Itsy-Bitsy Spider

by Dale Mayer

It was a fair question. As somebody who saw personalities, spirits on multiple different layers, she knew that, in Stefan’s case, there was no way to lie to him. Yes, she said. I believe the little boy in the cave is the one who called the spiders to me. She took a deep breath, and, her fingers clenching and unclenching, she added, I believe he’s my son.

  That would make sense, as he’d have tremendous abilities inherited just through his DNA. Give me the details, he said, his tone brisk. We don’t have much time.

  She relayed what had happened so far this evening.

  And Kirk is sure that’s what he heard?

  She glanced over at Kirk, wondering if she could question his wording, but he was still talking to the police on his phone.

  To the best that I can remember, yes, she said. Why? What difference does that make?

  Probably none, he said. I can potentially follow the adults’ path backward a bit. I want you to connect with Reese as much as you can. Probably through the spiders.

  Spiders? She glanced around. I’m inside Kirk’s car. No spiders are here.

  Then step outside, call them to you and then send them off in the direction where the little boy is. Give us a north, east, south, west direction. Give us something. I’ll contact you again in a few minutes. And he cut their connection.

  She opened the vehicle door and hopped out.

  Kirk called, “Hey, don’t go anywhere.”

  But she heard somebody on the phone calling him back. She leaned down and said, “I’m just standing right here. I have to find spiders.”

  He looked at her in surprise and then nodded. He kept his gaze on her as she walked around to the front of the vehicle. She leaned against the hood of the car, crossed her arms over her belly and, in her mind, called out to the spiders. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, if you’re between me and my boy, I want you to show me the way. From where I stand to where he is, give me a path. She kept chanting various versions of her words. She heard the car door open and close behind her, and then a strangled exclamation. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

  “Have you looked?”

  She opened her eyes to see the road covered in spiders. As were her pants and shirt. “I hadn’t even felt them,” she whispered.

  “Why did you call them?”

  “Stefan asked me to call the spiders and to have them tell us in which direction Reese’s cave lies.”

  “Have they told you anything?”

  She sighed. “All I’ve done is bring them to me. Now I want them to go after Reese.” She turned slightly, standing straight on her feet, and said, “Is my son in this direction?”

  There was a rumble around her, but she couldn’t tell if it was positive or negative. She turned ninety degrees, facing the woods, and asked the same question. Same answer came back. She turned again so she faced the car and asked again. And again no answer she could understand. She turned one more time, and this time the rumble was overwhelming. She pointed in that direction. “He’s that way.”

  “Okay, good. That’s west. We can at least look on a map and see where a cave might be close by.”

  And just like that, the spiders followed the direction of her arm. She took one step and then another.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. You’re not going anywhere.” Kirk grabbed her hand.

  “I have to,” she said, her mind buzzing with some weird knowledge inside. “He’s in this direction.”

  “But he’s not likely to be close,” Kirk urged. “Can’t you go visit him in a vision, like you did last time?”

  She gave her head a hard shake.

  “Just because the spiders can cross that distance, doesn’t mean you can.”

  She frowned, and then her mind cleared. She realized just how many miles away Reese could be. She nodded. “I’ll try.” She whispered to the spiders, Show me where he is. Take me to him.

  She followed the path as the spiders swept across the countryside, meeting up with others ahead. She wasn’t sure if she was still following the same spiders or if the message had been passed on, as more and more spiders followed a direct line forward. She knew Kirk held her physical body back because she could feel him, feel his energy touching hers, blending with hers. She was going to tell him to break the contact, but thought, no, she might need it. If she exhausted herself, she might be able to use his energy to help her.

  She followed in her mind’s eye as the spiders went across the meadow, through the woods, down a hill on the other side, across a gully. It was slow going this way. She needed to move faster. She hadn’t asked Kirk what was going on with his side of the information, but she assumed, if she gave him a direction, the police would follow it.

  So far all they’d done was cross open country. A road was up ahead, but the spiders crossed it, moving in a thick bulbous train as they raced to the other side.

  There they met up with even more spiders. She didn’t know there could be that many. And she would never look at a spider the same. If they helped her find Reese, she promised to always treat them with respect and to never hurt another one, even accidentally, if she could help it.

  She also knew time was an issue, and she didn’t know why. Maybe it was his adoptive parents arguing, the mother trying to coax the man to come and get him, or perhaps Reese was trapped and facing another danger, she didn’t know. But she had to keep going faster and faster until she lost track of the countryside around her, just the wind whipping at her face, tearing at her hair, burning her skin.

  And then, all of a sudden, she came to a dead stop. The single line of spiders moved toward a hillside. It was more rock than actual grassy hill. And there was an outcropping. She tried to slip inside, but some impermeable barrier stopped her. Hey, it’s me, she cried out softly. I’m here, honey.

  Mommy?

  Yes. The police are on the way. They’re going to find you.

  Stay, he cried out. Please stay. I don’t like this place.

  She tried to see where she was, but almost nothing here identified this spot. There was a grassy knoll above and more to the side, but the area was surrounded by hills and trees. This wasn’t even a real cave. It was just a space among the rocks.

