Bless The Beauty

chapter Eleven




An hour later, Chase was nestled in the backseat sound asleep. He might be upset with me later for the whole mind-warping bit, but he needed the rest. This whole situation had drained him. He looked beyond exhausted and I could see it wearing on him. Using a little mind control for his benefit was nothing I would feel bad about.

“There it is,” Kellen said, pointing out the front window.

I followed his gaze to see a large decorated wooden sign that read, Aurora Psychiatric Hospital.

“Pfft, some hospital. Being nutty sure keeps you well.” The building resembled more of an upscale suburban bungalow than anything that could be classified as a hospital. I straightened up in my seat and glanced back to Chase. “Wakey, wakey, rise and shine.”

Chase immediately sprang up, glanced around, his brows furrowed in confusion. He leaned forward slightly, glanced at the clock to see it read, four a.m. He blinked a couple more times, then turned his speculative gaze on me.

I laughed in response and quickly added, “You needed the rest and trust me, you didn’t miss anything.”

His eyes squinted into nothing and the muscles in his jaw flexed. “You gave Kellen shit for doing that earlier.”

I looked at Kellen, who only grinned at me in return. Immediately, a serious pout settled across my face. Now there was going to be two against one. This might not be such a good idea after all. Oh, I didn’t like where this was going at all and felt the need to justify myself. “That was different.”

Kellen arched a brow and gave a sideways glance. “And just how was that different?”

“Yes, Hadley, do tell us,” Chase prodded with a sly tone. “How was that different?”

My gaze hit Chase, then Kellen and I repeated the move a couple times. After a moment of that ridiculous move, my eyes narrowed as I pointed at them. “Don’t even think of it, do you hear me?”

Kellen grinned innocently, Chase mirrored it. “There will be no ganging up on me, got it?”

Kellen took my pointed finger in his hand and kissed the tip. “You cannot make all the rules you know.”

“Yes, I can,” I said adamantly before I glanced back at Chase with a stern look. “You needed to sleep. I was being considerate. Really, nothing happened here except dark sky passing overhead.”

Chase didn’t look settled. His jaw clenched a final time before he looked out the window and let out an annoyed breath from his mouth. “I take it we are here then.”

I was about to respond, but Kellen interjected. “Your way of doing this, Hadley, is absurd. You are a vampire. Walk in, capture their gaze, ask what you need and get out.

You could go through this whole process in two minutes, but you resign yourself to phone calls and preposterous conversations.”

Here we go again. I was getting tired of explaining myself and the way I worked, but he needed to hear this. “Just as vampires have laws, so do mortals. This is how they do things. I follow their ways because it’s the right thing to do, Kellen.” Yes, my voice might have held a bit of a sneer. He deserved it.

Kellen manoeuvred the car toward the curb and cut the engine. “It’s a ridiculous amount of wasted time.”

“You’re an immortal.” I waved my hand through the air. “All you have is time.”

“I’m with Kellen,” Chase groaned. “The catnap didn’t do it for me. If you have ways of cutting this time in half, I wouldn’t be opposed. Finding this girl then getting home and to bed sounds all too good.”

I jumped out of the car and slammed the door behind me. “You’re still tired?” I asked, but really didn’t need to. I could see the exhaustion set hard on his features and the dark circles surrounded his eyes. His body looked heavy and without strength.

Chase nodded slowly. “F*cking exhausted.”

The weight of everything still hadn’t lifted from him. What he needed was a good twelve hours of sleep in order to pull himself back together. But we didn’t have time for that. I glanced around quickly and found a big maple tree off to the side of the building.

“Come with me.” I took Chase’s hand and yanked him with me.

At the tree, I stepped behind it and pulled Chase close to hide away from the streetlights diming down on us. My fangs pressed against my gums before they released.

Immediately, I bit down on my wrist before I held it up as the blood dripped down my forearm.

“Go on.” I nodded encouragingly to Chase.

He cocked his head, his expression blank. “Go on with what?”

I gestured toward my arm, which only caused the blood to drip faster as I raised it to his face.

“Have a drink. It will give you a boost.”

Chase’s eyes were trained on my bloody wrist, his nose wrinkled in apparent disgust.

“I cannot deny that this isn’t exactly as appealing when you aren’t standing in front of me nude.”

