by C. L. Parker
Here’s where it starts to get a little messy: Some of us get carried away and start compounding those little cheats and harmless lies. Before we know it, cheats and lies have morphed into things much worse until we’re swimming in shit up to our eyeballs because it eventually has to come out. Right?
Whether it’s something we choose to do because we really aren’t as good to the core as our loved ones had hoped or believed, or if we really are good, but were forced to the dark side because a better alternative hadn’t presented itself at the time, we still did it, and we must atone for those sins. Eventually.
Dominic was paying for his big time.
He was cursed—a freakish specter, one of those things that go bump in the night, the stuff children’s nightmares are made of. He believed he deserved what he had become, and that all those “dirty deeds done dirt cheap” in his past had led to the sentence he carried. His penance for cheating, stealing, beating, and killing was becoming something not of this world. All those other lives, innocent or not, had been profoundly affected by him—all in the name of protecting his three-member family. The truth of the matter was he really didn’t give a rat’s ass about himself, but his little brother? He didn’t deserve to suffer. Neither did any of those mothers, wives, and children of the men he had put six feet under.
His day of reckoning had come. Maybe not at the pearly gates of Heaven, but most certainly in his own private Hell.
Colton knew. Well, most of it anyway. By the end of the day, he would know it all. Because Dominic needed to purge his soul of the sins he had committed against mankind, against himself. Whatever the end result, he would live with it, somehow.
Kerrigan had accepted him for what he used to be because she was just the kind of person who always saw the good in people. The thing about that, though, was he hadn’t committed any of those sins for her sake. He had justified the wrong he had done by the right he had done by his brother. Sure, some of it had been for his alcoholic mother as well, but it was because of Sarah Grayson’s handicap that he had to be the one to make sure Colton would be all right, that he would have everything he needed to live a somewhat normal life—a life with the same opportunities kids who came from normal households did.
Still, the end didn’t justify the means. Colton was such a good kid that he would hate Dominic for the guilt he was about to strap onto his shoulders like a backpack full of lead.
Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t.
Last night when they had reached the house, Kerrigan had pulled the Barracuda into the garage, and Dominic went invisible from his manifested state as they greeted their friends. Olivia’s eyes pled a thousand pardons for the mishap—a mishap that was completely at the fault of one very inebriated Tyson. He had apparently had a delusional moment in his drunken state and decided the solution to everyone’s problem was for them to beat Kerrigan and Dominic home, not fall behind. He had pushed down on Olivia’s knee, forcing her to stomp on the gas pedal. By the time he had relented, it was already too late.
Sydney’s slaps to the back of Tyson’s head had been unrelenting, and all he could do was duck and endure the barrage while repeating his mantra of apologies. He couldn’t even fend off the attack because then he would have dropped Colton.
That’s right. When he saw Dominic disappear before his very eyes, Colton had screeched a, “Dude... What... the fuck... was that!?” and then passed out in the back seat. It had taken both Tyson and Talon to haul him out of the car and up to his room. Gabe, the mothering hen, flailed his arms behind them and barked orders. Three people, smashed out of their minds, carrying another who barely looked to be breathing while bumping his head into nearly every wall or stationary barrier along the way—it was quite a sight to see. Hopefully, Colton wouldn’t have multiple concussions when he woke.
Needless to say, Dominic hadn’t thought it would be a good idea to pull out the smelling salts to rouse him. He wanted Colton to sleep it off and give him some time to come up with the words to tell his little brother what he should have told him the day he had arrived.
Restless and unable to sleep, he had lain next to Kerrigan while she had continued to give him a pep talk, but not even she could soothe his frantic mind. He wouldn’t be at ease until the truth was out there, and he knew where he stood with Colton.
Around noon the next day, the moment of truth arrived.
Colton was sitting out on the screened-in back porch sipping a cup of coffee, nursing his hangover, when Dominic finally got up the nerve to go to him. Ever faithful, Gabe was by his side with his legs curled underneath him while talking to Millie in baby-speak as the pup licked incessantly at his chin.
