Sinister Entity

by Hunter Shea

  The doppelganger focused on the open closet and took two steps toward it. It wanted desperately to be there. Eddie could feel its anguish, despite the blinding agony that had iced its way down his neck and into his shoulders.

  Jessica ran around the bed in an attempt to cut it off.

  Pushing outward, Eddie used his telekinetic ability to slam the door shut. It stopped Jessica and the doppelganger in their tracks, but only for an instant. The mimicking wraith lunged at the closed door, plunging through it as if it weren’t there, had never been solid wood. He heard Jessica let loose with a string of profanities, more in amazement and shock than anger. She dropped her camera on the bed and yanked the door open.

  As they both suspected, it was empty.

  “Can I pass out now?” Eddie groaned.

  “What?” Jessica was in the closet tapping walls and the floor.

  He positioned himself so he would fall face first on the bed and let the darkness overtake him.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  When Jessica heard Eddie collapse, she forgot about finding the doppelganger and ran to him, scooping his head into her arms. Though his breathing was regular and steady, his coloring was cadaver gray.

  “Eddie, wake up. Eddie, can you hear me?” She tapped his cheek with her fingers.

  She’d never had someone pass out around her before and had no idea what to do. It seemed the best thing would be to try to snap him out of it, but how? Had he had a seizure? Did she have to stick something in his mouth to keep him from biting his tongue, or did that only apply as the seizure was happening?

  “For such a smart girl, you really are a dummy,” she hissed at herself, feeling her heart gallop in her chest, all thoughts of the doppelganger forgotten.

  Complete panic was seconds from taking over when Eddie’s eyelids fluttered, then opened wide. He looked into her worried eyes, uncomprehending, empty.

  “It’s me, Jessica. Can you hear me?” She stroked his hair back. His neck was clammy.

  Relief washed over her when he mumbled, “I told you I was going to hit the deck.” He tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. When he attempted to sit up, she pulled him back onto her lap.

  “Maybe you should wait a little before you move. I don’t want you fainting again.”

  “Women faint. Men pass out.”

  “Is this really the time to be a chauvinistic pig?”

  This time he did smile. “I’m better now. Honest.”

  He sat with his back against the bed, rubbing his temples. The glassiness in his eyes had started to fade.

  “Does your head hurt?”

  “A little.”

  “You might have whacked it when you slipped off the bed and fell on the floor.”

  “It was hurting before then, but much worse than now. Wow, that wasn’t fun at all. Maybe you should check the house, see if it went somewhere else. I promise I’ll stay put.”

  She was reluctant to leave him, but he did have a point. She grabbed her camcorder and headed to the other rooms. “I’ll bring you back some water.”

  He nodded, then shooed her out of the room.

  The Leighs’ house wasn’t very big, so it didn’t take long to realize that Selena’s phantom double was nowhere to be seen. The family picked their heads up when they saw her go into the kitchen. She opened the sliding door and asked them if they could sit tight for a few more minutes.

  “Did you see it?” Greg asked.

  She had to restrain her enthusiasm. What had happened upstairs was incredible, maybe a first in the paranormal field of investigation.

  “Yes, for a little bit. It’s gone now.”

  Rita, Greg and Selena looked as if they had a hundred questions they wanted to ask, but she had to get back up to Eddie. She noticed that little Ricky was throwing a ball high in the air and catching it in the middle of the yard. She worried about how he was processing everything most of all. Jessica knew full well how something like this could affect a young child.

  True to his word, Eddie was still sitting on the floor. He gratefully accepted the cold bottle of water.

  “Feeling better?” she asked.

  “Much. I guess you didn’t find it.”

  She cocked her head at the dark, empty closet. “Not unless I could find the dimensional portal in there. That was frigging weird. I never saw something that looked that solid pass through a door before. You think it could be a projection coming from Selena? She is a teen girl. We have a tendency to tap into mental abilities at that age without knowing it.”

  “Not this time. No, whatever it is, it’s definitely not originating within Selena’s mind. I managed to bond with it for a couple of seconds. It has emotions, with concern overriding everything else. I left myself open to it, and that’s when the pain in my head started and I felt all of my senses go numb. Selena’s doppelganger was as confused as I was. I think that’s what chased it off, though I suspect your attempt at touching it didn’t help.”

  Jessica felt her temper flare, but checked herself. Eddie had just woken up from a dead faint and he was giving her some insight into the doppelganger. The more she thought about it, the more she realized he may be right. There was something about the doppelganger that compelled her to reach out to it, to fully experience its presence with all of her senses, that she could barely control herself. It was like fighting a primal urge.

  “But it looked so damn real. If I didn’t try, I’d spend the rest of my life regretting the chance at knowing what it felt like.”

  Eddie stood up. His color had returned and he looked none the worse for wear. “Trust me, I’m not blaming you. If I wasn’t feeling like I had been lanced in the skull, I would have been right alongside you.” He pointed at the camera in her hand. “You want to see what you recorded, while it’s all still fresh?”

  “We’ll just check out a minute or so. I don’t want to leave the Leighs hanging much longer.”

