Closer to the Edge
Chapter Twelve-Nightmares
Upon arriving at the scene, Jo’s stomach clenched tightly and turned. There were police there and yellow and black crime scene tape was wrapped around the perimeter. There were news vans around as well as curious onlookers. There were police standing around a tree looking up and Jo’s eyes instinctively raised. She gasped and raised a hand to her mouth. There was a woman lying on her stomach. Her eyes were lifeless and dull, and a milky white color. Her entire back was shredded and there were visible protrusions poking through the material of her shirt which Jo immediately recognized. Lassiter and O’Hara were already approaching some officers to get information.
Jo left Emily with Henry. Shawn and Gus arrived shortly after that. Blood had dripped down the victims arms onto the ground below. Jo leaned against the front of the Crown Victoria and tried to keep her stomach from doing backflips, swallowing waves of nausea. She suddenly felt someone coming up beside her. She jumped and turned. It was Shawn.
“Hey you okay, Ingrid?” he asked her looking concerned.
Gus was standing next to him watching her anxiously also. Jo nodded and swallowed again.
“It’s just the site of that poor woman up in the tree,” she said thickly. “Its so horrible.”
Gus followed her gaze and immediately she saw him dry heaving and saw him turn away. Gus didn’t seem to be too comfortable around this either.
Gus actually ended up heaving and lunged into the bushes where she heard him retching. Jo sympathized with him. It wasn’t the most pleasant thing in the world to look at. The coroner’s began carefully getting the woman down from the tree. At that point, Lassiter and O’Hara approached Jo and Shawn. Gus finally came back looking sallow and green.
“Sorry Ingrid,” Gus said in a wobbly voice.
“It’s fine Gus I understand,” she said softly.
“What happened to you buddy, they used to call you Iron Stomach,” Shawn said frowning.
“Shawn,” Gus said in a reproachful tone. “Not even the strongest stomach could accept that scene in the tree with ease.”
Lassiter cleared his throat.
“Apparently from witness statements,” he said. “The young woman was walking along here. They said some large animal jumped out from behind some bushes and attacked her. They heard her screaming and immediately called the police. By the time the police had come, the animal had dragged her up the tree.” Lassiter said.
O’Hara shivered and hugged herself.
“That poor woman,” she said solemnly.
“Did they say what kind of animal attacked her?” Gus asked Lassiter, keeping his eyes on him to avoid looking up at woman’s body.
“A large feline,” he said. “About the size of a mountain lion or bigger.”
Jo just shivered at that. Shawn gently grasped Ingrid’s arm as he and Gus stepped past her to head toward the small cluster of witnesses. O’Hara winked at Jo and followed closely behind them.
Lassiter turned his eyes onto Jo.
“Are you alright, Miss Matthews?” he grunted quietly.
Jo just nodded and forced a smile but she knew Lassiter saw through her. Thankfully to his credit, he didn’t push her for information. But she could feel his eyes on her the entire time.
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That night, Jo collapsed in bed exhausted. They’d checked the body over at the morgue with Woody the ME, whom Jo found amusing and fun but also serious and good at his job (Shawn had informed her of some of the more ‘illicit’ things he liked to get into but he never got anyone in trouble) but she promised not to reveal any of those.
She had changed into a pair of light blue pajama bottoms and a matching white tank top with spaghetti shoulder straps. Her hair fell around her shoulders in soft waves as she finally curled up on the bed and dozed off. Eventually, she ended up dreaming….
When she jumped awake, Jo found herself standing in the middle of the woods, barefoot. There was mud caked on her feet, ankles and thighs, as well as the front of her pajamas and a smudge on her cheek. Her fingers were caked with mud and a red substance. She frantically looked around and spied more of what appeared to be blood on the front of her tank top and throat. Hyperventilating a bit, she looked around for the source and found a hunter’s body lying a few feet away. His throat had been torn out.
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Sitting in the precinct, Jo was shaking badly. She had a glimmer of tears in her eyes. She had no recollection of how she’d gotten there or what had happened. Fear was gripping her chest like an ice cold vice. Her legs were shaking badly as she looked up to see Lassiter and O’Hara approaching. Emily thankfully was with Henry at his place. Shawn and Gus were coming over. From the looks on Lassiter and O’Hara’s faces, it wasn’t good news. She was still dressed in her pajamas and she slowly stood up and clasped her hands behind her back, knowing full well that the scenario wasn’t in her favor.
