Paranormal is Relative

by S.J. Drew

been thinking about it. Is this something we have to worry about?”

  “It shouldn't be,” Nora replied bitterly. She checked up on her fan mail.

  “Well, it is us,” Leah said with a shrug.

  Isabella sighed. “I think we don't have enough information to do anything. We can do some research tonight, but we're here to spend time with Grandma. I don't want to get distracted with some monster chase.”

  “Fine by me,” Nora replied.

  Leah knew what Nora was doing and felt a pang of jealousy; she never got so much fan mail she had to tend to it every single day.

  “But something's not right here,” Maryann countered. “People are acting a little weird. These are supposed to be happy couples, and they don't seem very happy.”

  “Not everyone has a fairy tale romance,” Leah said a bit acidly.

  “But they shouldn't be fighting like that!”

  “I don't think it's our job to be marriage counselors,” Nora said. “We're here to relax a little bit and let Isabella spend some time with her grandmother.”

  “Maryann,” Isabella said quickly, sensing a fight. “I know you're concerned, but there isn't a lot we can do. Let's do some research and go from there, alright?” She really didn't want to chase down a monster, especially at the expense of spending time with her grandmother.

  The redhead looked annoyed but nodded. The band split up and Maryann did pull out her laptop for research, which was frustratingly slow due to the speed of the available wireless connection. What information did she turn up was mostly focused on reviews of the resort. There was no incriminating information about the lake or any dark legends or stories about it.

  Ami was again awake earlier than any of the band members. She had cooked breakfast again, and they offered to clean up.

  “So, Maryann, did your research turn up anything?” Ami asked.

  The band looked a little surprised she was bringing up the issue.

  “I merely guessed you would be most curious about the odd occurrences,” the old woman said mildly. “And that any research would be conducted so as not to take away Isa-chan's time with me.”

  Maryann sighed. “I didn't turn up anything at all! There are no legends or myths or news or anything about this place that's even a little bit unusual. I even tried some divination but nothing made any sense.”

  “Well, that doesn't mean there isn't something wrong,” Ami replied.

  “Grandma, let's not worry about this,” Isabella said. “We have to leave tomorrow. This is such a nice place...”

  “Except for the haunted lake,” Leah interrupted.

  “We don't know that,” Isabella shot back. “Anyway, this is supposed to be a vacation for us.”

  “It's supposed to be a vacation for everyone here,” Maryann said, “and it's not.”

  “That's not our problem!”

  “Girls, girls, please,” Ami interrupted. “There is something wrong here, but there is little we can do until it shows itself. And it may not show itself while we are here. So, Isa-chan is right, this is a vacation. Now, get your swimsuits and let's go find a nice spring.”

  The band did just that, although they grumbled a bit. They found a spring that was empty so the settled into the relaxing water.

  “Can I ask you a couple of questions about ghosts?” Maryann asked Ami.

  “Of course, child,” the old woman answered.

  Isabella felt slightly annoyed that Maryann had never asked her about ghosts.

  “How come they look the way they do? I mean, some look pretty much like they must have in life, but some look kind of decayed,” she said, wrinkling her nose with distaste. “But they don't look like they did when they died, at least not, always.”

  “Yeah, Dave's grandpa died when he was an old man,” Leah said, “but his ghost was a young man in a military uniform. And he even had glasses. Ghosts don't need glasses.”

  “The appearance of a ghost varies depending on the circumstances of their life and death,” Ami answered. “People who die violently often look like they did right before they died. Those that die of old age may take a younger form because that's the time period of their life they most closely associate with. For example, this young man's grandfather, you say he manifested as a young man in a military uniform?”

  “Yes, with these big, thick glasses,” Leah said.

  “Well, traumatic events can make a lasting impression on a person. A military career would be traumatic and memorable, and the ghost probably considered that time in his life as a defining part of it. And if he had always been near-sighted, he probably considered the glasses as much a part of his identity as his hair or his uniform. Some ghosts can deliberately change their form, but that depends in large part why they manifested in the first place.”

  “Could great-grandmother Hana have changed her appearance?” Isabella asked.

