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Six months later, life was calmer in Kachina, Oklahoma. There had been no more murders and Andrea was back working at the library.
They had found evidence of blood on the waders, rubber gloves, and tarps. Sienna had used them to keep herself free of evidence. The castrating knife had been found in a cubby-hole in the dash of the ATV, and Sienna’s car had been found below the mesa on the Big Horn Ranch, crumpled into a ball.
Carrie and Randy had turned the case over to the district attorney and were on to another crime and another criminal. Things were not back to normal for Senna and Blake, however. With the help of Dr. Specter, the truth emerged.
The trauma that Senna had experienced from the legalistic dictates of the church she’d attended in her youth, combined with the abusive discipline of her father created a psychosis in her.
Through her life, Senna had held on to that brief window of time each year that she was allowed to spend with her Gran. It was the only time she could be free from all the rules and boundaries that held her pinned down. It was her lifeline and her hope.
The deviation caused by her Gran passing away the previous year had created a psychotic split in Senna’s mind. She could not, would not, allow herself to break free from the religious legalism that had been forced upon her as a child. Her entire identity had been grounded in it.
But the trauma of her Gran dying created another identity, Sienna who could be free to enjoy life with no boundaries. Senna had no knowledge of Sienna per se, but often felt the emotions and thoughts of Sienna bleeding through to her own thoughts and emotions when Sienna so willed it. But Sienna knew of Senna and felt protective of her.
Senna could tell though once Sienna had released her hold on Senna. Her thoughts felt pure and isolated again with no tug-of-war pulling and tugging internally at her. She knew the moment Sienna had left even if she hadn’t known exactly what it had been.
Senna was living in Kachina in her little clapboard house when her Gran had died. Sienna’s domain had been the former horse ranch where Senna had never felt comfortable amidst the opulence.
After Senna’s grandfather died, her Gran had sold all the horses, tools, and equipment. When Senna was young they had lived in Oklahoma City, but had also owned the ranch where they raised the horses.
Only barns and corrals existed on the ranch until several years earlier when they sold the house in town and built the beautiful home on the ranch. It had been Gran’s desire to leave it to Senna one day, for her to live and raise a family in. Gran had designated Senna as the sole shareholder in the corporate business papers.
Gran had also established a massive trust fund for Senna which Sienna proceeded to spend without hesitation. But it seemed that no amount of physical freedom or spending could help Sienna feel whole. The family attorney still handled all the finances of the business and the trust for Senna, never realizing it was Sienna and not Senna who had been the one in charge of the massive spending spree.
Then one day, blood from a neighbor’s dog, that had cut himself, changed things. Sienna seeing the rich red blood felt something evil trigger inside of her. The combination of a desire to feel whole and a corrupted need for the blood, had birthed a killer.
In the cabin, Andrea had explained to Sienna that we all need the blood to be whole, but not the blood of innocent victims. It was only by receiving the precious holy blood of Jesus that any of us could be made whole.
Andrea’s words were able to penetrate deep inside Sienna and something had changed. On Crown Rock Mesa, Sienna knew her time was over and that she could trust Senna to her friends and to God. She knew His blood would make her whole once and for all.
In the fury of the storm, Sienna had told God to take her away, that she was committing Senna to Him. When she woke, she was Senna and Sienna never returned.
Senna had no memory of the murders, but it was clearly her physical body that had committed them. Blake never left her side and vowed to defend her in the trial even though he did not have the expertise. However, to their relief, one of his law professors became intrigued and agreed to take it on, with Blake as second chair.
With Senna’s agreement, they brought Dr. Specter onto the defense team to prepare for trial. The first that Dr. Specter had suspected anything was amiss was when Senna was in the hospital. While Blake was out, and she was alone with Senna, who had woken briefly as Sienna, she had threatened Dr. Specter to leave Senna alone. It startled her, and she hurried from the room.
When Senna went home from the hospital, Sienna created an unsettling feeling in Senna in order to cause her to pull away from Blake and Andrea. Senna didn’t understand it, but she couldn’t resist the urge to pull away from her friends.
The fatigue that Senna constantly battled came from lack of sleep. As Sienna, she roamed most of the night while Senna worked all day. The sharp pains and nausea that Senna had experienced at church had come each time the pastor had mentioned the blood that Jesus had shed. Sienna couldn’t allow a loss of control over Senna so she rendered her unconscious.
A split-personality defense seemed ludicrous to almost everyone. Their first opinion was that it was a cop-out and an easy way to get out of being convicted. But those who had come to know Senna, truly know her, knew it was all true and that she could never do the things that Sienna had done.
The jury found her guilty but with the recommendation that her sentence be three years in a minimum security psychiatric hospital. She was relieved.
Blake visited her every day, and Andrea almost as often. Dr. Specter, as well, visited once a week.
“Sienna is gone now for good,” Senna said quietly.
“How do you know?” asked Dr. Specter.
“Because she got what she so desperately needed.”
“And what was that?”
“The blood. But this time, she finally got the only blood that could once and for all cleanse her and make her whole, the blood of Jesus.”
Senna looked down at her hands for a moment before continuing. “And I am finally free, too. I know I must pay for what Sienna did, but no matter what physical prison I must live in, it will not change the fact that for the first time in my life I am finally free, too. Totally and completely free.”