Fade-out: Take 2 of the Kanyon and Daylen Series, page 26
“Bea,” Kanyon announced.
“Bea,” Daylen confirmed. “Looks like we’re on the right track. She was around when the items were stolen, the day you were chased, she did the inventory but didn’t report the diary missing, and she is the great, great-granddaughter of Claude and the jilted sister that up and disappeared.”
“How did Miranda not make the connection with the name? I guess being a great-great, last names have changed several times,” Kanyon said answering her own question.
“Well, yeah. And I really don’t want to tell you this next part.”
“What?”
Daylen sighed heavily. “Bea, apparently, also changed her name.”
Kanyon gave Daylen a confused look. “Why didn’t you want to tell me that?”
“It’s not that. I don’t want to tell you her real name,” Daylen clarified.
Kanyon smiled widely. “It’s totally a villain name, isn’t it?”
Daylen nodded.
“Yes! What is it? Wait! Let me guess. Butcher? Stoneheart? Killroy? Coldstab? Bloodypuppy?”
“Beatrice Bloodypuppy, really?”
“It has kind of a criminal ring to it.” Kanyon glanced at Daylen. “No? Fine. What is it?”
Daylen shook her head and answered reluctantly. “Evilhouser.”
Kanyon slapped the steering wheel. “Ha! Evilhouser! That is so evil and awesome! I’m telling you, the evil name thing, is totally a thing.”
“Whatever.” Daylen chuckled as she rolled her eyes.
Kanyon parked the car. “You know, sitting the villain name aside, it all plays except for one thing.”
Daylen looked at her confused.
“If she took the diary, you would’ve thought the first thing she would’ve written down was to get a new wardrobe, a personality, a new-”
“Oh, my god, let’s go.” Daylen peeled out of the seat and headed toward the front door. Halfway up the walk Daylen halted abruptly.
Kanyon laid a hand on her back. “You okay?”
“Yeah, it’s just…” She looked at the house and blinked. “It’s-” She took a few steps and froze. “More-” She rubbed her temples. “Distress, fear.” Daylen’s eyes slammed shut. “It’s Miranda.”
Kanyon grabbed Daylen’s elbow, holding her upright. “Get your shields up.”
“They are!” Daylen shook her head. “I’m fine.” She winced again. Daylen grabbed Kanyon’s arm and squeezed. “I’ll be fine… You need to get to Miranda.”
“I’m not going to leave you,” Kanyon said grabbing Daylen’s other arm, holding her up.
Tears were forming in Daylen’s eyes. “Kanyon, you have to go, she’s-” Daylen’s knees buckled.
Kanyon caught Daylen’s weight, pulling her up and into her arms. “Daylen, I can’t leave you like this, not out here alone.”
Daylen took in the strength Kanyon’s body was offering. “Kanyon, you have to or Bea is…” Daylen turned her face into Kanyon’s shoulder. “There’s too much rage; too much jealousy. She’s going…” Daylen pulled out of Kanyon’s arms. “You have to go.”
Kanyon looked at the house, then back at Daylen who was attempting to stand on her own.
“She’s going to kill her! Go!” Daylen ordered.
Kanyon glanced at the house again then quickly back to Daylen, as Isadora’s words flickered in her mind, their bond is powerful. “We do this together.” She took one quick step forward and crushed her mouth against Daylen’s.
The heat and power was immediate. Electricity ignited in Kanyon’s core and then went racing through her body. Her eyes were closed but she knew if she opened them the sparks and arches of power would be connecting her with Daylen.
Daylen’s body came alive at Kanyon’s touch, every nerve ending pulsed with power. Her shields now blocked everything but her connection with Kanyon.
A scream came from the museum and Kanyon reluctantly released Daylen.
Daylen’s eyes fluttered open. “Okay, so…” she took in a few steadying breaths, “there was also that option.”
“Better than spinach, huh?” Kanyon smiled as she saw the strength back in Daylen’s eyes.
“That just made spinach its bitch!” Daylen laughingly exhaled.
Another scream. “Miranda!” Daylen took off running.
Kanyon quickly overtook her, leaping up the few steps onto the porch. She grabbed the door handle but it was locked. Without hesitation, she stepped back and booted the door open, sending it crashing into the inner wall.
