Soul Search: A Zackie Story

by Reyna Favis

  Lucas cleared his throat from the doorway. “Let’s just call it your working hypothesis. It doesn’t have to be true, but it’s a starting point.” His hair was wet from showering and he looked slightly less stricken. Maybe the coconut water helped him after all. I held up the plate of remaining French toast to him, but he shook his head and swallowed. Okay, so better, but not perfect.

  Parmelia stumbled past him and took a seat next to Bodean. Cam poured her a cup of coffee as she reached for the plate that was lately offered to Lucas. “I heard what y’all have been saying. Kind of rude to wake someone up like that, but I agree with Cam. We gotta finish this. If Fia has the right of it, outing him might just give us enough influence to send him over. Tell him that Zackie knows who he is and he can’t stop her from going between this world and the next.”

  We agreed that we should not wait to act and decided to take the remainder of the day to recharge. We’d return to the house in the afternoon and settle things. Cam admonished us all to keep thinking of a plan B, since there was no guarantee that this was going to work.

  I got up from the table and drifted towards the door to the living room. “Because that worked so well the first time?” I had to admit, Cam really was getting quite skilled at rolling his eyes. Walking over to the bedding on the floor, I began rolling up the sleeping bag. Lucas grabbed the pad and also rolled it, tying it off with a bungee cord to keep it compressed. I glanced up at his face and he was looking at me intently.

  “What?”

  “Why did she tell me to go when she knew she was dying?”

  “What makes you think I know?” I deliberately avoided his eyes as I said this.

  “You know. She talked to you. She told me she trusted you.”

  At this, I looked up at him and couldn’t hide my surprise. “Why would she trust me? We barely knew each other.”

  “She said you were honest.” He paused and asked again. “Why did she tell me to go?”

  “She didn’t want you to see her die.” I blurted it out because I didn’t know how to say it more delicately. “Hannah didn’t want your last memory of her to be her death. She had that one last good day with you and she wants you to remember that.”

  He nodded and sat on the floor. A single tear trickled down his face, but his voice was steady. “I really loved her.”

  “I know.” I touched his shoulder. “And she knew that. You did everything you could to help her to live, to keep her with you.” Before I could react, he pulled me into his arms. I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes tightly. He needed basic human comfort and this was going to kill me. When at last he let me go, I backed up as far as I could without him noticing how badly I needed distance from him. “I’m sorry for your loss,” I whispered. Standing up, I went to the office to tie up the other sleeping bag and pad.

  # # #

  Lucas decided to come with us for what we hoped would be the final confrontation. “It’s a distraction.” He made some adjustments on the handheld camera as we sat in Cam’s truck waiting for the cousins to park. “I also owe it to my crew to keep them employed. We need the footage.” I wondered how long it would take until he quit the show.

  Cam stepped out of the cab as the cousins killed their engine. Opening the tailgate, he let Zackie out and she stretched and shook herself like it was another day at the beach. “Right. I want everyone at the pit. If this goes well, the house will be safe enough to enter later.”

  We did as he requested and headed to the pit. Lucas kept a few paces back to better get the participants in frame. As expected, John Castner lay at the bottom, quietly bleeding. Bodean peered over the edge at him. “That’s one hell of a relative you got there, John.”

  Cam took the cross out from his pocket and asked each of us to call the Entity. Parmelia sucked in her breath. “It’s coming fast. Get ready.” I channeled what energy I had managed to scavenge during the day into my hands and waited.

  The air shimmered around us and an inky black smoke began to coalesce. I felt a moment of smug satisfaction that it was not nearly as opaque as in previous encounters.

