Wherever She Goes (Psychic Seasons

by ReGina Welling

  The concept was a lot to digest. Kat needed time to ponder the implications but Julius had another bombshell to drop.

  “Billy is intentionally killing Logan from the inside and unless the earthwalker leaves willingly or is forced into the void before it is too late, Logan’s soul will be ripped away.”

  How could Julius be telling her these things? Until now, he had been prevented by what he called “the powers that be” from giving out any of this kind of information. Something had obviously changed. There was more to the story, she was sure of it.

  “Tell me the rest.”

  Picking up where Julius left off, Estelle continued, “When Julie used the first key, she set in motion certain events. Whether she finds the final key or not, Julius and I can only stay until the equinox. At that point, if we have helped resolve the situation we caused, we will become guardian angels.” Estelle closed her eyes and took the ghostly equivalent of a deep breath.

  A chill settled over Kat; one that even raised a few goosebumps on Zack’s arms. “And if the situation has not been resolved? What happens then?”

  “Our fate becomes bound to Billy’s”

  “What does that mean?”

  “We will be tasked with carrying him forcefully into the void where our own souls will be lost forever.”

  For a moment, Kat could not speak; her brain was reluctant to process such dire information. Estelle’s revelation was so shocking that no response seemed adequate.

  She looked over at Zack who sat back in his chair, arms crossed, face blank and unreadable. At any other time, she would have made an attempt to soothe him but not today. He was a big boy; he could take care of himself.

  When he finally spoke, Kat got her second shock of the day.

  “This Billy, the earthwalker, or whatever—” he shook his head, “what happens to Ellis if you take him to the void.” He might as well have made air quotes considering the emphasis he gave the word.

  It was Julius who spoke, his voice subdued, “If there is anything of Ellis left by then, he will live. Otherwise…”

  “Then we need a plan.” Zack pulled out his phone, activated the note-taking app, and began to grill Julius for every bit of information the ghost could provide before Julius’ energy level dropped too low for him to stay visible. There was no way he was letting Ellis slide off into some void without paying for his crimes.

  Gesturing for Estelle to follow her, Kat went to the kitchen to make coffee. Perfectly dark roasted beans whirled in the grinder and perfumed the air with their earthy scent. Kat inhaled gratefully, the way this day was shaping up, she would need the boost of caffeine. She may not have known Zack for years but there was no mistaking his determination—before this night was over, he would have a plan. He’d probably have a few choice words for his sister, Kat, and the rest of the group for keeping so many secrets, too.

  Easily the largest room in the house, the kitchen sprawled across the entire rear third of the first floor. Hand crafted cabinets coated with layer after layer of white paint stretched to the high ceiling; any little chip revealing age like the rings of a tree. Above the sink, a jalousie window faced the small back yard. Kat hadn’t seen the area in so long, she had no idea whether any of the shrubs currently hibernating under a liberal coating of snow would flower in the spring.

  Almost everything in the room belonged to another era. Kat’s grandmother, the original Madame Zephyr, would have recognized everything in the room except for the gleaming, triple-priming, stainless steel espresso machine that looked like it would be more at home in the Jetson’s kitchen.

  Now that her sight had returned for good, Kat thought she might make some changes to the decor. Maybe add some items of her own choosing to personalize the space more.

  Once the hissing machine had dispensed its fragrant nectar, Kat turned to Estelle who had remained uncharacteristically quiet. “How is it that Julius is suddenly so free with the information?”

  Estelle shrugged and tried to pull off a bit of nonchalance but Kat wasn’t having any of it.

  “Time is running out and with the circle complete…”

  “You mean Zack?” Kat did not need to see Estelle’s nod, she already knew he would be integral to their success. “How is it you’ve never mentioned this circle thing before? I mean, Julius had no way of knowing it would be Julie who was going to be finding his lost valuables when he created the hiding places and their keys.”

  “No, he didn’t. Galmadriel set the parameters for the circle once Billy came into the picture. The way I understand it, she cannot influence Logan or any of the rest of you directly because that would interfere with your free will. But, she can work within an if-then scenario to enhance the chance for success.”

  Kat thought she caught a glimmer of Estelle’s meaning but the faint sense of understanding slid away before she could fully grasp it. She waited for the ghost to expand on the concept.

  “In this case, the if-then was: If these eight people come together at this particular time and form a tight bond—then, she could use the energy created by that bond to enhance their individual gifts.”

  “Thus increasing our chance for success.” Brow furrowed, a thoughtful Kat mused then looked more closely at the spirit. Everything about Estelle spoke of tension. From the strained lines across her forehead and around her eyes to the tightness of her jaw and gentle roundness of her shoulders told Kat there was still more to the story.

  With no physical means of soothing the spirit, Kat’s only option was to get Estelle to open up and by sharing her burden, ease some of the apprehension.

  “Estelle, please…it’s obvious something more is going on.” She poured another cup of coffee, “The powers that be, as Julius calls them, have allowed you to speak with more detail than ever before—and about things you’ve been prevented from revealing in the past. Time is running out and holding back won’t make this any easier.”

  Kat wished she could do something, anything, to soothe away the misery that hung over Estelle like a lowering thundercloud.