She felt gentle but firm hands on her wrists as the cold steel of the handcuffs were clacked over her wrists.
“I’m so sorry, Miss Matthews,” Lassiter’s voice hit her ear.
She could hear his voice waver a bit and she heard pain behind those words. She slowly turned around and sure enough the expression on his face said it all.
“Whoa Lassie you can’t really believe that she killed that guy do you?” Shawn interjected looking upset and affronted at the same time. “Dude there is no way she could do something like that!”
“Spencer,” Lassiter began. “I’ll admit, it’s highly unlikely,” he said glancing at Jo. “But the situation is dire and very bad. She was found with the hunter’s blood all over her. It doesn’t look good from any perspective.”
“And where’s the weapon Lassie?” Shawn challenged him vehemently. “Did she suddenly sprout fangs during the night that we don’t know about?”
Jo knew this was a dig at Lassiter. Lassiter’s ice blue eyes flashed for a moment.
“Spencer,” he said in a dangerously calm voice. “I’d watch the next words that come from your mouth.”
Shawn let out an angry ‘tsk’ noise from the side of his mouth and turned away.
“Don’t worry Ingrid,” Gus said to Jo firmly. “Shawn and I will find out what really happened.”
“Watch Emily for me okay?” Jo said in a broken voice. “Just tell her that I’m helping you guys out for a few days. Just make something up.”
Shawn nodded and swallowed hard so that his Adams apple bobbed. Jo felt Lassiter gently take her arm and lead her down to the holding cells. Jo stood in the cell and let him carefully remove her handcuffs. She turned to face him. He looked just as upset but she noted that he hid this expression well from the others.
“Please tell me you don’t believe I killed that poor man,” Jo said quietly.
“No,” Lassiter exhaled quietly. “But it looks pretty bad.”
Lassiter slowly reached up his hand and touched Jo’s cheek where there was mud and dried blood caked.
“I’ll make sure to have someone clean you up and get you some fresh clothes,” he said clearing his throat as though he was embarrassed. Jo took a step backwards respectively as the cell door closed. She sat on the freshly made cot and buried her face into her hands.
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True to his word, Lassiter had made sure that Jo got cleaned up and fresh clothes were given to her. She was wearing pair of sweat pants and an over sized sweatshirt. She was curled up the cot now fast asleep that evening. Her hand was dangling over the edge of the cot. Suddenly, searing pain shot through her body and she screamed as her body convulsed violently on the cot. She heard several officers shouting and heard the sound of the cell door opening. Her body flopped onto the floor and continued to convulse. She felt a warm, coppery liquid trickling from her mouth in the corner as she thrashed about. She was vaguely aware of hands holding her down, and shouts of the officers as a slow blackness crept over her sub-consciousness.
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Lassiter stormed into the precinct. His heart was racing madly in his chest, pounding heavily against his ribs. They’d gotten a call from one of the night shift officers that Ingrid had gone into some kind of seizure. She wasn’t responsive. O’Hara was right at his heels.
When he reached the holding cells, there was a flurry of activity. His heart squeezed violently when he saw Ingrid on her back on the floor, wrists by her ears and her head was turned away from him. Blood was trickling from the corner of her mouth and her ear.
He rushed to her side and looked up.
“I hope one of you morons called 911,” he barked at officers milled around.
“Yes sir,” a young rookie named Collins said quickly. “They’re on their way.”
“What exactly happened?” he demanded as he gently placed a hand on the side of her face, turning her face toward his. He cupped her jawline as his thumb was placed in front of her ear.
“She just began screaming and thrashing around,” Collins said swallowing and looking sallow and green. “Then she just stopped. She has a pulse but she’s not breathing.”
O’Hara was silent as she raised a hand to her mouth in horror at hearing what had happened. Lassiter turned his eyes back onto Ingrid. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be lifeless. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and she sucked in a sharp breath of air. Her hand reached out and grabbed a handful of Lassiter’s shirt on his chest. But what alarmed him was her eyes were a milky white color.
