Sanders, p.3
Sanders, page 3
“Did he say what he wanted?”
“He’s taking you home, where you belong.” Her aunt hesitated. “He made it sound like you weren’t right in your mind, like you were a danger.”
“What?” Ania cried out. “Why would he do that?” But, in her heart, she knew that he would do it to control her even more. “He’s wrong,” Ania declared, beginning to feel hysterical. “You’ve got to understand that.”
“I don’t know what to believe,” her aunt admitted. “You arrived out of the blue, looking for a way to get away from your father and to have a life. However, according to him, that’s not what you wanted to do at all. He insisted that some medication backfired, and now you’re a danger to yourself and others.”
“I see,” she stated, her tone turning formal. “He’s wrong, but I can tell that there is no point in talking to you.”
“Wait,” her aunt called out, as Ania went to end the call. “I don’t know what the truth is, but you’re still my niece, and, if you need help, I’ll try and help you. However, I don’t have any control over him.”
“No, nobody does,” Ania agreed. “That’s the problem. Nobody ever wins a fight with him. It’s all right for him to beat us up and to treat us like we’re nothing but commodities.” Her aunt gasped. “Yeah, he hit you too tonight, didn’t he?” she asked. “I’m afraid he totally abused my mother. I’m even more afraid that he killed her. So I’m very sorry. I never should have come here and dragged you in it.” With that she hung up, without letting her aunt say anything more.
Ania had considered this earlier, but now she realized that all the medications the doctors had been prescribing for her for the last while, that she’d finally ditched on a whim, were probably drugs meant to help control her and to make her compliant for her father. She’d wondered and had played with the idea for a while. She realized that her mental clarity—which had improved so much over the last few days—appeared to be the result of her withdrawal from the drugs and wasn’t merely a boost from the sense of purpose she felt, while planning her life. The truth was that she was off that medication, and she was thinking for herself again.
She understood why her controlling father would contemplate drugging her, but she sure as hell had no intention of ever falling back under his thumb again. Yes, she’d been devastated for a time. The loss of her mother had been such a shock to Ania, but she hadn’t been suicidal, and she hadn’t been a danger to herself or anybody else, and there’d been absolutely no need to drug her. That obviously wasn’t her father’s position, and now she had to ensure that he never got his hands on her. Yet who could help her?
Who was out there and was capable of helping, when her father was so powerful and had so much pull in the Russian government? That was the scary part. He could say jump, and there would always be people who would just jump solely because he had ordered it. While Ania couldn’t imagine any of his goons finding joy in the work they did, her father took great pleasure in having that power, in wielding that power. He’d become a whole lot more drunk on that power over the last few months, so much more arrogant, so much more aggressive.
She didn’t know whether he was taking any medications or should be taking some. Regardless, if he was on something, there had definitely been a huge shift in his attitude. She hoped he wasn’t doing drugs because it would likely make him even more dangerous. Right now she’d already had about all she could handle from him. She again wished Sanders was around, even if just for the comfort she got when telepathically connected to him. She once again sent out a message to him, hoping that stopping her meds would allow her to send these messages.
Ania shook her head. Her father had told her that those medications were antibiotics, after she’d hurt herself. Now she realized—as some messages were starting to filter through her brain, albeit weak and fuzzy—they weren’t antibiotics at all but something much more. Something intended to help her father control her, which was very much more his style. It was sad that a father felt that he had to stoop so low in order to get his daughter to do what he wanted, but it was also very sad that he would want such a restricted life for her.
She didn’t know what to do at the moment. She sat here in the park for the longest time, until she eventually realized that she would attract attention soon if she didn’t get up and go do something. If she didn’t find a way to get a move on, she may have no way out of this. With that thought, she quickly stood up and walked to the end of the park, still wondering what her options were. Just as she was about to step onto the sidewalk, she saw that same damn vehicle slowly driving toward her.
She stepped back into the shadows. Several other people watched the vehicle, some with fear, some with curiosity, some with just a wary eye, wondering who this person was in a fancy government vehicle and why they were still in town, wandering up and down their streets. She watched as once again the car went past. As soon as it was out of sight, she stepped out of the shadows and walked quickly to the bus depot.
Chapter 2
Ania made it to the bus depot without any problems. Yet, as she headed to the front counter to see when the next bus was leaving, she heard a conversation that made her blood run cold. A man, somebody she didn’t recognize, at least from the back, stood talking to the ticket collector.
“No, we’re looking for her because she’s off her medications. There appears to be some kind of a reaction she’s had, so we’re doing what we can to find her.” He had a picture in his hand, that he showed at the window.
Ania had no doubt from the look of him that he was somebody her father had hired. But the fact that they were showing pictures around town just made her position sketchier, if that were even possible. Yet what was she supposed to do? Swearing to herself, she hurriedly stepped back out of the way and waited until the person left the window.
She looked in the ticket booth and thankfully recognized a familiar face staring back at her. She raced up to the front counter and whispered, “Vanessa, was he looking for me?”