Gabe looked up when Dominic and Kerrigan stepped onto the porch. From the expression on his face he knew what was about to go down. His brow furrowed and then relaxed, giving them a half-hearted smile. He was torn in two with conflicting emotions. On the one hand, it was obvious he wanted to be strong for Dominic, encouraging him to get everything out in the open, but on the other, he was full of concern for the man who had become such a good friend to him. Worried and sad at the same time, the momma bear in him didn’t know who to defend.
Dominic inhaled deeply and let his shoulders relax, steeling himself for the conversation about to take place. He plastered a playful smirk on his face and carried himself as if it were any other day and he was just any other big brother poking fun at his younger sibling, taking advantage of his obvious discomfort.
“Mornin’, Colt!” he said louder than necessary and clapped him on the back.
Colton winced. Pain shot through his head like an ice pick to the skull, but he tried to steady his balance before the piping hot coffee spilled down the front of his pristine white T-shirt.
“How ya feeling on this fine, bright, sunny day?” Dominic chuckled as he pulled Kerrigan to sit on the couch with him across from Colton and Gabe. Once she was settled, he draped his arm over her shoulders. Millie hopped down from Gabe’s lap, trading it for Kerrigan’s, and began yet another tongue bathing.
Colton scowled. “Like death warmed over.” He took a careful sip of the steaming cup of cure-all. “Why are you so chipper? Shouldn’t you be feeling about the same way? You drank just as much, if not more, than I did.”
“Bah, you just don’t know how to handle your liquor, young upstart.” Dominic gave him a condescending wink. “In the future, try popping a couple of Excedrine Migraines before you start kicking ’em back, Junior. Keeps the hangover away.”
“I’ll try to keep that in mind.” Colton’s eyes had dark rings under them, making him look more tired than he should have been after the way he had passed out the night before. “I can’t even remember half of what happened last night, and my brain keeps conjuring up shit all on its own.” He shook his head back and forth with a chuckle. “Dude, I could’ve sworn I saw you disappear right in front of my eyes. Just... poof, vanished into thin air. I think someone must have spiked my drink or something.”
Gabe, Kerrigan, and Dominic looked at each other while Colton laughed to himself, oblivious to the fact that no one else found his temporary delirium quite so funny. Kerrigan patted Dominic’s chest and gave him a tight smile. Translation: now was as good a time as any to drop the bomb. No more dragging ass and dodging the bullet. One way or the other, the secret was going to sink to the bottom of that sea, and he was going to face the consequences. Should he sink along with it, or swim for the shore?
Dominic looked out over the back yard. The sun was shining bright. Puffy white clouds littered the sky like cotton balls suspended in air. Birds were nesting in the trees. Spring flowers were in bloom. He sucked in a breath of fresh air, taking it into his lungs and feeling them expand before exhaling again. It was a good day to die—metaphorically, of course—but maybe some good old exercise would keep one foot out of the grave. The shore it was then.
“Yeah, about that,” Dominic began, his resolve unwavering for the first time in a long time. “There’s something you
need to know.”
Gabe cleared his throat and stood. “Okay, well I guess that’s my cue to leave.”
Colton put his hand out and blocked him from leaving. “Where do you think you’re going? Sit back down.”
Kerrigan noticed a little something extra in the way Colton looked at her best friend. There was a tiny spark of familiarity tinged with a smidge of possessiveness behind those eyes. She had seen that look before, only full-on and unabated—every single time Dominic looked at her. Colton must have felt the weight of her stare because he darted his eyes in her direction and then away, swallowing hard and wetting his lips nervously before turning back to Gabe. She chanced a look at Dominic to see if he had seen the same thing, but he was busy watching his foot tap on the floor in nervous anticipation.
Oblivious to her discerning observation, Gabe answered in as sweet a manner as she had ever heard from him. “This is a family meeting, boo. That means Gabriel Baxter, diva extraordinaire, exits stage left.”