Daylen rushed through the open doorway, taking in the demolished doorframe as she passed. “Totally its bitch,” she muttered as she headed to the staircase. “Upstairs.”
Making quick work of the stairs, Kanyon hit the top before Daylen and she looked down. “Doris’ office?”
Daylen nodded.
Kanyon skidded to a stop when she saw Miranda sitting at Doris’ desk.
Miranda looked up at her, tears streaming down her face as her hand and the pen she clutched in it continued to move.
Daylen came to a stop next to Kanyon in the doorway, taking in the scene playing out before them.
Miranda whimpered.
They both took in the thousands of pieces of paper littering the floor.
“She’s been writing since last night,” Daylen mumbled.
Kanyon took in Miranda who was still wearing the dress from the benefit, her face and body, clearly exhausted. She moved forward slowly. “Miranda?”
Miranda tracked Kanyon with her eyes but she didn’t speak.
Daylen moved cautiously toward the desk as well, glancing down at a piece of paper as she stepped over it. ‘I do not deserve these things, I am not worthy’, was written over and over again on all of the pages littering the floor. Daylen gave a quick glance toward Kanyon and Kanyon nodded, telling Daylen she had seen the message as well.
Kanyon reached out and laid a tentative hand on Miranda’s wrist. “You can stop now.”
Miranda’s hand didn’t stop, tears pouring from her eyes as she whispered, “Help me.”
Kanyon looked into Miranda’s pleading eyes. “We’ll make it stop.”
Kanyon attempted to physically restrain her wrist in an effort to stop her from writing but Miranda began to struggle, using up even more energy. Kanyon released her and stared at her as she went back to writing the same sentence over and over again. Kanyon took a deep breath, held it, then let it out. “Miranda, I’m really sorry about this.” She glanced up to Daylen for approval.
Daylen nodded. “Do it.”
Kanyon raised her fist and knocked Miranda out in one quick strike to the side of her head.
Daylen caught Miranda as she collapsed.
Kanyon moved quickly around the desk to help Daylen move Miranda to the couch.
“So did the undeserving bitch finally learn her lesson?” Bea asked from the doorway.
Kanyon and Daylen both spun around at Bea’s interruption.
Kanyon moved to step protectively between Bea and Daylen and Miranda, making an obvious showing of looking Bea up and down.
Bea was dressed in something she assumed was out of Miranda’s closet rather than her own, as the dress was tight-fitting, brilliant red, and paired with heels of the same matching color. Her hair was down, ringlets of loose curls now draped her shoulders and she’d added highlights to break up the brown.
“I’m glad you took time out of your evil plan to get a makeover,” Kanyon stated. “Because no offense, but you were a little blah-ville for a villain.”
Bea eyed Kanyon malevolently then turned a forced grin at Daylen. “Your friend is rather annoying.”
Daylen gave out a little nervous chuckle. “Yeah. Sorry. She suffers from irritable mouth syndrome. Crap just flies out of her mouth at any given moment.”
“Especially after I eat Mexican food or listen to rap music,” Kanyon added.
“I don’t like annoying. Just like I don’t like…” she twirled a finger in Miranda’s direction, “lying whores that steal things that are not rightfully theirs.”
“Dang, jealous much?” Kanyon scoffed.
Bea ignored her comment. “The good thing is I can fix all of that now, can’t I?” She walked over to the table just beside the door, picked up the pen, and flipped up the lid of the inkwell, balancing it on the notebook she held in her hand.
“Note to self: look around the room before the villain walks in,” Daylen mumbled.
“Again, a simple handbook,” Kanyon stated to the ceiling.
Bea dipped the pen and poised it over the paper as she glared at the two women before her.
Kanyon scoffed. “Seriously? You’re writing your devious little plots in a Hello Kitty notebook? You have got to be joking?”
“I would like Kanyon to stop talking now,” Bea said out loud as she wrote.
“No, Bea, you don’t know what you’re doing!” Daylen tried to charge at her.
“You stop!” Bea ordered as she wrote and Daylen froze in mid-attack. “Good girl.”
“Bea, don’t do this. You know what happened to Doris after she used the powers to control someone else. She not only lost the person she loved, but she lost herself,” Daylen stated as she tried to order her feet to move.
