“And after?”
“I released him from the hook and tossed him to the ground. Because he was right-handed, I slit that wrist first. Father cried out but was too weakened from the whipping to fight back. I remember him screaming at me as I sliced open his other wrist. He called me names. Said I was possessed by Satan, but I made sure he understood the truth.”
“What truth was that?”
Emotionless, Josiah locked his eyes with hers. “That it was his fault Mary Grace ended her own life. And that she wasn’t the only one cursed with special abilities.” His loud chuckle surprised her. “I can still see the look on his face when I read his mind that day. When I told him things about his childhood. Stories about him and my grandfather. Ones he’d never dared to share with us.”
Several seconds passed while Josiah traveled back in time. Eden didn’t dare speak out. The longer he remained trapped in that horrific day, the more time Alex and his team had to find her. Before long, Josiah began talking again.
“I remember the look filling his wide eyes as he realized, not only was he about to die, but the son he’d thought to be perfect was as damaged as the wife and daughter he loathed. I stood back and watched, waiting while his blood mixed with Mary Grace’s on the barn’s dirt floor.”
Eden scrambled to think of what to say next. After a few seconds of silence, she decided to ask the question burning inside her.
“Why kill those other women? And watch me?”Other than the fact that you’re a delusional sociopath.
“Delusional sociopath?” He made a clicking sound with his tongue. “That hurts, Eden.”
She didn’t bother trying to deny it. He obviously could read her as well as she could him. Better, actually.
“So, you’re a telepath?” That explained how he picked up on his victim’s thoughts and feelings.
“Actually, I’m much more than that. I can read minds, yes, but I can also see things before they happen.”
“You have both telepathy and precognitive abilities?” She’d never met anyone with multiple powers before. Actually, she’d never met another individual with any sort of psi ability.
Dan had spoken about his agency’s new psi Department. Eden just prayed he and Alex were enlisting their help, now.
“What can I say?” Josiah shrugged. “I’m a special kind of fucked up.”
“Y-you’re not fucked up, Josiah.”
He laughed. “Yes, I am.” His smile vanished. “So are you. And so were all those other women.”
“But you helped them, right? You read their minds and knew they were hurting, so you took it upon yourself to free them?”
“That’s right,” he bit out sharply. “I did that. Me.” He slapped his chest. “Mary Grace showed me the only way for someone like her to truly become free is to leave this world for the next.”
“Yet you’re still here,” Eden taunted him. “Why is that, Josiah?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re just as miserable as the rest of us, yet instead of stepping up and taking your own life like a real man, you’ve been going around killing innocent young women.”
“I liberated them!” he yelled.
Eden glared back at him. “You kidnapped and tortured them. You killed them.”
“Ihelpedthem!”
Eden knew pushing him was risky, but he was all talked out and she was desperate. Fully aware her plan may backfire, she continued on with her angry rant, wishing the entire time that someone would burst through that door and save her.
Come on, Alex. I need you. Please, help me.
She worked to keep her voice steady. Worst case, he lost his cool and killed her quickly. At least then she wouldn’t have to lie there, helpless, while he sliced and diced her, too.
“You cut them and then sliced their throats. Admit it, Josiah. You got off on their pain.”
“No.” He shook his head. Running a hand through his hair, he said, “Those other cuts were to help release the evil inside them. To make them better before they crossed over.”
