chain cutters.

Logic made him hesitate. Isn’t it strange to find a pair of chain cutters in an empty kitchen? Why wouldn’t the landlord clean the broken glass?

Was Wick playing a game with him?

Lance knew he couldn’t stop to think. Thinking wasted time, and you only remembered the fear you were trying so hard to repress. Snatching the chain cutters, he ran to the door. Prying and squeezing, the rusty cutters finally severed the chain.

Next came the lock. Thanks to Chris, Lance learned a great deal about lock picking. If I could just get a hair pin or something…

He dashed to the jewelry box on the dresser. Nothing. The top drawers. Nothing. Middle drawers. Nothing. Bottom drawers. Nothing. Lance’s attention turned to the tiny lump in the curling wallpaper. Though he couldn’t be sure, Lance ripped the rest of the paper away.

A hairpin clattered to the ground.

So this is a game.

Lance straightened the pin, poked it in the keyhole and fumbled with it until he managed to break the lock. Click. The door swung open.

Lance backpedaled, his eyes wide. An irrational fear rose inside him, one that Wick might be waiting in the corridor.

Bracing himself, Lance entered the hallway…

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

JC collapsed to his knees, weakly pounding the stone door. Heat stung his face. Sweat poured down his body. Flames licked at his clothes. JC fell to the dirt ground, scratching at the stone.

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

Meanwhile, total chaos churned outside in the cemetery. Police sealed off the area and pushed away bystanders. Firemen frantically hosed down the tomb, fighting the leaping flames. Smoke curled into the sky, creating a small cloud over downtown New Orleans.

“Turn up the water pressure!”

“Move to the side!”

“Have the paramedics arrived?”

“Get going!”

Evan Mullins, chief of the fire department, finished hosing the door, extinguishing those flames. Running to the blackened door, he and three of his crewmembers strained to push the stone slab aside.

Smoke billowed out of the tomb. An unconscious JC was dragged to safety.

Nearby, on the next block, Wick chastised Gabriel chastised Feather for her stupidity.

“How could you choose to murder him in a public area! I knew it was a bad idea but you wouldn’t listen! Wick specifically ordered for us to extract the gem from JC then take him somewhere else to finish the job!” Gabriel screamed, “There was a funeral procession for crying out loud!”

Feather took a few minutes to remain calm. “I understand it was an obvious mistake. But relax, because I have another plan in store.”

Gabriel unfolded his arms. “This better be good, or Wick will have our heads!”

***

Back in Trystal’s bookshop, Andrew and Chris explained the situation to Ramona. In turn, she explained her theory about she and Lance.

“You mean to say you believe your minds are connected?” Chris replied skeptically. Ramona nodded.

“Yes. I also believe there’s something else about me. Andrew, first of all, who the heck are you?”

Andrew sighed. “Are you familiar with the term ‘time travel’?”

“Yeah, but it isn’t possible.”

“Most affirm ESP isn’t possible.”

“No argument there. Go on.”

“That’s what I am. A time traveler.” Andrew leaned back against his armchair. “Perhaps you recognize me because I knew your grandfather. We sorta looked alike. But of course, that was years ago.”

“I also lived in Whispers and was a close friend of Kaden Bass’s. So you see, I’m not your average historian. I do more than research history. I live it.

There’s something you all must know.” Andrew motioned for Ramona to hold out her hand. Reluctant, she obeyed.

Andrew pulled off her gold ring with the peculiar red stone.

“This gem the Lost Souls seek so ardently is quite unusual. There are two halves to the gem. You see, the small gem resembles an old English blue cross with a ruby star in the middle.

300 years ago, Sparrow and Kaden tried to fight the Master, winning yet failing. The Master knew Kaden was out of reach, but he still wanted Sparrow’s soul. So he kidnapped Emily as bait. Needless to say, it worked.

Sparrow left in quite a hurry, not telling Kaden where or why she was going. She only gave him her half of the stone. The ruby star.

After losing his family and assuming Sparrow had succumbed to evil, Kaden was heartbroken, not to mention afraid for his life. He snatched Sparrow’s three-year-old daughter Mercy…”

“Hit the brakes!” Chris interrupted, “You saying Sparrow had another girl?”

“Mmm-hmm. Mercy was an illegitimate child, if you know what I mean. That kind of thing was shameful back in those days. Sparrow kept her a secret. Kaden knew about her. He grabbed her and moved away.

When Mercy and his second son, Luke, were old enough to understand, Kaden gave them each half of the gem. You see, when taken apart, the gem is powerless. The ruby stone looks like a ring and the cross looks like a necklace, so the children didn’t see the big deal. Still they followed their father’s wishes.

Kaden told them to pass down the heirlooms in their families. For Mercy, it would be the first-born daughter. For Luke, the first born son. Years later, when Mercy left home and married in a different state, she and Luke lost contact. The cousins never saw each other again, so Mercy’s branch of the family basically dropped from the Bass family tree.”

“Still,” Andrew continued, “You are a distant blood relative. You carry half the gem. Lance has the other half.”

It hit Chris like a bag of bricks. “Of course! Lance’s blue cross necklace he always wears!”

“It appears Lance has unwittingly possessed the gem the whole time. How ironic.”

Ramona ran her fingers through her hair. “No wonder our minds are connected.”

Andrew chuckled. “That’s not all. Ramona, I know something else about you that’s important. Now brace yourself. This is big.”

He leaned forward. “Ramona, I have the explanation for your dreams of the past and knowledge of the Lost Souls.

You are a reincarnation of Emily, Sparrow’s daughter.”

continued