Moving on along.

…..

They find the tape in the fourth packaged box in the upstairs room of The Pink Banana.

"Close your eyes and begin to follow your breath in and out of your nostrils…."

Shawn grips the back of his neck as the tape plays.

He thinks about his current position.

The building that was once so great and magical, is now deserted.

His family that was once so grand and complete, gone.

"As you follow the movement of your breath, allow your body to relax…"

Next to Shawn, Henry sits in one of the fold-up chairs the cops had left after finding out the hiding place of Caster and Jackle.

Rummaging through another box of cassettes, he keeps an ear on the women's voice over the tape.

The box discarded at Shawn's feet had held the cassette being played now.

There are other boxes discarded at his feet as well.

But those cassettes had been useless.

A twenty minute, 400 hundred cassette tape hunt, had finally lead to the one being played.

In black sharpie, the title had been astreked three times.

"With each exhalation your body, you become more and more relaxed. Now prepare yourself to greet your child when she appears. She may be five, eight, or ten or whatever age is appropriate…"

Shawn thinks about his daughter.

Wonders if a newborn would be an appropriate child for Finley to greet.

He grips the back of his neck harder.

He watches intently as the tape unwinds.

The only thing not moving inside the tape recorder is the title.

The Inner Child, August 26th '87***.

The manila folder him and Gus scoured only days ago, finally clicking into place.

"Open your hand to hold the hand of your little girl. Begin to interact with her when she comes forth, letting her take the lead. Be the older friend your child always wanted. If she wishes to take you to her secret tree house or to the zoo or on a trip in a car, go with her.

Is this where Finley took Jules?

To a secret hideaway.

One she created in her mind years before?

Shawn watches as Henry finds a black pen on the floor, beginning to scribble a list on the top of the box at his feet.

The chair creaks as he leans forward.

She may wish to talk with you or may ask you to hold her. Take care of her in this spot. If you are in her secret hiding place, whisper. If you are at the zoo, let her show you her favorite animal. If you are in the car, buckle her in so she is safe. Be attentive to her needs.

Shawn eyes the list Henry created.

Zoo

Treehouse

Car

You'll have five minutes to spend with your child. Begin…."

As the women's voice disappears from the sound recording, Shawn leans over Henry's shoulder.

"It's not the zoo," he mutters, staring at the list.

The Santa Barbara Zoo would be too crowded this time of year.

Too many children.

Too many vendors.

Too many people for a family only event.

Bending up, he releases the hold on the back of his neck, shaking out his wrists.

Without argument, Henry crosses it off.

Pulling out the green tile he left in his pocket from Lassiter's gift earlier, Shawn thumps it down next to the words.

"Green," Henry eyes it, "green tree?".

Shawn says nothing, staring between the tile and the list, replaying The Inner Child over in his head.

"Green grass? Green house?..." Henry continues on.

He scratches at the bandage across his head.

A red patch has begun to seep it's way through.

Shawn suddenly comes to the realization that they're running out of time.

"Green shutters? Green car?".

He thinks about Raggedy Ann.

If Shawn were Finley, he wouldn't take Jules far.

It's much easier to toy with Shawn if she's close.

It's also much more difficult to move and hide an 8-month pregnant woman.

So the question becomes, would there be a secret hiding place close by, besides The Pink Banana, they would house Jules?

A secret hidey hole in the middle of the Wharf?

A secret treehouse all the way in the Muir Woods forest?

Or, did they shove her in a car somewhere?

Trapping her inside only to do what, when the time came?

Shawn re-adjusts himself as Henry clicks the rewind button.

There are still too many questions left unanswered.

As the tape rewinds, neither of the two men say a word.

Shawn's fingers creep once more to the back of his neck.

Clicking "Play", Shawn waits.

"Close your eyes and begin to follow your breath in and out of your nostrils…."

Breathing out, the man continues to wait for the answer.

….

After hearing the tape for the third time in a row, Shawn decides to leave the room.

Hands in his pockets, he ditches Henry as the older man tries vainly to connect the dots between the cassette and the Sequence tile.

Instead of helping, and possibly hurting his father in the process, Shawn decides to scour the remnants of the night club looking for any sign of her.

….

However, for a man who sees everything, he can't find anything in the nightclub that relates back to Jules.

….

The young man finally loses it.

Stuck between a pool table and a wall, Shawn picks up the nearest thing to him.