  “It’s all our fault.”

  “What is?”

  “All of it. Billy’s connection to Julius led him to Logan and his connection to Logan made it too easy for him to take over. He’s hurt Gustavia, tried to hurt you. Amethyst has taken on a burden that she doesn’t even understand yet and all because of us. I let Julius talk me into staying to see Julie through and look what happened.”

  “Yes,” Kat agreed, “Look what happened. Julie is happily married to the man of her dreams and living in a house she can now afford to maintain, Gustavia is about to become engaged—that’s a secret, Finn is planning to ask her over Valentine’s day—Amethyst has reunited with her husband and I’ve regained my sight. You’re horrible, meddlesome ghosts. I blame you for everything that’s happened.”

  At her teasing tone, Estelle perked up a little. “I suppose there have been some benefits and I trust you will all make the right choices when the time comes.”

  “All of our lives have changed for the better—well—except for Logan’s and we’ll do what we can to fix that.”

  It was all she had to offer, all any of them had to offer. It would have to be enough. Estelle felt as though a weight had fallen from her. Turning twinkling eyes on Kat, “That man in the other room is very special—how are things going?”

  Hot and red, Kat blushed then cursed her fair skin. “It’s not...I’m not…I don’t know. My experience with men has been limited to teenage crushes, a couple truly bad dates, and Zack.”

  “Just remember, my dear, he came in here to protect you and then he stayed when meeting us went against everything he ever believed. His heart is as big as Gustavia’s even if he hides it under bluster and a sense of duty.”

  “That’s just his cop instincts. It wasn’t personal.”

  Estelle rolled her eyes. Kat could feel her energy flagging and assumed Julius was also feeling the strain. Returning to the dining room, she found the pair of them
finalizing some of the details on whatever plan they had cooked up. Julius was looking a bit transparent.

  As he faded out completely, he instructed Kat to alert the others and then it was just the two living persons left in the room.

  “Coffee?” Kat offered as Zack continued typing into his phone. He looked up briefly and to her amazement, smiled.

  “Sure.”

  After Estelle’s pep talk, Kat was even more unnerved by his larger than life presence and more so by his reaction to meeting her uninvited guests.

  “You seem fairly calm given what just happened.” She hoped it was a safe comment.

  “Generally speaking, I’m not prone to hallucinations, therefore, I’ve either gone mad, or what just happened was real. I’d prefer to think my sanity is intact so…you do the math.”

  Gone was the laughing Zack, the lighthearted man who had rescued her from a fate—or a date—worse than death. Too bad, because that Zack had been a lot of fun. That Zack was someone she could imagine spending time with. This one was prone to bouts of unpredictability and brooding behavior.

  Maybe fun Zack was still in there.

  She peered out at him through her lashes and heard herself say, “Pookie bears are not very good at math.”

  What on earth possessed her to say that? Wasn’t there supposed to be some kind of filter between her brain and her mouth? Obviously if there was, it was not working properly. Maybe a giant flaming eagle would come through the ceiling and snatch her away but probably not.

  Without giving Zack a chance to speak, Kat jumped to her feet and rushed back to the kitchen. Once there, she pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and rolled the chilled plastic against the flaming hotness of her face.

  If she had taken the time to look, she would have seen the wide smile on Zack’s face before the notes he was refining took over his concentration again.

  _,.-'~'-.,_

  Too keyed up to sleep, Kat fed one of the stack of DVDs borrowed from Julie into her computer and added buying a player of some sort to her to do list. As many times as she had heard her friends drool over one actor or another in a movie, it was finally her turn to see what all the fuss was about.

  Ten minutes later and fully engrossed in the story, Kat chewed absently on an already frayed fingernail. When Julius cleared his throat to get her attention, she was startled enough to jump and burn him with a single glare.

  He raised his hands, “Sorry.” The gruff apology was completely negated by the smirk on his face.

  Clicking pause, she turned to him and gestured for him to get on with whatever business had brought him back.

  “Forgot to give you the final clue. One plus two plus three equals four.” Julius nodded as he made his nonsensical pronouncement.

  “Six.”

  “Four.” Julius emphasized the word by using a firm voice and trying to communicate something more with his expression.

  He had faded away before she realized he was talking about the final clue for what remained hidden in Hayward House.

  Chapter 12

  Zack opened the door and ducked under the yellow crime scene tape with Kat and Amethyst hard on his heels. Kat wasn’t certain how useful she would be, psychometry, or getting psychic information from physical items was not her strong suit but to put an end to this mess, she was willing to try anything.

  Stepping into Logan’s last known residence, Zack kept his face carefully blank then ducked to the left side of the doorway. “Just give me your impressions as you get them. I’ll stay out of your way.” There wasn’t time for her to try and figure out why he seemed so locked down. Kat shrugged it off and began to walk around the apartment while Amethyst stayed near the door.

  Clearly, this space represented Logan before the Earthwalker had gotten hold of him. Clean lines, modern, everything in shades of white or gray. Even the art on the walls provided little in the way of contrast. A triptych of canvases hung above the fireplace, their stark whiteness broken up by a series of squares shading from palest gray to black that marched across from left to right.

