Dark Abyss by Kaitlyn O'Connor (top fiction books of all time txt) 📗

Joshua glanced at her. “We appropriated it from the Water City PD.”

Anna gaped at him. “Really?”

He chuckled. “No. We bought it.”

“I’ve never had a neuro-scan,” she said uneasily when they’d helped her into the reclining seat and Joshua moved behind her to settle the scanner over her head.

Caleb planted his hands on the armrests and leaned toward her until he was almost nose to nose with her. “It doesn’t hurt, sweety. It’s a little disorienting, but there’s not even a tiny sting.”

It was very disorienting having him so close, distracting enough that she hardly noticed when she felt the pressure of the scanner helm settling against her scalp.

“Promise?”

He winked at her. “I’d promise you anything. You want me to stay and hold your hand?”

Desperately! She smiled at him weakly, knowing he was teasing. “I’ll be fine,”

she said doubtfully.

He leaned closer. “You are fine,” he whispered near her ear, the warmth of his breath sending a shiver along her arm.

Warmth blossomed inside of her as he leaned away and she saw the look of appreciation in his eyes, but it wasn’t enough to keep her focused on happy thoughts very long.

Joshua settled his hand over hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Ready?”

She squeezed his hand back and nodded, unable to speak past the knot of nerves in her chest.

“Good girl! Now just relax, breathe slowly, close your eyes and think back to the night you went to the party, focus on the things you remember seeing—one thing at the time—and try to see if you can create a detailed memory of the image in your mind. The more details you can remember, the better our picture. Understand?”

Anna nodded a little jerkily. “Where do you want me to start?”

“Start with Paul asking you to go.”

She tensed at the new voice—Simon’s. She could tell from the sound that he wasn’t in the room, but it didn’t make it any easier to relax when she realized he must be watching.

“Relax. I’m going to turn off the light to help you relax, ok? We’ll be in the next room monitoring the scan.”

She did relax, relieved the moment he turned out the light because she didn’t feel as if she was on display. They wouldn’t be watching her. They’d be watching the screen, she reminded herself.

Coaching herself to relax fully, to allow her mind to drift for a few moments, she began trying to remember every detail of the conversation with Paul. She remembered thinking he was sort of cute and that he liked her. Focusing finally, she tried to summon details, the shape of his face first—long and narrow—the way his hair framed it, his chin.

He had a weak chin. It wasn’t bold and cleft like Simon’s. It formed a little rounded knob. His lips were full, a little fuller than she liked, and his mouth wide. When he smiled it was very toothy, almost like a predator—and his lips, the entire mouth area, protruded slightly further than his chin. His nose was long and slightly pug at the end.

His eyes were close set, the eye sockets shallow, his eyes small and almost almond shaped. His eyebrows were dark, like his hair, and formed almost perfect arches, almost as if he plucked them to shape them.

“What about his cheekbones? High? Rounded? Flat?”

She considered it and remembered they were high and sort of pointy—his ears looked almost pointy looking at him straight on, giving him a sort of elfin look.

A small screen above her head flickered on, startling her so that she opened her eyes.

“Is that him?”

Anna stared at the image she’d created with her mind feeling a sense of awe. “It looks just like him,” she said, amazed, feeling her heart thump with pleasure and excitement that she’d managed to remember so many details. Tamping her excitement, she studied the image carefully, trying to decide what was just a tad off. When she closed her eyes again, she knew what it was. The image was broader across the cheek area and his features were grouped a little closer together. Satisfaction filled her when she opened her eyes again. “That’s it. That’s him.”

Feeling far more confident, she relaxed in the chair again and conjured an image of the boat he’d taken her to the party in and then the mansion. She wasn’t particularly happy with the results of those. It had been dark and she’d been uneasy. She couldn’t remember enough details.

Creating an image in her mind of her father wasn’t hard at all. Committing it to the image display proved nearly impossible. Dismay filled her as she realized that he looked like a male version of herself … or vice versa. She hadn’t realized until she’d tried to create the image that she had his face.

She tried not to let on how much it disturbed her, but she couldn’t dismiss the anxiety that they would see the strong resemblance and consequently, she had a hard time producing an image of him that matched her memory.

“Try to relax, Anna,” Caleb murmured from directly beside her, startling her momentarily since she hadn’t realized he entered the room with her. “You’ve been doing so well. What’s wrong?”

She tried breathing deeply and slowly to calm herself. “I look like him,” she admitted finally, realizing there wasn’t much point in trying to hide it, feeling scalding tears slip from beneath her eyelids and run down the sides of her face.

He slipped his hand beneath hers and wiped the tears from her temples. “Well, don’t cry about it, sweety! He makes a lot prettier girl than a man.”

Caught off guard, Anna