“Matthews?” Lassiter said tentatively.
“Lassiter?” Ingrid said anxiously. “What’s going on?” she asked, her voice sounding panicked and a bit shrill. “How come I’m seeing myself?”
“What do you mean?” he asked her.
“It’s like I’m looking through your eyes,” she said blinking slowly but those milky white eyes remained. “I can see myself…but,” she said frowning suddenly. “I can also feel your emotions. Frightened, anxious,” she frowned. “Other feelings….”
“Alright,” Lassiter interjected quickly cutting her off deliberately. “I want you to get checked out by the paramedics to make sure you’re alright.”
Her eyes were still a milky white color but when she blinked, her eyes returned to their normal color. She got to her feet just as the EMT’s came in.
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Jo let the EMT’s check her over. Surprisingly there was nothing wrong with her. She promised them that if she felt sick or off that she would get to the ER asap. When everyone had left, she stood hugging herself. Eight pairs of eyes watched her.
“I have no idea what the hell is going on,” Jo said chewing on her bottom lip. “First I wake up net to a dead hunter and now this.” She said sighing as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I’m scared.”
“Ingrid,” Gus suddenly interjected. “This happened after you were nicked by Lassiter right?” he said in a thoughtful tone. “What if this has something to do with that?”
“What are you on about Guster?” Lassiter grunted in irritation. “Are you trying to say that she’s got some kind of bond to me or something? That’s ridiculous.” He scoffed.
“It’s possible,” he said. “We did hear her say something that she was seeing through your eyes…so why not?”
Lassiter huffed and threw his hands up in the air, but Jo wondered if Gus might be onto something.
“You could be right, Gus,” she said eagerly. “We have to check up on this more. Is there a way we can do some research?”
“Well we can head to the office,” Shawn offered glancing at Gus. “If that’s okay with Lassieface.”
All eyes turned onto Lassiter at this point. He grunted in annoyance and said nothing which everyone took that as a ‘yes’.
Gus sat in front of the computer with Jo, Shawn, and O’Hara behind him peering over his shoulder. Gus began looking up ‘werewolves’ and ‘lycanthropy’.
“There has to be some connection,” Gus was saying as he clicked open a window. “It’s just strange and coincidental.”
“This is all malarkey and stupid,” Lassiter grunted from where he was standing by the wall. He had one shoulder leaning against it with his arms folded over his chest. “There’s no way she can be ‘bonded’ with me. I thought only when another werewolf bites or scratches another that person turns into a werewolf too?”
All eyes turned onto him at that moment. I guess they weren’t used to hearing this from the former most skeptical person in the world.
“Well,” Gus said. “Technically you’re right Lassie,” he said clicking another window. “But there’s something else going on here.”
Jo glanced up at Lassiter before turning her eyes back onto the computer screen.
“Ah ha,” Gus said excitedly. “Here we go.” He cleared his throat and began reading. Jo followed along with him. “According to this site, a bond can form between a werewolf and its ‘victim’. It doesn’t take a bite, but more along the lines of a scratch et cetera. This bond is tight and the victim can now sense if the werewolf is in danger and see through his or her eyes. It’s called ‘Shadow Space’. It works only one way, as the victim can only see through the eyes of their turner, but the turner cannot possess the same ability.” Gus said raising his eyes to Lassiters.
“So what you’re saying Gus is that Ingrid can tell when or if Lassie’s in danger, but he can’t sense if she’s in trouble?” Shawn prompted him slowly.
Gus nodded.
“That’s ridiculous,” Lassiter scoffed snorting. “I would never let Miss Matthews get into trouble or danger.”
“There’s more Lassie,” Gus said in a serious tone now which caused Jo to become a bit more alert now. “The bond can get so deep that if the victim is separated from the turner for a long period of time and over a great distance, the victim could die. While werewolves are caught between the living and dead, the victims are caught between the living and limbo. They haven’t fully changed, but their bodies are in some kind of suspension. If the victim remains in the natural world for too long, chaos can occur…”
At that Gus’ voice trailed off and he went sallow. All the color drained from his face as his eyes were locked on the screen.
“What’s wrong Gus?” O’Hara asked him worriedly. “What does the rest of it say?”
