The Beacon -Paul Lahote 2-

Chapter 36

Paul arrived at Bridgeport Psychiatric Institute. He had lost Mavis's scent but remembered something. He didn't need her scent. When she was kidnapped, he smelled his scent at the school. He had never been there, but it didn't matter.

He tested the theory by tracking Bella's scent. It was her car Mavis had taken. Luckily, it worked. He was entirely alone, but he didn't care. The lights in the building were off, but that didn't stop him. He pushed open the door but stopped suddenly. Paul could smell her perfume. It was faint, but it was there.

There's a man behind the front desk. "We're closed. Visiting hours are over. Come back in the morning."

Paul approaches him. "I'm not here for a visit. I'm looking for someone." The man stares at him. "A girl. She has blonde hair and blue eyes. About this tall." He puts his hand out for reference. "Rosy cheeks." This had to be where she was.

The man twitches. "Never seen her."

Paul listened to the beating of his heart. He was lying. "Where is she?" This man lied to him. Mavis was here. Why would he lie? That's what Paul didn't understand.

"I said," he leaned closer. "I've never seen her. Visiting hours are over. Come back in the morning."

"Where is she?" Paul wasn't backing down. His anger was taking over. "Tell me!"

There was a twisted smile on his face. Paul realized at that moment something was terribly wrong. "Or what?"

Paul let his anger take over. He reached forward and grabbed the man by the collar. He yanked him forward harshly, his face slamming against the glass. "Tell me where she is before I rip your head from your body!"

The man flinched, now afraid for his life. "I've seen her." Paul feels some relief. "She's been here before."

That was news to him. "Who did she come here to see?"

"The doctor," he says. "There's always pretty girls coming to see the doctor."

Paul lets him go, and he stumbles away from the glass. "These girls. What happens to them?" The lights above them started to flicker.

"It's starting."

"What's starting?" The man didn't respond. "What happens to them?" Paul was desperate for answers.

The man shrugs, "I don't know. But they never leave."

A chill runs down Paul's spine. Mavis was in a lot of trouble. "Where does he take them?"

"To the basement."

That's where Mavis was.

Mavis was in a different room now, deep in the tunnels under the hospital. It was nearly impossible to navigate. Mavis had never felt pain like this before. Claus dabbed the side of her head with a towel. She flinched, a cry falling from her mouth. The voices were loud, louder than before. The screams of other Banshees filled her head. So many had died in this very room, and Mavis could hear all of them.

Her body was twitching. Sweat dripped down her face. She was cold, freezing cold. "I'm right here, Mavis." Claus tried to comfort her. "Hold on. It won't be much longer." Mavis was in so much pain. She wished for death. "Hold on."

He set down the towel and grabbed what resembled an EEG machine. It had the electrodes that stuck to her body, but they tainted her brain with overwhelmingly powerful frequencies. Mavis looked around the room. It was full of different machines. They all had speakers. "It's going to be okay, Mavis." The girl knew otherwise. "You need to focus." He flipped the switch on the machines.

"Ah," she screamed in pain. The voices began to fade into something different. "Please!"

"Hold on." He continued to raise the frequency. "Focus on this, and only this. Focus on me." His fear of death drove him to kill dozens of Banshees. All he wanted to know was what happened after death. It was ridiculous to Mavis, but fear was a dangerous feeling. "Focus on the sound." Slowly, the voices began to fade. Mavis was able to concentrate on the sound. "Good." He stared at her curiously. Never before had someone been able to drown out the voices so easily. Their power always consumed them. The voices would kill them. Claus knew the voices would kill her as well, but he would get his answer first. What happened to her after didn't matter. "Mavis."