The Master Calls

Chapter 9

He awoke with a start, looking around with bleary eyes. He squinted at the clock on the bedside table. It read four forty-five in the morning. And Rose was not in bed.

He got out of bed and padded downstairs, following the bright light that came from the kitchen. She was sitting at the table, laptop open and papers with notes scribbled on them strewn across the table. She was absently biting at the end of her pen as she read something on the laptop.

"Want a cup of tea?" he asked as he strode to the kettle.

"Thanks," she replied, barely glancing up at him.

He filled the kettle and flicked it on, and prepared two cups. He stood at the counter, his back leaning against it. "So you found anything of interest?"

She shook her head, sending her messy blonde hair tumbling around her face like a beautiful halo. Even without makeup, she was striking. He could spend eternity gazing at her and never grow bored or tired. "Nah. You're right about the psychic club. I did a bit of hacking and I can't dig up any dirt on them. I think I might just send Matt and Amelia to interview them. You and I can find Rebecca."

"Did Cornhole find anything?"

"Yeah, he emailed me while I was asleep. Rebecca McAlister. Also nothing noteworthy on her file. But we have an address."

"So she wasn't staying in dorms like Sheela?"

"No, she has her own place. Paid for by mummy and daddy. She comes from a well-to-do family."

"What are her school records like? Was she an above average student?"

"Yeah. Top of her class. Doing really well in her courses at the University."

"And what about Sheela?"

"Hard to say how she would have done at school if she hadn't been on the drugs and booze. But once she got her act together, she completed her grade twelve with top scores."

"And now?"

"Also good. In fact, she's on par with Rebecca in the intelligence department. You think that's the connection? High levels of intelligence. Is that why the brain was taken?"

He shrugged. "Just a theory."

"Hopefully we find Rebecca dead. Then we know that's the connection."

"And here I thought I was the cold-hearted one in this relationship."

She raised an eyebrow. "Relationship?"

The kettle clicked off as it finished boiling and he prepared the teas. He bought over her cup and sat down, shoving papers aside. "Yes, Rose. Relationship. Was there another word I was supposed to have used?" he asked, his eyes challenging her.

She took a sip of her tea and turned to the laptop again, ignoring his posed question. "It is an intriguing case. Absorb the brain and hide the body and when it's found in a couple of months, no one would be able to tell the brain was what the alien was after."

"Yes, and I think in Sheela's case, the alien was interrupted by the cop and the miscreant and couldn't finish."

"The brain was taken. I think that it pretty much accomplished what it set out to do."

He shook his head. "No. The light was still surrounding her. It vanished about a half hour later, which leads me to believe that the ritual wasn't over. Almost complete, but not over."

"But why erase the body of all markings? It doesn't make sense."

"You wash your food before you eat it, don't you?"