The Possession of Tyra Dove

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

His chin in his hands, Alex stared at his laptop screen and sighed. It was almost midnight and he had heard nothing for three hours. After leaving Laurie’s place, he had returned to his own apartment and had worked through her stolen files thoroughly. Eventually, he had concluded that Tyra was looking for a girl named Paige Arquette and that she suspected her disappearance was connected to a tiny village called Foley. Laurie was also investigating the possibility that it involved this Valentine Vang, whose name had earlier jogged Alex’s memory.

Alex belonged to a fetish online adult chat room whose members shared the same deviant instincts that he did – in particular, techniques for mind-controlling women. A few months back, he had happened upon a session in which Vang’s name had come up. He remembered it now because of the unusual name, and also how it hinted that Vang was looking for female subjects to experiment with. At the time, Alex had dismissed it as fantasy, but after reading Laurie’s files he was suddenly spurred by a delirious, albeit tenuous possibility. If Tyra was indeed nosing around in Foley, and if there really was a cult that kidnaps and brainwashes women, maybe, just maybe, he could tip them off in exchange for a reward – and it wasn’t money he wanted either.

Earlier in the afternoon, he had logged on and posted: I HAVE URGENT INFORMATION REGARDING FOLEY VILLAGE. He had been deliberately vague, figuring that within the context of this chat room, his meaning would be apparent. Nobody had responded however, and after an hour of waiting, Alex had decided to be more specific: IT RELATES TO THE SECURITY OF VALENTINE VANG.

He had said the magic words. Within ten minutes, he had received a response: PETITE MORT HAS INVITED YOU TO A PRIVATE CHAT ROOM. WILL YOU ACCEPT?

Exhilarated, Alex had clicked OK and the following conversation had ensued:

PETITE MORT: WHY DO YOU THINK VV IS IN DANGER?

ALEX: NOT DANGER, BUT AT RISK.

PETITE MORT: AT RISK FROM WHAT?

ALEX: EXPOSURE.

There had been a long pause at this point, then: PETITE MORT: EXPLAIN.

Now came the big one.

ALEX: SOMEBODY IS LOOKING FOR PAIGE ARQUETTE.

Another long pause.

PETITE MORT: WHO ARE YOU?

ALEX: A FRIEND.

PETITE MORT: HOW DO I KNOW I CAN I TRUST YOU?

This was the point where Alex had to give something away. There was no guarantee that he would get anything back, but Petite Mort had needed a show of faith. For all he knew, Alex could be a cop. He had uploaded an image of his driver’s license. The moment of truth.

After thirty silent minutes, Alex thought he had made a mistake. If they had run a background check on him, then they would surely know that he worked as a reporter. But then his screen had come to back to life.

PETITE MORT: OKAY ‘FRIEND’. WHO IS THIS PERSON YOU TALK OF?

Wow! How did they manage to check me out so fast?

ALEX: FIRST, I WANT SOMETHING IN RETURN.

PETITE MORT: ?

ALEX: AN INVITATION TO BOOKER HALL.

It was a shot in the dark, but this whole thing had been based on presumptions. As Alex had expected, there had been another delay before receiving a response.

PETITE MORT: PERHAPS – IF YOUR INFORMATION IS GOOD.

Again, Alex had had to make a decision to commit. He was being promised nothing, but maybe if he gave them a demonstration of his sincerity, he would be rewarded. So he had quickly uploaded a picture of Tyra, along with her name and a description of her car.

And that had been it. Silence for the past three hours.

So close and yet so far.

He poured himself a drink and was just wondering whether to send another message when Petite Mort came back on: ALL IS GOOD. CALL THE NUMBER BELOW FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.

Alex jumped up out of his chair and punched the air in delight. Encouraged, he wrote: MAY I BRING ANOTHER GUEST?

Before Petite Mort had had time to reply, Alex had uploaded two of the nude pictures of Laurie he had taken earlier that day.

After a brief delay, Petite Mort wrote: YOU MAY BRING YOUR GUEST.

Alex logged off and clapped his hands together in giddy delight. He had guessed right! By this time tomorrow, his life, and the lives of Tyra Dove and Laurie Bass, could very well be changed forever.