Redemption by Lindsey Gray

he had seen on her back that morning, and he wanted to know why.
    “I think if I’m going to be your fiancé for that Abe guy’s benefit, I should at least know why.”
    She nodded as she dipped her head down. She had hardly ever talked about what had happened except with Lily; Sam hadn’t even known. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks at the thought of those last weeks with Abe. Her palms got clammy, her pulse started to race. She took a deep breath before launching into what was sure to be a very long explanation.
    “As you probably noticed, Abe’s not exactly human.”
    “It’s the eyes.” He nodded as he blinked overtly.
    “I met Abe while he and Lily were working at Manchester. I knew, with our obvious differences, it would never end well, but I never imagined…” She took a long, deep breath. “Abe is a shadow walker. He can pull you into his shadow and transport you anywhere.”
    “Hence, the not touching thing?”
    “Exactly,” she replied, trying to figure out where to start. At the beginning of the end, she guessed. “It all went to hell when I got assigned to ‘The Monitor’s’ task force a little over three years ago.”
    “You were going after that guy? The one who burns his victims?” The vision of the scar on her back came blaring in his mind. A crescent shaped burn put there by a serial killer.
    “Yes, much to Abe’s disappointment. He became extremely overprotective and went to the ends of the earth trying to find any being that would be able to help us find the mad man. Abe has visions too. They work differently and for some reason were being blocked when he tried to use them for the case. He did find someone else to help eventually – Gideon. Gideon had the power of foresight and was able to possess almost any living thing. He had been banished decades ago, but Abe assured me that Gideon had visions of The Monitor. We went to meet Gideon, only to find that the truth was…Gideon was The Monitor.”
    Ian nodded as he realized why The Monitor had never been caught. “He was possessing people to do his killing for him.”
    “He ended up torturing us for weeks. His favorite way to torture me was through Abe. Gideon would take over Abe’s body and beat me into unconsciousness, but I wouldn’t break. He’d burn me just like the rest of his victims and still, I didn’t break. One morning, he strapped me down to a table with leather straps. I was so weak at that point I could barley move, but I promised myself that I would never let him break me. That’s when Gideon came to me as Abe for the last time. He ripped the clothes from my body and crawled on top of me. He raped me as Abe and I couldn’t even cry out for the real Abe lost inside of him.”
    It was all too horrible to imagine and Ian took Becca’s hand as a tear ran down her cheek.
    “That’s where he made his mistake. He tossed Abe’s body aside and returned to his own, deciding that he wanted his body inside of me, not just his mind. Somehow, Abe was able to gather enough strength to rip him off of me and we disappeared.”
    “A few days later, I woke up in a hospital in Portland with Abe holding my hand. At first I wasn’t sure it was really Abe, but even when I realized it was him, I still couldn’t stand the sight of him. I knew he wasn’t Gideon, but I still blamed him for taking me there in the first place. All I could see was his fingers ripping at my flesh, feel the hot iron burning the spot on my back. When I walked into his office this morning, it all just came flooding back.”
    Ian reached to wipe a tear from her cheek, but she grabbed the door handle and jumped out. She was pacing in front of the car when he tried to approach, her breathing heavy as she began to cry. She couldn’t stand anymore. Ian caught her and set her down by the wall as the sobs overtook her body.
    “Hell of a time to have a panic attack,” she sobbed, slowing her breathing in an attempt to calm herself.
    “No, no, it’s