Fractured Legacy: Aicil Paranormal Files #1

Chapter 15

Jonah

Kaylyn is asleep again by the time Cole arrives—it's no wonder, given the strain on her system from whatever connection the entity has with her. And despite the nurses' repeated promises that Dr. Pierce would be in shortly, there has been no word on her condition or when she will be released.

"She said she was here for tests. Is she okay?" Cole whispers. Her eyes are swollen and rimmed with pink. Just before falling asleep, Kaylyn warned me that she'd likely be on a tirade after hearing my voice over the phone, but this is the opposite of what I had expected.

"Yeah." How long that answer will hold out, however, I don't want to consider. "We need to figure out what this entity is soon."

"I might have something, but," She trails off, watching her sister sleep. "She told me about the fire, and a bit about your theory...."

Cole swallows audibly and tugs her fingers through her hair. "Dad did go to the hotel in 2000, right around the time of the fire at our house."

She hands me an old envelope, stained yellow with age. I pull out the small stack of papers, starting with what appears to be a copy of Kaylyn's birth certificate, but before I can read any farther, Kaylyn stirs.

"What's up, guys?" Kaylyn's voice cracks with fatigue.

Cole head across the room to the bed, but I remain a few steps away with the papers in hand.

"I talked to Dad for a while after you left," Cole says. "He told me about the fire. He was subbing for an associate on a case"—she glances back to me—"that involved the Teague in 2000. He couldn't tell me anything else, because he ended up not taking the case after all."

Cole jams her hands into her back pockets, and fidgets like there's something else she wants to add, but can't quite come up with it.

Kaylyn's eyes lock on me as I look down at the packet of papers and I flip past Kaylyn's birth certificate.

Adoption Report

Name of Child Before Adoption: Unknown

Sex: Female

My heart lodges in my throat as I scan down the page.

Adoption Finalized: January 17, 1987

Legal Name of Child: Kaylyn Shelby Anderson

Kaylyn must have noticed my face because when I glance up, she looks ready to crawl out of bed to rip the papers from my hands. "So, what the hell is in the papers?"

I open my mouth but Cole shakes her head at me. She throws her head back and blows out a long breath before grabbing the bed railing and facing Kaylyn. "You were adopted, Kay."

"No." Kaylyn throws back her covers and crawls down the bed, reaching for the papers.

"An abandoned baby. No one knew your name." Cole fights back a sob as the tears stream down her cheeks.

I'm paralyzed in the middle. I can't think of a single thing that might soften this blow. And what a time for it to come. Kaylyn tears the papers from my hand but keeps shaking her head. "You're saying I was the baby in the hotel. How did I escape the fire?"

"I—I," Cole stutters, she has to take a breath before continuing. "I don't know, but...."

Kaylyn's body shakes with emotion until the papers quiver and rustle in her hands, but from the tight set of her jaw, I figure we're only seeing a sliver of her reaction. She gathers the stack of papers and tosses them to the edge of the bed. "If the brown-haired woman is my mother, maybe we should just ask her what's going on."