A pool stick.

Eyeing the wall behind him, he thinks it'll do.

….

Destroying the pool stick only brings so much relief.

Looking for a new outlet, Shawn spots a bar tucked away opposite him in the room.

Rocking himself over the pool table, he eyes the hundreds of different alcohols waiting on the shelves.

All useless.

Wrapping both hands around the stool in front of him, Shawn chucks the stool at the wall and basks in the sound the glass makes being shattered.

Looking up in the air, he watches as a mixture of glass and liquid rain down hard on the bar, on the floor, and on him.

….

Wet and bleeding from tiny cuts on his forearms, dizziness suddenly overtakes the young man.

It's too much.

Bending down on both knees, he hits the floor.

But this time, there's no Gus to help him get back up.

Shawn's vision blinks out.

….

Raggedy Ann is back.

This time, however, Shawn is the doll in her hands.

Limp in her arms, Shawn can do nothing but stare at the red-haired nightmare.

She has all the control.

She swings Shawn by the hands, back and forth, back and forth.

She giggles.

"Isn't this fun, partner?" She asks.

Shawn can't speak.

His mouth is sewn shut.

He wants to scream.

Instead, Raggedy Ann pretends to be Shawn.

Opening her own mouth she says that he loves Raggedy Ann.

That she's the only doll for him and when she says this, there's pleasure in her stare as she looks at Shawn.

Without warning, Shawn is dropped to the floor below him.

Hips jutted one way, arms splayed the other Shawn watches as Raggedy Ann folds in on herself.

First the head.

Then the shoulders.

Until there is no Raggedy Ann left but a little key placed in Shawn's hand.

"No! Wait!.." Shawn finally pleads, finding his voice.

He tries to shake the key out of his hand.

It's melted to his skin.

Abruptly, a massive horn resounds across Shawn's eardrums.

Wincing, the man squeezes his hands into fists, enclosing them around his ears.

"Please…."

He curls up into himself.

….

Shawn finds himself back in the nursery.

Key still in hand, Shawn turns in a slow circle looking for Jules, for Finley, for the silent baby.

No one is there to greet him.

Instead, Shawn watches as the entire nursery paints itself green.

Green bassinet.

Green rocking chair.

Green walls.

The horn sound comes back with a vengeance.

But this time so does Juliet's scream.

"SHAWN!...SHA -"

Shawn blinks, and the room shatters.

….

Shawn finds Henry with his elbows knee deep in a new box.

"It is now time to say goodbye for the present. Thank your child for the time you have spent together. Tell her as you go home that you will call upon her to return again soon."

"I heard the noise Shawn", Henry greets, eyeing a stack of cassettes in the bottom of the box.

Shawn pays no mind to him.

"Where would you hide a victim you didn't know you had?"

Startled Henry drops the tape in his hands.

"What? Shawn…"

A look of understanding crosses his face.

He smears his hand across his face.

Shawn's eyes are fervent.

He says, "Shit…"

"And I'm guessing it's green Dad," Shawn leans over Henry picking up the Sequence tile.

"Get the keys."

….

Juliet hears a man.

"JULES!" He screams.

Over and over again.

"JULES!"

She thinks she hears another man's voice with him.

"JULIET, open the….damn…..JULIET!"

Both men's voices sound awful.

Desperate.

And as much as Juliet wants to help them, she instead, stares straight ahead.

Watching, almost in slow motion, as a white van rounds the bend in the road.

It's bright headlights fill her interior.

"DAD, HELP ME….THE DOOR…..JULES!"

Blaring the horn, the van revives it's engine once before speeding down the two-lane street.

"SHAWN, THE VAN!...KID...THE…"

Squealing its tires, Juliet watches as it veers seemingly off course, into the wrong lane.

It moves into Juliet's lane.

"NO!, JULES IS STILL…"

"SHAWN, YOU NEED….MOVE NOW!"

Juliet watches entranced as the lights get closer and closer.

"NO SHAWN!...STOP….SH-"

Juliet hears a new noise, a new car startup.

To slow, she thinks to herself.

But when has he ever been too slow?

As another dull throb hits her pelvis area, Juliet curls in on herself and waits for the inevitable.

Too late, she thinks and feels a small pang of pity.

The noise suddenly gets defying.

All hell breaks loose as the van hits Juliet's tomb.

….

To be continued.

Thanks for those reading so far and enjoying it!