A Song of Redemption

by Lillian I Wolfe

  “I have an idea. Let’s move the furniture to my garage. We’ll put the piano in the spare bedroom. That way it’ll be safe, and you can visit it any time you like.”

  Hesitating, I quickly considered the offer. The furniture to his garage was fine, but the piano... Did I need it at Gavin’s? I had the keyboard and my guitar I could use there. I raised my eyes to meet his. “That would work if you’re okay with it.”

  He waggled an eyebrow making him look silly. “I wouldn’t have suggested it if I wasn’t. I can get that moved this weekend if that’s soon enough. I’ll get Stephen and one of the big guys from the station to help me. It might take three trips in the van, but it shouldn’t be too bad.”

  I hugged him again. “You’re a lifesaver. How can I thank you?”

  “Have dinner with me?”

  “Mmm, that sounds like something else I’ll need to thank you for.”

  With a sly grin, he leaned toward my ear and said, “We’ll think of something while we eat.” Then his mouth moved along my jawline to find my lips.

  Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled back so could I plant a row of kisses along his jaw. Working down to his collarbone, I lightly kissed the hollow in his throat. Two could play this game.

  Ferris sucked in his breath, “If you keep that up, dinner will be delayed.”

  I ran my tongue down to the vee just above his clavicle and pressed my mouth against the depression, teasing the skin with delicate kisses that promised more. “Would you mind that much?”

  He tightened his arms around my middle and lifted me off the floor, allowing me to wrap my legs around him and boost myself up to meet his mouth as it came for mine. In answer, he carried me to the sofa where he laid me down then stretched his body across me, our legs tangling as we settled.

  “Not if you’re the appetizer,” he purred as he proceeded to open my blouse, lavishing me with sensual kisses as he slowly slid each button through its respective hole, one to each three light nips from his mouth on my tingling skin.

  Oh mercy, I cried silently, my body and lady zone burning with want at the stimulation. I wanted to rip his shirt off and make him squirm as much as I was only I couldn’t get my hands to it. I tugged at the bottom where it was tucked in and slid my fingers along the tops of his hips.

  He gasped. “Maybe we should take this upstairs...”

  “Uh-hmm,” I moaned sexily. At least, I hoped it sounded sexy ‘cause it sure felt it.

  Rolling to his feet, Ferris picked me up in his arms, carried me upstairs to my still unmade bed, and laid me down on it. I had a feeling that dinner would be delightfully late.

  Chapter 12

  MY BOOTS CRUNCHED ON the frozen ground as I strode across the field of graves to reach Janna’s still raw-looking one. Dormant yellowed grass slabs lay on top of the recently replaced dirt where they would eventually meld and create a green rug covering her coffin. Agitation made me nervous, that and fear I would fail again. I didn’t know why I hadn’t been able to reach the transitional cemetery during the service, but I needed to try again. If she had already gone on that was well and good, and I’d accept it. If she hadn’t, then I’d lead her to it and shove her through.

  Having gotten a little smarter about these cold-weather burials, I dropped a rubber-backed bathroom mat on the ground in front of the plain marker that showed her name and burial date. A permanent stone was on order; her mother had told me during the wake.

  “So much to do at such a difficult time,” Mrs. Lewis had said with tears in her eyes as if anyone would blame her for not getting it done sooner. A twinge of guilt had shot through me as I’d realized I could have helped her instead of wallowing in my own grief.

  I knelt on the mat and whispered my protection spell, adding a little rider to the All Mighty to please let me connect with her this time. Then I coughed to clear my voice and began to sing “Life is a Cabaret,” a favorite show tune we’d both loved. Not exactly a hymn but something Janna would appreciate more. I closed my eyes and put all my energy into it.

  For a moment, I felt like I was falling, then I opened my eyes...

  ...and I stood on the silver pathway and just off to my right the mausoleum squatted. I gasped, and my mouth dropped open as I saw the progress the dark vines and brambles had made across the space between the building and the twisted deep, reddish-black hedge. Tendrils of the vines reached for marble walk around that surrounded the building and in places had already slithered onto it.

