Sea Haven 02 - Spirit Bound

objects that should be floating around inside of it. He frowned, his mind working at the problem. She wouldn’t have empty cells, but she’d found some way to protect what was inside them. Just viewing her kaleidoscope studio had taught him that cells were very personal. Each item chosen was selected with meticulous care and meant something important.
    Judith told stories with her kaleidoscopes. She brought peace and joy into people’s lives all around the world. The scopes were more than art, they were useful for medical issues, bringing down blood pressure and aiding an autistic child or adult to find a healthy escape. Stefan studied the large kaleidoscope again. What was she telling? And how?
    The kaleidoscope itself was much larger than he’d seen in her other studio and that had to be significant in some way. The outside was powder-coated over metal rather than a wrap of some kind. The color seemed an unrelenting black, but there was something about it that made him think, just like the cells, she’d hidden something from view.
    Again he checked the room with his penlight. He was missing something important. It was difficult to think when the room was so alive around him. Emotions battered at him and every lungful of air was difficult to draw in, seething with bright hot rage. His belly coiled into tight knots and blood thundered in his ears, howling through his mind, thundering for revenge.
    A portable ultraviolet light sat on the workbench, near her rolling chair. It looked as if she used it often, and yet it didn’t fit with the set up of the room. The handle opened to provide the stand and although it wasn’t plugged in, it was close to the cell she was still working on. Stefan plugged it in and flipped the switch.
    At once he could see an array of objects in a small bin beside tools. She had created the various items she wanted to use in her cells from materials that would only reveal themselves under the ultraviolet light. Ingenious. Stefan shook his head at her creativity. Not only was she able to hide her work, but the secretive nature of the cells reflected the intensity of the emotions she kept so hidden from the rest of the world. Essentially, she’d locked a part of herself away in those sealed cells.
    Stefan choose year one to examine first. Not only was it evident to him that this particular cell was the beginning from being on the bottom of the stack, but when he took it close to the light and swirled the contents, he clearly saw the number one in the midst of the other items. Red drops that looked like blood dripped over the images. Purple swirled through the contents and once more sorrow settled heavily on his shoulders.
    Year one was all about grief. Judith imprisoned her anguish at losing her beloved brother in this cell for all time. The heartache cut deep, slashing wounds that refused to close. Through the cell were images of guilt and a faint trail of shame. Twisting sticks of metal, a broken heart and weapons of torture swirled slowly, tumbling over one another, all while the cell wept drops of blood. The same Japanese character in red that was the name of her brother tumbled in the mix. A glittering object proclaimed “I’m sorry” and another was a very telling clock turning back the hands of time.
    He found himself nearly weeping and, glancing down, realized his finger stroked the trigger of his gun. Abruptly he pulled his hand away, understanding just how intense her emotions were. He was feeling what she felt. Here, in this room, surrounded by relentless sorrow, she contemplated ending her life to make up for her sins. She knew better, he could read that as well, but the thought was in her mind occasionally. She couldn’t bring him back; she couldn’t turn back the clock.
    In the second cell he studied the objects representing Paris. A broken paintbrush. A slashed canvas. A palette of colors that ran to darker blues and purples. A tiny replica of the Louvre. A torn picture of herself and her brother that nearly broke his heart. Small things that told him her guilt was growing.
    Subsequent cells revealed a Japanese Kanji symbol for shame and another that represented guilt. A police badge. The small Greek island where Jean-Claude’s men caught up with her brother. Things he believed portrayed her brother’s life. As the years progressed, the rage in Judith obviously grew and more items showed the slow, torturous death, slice by slice as they tried to extract information