Tough guy was unsure of himself and I had to admit I enjoyed making him squirm.

But really, I just wanted him to feel better. Seeing him so tired tugged at my heart.

Considering it was me who caused it. “Just go on, trust me.”

“I already had lots of it,” Chase retorted, trying to sideswipe my offer. “Why do I need more?”

“You’re a mortal, bloke.” Kellen smacked Chase on the back with a loud thud. “You used your energy elsewhere and burned the effects off.”

It only took moments for the wariness on Chase’s face to fade. He sucked in a deep breath and with purpose, stepped forward, grabbed my arm and raised it to his mouth.

The second his lips touched my skin, his eyes closed and he groaned deeply.

My only response was to shudder out a sigh. Feeling his lips tight around my arm, the deep tugs he took on my wrist as he filled himself with my blood, was exhilarating.

Kellen suddenly gave Chase another hard knock on the back to break him free from my wrist.

“Better stop now or you’re going to give yourself a hard-on that will last for hours.”

Chase released his tight grip and licked the remaining blood from my wrist. His eyes burned with desire. “I think that has already been accomplished.”

He dropped my arm and stepped back. I raised my wrist to my mouth and kept my gaze focused on Chase as I slowly licked the wound to seal it. A little payback was due for the whole ass-smacking bit.

Kellen groaned deeply. “Now, I’m going to be hard for hours.” He gave me a chastised look.

“Must you do that?”

I grinned, lowered my hand and with as much sass as I had, I responded, “I must.”

My laughter echoed through the air as I left the two men behind to walk awkwardly as their erections pushed against their pants. Payback is such a bitch.

At the hospital, I started up the stairs surrounded by large white pillars. I raised my hand to knock, but before I could, it opened to a kind-looking gentleman. Beige golf shirt, pressed pleated pants and brown loafers to boot, messy hair and tired shadowy eyes, it was obvious the nurse was right. The doctor had been asleep and by the looks of him he needed it.

“Special Agent Sloan?” he asked in a gravelly tone.

I reached into my back pocket as I offered my other hand to him. “Dr. Peterson, I presume.”

After I grabbed onto the piece of paper I put there, I handed him the warrant.

Dr. Peterson examined it a moment then shook my hand. “Call me Bob.”

I glanced back to Kellen and Chase, almost busted out with laughter at their strained faces.

Ooo…I’m damn good. They both looked uncomfortable, which I’d imagine would be the case with a hard cock and being unable to do anything about it. But I was also glad to note that Chase did look rejuvenated. The color in his cheeks had returned and the dark circles under his eyes were now gone. I smiled feeling good about that as I introduced them, “Special Agent Chase Finely and Kellen Boyd.”

“Pleasure to meet you both,” Bob responded.

Chase and Kellen nodded in return.

“Thank you for seeing us, Bob.” I drew his attention away from Kellen and Chase. “I know it’s late and we appreciate your time.”

Bob opened the door and waved his hand to usher us through. “It’s not a problem. I can only hope I can be of assistance here.” As he continued down the hall, he made his way to an office just off the main hallway, which looked nothing like a treatment center and more like a home. He stepped through the door and gestured to the chairs in front of a large wooden desk. “Please take a seat. Can I get you a coffee, tea?”

I shook my head and sat down in a teal chair in front of the desk. “No time for that.”

Bob took a seat behind the desk, settled his hands on the top and sighed. “Now then, tell me what it is you need to know about Chad McKinney.”

Chase stood in behind me as Kellen took the seat next to me. There were a thousand questions running through my mind that I’d like to ask, but starting at the beginning was ideal. “What was he here for?”

“The state committed him after he killed his mother,” Bob responded in a steady voice.

“He killed his own mother?” Kellen repeated in an utter gasp.

Bob nodded in agreement as he stood. He went over to the filing cabinet that sat in the corner of the room and pulled out a large file. “Yes. He was only ten when he committed the crime.”

Kellen’s expression was fast past appalled. It dabbled into disgusted. “What the f*ck is wrong with him?”

Bob scowled as he returned to his seat. “Nothing is wrong with him.”

“I would argue that, Doctor,” Kellen said back with vengeance. “A kid that kills his own mother should have been shot on sight.”

