“Thanks,” I replied. “Good idea!”
I could barely hear myself think, much less hear him, and I wasn’t sure yet if I wanted to hear what he had to say. This week had been filled with bad decisions. My nerves couldn’t handle any more of those. Whatever he had to say to me, it better be pleasant, or I might go home. Who needed this aggravation?
The courtyard was quiet and secluded from the chaos and noise that was only a few feet away. A brick wall enclosed us in a world all to ourselves under the wonderful night sky. He sat his bottle on the black metal table, tracing the rim with his finger.
“Look, Aggie, I don’t have a lot of time, so I’m just going to start by saying I’m sorry.”
This was unexpected. “For what?”
“For avoiding you, for starters.”
He had been avoiding me. “I hadn’t noticed,” I lied horribly.
“Come on, Aggie. Just accept my apology,” he grunted as he shook his shaggy head.
“Alright. I accept your apology. Now can you tell me why you’ve been avoiding me? Was it something I said or did?”
He leaned back in his chair. “No, it’s nothing you did or said. It’s…I’m having a real hard time with all this paranormal stuff.”
“Aren’t we all?” I replied under my breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, I just said no kidding.”
He shot me a disgusted look. “That’s the kind of stuff I don’t need right now.” He looked away from me, and I suddenly felt like a heel.
“I’m sorry. I just thought you knew that I wanted to help you sort all this out. This stuff is something we can handle together. I’m not having fun and games with it, you know. It’s hard on me too.” I reached for his hand.
He looked up at me, placing his hand in mine. “I know, and that’s why I decided I needed to confide in you. I feel like I’ve been cursed. I can’t explain it, but it’s not going away. It’s more than a feeling or bad luck. It sucks.” Phoenix slumped down in his chair, still holding my hand. His eyes filled with tears.
Wow. This I did not see coming. Squeezing his hand, I offered some hope, “Look, we can get through this together. Tell me what’s going on. You can trust me. Trust us.”
“I do trust you.”
“Good. It’s about time.”
He leaned in toward me. “Aggie, I’ve had some really strange things happen to me recently. I mean, weirder than talking to my ghost neighbor. Things that keep me up at night.”
“What kind of things?”
His jaw tensed. “Dark things. Really dark things.” Phoenix peered at me. Holy crap! Those were not the bright blue eyes that I had gotten lost in so many times. They were dark with an intensity that shook my inner core. Something had changed in that instant. He was different, changed into something that wasn’t of this world. His hand tightened around mine, my bones crunching together under his grip.
The pain drew a whimper from my lips. “Phoenix!”
He blinked, shaking his head like he was clearing the screen of an Etch A Sketch. Releasing his grip, he asked, “What happened?”
“Nothing except you crushing my hand!” I rubbed my knuckles to soothe the pain.
Phoenix ran a hand over the stubble on his chin. “I’m so sorry, Aggie. I’m telling you, there’s something going on with me.” He brushed his hair out of his eyes as he leaned back into his chair. He didn’t appear all that shook up about it.
“It’s okay,” I lied with a smile. “How long has this been going on?”
“A couple of weeks. I started feeling uneasy right around the time...”
“You broke up with me?”
He shot me a disapproving look. “Yes. Everything seemed to be going south. I couldn’t get a grip on my reality or how to manage all of it. You, the curse, my music. I just decided I needed to focus on what I knew.”
“Your music?”
“Yeah, but the more I tried to run away from everything else, the more depressed I got. I wanted to see you, Aggie, but then I started having these nightmares about a week or so ago.”
I felt my skin crawl, an indicator that something terrible was about to happen. Even more terrible than getting a hand-crushing from my hope-to-be boyfriend. “Nightmares? What kind of nightmares?”
Phoenix’s voice broke as he glanced at his watch. Time was not on his side. “It’s hard to explain. It was like I was someone else. Like I was living their life. Trust me, it wasn’t an incredibly happy life. I kind of became this kid. I think the little bastard is a pyromaniac.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Tell me about your nightmare.”
