by Apryl Baker
“My family can see ghosts, but only after they’ve gone vengeful. When a ghost is on this plane for too long, they begin to get angry and more confused. That anger turns to rage, and all they want is to hurt the living the way they are hurting. Their anger gives them the energy to cause the living physical harm. Once they reach the nuclear meltdown stage, they become visible to us. We hunt them down and take care of the problem.”
Mary looked thoughtful while she pondered that, and Caleb glanced at her several times out of the corner of his eye. What she finally said was not what he expected. “You end their suffering and send them to where they’re supposed to be. So, yes, your gift is just as super awesome as Mattie’s.”
Caleb laughed; he couldn’t help himself. No one had ever seen the good in his gift or gotten all excited about it before. Mary was definitely a unique girl. And sweet.
“Take this exit and turn right.” She pointed to the sign up ahead. “It’s a pain if you miss it.”
“I’ve noticed the city has a strange layout.” Caleb slowed down and took the exit. “We got turned around a couple times when we missed our turnoff.”
“Yup, that’s the Queen City for you.” Mary grinned. “Miss your exit and you have to jump through hoops to turn around and get back to where you need to be. So aside from learning the roads, how do you like it down here? Different from where you were before?”
“Well, we travel a lot,” he told her. “Dad’s never really settled in one place for too long because of his work, and he always packed us up and moved us with him.”
“That had to suck growing up.” Mary fiddled with the air, turning it up just a little higher. “I’d hate having to try and make new friends all the time. It’s tough enough holding on to the ones you’ve known for years, let alone finding new ones.”
Caleb glanced over to see her staring out the window. The hurt in her voice spoke volumes about what she’d been through. Her limp might have caused some of her friends to not be so friendly anymore. High school kids were vicious when it came to things like that. He felt a surge of anger rise within him at the thought of anyone causing this girl pain, and he frowned. No one had ever sparked a reaction in him so quickly.
“After the first few times, you learn not to make attachments with anyone,” he said finally. “It’s easier that way.” Caleb would do well to remember that now. He’d known this girl for less than an hour, and he was already feeling attached.
“Yeah, I get that, but not making any kind of attachment? That has to suck just as much. Everyone needs someone, Caleb, even if only for a few weeks.”
The simple truth of that statement struck Caleb as probably one of the wisest things he’d ever heard. His mother would love this girl.
“Well, for better or worse, Charlotte is our home now. Dad wants us to get to know Dan, and putting down roots will be good for our little brother Ben, at least. He needs some stability.”
“And you never know,” Mary said. “You might actually find a friend or two.”
“Maybe,” Caleb agreed, a smile tugging at his lips at her sly tone.
“Right here.” Mary pointed to the left. “This is our street. Third house on the left.”
They saw Mattie, Eli, and Dan sitting on the front porch. Mary had been right about them sitting and waiting. Before Caleb managed to put the truck in park, Mary jumped out and bounced up the steps. He laughed at her and almost ran to catch up to her.
“Need this?” Caleb watched the grin fade from Mary’s face, and she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“What isn’t wrong?” Mattie laughed bitterly.
“The fact that you’re curled up in a hottie’s lap?” Mary smirked.
“Yeah, there is that.” Mattie smiled. “Eli, this is Mary Cross, my foster sister.”
“Just sister,” Mary corrected her, her face stern. “Skip the foster bit. I told you. You’re my sister, and that’s that.”
“I have a feeling Mary gets whatever she wants,” Caleb said, remembering thinking just that earlier. This girl truly was a force of nature. He shook his head and followed them all inside, hearing Mary say she’d go with Mattie upstairs to get some drawings.
“Drawings?” he asked as soon as they’d settled themselves in the living room.
“Mattie can draw,” Eli explained. “She’s being haunted by some dead girls blaming her for their murder. She’s gonna draw us pictures of what they look like.”
“She any good?”
“Better than good,” Dan said, a smile dancing on his face. “You’ll understand once you see them. Just be prepared.”
“Prepared?” he and Eli asked together.