  Cam held up the cross. In a normal, almost conversational voice, he made the accusation. “Reverend Jacob Castner, I hold your cross and I say that it is you who caused the death of the two innocent men who died by hanging. I hold you responsible for tormenting these spirits and keeping them here.” The smoke writhed and fought as the shape solidified into the silhouette of a human. Bodean shifted his stance, binding the figure as it clawed at him to free itself. Cam continued. “It’s no use, Jacob. We all know who you are. The psychopomp knows who you are. You need to release these spirits and release yourself from this earthbound state. The psychopomp will help you to cross over.” Zackie approached the shadow man. “The scales must be balanced. Are you ready to face the consequences of your actions?” The spirit seemed to shrink in upon itself and it looked like its head nodded. “Bodean, release him to Zackie.”

  As the change of guard was being made, Parmelia gave a strangled cry. “Stop him, Bodean! Bind ‘em!”

  The spirit twisted and writhed into a smoky column that lunged toward an unsuspecting Lucas. The Entity was going after the member of our group with the least ability to sense it and defend himself. Zackie snarled at this treachery and sank her fangs into the black mass. A sound like metal being shredded pierced the air and my hands shot up to protect my ears. The stench of feces and putrefaction permeated the air and my gut clenched in revulsion. Stretching itself despite the agony of the bite, the Entity extended an oily tentacle toward Lucas. The world came into a tight focus, everything was too bright and all I saw was his face.

  “Lucas!” I cried his name and raised my hands to defend him, knowing I was too slow. From behind Lucas, Hannah lunged forward to stand protectively between him and the reaching appendage. Momentum carried the smoky arm into Hannah’s spirit body and her eyes glittered as she grasped the probing black limb with both hands to prevent it from retracting. The tentacle thrashed and struggled to be free, but she held fast as the sound of screeching metal intensified. Finally, Hannah released it, smiling grimly as she stepped back behind Lucas. The Entity shrieked in anguish as tumorous masses grew on its form, consuming its dead flesh and contorting its shape into a necrotic, spastic heap. Spitting out what was left of the diseased soul, Zackie backed away and allowed the scales to be balanced.

  Parmelia was shaking, flapping her hands uselessly as she walked in a circle. “Holy crapping crap! Never in my life… I have never seen…” Bodean put his arm around her and she held on to him as she worked through a delayed reaction. I took in a deep breath of fresh air and let it out slowly as I recognized the significance of what I had seen. The Entity had been neutralized. Lucas was unharmed. Hannah had not allowed Zackie to help her cross over. I should have been reveling in our victory, but my heart thudded painfully in my chest and my face was wooden, unable to crack a smile or swear away the trauma. Since my motives were suspect, I could not tell if this creeping sadness was truly for her alone.

  I caught Cam’s eye. “What’s happened to the Entity? Does it exist anymore?”

  Cam gave me a glassy stare and his fingers fumbled as he tried to place the cross in his pocket. Dropping it, he stooped to pick up the artifact and stared stupidly at it for a moment. His gaze then shifted to Lucas and he began shaking his head repeatedly. Lucas was filming what was transpiring and was none the wiser about what almost happened to him. “This one has nine lives,” Cam mumbled.

  “Cam, the Entity?”

  “Oh, right…” He rubbed his face and exhaled. “It still has consciousness, but it is severely debilitated and will no longer be a threat to anyone.” Shrugging his shoulders, he continued. “Zackie might decide at some point in the distant future to offer it another chance to cross over. I don’t know. It’s damaged in a lot of ways besides what Hannah did to it, but maybe it can be rehabilitated on the other side.”

  After we took a few private minutes to
process what had just happened, Cam cleared his throat and his voice sounded raw. “We’re not done yet. We still have to free the other spirits.” We all nodded and tried to get our heads back in the game. The events had drained us and it was a struggle to stand upright, let alone concentrate on next steps.

  Bodean nodded and shut his eyes briefly. “What’s our game plan?”

  Cam glanced at Zackie and then replied. “Let’s do them in the order they were murdered. I think that makes sense for sending them off.”

  We started with the man in the pit. Cam and Bodean helped John Castner to his feet and out of the pit. We formed an exhausted honor guard and escorted him to the house.

  “Maria?” Cam called. “You must come to see John.” Maria appeared, sobbing quietly and opened her arms to embrace her husband.

