Well here we are. This chapter is definitely a game changer.
JOE'S POV
We sat our bags down and watched as Brenda approached the lady at the front desk.
"Hello. Are you here for a visit?"
"Hi. Yes I'm here to visit my dad it's been years since I've seen him."
"Sure just give me his name."
"Joseph."
"Joseph..."The woman dragged in expecting Brenda to say his last name.
"Well that's the thing I don't really know his last name." The woman squinted with suspicion. I'm pretty sure Brenda isn't quick on her feet so I decided to help her.
"Look my wife has not seen her father since she was three. Her mom and him they.." I looked at Brenda's thankful expression giving her a wink before continuing. "They split up and the last she heard he was in here."
"Well.. we do have only one Joseph here. He never gets visitors. I think you're the only person to see him...ever." I winced at that part. It must be so sad to have no one come see you and have nothing to do except for stare at walls and watch paint dry. Well at least what I think they do.
"Follow me."
"Ma'am..my friends." Brenda said turning towards Ryan and Laya. The lady looked at them Curtis nodded at the woman acknowledging her while Ryan waved and Laya smiled.
God this was already going down hill.
"Only family."
"I am family and I want my friends to be with me on this journey...please?"
The woman huffed, "Fine come this way." She led us past two doors. We walked past rooms with small windows and screaming people.
"Okay I'm going to let you into the visitors room just press the button when your ready to leave. Alright?" Sounds of yes and yup came from us while she let us in.
We sat down at a grayish table the first thing I noticed was his cold the seats were. Come to think about it this whole place is cold. It goes perfectly with the lonlieness theme this place has going on.
I looked around while we waited for Joseph and probably shouldn't have.
My eyes landed on a man painting. I couldn't see his face but his arms where so frail and wrinkled. He had freckles running down his arm and the hand that held the paint brush was shaking.
"Frank dinner time." A nurse called to the man who was previously painting.
When he turned around my heart stopped. He couldn't have been much older than me. He could be in his mid twenties. His face was young but his body was of an old mans. He looked soulless and tired. Is this where I almost ended up after I left the Navy? After I lost David? If it wasn't for Ryan this is where I'd be. I got to remember to thank him later.
"I think this is him." Brenda elbowed me slightly catching my attention. I watched as an middle aged man walked up to us and stopped in front of his chair. He gave all of us a once over and sat down.
"Hi Joseph. I'm Laya you might remember me." When he didn't respond she added. "Or not." And rolled her lips into her mouth.
"I remember you. You used to play with Karen." He said.
"Yeah. Thats kind of what we wanted to talk to you about." Ryan spoke up.
"The media and press said she was dead." Brenda stopped.
"Well this may seem weird but... we think she may have come back." I said hesitantly.
"Well this may seem weird and all but...she never left." He said with no visible emotion.
"Wh..what?" Laya asked.
"She never left." He repeated.
"How is that possible?" Curtis asked.
"They didn't find a body. It only makes sence." He shrugged.
"But what makes you think she could survive days in the wood."
"The fact that she can't die." He looked at all of us. "So why are you asking me about her?"
"She's after me again." Laya spoke looking scared. "She's after all of us Joseph. We need you to help us." I watched as Joseph leaned back in his chair and seemed deep in thought.
"Please. She's already killed my daughter. " Curtis begged.
"She's not my biological child." He sat up and placed his folded hands on the table. "As you know my wife was a nurse." He started.
Flashback
"Somebody help me!" She screamed attempting to break the rope that kept her arms tied to the tree.
"Here she is." Ben showed the crowd. 'Oohs' and 'Ahhs" erupted.
"She's perfect." Blue hugged his pregnant girlfriend Tabitha.
"Please don't do this!" The already beaten and bruised up girl begged.
"In the name of Satan. We sacrifice a young woman. In order to to give the unborn child of Blue and Tabitha the power of immortality."
"Now for the fun part." Blue said kissing Tabitha on the cheek and handing her a torch.
"Please!No!" The girl screamed while both Tabitha and Blu held their torches to her body. Her screams got louder, started to happen periodically and eventually stopped in all.
"Let the child live forever." Their leader shouted.
"Let the child live forever! " The crowd screamed. Tabitha and Blue held up their torches and kissed each other.
"Nobody move!" A crowd of police officers with drawn guns came into view.
"Yes officer? What seems to be the problem?" Their leader Ben asked.