“She was weak, stupid.” Bea smiled sardonically. “And a whore.” She lowered her head and wrote in the diary. “Maybe we should just see how weak you are?”
“Bea, you really don’t want to do this!” Daylen began.
“Oh, I think I do,” she replied, still writing in her book. “Why don’t we all take a little walk?”
They followed Bea down the hall and up another set of stairs. Bea opened the door to the roof and stepped over a metal lip. “Watch your step… or not. I really don’t care.” Bea moved to the center of the roof and made a slow circle. “Beautiful view, isn’t it?”
“Bea, please. Don’t do this. You can stop now and walk away,” Daylen pleaded.
“Walk away? Walk away from all of this? Yeah, I don’t think so. Payback for my family is long overdue. I plan on taking what is rightfully owed to me.” She dipped the pen. “I just have to get rid of a few annoying details.”
Kanyon’s legs and feet began moving backward, slowly taking her closer to the edge of the roof.
“I think this would be… what do you call it in showbiz?” Bea turned to Daylen. “A fitting ending? The hero jumps to her death, the same way the poor victim did so many years ago? And even more poetic justice…” She began to write again. “The tortured lover, unable to handle the loss, kills herself a few days later.” Bea smiled as she began to write. “Yes. A fitting ending, if I do say so myself.”
Kanyon didn’t need to hear Bea’s words to know her plans. Her eyes, as they rose from the pages of her notebook, told Kanyon everything she needed to know. Unable to stop her feet from moving, she focused on Daylen whose desperate pleas to Bea were pungent in the air. She watched as tears started streaming down Daylen’s face. Yeah, fuck this! She was not going out like this. She was not going to leave Daylen. Kanyon closed her eyes, as Marcus’ voice returned to replay in her mind; everything you need is within you. What was inside her? Besides, three cups of coffee. Damn, she should have really stopped to pee. Umm, Blue’s sick fake brain matter and… She yelled at herself to focus. Daylen. Her love for Daylen was what seemed to fuel her, made her heart beat, gave her hope and gave her a strength that she never knew she possessed or that even existed.
The heat rose and the now familiar sizzle and crackle started in her fingers as her retreating foot hesitated briefly in mid-step. She opened her eyes, neither one of the women appeared to have noticed.
Held by invisible restraints, Daylen was trying desperately to move as she yelled and pleaded, trying to convince Bea to stop before it was too late.
Kanyon continued backward until her heel hit the edge, she turned and stepped up onto the lip of the roof.
“I’d stop yelling at me and say good-bye to your girlfriend.” Bea nodded at Kanyon who now stood facing them on the narrow ledge.
“Kanyon!” Daylen screamed.
Kanyon quirked a smile and gave her a wink.
Daylen was blurred with tears, unable to blink or wipe them away. She yelled desperately, “Kanyon, noooo! Please, God. No!”
Kanyon, without hesitation, without a single word, simply turned around and stepped off the ledge.
“No! No! Kanyyyyoon!” Daylen dropped to her knees. Her worst fear had come true right in front of her and she had been helpless to stop it. She’d let this happen. She hadn’t protected Kanyon. Why hadn’t she ended things with Kanyon this morning? She’d been selfish and weak and now Kanyon was gone. Something broke inside her. Daylen felt a surge of anger and pain hit her and she took it all in. Embracing it. She stopped screaming. Stopped the sobs, clearing her vision with a swipe of her sleeve and stood. She locked onto Bea, stepping toward her, no longer bound by the words on the page.
Bea was paralyzed, confused at Daylen’s ability to defy her. “That’s impossible. You shouldn’t be able to move.” She scribbled frantically in her notebook as Daylen continued forward. “No! Sit! Stay!”
Daylen knocked the inkwell to the ground with a swipe of her hand, its black liquid contents splattering into a pool of unwritten dreams and delusions.
“No!” Bea protested as she started for the inkwell, but was stopped by Daylen ripping the notebook from her hand. Daylen tore it in half with a single motion and dropped it at her feet.
Bea swung the pen at her like a knife. Daylen caught her wrist, twisted, and Bea and the pen hit the floor.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Bea pleaded as she tried to scramble backward.
Daylen grabbed Bea’s flailing elbow and pulled her to her knees. “You will never hurt anyone ever again,” Daylen growled.