  He moved to her side so he could see the tiny screen. Jessica tapped a few buttons, rewound to the moment just before she entered the room and hit Play.

  The adrenaline high she had experienced from the rush of seeing the doppelganger, then tending to Eddie, evaporated as quickly as a girl’s innocence at the prom. There was nothing but static. She fast-forwarded through and saw the same black-and-white fuzz.

  “No. No way,” she said, tightening her grip on the camera. She stopped it, rewound to the very beginning. It showed her ascent up the stairs, the hallway, and dissolved into snow just before she turned to enter Selena’s room.

  She snapped the camera shut, barked, “Pass me the digital camera!”

  Eddie found it on the bed and handed it to her. He was smart to not say anything. She was bound to blow at the slightest provocation.

  It was the same thing with the still images.

  Nothing.

  She checked the battery. It still had a full charge. She snapped a couple of pictures of the room, hit the Back button and saw that they had come out perfect. No distortion.

  “I know this kind of stuff happens, but this is ridiculous. Not even one lousy picture.”

  She slumped onto the bed, defeated.

  Eddie waited a while before speaking. “Mind if I say one thing?”

  “No.”

  “The pictures and the video aren’t important at all. The Leighs have seen it multiple times. They don’t need proof. We have to help them now.”

  He was right…again. What was it about this house that made her lose all sense of perspective? Was it an after-effect of close contact with a doppelganger? She was very much aware of her age and lack of experience, but she wasn’t a total neophyte either. She’d been off her game from the moment she had pulled into their driveway two days ago.

  “You’re becoming handier than a pocket on a shirt,” she said to him. “Thank you.”

  He extended his hand to her. “I know this is exciting, but we both need to keep our cool. There’s more going on here than what we’ve experienced
so far.”

  Jessica couldn’t imagine what, besides the presence of the doppelganger, was active in the house. So much of this was shades of her father’s trip to Alaska. The big difference here was her experience and Eddie’s abilities. She had to put her faith in him if she desired to get through this in one piece, and she very much wanted that.

  “You think you can ask your doctor friend to get you a meeting with that couple in Massachusetts today or tomorrow?”

  “I’ll call and ask while you talk to Greg and Rita.”

  “Good. I’m going to see if I can move in for the next few days. I hope it will make them feel better knowing I’m right here in case something comes up again.”

  Before she went to the back patio, she turned to him and said, “Nice work with the door.”

  Now that things had settled down, she began to process everything that had happened in just a few short minutes. A psychic-medium with telekinetic powers. The intrigue of Eddie Home continues to grow.

  He looked at her, quizzical.

  Jessica said, “That was you, right? You did hint on the ride up here that you could move objects. Not that I believed you at the time. But, I don’t think the doppelganger would throw an obstacle in its own way.”

  “Oh, that. Guilty as charged. It seemed like the only thing to do at the moment.”

  He walked out the front door, already on the phone and talking to the doctor. Her estimation of him grew while her skepticism of psi abilities shattered like a thin pane of glass.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Eddie was grateful that Jessica wanted to talk to the Leigh family alone and try to assuage their fears. It took a good deal of the afternoon, and in the end, Greg, Rita and the kids decided to spend the night at a hotel. They agreed that they would all return to the house after a good night’s sleep. Jessica would stay with them the following night while Eddie made a trip to Massachusetts to visit the quasi doppelganger experts.

  The Leighs packed overnight bags and headed to the next town over to stay at a hotel a cut above the Best Western.

  It wasn’t until he and Jessica had returned to their rooms after dinner at a nearby Pizza Hut that Eddie realized he was not going to be getting back to work any time soon. In all the excitement, he had forgotten about the health food store, not to mention his need to pay rent, buy food and gas. Knowing Jessica’s past, and the fact that she was one of the least assuming multi-millionaires in the world, he thought it best to keep his sudden concerns to himself. He didn’t want her to think he had sought her out so he could sponge off her.

  The way things were going, he wasn’t sure when he’d be back, but decided it was best to at least call his manager and apologize. Ted was a decent guy. Maybe he’d understand. When he phoned the store, Adelle, the night supervisor, told him Ted had left for the day but would pass along the message. Well, at least I tried, he thought.

  That night, he slept like the peaceful dead, not waking up until ten o’clock, missing out on the free breakfast. His phone showed one missed call, so he checked his voicemail. It was exactly what he needed to hear.

  He knocked on Jessica’s door but there was no answer, so he sauntered a few blocks to a Dunkin Donuts and grabbed a semi-stale croissant and coffee. By the time he returned to the hotel, Jessica was back, sitting on the hood of her car, listening to her iPod.

  “I’m surprised you’re not in your bathing suit,” she said, pulling the ear buds out.

  “Not today. I’m here awaiting orders.”

  “Did you hear from that couple?”

  “As a matter of fact, I did. I guess Dr. Froemer called them back to let them know how urgent the situation is here. I’m supposed to meet them at six tonight. As luck would have it, they both still live together in a town called Framingham. I never heard of it, but I do have an address. I’ll map it later online.”