  Rocking as he held his wife close, John kept repeating, “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Maria.”

  Wiping the tears from his face, she murmured, “Hush, John. It’s not your fault.” She glanced back at Zackie and then tenderly cupped his face in her hands. “Are you ready to see little Mary? I know I sure am.”

  Zackie brought them through the portal, their arms around each other and the scent of baking bread wafting back at us. I wiped a stray tear from my lashes and then motioned to the others. “Come on. There’s one more in the house.”

  We found John Parke sitting in the bed where he was murdered, holding the pieces of his fractured skull in his hands. Bodean knelt in front of him. “Sir, y’all ready to leave this place?”

  He stared at each of us and then asked, “They’ve gone ahead, haven’t they?” We nodded and he let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, that’s good. Thank the Lord they’re finally safe.”

  When Zackie appeared out of the darkness, he stood up in polite deference and thanked her before following her through the portal. The scent of wood burning in a hearth drifted towards us and a glowing warmth spread as the portal closed behind them. The atmosphere in the house had turned airy and light and I thought even Joel would be able to sense the difference. Everything would be all right now. The new family would be able to move in and feel secure in this new home.

  With the last of our energy, we trudged through the field and made our way to Peter Parke and Joseph Carter. The hanged men stood by their graves, waiting expectantly, one arm companionably on the shoulder of the other man.

  One of the men stepped forward. “It’s over? It’s really over?”

  Cam nodded. “You’re freed from this place.”

  With a great whoop, the men slapped each other on the back and embraced. When Zackie appeared for them, they each raised a hand in farewell to us, as if they were leaving on a grand journey. Their joy was contagious and I smiled as they went through the portal, accompanied by the sound of a fiddler playing a lively reel.

  CHAPTER 19

  Bodean and Parmelia stayed for the funeral. I wore my best black gloves and cobbled together a decent enough outfit from the dark clothing I wore at the restaurant. Looking in the mirror, I thought I was dressed well enough to show respect.

  The affair was simple and tasteful. Lucas said only a few words, but they were from the heart and many people needed to find their handkerchiefs after he spoke. I only saw her once briefly during the ceremony. Hannah appeared from behind Lucas and put her face to the flowers that were arranged near the casket. I couldn’t tell if she was happy or just relieved to have the dying over with. After the interment, the team broke up. We hugged awkwardly and then said our goodbyes. Parmelia and Bodean returned to their goats and Lucas said he would spend time with family before returning to work.

  I turned towards Cam as he drove us to his house. “So, what now?”

  “He’ll be back.”

  I swallowed and nodded, started to say something, but then changed directions. “What do I do now?”

  Cam raised an eyebrow at me. “Do now? You have a new job to start and do I have to remind you that you have only just begun to learn the tools of the trade if you want to assist the psychopomp? That was only the first semester. There’s still a lot of work ahead, you know.”

  I smiled just as Zackie emphasized his words with a muzzle punch to the back of my head. It’s always comforting to know your place in the universe.

  AUTHOR’S NOTES

  Plott Hound History

  The story of the Plott Hound’s origins is true and has been adapted from Bob Plott’s history of the breed (reference below). Only a little dramatic license was taken when describing how the Plott brothers acquired the breeding stock before immigrating to the Colonies.

  Bob Plott. (2007). The Story of the Plott Hound: Strike & Stay (Second edi). The History Press.

  Psychosis

  Information regarding Folie a deux and childhood psychosis were derived from the following references.

  Joshi, P. T., & Towbin, K. E. (2002). Psychosis in Childhood and Its Management. In K. L. Davis, D. Charney, J. T. Coyle, & C. Nemeroff (Eds.), Neuropsychopharmacology:The Fifth Generation of Progress (pp. 613–624).

  Newman, W. J., & Harbit, M. a. (2010). Folie a deux and the courts. The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 38(3), 369–375.

