Beacon's Hope (Potomac Shadows Book 2)

by Jim Johnson

  He also seemed to have no understanding of how to adjust his inner Sight to see things beyond what his mortal eyes could see. And then there was that ‘geist. Whether he realized it or not, he was able to somehow fuel that thing with the ley threads and make it more powerful and threatening.

  ‘Geists weren’t supposed to be able to affect the mortal world as his was doing, and that, if nothing else, is what had me worried. If he were to continue training and focus on the ‘geist rather than on his own powers, then…

  Well, I had no idea what would happen since I barely knew anything about ‘geists, but I had to guess that if the thing was powerful enough to damage trees and flowers, then it’d be a small step to being able to physically harm people beyond scaring them and knocking stuff around.

  I had seen plenty of horror movies, and the common wisdom was that poltergeists were scary business, and that the really powerful ones could directly affect things and people, like breaking glass, moving objects and furniture around, and even hurting people. The latter was supposed to be the extreme example of a powerful ‘geist, and I wondered if maybe Malcolm had a powerful one in the works. I’d have to ask Charity, or maybe Miss Chin.

  All that being said, to his credit, Malcolm had the ability to unconsciously harness the ley threads when using his fire-hands or his ‘geist, and that had to be worth something. For the most part, I had to consciously focus to pull threads and use their energies; Malcolm seemed capable of just pulling the energy on instinct and channeling it into his talents.

  I paused near my home’s street corner. A month ago if someone had told me I’d be practicing with powers and ley threads and worrying about powerful supernatural creatures, I’d have laughed my ass off.

  But here I was. I stared up at the moon, shining down through a clear, cool night, and then shook my head. Crazy how things can change in so short a time.

  I headed up the stairs of the house and went in, and discovered that I was just a couple minutes late for dinner. I washed up quick, dumped my stuff in my bedroom, and then joined in for the spaghetti dinner.

  Penny and Jackie were there, along with Abbie. I asked Penny what Cooper was up to that night and for once she was actually civil, and mentioned that he had class that night and would be home late.

  “What class is he taking?” I asked.

  Penny took a sip of wine. “Cooper’s studying to be a personal trainer.”

  I frowned. “You need a test for that?”

  Jackie smiled around a mouthful of pasta. “Not really, but if he’s going for a certification, he probably needs a certain amount of hours of coursework to support the certificate.”

  Penny nodded. “That’s right. He’s gotta take sixty hours of classes and have another forty hours of hands-on training before he can be certified. And then once he’s certified he can get a job at pretty much any gym, or freelance.”

  “Huh. I had no idea.” I glanced at Abbie. “Maybe I could start going to the gym more and then study to be a personal trainer.”

  Abbie grinned. “It might pay better than the job you have now.”

  I nodded, but thought of the perks of working with Bonita. Flexible hours, great person to work with, tolerable customers, and now free access to a large training room. It’d be hard to beat that with some gym training job. Heck, even Malcolm’s moving work sounded better than a physical trainer job.

  Penny finished up her meal and stood up. “Don’t worry about the dishes. I’ll do them tonight.”

  I glanced at Abbie, who simply shrugged. It wasn’t like Penny to volunteer to do anything. Sometimes she’d do it when it felt like she hadn’t offered in a while, but tonight felt like she was being genuine and magnanimous.

  Abbie said, “You don’t have to do that, Penny. You made dinner, after all. One of the standing rules of the house is that one person cooks and another cleans, right?”

  Penny smiled and nodded, but took the dirty dishes out of Abbie’s hands. “That’s true, but for tonight, I feel like doing both.” She leveled a gaze somewhere between me and Abbie. “Besides, I thought you might like a break from chores tonight.”

  I gave her a genuine ‘thank you’, then gestured toward Abbie to get out of there before Penny changed her mind. That, and I just needed to get away from a lot of people—I was feeling overwhelmed and needed to reset with Abbie in my arms. We left Jackie to hang out with Penny, though I smiled at our new housemate, and then Abbie and I retired to our bedroom.