  Jessica slid off the hood and opened the passenger door, rummaging around in the glove compartment. She handed him a palm-sized GPS device. “Just plug the address in here. It’ll do the rest.”

  “This brings up another question. How am I supposed to get there? We only have one car between us and I think a taxi would cost me a year’s salary.”

  She shook her head at him. “You sure you graduated from Duke? I’m not going to need the car, because I’m staying with Selena tonight. You can drop me off and then head down to Massachusetts.”

  Eddie slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. “I knew I shouldn’t have dropped that course on common sense.”

  Her laugh pumped him up, gave him hope that he was breaking down the five-foot-thick wall she had erected around herself. “What time are you expected there?” he asked.

  “Any time this afternoon. If you want, you can drop me off in an hour and come back here to get cozy with one of the MILFs until it’s time to go.”

  He was about to ask her where that came from when he remembered talking to the cute mother at the pool. It seemed so long ago, yet it had just been twenty-four hours. It was amazing how much had changed in such a short amount of time. He felt his cheeks redden and said, “Har-har. I think I’ll read up on doppelgangers on the Internet instead so I don’t sound like a total idiot later.”

  “Your call,” Jessica said over her shoulder as she walked into her room. “I just need an hour to do a couple of things and we’ll get this show on the road.”

  The older woman at the front desk of the hotel was happy to give Jessica directions to the nearest church.

  “Best you should go to St. Matthew’s,” she said. She pulled a pencil out from her tightly braided gray hair and drew a little map. “They keep their doors unlocked all day. It’s only a couple of miles from here and they have a nice little lot right next to the church.”

  Jessica thanked her for the help and got a “Bless your heart,” in return.

  St. Matthew’s was an old, small church that had no neighboring houses or buildings. It looked as if it had just grown up out of the surrounding fields many decades ago. The doors creaked when she entered and the air was hot and stagnant. All of the windows were shut tight.

  I’ll have to make this a quick visit, she thought. Beads of sweat broke out on her forehead.

  She entered a pew by the front of the church and pulled out the kneeler.

  Since there was no one inside with her, she spoke out loud as she prayed, first an Our Father, then a Hail Mary, followed by the reason for her visit.

  “God, I’m never sure if you approve of what I do, but I could really use your strength right now. I have to admit, I’m a little scared. Not of the entities I’m facing. This family needs my help and I can’t stop thinking that I’m in over my head, even with Eddie at my side. I don’t want to fail them. I can’t fail them.

  “So, please watch over the Leigh family and if you can, maybe give a little hand to me and Eddie so we can end their nightmare. I’m not sure why things are always so crazy around me, but I know it’s all part of your plan.”

  Jessica let the silence of the church comfort her, despite the cloying heat.

  She was about to silently thank God for the things she’d been given when she felt a slight tap on her shoulder.

  “I’m sorry for talking out loud. I promise I’ll—”

  She opened her eyes and turned to apologize but there was no one there.

  Her breath caught in her throat when the sound of the metal latch on the doors clicked. One door slowly opened, the hinges crying in protest.

  A chill ran through her that made the sweat along her hairline feel like tiny icicles.

  Looking back at the open door, there was a flicker, like a reel of film fading in and out of a movie screen. For the briefest of moments, Selena’s doppelganger, its eyes wide and black as the night sky, stood beside the door, one pale hand on the handle.

  In the blink of an eye, it was gone.

  The door closed, this time without making a sound.

  Still staring at the doors, Jessica said, “See, God, t
hat’s what I’m talking about.”

  Having a little time to kill, Eddie took a walk and called his friend Tobi.

  “Hey, you better be calling me to tell me what day is good for me to visit your ass,” Tobi answered.

  “You have a one-track mind.”

  “You’re my ticket to seeing New York without having to pay for a hotel. Of course I do, man.”

  “I actually called to ask you something. You ever hear of a doppelganger?”

  “I’ve heard of them, sure. I know it’s German for something, like a twin, right?”

  “Kinda, yeah.”

  Eddie spied a little pond and walked to its edge. Dozens of fat bumblebees dipped from flower to flower, paying him no mind.

  Tobi said, “So, tell me, what’s going on? You sound more morose than usual.”

  “I take offense to that,” Eddie replied. “I like to consider myself moody and introspective, not morose.”

  He told his friend everything, from Jessica’s strange ability to the doppelganger and the other presence around the family. It felt good to talk to him. Tobi was the one person he could lay it all out to that wouldn’t say he was crazy. Well, his father would be in that category, too, but they weren’t on the best of terms.

  “Dude, that sounds trippy,” Tobi said. “That’s the kind of stuff my Uncle Jack would eat up.”

  “How is Jack?” Spilling the beans to Tobi made him feel lighter. He even felt the tension in his shoulders ease.

  “He’s cool. He wants me to come down to Florida on some business trip with him so we can visit a couple of haunted lighthouses. I don’t know about Florida in the summer, though. That’s when people fly out, not in.”

  They laughed and Tobi told him about The Rhine’s newest recruits. “No one like you, though,” he added.

  Eddie checked his watch. “Thanks for the talk, Tobes. I gotta get going. Jessica will be back any minute.”