  “Oh, most certainly. She had the ability to see spirits and learned spirit magic in life; she is perhaps a more powerful magic-user now in death.”

  “I-I don't know how to respond to that,” Maryann said.

  Ami smiled gently. “My ancestors play a large role in my religion; it does not bother me that they have not gone to a place of rest as is often thought of in Western traditions.”

  The wind shifted abruptly and both Ami and Isabella looked up, then they looked at each other.

  “Interesting,” Ami said. “Well, let's go back to the cabin for a bit.”

  They returned to the cabin and took quick showers before settling in for lunch, which Ami again insisted on cooking. The band cleaned up after.

  “So what's going on?” Maryann asked.

  “I'm not sure,” Ami said thoughtfully. “I need to make some tea. That always helps me clear my thoughts.”

  “It's kind of hot for tea,” Leah said.

  “Yes, but it's cool in the cabin and the ceremony is very soothing.” Ami set about to making tea for the group. They watched in silence as she methodically brewed green tea. Then she handed each of them a cup. “Drink it. You'll feel better.”

  “I don't feel bad,” Leah said. “And it's too hot to drink.”

  Ami twirled the cup in her hand. “What do you feel, Nora?”

  “Me? What do you mean?”

  “About the lake. What do you feel?”

  “Why are you asking her?” Maryann piped up. “She doesn't do magic stuff.”

  “Yeah, so what? It doesn't mean she can't ask,” Nora snapped.

  Ami glared at the redhead. “She is in tune with the water, and I am not. So I am asking her,” she said sharply.

  “Well, I can do a divination or something,” she said sullenly.

  “That's true, Grandma, Nora doesn't really do this sort of thing. Maryann's divination last night didn't turn up anything. Maybe I can help,” Isabella interjected.

  Ami glared at her granddaughter. “Drink your tea,” she ordered.

  Isabella flushed and obediently took a sip even though it was scalding hot. She suddenly felt a bit ashamed of herself. “What's gotten into me?” she thought.

  “You too, Maryann.”

  She rolled her eyes but took a tiny sip to try to keep from burning her lips. “I'm sorry,” she said. “I guess I'm just not used to anyone asking Nora or Leah for magic stuff.”

  “Now, Nora, what do you feel?”

  She stared at her cup thoughtfully, having already managed a sip. “Something is stirring in the lake. It's having some kind of effect on the people here, and on us too. We don't usually snipe at each other like this. I see something,” she murmured, staring at the cup. “Eyes. Green eyes, but not emerald green or leaf green. Poison green. It's something poisonous at the bottom of that lake, and it's waking up.” She shook her head and looked up at the others, feeling slightly embarrassed and confused. “Did that make any sense to anyone?”

  “It made sense to me,” Ami answered. “Sometimes it is possib
le to read tea leaves, if one is properly in tune with them.”

  “What do we do?” Isabella asked. “Can we do anything?”

  “I think we shall have to go down to the lake this evening and find out what those poison green eyes belong to. In the meantime, we shall try to enjoy ourselves.”

  “What if there's a monster?” Maryann asked.

  “Then there is a monster. I'm not unaccustomed to dealing with such things.”

  The four of them looked at the fragile old woman skeptically.

  “Let us take a hike on one of the beginner trails,” Ami suggested. “It's good for my old bones to get out and about and these mineral springs are wonderfully rejuvenating.”

  They did as Ami suggested and took a hike. The band noticed Ami occasionally picked up flowers or leaves or bark or small stones and put them in her purse.

  “What are you doing, Grandma?” Isabella asked.

  “Gathering some supplies, that's all.”

  “What are you doing, Grandma?” she repeated.

  Ami smiled wanly. “My obligations didn't go away; the details just changed.”

  They finished their hike and returned to the cabin. After another quick dip in a hot spring, Ami asked the band to prepare dinner while she went into her bedroom with the various items she had gathered. The sun had sunk past the tree line but was still at least an hour away from setting when they headed back down to the lake with Ami in the lead. Leah also took the emergency kit. They weren't entirely sure what to think of being lead to face a monster by a frail old woman in a light blue pantsuit. This time they didn't encounter anyone else on the path.