We didn’t have time to care what or how Kellen felt on the matter, we needed to press on. I ignored the entire conversation and before Bob could come up some snappy retort, I intervened. “You need to tell us his background. The police have Chad in custody and I need to know all I can about him before I interrogate him.”

Bob’s brows furrowed as a questioning expression filled his face. “What has he done exactly?”

“Watched the news lately?” Chase remarked, dryly.

Bob studied Chase a moment. Clearly, he was trying to figure out what this could be about. It was only a second later that clarity hit and his face paled. “Chad killed those women?”

“He’s a suspect at this point, nothing more, nothing less.” My standard FBI answer.

It’d already been proven that he was the killer, and furthermore, that he had hidden these two other women well, buried that is, until they died. But we weren’t allowed to say anything. Innocent until proven guilty was a rule we followed.

Bob flipped a couple pages in his file quite content in whatever it was he was looking for. “Mr.

McKinney has classic schizophrenia.” He glanced away from the papers to meet my gaze. “A textbook case. His mind is more confused than anything I have ever seen in my years of practice. Nothing in reality pertains to him. He lives in a dream that he creates and is quite content on being that way.”

I took a moment to ponder what he just said. First, it surprised me he needed to be reminded of the case to know about Chad. Where there really that many crazy people here? That was hard to believe or imagine. Then, I tried to sort out what he had meant with his explanation. The jumbled mess of a mentally unstable person was not my area of expertise. After a long pause, I fell short of understanding.

“Okay, so what is his world then?”

“He’s a devout Christian,” Bob replied. “He follows the word of the Lord with an impeccable dedication.”

I nearly laughed at that statement. It didn’t make any sense. Not one little piece of it.

“If he believes in God as you say he does, how could he do these things?”

Bob leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. “That is the question those of us in the mental health profession ask ourselves daily.” He sighed looking very tired and maybe even a bit fed up. “It’s an answer you’ll never find.”

I bit my bottom lip while I thought this over. None of this made any sense. I knew being a nut caused someone to do odd things, cruel things, but to go to this extreme caused my mind to lack any sort of understanding. I needed more answers to understand Chad better. “So he lives by the words in the Bible then?”

Bob confirmed my suspicion with a firm nod. “To the exact word. It’s what caused the murder of his mother.”

“Say that again?” Chase butted in.

“His mother was an obsessed Christian. She home-schooled the boy and his only lessons where that of the Lord. She drilled it into his mind and was abusive if he disobeyed. She was a very malicious woman and beat him with a belt for his failures.”

His eyes flashed with darkness. “It wasn’t with the leather end either.”

I shook my head, saddened to hear of that. Most of the killers I had the not-so-pleasure of knowing all came from similar backgrounds. Abuse led them to this. I never thought of it as an excuse, though. I’d met mortals who had been through worse and didn’t turn out like this. I also knew the mortal mind was complex and in some situations, the brain warped because of the trauma.

Kellen leaned forward, apparently more interested in the conversation now. “She created a monster then?”

Bob nodded as if Kellen had hit the nail dead on. “It was his only lessons. He learned to obey the words written and lived them. It was all that he knew.”

That all made sense, but there was one part I just couldn’t wrap my head around.

“Why did he kill his mother then?”

“It took ten years for me to understand his mind,” Bob replied. “To piece together what came out of his mouth, after some time, it was apparent that he killed his mother because she sinned.”

Sinned? Huh? “What sin?” I urged him to get on with it with a wave of my hand.

Now, I was just impatient and taken by the conversation as Kellen was. This situation was definitely a first for me.

“She birthed him out of wedlock.”

Chase guffawed. “Are you telling me that he killed his own mother because she had him?”

Bob nodded with no amusement in his demeanour. “From what I learned of him, he thought there was no other choice. He was saving her soul.”

I sat back in the chair, let out a long breath and gulped deeply. “Saving her soul how?”

“You have to think like him to understand why he does the things he does. In his world, he is a prophet from God sent to save angels that have been taken over by the Devil.”

“He truthfully believes that?” Chase asked.

“Very much so,” Bob replied. “From what I got through our discussions, he saved his mother from her wicked ways and returned her to her maker for forgiveness. He buried her in a grave, but supplied her with an air tank. He said that he put her back to God and kept her there for seven days to let her free herself from her sins. Then, after those days, he returned to dig her up. He said that he made his mother pretty, made up her face so that when she was remembered by all, she’d be beautiful.”

