A State of Grace Pt. 03

I moaned softly into his mouth as our kiss deepened, lost in the pleasure of Kevin's love. Then the doorbell rang, startling us both. I couldn't help it, I giggled a little as we stepped back from each other. I gently stroked the scarred side of his face.

"Hold that thought, Love," I said softly. "We're definitely going to get back to it later!"

"Oh yes we will!" he agreed enthusiastically.

He took my hand in his, and we went together to the entry foyer. Kevin looked through the peephole, then opened the front door.

"Uncle Kev!" came a shout, just before a little curly-haired tornado plowed into Kevin's legs. "Make me fly again, Uncle Kev! I want to fly!"

With a grin, Kevin scooped Kayla into his arms and hoisted her into the air above his head. The little girl laughed in sheer joy, stretching her arms wide as Kevin swung her body in a slow, gentle figure-8 above his head. After a few moments, he set her back down so Crystal could step inside. She hugged Kevin with both arms (Kevin pulled her hand off of his ass almost automatically).

"It's so good to see you two!" Kevin said.

"Hey Crystal," I said quietly, as my friend embraced me.

Crystal knew me well and instantly picked up on my nervousness. Her azure blue eyes were filled with compassion as she embraced me.

"It's going to be okay, Gracie," she said, quietly. "No matter how bad the stuff Kevin found turns out to be, we'll deal with it!"

"I know," I said. "Kevin said the same, and I trust him. I just can't help-"

I cut myself off, looking around to make sure little Kayla was still occupied with pestering Kevin; I didn't want to chance her overhearing anything. Fortunately, she was following him into the kitchen, listening raptly as he teased her about serving pickled mushrooms in anchovy sauce for dinner. Seeing that she was safely out of earshot, I returned my attention to my friend.

"I just can't help dwelling on the video clip we saw last week," I finished. "That was some seriously sick, evil, twisted stuff! And he - well, WE - are going to be showing Elizabeth what's been done to her mother! If thinking about it makes me ill, I can just imagine how it will affect Elizabeth!"

"I've met Elizabeth professionally, though I can't claim to know her well," Crystal said. "But from what you and Kevin have said, she strikes me as being the kind of person who can handle it. Especially given the fact that we are going to turn it all over to the police and start the process of seeing justice done!"

I dearly hoped Crystal was right. I hoped that was how Elizabeth would react. Kevin and I had always been close to Elizabeth, and later, Fleur. Of all of our cousins, Elizabeth was the closest to us in age. Our shared experiences in recent days had only drawn us closer to each other. I hoped that bond was strong enough to withstand the shock that was coming.

As though my thoughts had willed it to happen, the doorbell rang again. I released Crystal and moved back to the door and looked through the peephole. Then, I unlocked the door so Elizabeth and Fleur could come in. I closed and securely locked the door behind them as they passed into the foyer. Elizabeth smiled, but she was obviously uncomfortable returning to this house. She hadn't lived here long, before leaving for college, but it had still been too long for her tastes, just the same.

Fleur also smiled. She hugged me tightly.

"It's good to see you, Grace!" she said.

"You too, Fleur!" I said, returning the hug and lightly kissing her cheek. "How are things at home?"

Her smile grew wider if that were possible, and she sighed in loving contentment.

"Things are better than they've been in a while!" she said, happily. She glanced over at Elizabeth, then back at me. "In fact, we're even talking about the possibility of expanding our family!"

"OH!" I gasped and squeezed her tightly once more. "That's wonderful!"

"Of course," Fleur continued, her French-Canadian accent getting stronger, "Something else must happen first."

"What might that be?" I asked.

Fleur shook her head. "You'll find out later, Gracie!" she said with a secretive smile. "Where's Kevin?"

"He and Kayla are in the kitchen," I replied, just as Elizabeth finished greeting Crystal. Elizabeth was eyeing Crystal strangely, and smoothing her skirt down against her legs, while Crystal gazed back at her with an innocent look that I didn't believe for a moment.

Elizabeth had met Crystal in a professional capacity a few years ago (if you'll remember, Elizabeth is a case worker that works for the State Office of Family and Children's Services). Elizabeth frequently had to assist the victims of the crimes that Crystal helped to expose. I don't know if I ever mentioned to Crystal the fact that Liza and I are cousins.

"Fleur, this is Crystal Edwards. She's one of my dearest friends," I said, by way of introduction. "Elizabeth, I believe you already know Crystal?"