  Burning with anger, I ran toward it and prepared a blast to blow the vines away from it. As I raised my hand and focused my energy, I heard her voice.

  “It’s about time you showed up. How long does a spirit have to wait, anyway?”

  I spun around and there she was. Her golden hair drifting in a light breeze and laughing eyes dancing as she grinned at me.

  “Janna... I thought you’d gone on into the light tunnel and I wouldn’t see you again.” I dropped my hands, releasing the built-up energy as I began a slow walk toward her. Part of me wanted to run and pull her into an accordion squeeze while the other part knew I couldn’t really touch her.

  “I’m so sorry,” I continued as I drew closer. I looked at her clothes, the champagne gown she’d worn for the party, but no blood splatter or bullet hole marred its beauty. She knew what had happened, and she hadn’t gone on through because she stayed to see me. I realized that as soon as I’d seen the undamaged gown. “I shouldn’t have taken the job, but I didn’t know. I had no inkling that a yiaiwa would...” My words faded as I couldn’t speak them.

  “Of course, you didn’t, you ninny,” Janna said in her practical voice. “It’s not your fault. Don’t blame yourself. I should have been herding people out of the room instead of stepping into the line of fire. I was an idiot. I was calling security and didn’t pay attention. I couldn’t believe that Henry Staunton would be firing at people and certainly didn’t think he would kill me.”

  “It wasn’t Staunton,” I clarified, my eyes reveling in seeing her handling this so well. “He was possessed.”

  “Oh, I know that. I saw that much before I died.”

  “Was it awful? To die like that?” I don’t know why I asked except to hope she hadn’t been in terrible pain.

  “It wasn’t so bad,” she said, her eyes growing a little distant as she tried to grasp the memory. “The pressure first, then a sharp pain, and almost immediately after that, I went numb. My body reacting to the shock, I guess. At first, I was confused and couldn’t understand why I’d fallen. It was like slow motion, then I was on the ground. The next thing I know, I’m cold and shaking, and you’re beside me, pushing your hand against my chest. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t. Everything went dark, and I heard some voices around me, but it was all garbled. Then nothing. When I came to again, I was here. It didn’t take me long to figure out I’d died, so I decided to wait for you. What took so long?”

  I swallowed down the lump in my throat before I spoke. “I tried to reach you at the mortuary when Ferris and I came to view your body, but I—”

  “I was at a mortuary? Is that where the service was held? I thought Mom would insist on the church.”

  “Let me finish. I said I was there for the viewing. The service was at the church last Friday.”

  “Oh.” She frowned, a touch of puzzlement in it. “Why don’t I remember any of that? It’s like I wasn’t there.”

  “Maybe you weren’t,” I answered. Why hadn’t she been there if she’d wanted to be? I’d felt other spirits at other services I’d sung at, even at a few where I hadn’t had to guide the deceased.

  “Wait, I remember trying to go to the church chapel, and I couldn’t enter. It was like I was blocked. Is that normal?” She put her hand on her right hip and covered it with her other hand, something she used to do when she was on the cheering squad.

  “Blocked? Why would you be—?” Then it dawned on me. The wards Astrid and I had put up against evil spirits must have stopp
ed Janna also. Had we done it wrong? I’d set the one at the mortuary, so maybe I’d made the error both times.

  “Oh, damn. We had to protect everyone from attack, so Astrid and I set wards at both places. We must have blocked you as well. I sang for you... a special song I wrote.”

  She clapped her hands together like a happy child. “Sing it now, Gilly. Please.”

  I glanced back over my shoulder at that bleak and vile barrier and shook my head. “Not here. Let’s walk toward the gate.”

  She drifted, more than walked, beside me. “This is an interesting place. Sometimes I’m here, but I can go other places. I heard your voice singing and came from a place by the sea. It was like the Bay area without the buildings and crowds.”

  “Are you alone there?” I asked, marveling that distance and travel time seemed to mean nothing in spirit form. For that matter, I’d traveled to a beach in the Canary Islands by just picturing it in my mind.

