Darkness Within

Chapter 4

Paige watched him closely as his deep blue eyes scanned each paper. She saw the exact moment and realization hit him, his eyes widening as he flipped through each page, each horror of her past. She didn't know what had possessed her to open herself up to a stranger, a rarity that she usually avoided at all cost, at least until the media got wind of her involvement and made a circus of the case, drawing the attention away from the victims to her. It was one of the things she hated the most. Even knowing what was waiting for her, she hadn't been able to help herself. She didn't feel like going into the details and figured this was the fastest way. Not that he would still believe her. Cops never did until they witnessed it but to see what she went through, someone had to die.

Two years. That was all it had taken to shatter her perception of reality and alter her ability to function within the realm of the impossible.

Paige stared at the sheriff as his eyes scanned the file, scanned the case that had changed everything. For her. And for the little girl she had lost and for the few she had saved.

After everything, she had still been too late.

Tears burned the back of her eyelids. Taking a quiet breath, she stood still until the urge passed. She didn't allow herself to cry about things she couldn't change, no matter how hard she wished she could.

The case.... She couldn't stop the onslaught of the dark memories as they overwhelmed her. That night had been another sleepless night, but with a deadlier conclusion. Paige hated the thought of sleep and yet that night, her body had had enough. She hadn't been able to stop it, to keep herself awake one more second. Her eyes had shut in a way that went way past exhaustion. It had bordered on unconsciousness and if doctors had labeled it like they did everything else, they would have said she had entered a light coma because that's how deep the sleep went. And with that sleep came the reality of the two girls; sisters on the other side of the country. Screams. Cruel laughter surrounding them as their mouths were taped shut, silencing the screams that for some reason, woke up no one. Their parents were dead, murdered in their own beds two doors down. She shook her head and dispelled the images, at least for the moment but they were always there, at the back of her mind.

She waited, and he finally lifted his head, his dark eyes meeting hers. She gulped and stayed still, not breaking eye contact.

He lowered the folder and tapped the edges against his leg.

"Why are you here?" he asked quietly.

She kept her face composed but searched his eyes, trying to see what he was thinking after what he had just read.

It was impossible. His face was just as composed and expressionless as her own.

Now... the hard part, she thought, wincing slightly.

Taking a deep breath, she jumped – into what, she didn't know yet – but she had to try. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she didn't. There was something about him, something mysterious and dark but it was more than that. She wanted to trust that someone believed her, even a little bit. She was so tired going at it alone, fighting a losing battle in order to help.

"I see people being tortured before they're killed," she said bluntly, her fists clenched at her side as she watched him closely. That had been in the file of course but putting it into words was something more solid, more definite that just reading about her abilities.

She waited for the disbelief, the condescending and disgust, but he kept his expression closed and remained silent, watchful.

With a nod, she motioned towards the folder and decided to skip the past. She didn't relish rehashing what she couldn't change. The present was more important.