"Yes, of course," Elizabeth said.

Fleur glanced curiously at Elizabeth, then smiled at Crystal and shook her hand. Fleur then let out a startled gasp when Crystal pulled her into a hug and slid a hand over her ass.

"Excusez-Moi!" Fleur exclaimed in mild alarm as she stepped back from Crystal. For her part, Crystal smiled and blushed lightly.

"Désolé, mademoiselle Fleur," Crystal said. (Somehow, I wasn't surprised to learn she could speak French.) "Je ne pouvais pas l'aider!"

Fleur looked slightly poleaxed at that point.

"C'est bon," Fleur replied. "In the future, though-"

"Of course," Crystal replied, ducking her head apologetically. From the corner of my eye, I saw Elizabeth approach her girlfriend and begin speaking softly into her ear, probably giving her a quick explanation for Crystal's wandering hands.

Just then, Kevin came back into the room with Kayla. This time the child ran over to her mother and leaned her head against her.

"Mommy, are we gonna eat soon? My tummy's all rumbly!"

"Liza! Good to see you!" Kevin said, at the same time.

He smiled, seeing our cousin and her girlfriend, and made his way over to them. He gently hugged Elizabeth and gave her an affectionate peck on the cheek, then he grinned at Fleur.

"Hey, Fleur!" he said, giving her a brief, but close hug. "How're things going with the two of you?"

"Pretty good, Kev," Elizabeth said. Fleur nodded her agreement with Elizabeth and was about to speak when little Kayla escaped from her mother and ran full tilt for Kevin. Throwing her arms around his waist, she looked up at him.

"Uncle Kev, I'm hungry!" she said.

"Okay, sweetie," he said, leaning down to plant a gentle kiss atop her head. "How about we go eat?"

"Yay!" she exclaimed, happily. Then, the little girl turned to face the two women she hadn't met. Her eyes grew wide and she pressed herself into Kevin's leg for a moment. But then, Kevin leaned down and gently cupped the back of her head.

"Kayla," he said, gently. "I want you to meet two very special people. They're part of our family, and I love them both very much."

He gestured to Fleur first, since she was closest to them.

"This lady here is Fleur!"

"Hi, Fleur," Kayla said, tentatively, eyes still wide and a little wary.

"Hello, little one!" Fleur said, crouching so she could speak to Kayla at her level. "It's nice to meet you!"

Fleur held out her hand to Kayla, and the little girl shook it solemnly. Then she broke into a wide grin and pumped Fleur's hand more enthusiastically.

"Wow!" she exclaimed. "You're really strong!"

Kayla looked over at her mother.

"Do you think I'll be as strong as she is when I grow up, Mommy?"

"I'm sure you will be, Punkin," Crystal said, grinning at her daughter.

Fleur chuckled softly, then gasped in surprise as Kayla suddenly hugged her. As I watched, Fleur's eyes grew a little misty as she returned the child's embrace. Then Kayla stepped back, smiling up at Kevin.

"And this lady here," Kevin continued without missing a beat, "Is our cousin, Elizabeth!"

Kayla smiled as Elizabeth also squatted down to be at her level.

"Wow, you're pretty!" Kayla enthused. She hugged Elizabeth, and like Fleur before her, my cousin looked a little misty-eyed at the gesture. Elizabeth gazed up at Fleur over the child's shoulder, her eyes full of longing. It wasn't hard at all to see what she wanted. A quick glance at Fleur's face revealed an almost identical yearning. I laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently.

Kayla gently pushed back from Elizabeth, then looked first at her mother, then at Kevin.

"Can we eat now? Please?"

Kevin and I had prepared a family favorite for dinner: meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and our Mom's famous spinach salad (okay, not really famous, but it ought to be!). The six of us sat down and enjoyed a wonderful meal together. Afterward, we sat around and chatted while Kayla played on her mother's tablet. Soon, the little girl's head started to droop, and Kevin picked up on it.

"I think it's time for little girls to head to bed!" he said.

Kayla sighed, but set down her mother's tablet and took Kevin's hand without protest. She kissed everyone goodnight, then allowed Kevin to lead her to the guest bedroom. A little while later, Kevin returned to the kitchen and reclaimed his seat. I noticed that this time, he had his laptop with him, and I felt myself shiver slightly, dreading what was to come.

"I know I didn't tell you two very much over the phone," he began. "Without meaning to sound too dramatic, I had my reasons for that. Grace, Crystal, and I have a great deal to show you tonight. Some of it, quite honestly, is going to freak you right the hell out! Some of it is going to make you angry as hell, and some of it is just going to make you sick."