Bea, wide-eyed, looked down at the hand that held her and watched as a crackle and flash of light shot down Daylen’s arm, through Daylen’s hand, and into her own body. Her body jolted as if she’d just been hit by a stun gun but then her eyes met Daylen’s. “I’ll never hurt anyone again,” she repeated in a soft entranced tone.
“Well, that’s a good thing because wow, you’re not a very nice young lady,” Kanyon said casually from beside them as she flipped through the left half of Bea’s ripped notebook.
At the sound of Kanyon’s voice, Daylen released Bea, who immediately crumbled to the ground. She turned slowly toward Kanyon.
“Hey.” Kanyon finger waved. “That was a totally cool light show you had going on there for a second.”
“But you-” Daylen whipped her head to the roof then back.
“Stepped off the roof, dropped to the terrace below, kicked in the doors, and then…” She hitched a thumb over her shoulder at the door. “Came back up to save the day But apparently, you have this already under control, so bummer, but I guess it’s only fair to take turns.” Kanyon knelt down, picked up the pen, swiped it through the pool of ink and smiled. “You think this pen and ink thing will work for me?” She pretended to think. “Do I want Bea to sing show tunes or do I want her to do that funny run-walk thing like the old ladies in the park?” Kanyon took a couple of steps with exaggerated hip thrusts. “You know, make her do it every where she goes.” Kanyon shrugged. “What do you think Bea? Show tunes or run-walk?”
“I will never hurt anyone again,” Bea mumbled as she pulled herself to her feet.
“Right. Why choose one or the other when we can do both.” Kanyon poised the pen over the book.
“Kanyon,” Daylen said sharply.
Kanyon looked up. “Yeah?”
“I thought you were dead,” Daylen confessed as another tear slid down her cheek.
“I will never hurt anyone again,” Bea repeated numbly.
Kanyon tossed the book and pen aside. “But I’m not, it’s okay. I’m okay.”
“I watched as you… I thought…” Daylen dropped her head in her hands.
“Daylen.” Kanyon pulled Daylen into her arms. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m right here.”
“I thought I los-”
Kanyon saw Bea moving out of the corner of her eye. She released Daylen and ran for Bea as she crawled onto the roof’s ledge. “I will never hurt anyone again,” she said as she leapt off the edge.
Kanyon dove for Bea, catching her arm just as she cleared the ledge. “Seriously? Don’t ya think you’re being a tad too melodramatic?” Kanyon asked as she grabbed for Bea’s other arm.
“Let me go,” Bea demanded as she tried to yank and twist herself out of Kanyon’s grasp.
“Oh, believe me, you don’t know how tempting that is but sorry, your brains splattered on the ground isn’t going to be how this little scene plays out.” Kanyon latched onto Bea’s wrist as Bea tried to pry Kanyon’s fingers off. “I’m thinking we end this-” she started pulling Bea up, “…with a zoomed in shot of you in a loony bin, eating green Jell-O with a spork.” Kanyon yanked Bea up and over the edge of the roof just as Lt. Boston came crashing through the rooftop door.
“I thought I told you two not to get into any more trouble without me,” Lt. Boston barked, as she returned her gun to her holster and pulled out her cuffs.
Kanyon forced Bea down to sit on the ground. “Stay,” she ordered. “Talk to little Miss Wannabe Stephen King here, she’s the one that wrote out this little horror story.”
Lt. Boston took control of Bea, allowing Kanyon to move back to Daylen who was staring blankly at the ledge. Kanyon stepped in front of her and forced Daylen to meet her eyes. “Everything is okay now.” Kanyon offered a grin as she wiped the tears from Daylen’s cheek with a swipe of her thumb.
“No Kanyon, it’s not okay,” Daylen stated as she pushed Kanyon away.
Kanyon’s heart seized at the look in Daylen’s eyes. “Daylen, don’t do-”
Daylen cut her off. “I thought you were dead. Again.” Daylen took another step away from her, needing distance as everything started to crash in on her.
“But I’m right here, completely not dead. Again,” Kanyon protested, as she took a step forward.
Daylen held up a hand. “No. I can’t handle this. I can’t handle seeing you…” Another tear slid down her cheek to finish her sentence. “I won’t watch you die for real next time.”