  Sclerosis, M. (2010). Helping Children and Youth with Psychosis Information for Parents and Caregivers. Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Retrieved from http://www.cheo.on.ca

  Moravian and Delaware Indian History

  The grave of John Lewis Luckenbach can be found in the Moravian Burial Ground in Hope, New Jersey. Information on the burial ground and the Moravian community in Hope can be found in the references cited below. I suggest visiting the graveyard to get the full effect of history and to reacquaint horror fans with the scenery depicted in Friday the 13th. Jason and his victims really did run amuck in both the Moravian Burial Ground and the Blairstown Diner.

  Some license was taken with the historical dates associated with the Moravian missionary efforts with the Lenape in order to maintain the accuracy of the information found on the headstones in the cemetery and for the sake of the story. While the Moravian community in Hope did suffer a smallpox epidemic in 1799 (one of several factors that led to the failure of the community and the return of the Moravians to Bethlehem, PA), this outbreak did not coincide with missionary efforts by the Moravians. In fact, the Lenape had been forced by treaty to give up their ancestral lands in 1758, which led to a diaspora and a resettlement of the Delaware People in Oklahoma and Canada.

  Rosenfeld, Lucy D. and Harrison, M. (2006). History Walks in New Jersey (pp. 76–79). New Brunswick, New Jersey and London: Rivergate Books.

  Sarapin, J. K. (1994). Old Burial Grounds of New Jersey: A Guide (pp. 92–94). New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.

  Changewater Murders

  The Changewater murders described in Soul Search were extensively documented at the time of the killings and although two men were executed for the crimes, their guilt was not widely accepted by the community. In deference to the victims, the descriptions of the people and the circumstances surrounding their demise were kept true to the historical record described in the references below. In deference to the descendents of possible suspects, I did not endeavor to play detective. Too much time has passed and too much evidence has been lost to make any definitive assessments regarding culpability. Since the historic Reverend Jacob Castner did much in the way of railroading two innocent men to be executed for the crimes, it did not disturb my conscience to make him the villain in the story.

  Meeker, S. and R. (1998a). The Changewater Murders: A True Historical Account. Budd Lake: Legacy, of America.

  Meeker, S. and R. (1998b). The Changewater Murders: Case Closed. Budd Lake: Legacy, of America.

  Baseball Trivia

  Eddie Gaedel’s famous at-bat is a piece of baseball lore that is so well-known that even a non-participant like me has heard the story. The details of the story were derived from the reference below.

  Cellania, M. (2011). The Strang
est At-Bat in History. Retrieved from http://www.neatorama.com/2011/08/19/the-strangest-at-bat-in-history/

  Hikers on the Appalachian Trail

  Additional characters that can be found hiking on the AT are best described in the citation that follows.

  Wallace, M. (2015). The 10 Hikers You Meet on the Appalachian Trail. Retrieved from http://appalachiantrials.com/the-10-hikers-you-meet-on-the-appalachian-trail/

  Search and Rescue

  While many of the locations described are real, no actual case histories of searches are used in Soul Search. The descriptions of the searches are drawn from my imagination and conglomerations of personal experiences, as well as stories related to me by SAR friends. As part of the search community, I am committed to protecting the privacy of the missing and their families.

  Zackie (true name Zackie-O), Merlin and Simber are real search dogs and are included in the story with the permission of the handlers. All of these canines serve the Search and Rescue Teams of Warren County. Their appearances and personalities were depicted as accurately as I could manage. Their handlers in the story are completely fictitious.

  SOUL SCENT

  The new Zackie novel from

  Reyna Favis

  Coming soon

  __________________________

  Please turn the page for a

  Special advance preview

  CHAPTER 1

  A lot can happen in a day. You could be born in a day and you could fall in love in a day. If Maggie Pierceson had waited just one more day, maybe she would not have taken her own life. Her remains lay face down on a thick layer of decaying leaves. Next to the body was a Sharpie, dropped after she had finished scrawling a final message to loved ones on her arm. Her hands were bagged to facilitate testing for gunpowder residue and the fingers curled inward as if grasping for something.