Winning the Heart

Jenna's mind was drifting to rhe event that occured a little over a month ago when she was abducted by those men in Silverton . For a long time, she had tried not to think about it, tried not to think about the sheer impossibility of it. But now it had given her some insight into what Davis truly was now and what he was capable of. Frank had stormed into that isolated building at Bonny Island where she had been held hostage and he had rescued her, coming out unscathed. How had he done that? She remembered asking him that question three days later when she had been stabilized, and that question had gotten no reply. She didn't know what exactly had befallen those men as she had already lost consciousness when Frank came in. But she knew how angry those men was, how desperate. She knew how their their leader had fumed and flared, threatening fire and brimstone. She knew there was no way that Frank could have stepped in there and rescued her without killing those men first, because there was no way he could have negotiated her release. The men wanted nothing more than to to kill him. Today's event had given her some benefit of hindsight. There was no doubt now. Frank had murdered all those men—all those armed men!—and had rescued her that day.

Her mind drifted to the day she arrived at his doorstep after a month of trying right get him to talk to her by phone. She remembered how shocked she was that day as she stared at his face. She remembered how different he looked, how different he talked. He remembered seeing something strange in his eyes, something like black fire, which made him have a dead look that bewildered her. She remembered his aloofness, his indifference and total disconnection. She remembered his saying that he didn't want to see her or anyone else; that he wanted to be alone. She remembered something else now, something he said first, before he said the other things.

"Babe, what happened to you?" she had asked.

"Well, what happened is that I died," he had responded.

Thinking about it now, Jenna was inclined to think there were bigger issues that she hadn't even considered yet. What did he mean that he had died? She had been profoundly shocked by that comment—shocked, not because she believed it, but because he would describe himself in that way. She had assumed that either he meant that she had been through hell that the weeks before she came or he just wanted to scare her away. In any case, she hadn't really thought it was worthy of consideration. Shebhad even totally forgotten that he said something like that. Now the import of that statement dawned on her. She should have known earlier. She knew she should have at least guessed it, because Frank was simply no longer Frank. Everything about him was different, strange. Could it be that he meant that statement? That he had truly died? How was that possible?

Although it was hard for her mind to grasp, she knew that that could be the only explanation now. The things Frank had done, no human being could ever do such, not even with all the black magic in the world. This thought alone, the finality and certainty of it, made her start to run now.

"Oh, my dear," Eva said, "please don't cry. I understand you've been through a lot in life. But I assure you you're going to come out of it. You're strong. You're young. You still have a whole life ahead of you. Please don't let all these break you."

Saron wiped her tears with the back of her palm. "How's Cole?" she asked.

"Terrible, really terrible. He's in a coma as we speak."

"Coma?" Jenna exclaimed, almost jumping up from where she sat. "How is that possible? I thought they said he received just a punch from Frank?"

"Just a punch you say? You should have seen the force of it. It was unthinkable, unimaginable, inconceivable! It sent him flying in the opposite direction. In all my years on earth I had never seen a single punch throw a grown man off like that. It was beyond the ordinary, beyond what was normal or earthly possible. Cole passed out right on that spot, his jaw battered beyond recognition. Oh, how my heart breaks for him! All he wanted to do was help, and just see where he is now, dying because he wanted to help someone. It could have been me."

At that moment, Jenna felt a great admixture of shock, sadness and guilt. She began to cry again.

"It's okay, my dear," Eva said. "It's not you fault. You didn't know you fell in love with a beast.

"But—but he wasn't like this when I first met him, I swear," she sobbed and snuffled."

"Yes, yes, I witnessed it too. But I'm compelled to believe that he was merely hiding his true sef all along."

"Oh God," Jenna lamented.

"Do you feel you can talk to the police?"

Jenna thought for a moment. She wondered what that would change. Based on what she had now concluded about Frank, she was quite sure that the police would be hard-pressed to find a way to nab him, regardless what the information she gave them. She knew he was no longer her a human being, but she didn't believe in ghosts. And in all the stories she had heard, she didn't know of any where ghosts were described as serial killers. Her mind burned with questions upon questions until it began to threaten to shut down. She knew that she had to get to tbe root if this, but would she do that? She knew that even she wasn't safe from him anymore and that best thing now was no come to tetms with the fact that she had lost him forever and then make peace with that fact and move on with her life. But, oh, if only that easy!

She knew, also, that no matter what may happen or what may not, she had no choice but to tell the police what they needed to know. She didn't have another choice anyway.

"Yes, I'll tell them everything they need to know, where he lives and whatnot," she replied.

"Good, good, I'll inform the commissioner of police that you're now ready to be interrogated," Eva responded, shaking her head. "I'd love to see him face the firing squad for all the vicious crimes he has committed!"

Jenna looked at the clock on the wall. Deep down, she knew they police would be on a suicide mission if they went after Frank.