The Skinwalker Conspiracies - 02

by Jim Bernheimer

  The most unavoidable of my thoughts centered on the ghost of Hernando De Soto and our pending showdown. Like some old west gunfight, we were going to have it out in a park nearby … my very own O.K. Corral. The real question was my fate. Was I an Earp, Clanton, or McLaury? Personally, I wanted to be Holliday, because he had that cool mystique about him. Maybe, I could do the “I’m your huckleberry” line instead of my earlier line. Although, the part about him dying from rotted out organs didn’t appeal to me so much.

  The prize in all this wasn’t control of cattle trade and mining rights in southwest Arizona. No, it was my body, and I had no intentions of bringing it along.

  “To the victor go the spoils,” I mouthed. The outcome wasn’t certain. I’d roughed him up pretty bad only a short time ago, but he’d come ready for a fight this time with who knows how many of his lackeys.

  Competing with the ominous portents of my less than sunny future was the woman I snuggled up against and the whirlwind we’d been swept up in. Her restful breaths fought my fears to calm me. Karla’s hair, freed from the ponytail during our activities, brushed along my chest with every slightest move.

  I could get used to something like this, but a quick check of what I knew about previous Ferrymen didn’t mesh with stable relationships very well.

  My mind was adrift in a sea of “what ifs.” Some swirled around whether I was still going to be alive in forty-eight hours and others wondered what Karla would say when she woke up. Was I a diversion or therapy so she could finally close the door on Darren? The old noggin hurt just thinking about it. Then again, I didn’t want to fess up and tell her the last woman I kissed was a ghost and, technically, old enough to be my grandmother.

  Karla shifted in my arms and I felt her coming to. She wriggled free and slid out of the bed. I’m sure there was a sour expression on my face me when I thought she was headed back to her room, but I sighed in relief when the door to the bathroom just outside this bedroom opened and shut. I took the opportunity to shake the arm that had been pinned under Karla awake.

  Two minutes and a flush later, she crept back into the room, stopping only when she realized I was awake.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “Too much to think about,” I answered, enjoying the fact that she was still naked. “Can’t sleep.”

  “You need to rest,” Karla said sitting down on the bed next to me. “Roll over onto your stomach.”

  “Why?”

  “I give a good deep tissue massage. You’re obviously wound up tighter than a spring. Let’s see if I can unknot you.”

  “You can go back to sleep,” I argued. “I’ll be fine.”

  “No Mike, I’d just feel guilty. Now c’mon and let me show you what I can do.”

  I complied while grinning at her, until she clucked her tongue and said, “Good grief! Whatever you’re thinking, it’s so not happening.”

  “It already did,” I countered. “Twice.”

  “Three times isn’t always a charm,” she chided and worked the base of her palms against the small of my back. She pressed down and rotated in concentric circles against aching, corded muscles.

  I’d received plenty of massages during my rehabilitation period. Karla wasn’t quite up to their level, but the fact she was doing it in her birthday suit more than made up for it.

  “That feels good,” I said.

  “Just relax, Mike. Try and let go of the tension.”

  I spent a few seconds just enjoying things before offering, “Maybe I should step out of my body and just let it pass out?”

  She made one of those distasteful sounding noises and said, “Yeah, but then I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing you’re creeping around.”

  For a moment, I started to protest that I wasn’t a pervert or anything, but then I did something that I don’t usually do - I thought about something other than me.

  “How are you dealing, Karla?”

  “What? Oh, I’m fine,” she said. Not that I believed her one bit.

  “Got a bridge you want to sell me while you’re at it?”

  Her ministrations stopped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Propping myself up on my right arm I turned so I could look directly at her and say, “It means I’m not so wrapped up in all my problems that I can’t spare a few moments to worry about how you’re holding up. Your whole world has been turned upside down in the last few days and I’m the reason for pretty much every bit of it. Just don’t feel like you need to lie to me.”

  Where those words came from, I wasn’t really sure. My guess was all that crazy moral fiber crap Silas keeps feeding me all the time. Either way, I said it with a sincerity and maturity that most twenty-four year old guys likely couldn’t muster.

  She was speechless for a minute and I worried that, given my excellent people skills, I’d screwed things up. Instead, her expression softened and I could see a small smile. “That’s sweet. I’ll … I’ll be honest. I don’t know how I am.”

  Karla paused and traced her fingernails along my free arm. “I went nuts when you first showed up. Then I felt guilty over how I treated you and offered to help to make up for it and maybe in some ways get them back for Darren. Then things got really serious and I thought I was going to die. Now, it’s just plain crazy.”

  Sitting up, I put my arms around her and whispered into her ear, “I wish I could say that everything will be okay, but I have no idea how this is going to play out.”

  The embrace was raw and about as emotionally honest as I’d ever experienced - two people clinging to something in the middle of an unbelievable situation.

  After a couple of minutes, I said, “Thank you.”

  “For what?” Karla asked while her breaths kissed the skin on my neck.

  “Reminding me that life is worth living.” Somewhere out there, I hoped Tabby and Paul were smiling.

  Her embrace tightened. “Just win, Mike.”

  We slid back onto the bed. “I’ll do my best.”

  Tugging on the exposed tip of my phantom fingers I worked my way out of my body. It was like pulling a loose tooth. Just like creating phantom images, it wasn’t any easier than before and I didn’t have the same urgency that someone was about to die.

