“Well, I wanted to have a date with you, and I don’t think you would have accepted if I just called you up out of the blue.”
This man was in another world. Mackenzie looked around the room, a bedroom. It wasn’t as secure as the shed that she was in before. She could probably smash the window and run for it. That didn’t seem right. Too easy. No masks. This time was different.
“What sort of date?”
“I was thinking of a dinner date. I know we don’t know each other very well but I sense that we are meant to be together, you know, like soul mates.”
The man was not in his right mind, and was possibly dangerous and unstable. She started weighing up her options.
“Do you like that idea?”
“The dinner sounds nice, but there’s going to be a lot of people worried about me at the moment.”
“You can call them tomorrow. Do you have your phone?”
Her handbag sat on the floor. She bent down to pick it up. On the way up she caught the way he was looking at her. She shivered. She rummaged through her bag, but remembered her phone was still at work.
“Are you cold?”
“No . . . and no I don’t have a phone. I left it at work, recharging.” She sat on the bed.
“Your bag, please.” He walked over, grabbed it and emptied the contents on the bed. There was a photo of Mackenzie with some people her age. He picked it up and studied it. “These are the men in your life?”
“Close friends of mine . . . sadly, your technology killed one of them.” Mackenzie regretted that comment as soon as she said it. Her mum’s words jumped into her head. Consider what great forests are set on fire by a small spark.
“I didn’t kill anybody. It was the mad professor: he invented the technology.”
Mackenzie sensed heaviness in the room. She asked the Lord to be with her, to be her strength and refuge. The man’s face had hardened. He walked over to her, grabbed her and dragged her to her feet. He closed in on her face.
“I didn’t kill anybody,” he repeated.
This man was a different person now, and she felt fear. “Are you here by yourself?” Her head was scrabbling for ideas. What to do?
“At the moment. My mate who did the transfer will be back soon. Let me show you around the house.”
Mackenzie followed him into the passageway. He showed her the bathroom, which had a nautical theme, with a fishing net hanging from the ceiling. Back in the passageway, he stopped at a window and pointed to the view outside.
“Lovely rural setting but we’re in the middle of nowhere.” The loud distinctive call of a peewee could be heard. Mackenzie spotted the bird and watched as a dog came charging at it. The dog stopped and watched as the peewee flew off.
“And the dog . . . I think he’s a very dangerous dog. If you decided to venture out there without me, you could be in a spot of bother.”
He seemed to have switched back to the other person. Mackenzie nodded her head in agreement. She had a quick thought of Jethro and wished she was back at her old home. She decided the next time that other person visited, she was going to rebuke the spirit in the name of Jesus.
<°)))><
The police tracked the Ford Taurus to a 24-hour car park. It was a hire vehicle. The police dusted the vehicle for fingerprints.
A man with what looked like a shiny briefcase stepped into the train carriage on Platform six at Central Station. This was Lucas’s idea. He reckoned they would be on the lookout for the car so he told Tag to catch a train back.
Tag sat down and made himself comfortable for the two-hour trip. He would call Lucas near the end of the trip to come and collect him. He assumed the transfer went well. It was a favour for Lucas, because he desperately wanted that girl. The technology would be out of their hands in a few days so Lucas had wanted to do the last transfer on the girl.
Tag hoped Lucas’s spaced-out behaviour was wearing off.
<°)))><
The kitchen had a small wooden table painted green, and four heavy wooden chairs sat tucked in under the table. Lucas dragged out one of the chairs and told Mackenzie to take a seat.
“Cup of tea or coffee?” A picture of a cow’s face on a tea coaster smiled up at her.
Mackenzie looked around the kitchen. She noticed a knife block near the fridge. Could she do that? No, too dangerous.
“My name’s Lucas and yours, I know, is Mackenzie. I would really like you to get to know me Mackenzie. I know these circumstances aren’t the best for starting a relationship, but I do believe that we’re meant to be together. This may sound crazy to you, but I hear voices in my head. They told me that we’re going to be together and I believe them.”
Mackenzie listened and spoke silently to her Lord.
“I’m going to go into town and get some stuff for tonight. Now, I trust you, Mackenzie. There’s no phone in the house, and don’t try and befriend the dog because he will attack and probably kill you, so please don’t do anything stupid.”
Lucas started walking out of the kitchen and turned back to Mackenzie. “One other thing. You won’t be able to transfer yourself back—the device is now password protected.” He learned that lesson after the Rev transferred himself. “So we can receive but can’t send unless you know the password, and I’m not going to tell you that unless you are nice to me.’’
He walked off, chuckling.
<°)))><
She watched the crazy man drive off.
Mackenzie walked to the back door and stood there. She started to open the door and heard the dog barking. She closed the door. The dog stood there, looking up at Mackenzie, eyes shining, teeth glowing and mouth frothing.
Mackenzie searched the house for something to feed the dog with, but couldn’t find anything. Okay, dog, you win. This time I won’t come out. She walked back down to the bedroom and started picking up her handbag items from the floor. The photo of Aaron and Paul had her crying. She got up, sat on the bed and wiped her tears. “Please Lord, help me.”