  “Grandma, we're being followed,” Isabella murmured.

  “What do you see?”

  “Three ghosts, I think. Women, in long, flowing clothes. One is wearing pink, one is wearing blue-green, and one is wearing red.”

  “I thought we might need some help. They will manifest more clearly if necessary, but the one in pink is your great-grandmother Hana, the one in blue-green is my eldest sister Michiru, and the one in red is my older sister, the middle child, Reiko.”

  “Oh. Can I maybe still talk to them even if we don't need their help?”

  “That is entirely up to them, but I think they may be interested in talking to you,” Ami answered. “But I've told you the dead have different priorities than the living, so please don't take offense if they return to the spirit world without meeting you.”

  Isabella sighed. “I'll try not to.”

  They arrived at the lake.

  “This is going to get ugly,” Nora murmured, looking at the dark water. “It's different today.”

  “Indeed. I feel the Void more strongly,” Ami said. She walked right up to the shore. “Well? Are you going to show yourself today?”

  The water rippled and churned and suddenly a creature burst out of the water. The four young women got soaked, but somehow the old woman managed to side-step out of the splash radius. The creature's top half was vaguely human but its bottom half looked fish-like, although its fish-like tail was very long in proportion to the top half. It had four arms that ended in claws, dull gray scales covering its entire body, and hair the color of stringy brown water plants. It was not wearing not wearing any clothes but was covered by a mat of water plants. Its facial features were neither distinctly male nor distinctly female. The most striking feature was its eyes. There were slightly large in proportion to its face and bright, light green with slit pupils.

  “That's poison green,” Leah muttered, looking at those eyes.

  “Who are you to dare disturb me?” it demanded in a voice that was neither male nor female, but the tone was unmistakably threatening.

  "We've got to help her!" Maryann said.

  Leah held her back. "Ami is fine, trust me. Haven't you ever seen a martial arts action flick? Believe me; the helpless little old bald man always turns out to be the most bad-ass fighter in the whole darn temple of bad-ass fighters. We're the ones in danger, not Ami."

  "This isn't a movie!"

  "No, if Grandma needs help, she'll let us know," Isabella said. "She doesn't want us to get hurt."

  "But that-that thing!"

  "Is a terrifying monster, yes, and I'm ready at the first sign of trouble."

  "We are way past the first sign of trouble," Leah said dryly, looking at the huge lake monster.

  “Who are you?” Ami returned, ignoring the young women for the moment.

  It crossed its two pairs of arms. “You don't even know? You come to this place and disturb my dwelling and know not who I am?”

  “You are a spirit of some kind,” Ami answered.

  It sort of chuckled.

  “And your presence is most upsetting to all the guests at the resort. I think you have been prevented from acting out until quite recently, and I would like to know what you are planning to do in the future.”

  “I am so much more than a spirit, or at least I was. I was once worshiped as a god,” it declared.

  “Many things, people and spirits, have been worshiped as gods. That doesn't make them so,” the old woman said mildly.

  Isabella could see the faint ghosts of her relatives gathered around Ami, but not manifesting.

  The creature hissed. “I remember mortals like you. They are the ones that turned the others against me. I only wanted what was my due. The others were given so much and I so little and I coveted their power and followers. I wanted my own domain with my own followers and they refused. I found a way, though. I found a way to corrupt their followers and weaken their power and poison their domains. But some mortals resisted me. They told the others. They showed the others. They schemed against me because they could not accept my new power. They wanted it for themselves. They turned against me and tried to lock me away for all time.” It kind of laughed again. “But it seems the power that imprisoned me protected me from the fate that befell them. They are gone, and I am free, and all their domains shall be mine!” Its eyes glittered and the tip of its tail twitched back and forth. “But though the others are gone, there are still mortals like you, and the young ones,” it said, glancing at the band. “So you see what I am, frail mortal? And if so, you think you can seal me away again?”

  “You were once a spirit or minor god of a lost pantheon,” Ami said placidly. “I don't know what you were to begin with, but you became a god of envy, and for that the others sealed you away so you couldn't hurt anyone else.”