“F*ck,” Chase exhaled.

“Yeah, exactly.” I could hardly believe my ears. This guy was a goddamn lunatic.

“Bless the Beauty,” Kellen cut in, his voice soft.

His terminology was dead on. It was an act to purify the victims, keep them perfect forever. It all made sense now and came together in a neat little package. He created a vision of them in his mind and when they disappointed him— sinned—he killed them to save them. At least that’s how he saw it.

“Guess that sums up his reasoning behind it all.”

I looked away from Kellen and back to Bob. “What do you suggest for questioning him?”

“It won’t be an easy task,” Bob replied in earnest. “It took me ten years to break through the depths of his mind.”

“Well, we don’t have ten years,” I retorted. “He has taken another woman, buried her somewhere, hopefully still alive. We need to get him to talk.”

Bob pursed his lips a moment then said, “The only way to relate to him is through the Lord.

Connect with him. The problem will be in understanding his thoughts. His mind is confused. Remember that.”

A little nudge that had been stirring within me this entire conversation couldn’t be held back any longer. With all the knowledge we needed out of the way, my frustration level hit the roof. “So Bob, tell me, how did he get released from here?”

Bob’s lips tightened into a fine line. Obviously, he knew exactly where I was going with this and didn’t appreciate it one bit. Well, too bad for him, I didn’t give a shit. Bob cleared his throat before he spoke. “We medicated him. He was doing quite well on Risperidone.”

That wasn’t the answer I was looking for. If anything, his remark only sparked the fire of irritation in my body to burn. Someone needed to take ownership here, and I was going to be sure to point that fact out. “You expected him to continue taking his medication unsupervised?”

“We had transferred him to home care,” Bob deplored. “He was living on his own for the last four years and was doing well.”

“Well that plan obviously flopped.”

Bob glared at me. A vein in the center of his head was beginning to bulge. “It’s our job to assess our patients, treat them and when they are well enough, we are expected to assist them back into the community. Our funds are low. We do what we can.” The vein looked about ready to burst as he continued. “Chad had been living independently for four years. He was no threat or danger to anyone.”

I struck a nerve with the doctor, but this nerve was hitting me just as strong. Lives were lost and this all could have been prevented. I jumped to my feet and glared down at him. “Why don’t you call the victim’s families and tell them that whole spiel you just shit out.”

Bob shot up from his chair, fists tight at his side. “It’s our job within the community to see them well. Chad had made leaps and bounds with his care. He was open and willing through our sessions. He understood between right and wrong and under medication, he appeared to be thriving. There was no reason to keep him here further. He proved himself to be a productive part of the community.”

My brows furrowed as my eyes narrowed. I leaned in, placed my hands on his desk and came close to his face. “If you kept him here, these women wouldn’t be dead and that rests on your shoulders, Doc.”

Okay, so lashing out at him was wrong. He was only doing what he knew to be right.

This, though, was the one part of the mortal world I couldn’t stand. They gave chances.

Vampires never did that. F*ck up once and that was it. Harsh as it was, it saved moments like these. Mortals always believed that people are capable of change. I knew better—

once a killer, always a killer. I’d seen that point proven time and time again.

“I…I…” Bob stammered, shame flashed across his features.

I ignored his moment of ignominy. It was too late for that. I turned on my heels and began walking from the room. “If we need anything further, we will contact you, Dr.

Peterson.” With that, I left, walked briskly out of the hospital with Chase and Kellen following in behind me.

Once outside, Chase softly touched my elbow, drew my attention to him. “A bit harsh on him, don’t you think?”

I snorted, outright angry about the whole thing. “It’s just so frustrating. They let him out knowing what he could do. These women are dead because they released them. He was their responsibility and I’m not letting them off the hook for that.”

Kellen gave me a knowing glance.

I felt the weight of that look right down to my very toes. The knowledge that if I’d just done what Kellen suggested right at the beginning, Sabrina would be home in the arms of her family by now.

All this time wasted, for what? Following rules and protocols that now seemed meaningless.

For the first time, I began to doubt the way mortals worked and wondered if this whole time I‘d been wrong. The little tinge of annoyance made me hate the fact that Kellen may have been right.