  Once there, I flounced down on the bed and waited for Abbie to close the door before I blurted out the question that had been hanging on my mind. “What the hell’s up with Penny?”

  Abbie changed out of her work clothes and into her pajamas. “I know, right? She’s been like that all night. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but it’s not like her to be this nice to all of us at the same time.”

  I rolled over onto my back and worked myself out of my clothes, wanting to spend the night naked and under the covers.

  As I pulled the sheet and comforter out from underneath me so that I could climb into bed, Abbie glanced at me. “Going commando tonight?”

  I poked one leg under the covers and gave her a bit of a show. “Any complaints?”

  She shrugged and then hit the lights. “Not yet. Not until you get cold in the middle of the night and press your ice cube feet against me.”

  I snorted. “You know you love it.”

  She shook her head and climbed into bed with me. I held the covers up for her as she settled in, and then put them down and snuggled up with her. I sighed happily, fancying I could almost forget about Malcolm and his ‘geist and all the other stuff. Yeah, right…fat chance with that. It was pretty much all I could think about.

  Abbie wrapped an arm around me and cuddled close. After a few minutes of blissful silence, she cleared her throat. “Could you turn off your crystal?”

  I started and glanced down. The crystal hanging around my neck had a glowing ember inside of it, not usually visible except when the lights in the room were off. I squinted and adjusted the crystal’s connection to the etherics. The glow inside it faded to almost nothingness. I could still see it and sense it, of course, but I doubted Abbie could since she wasn’t Awakened, so far as I knew.

  She sighed against me. “Thanks.”

  After a few more quiet minutes, time I spent mulling over all that was going on in my life that didn’t directly involve Abbie, she sighed and then gave me a little squeeze.

  “Sweetie, if you can’t shut off your brain, I’m gonna ask you to go downstairs or something. I can hear the gears turning.”

  I sighed and rolled over onto my side to face her. “Sorry, Abbie. I’ve got a lot on my mind and I guess I just can’t seem to close it down tonight.”

  “Anything I can help with?”

  I pondered the question, then shrugged into the mattress. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. Maybe other than listen and then offer insights? You’re really good about that.”

  She shrugged as well and I thought I caught the whisper of a smile in the darkness. “I’m pretty tired from work, but I’ll do my best to listen and offer any input that comes to mind.”

  I pushed in and gave her a kiss on the nose, then settled in next to her and spilled out everything that was going on. Ever since our talk after that battle with the Spinner at Branchwood, I had confided everything to Abbie, tired of keeping secrets from her. There were times that I was hesitant to share the magical stuff with her, but I’d decided that it was better to tell her everything and have her think I was a nut case, than to keep the truth from her and have to choke on my own lies.

  I hate keeping things from her and not telling her what was happening had been tearing me up inside. I still wasn’t sure she entirely believed everything I told her, but whether she was listening and compartmentalizing what I told her, or just being a sympathetic ear and not retaining the details, I didn’t know.

  What I did know is that she was a good listener
, and that was exactly what I needed right now. I wrapped up my brain-dump by talking about Malcolm and our disastrous evening in the grove, and then sort of petered out.

  “I’m at a loss as to what to do next. Malcolm told me Buster Jay’s boys had been sniffing around his house again, but that they weren’t brave enough to stop at the house—just drive by slowly. And I don’t know what to make about Detective Bello or whatever’s going on at the Lincoln Memorial.”

  Abbie, who had been silent the whole time I spilled out the story, took a deep breath, held it, then let it out slow. I knew this was her way of getting her thoughts together in preparation of some words of wisdom.

  “That’s an awful lot of information, Rachel. I have to admit I’m surprised you haven’t cracked under the pressure. You’re good at handling several things at the same time, but any one of these issues might have occupied all my time.” She reached out and patted one of my hands under the covers. “I’m proud of you for being able to manage so many different pieces at the same time.”