“Mattie draws them the way she sees them when they first come to her, and considering they’re dead…well, it can be pretty gruesome.”
A few minutes later, both girls were back. Mary went to fix them lunch, and Mattie settled down to draw. Half an hour later, she pronounced she was done and handed the sketches to Dan. Curious, Caleb peeked over Dan’s shoulder at the images. He gasped. The drawings were brutal, detailed, and haunting. They were also very disturbing. He glanced over at Mattie, who watched them with a worried expression. If he had to guess, showing her work to people wasn’t something she did a lot.
“Wow, Mattie, these are…” He trailed off, not knowing what word to use.
“Gruesome?” Eli asked, clearly fascinated.
“Beautiful,” Dan corrected. “Dark, moody, and gruesome, but beautiful.”
Mattie beamed at him, and Caleb shook his head. Dan might not understand his own feelings for Mattie, but the two of them shared a bond he didn’t think Eli would ever touch. There was a certain light around them that connected them.
Caleb’s gift was unique in and of itself. He could see auras sometimes, but only if the person’s emotions were so strong it would register as a ten on the Richter scale, or when people’s connections to each other defied time and space. That was the kind of bond she shared with both of his brothers. The bonds they shared were different, but sometime down the road, she was going to have to choose between the two. Caleb dreaded it because all three of them would end up hurt.
“Can you get a hit off the facial recognition software with these?” Mattie asked, pulling Caleb back into the conversation.
“Ohhh, do we have a case?” Mary chirped, coming out of the kitchen carrying a plate of subs. Caleb tried to help her, but she shooed him away, making him frown. The girl needed to learn to accept a little help.
“No, we don’t have a case,” Dan told her. “I have a case.”
Caleb felt a low growl building. He did not like Dan talking to her in that snotty manner, but before he could say anything, Eli did. “No, actually, I believe Mattie has a case. You have jack without her.”
“Will both of you stop it?” Mattie demanded. “If Mary wants to help, then she can. You have enough to worry about right now anyway, Officer Dan. How do you expect to have time to trudge around looking for clues? Your dad and Cam need you more than I do right now.”
Dan’s face paled. Caleb had forgotten about what was going on. Mary had managed to distract him enough to let him breathe for a few minutes.
“Because you have Eli?” Dan snarled, and Caleb’s earlier thoughts came rushing back. Dan had no idea how much he loved Mattie, how much he was in love with her. When he finally figured it out, it was going to be bad for them all. Eli and Mattie had a connection that couldn’t be broken, no matter who she chose. Dan might end up getting hurt more than anyone.
They were all just trying to adjust to the fact they were brothers, and this thing with Mattie might destroy whatever chance they had of being a family. He wanted to blame Mattie, but he couldn’t. The same bond that connected her to Eli held a little sway over him as well because of their bloodline. His only thought was to protect the girl, but who was going to protect them from all the damage she was going to do their lives?
“That’s it!” Mattie exploded. “Outside right now!”
“Here, you two might as well eat while they work that out,” Mary said. “I’ll go grab you guys a drink. I have water, Mountain Dew, and Coke.”
“Mountain Dew,” Caleb told her, and Eli agreed. She was only gone a minute, and then returned and handed them each a cold can of soda.
“Got a question for you, bro,” Eli said. “Mattie has a problem. Seems that when a ghost touches her, they can make her feel everything they felt when they died. One of the ghosts who thinks she’s responsible for their death attacked her at the airport earlier. Is there a way to protect her from that? A sigil or rune, maybe?”
Caleb stared out the window thoughtfully. There might be. It was a really old rune, but with some changes, it might do what she needed. He couldn’t imagine what he’d feel like if he were forced to relive a ghost’s death every time one of them touched him. It had to be unnerving, and maybe painful too.
Eli grabbed two of the sandwiches and started scarfing like he hadn’t eaten in days. It was disgusting to watch. Even Mary stared at him, fascinated at the way he shoveled the sandwiches into his mouth. When Mattie and Dan returned, Eli looked up and gave them both a grin full of food.