He took a deep breath. “I was a kid. Real sad and heartbroken. His life was filled with so much pain and hurt. I remember that feeling of being lost and confused.”
“Is that all?”
He paused. “No. The other night I had a dream, a nightmare, that the kid was sobbing. Intense, uncontrollable sobbing. I felt it in my gut. He was surrounded by smoke. Then I felt excruciating pain, like nothing I’ve ever felt before. It felt like my flesh was melting off my body.”
I let out an audible gasp, and Phoenix stopped mid-sentence. “What is it?”
“I’ll tell you later; tell me what else happened.”
He continued, “As I was sitting there, tortured by this unbearable pain and heat, I saw this darkness. A thing I couldn’t have ever imagined. It was like the devil himself was sitting there in front of me. Laughing at this poor man’s misery.” He slowly shook his head again, rubbing his eyes.
“Was it the devil?”
Without hesitation, he replied, “No, but I had dealings with him. The kid did. I think he sold his soul. I mean, is that a real thing?”
I didn’t answer his question. I had no answers. “How do you know that?”
He placed his hands on the table across from me, staring at me with his clear blue eyes. At least it was him now. Definitely not someone else but Phoenix—the guy I loved.
Oh, no. I did love him, didn’t I?
“Because I could feel his thoughts. I know what he did. He knows that I know it too. But the creature, the one that bought him, he’s been haunting me.”
“He’s been haunting you?” I sounded like a parrot, but I couldn’t believe my ears. I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it from him.
He clasped his hands together, pausing for just one moment. “How is it possible? How am I connected to a monster that killed his own father? Is it because of you, Aggie? You and that damn shop?”
“Phoenix, I don’t know what to say. I am sorry this happened to you. Um…” It was my turn to tear up, but Phoenix was immediately sorry. He kissed me hurriedly, as if it would make up for his cruel words. And it did. I wasn’t expecting this. Was he accusing me of cursing him? “I think we’ve been dreaming about the same child. I’ve seen him too. Yes, I am to blame. And the shop. I am sorry, Phoenix.”
His lips were still close to mine. I could smell him, feel him. I hated and loved this moment.
“Are you sure, Aggie?”
“I’m positive.”
Phoenix leaned back in his chair; the spell was broken. “But how could you be so sure? I mean, it’s just a dream. Aggie, tell me it’s not true.”
I fell back in my chair too, feeling deflated. I didn’t deny the awful truth. “It is true, and I know because he told me. He showed me.”
Phoenix didn’t seem to hear. He was in his own personal hell. “It’s like he possesses me, but it’s not me he really wants. He’s got his eyes on a child, a little girl, I think. She seems familiar. Small, with dark, curly hair. Maybe two, three years old? I’m not sure. I swear I’ve seen her.”
Chloe! If this is true, I have to warn Detra Ann.
Nothing made any sense. This was worse than I thought. Much worse. What were we dealing with?
“We’ve got to go warn Detra Ann!”
“What?” Phoenix asked, confused. “I have a gig, Aggie. I can’t leave
before I’m done with this set.”
“Suit yourself. I have to go!” I grabbed my purse and began digging for my keys.
“Damn! Let me tell Gayle there’s an emergency.”
“Fine, I’ll explain it on the way,” I huffed, pushing away from the table. “Hurry, please! We have to go now!”
*****
My shaking fingers scrolled through the list of contacts in my phone. Finally reaching Boss Lady, I tapped on the phone screen. The ringing seemed to go on forever.
Come on, Detra Ann, pick up.
Nothing. I tried it again with no response.
Maybe she’s just not answering the phone?
I was trying to wrap my head around everything that Phoenix told me, and it just didn’t make any sense. The paranormal always surprised me, and most of the time it wasn’t in a good way, but this was at a whole other level of creepy. Just when I thought that maybe I had this under control, the Universe threw rocks at me.
Nothing was ever what it seemed. How did that little boy reach Phoenix? Why was he coming after Chloe?
Red lights flashed, lighting up the Devecheauxs’ whole driveway. Not something I wanted to see.
My biggest fear was unfolding in front of my eyes.
Was I too late?