  I nodded, but sighed into my pillow. “It’s really a lot. I think Malcolm’s training issues are about what broke my back. I don’t think I can sustain this pace and pressure much more. There’s just…so much to do.”

  She nodded. “Well, have you talked to Bonita or Miss Chin about everything?”

  I shook my head. “Bonita knows some of it, but not all of it. And I haven’t seen or chatted with Miss Chin for almost a week.”

  “Sounds like it might be a good time to check in with her. If only to tell her how things are going with this book of yours.”

  “Charity.”

  “Huh.” She sighed. “Books don’t usually have names.”

  I inhaled to start saying something, but she shook her head. “No, that’s all right. I just…it’s another new piece of information I’ll have to process and accept.” She smiled again. “If I can handle a glowing crystal and the fact that my girlfriend shepherds ghosts into the beyond, a talking book should be no problem to accept.”

  She cracked open an eye. “Just don’t forget how lucky you are that your lover is strangely chill with all the…special circumstances in your life.”

  Her little smile was enough for me to know that she was being serious yet playful. I leaned in and kissed her. “I know that, my dear, and I’m grateful every day that you didn’t decide to have me committed.”

  I laid in bed with my arms and legs entwined with hers and thought quietly for a few moments. Then, I nodded. “So you think talking to Miss Chin is the best thing I can do?”

  She hugged me close, then nodded again. “If she’s still your mentor, this sounds like the perfect opportunity for her to give you some guidance. If you trust this Charity person, I’d talk with it…her…too. But definitely talk to Miss Chin sooner than later. Tomorrow if you’re free. I’ll get your butt out of bed early with mine and swat you on your way.”

  I smiled and kissed her again. “Promise?”

  She snorted. “Go on, you. Get some sleep. If you’re gonna approach Miss Chin with all of this, you’re gonna need your wits well-rested.”

  I couldn’t argue with that. Feeling better having talked it out with Abbie, I settled into bed with her, closed my eyes, and worked my way toward oblivion using a combination of her body heat and my etheric spiraling meditation. She was right—I’d need my strength tomorrow.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  WELL, NOW, THAT WAS INTERESTING. THE Spinner surfaced out of his meditative trance, and brought his avatar up to the surface of the ley pool he had built within his hidden structure deep inside the woven world. The conduit he had attached to the ley grid deep below Washington DC fed into his pool, which was now about half full of glittering blue energies.

  He had been submerged in the energy for some time, how long did not matter. His entire soul, his essence, felt like it was being poked and prodded by countless acupuncture needles. It was an invigorating feeling. Made him feel alive all over again, much more so than his poor mortal body could manage on even the best of days.

  There had been a tremor within the ley energies and the Veil and if he hadn’t been keeping up a passive scan, he’d have never caught it.

  He moved up to his meditation chamber, a large square of a room with an intricately detailed circle laid out in the center of it, with ancient sigils and markings detailing the work. The entire construct glowed with a faint yellow-gold energy, his particular color signature.

  As he entered the circle of light, he waved a hand and the circle sprang into bright life as he infused the warding circle with some of his own life energy, augmented by the etherics he’d so recently been bathing in. He had no idea what the long term consequences of exposing his mind to the ley energies were, but he didn’t much care right now—the feeling of having a near-endless source of power at his fingertips was far too much of a rush to ignore.

  He settled into the center of the circle and willed his avatar to float a foot or two off the floor. There, he floated in midair, acknowledging the wish that his mortal body had such freedom, but then partitioning off that thought so that he didn’t end up preoccupied. He had wallowed in enough self-pity and had no desire to waste any more time doing so.

  He focused on the disturbance he had felt in the eddies of the etheric energies. Thanks to his passive monitoring and the latent memories of what he had subconsciously seen and recorded, he tracked down the disturbance in a matter of moments.

