“Yeah. I got the house for fifteen grand under the asking price because of it. So you guys were working some kind of magic in the basement?”
“Oh, no, sir,” she piped in. “No magic at all. It’s all physics.”
“Your ma said things were flying across the room. Is that true?”
They both stared at him, dumb-faced.
“They were flying that night you all had that fight,” she said, “and I was hit in the back of the head. You didn’t hit me. That’s why I never pressed charges.”
“So the basement is haunted?”
“No. It’s just energy,” she said. “The basement contains the energy from the murder and all the other violent events that occurred there. Think of it as writing data to a hard drive and then reading the data. You and your family were affected by the energy patterns stored there. It’s like you were reading the patterns and acting them out.”
“No, shit. I sensed that something didn’t feel right down there. But why is this happening now? We’ve lived there for the past thirteen years.”
“It has to do with the solar storm we had two weeks ago. It blasted magnetic particles to the earth and made the stored energy stronger.”
“Sounds like something from The Twilight Zone.” He took a swig of beer. “Pastor Phil, huh?”
“Yeah, Dad. You know how much respect Mom has for clergy. You can’t let this happen.”
Mr. C. nodded. “All right. Give me some time. But if we have another incident, I’m out for good.”
***
On the drive home, Jackie wanted to talk to Jason about Trish, but there was this wonderful glow on his innocent face and his aura was bright. She didn’t want to ruin his mood. It made her feel good inside. And she really wasn’t sure if she wanted to give that up to Trish.
She was being selfish. Trish was right. Jason deserved the same love that he offered in return. But, romantic love or not, Jackie would give her life for him. What greater love was there? She supposed, though, Jason wasn’t looking for a superhero, just a girl capable of loving him the same way he loved her. She didn’t think she fit that bill. She was going to have to be straight with him. Tell him that Trish just may be the girl for him, if he’d just give it a try.
But not today.
Chapter 41
Jackie still couldn’t get Babu to take her meds. Her cholesterol and high blood pressure pills had become a permanent fixture on the kitchen counter. By permanent, she meant they hadn’t moved from between the blender and the toaster since she set them there.
As Jackie ran the hand mixer in the pot of potato chunks, she contemplated pulverizing Babu’s dosage and stirring it into her mashed potatoes. With a little chicken gravy on top, Babu would never know the difference.
Mom had been no help at all. In fact, she’d been coming home late for the past few days. Like, nine o’clock in the evening late. And she wouldn’t tell Jackie where she’d been. It was kind of funny that Mom thought she was keeping her love life a secret from her.
Jackie put two lean slices of chicken breast on Babu’s plate and a heap of mashed potatoes. All right, so what’s the worst that could happen if she did slip Babu’s meds into her food? If she didn’t touch her mashed potatoes and gravy because of it, she’d be all the better.
Jackie shook out a pill from each bottle and folded them in a paper towel. Then, she beat the paper towel with the edge of the rolling pin. She sprinkled the white powder onto Babu’s mashed potatoes, whipped it in with a fork, and topped it with a well of gravy.
“Bon appétit!”
The front room was booming with the sound of Wheel of Fortune. Wireless TV headset, she reminded herself. Christmas. She set Babu’s plate on the TV tray. Okay, so she first glanced at the TV to see what Vanna was wearing. Who could resist?
She sniffed the aroma of Babu’s meal as it rose up with steam. Didn’t smell like meds. That was good. Hopefully, it wouldn’t taste like meds either.
“Enjoy, Babu,” she said with a smile.
Jackie’s cell vibrated in her hip pocket. She dug it out. It was Jason.
“Jas, what’s up?” She casually leaned against the kitchen door frame and watched as Babu lifted a forkful of mashed potatoes.
“My dad’s home,” he said.
“Cool. How did it go?”
“When Dad walked through the door, Mom was speechless. They just stood there staring at each other for a while. For a minute, I thought she wasn’t going to take him back. Then he dropped his bags and hugged her. They stood there holding each other for a long time, until Mom suggested coffee. Then they sat at the kitchen table talking. I’m just afraid they’ll wind up downstairs and this whole thing will start up again.”