Her friend looked at her and then nodded. “What the hell’s going on?” she whispered, looking around. “He says that you’ve had some medication that’s gone wrong.”
She shook her head. “No, my father’s been drugging me to keep me compliant and immobile. He has got in his mind that’s the way to control me.”
Her friend’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh, good God. You always wondered how far he would go.”
“Too far clearly,” she admitted, “but I have to get out of here. I have no choice now. Can you sell me a ticket?”
“I can, but nothing leaves until tomorrow morning.”
“Shit,” Ania muttered. “I need to stay out of sight, and he’s already been to my aunt’s, looking for me. She basically told me that I need to get away and to stay away.”
“Yeah, you’re not kidding.” Vanessa looked at her sympathetically. “You can go to my place and stay there. Nobody’s at home right now.”
Ania eyed her hopefully. “You don’t mind?”
“No, I don’t. Your father’s always been a bit …” She stopped and didn’t add anything after that.
Ania nodded. Her father had always been difficult and intimidating. Her friends never wanted to come over because he was a bigwig in the government, and not in a nice way. He was some enforcer, and everybody was scared of him. “What if he finds out what you’ve done?” Ania asked Vanessa. “You know it could be trouble.”
“If you go there while I’m not home, then that’s hardly on me, is it?” she asked. “Just get out of here, so I won’t be seen talking to you. If you want a ticket, tell me right now, and I’ll bring it home with me.”
“What’s leaving first thing in the morning?”
“One into the city, and you can get on that pretty fast. You could at least disappear into the city pretty easily.”
“Good enough,” Ania agreed.
And, with that, she slipped out the side door, using the backroads to quickly head to her friend’s apartment. Ania hadn’t asked for the keys, so that was a bit of an issue. However, as she got to Vanessa’s building, another mutual friend was just coming out of the locked gate.
“Hey, what are you up to?” her friend asked. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“I came to visit my aunt and to get away from my family for a while.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” she muttered. “You’re here for Vanessa’s place?”
“Yeah, and I forgot to get the keys from her. I was just down there talking to her.”
“Not a problem, I’ll let you in,” she offered, with a chuckle.
“Are you still looking after this place?”
“It is my uncle’s property, so, yeah, you could say that,” she agreed, with a smile. And, with that, she quickly unlocked Vanessa’s apartment and let Ania in.
If it had been anybody else, they probably would have been pissed, but Estonia was a small country, and most people understood. When somebody was in trouble, often they offered assistance immediately, without being asked, and that made life a whole lot easier for Ania.
As she stepped into the apartment, she felt a sense of relief, her body relaxing. She just needed time to breathe, time to make a plan, and, if she got a bus ticket to the nearby city, that would be a big help. Getting down to the city would be huge, just because it would be so much easier to disappear there. Vanessa was right about that. It would also quite likely be harder to get farther away. However, as long as Ania could get to the city and maybe find a job, that would help. At least she hoped so.
Did her father have a way of finding out if she got paid for work? If so, where could she work for cash, under the counter? Restaurants came to mind, but didn’t they require a uniform? Maybe she could work in a laundry or as a night janitor. She pondered all these things well into the dawn, when she got a text message from her girlfriend, saying it was time to leave. Ania winced because that meant Vanessa was coming home. Ania got up, used the washroom, grabbed her purse, and waited in the trees outside, as Vanessa came home.
Vanessa casually checked the mailbox, just a collection of open bins, and dropped something inside, then disappeared into her apartment. As soon as she was inside the building, Ania waited for the next person to exit the lobby, giving her a moment to enter before the front door locked itself again. She checked Vanessa’s mailbox and picked up the envelope and disappeared into the trees again. A note came with the bus ticket.
They came back. Twice. You’ll have to watch it, and I don’t know if you’ll get onto the bus safely.
And, with that, Ania swore. If she couldn’t get on the bus, she couldn’t use the ticket. Not knowing what else she could do, she stayed put for a long moment, thinking over alternate options. Not wanting to bring any more pain to her childhood friends, Ania stepped out, feeling lost, and headed down to the main street. At the very least maybe she could hitch a ride from somebody going into the city. Not that it was the smartest thing to do, especially at nighttime, but she was out of options.
*
Sanders and Riff had divided the small town into two sections, and both had spent the final daylight hours yesterday checking local businesses for Ania. They had decided to not go to the local authorities or even the hospitals, fearing her father would most likely do that. Sanders had no desire to run into him. Riff soon called off their foot search, due to darkness and to Sanders’s lagging energy. The guys regrouped at the B&B and would start again first thing in the morning.
Early the next morning, after Sanders had stopped at several more locations, checking to see if anybody had seen Ania, Sanders walked into a café and ordered a coffee. As soon as it was ready, he took it outside and sat down on a nearby bench. He remained here for a moment, opening his mind and sending out messages, hoping that Ania would receive them.
When Riff walked up to him, he looked at him sideways. “Good idea,” he said, pointing at the coffee.
Sanders nodded back toward the café behind him. “I just got it to go.”
