Free Erasing: Shadows (The Erasing Series) by K.D. Rose Page B

days, she would have had a compatriot with her to help. Those days were gone. She was thirty, playing a younger person’s game.
    She jammed herself through an old gate they used to play around when they were children. It led to the back of a deserted house, then another alley, then up a street to her car. She was almost home free.
    She didn’t hear the policemen’s hard footfalls clamping on the pavement anymore. She hoped that meant they had fallen far back.
    Trina turned down the last alley, just in time to see three policemen heading toward her. She thought she recognized one of them from school. Just my luck . Someone else who knows the alleys .
    She tried to climb over a fence, but they beat her to it. One of the policemen grabbed her by the pants, and she was down on the ground.
    Then Trina was thrown against the back of the fence so hard that one of the old, dilapidated boards broke. Two of the cops tackled her again to the ground.
    “Yeah!” said one. “Not going anywhere now!”
    Another of the policemen whipped her baseball cap off. “Look!” he exclaimed, “It’s a girl!”
    The other nodded but said nothing. He was bent over panting.
    She struggled against the arms of the first policeman. The three policemen high-fived one another.
    She had lost . Then, Oh sh—!
    S he saw the Taser coming toward her, then stiffened from the jolt of 50,000 volts spread throughout her body.
    Her last thought before unconsciousness was, but it’s the amps that kill you.

Chapter Ten
    The Empty Room
    When Stu arrived, about one minute behind Mrs. Ross, he found her sitting on a somewhat uncomfortable looking modern couch, if one could call it that. All the furniture in the room was modern décor with ultra-exclusive art, vases focusing on negative space, pictures that looked half-tactile, and seats that appeared very unfriendly.
    “Little slower than I thought you’d be, dear,” said Mrs. Ross.
    At least she sounds fond of me. “A lot faster than I thought you’d be!” said Stu, impressed. This gal was all surprises. “But modern furniture? It just doesn’t seem like you.”
    “It’s not,” said Mrs. Ross. “It’s you.”
    “What? I don’t like modern furniture,” said Stu. “If you saw my place you’d see I barely have any furniture at all.”
    “That’s because you are nineteen and poor right now,” chuckled Mrs. Ross. “But if you were somewhat older and had some income, apparently you would have modern tastes. And a flair for style.” She chuckled again.
    Stu looked at himself. Holy cow . He was dressed to the nines . He thought back to some of his art books. Okay, maybe the furniture but a suit? “How is this possible?”
    “You are sitting,” for Stu had taken a seat on one of the avant-garde pieces, “in a completely empty, white room,” said Mrs. Ross. She waved her hand, and everything in the room disappeared except the couch Mrs. Ross was sitting on. Stu immediately fell to the floor. He looked surprised.
    Mrs. Ross laughed. “Please forgive an old lady her tricks. I so rarely get to come here.”
    “I can see why!” said Stu, but his good nature got the best of him. Besides, he was starting to understand. Mrs. Ross waved the furniture back into existence and with it Stu’s seat.
    “You use this room to make the other person comfortable. Whatever their core self feels is ‘right’ is what the decorations turn out to be. Am I correct?” posed Stu. He was used to being correct.
    “Eighty percent,” said Mrs. Ross and stayed silent. He could tell she was watching him carefully.
    “Aha!” said Stu after a few seconds. He liked this challenge. “You also use this as a way to assess another person. The trappings chosen by their inner self gives insight into them. Just like someone’s age in the astral gives me insight into them.”
    “Bingo!” Mrs. Ross clapped her hands with pleasure. “It’s also a place that is separated and cannot be disturbed, so it’s good for