“Mouth closed,” Caleb told his brother. “You’d think Mom never taught you any manners.”
Eli just shrugged. Dan loaded his own plate, took a seat beside Eli, and started to inhale his food. Caleb could only stare at the two of them. They were both eating like they were in a contest. Well, there was one trait they had in common—they were both gluttons.
“Mattie, Eli told me about what happened earlier. There’s an old rune I think will work, but I need to study it and make sure the changes I make to it are right.”
“How can you tell if you get it right?” she asked, her tone curious.
“We won’t know till we try it,” Caleb said. “Eli will ink you when I finally settle on the design. He’s better at that than I am.”
“Is there anything I can do to keep the ghosts out of the house?”
For a girl with ghost abilities, she sure didn’t know much about them. “You can salt all the doors and windows. If someone breaks the salt line, though, it becomes useless.”
“Salt?” Surprise colored Mary’s question. “Why salt?”
“Salt is a natural absorbent,” Caleb explained, grabbing the last sandwich before either of his brothers could. He hadn’t eaten all day, and he was starving. No point in letting their disgusting habits ruin his appetite. “It basically absorbs the energy a ghost gives off and acts as a natural barrier because of it.”
Dan’s phone rang, and he took it and his plate of sandwiches outside. From the look on his face, it had to be about his mom. Caleb felt conflicted. He wanted to say something to help Dan, but at the same time, he couldn’t. Dan’s adoptive mother killed their birth mother. Caleb just couldn’t console him when it came to Ann Richards.
He looked up to find Mary staring at him. She gave him a reassuring smile, and he had the oddest feeling she knew exactly what he’d been thinking. Maybe she did. The girl was very perceptive.
“Does he always eat like that?” Mary pointed to Eli.
“Unfortunately, yes. I’ve seen him take down some of the best hot dog eating champions in the world.”
“Hey, I’m a growing boy,” Eli said when he swallowed the rest of his last sub. “You going to eat that?”
“Touch it and die,” Caleb told his brother, ice in his voice.
Eli shrugged and turned his attention to Mattie. “Did you eat, Hilda?”
Did his brother really ask Mattie if she’d eaten? Eli had never in his entire life inquired to see if anyone else was hungry, and that included his own family. Mattie made him remember someone’s needs other than his own? Wow…just wow.
“Do you want me to make you one?” Eli’s question made Caleb’s eyes widen. He offered to make her food? Had the boy lost his mind? This was not his brother.
She cringed. “No, just watching you eat made me lose my appetite.”
“You’ll get used to it.” A grin spread across Eli’s face.
“No, I won’t,” she countered. “That implies you and I will be spending time together. Not gonna happen.”
“Oh, Hilda, it’s so gonna happen.” Eli’s grin got bigger. “I guarantee it.”
“I would have to like you to spend time with you,” she said. “Since I don’t like you…I don’t see that happening.”
“You seriously wound me, Hilda.” He faked a shot to his heart.
“He’s adorable.” Mary giggled.
“He’s a pain,” Mattie said, and Caleb agreed. “And don’t call me Hilda!”
Caleb could see how angry Mattie was getting, and he’d bet anything she was about to give his brother another beat down even if Eli didn’t see it coming. He insisted on calling her Hilda, something he’d devised from her name, Mathilda. She despised it. “Elijah,” he warned. “Lay off unless you want to get thrashed. Again.”
“Why not, Hilda? It’s your name, isn’t it?”
Mattie turned, and her fist landed in Eli’s gut before he or Caleb saw it coming. Eli bent over and Mattie grabbed his head and pulled it down to meet her knee as it came up. Eli coughed and toppled off the couch onto the floor. Mattie stood up and glared down at him. “Don’t. Call. Me. Hilda! Got it?”
The screen door opened, and Dan stared at the scene in front of him a second before coming to stand behind Mattie. He laughed, and before Caleb knew it, he was laughing just as hard as Dan was.
Mary, however, wasn’t laughing. “Mattie, you can’t just hit people because…well, because…just because!”