“Thanks for your confidence.”
“Sorry. It’s hard to believe in something you can’t see.”
“Maybe I should come over, just in case—with Mom’s rollerblading helmet, of course.”
“My mom will freak if you step one foot in this house.”
“And you’re in love with a girl your mother doesn’t approve of?”
“It’s none of her business.”
“It would be if we ever got married. It’s not a good omen for parents of the young couple not to show for the wedding.”
“You’d marry me?”
“Uh, no, that wasn’t my point. I was just trying to… never mind. We really need to talk, you know. Your Mom won’t even know I’m in the house. I’ll sneak in through your bedroom window. You can play your music loud, like you always do.”
“What about your car?”
“Come pick me up. I’ll hide in the truck until you get inside and open your bedroom window.”
“Hmm. I get to sneak you into my bedroom?”
“No funny stuff. We really need to talk.”
“All right. Be there in twenty.”
She tucked her phone back into her pocket. Babu was leaning back in the couch, the TV tray pushed to the side. She had eaten all the chicken, but she hadn’t touched much of the potatoes.
“Babu, you’re not hungry?” she asked, shaking her head and tapping her stomach.
Babu said something in Russian and waved her hand for Jackie to take the plate away. Jackie wondered if Babu could taste the medicine or if she was still angry that she wouldn’t pray with her.
Defeated, Jackie took the plate. In the kitchen, she quickly washed it and the silverware and then stacked it all in the rack to dry. She did a paranoid check to make sure she had turned off the oven and burner. Then she grabbed her trench coat and satchel and waited for Jason on the front porch. She thought that maybe she should call Mom and see where she was. After all, she hated leaving Babu alone. But then again, she didn’t want Mom to know she was going to Jason’s. Mom didn’t want her going there anymore, and ironically, Mom had this sixth sense when it came to Jackie lying to her. Hopefully, she wouldn’t wind up in the hospital again, and she’d be home within an hour or two.
As soon as Jackie climbed into Jason’s truck and pulled the door closed, Jason floored it.
“Whoa, slow down,” she said. “This is a residential.”
“Sorry.”
The speedometer dropped from forty miles per hour to thirty and remained there until they got to Route 6, where it climbed to seventy.
“Where’s the fire?” she asked.
“I want to be home in case something happens.”
“Your confidence in me is unnerving.”
He shrugged. “I just got a bad feeling.”
Great.
As she and Jason approached his house, she hunkered in the passenger seat of his truck. Her stomach was churning. She hated doing underhanded things, especially when her reputation was at stake.
“I’ll call you when I open the window,” Jason said.
“All right.”
Jackie slid down to the floorboard and dug her phone out of her satchel. Her stomach quivered. She didn’t think she could bear another accusation hurled at h
er.
Her phone rang. Jason gave her the word. She slipped out of the truck and tried to close the door as quietly as she could. Then she did a hunkered rush to the side of the house. The crate was under Jason’s window—where she left it—and Jason’s window was open.
She balanced herself on the crate so it didn’t tip over, and she hooked her hands on the ledge. Jason grabbed her arms. She pulled herself up so that her stomach was pressing into the sill.
Now, the tricky part. The last time she slid in head first to the floor. The window was too narrow to swing a leg around. “I need your help so I don’t nose dive to the floor.”
“Got you.” He dragged her through the window and lifted her in his arms. Jackie was on her feet, instead of lying on the floor, which was good, except that Jason’s fingers were locked onto the back of her trench coat, and his black shirt was unbuttoned an extra button. Sending him the self-confidence vibe was totally not a good idea. She wondered if he really did rush home because he was worried about his mom, or because he was excited about getting her alone in his room.
“All right. Let go. We need to talk.”
His passion rifted through her. She stepped back, far enough, so that there was at least four feet between them.
Jason stepped toward her.
“No, Jas, stay right there so I can think without you influencing my emotions.” She still hadn’t mastered zipping herself up from him. And she didn’t think Babu’s light could help stave off his emotions either.