Gus looked up at Jo.
“It says that the only way for the chaos to stop…is for the victim to leave the world.”
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“Are you saying that I have to die?” Jo squeaked out as fear gripped her.
“It says that the longer you stay the worse the chaos will get in the natural world.” Gus said. “Eventually the world will get destroyed. “Because you weren’t meant to be.”
“Guster!” Lassiter barked. “I will not go on to believe that Miss Matthews has to die in order to stop what the hells going on here!” Lassiter turned his ice blue eyes onto Jo. “You are not going to die, understand? We will find out more information and another way.”
Jo just nodded.
“Lassiter’s right,” O’Hara said. “Gus there has to be another way.”
Gus nodded and continued to scroll down the page.
“Actually there is,” he said. “The only way to stop the chaos would be to turn Ingrid completely.”
“You mean I’d have to bite her?” Lassiter asked as his tone hedged a bit.
Gus nodded.
“Yes,” he said. “But she would have to be close to death but not entirely. This is the part that’s apparently tricky. She has to be an inch of death before the full transformation can start. So you’d have to make sure not to go too far otherwise she’ll die.”
“Seems like no matter what I’d die,” Jo said dryly biting her lower lip.
At that, Lassiter came over to her and stood in front of her. He inclined his head a bit and leaned in.
“We won’t let that happen,” he said in a quiet huff. “I promise you.”
At that Jo looked up at him and saw the cold determination on his face that she couldn’t help but feel reassured and she nodded and managed a smile. Jo snaked her arms around Lassiter’s midsection and snuggled up against him pressing her cheek against his chest. She gave him a squeeze and felt him let out a huff of air. Jo totally believed him. She wasn’t worried on that aspect, but she knew the idea of him turning her fully was something that was not going to go over well. As Jo was hugging him, sure enough she heard him huff out a question.
“Guster, is there any other way for this to happen? I am not thrilled with the idea of having to do that to Miss Matthews,”
“Sorry Lassie those are the only two options,” She heard Gus say apologetically as she finally released him. Jo stood next to him.
“I trust you,” she said looking up at him.
He looked less than happy but grunted a noncommittal noise.
Jo turned to Gus.
“So when do we do this?”
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The following month, Jo had prepared herself for what was about to happen. Lassiter was not a happy camper at all. The weather in Santa Barbara was still cold. The snow had stopped but there were still patches of ice around. It was midnight as they gathered in the psych office. They couldn’t do it in the precinct so the office was the next best thing. Shawn and Gus had cleared away some furniture leaving a large square space. Jo took off her parka and placed it on the couch. She was dressed in a tee shirt and a pair of jeans. She stood at one end of the square and glanced up at Lassiter. He was wearing a scowl, which meant he clearly was against this with every fiber of his body.
“It’s time I feel it,” he grunted as he slipped behind a large island.
Jo’s heart was racing madly in her chest at this point. She could hear the grunts and strains which meant he was changing. Sure enough a few moments later the salt and pepper wolf came trotting out and sat down in front of her looking up at her with its ice blue eyes.
Jo took a deep breath and nodded, signaling that she was ready. She knew Lassiter was against this whole heartedly and didn’t blame him. But she couldn’t let the entire world go down the toilet either. Innocent people could die. She didn’t want that on her conscience. She looked over at Shawn and Gus.
“Guys, in case anything goes wrong, I’d like Henry to take care of Emily,” Jo said in a thick voice.
“You’re gonna be fine, Ingrid,” Shawn said swallowing but he looked grave and forlorn.
O’Hara was even subdued. Ingrid looked down at Lassiter and nodded to go a head. She heard the wolf growl and leaped up, placing his front paws on her chest bowling her over so that she landed on her back. She felt the wolf’s immense weight as it stood over her. Her heart was still racing like mad in her chest. She heard the wolf growling, its jaws inches from her throat. Just then the wolf’s jaws opened and scissor around her throat. She could feel the sharp canines and incisors jabbing into her neck. She shut her eyes and waited.
The pressure increased and she knew this was it.