  They had been caused by a poltergeist of some power and ability on the mortal side of the Veil, and closer inspection confirmed his suspicion—it was the poltergeist that had attached itself to the companionship of that young upstart boy, Malcolm Forbes.

  That boy had been a minor irritant during the fight with Rachel at the nursing home, and he had done his part to destroy his previous woven world avatar. Malcolm appeared to have talent with the ley threads, though he had nowhere near the capabilities of the girl.

  No, Malcolm’s real power seemed to be in his poltergeist. The Spinner focused on the ley threads and pushed a strand of thought and sensation out of a small rift in the Veil and into the mortal world, and trailed after the poltergeist’s etheric signature, and followed it and Malcolm around for some time, undetected.

  Malcolm had driven into the southeastern part of the District after training with Rachel, and had parked his car, and then had lost control of the poltergeist and…

  The Spinner focused his will and his senses and found a vantage point in which to watch the carnage unfold within a dark alleyway. Malcolm was at the edge of the alley, and his poltergeist, fueled by a ley thread gathered by Malcolm’s own hand, was systematically destroying the trash cans and bins within the alley—shredding metal, scratching concrete and brick, and shattering glass.

  Malcolm cried out and attempted to control the poltergeist, but appeared to be unable to control it and was forced to wait until the poltergeist was done. Malcolm stumbled into the alleyway and yelled out at the poltergeist to leave, to get away, completely clueless that he could recall the thing if he had wanted to. That he didn’t even try suggested he had absolutely no idea how to use the tool the poltergeist represented.

  Such a waste of potential and a waste of good material.

  The poltergeist faded into the shadows, a glint of steely fangs and claws the last sign of it. The Spinner was impressed that Malcolm had managed to not become one of its victims.

  That suggested Malcolm had the poltergeist’s anchor, whatever object bound that lost, tortured soul to the mortal realm. He focused on Malcolm. The boy took a good look at the mess made in the alleyway and then turned and got sick. After heaving himself empty, he shoved a dollar bill of some sort into his pocket, and staggered out of the alleyway.

  The Spinner watched as Malcolm made it back to his car, started it up, and pulled out into the night. The Spinner did not follow him again. He moved his sensory tendrils into the alleyway and reached out, determined to learn all he could about Malcolm’s
poltergeist and its capabilities.

  He had the glimmer of an idea forming in his mind, and the more research he could conduct now, while the etheric energies were still fresh, the better.

  After a solid hour of intensive study and scanning the area for the etheric signature of both Malcolm and the poltergeist, the Spinner smiled to himself. He had the information he needed. He kept the data he had gathered firmly in mind as he retreated his tendrils of thought and consciousness back through the Veil and to his base within the woven world.

  He returned his consciousness to his avatar, and resumed floating above the ground, safely cocooned within his warding circle and dome. He was confident he could create something similar to Malcolm’s poltergeist. He had all the details from Malcolm and from the alley, and had a ready source of lost souls to entrap within the woven world.

  It would only help his cause that Malcolm was as poorly adept with the etheric energies as he had shown. Since he had no idea how to use what was at his disposal, it would be a simple matter to trap the real poltergeist and replace it with his own construct. He grinned to himself and then started to internalize the list of things he’d need to gather and prepare.

  He also thought through some of the permutations and potential consequences of having a fake poltergeist connected to Malcolm, and the most obvious one was that Malcolm regularly interacted with Rachel. If he was careful, he could keep tabs on her as well as Malcolm, and, if the opportunity presented itself, could take his revenge on her for what she had done to him.

  In fact, if he was truly careful and built the construct properly, he could keep it around for some time and determine who was training Rachel. The more intelligence he could gather on her, the better. As he was wont to remind himself, it was the better informed side that won the war.

  Excited by the prospects ahead, the Spinner closed down the warding circle and returned to the slowly-filling pool of etheric energy. He re-submerged into the pool, knowing he would have to expend a great deal of energy to build his new creation. He was eager to begin.