“All right,” he groaned.
She cut to the chase. “Why didn’t you tell me you and Trish did it?”
Jason hung his head. “It was just a tryst.”
“Just a tryst? She’s your friend too. How could you use her like that?”
“I didn’t. I mean, I thought it was real at the time. I was so mad at you. She took advantage of me.”
“Jason!”
“It’s true. I was hurt and vulnerable. We sat on her bed while I poured out my heart. She held my hands and recited some kind of love poem. I couldn’t help it. I kissed her as soon as her lips quit moving.”
“Okay. So where does her taking advantage of you come in?”
“It’s when she knocked me backward on the bed and sat on top of me, unbuttoning her blouse. I was helpless against her vixen underwear.”
She held out her hand. “Stop.” She was starting to wonder if this solar storm affected all their brains. “Trish supposedly is in love with you, and according to her, loves you more than I ever can. And she’s totally pissed at me because she thinks I’m taking you away from her. I think you and I need to put what happened between us out of our minds, and you need to have a heart-to-heart talk with her.”
“Why? I know you felt—”
“I just want things to be like they used to be for us—for all of us. I’m really tired of people hating me.”
Jason stared at the floor and huffed. “Well, I guess it’s better than not being with you at all.” He looked at her with those huge fawn eyes. “Hug?”
She was suspicious of his intentions.
“As a truce,” Jason said.
“Oh, all right,” she said and opened her arms.
They awkwardly embraced.
The door flew open.
“Jason!” Mrs. C. yelled.
They stood there like they’d just been caught together with their pants down.
Now Mrs. C. was really going to hate her. She blew every chance of getting back on Mrs. C.’s good side.
“I told you not to bring her into this house,” Mrs. C. said.
“Jackie doesn’t mean any harm. She’s not bringing in devils.”
“That Sandra girl still can’t walk. She’ll probably be paralyzed for life.”
“She didn’t put a curse on Sandra, and she didn’t bring devils into the house. She helped me to get Dad back home. She just wants to see if everything’s okay.”
“Get her out of my house!”
“Mom.”
“Bob,” Mrs. C. yelled.
“All right.”
Before they could exit the room, Mr. C. was in the doorway. “What’s going on?”
“Jackie’s here,” Mrs. C. said. “Jason brought her here against my wishes. I’m calling Pastor Phil.”
“You’re not calling Pastor Phil,” Mr. C. said, “and she’s not bringing devils into the house. Everything’s fine. They told me everything.”
“You didn’t see it. It was like she was possessed, like Reagan in the Exorcist.”
It’s not like my head was spinning.
“The recliner was spinning,” Mrs. C. said, “and objects were flying across the room!”
Okay, so the recliner was spinning.
“I know and they explained that,” Mr. C. said. “It was just a matter of, uh—”
“Physics,” Jackie said. “Magnetic energy.”
“Yeah, magnetic energy. That’s all,” Mr. C. said.
“But Pastor Phil had to cast out the devils,” Mrs. C. said. “He laid hands on all the objects in the room.”
“I hope that was all he laid hands on,” Mr. C. said.
“You think I would—”
“I think Pastor Phil would. Let’s all go down to the basement and see if anything hits the fan. How’s that? If nothing happens, you’ll let this poor girl alone.”
“But what if—” Mrs. C. said.
“If heads start spinning and shit starts flying, you can call Pastor Phil and his hands, and Jackie isn’t allowed in this house ever again.”
Jackie’s mouth dropped open, but Mr. C. winked at her when Mrs. C. turned her head.
“To the basement,” Mr. C. said.
They marched downstairs, single file. Mr. C., and then Jackie, Jason, and Mrs. C.
Mr. C. sauntered over to the family area. Jackie followed behind him.
She was afraid to ask him, but it was the only way they’d know for sure. “Mr. C., could you sit in the recliner?”
He gave her a worried look. “What if I go berserk?” he asked. “What if we all go berserk?”