Chapter Ten—Detra Ann
“It’s okay, baby. Mama’s got you. I have you.” I held my crying child close and watched as the fire department doused the fire that threatened to consume my house. My home was no match for this fiery blaze. Flames licked the side of the house, burning outside and inside. I knew how it started.
I saw the dead bastard that did it.
If I had been slower by a half a second, he would have lit my daughter on fire. His intention had been clear. There was a dangerous ghost in my house. A boy ghost, but not a boy. My lie-detecting ability told me the truth about this creature, and it wasn’t what it seemed. There was nothing boyish about it. Nothing at all.
It was definitely a demon, evil with a horrible face. It even whispered my daughter’s name. Like he knew her, wanted her, intended to kill her. I cried at the thought. When I left the antiques store earlier, I’d had a bad feeling, but I did not put two and two together. Not in the beginning.
That damn statue! That’s what this was all about. Henri had come home and grabbed a bite of supper before leaving for the shop again. He was practically obsessed with the thing.
Well, too little, too late.
I heard someone screaming my name and turned to see Aggie running toward me. What was going on here?
“Detra Ann! Thank God! It’s the boy, he’s not a real boy, and he’s tied to the angel statue. He’s not good. I think he wants to harm us all! It’s my fault. I saw the tears, and I think I activated it. I didn’t mean to, Detra Ann, I swear I didn’t!”
“What? What do you mean, Aggie?” I held Chloe even tighter as she began to wail at the awfulness of this horrible moment.
“That angel statue has a spirit attached to it. Sometimes it looks like a little boy, but it’s not a boy. It is a Soul Collector. That’s what Sierra calls it. Phoenix saw it too. It came to collect a soul. It’s been awakened. I think I did it by touching it, but I saw the boy and I thought…”
“You awakened it? Why would you do that? I knew it made me sick. I should have listened to my instincts. I should have made Harry take that thing away the first day it appeared at the shop. It was a bad idea from the beginning.”
Chloe began to cry, and I cried with her. What did this mean? What was happening here? Phoenix spoke in warm, comforting tones, but I paid him no mind. I did not want comforting.
Aggie was talking now. The world was on fire. Where was my husband? “Detra Ann, come with me. Let these guys do their work, okay? See how upset Chloe is? She doesn’t understand. I’ve got plenty of room at the apartment. You can have my room, Detra Ann.” I heard her, but her words made no sense to me. Was she asking me to leave my home? To leave my own home while it burned to the ground? “You don’t need to see this, please. Come with me.”
With closed eyes, I let the tears fall, and then suddenly I felt Henri’s heavy hand on my shoulder. It brought me no comfort. I was angry, so angry I could spit nails. Why had he done this?
“This is on you, Henri Devecheaux! This is on you! Look what’s happened. My house, our house, is burning to the ground because you let that thing into the shop. I’m so sick and tired of the paranormal. I just want a life, a safe life for Chloe. Can’t you understand that? Why did you do it?”
My husband’s face was the picture of solemnity and sadness. But I had no sympathy for him at all. He hadn’t seen the boy’s hand in Chloe’s hair, twisting it to make her cry. He hadn’t smelled the sulfur from the struck matches or seen the stack of spent sticks at his feet.
No doubt I’d come to her room in the nick of time. She was lucky to be alive. Who was going to believe this? What would the fire department say when they found matches inside the house? They would say that I set the fire, or better yet, that Chloe had been playing with matches. That this was arson and not what it truly was—a paranormal attack!
“You think I did this? Really, Detra Ann? You think I am responsible for this? I don’t even know what happened!”
Henri was livid at my response. I didn’t care. I was so mad at him, at both of us. I’d said I wanted these damn statues, and he set it up with that horrible man. How could we have been so stupid? “You knew! I knew that first day something was wrong with that statue.”
Aggie was trying to defuse the situation by hanging close, but I was beyond being reasonable. Chloe stopped crying and was unusually quiet. She whimpered in my arms, and I eventually surrendered her to Henri, who was biting his lip. Before we could truly tangle up over this horrible situation, the fire chief reported that the fire was out.