“You’re just as much a part of this family as any of the rest of us.” Kerrigan was unwilling to let him believe otherwise. “Which means this involves you as well, and you stay.” The look in her eyes told him everything he needed to know: Colton might need a friend by the time Dominic was done spilling the beans. Since he and Colton had developed quite a strong bond, that friend would be Gabe.
“All right, let’s get this show on the road then.” He resumed his previous position.
Colton had been watching the three of them interact like there was something heavy they were about to drop. The other shoe—if the other shoe was a heavy wrecking ball. “The way you guys are acting makes me think I might need to Irish up my java.” He laughed uncomfortably and sat his mug down on the table beside him before leaning back in his seat. “What’s up?”
Much to everyone’s surprise, Dominic ripped the Band Aid off in one quick, jerky motion. “I’m a ghost, Colton.”
There. The truth was out. They say the truth shall set you free. Odd, Dominic didn’t feel very free. The weight was still there, pressing down on his shoulders so hard he thought he might actually lose a couple of inches off his shins.
Kerrigan, Dominic, and Gabe waited for Colton’s reaction. He looked around at all of their faces, shifted, crossed and uncrossed his legs, sat up, and then sat back again. He folded his arms over his chest, opened and closed his mouth, unfolded his arms, shifted forward again and put his elbows on his knees, and then steepled his fingers in front of him.
Colton tilted his head to the side, his face screwed up in confusion. “Um... what?”
“I’m... a... ghost,” Dominic repeated, his words slow and deliberate.
The expression on Colton’s face hadn’t changed, but behind his eyes Kerrigan could see he was mentally calculating the meaning behind those three tiny words. He was concentrating so hard that she was tempted to pull out a pen and notepad to draw him a picture.
“How is that even possible? Like, you’re dead? You’re a fucking zombie? You crave brains? Should I sleep with one eye open?”
Colton and his movies...
“Not exactly,” Dominic answered, but before he could go any further, Colton cut him off.
“What the fuck does ‘not exactly’ mean? You’re either dead or you aren’t, Dom! There’s no in-between! I’m a med student, remember? They sort of teach you that on the first day.”
Dominic leaned forward, his body mirroring his younger sibling’s. “Jesus, Colt. Yes, I know that you’re in med school, and I know that what’s going on with me defies scientific explanation. It’s complicated. I don’t even know how it’s possible. Over the past two years I’ve seen things that would make any other man believe he’d gone insane, so I know it’s not easy to just accept what I’m telling you. It’s the reason I didn’t tell you when you first got here.”
“Yeah, because all that other shit you told me about your girlfriend’s freaky power...”
Kerrigan flinched. Dominic noticed.
“...and a dead man trying to steal your body made so much more sense?”
Dominic snapped to his feet and loomed over Colton, forcing him to sit as far back as he could go. “You watch your fucking mouth where Kerrigan is concerned! There’s nothing freaky about her! She has a gift! She saved my goddamn life, and will probably be the one to save yours, too!”
Kerrigan stood and put herself between Colton and Dominic. Having seen his explosive side before when Jackson had showed up on their front doorstep, she knew if Dominic didn’t get his anger under control, he might turn volatile in a nanosecond. He would regret lashing out at his little brother. She snaked her hand under his collar and found the raised scar on his shoulder.
“Calm down, Dominic. It’s okay. He just doesn’t understand. This can be a lot to take in, and all the yelling and screaming in the world isn’t going to make it any better.”
The muscles coiled tight under his skin eased at her touch, and he ripped his hard glare away from Colton, getting lost in her baby blues instead. He was in a trance-like state, everything else around him blurring as he focused on her. The hard lines of his features smoothed, the heart thumping wildly in his chest became more manageable, and the anger boiling under the surface quieted. He touched his forehead to hers, and she cupped the back of his neck, holding his gaze.
“Querida...” His voice was a mere whisper. He had been lost until he had found her. She was his beacon in the darkness.