She hadn’t planned for that. Her shoulders tensed, and her fingers cowered into her palms. When fists went flying, would Babu’s light protect her? Probably the best thing to do in that situation, knowing what she knew now, was to cut and run and call 9-1-1. “Don’t worry about it,” she said, lying through her teeth. “I have everything under control.”
Jason cleared his throat. His eyes were wide. He knew she was lying.
“Relax, Jas. Just stay near the stairs. You know the drill. And keep your phone handy.”
“Yeah, sure.” He backed up closer to the stairwell. Mrs. C. joined him.
Mr. C. rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
“Let’s do it,” she said, but she was hoping there would be no show.
Mr. C. sank into the recliner and closed his eyes.
Everyone was silent. After almost a minute, he opened his eyes.
“How do you feel?” she asked him.
“A little uncomfortable. Did someone do something to this chair? The cushion feels hard. I know I’ve been away from it for a while, but it used to feel like the recliner was wrapping itself around my body.”
“Interesting,” she said.
“It’s always been his favorite seat,” Mrs. C. said. “Like it was made for him. It came with the house, you know. It was practically brand-new.”
“That explains why the energy was so strong. I thought it was coming up from the floor.”
“Come on, honey,” Mr. C. said to Mrs. C. “Come over here.”
Mrs. C. unlocked her fingers from Jason’s arm. She slowly approached the family area, looking around like something was going to fly.
“It’s all right, Mrs. C. Nothing’s going to happen,” Jackie said, hoping she was right.
Jackie reached out her hand, but Mrs. C. didn’t take it.
Mrs. C. sat down on the fireplace hearth and clamped her ha
nds together between her knees.
She held her breath as she waited to see how Mrs. C. would adjust. The electric energy was gone from the room. The hair on her arms and head wasn’t rising—a good sign.
Mrs. C. rubbed her hands over her arms. “It’s cold down here,” she said. “Lonely.”
Jackie did detect a hint of loneliness. She sat down beside Mrs. C. on the hearth. “Does this room always feel that way to you?”
“Yes, I suppose.” Mrs. C. stared contemplatively across the room, her head tilted. She wiped a tear from her cheek.
“Mrs. C., are you okay?”
She sniffled. “No. I feel so sad.”
“Why, Mrs. C.?”
“I just don’t think Bob loves me anymore.” She put her hand to her chest. “My heart aches so much.”
“Sharon, you know I love you,” Mr. C. said. “I never meant to hurt you. I’m sorry.” He started to get up from the recliner.
Jackie motioned for him to sit back down.
He did.
The last time she had been here, she only concentrated on the anger. But there was so much sorrow in this room too. Poor Mrs. C. She wanted to cry with her.
She put one hand on Mrs. C.’s arm and the other on the fireplace and moved her hand around the stones until her palm tingled. Blood on the stone appeared. It ran in narrow streams to the hearth where it formed a thick pool. The left side of her head just above her temple ached.
My husband bashed my head against the fireplace, Jackie thought. My own husband.
She had this achy feeling at the bottom of her throat, and it felt like her heart and chest were going to explode. The heartache was too much to bear.
No. You have to be in control. Think about Babu.
She envisioned herself snuggled with Babu on the couch as Babu told her a story. The sound of her voice—the rolled r’s and soft consonants—ignited her heart with love.
“Why don’t you love me anymore, Bob?” Mrs. C. asked. “No one loves me.” She burrowed her head in her hands.
“But, I do,” Mr. C. said.
With one hand on Mrs. C.’s arm and the other pressed against the fireplace, Jackie envisioned Babu’s love radiating from her body and flowing into the hearth. “Mr. C. loves you very much,” she said. “He left because he didn’t want to hurt you. Jason and Mr. C. love you. Jason called me every day, worried to death about you. He wanted to help, but he felt helpless. He loves you so much, and so does Mr. C., and nothing will ever get in the way of that. Do you feel the love they have for you? Do you feel it flowing into your body, warming your heart?”
Possessed (Pagan Light Book 1) Page 17