  “Sometimes. It depends on my mood. If I want company, I can meet other spirits there. It’s amazing how un-limiting being dead is.”

  “Who’d have thought,” I commented dryly. Leave it to Janna to find the upside of death.

  “I need you to do something for me,” she said as she floated in front of me, and I instinctively stopped and waited. She went on, “I want you to tell my family—my mom and dad especially—that I’m all right. That death isn’t the end, and I’ll see them again.”

  “They believe that already. They don’t need me to tell them.”

  “Yes, they do. They say they believe, but none of us is really sure, are we? But if you tell them that you can see and talk to me on the other side and the message is from me, it will strengthen their faith.” Her face held that hopeful, earnest expression she got when she pleaded with me.

  “How can I do that, Janna? They’ll think I’m off kilter, just like everyone else thinks. It sounds too nuts. People don’t believe what I do is possible. There are times I question it.” Even now, as I stood in this place in spirit form and talked to my dead friend, I wondered if I’d derailed and was in a mental hospital. If so, my life felt amazingly real and frightening.

  “You can convince them,” she argued. “I know you can. Please try. For me, Gilly.”

  Her voice slipped up to a near whine. I couldn’t say no, but how I would accomplish it, I had no idea. We continued walking until the gate leading to the light tunnel loomed just ahead of us, and I slowed to a halt.

  “All right, girlfriend, this is the song I wrote for you. I wish I had my piano, but you’ll get the best a capella version I can do.” I took a deep breath and began singing her song putting all my heart into it. Janna literally floated about three inches off the ground as she listened, an endearing smile lighting her face. The reality that I was saying goodbye to her now hit me harder than before, and I struggled to keep from crying. Once she went into the light, I probably wouldn’t see her again. Although Zoe certainly hadn’t vanished from my life, so that might not be so certain.

  I finished the song and forced a sad smile at Janna, wanting to throw my arms around her and squeeze her into a best-buddies hug. But that wouldn’t work in this place. Spirit forms weren’t substantial enough. Nonetheless, I held my arms out from my sides and pulled them inward giving her the indication of my desire.

  “Me, too,” she said and wrapped her arms around herself as if she was being hugged.

  “I love you, and I miss you so much. Now, you have to go through the gate and into the light. From there, you’ll be on the next plane. It will be beautiful. I promise.” My voice wavered as I spoke, and my throat felt tight.

  Say goodbye. Just say goodbye and let her go.

  “Oh, I’m not going through just yet,” Janna said with barely a glance at the gate.

  “What do you mean?”

  “This past year or so, while you’ve been doing this stuff, all I could do was listen to your experiences and the fight that was going on here. I see that barrier near the crypt, and I can see the evil there. Now, I have a chance to help you. To fight beside you—that’s what I want to do.”

  “No! You can’t. Janna, you have to go through. It’s too dangerous to remain here for long.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Didn’t I make it clear that the yiaiwas were soul devourers?

  “I don’t have to be right here all the time, but when you need me, I can come here and fight alongside you.” She swung her right arm like she was hitting a baseball.

  “Can you at least conjure a bat?” I muttered. “It’s not that easy to fight them. It’s dangerous. Do you have any special ability that might aid you in fending off a spirit demon? Did you gain one when you died?”

  I opened my hand, channeled my anger toward an imaginary yiaiwa and sent a light blast shooting toward the open field in the general direction of the mausoleum. It tore into a tree shattering the trunk and sending shards and twigs all around it. I cringed. I hadn’t meant to damage anything. Sorry, God.

  Her eyes went wide. “That’s some blaster you have there. No, I don’t think I can do that. But I’ll try to figure out if I gained some kind of ability before I see you again. Honestly, hunny, I want to help you. I can’t just go on while you’re still fighting the monsters.”

  “Shit! If the yiaiwas catch you, they can take your soul. Your soul! Janna, if you lose that, you lose everything.” I pressed my palms together as I pleaded. “Please, please, go on to safety.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t. Not yet. See you around.”

