and a whisper in my ear

                                        

                                              
Cassie and I went out for a quick stroll around while it was so beautiful out, it’d gotten cold but today was crisp without being painful. The kind of afternoon that warns you that snow is coming, but isn’t quite here yet. We sat at the outdoor gazebo near Mooney’s Bay and went over pictures that she’d grabbed. Some were of us as kids, some were from various events of us these past couple of years, and the rest were her friends and workmates. Cassie was always snapping pictures off on her cell phone or with her digital, but I never realized how many of those candid photos she kept. There was even one photo where neither of us could figure out which one of us it was. It was good picture, which made me think it was Cass; she was giving the camera an amused look, as if to say ‘as soon as you put that camera down, I’m smacking you.’ But for the arched eyebrow being up, there was laughter across her face. We argued over who it was for a little but then her cell went off and all humor drained out of her.
                              

                              
“That crazy Other that the news has been talking about, he’s at the hospital right now Cal.” She said voice a little shaky. Obviously they wanted to see if she could help, but she was scared.
                              

                              
“Let’s go then. I’m right behind you.” I said voice strong. She took my hand gratefully and we went to the hospital. My curiosity was piqued; I wondered what kind of Other this would be, none of the news reports had actually said yet.
                              

                              
Apparently between the time it took to call Cassie and the time it took for us to get to the hospital, the situation had deteriorated. Originally the Other had been brought in with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, his latest victim had been an undercover cop who’d just flat out shot him. Good for the cop. However, now the crazed Other was in the hospital, apparently recovered, and holding victims hostage. He was somehow causing select victims to go absolutely insane; they were harming themselves and the other patients. As soon as he was neutralized, they wanted her to go in and help heal the victims. “You want her to go in there, where a crazy man is. He’s done all this after getting shot and you assume that this time he’ll stay down once you get him down?” I asked, angry that they’d risk my twin sister that way.
                              

                              
“Cal, it’s ok. I want to help. You, of all people, understand I need to help.” Cassie said, almost begging me to not make a fuss. I did understand, but I also understood how she wouldn’t be able to help everyone and those she failed to help would cause the night terrors that made her scream in her sleep. She was escorted inside, to the supposed ‘safe’ zone while I was stuck outside. I waited until some commotion distracted everyone and then I strode up to the cop at the door.
                              

                              
“I’m doctor Cassandra Orenda. I was told to go inside and see how I can help.” I lied, the cop recognized the face and let me in without asking for any actual identification.
                              

                              
I reached the ‘safe’ zone, at the same time as the Other did. Without needing to be a sensate, I could feel the wrongness of him; my mind did not want to accept him as real. He looked normal enough to the eye, a little short, about 5’7 and he had bright gold hair. His eyes were a hazel that blazed with no sense of sanity whatsoever. He hadn’t spotted me yet, so I snapped a picture of him with my phone. And then I felt his gift wash over us, he was somehow able to target a person and lock them in an emotion or strong memory. They would inevitably go quite insane as I didn’t think he chose happy, loving memories.
                              

                              
“Where is she?” he demanded. I gave him a quick look with my magical sense and just got more confused; I couldn’t tell what he was. He wasn’t blocking me out like Edward did, but my gift somehow saw him as twisted; as if he was more than one thing at a time. He was human, a Caster, but at the same time he was a Demon. Which is impossible, even demon blood and devilkin show up as human with demonic influence. This man in front of me was just so impossibly wrong that I froze, unable to think of what to do. Then he spotted Cassandra and zeroed in on her. Guess he found who he was looking for because he snapped in behind her and grabbed her then snapped back near me at the entrance. Apparently he could only do short jumps so I grabbed his arm tightly as he jumped us outside. My unexpected action crash landed us out in a parking lot, maybe a block away. I could hear the hospital commotion but no one was near us. “There are two of you?” he demanded. He was holding Cassie by her hair, pressing her down against the pavement. She had the wind knocked out of her and looked terrified with silent tears running down her cheeks. I kept my grip hard on his arm so he couldn’t jump away with her. It seemed that two people were more than he could handle at once. “Well I’m in a pickle, Master needs her and I’m guessing he’ll want you too.” His voice had a singsong quality that was seriously creepy. “You’ll be an interesting prize won’t you?”