Caleb shook his head and felt his phone vibrate. Ignoring them for a second, he pulled it out. It was from his dad. His parents were taking Ben to a movie, so he, Eli, and their sister, Ava, would have to fend for themselves tonight. Caleb caught movement out of the corner of his eye and saw Dan grab Mattie before she could do more damage to their brother.
“You seriously like to get beat up by girls, don’t you?” Dan asked.
“Nah, I just like to irritate this one.” Eli pushed himself up off the floor. “I need to watch out for that left hook of hers, though.”
“On that note,” Caleb said, “I better get him out of here before Mattie really does hurt him. It was nice to meet you, Mary.”
“You too.” Mary grinned at him, and he couldn’t help but smile back.
“Mattie, I’ll call you when I get that tattoo worked out, okay?”
“Thanks, Caleb.” Mattie gave him a hug, and he ruffled her hair. He had this insane need to protect her, kinda like he had with Ava, almost like a sister.
Caleb took his brother by the arm and hauled him toward the door. “Let’s go, Elijah.”
Once they were in the truck, he shook his head. “You do like getting beat up by girls, don’t you?”
“I let her do it,” Eli defended, a blush ghosting over his cheeks.
“Bull.” Caleb laughed. “You finally met a girl who’s too much for even you to handle.”
“And what about you?” Eli asked. “Don’t think I didn’t see the way you were watching Mary.”
“She’s nice,” Caleb said. “I was only being nice in return.”
“Yeah, right, bro. You stalked her with your eyes the entire time we were there.”
Caleb glanced out his window and saw the woman and little boy from the park. She was chatting with a neighbor by the fence, and the child was playing in the yard with some blocks. Caleb squinted, and sure enough, there were still two shadows attached to the kid.
“Eli, look over there at the baby playing. What do you see?”
Eli turned his head and studied the kid for a minute, then his eyes narrowed. “Why does he have two shadows?”
“That’s what I want to know,” Caleb said. “They were at the park across from the police station earlier. I saw it then.”
“Why were
they at that park? That’s a good half hour drive from here.”
“No clue,” Caleb said. “We should look into it, though. Whatever has attached itself to the kid isn’t good at all.”
“No,” Eli agreed. “At least we might be able to get close this time without looking like some weird pedophiles scoping out children.”
Caleb laughed. Eli had been called just that once by a mother who had been targeted by an angry spirit. She’d apologized later, of course, but it had rankled Eli since the incident.
“Any ideas what it might be?” Eli’s face was thoughtful. “I can’t think of anything offhand.”
“No idea. We need to check with Dad to see if he’s run into something like this before. First, though, we need to pick up dinner. Mom and Dad took Ben to the movies.”
“Pizza,” Eli said without hesitation, and Caleb agreed. They’d all eat pizza, even Ava, who was on a vegetarian kick this week. He pulled out of the drive and glanced back one more time at the little boy with two shadows, his thoughts troubled. Something was very wrong there.
He didn’t know what, but he would.
Chapter Three
Mary watched Caleb work, a dreamy smile plastered on her face. He was simply gorgeous. All that dark brown hair and those chocolate eyes…mmm. He was nice too. The fact that he was back made her day. Mattie had come home from the hospital to discover the ghost-proofing actually banned her from the house. Caleb had to take it all down.
Mattie needed the house demon-proofed as well. The demon who had been stalking her showed up in her bedroom. Despite the fact Mary claimed she was cool with all the supernatural stuff surrounding her new foster sister, the thought of a demon in her home majorly freaked her out. Mary was glad Caleb knew how to keep them out.
He’d explained to her earlier demons weren’t all like what she saw on TV. Sure, some of them were just as evil as those portrayed in movies. They took over a person’s body to consume their souls, some made deals with humans—who sold their souls for what they wanted most. Demons were like humans. Some were smart, some were clever, some simply followed orders, and some were slightly less evil than the others. Caleb admitted they’d worked with a few demons in the past when it was necessary.