  “Wait!” I cried out, but she vanished as soon as she said it.

  Well, dammit. One more thing to worry about. Angry, I spun around and stomped back to the encroaching vines attacking the mausoleum. Calling my power to my hands again, I blasted them full force, blazing silver light cutting through them with a sweeping stroke.

  A chilling shriek startled me as the stench of burnt rotten vegetation assaulted my nose. I waved a hand in front of my face in an attempt to fan the smell away even as a smoky mist arose and stung my eyes. I retreated several yards and looked back.

  The area in front of the barrier filled with a gray fog as the shriveled vegetation writhed and crumbled. Along the boundary, the dark vines and shrubs undulated back and forth in agitation and more shrieks emanated from them. That blast had struck a hard blow. Before, I hadn’t gotten that much of a reaction. What had changed? Was it my heightened anger? Was I getting stronger? Turning, I started back down the silver path and in a few steps...

  I opened my eyes in front of Janna’s grave marker. I felt chilled, so I knew I’d been there for a while although not as long as I’d seemed to be on the other side. I pushed myself up, rolled up the bathmat, and gazed at the grass below me. At the right side, nearest to where the headstone would go, a green plant pushed out of the earth a couple of inches. It hadn’t been there when I’d knelt. I felt certain of that. A sign from Janna?

  I bit my lip and twisted my face into a worried frown. “Janna, you idiot. You’re playing a dangerous game.”

  AFTER I LEFT THE CEMETERY, I hauled a load, as many as the Jeep could hold, of filled boxes to Gavin’s house. Orielle let me in, then directed me to the bedroom on the western side of the house, the opposite direction from Gavin’s bedroom and the other guest room. I presumed she still used it. She went back to an online chat conversation she was having with a bearded, middle-eastern looking man in a language I didn’t understand. I assumed it had to do with her research.

  The bedroom was a decent size, actually a little larger than the one at my house if you counted only the bed and small sitting area. The closets were roomy although not as deep as mine. Still, plenty of room for my clothes and other things. I checked out the double bed, found it relatively comfortable and not too firm. Once I put my own sheets and bedspread on it, Nygard and I would feel right at home, I hoped. A fair-sized bathroom was right across the hall, bath and shower built-in. I sighed and leaned against the door frame. I would definitely miss the Jacuzz
i tub.

  Going back to the Jeep, I began bringing in the boxes I’d packed. Once I’d figured out what would be going to Ferris’s garage, it turned out I didn’t have that much to bring to Gavin’s. As I set the last box on the floor in my new room, my phone buzzed. My agent. I hoped it was good news.

  ‘Hey, Gillian. We have a bite on that jingle deal. The advertising manager seems pretty interested and wants to talk to you. Do you have time for an interview tomorrow afternoon?” Cate sounded upbeat.

  Tomorrow? In the middle of my moving, of course. “Yes, sure I do. What time?”

  “She said three-fifteen would be best for her.”

  “Three-fifteen it is, then. Any details discussed?” I sat on the bed and pulled a small notebook out of my handbag.

  “Not too much. Just that they have a campaign on for a new product, and they want a snappy, upbeat jingle to sell it. Don’t they all? Maybe ten seconds maximum. I’m sure she’ll fill you in on it tomorrow. You’ll be talking to Jennifer Chou at Sun Belt Foods. Ready for the address?”

  I told her yes and scribbled it down along with the phone number for Ms. Chou. A food company? That could be interesting. I decided I’d move as much as possible in the morning with Ferris, then go to the interview, return to my about-to-be-old home, and move Nygard last. I wanted to be here with him the first couple of days until he got used to the new digs.

  When I came out of the bedroom, Orielle was off one call and on to another, although this one was on her mobile phone. I went to the kitchen to grab a cold soda then returned.

  She looked a little sad when I came back in.

  “Not going well?” I asked.

  “Oh, no. It is just the daily check on Gavin. Nothing has changed. Every day, I hope there will be some change, something to indicate he is going to come out of it. It is disappointing when the news is the same.”