What The Eyes Can't See

Again, thanks to all the reviews. Please keep them coming, they encourage the plot bunnies to work for peanuts. Otherwise, they go on strike.

Wicamage from csi-fic-mature: Don’t worry, I have a three whole chapters coming soon that is just them solving a nights worth of cases.

Slade from csi-fic-mature: Hope you continue to enjoy.

Underwater Owl from fanfictiondotnet: Thank Thank You You. Your Your Awesome Awesome.

SpinLizard from fanfictiondotnet: It’s funny you say that cause I thought they were getting too long and that’s why I broke them up. But now that you did say that, I’m glad I posted them all together instead of once a day.

Elfmaiden is the best beta in the world. And if you enjoy this story (or even if you don’t and want to really read quality fiction), please go and read her stories at www.mystifyingdreams.com

Chapter 12

Amazingly enough, Detective Dan Johnson believed him. Brian wasn’t sure why, but he suspected that the older man had seen enough in his life to know that there were still certain things, out in the world, that science was unable to explain.

Brian detailed, to Johnson, what had happen the night Mike Taylor escaped his kidnapper, as well as last night’s events. He furthered explained his interpretations of Emily’s gift.

As they waited for Emily to wake up once again, Brian learned a little about Detective Johnson and the case. Dan told him that he found out about Brian and his sister when he did a background check on them before arriving at their house. That was how he knew Emily’s name without being told. He just hadn’t made the connection between her and the ‘imaginary friend’ described by Mike until he had seen her walk into the kitchen.

The case was, needless to say, disturbing. The man would kidnap a child varying between three and ten years of age. Race and sex of the child didn’t seem to matter. He would than take the child to an area where he could take his time. There was nothing specific about the areas he chose, like the children he kidnapped, these areas seem to be varied. The only thing that linked the missing children together was how the bodies were found. Brian’s stomach rolled, remembering what Dan had already described to him.

In all cases, the U-Haul used had been stolen, either directly from one of the company‘s outlets or from the driveways of their renters. The locations they had been left in were always in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by loose sand so any tread marks left behind the vehicle would be wiped out by the wind. No fingerprints, no semen, no hair follicles, nothing was left to help the police find the killer.

One other factor regarding the crime was that it was not isolated to the Vegas area. Similar cases had cropped up all over Nevada. Carson City, Reno, Boulder City even several smaller cities and towns all over Nevada had similar cases of missing children and their bodies being found with the same MO. Luckily, if they wanted to call it that, none of the cases like it had cropped up anywhere outside of Nevada.

“How many kids?” Brian asked, though not really wanting to know.

“Heidi…was the 14th, that includes Mike Taylor. That’s just the ones we’ve found…I think there may be more,” Dan said, lowering his voice. He leaned forward, “This guy has been doing this for nearly six years, Brian. And he’ll keep doing it until we stop him.”

“I understand the importance of catching this guy, but I WILL NOT allow Emily to help you. I don’t want her anywhere near this guy, even through her projections. I don’t know what the hell she saw last night, but if her screams were any indication, than I’m sure I don’t want her to go through it again.’

“What about the other kids, Brain?” Dan argued.

Brian was silent, contemplating the fates of the other children. He shook his head; “I’m willing to have that on my conscious if it would mean that Emily grows up healthy and free of …that sicko’s taint.”

Dan sat back, at a lost. He couldn’t really blame Brian…if it had been him, he would have probably come to the same decision.

“Can I at least question her for a moment about last night? Maybe she saw something that could help. Maybe even got a look at the guy and could describe him,” he asked.

“I thought you said Mike and Heidi had some new information?” Brian asked.

The detective shook his head. “I lied, Mike had been blindfolded up until he was locked in the warehouse storage room and Heidi…”

He paused a moment, “I haven’t really had a chance to talk to Heidi but I have a feeling that she won’t be able to give us anything new either.”

Though Brian didn’t want Emily to relive last night, he felt that it was the least he could do to try and catch the guy. He had Dan promise him to be gentle with his questions and, if possible, not to ask her what she had seen happen to Heidi. Brian stated that he would be careful with Emily at all times during the questioning.

Dan readily agreed to his terms. Brian’s last request was that Emily’s name stay out of any reports generated if something should turn up. He wanted to keep her out of it as much as possible, especially the media. Once again, Dan agreed.

They sat and talked for several more hours before they heard Emily’s footsteps coming down the stairs. She immediately went to Brian and sat on his lap and began eating the PB&J sandwich that still waited for her.

Dan began to gently question Emily. While the detective was slightly disappointed, Brian was elated to learn that Emily remembered little of what had occurred at that house after she had passed discovered the address.

Dan left early that night, having stayed the whole day with the Mallory’s. But he would visit them every few months over the next four years. Most of the time it was just to catch up with them, other times he asked for help in another missing child’s case.

Brian only allowed Emily to help if Dan promised that the missing child was not at risk of being abducted by a pedophile or killer. She was only involved in cases where the kids had been taken for financial reasons, like ransoms, or by the parents involved in child custody cases. While these cases usually were solved before Dan felt the need to use Emily’s special talents, occasionally about once or twice a year, one would crop up that the police were stumped and they couldn’t find the child.