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Lassiter’s jaws squeezed around Ingrid’s throat even more but as he looked at her and the other watching with baited breaths, he couldn’t go through with it. He couldn’t ‘nearly’ kill her. Instead, he released her throat and clamped his jaws on her hand, breaking the skin. Ingrid cried out and sat up right, clutching her. She looked over at Lassiter. A look of confusion, shock and irritation moved across her face.
The others were also just as confused.
“Why didn’t you do it, Detective?” Ingrid asked wincing in pain as Shawn rushed to get a bandage to wrap around her hand to stem the bleeding. “Now things are gonna get worse!”
Lassiter just lowered his head and gaze and let his ears fall back against his skull. He couldn’t go through with it. He just couldn’t. It was bad enough that he was cursed with this thing, but now so was Ingrid. That was bad, but if he had ‘almost’ killed her, it would’ve killed him. As he searched his feelings, he realized that he was starting to have affectionate feelings toward her…and Emily. He’d never admit that outright to anyone, but he knew that O’Hara could and would see right through him. He could deal with her knowing but not Spencer.
Speaking of which, Spencer looked over at him and then turned back to Ingrid.
“Give Lassie a break Ingrid. It was probably really hard for him,” Shawn said shrugging. “After all what we were asking him to do was beyond rational.”
Lassiter felt a twinge of warmth toward the pseudo-psychic, but only a little.
“I understand,” Ingrid said turning to Shawn. “But now according to that site things are gonna get worse here!” She looked upset and angry at the same time. “Shawn can you please just take me back home? I gotta pick up Emily.”
O’Hara came over and gave his ear a quick scratch.
“It’s okay,” she whispered to him. “I know why you could’nt go through with it.” She said giving him a quick wink before she too headed out leaving him alone in the office.
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The next morning, Jo had her hand wrapped up and was making Emily breakfast. At that moment the door bell rang. She wiped her hands on a towel and answered it. It was detective Lassiter.
“What do you want?” she asked him curtly.
He cleared his throat.
“Miss Matthews I’d like to explain why I didn’t go through with it last night,” he said watching her. “Please.”
Jo carefully closed the door behind her and folded her arms across her chest as she glared at him, waiting for him to give his explanation. He looked nervous and cleared his throat again.
“I-I was afraid that if I missed or actually killed you, it would eat away at me for a long time,” he grunted. “Plus, I-I was thinking of Emily. If she had lost you.”
Jo just arched an eyebrow at him.
“Oh how sweet of you to think about Emily,” she said curtly. “But she’s nothing to you. You’re not her father.”
Something flashed across Lassiter's face as Jo bit her tongue. She realized she was pushing things and guilt immediately slipped into her chest at that moment. Her words were harsh but she was genuinely interested to learn why he cared so much about Emily.
“Miss Matthews I will have you know that I care about that girl just as much as you do,” Lassiter huffed angrily. “I also care about her mother as well.”
Jo was gob smacked. Lassiter stepped closer to her and inclined his head.
“I did not go through with nearly killing you because I couldn’t and wouldn’t do that. I make sure that scum bags are put behind bars and off the streets.” He continued. “But I will not nearly take the life of someone I care about and leave her daughter motherless. While some people think I’m heartless and cold, that is not the case. So if you’re pissed at me fine, be pissed but I will not apologize for refusing to nearly end your life.”
Jo was silent at this point.
“It’s bad enough I bit you,” Lassiter went on gently taking her bandaged hand in his. His hand was a bit rough and calloused but gentle at the same time. “Now you’re saddled with this ‘curse’.”
His thumb swept over her bandage before he released it and adjusted the knot of it his tie at the base of his throat.
“So why did you bite me?” Jo said finally finding her voice. “If nearly ending my life was hard, why did you turn around and bite me?”
Lassiter watched her for a moment.
“Perhaps I was hopeful that with a bite to the hand turning you would do the trick,” he said. “We don’t know.”
Jo’s face softened and she felt her anger ebbing away.
“Want to join us for breakfast?” she asked him softly. “I know Emily would love to see you.”
Before Lassiter could decline politely, Emily came rushing past Jo and threw her arms around Lassiter’s waist.
“Lassie! Come eat with us!” she cried cheerfully.
Lassiter had glanced down at her and for the first time, Jo saw a genuine grin forming on his face.
Jo held the door open more as they waited expectantly. Lassiter took a step inside.
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