Rock was just about to pick up more boxes when Kat yelled that I was in trouble. He took off down those stairs so fast he only touched two of them. M.C. was right behind him, he would have passed Rock but he was too afraid Rock might step on him! They got to the room and Muffin was jumping up and down, but I was nowhere in sight. Meow,meow!=My human gone, and here is blood! Rock checked it out, sure enough it was fresh blood. The girls came in next and Rock showed them the blood. “Okay, let’s pair up and look for Steve,” said Kat.

Annelie went with Rock, Kat and Jennifer stayed together while the cats decided to go outside and look around. Rock and Annelie checked the first floor. “This is Danny’s bedroom,” said Annelie, but the door is locked. She knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Then “Boom” and Rock had knocked the door right off it’s hinges. Danny wasn’t inside however. “That liar!”, yelled Rock. “Just because he’s not here doesn’t mean he had anything to do with Steve’s disappearance,” said Annelie. “Ha!,” said Rock, “he had something to do with it all right.”

Rock was kind of angry right now, more at himself than anything. After all, he had come here to protect me, and now I’m gone. Everyone continued looking until a loud, long yowl was heard from M.C.! Everyone rushed out to the side of the house. Before they got there, another scream and then “Thwock!”. All arrived about the same time. Meow!=I come and see human Danny on knees beside human Steve, he have knife in hand, I not have any rubber balls so I jump on his back and scratch! Then Muffin come and Thwock him! Annelie checked me right away but I hadn’t been stabbed. I did have a scratch on my head that had been tended to by someone.

“That could be the source of the blood upstairs,” said Annelie. Kat asked Rock to carry me back to their bedroom. He picked up me and Danny and carried us inside. Once I was lying down Annelie checked me more thoroughly. “How come you don’t have rubber balls?”, Kat asked M.C. Meow.=Not know, should be in backpack, but not there. Kat checked my backpack and found some so she put them in M.C.’s backpack. “That’s odd,” she said and emptied out both their backpacks and had the cats sniff everything to see if anyone has been touching stuff.

Sure enough, someone had gone through both backpacks. “I don’t like that,” said Kat. “And when did they do it?”, asked Jennifer. The cats sniffed her backpack and Annelie’s things too, but no one had gone through theirs. “Probably didn’t have time,” said Annelie. “That’s a comforting thought,” said Jennifer, “Danny has some questions to answer.” “And he’s going to answer them,” said Rock, still angry. After a short while I opened my eyes and looked around. I spotted Annelie and started to say repeatedly, “killer, killer”, while pointing at her. “Steve, take it easy, that’s Annelie, our friend,” said Kat.

But I took out my gun quickly and pointed it at Annelie, however Kat grabbed my arm and pushed upward so my shot hit the ceiling. Then I relaxed and she took the gun from me. “What’s wrong with him Annelie?”, asked Kat. “I would say he’s been drugged,” she answered. “And he’s been told to kill you,” added Rock, “he wasn’t saying Killer, he was saying kill her.” “Yes, that’s right,” said Annelie.

“But depending on the type of drug used it could send him back to “nowhere” again,” said Kat, “we’ll have to watch him closely. Did you bring his medication Annelie?” “Yes, I have it,” she said, “but his heart rate is slow, so I don’t want to give him a shot right now. Besides, it might interact badly with the drug they used on him.” I opened my eyes again and started talking, though it didn’t make sense to anyone, except Muffin.

“Lady in white dress at top of stairs, this was her favorite chair, picture above fireplace, car is on fire, fireplace, narrow passage, old dishes in dining room, no dust on her chair, dust everywhere, no ghosts Muffin, you fainted, she’s not a ghost, lost gold, John, John, lady in white dress. Then I spotted Rock and yelled out, “John, John, John!!” “Hey, it’s okay Steve,” said Kat, “that’s not John, this is Rock. John is dead, remember? This is Rock.” “John is dead?,” I said, “no, John, not dead.” Everyone looks at each other. Then I sat up, with Kat still holding my arm. But I moved fast and threw Kat to the floor. Jennifer jumped in front of her and kicked me in the stomach which dropped me back on the bed…

To Be Continued.

Previous chapters of this story, and other stories, can be found on my home page under “The Investigators, Inc.”

©2021 Steve McLeod.