He paused, seeing the alarmed look on Fleur's and Elizabeth's faces.

"I wish there was a gentle way to give you this information, but there really isn't," Kevin continued, sadly. "I'm asking for your trust, now. I need to show you something. Something terrible."

Kevin stood up and took my hand. Fleur stood as well and took Elizabeth's hand. Together, the five of us went to the back bedroom that Trent had made into an office. When she reached the threshold, Elizabeth came to a sudden halt. As I looked back at her, I immediately took note of her wide eyes, flared nostrils, tensed muscles, and posture. It was a textbook fear response. But to what?

Elizabeth had a death grip on Fleur's hand, and her breathing was rapid and shallow as she stared into the office. Her gaze slid over every item in the room, and she suddenly started to tremble.

"Honey!" Fleur cried in alarm. "What's wrong?"

"I don't-" Elizabeth stammered through lips that barely opened. "I don't know. I just...I HATE this room!"

I looked away from her for a moment to look at Kevin. Far from being surprised, his face looked grim.

"Yes," he said quietly, "I'm sure you hate this room. Everyone who's been in here so far has hated it. There's a good reason for that but stick with me a little longer, Liza. Do you still trust me?"

Elizabeth looked at him for a moment, then nodded her head. Kevin then turned his gaze to Fleur, and Fleur met his eyes and echoed her girlfriend's nod.

"Yes," Elizabeth said. "I trust you with my life, Kevin."

"As do I, Kevin," Fleur said.

He smiled faintly and reached for Elizabeth's hand. When she took it, he reached out for Fleur's hand as well. Then, he very gently pulled the two women fully into the room. Crystal and I followed. I had thought that last week's exposure had made me immune to the effects of being here, but I was wrong. I still felt the creepy, fingers-running-down-your-spine sensation I'd always felt in here. Damn, but I hated this room, too!

Kevin released Fleur and Elizabeth and stepped over to the credenza. The sound of the concealed latch mechanism startled me, even though I was expecting it. Fleur and Elizabeth both looked surprised as Kevin pushed the credenza smoothly out of the way, revealing the wall safe hidden behind it.

Elizabeth's face looked like she was daydreaming.

"I remember seeing the safe before," she said softly.

"Do you remember anything else about this room, Liza?" Kevin asked.

"No," she said quickly, but her voice sounded different.

Kevin watched her carefully for a moment, then he leaned down and lifted the hatch that led to the secret room. If I'd thought Fleur and Elizabeth looked surprised before, it was nothing compared to what they looked like now!

"You're joking," Fleur muttered as she stared down into the blackness beyond the opening.

Elizabeth's breathing quickened, and she looked almost ready to bolt.

"No," she said again, her tone flat with what sounded like fear.

"Kevin, where does that lead?" Fleur asked.

"To the basement," Kevin replied. "Trent partitioned off a section of the basement to make a sort of secret room. As for what he used it for, well, that's the rest of what we're going to talk about tonight."

"Do we have to go down there?" Elizabeth whispered tightly. It seemed to me that she was barely in control of herself. From the way Fleur snapped her head around to look at her girlfriend, she must have picked up on it too.

"No, Liza," Kevin said soothingly. "The days of you being forced to do things and go places you don't want to go are over."

At almost the exact same time, every eye in the room focused on him. He returned our collective gaze calmly.

"What do you mean, Kevin?" Fleur demanded. I could tell from her tone that she must suspect at least a little of what she was about to hear. She wasn't an engineering student or a psychologist, but she was very intelligent.

Kevin didn't reply. Instead, he took something out of his pocket and held it up for all of us to see. It was a small rectangular plastic box. It had a small view window at the top, inside of which was a needle that reminded me of the Vu needles you used to see on old-fashioned sound mixing boards. There was also a series of small LED lights of different colors.

"This is an EMF meter," Kevin said. "It's used to measure ambient electromagnetic fields."

He pointed to the needle in the window.

"Right now, it's measuring a rather intense field strength within the room," he continued. "As you may or may not be aware, strong EM fields can cause all kinds of psychosomatic responses in human beings and animals both. The most common are feelings of intense unease, the sense of being watched, jumpiness, and fearfulness. Other possible symptoms include nausea, headaches, blurred vision, even ringing in the ears."

Kevin shook his head in mixed disgust and admiration, an odd combination of emotions.