Brian took Emily to see Heidi several weeks later, after Emily’s friend had been released from the hospital.

Her mom had been happy that they had come and visit. As Brian stayed in the kitchen talking to her, Emily had gone up to Heidi’s room to catch up.

“Thanks for the flowers and the teddy bear, Brian. Heidi loves the bear,” she said.

“It was no problem.” Brian wasn’t sure what else to say to the obvious distraught woman.

“And thanks for bringing Emily to visit. She’s the first…I mean, I’ve gotten calls from parents…expressing their sympathies…but none of her other friends have come over,” she said, slightly distressed.

“Maybe they’ll come over later in the week,” Brian said, trying to be helpful.

She shook her head, looking down at the cup of tea in front of her, “I don’t think so…I…have a feeling that their parents won’t be bringing their kids over. I…I asked one of them if they would visit, just so I could get Heidi ready…and she said that she couldn’t…wouldn’t bring her kid over.”

Brian waited, confused why a parent would deny such a simple request.

Heidi’s mom looked up with tears in her eyes, “She said…that she didn’t want her child exposed to Heidi.”

Brian frowned, “Exposed?”

“She said her child was too young to see something like ‘that’. She knew that her kid would ask questions about what had happened to Heidi and she didn’t think he was ready for the answers,” she said, starting to cry.

“That’s…crazy,” he said.

She laughed through the silent sobs, “Yeah.”

“I will gladly bring Emily over, anytime she wants to. And Heidi is more than welcome at our house,” he offered sincerely. He suspected that he wouldn’t have to answer any uncomfortable questions with Emily. He had a feeling that she understood more about what Heidi went through than most kids…and their parents.

She thanked him and the two continued to talk about everyday matters for about half an hour. They took a break when it was time for Heidi to take some of her pain medication. Brian didn’t ask exactly what they were for, afraid to hear the answer. But she allowed him to follow her to Heidi’s room in order to retrieve Emily, since Heidi would most likely fall asleep soon after taking the pills.

They walked into Heidi’s bright bedroom. The sight before them caused Heidi’s mother to break out in quiet sobs again and Brian’s eyes to well up with tears of his own.

On the single bed, the two small bodies laid together, sleeping. Heidi’s head rested on Emily’s shoulder while Emily’s arms were wrapped protectively around Heidi as if protecting her from the evils of the world. The innocent scene was enough to squeeze tears out of the rock.

Heidi’s mom said quietly, “This is the first time, since being found, that I’ve seen her sleep without the pills.”

Brian nodded, helping Heidi’s mom to back out of the room, he closed the door on the two sleeping girls.

Heidi and Emily became the best of friends after that. Heidi never returned to a Nevada public school because her mother deciding to have her home schooled. He was often seen at the Mallory household where the two little girls would play. With Emily’s help, as well as the continued support from her mother and from Brian, Heidi began to trust again.

Despite Brian’s continued worries about Emily’s shyness with strangers, Emily seemed truly happy with the grade school she was attending. Emily’s life seemed to be ideal. She attended school during the day, played with Heidi in the afternoons, and was content to settle down in the evening with her brother. The only difference between her life and the lives of other children was that once a week, Brian would initiate a planned projection. He believed that it would keep Emily from projecting in her sleep, which could possible lead Emily to observe another horrifying scene.

Brian suspected that Heidi already knew that something was ‘special’ regarding her friend. He never learned about the time, years later, when Heidi confided in Emily about that night. Heidi had heard Emily’s voice while the man was…doing terrible things to her. She had been worried that Emily had been taken as well and that as soon as the man finished with her, he would move on to Emily and start to hurt her. That’s why she had begun to cry out loud when she had previously stayed silent. She hadn’t wanted her friend to experience what the man had done to her.

Brian let Heidi in on their planned sessions and even allowed Heidi to occasionally dictate where Emily should go. Popular sessions were the toy stores, the malls and even several visits to the zoo.

During the planned sessions, along with the occasional projections that Emily did for Dan, they learned more about Emily’s abilities. There did seem to be some restrictions on how she projected as well as how far. Emily was only able to project herself for about twenty miles before ‘hitting a wall’ as she described it. And while she was able to manipulate solid inanimate objects, like turning a doorknob or moving something across the table, she was unable to touch living things, like the time she attempted to ‘pet’ a tiger at the zoo. She wasn’t able to move large items and even when she did attempt to move smaller items, it seemed to tax her strength. Animals and children were the only things that were actually able to hear her. Older children and adults simple ignored her as if she were a ghost.

When Emily was around ten years old, Heidi moved away due to her parents divorce. Heidi’s continued shyness, almost fearfulness, around her father had ultimately led to the split. Her mother moved in with her parents, in Montana, but the two girls still remained close with letters and frequent phone calls.

The change of scenery for Heidi seemed to do her a world of good. She entered public school during the fifth grade and began to flourish. Despite the fading scars on her face, she quickly made some friends but Emily always held the position as best friend in her life. The two eventually entered the same college and became roommates during their four years at UC Davis.

But it was soon after Heidi had moved to Montana, and while Emily was ten, that things changed drastically in the Mallory household once again. The change was heralded by the arrival of Dan Johnson as well as two strangers unknown to the Mallory’s.

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