  Stay calm, she whispered. I’m here.

  Don’t leave me, he cried. You love me, right? He told me that my mommy didn’t love me.

  He was so wrong, she whispered, her heart aching. You have to believe me. I love you so very much. She didn’t know how or why, but this little boy was hers.

  He sobbed quietly. She wrapped her energy around him as much as she could. No way would she leave him. Not now, not ever. In the dim background she could hear Kirk calling her. But she could not return. If she died, that was fine. No force on this earth could separate her from her son, not again.

  Until a strange voice broke in. Wow, now this is a pretty scene.

  She stiffened and refused to move. Did he know what she was doing? How was that possible?

  This is very interesting. You have a lot more skill than I gave you credit for.

  She deliberately stayed silent.

  You think not talking to me will keep me out? That I’ll grow bored and leave? Or maybe you can’t talk to me. Maybe talking to me is consorting with the enemy. He chuckled. This is a very interesting little boy here. Maybe I need to do something about him. I could just, you know, steal him away, and nobody would ever know.

  Her son cried out, Who are you?

  I’d like to say I’m your mommy’s friend, but the truth is, I don’t think she thinks I’m her friend at all.

  She could feel her son shaking. But only being energy in form at the moment, she could do little here and now. She placed her hand on top of his head, sending as much calming and loving energy as she could into his little body.

  Lavender energy wrapped around them both, adding healing energy to hers. She smiled, loving the togetherness.

  Are you here to hurt me too?

  Her heart damn near broke at Reese’s words. Of course her son could
hear David too.

  No, no, no, no, David said. I wouldn’t do that. I don’t beat up little boys.

  My father does, Reese said. I don’t like him. He leaves me here to teach me a lesson.

  I wouldn’t be at all surprised if that’s what he does. Chances are, he’s on his way to see you right now. David laughed.

  Queenie wanted to scream and rail at him because she knew somehow he was responsible for bringing the parents this way. That complication she didn’t need. But then David wasn’t about helping. He was all about hurting. She didn’t know how he was doing what he was doing as it was.

  I’m right, you know? I can make people do all kinds of things they don’t want to do. Of course you don’t know what I’m doing or how I’m doing it, but that’s okay. Your parents will be here soon. David laughed and laughed, the hoarse sound of his voice echoing off the walls.

  Reese’s arms wrapped around his chest. He whispered, Mommy, are you still here?

  She didn’t dare speak, but she poured more and more energy into him, filling each and every chakra of his that she could, and, with every stroke, the lavender aura blended with it. And then she started from his toes and sent blue healing energy up his legs, through his knees, up his hips, anything she could do to make him feel safe and loved.

  As she poured everything she had into her son, it was like pushing energy uphill. … On the heels of that thought, the communication tunnel she’d always had with her son suddenly cleared, and energy poured from her heart chakra to her son’s chakra.

  The force was so strong as it flowed from mother to son. But her mind … She was stunned to tears by the truth. It really was Reese.

  Her son was alive …

  A fact so big, so wonderful … and so devastating that she couldn’t speak.

  Mommy, I think you need to come here in your body now. Before those other people get here, he whispered. Come back. Okay?

  She knew he was right, but she couldn’t let him go.

  But Reese stood, stepped back and said, Mommy, go. You need to go.

  And, as if he had cut a line between them, she was sucked back into the vortex, her voice screaming, Nooooooo, into the ethers. But barely seconds later, she slammed into her body in front of Kirk’s car. She turned a horrified face toward Kirk.

  “That other man was there. David. The Watcher who could see into my world,” she cried out. “He said he was going to bring Reese’s parents after him.”

  Kirk shook his head. “What? How could he have seen you there? You weren’t even there.”

  “I know. I know. But obviously he’s using energy to get into my world. Somehow he managed to see and to use energy to find me there.”

  Up ahead they could hear crying and yelling as Reese’s adoptive parents got into the car and reversed out the driveway.

  Queenie screamed, “Go, go, go. They’ll lead us to Reese.” She raced around and hopped into the passenger side.

  Kirk already had the engine going, and, keeping the lights off, he drove a safe-enough distance behind the couple. “I have to stay close enough to find out where they’re going, but I don’t want them to know they’re being followed.” He looked at her. “Are you sure it’s Reese?”

  She nodded. “Oh, yes. I’m so sure.”

  “Any idea how David is getting this couple to go back after Reese?”

  She shook her head. “No, I don’t. Stefan might though.”

  Stefan spoke in her head. No, I don’t. But we need to find out.

  *

  “Did Reese say anything helpful?” Kirk asked.

  She shook her head. “No. He’s the one who sent me away so I could bring back help,” she said. “He was stronger than I thought. I just wanted to stay and hold him tight.”

  “I’m sure that’s to be expected. Was he okay? Was he in good health? Was he hurt?”

  “He was fine,” she said. “Who could do that? Just take a child and dump him into an outcropping of rocks and leave him there all on his own. He’s just a little boy.”

  “Was he dressed for it? Was he still in pajamas?”