“Back in a minute.” And, with that, Riff quickly bounded up the steps and entered the café.
Riff had so much more energy than Sanders, and he was envious, but he also knew that he didn’t dare wait any longer at Terk’s place before coming here and looking for Ania. Still, something strange in the energy was going on, and he couldn’t figure out what it was. So, he pushed it, and he pushed himself. He was here trying to help somebody, and, even as he sat there, he knew that Cara and Clary were helping him more than they probably should be.
Clary sent him a message. Stop. We are healers. We are helping you.
He winced because, of course, everybody on Terk’s team could read minds, and that was a hell of a thing. He replied, We’re not getting anywhere. Nobody’s seen her.
Keep looking, she stated. I don’t know how or why, but I believe in you. I believe in the messages you’re getting.
Are you getting them too?
No, but energy is stirring on the ethers. I just don’t know what that means for your situation. And, with that, she was gone again.
He was still contemplating her words when Riff exited the café, holding a cup of coffee of his own. He took one look at Sanders’s face and asked, “What’s that look for?”
“Just a message from Clary.” He quickly filled him in.
“I agree with that,” Riff replied. “I can feel the same energy moving. I just don’t know what it’s doing or who it’s after.”
“That’s not helpful, and, so far, either nobody has seen her or nobody wants to talk.”
“And yet, if she has family and friends here, that would make sense. People would protect Ania from all these strangers asking questions. According to Terk and the text I just got from him, Ania’s aunt lives here and stays low under the radar. She’s not terribly friendly with anybody.”
“Great,” Sanders muttered, “so chances are, she won’t talk to us.”
“I wouldn’t think so, but it’s hard to say. We also have a couple friends of Ania’s who are here. Then again, they may not talk either, as nobody knows who we are.”
“Exactly. Nobody knows who we are. Nobody knows what we’re up to or whose side we’re on.”
Riff shot him a hard look. “Yet you feel pretty strongly that there are sides?”
“Absolutely. Definitely there are sides. Nothing feels easy about this at all. I just don’t know why I’m not getting in touch with her. The signals seem to bounce off.”
“Maybe she’s afraid that somebody’s tracking her. Maybe she’s afraid that messages are being received that aren’t going where she wants them to go. Maybe she’s afraid they are her father’s goons, trying to trick her. Maybe she’s not capable of sending them or receiving them.”
“Yeah, it’s that last one that’s really worrying me,” Sanders admitted. “I was amazed at her gifts. Yet how did she learn to use them? I don’t know that anybody in her world has these abilities. We didn’t discuss that.”
“Why don’t we go talk to the aunt? Maybe she’ll let us know something.”
Sanders grimaced. “You and I both know she won’t though.”
Riff laughed. “But it’s important to feel as if we’re doing something and to put that energy out there while we’re at it, all in order to get somewhere,” Riff explained. “We’ve come this far, so we’ll try to stay positive.”
With the address in hand, they quickly headed to the aunt’s house. Once there, they walked up to the small 1940s house in the back of a larger home. No telling which one had been built first, but the smaller one had probably been servants’ quarters or a rental at some time.
As they walked up to the smaller home, the door opened, and an older woman stepped out, her features hard as she snapped, “What do you want?”
That was the thing about Estonia, so many people spoke English. Not that it was a problem because Sanders knew quite a bit of Russian at this point anyway. Not that everybody spoke Russian either, but they managed to do pretty well when switching between languages. He dismissed the bruise on one side of her face and quickly explained that he was a friend of Ania’s and that he’d come here on a surprise visit. However, so far, he hadn’t found anybody who had seen her.
The aunt’s gaze narrowed with suspicion. “She has no male friends. It wouldn’t be allowed.”
He studied her aunt and then slowly nodded. “We haven’t met in person yet,” he shared.
At that, she almost spat in his face. “Online? That’s not a relationship.”
He took a mental step back. “No, it’s not,” he admitted. “However, we can’t have a relationship if I can’t find her.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, giving a stance of might, yet her fingers trembled.
Instinctively he added, “I wasn’t sent here by her father.”
Her gaze widened, and she turned, looking around in fear.
“He did not send us, and he does not know that we’re here.”
She shuddered. “You need to ensure he doesn’t find out, or you can expect a bullet in your back,” she muttered. “He will allow nobody close to her.”
His breath went out in a whoosh. “Thank you for the warning. Would he also hurt her?”
She winced, still looking around again. “You need to leave,” she whispered. “Just talking to you will put me in danger.” And, with that, she slammed the door in his face.
He waited, hoping that she would come back out and talk to him. When she didn’t, he left her a note in the mailbox at the side of the house. If you get a chance, please let me know where she is, so I can help her. And he left his phone number too. He didn’t think that she would let him know, but he took that chance, and he wanted to leave her an avenue if she did feel like she could do something.
He didn’t know whether she was afraid of the father or the government or something else entirely. Yet, if she were afraid, she would likely lock down and do nothing. Victims had a hard time stepping out of their own victimology to help others. However, sometimes that was exactly the push that people needed in order to stop being a victim.