  “Ah, so you do understand. But you are old, and they are young. The others are not here to help you.”

  “I would not have called you out if I did not think I could at the very least imprison you again if not destroy you.”

  It laughed, which sounded something like a person drowning. “Destroy me? Destroy me! How would you begin to do such a thing?”

  “Your pantheon is gone, you have no followers, and your power is greatly diminished,” Ami replied. “But the same cannot be said for me.”

  “Fool!” it hissed.

  The very old woman was staring calmly at the creature. "You are not welcome. Go to your home or be banished."

  It bared pointed teeth and wicked fangs. "And who are you to bind me, frail mortal?"

  "Ooo, that was the wrong question to ask," Leah said. "Now the ass-kicking commences."

  Ami closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, they were white from edge to edge. "I will banish you, creature of evil."

  It laughed.

  Ami performed a quick kuji-in mantra to gather her will and power.

  The monster stopped laughing and lunged for the tiny woman.

  "Grandma!" Isabella cried, moving forward to save her grandmother.

  She whipped a piece of paper out of her purse and held it up in her hand.

  It smashed its own face into the paper and froze, suspended in the air. Its strange green eyes darted back and forth nervously but it seemed unable to move,
but the piece of paper was starting to smoke and turn black.

  "Have no fear, my granddaughter, I am fine," Ami said placidly. “Mother, sisters, please help me.”

  The three spirits Isabella had been seeing manifested clearly before the group. She could now see they were wearing kimonos, and Hana stepped in front of Ami while the other two stood next to her. They all appeared to be in the prime of their youth and health, although Isabella knew all three had died as old women. “Isa-chan, you too. Stand behind me.”

  The blonde nervously moved forward. “I-I don't know what to do,” she said.

  “You will follow my lead,” Hana said.

  “And I guess we just stand here,” Nora muttered, somewhat annoyed.

  “I think I'm okay with letting the experts handle this one,” Maryann replied.

  “I think I agree with her,” Leah said, clutching her crucifix necklace.

  The paper burned away to ash and the monster reared up again. “Always there are these vexing mortals. Even in death you do not know your place!” Its four hands started to move in complex patterns and the entire lake seemed to boil and writhe. A huge wave surged towards the beach.

  The three band members in the back ducked, but Michiru made a short series of hand gestures that looked something like a martial arts move, which turned the wave back and caused it to collapse before they were overwhelmed.

  The monster glared at them. “I will not be imprisoned again! I will not be stopped by the living or the dead!” It folded its hands together and its eyes glowed dangerously. The water and wind whipped and churned around the monster as it gathered power.

  Hana yelled something in Japanese, which Isabella did not understand, but she saw her grandmother and sisters start making hand gestures. “Isabella, recite the banishment mantra,” she ordered in English.

  Isabella obediently did as her great-grandmother told her.

  The monster cast its spell at the same time Isabella's family finished the banishment spell. There was a flash of white and poison green light, a sound like thunder, an unearthly scream, and then silence.

  Leah was thrown to the ground with everyone else, but did not pass out, unlike everyone else. She managed to get up in a few seconds and saw the three ghosts trying to rouse Ami and Isabella. “Did we win?” she asked, getting out the smelling salts and kneeling down to Maryann.

  “The creature has been resealed in its prison,” Hana answered.

  Ami slowly sat up. “Thank you, Mother,” she said.

  Maryann sneezed and woke up, so Leah moved on to Nora.

  Isabella, flanked by the ghosts of her great-aunts, sat up. “Thanks.”

  They smiled at her. “These are our obligations, great-niece,” Reiko said.

  “They never go away,” Michiru said.

  “I'm beginning to see that,” Isabella answered.

  “Such is the fate of those that can see,” Hana said.

  Everyone was now standing.

  “We must return now, Ami-chan,” she said to her living daughter. “We cannot stay, Isabella.”

  Isabella's face fell.

  “If you are wondering if this is your fate,” Hana said as her ghost daughters moved next to her, “I cannot say. It is a possibility, but not a certainty. I'm sorry we can't answer your questions, but it is not healthy for the living to rely too much on the dead.”

  “I