  “He had on jeans and a T-shirt and a sweater, like a hooded jacket,” she said. And then she frowned. “Also a bandanna around his neck.”

  “Interesting. Maybe he had just been playing with it when they snatched him.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know.” But inside she worried.

  “What’s bothering you?”

  She turned to stare at him. “A horrible, horrible thought is what’s bothering me.”

  “Tell me.” He carefully took the intersection following a good distance behind the car ahead. But because he had no headlights, nobody else could see him coming. He crossed the intersection and slipped in a good quarter-mile behind the other vehicle. He turned to look at her. “Tell me.”

  “The bandanna.”

  “What about it?” He studied the car ahead. How far would they go?

  “The way it was tied.”

  He damn near hit the brakes. He turned and stared at her. “What are you talking about?” he asked, his voice harsh.

  She turned to stare back out the windshield. “Nothing. It has to be nothing.”

  “Queenie, for God’s sake,” he snapped. “Just spit it out.”

  She took a deep breath. “It was blue. That handkerchief around Reese’s neck was blue.”

  Obviously he was focused on driving because he didn’t get what the hell she was talking about. “And?”

  “It was blue, like the woman in the lake.”

  His throat seized. “But it can’t be the same surely?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “But I’m afraid it might be. I’m really afraid it might be.”

  “Can you tell? Can you see the energy? Can you check the knot?”

  “I can’t from here,” she said. “But I felt something when I was there and when David talked to us.”

  “Do you think he’s the one connected to all these cases?”

  “I think so, yes,” she whispered.

  “But, if that’s the case, what’s his connection to Reese?”

  “I don’t know,” she whispered. “Drive faster,” she said urgently. “Because he’s still there, and he’s watching our boy.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know,” she repeated. “But it won’t be for anything good.” She sank back and whispered, “I’m going back to Reese. Get there as fast as you can.”

  Chapter 19

  Very Early Monday Morning …

  Mommy, who is he? Reese whispered.

  Queenie, back at Reese’s side, struggled to maintain her energetic grasp of him while sitting in the car beside Kirk. She sent messages to Kirk to drive faster. And that somehow she’d tell him where they were going.

  But, so far, he wasn’t listening.

  Stefan, help him please, she cried out in pain.

  Mommy, are you hurt?

  I’m fine, she reassured Reese. Just trying to get to you as fast as I can.

  Is that what that man is doing too?

  She frowned. I hope not, she whispered. She had no idea who this David person was. The fact that he could watch her in her world was scary, but the fact that he could see her son was downright terrifying. Because David showed absolutely no sign that he was willing to help. All he really wanted to do was watch and have fun, laughing at her expense. What kind of a man was that?

  I don’t like him, Reese whispered.

  She poured more loving energy into the cocoon she’d wrapped around him. Neither do I, she whispered, feeling tears in the corner of her eyes at the sight of the lavender energy. She had been positive all this time that it had been Reese’s soul energy. Only that made no sense—not now.

  He snuggled in deeper. A smile on his face, peace on his features. Her heart was so full of joy and, at the same time, so terrified they wouldn’t get here in time to save him.

  Well, of course, they won’t. Or they’ll think they got here just in time, David said.
>
  What do you mean? she said quietly, trying not to disturb Reese.

  He’s going to die of course. That’s the only way to make this a tragic comedy after all.

  Her mind struggled to figure it out. What are you talking about? There’s nothing funny about this. It is a tragedy, yes, but it’s not a funny one.

  He sighed. I guess you’re not a believer in the arts, are you? It’s been a comedy up until now. A comedy of errors, a comedy of miscommunication and a comedy in the fact that you’re also bloody stupid, he said in disgust. I figured when I could connect with you that maybe, just maybe, you would present me with some new knowledge or a challenge at least. I’ve had to do everything myself so far, he said in a peevish voice. Surely somebody is out there who knows more than I do.

  Her mind just couldn’t quite fathom what the hell he was talking about. She had an inkling, but it was a little too nasty to even consider. You want to learn from someone? Like from a mentor? What about Stefan?

  In the back of her thoughts, Stefan whispered, Gee, thanks. And remember. My thoughts are masked from him, but you need to do the same with yours.

  She winced. She hadn’t meant to throw him under the bus. But he was the only one she knew who had skills that would match this guy’s.

  Stefan’s voice rumbled again in the back of her mind. Not true. Yours skills are just as equal. Who is this man?

  He’s the one I’ve been telling you about, the man watching me. You know that.

  Yes, of course I know that much, but who is he in physical form? And why can’t we figure that out? What is he doing that I can’t track him?

  Does it matter? she asked, her tone weary. He’s just an asshole.

  He’s masking his energy. Shit, Stefan said. It’s the same man who masked the energy to a little boy, Timmy, a patient of Dr. Maddy’s. The little boy was slowly dying because of this asshole.

  Reese murmured.

  Immediately Queenie refocused and poured energy back around her son. She thought about the times and places this asshole had been talking to her, around her, the words, the things he’d said. Stefan, I think I’ve secured our connection. But can you bolster my shield to keep this asshole out of our exchanges?