  The main living area was a large, open floor plan with the kitchen to the left and a great room on the right. Every piece of furniture had been chosen for visual impact over comfort. Sharp lines and angles while interesting to look at appeared uninviting. The entire place felt to Kat as though it was a veneer. The thin covering that disguised the lie underneath. Logan may have called this place home for a time but he had never lived here.

  She strolled toward the bedroom, lost in thoughts and impressions. Much as she had hoped to be helpful, there was nothing of a psychic nature jumping out at her. Logan had not left anything of himself in any of the rooms she had seen so far.

  “Are you getting anything?” Kat made her way back to where Amethyst stood.

  “It’s clean. Almost too clean, you know? Like his aura has been scrubbed completely away.”

  “Could Billy do that?”

  Amethyst shrugged. The two women moved toward the bedroom.

  “Once he chose a look, at least he committed. Very matchy-matchy. Could have used a pop of color.”

  “I know, all this white is so clinical.”

  “Call it a bust?” Kat asked.

  “Afraid so.”

  Zack locked the door behind them with a vicious twist of the key.

  Logic screamed that this was a colossal waste of time while his gut insisted Kat and Amethyst would turn up a lead. For the first time ever, he was tempted to ignore his gut. Instead, he drove them to the storage facility. There was a better chance of finding something there, something personal.

  Only ten city blocks separated the two locations but the short drive was steeped in tension making it seem longer and unnaturally quiet. Even at his most impassive, Zack was unable to hide his impatience or his lack of faith in her, in Amethyst. Kat burned to prove him wrong.

  Pulling up to the storage facility, Kat’s stomach turned over twice then erupted into flutters of dread and excitement. She glanced over at Amethyst and saw matching misgivings. This was not going to be a repeat of what had just happened, this time they would find something.

  Before Zack had time to pull to a stop, both women pointed to unit 1206.

  “There.”

  “That one,” they spoke together. Gooseflesh prickled up Zack’s arms. They had chosen correctly. Unit 1206, now with its police issued lock box, had indeed belonged to Logan Ellis. He had already been through the contents several times himself and found nothing to provide a solid lead. If they found anything natural or supernatural—he cringed at the thought—he would be surprised.

  The storage room door rolled up on its hinges with a screech of protest that made both women shudder. Kat immediately sensed the pervading, cold darkness that signaled the earthwalker had spent time here. Amethyst didn’t have to rely on similar emotional perceptions; she could see the blackness lingering on the surface of every item like an oily cloud.

  Logan had created the perfect bolthole here. A small table holding a battery operated lamp, rested beside a camp cot covered with a sleeping bag. Two plastic bins sat on the floor next to the table held an assortment of foods that could be eaten cold: granola bars, snack-sized containers of applesauce, cans of tuna. The other was nearly empty though it had once contained a stack of forged documents: driver’s licenses in various names, passports, birth certificates. Those had all been logged into evidence leaving only a pack of matches and a length of ribbon behind; these had been considered too negligible to be of consequence.

  Amethyst stepped a couple paces into the unit and turned slowly in place. Whatever Billy the earthwalker may have done to the apartment to cleanse his aura had not been repeated here. Blackness dripped from the cot and oozed around the plastic bins. Anywhere she could see Logan’s lighter colors, they were overlaid by Billy’s darkness except for one spot. High up on the back wall, where the corrugated metal wall met the open raftered roof, there was a flare of color that could only be Logan’s alo
ne.

  She pointed, “Logan hid something there, but I can’t reach it. Zack, see that tiny ledge where the wall meets the roof?”

  Zack pulled a penlight from his pocket and shined it into the crevice before reaching in to pull out a coin. Roughly the size of a fifty-cent piece, it was a commemorative coin with a Santa head on one side and the name of a small theme park on the other.

  “Anyone could have left this, you can’t be sure it was Logan?”

  “Trust me, his aura is all over it.” Amethyst handed the coin to Kat who turned it over and over in her hand before closing her fist around it. The principle of getting perceptions off an item was not that different from reading cards or rune stones. She tuned into the coin and by extension into the energy Logan had poured into it.

  As the images came, faintly at first, she began to speak, “He carried this in his pocket for a long time.” She ignored Zack’s raised eyebrow. He had dragged her here so why was he acting skeptical?

  “He was six—maybe seven—living with someone older, a man, a grandfather or foster care provider. The man was nice to him, it was the only time he ever felt safe, loved. The man never screamed at him, never hit or pinched with hard fingers, never left him to wake up alone or hungry or scared. He wanted to stay there forever.”

  Kat’s eyes fluttered closed as she saw scene after scene unfolding in her head. The older man with kind eyes grinning at the tow-headed boy who clumsily hammered a small nail into the roof of a birdhouse. The two of them paddling an aluminum canoe through perfectly still water, fishing poles and a creel at their feet. Gentle hands teaching the boy how to tie his shoes.

  “It was a perfect day. They went to a small theme park somewhere in the mountains. He fed the reindeer, rode the carousel. Ate popcorn and cotton candy. And he laughed—they laughed.”