“Better now?” she asked. He closed his eyes, and with a calming breath, he nodded. She tilted her chin up and pressed her lips to his. “Good. Let’s sit back down. You’ve got more to tell him.”
Kerrigan and Dominic took their seats. Colton turned to Gabe. “How the hell did she do that?”
“Like I said, she has a gift.” Dominic’s tone was nowhere near as harsh as it had been moments before.
“I’m sorry, Kerrigan. I didn’t mean to—”
“Of course you didn’t, Colton,” she said with a soft voice and a warm smile. “Don’t think twice about it. There’s no apology necessary. Let’s get back on track because there’s so much more you need to know. Maybe it would be easier to know how it happened. Dominic?”
He took a deep breath in preparation. “Look, all I know is that when that bitch and our black-hearted father tried to rip my soul out of my body, Availia saved me, but there was a residual side effect. From midnight until dawn’s first light, I’m a fucking ghost, okay? All the rest of the time, I’m perfectly normal, just like you.”
Colton leaned forward again. “Man, that’s... harsh. Have you gone to a doctor or anything?”
Dominic cocked his head and gave him an incredulous look. “A doctor? Really? You’re about to be a doctor, Colt. Tell me, what would you say if someone came into your office and told you this shit?”
“Point taken.” He ducked his head in contemplation, and then looked up sharply like he had the answer. “Can’t Kerrigan fix it?”
She shook her head. “If I can, we don’t know how... yet.”
Gabe gave Colton’s back a comforting rub. Colton looked at him. “You knew about this and didn’t tell me?”
“Wasn’t my place to, boo-boo. We’ve all been sworn to secrecy.” He smiled and shrugged in a way that said he was sorry, but that was just the way the cookie crumbled.
“You said, we’ve all, which implies other people know,” he said, wanting clarification. Then he recalled the events of the night before. “Tyson? Talon?”
“Olivia and Sydney,” Kerrigan finished. “That’s it. No one else knows. Well, except for Sinclair, her merry band of idiots, and your father. Oh, and Jackson. I forgot about him. But no one’s seen or heard from him since that night. You can’t tell anyone, Colton.”
“Who would believe me if I did? I mean, he’s my brother and all, the only family I have left. I would never put him out there like that. Hell, the scientific community would be all kinds of gung-ho to turn him into some sort of guinea pig or someth
ing. Besides that, they’d probably lock me away in a mental institution and throw away the key if I told someone my brother was doubling part-time as Jacob Marley.”
“Ha, ha... very funny. My brother, the comedian. Stick to the doc shit. Comedy is not your strong suit.”
Colton laughed, enjoying the fact that he could get his older brother so riled up after having spent the duration of his life as his underling. Once he was able to bring himself under control, that scientific mind of his kicked into overdrive. He accosted his brother with a barrage of questions like what it felt like when he changed, could he physically move things, could he walk through walls, could people walk through him, could he blink himself to another location, did he leave behind ectoplasm. Kerrigan scrunched up her nose and told him to stop being so ridiculously disgusting. Every single stereotypical thing that people assumed about ghosts from movies and stories told around campfires Colton asked, and quickly found out that a good majority of them were true.
After much consideration of the facts, a big cheesy grin spread across Colton’s face, and he turned to Kerrigan. “Hey, Kerr, did you know that you’ve got a ghost living in your attic?” The scowl on Dominic’s face caused Colton to double over with laughter.
Kerrigan and Gabe burst into a fit of giggles.
“And here I thought you were actually trying to be serious about something for a change.” Dominic knew his little brother was very serious about his studies, but he had always been the constant jokester besides.
Colton chuckled. “Come on, Dom. After all the noogies, eraser burns, and wedgies I had to endure all my life from you, I think you can grant me this one.”
“You better get it all out of your system now, and make it worth it, because my fingers are twitching, and I’m about five minutes away from yanking your Scooby Doo underoos off your body without removing your pants, Skippy. You remember the summer of ’95, right? I believe you walked around bow-legged for a solid month after you torched all my underwear.”