“I’ll need a few days to make my report. It looks like it was an electrical fire, but I can’t say for sure yet. In the meantime, you’ll need to call a construction company, someone who can seal up the open parts of your home. You’d be surprised at how many people like to take advantage of folks who’ve suffered a fire. It’s disgusting, but that’s how it is. Do you have somewhere to go?”
“Somewhere to go?” I parroted unbelievably.
Aggie broke in, “Yes, she does. They all do. I insist you guys stay with me tonight, and tomorrow night and for however long you need. Come on, guys. Let’s go to my place.”
I pulled away from Aggie’s hand. I didn’t mean to be cruel, but I needed to be alone. Just me and Chloe. Mama Bear was coming out, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. My emotions were like a runaway train. Tears streamed down my face as I took Chloe back from Henri. He didn’t fight me. At least I had my car keys. Somehow, I had managed to grab the keys. I can’t even remember how. I was wearing my pajamas, a robe and slippers. Poor Chloe had on her play clothes. She was about to get a bath when all this happened.
“I’m going to get a room. Give me a credit card. My purse is in the house. Clearly, I can’t go back in there!” I didn’t ask, didn’t beg. I put my hand out and waited. Henri’s broken expression did not move my heart. I wasn’t going to back down.
“You can’t use this card without me. Hotels won’t accept a card that doesn’t belong to you, Detra Ann. Let’s go together. We can talk, make a few phone calls, come up with a plan…”
“No! You come up with a plan. I’m going to the Hilton. I’ll call you later. Thanks for the offer, Aggie, but I want to be alone. If you could cover for me in the morning, that would be great.”
“Um, sure. Please, you guys. This is my fault. I’m the one who activated the statue. Sierra as much as said so. It’s on me. I’ll figure this out. Don’t fight. It’s like having my parents argue. Phoenix, tell them!”
Aggie’s lip quivered like a child’s, but I had to go. I had to think about Chloe. Phoenix put his arm around her as she cried. Why was she crying? My house was burning to the ground and my daughter was threatened!
Without another word, I decided to go. Chloe was whining and crying, and I wanted to do the same. We hadn’t even eaten dinner yet. Henri trailed behind me while Aggie lingered on the sidewalk.
“I think you’re being unreasonable, Detra Ann. How was I supposed to know that this would happen? You know how these things work. I am sorry this happened, but we will fix it, I swear! I’ll fix it!”
I got in my car after putting Chloe in her car seat. She’d stopped crying, at least, but now it was my turn to cry. “I can’t do this, Harry. I have to go. I have to get Chloe out of here.”
“But we should stay together. How can I protect you if I’m not allowed to?”
My husband’s voice broke my heart, but Mama Bear would not allow me to bend. Chloe was the most important thing in the world to me. The most important thing.
“You can’t protect us. Take care of it, Henri Devecheaux! Take care of it!”
With that, I backed the car away and headed off down the street. Tears were streaming from my eyes, but I could not change my mind. I wouldn’t. Chloe was my baby, and I would die for her.
If I had to, I would die for her.
Did I completely blame my husband? No, but I had to have someone to blame. I already blamed myself too.
I couldn’t stand losing control of anything, much less the safety of my child. Bad things happen when I lose control. But I would never dive back into the bottle. I glanced at Chloe’s sweet face in the rearview mirror. She was wide awake. I was too, and suddenly I wished that I’d kept Harry close to me. Not just for protection’s sake but because I was worried about him too.
Me and my big mouth, always ready to tangle. Always ready to fight. But I couldn’t fight this invisible thing. Could I? I’d damn sure try. I had no choice.
Alright, you bastard. You want to come for someone, come for me. But you leave my baby alone. You hear me? You leave my baby alone!
I heard nothing, but a piece of me knew it was listening. The evil child had my baby in his sights, and he wasn’t going to relent until he claimed her. I had no idea why, and trying to figure it out would only drive me toward the negative influences that occasionally tempted me.
A Watch of Weeping Angels (Devecheaux Antiques & Haunted Things Book 3) Page 7