"Our research has lead us to this place. And we have reason to believe that Elizabeth Rogen is here." One officer said while walking up to the dying down fire."Holy sh*t!" He said once he saw the burned body.
"We'are going to need some back up here." He moved away from the sight.
"No there won't be a need for that." Ben said taking the still burning torch from Tabitha and throwing it at the officer.
Shots and random fires appeared. Blue picked up a hand gun that was dropped by an officer and led Tabitha out of the woods.
"Okay here. Hide behind this truck." Blue said.
"No! You can't go!"
"Relax I'm not going anywhere. I'm just going to try to hotwire this truck. When I do just hop in the passengers seat.
"Hurry up baby." She watched him walk away and started to look from under the car.
"Okay." Blue went around and attempted to hotwire the truck when police came.
"Freeze! Do not move!"
"Okay. Okay you caught me." Blue raised his hands upon surrender.
"Walk slowly towards us." The officer ordered.
"You got it coppers." Blue said chuckling. Then he suddenly pulled out the handgun from his pocket.
Tabitha heard him get one shot out but when she saw the handgun fall to the ground she knew it was over.
"No!" She screamed and charged toward the officers. She was immediately shot in the chest and once in the stomach.
"Halt your fire arms. She's pregnant!" One cop yelled.
"We need to get her to an emergency room!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We're loosing her."
"Clear...clear...clear."
"Call it." The docter said.
"Three fourteen." Mary spoke checking the clock.
"Well at least we saved the baby." She added.
"Yeah. Too bad it's gonna be put in the system."
"That doesn't sound good."
"It not. Unless you wanna take her." He joked.
"Could I? Like am I allowed to do that?"
"You would take this baby?"
"Yeah." She nodded.
"So when she asks about her birth parents you're going to tell her they were part of a cult and responsible for at least eight murders." He laughed.
"I'm not joking I'll take her."
"Look I know you're new to this and all. But this isn't the first time that something like this can happen. You can't just take all the orphaned babies home." He said removing his glasses and wiping them on his jacket.
"I know but...I've always wanted a child."
"I guess you could take her home for a couple of nights and sign the adoption paper."
"So that's it. She's mine." Mary spoke with tears threatening to spill.
"Congratulations on your new baby girl. What are you going to name her?"
"I like the name Karen."
"She's not a forty year old divorced woman." He snorted.
"I like it!" Mary defended. "Baby Karen." She said looking into the baby's eyes. And that was the first time she saw that gleam. Little did she know that would be the last thing she saw.
End of flashback
"About a year before Mary miscarriaged. She wanted a baby really bad but was scared to try again. So of course she believed it was the blessing of God that Karen just so happened to be orphaned when she was there.
"Do you remember the name of the cult?" Curtis asked.
"No but I did have a-" Joseph answered.
"You didn't kill your wife did you?" Brenda interrupted.
"Brenda." Laya warned.
"I'm sorry but you know him. And I just met him. And I can tell he didn't do it." She looked at Laya.
"No. I didn't do it. I've tried multiple times to tell these people that but they won't believe me. They think I'm insane. But you know I've thought about it. And i realized that I'd rather be in here...it's safer."
"Is there information you can give us to end this. Please anything." Ryan begged.
"The book. If it's still there." Joseph said to himself.
"Wait book? What book?" Brenda asked.
"The book of the rituals or something like that. I found one about three months before my wife was murdered. It was around the time when I realized that she couldn't be stopped."
"So I found newspapers and searched up what happened the night they caught the cult. Turns out the police had a undercover guy who was wired. They lost signal but the guy survived the whole riot thing and told the story of how they made Karen 'immortal'." He put air quotes around the word immortal.
"Why the air quotes?" Curtis asked.
"In the book there was a page of reversal rituals."
"So why didn't you use them?" Laya asked.
"I was dumb. I wanted to wait until she became a threat. Up until my wife's murder she would only say little things. Like "Trust me you don't want to mess with me." Or "If you think grounding me is damaging my feeling. Your wrong. I can show you damaging." He quoted.
"I never thought much of it. But if I did my wife would still be here." He said and Laya placed her hand on his.
"Alright Joseph visiting hours are over."
"Wait where is the book?"
"It should still be in the house. In my room on the book case."
"Thank you." Ryan said shaking Joseph's hand.
"You've been a huge help."Brenda said.
"It was nice meeting you." Curtis smiled. I watched as he was walked out.
"Alright let's go." I said pushing the red button. "We have to find that book."