"Strong EMF readings are common in older buildings, especially in buildings that were built before electricity was widely available. It's a result of inadequate shielding around the wiring, or breaker boxes."

I was suddenly reminded, rather forcibly, that this was Kevin's bailiwick: electrical engineering!

"It can also happen when someone decides to take on wiring projects without knowing what they're doing. Hell, sometimes even professionals just screw up and wire things improperly!"

Kevin's moment of levity faded, and his face grew dark again.

"In this case, the cause is none of the above," he said flatly. "This is deliberate! I found no less than three EM generators, or EM 'pumps,' located in the subflooring of this room. They were wired in place for the express purpose of creating a strong EMF effect in this room. I can only surmise, given what I know of Trent, that it was meant to be a subtle security measure."

He shook his head and gave us a faint grin.

"Much as I hate to, I've got to give the bastard credit where credit is due. It's a very clever, and simple security measure, that's guaranteed to have the desired effect - or worse - on roughly 95% of the population that's exposed to it! Unfortunately, it's also designed to trigger a certain response in people Trent has...worked on, so to speak."

And then I knew. I knew exactly where Kevin was going with all of this, and I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. No, I prayed silently. Please God, not Elizabeth too!

Kevin slid the EMF meter back in his pocket and then pulled out another device. This one was easily recognizable as a remote control. As we all watched, Kevin pressed a short sequence of buttons. Then, sweet relief! It was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. The creepy feeling and discomfort were gone.

"I found the EM pumps had also been wired to an RF transceiver," Kevin said. "Obviously, if Trent was actually going to do any work in this room, he'd need to have a way to turn the EMF on and off at will. I wasn't able to find whatever he used to control the system himself, but it was easy enough for me to jury-rig something that would work. In this case, I used a universal TV remote."

We all gazed at Kevin in amazement.

"Kevin," Crystal said at last, "I don't doubt your Uncle was as clever as he was evil, but I find it hard to believe he did all of this stuff himself."

"No," Kevin replied quickly, "He didn't do all of this by himself, and that's something else we'll be talking about tonight."

For the first time, Crystal looked afraid - truly afraid! This whole thing was getting into territory that was painfully familiar to her. I could only imagine what she must be feeling at this moment.

"Then let's talk about it," Fleur said grimly. "Now."

Kevin nodded in agreement and led the way back out to the kitchen, where we all once again took seats around the table. He opened his laptop and plugged in an external hard drive. After a few moments of tapping on the keyboard, he looked up and addressed us all.

"Down in the secret room, there is - among other things - a computer," he began. "The contents of that computer are, to put it mildly, shocking."

He looked our cousin Elizabeth directly in the eye, his gaze empathetic, but unflinching.

"Liza, your father was running one of the sickest, most twisted criminal enterprises I have ever seen," he said. "It included a prostitution ring, as well as drug distribution, and behavior modification. He used a form of post-hypnotic suggestion combined with a regimen of drugs to enslave people, almost exclusively women. Another little pet project of his involved the creation of 'sleepers.'"

"Sleepers?" Fleur asked. "I'm sorry, Kevin, but I don't get the reference."

I got it, but this was Kevin's show. For his part, Kevin regarded Fleur steadily.

"In this context," he said, "the term sleepers refers to people who've been implanted with a post-hypnotic suggestion and then commanded to forget it. In most cases, they live normal lives until they are given the trigger - which could be just about anything. Have you ever seen the movie 'Serenity?'"

"Yes." everyone, including me, said.

"Well, what happened to River's character in the bar fight scene is an example of a sleeper," he said. "It's an extreme example, yes, but it's the best graphic demonstration I can think of off hand. As I said, all this 'programmed' person needs to carry out whatever they've been programmed to do, is a trigger. It can be something subliminal, or it can be a phrase, an object, or a combination. It will usually be something that one doesn't run in to during their daily lives, in order to prevent them from being triggered accidentally, though."

He again looked at Elizabeth, his eyes sad.

"He also performed a service for some of his closest...associates, let's call them," Kevin continued. "He again used a combo of drugs and hypnosis to create 'Stepford Wives,' for want of a better term. He could program behavior to an almost unbelievable degree!"

"Okay, Kevin, I think you're pushing it," Elizabeth said. "My father was one truly evil fuckwad, and that's a fact. But, come on! A bunch of files on a computer in a secret room? Mind control? This is fucking Highland, Indiana! That kind of stuff just doesn't happen here!"