  My senses distorted as I slowly eased out of my body. The advice from Silas sounded muffled and I had a nasty case of double vision. But when it cleared, I was staring down at my body. I’d fallen forward off the couch and smacked my head on the coffee table. That was probably going to hurt.

  Karla lifted me back onto the couch and checked my vitals as Lucky jumped up next to me and put his head on my lap. “He’s okay … or at least he’s breathing. Mike? Are you there?”

  “He is,” Silas said as I gave him a thumbs-up.

  She looked around and I reached down and brushed her cheek with my fingertips. Her nose crinkled and Karla touched the spot. There hadn’t been any awkwardness between the two of us this morning. Karla wasn’t acting any different and I threw myself into trying to improve the limited control over my powers. Part of me wanted to see her acting like a giddy schoolgirl, but given the circumstances, it was probably best if we kept this new development in perspective.

  Taking time, I took stock of my situation. How did I feel? The answer was okay, so I went to the next step. I went to the center of the room where I’d pulled images of the free weights owned by the doctor and started my normal workout consisting of pushups, crunches, and the weights.

  I did several reps, staying near my body. There might have been a nugget of truth to what my father said about being out of my body too long. Just like Karla was looking over my physical form, Silas had his blind eyes trained on me. If I suddenly collapsed, he’d have Karla drag my body over to where my spirit form was.

  At the thirty minute mark, I was bored with the workout and went to some of the curios on the shelves and made phantom copies of the objects displayed there.

  The first two attempts were easy enough, but on th
e third, a sensation of dizziness almost overcame me. I ambled back to my body and was about to get in but my head cleared.

  “Mike, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” I said before recalling he couldn’t hear me. I resorted to some makeshift sign language to communicate with him. Pulling so many copies was probably the culprit. It definitely would have overwhelmed me in my body. It meant that I was stronger when my flesh wasn’t around to interfere.

  The thought was scary. William probably realized that being alive was holding him back after he died. Yeah, no potential for going crazy there … not one bit! Fortunately, I wasn’t lying to Karla this morning. As screwed up as things seem to get in my life, it was still my life and I happened to be pretty attached to it.

  Silas called out to me as the end of the first hour approached and I climbed back into my body. This test was a qualified success. It’d be nice to know whether it was a matter of time or energy that would force me back to my flesh, but I couldn’t exactly cut loose and draw attention to our little hideout. During the fight with De Soto, it’d be just another thing to worry about.

  Sure enough my head throbbed and Karla had some Motrin and a glass of water waiting for me. Within thirty seconds I felt like I hit a brick wall as exhaustion swept over me. There was the punch line I’d suspected all along. My out of body experiences were payable upon return. The old saying about power corrupts came to mind and I was another step closer to mastering my powers.

  “Your pulse is racing,” Karla said after putting her fingers on my neck for a few seconds.

  “Feels like I just ran a five K,” I replied. Use my powers too much in my body and risk a heart problem. Use them too much outside and the same risks applied. Still, I had to play the hand I was dealt with and I suspected I’d find out what my limits were in the near future.

  “Are you still going to try getting into the dog, Mike?” Silas asked.

  The next test we planned was to see how quickly I could get into and out of Lucky, but I reconsidered and called it off. “No, this was enough for now. If I get to the point where I need to get out of an animal again, it means he won.”

  Back in school, I’d never been much of a science student - making theories, trying them out, and all that jazz. So figuring out my next move would require a clear head and free time. I didn’t have either of those at the moment.

  I must’ve looked like hell. Karla went to get the peanut butter and crackers. It was what passed for gourmet fare in the house.

  “You two need to start thinking about when you’re going to leave.”

  Silas shook his head and said, “I’ve got a problem imagining that young lady turning her back on you. Can’t really drive myself, so I guess I’ll have to stay as well.”

  “I really don’t need this right now, Silas. I’ll have enough to worry about without the two of you added to it.”

  “If you lose, I’m pretty sure I’m a goner too.”

  Rolling my eyes, I answered, “Well I’m really glad, there’s no pressure on me. I can’t even say I’m going to go fight with a clean pair of undies on.”

  While I indulged in a bit of gallows humor about not having any of my stuff, something else tugged at the corners of my mind. Yeah, I didn’t have anything but what I wore out of De Soto’s little canine fight club.

  Silas and Karla were in the same boat. For the lady, it wasn’t too much of a problem, but my preacher friend took at least six different pills a day. He was fairly guarded about his medical condition, but I knew he wasn’t in the best of health.

  “How are you feeling Silas? All your pills are still at Karla’s.”

  “Don’t worry ‘bout me, Mike. I’ll be fine.” His words were calm, but I didn’t believe him. Grandpa Warren kept telling us how “fine” he was right up until they admitted him to the hospital for the final time.

  I scowled and asked, “Would you believe me if the positions were reversed?”

  “My body’s held up all these years. Another day without all those damn pills might do me some good.”

  Apparently he went to the fifth doctor, the one who was always disagreeing in those four out of five doctors agree spiel. Looking down at the carpet, I grimaced as another thing added to my ever growing list.

  “Nothing we can do about it now,” I conceded. “Just let me know if you start feeling bad. Even though we both can vouch for an afterlife doesn’t mean you should be in any hurry.”

  Silas guffawed while internally, I decided that I could use this as a reason to make Karla leave the house tomorrow if she decided to be stubborn as well. Also, I needed to mention it to Karla so she could keep an eye on him. On one hand, it was refreshing to know that someone out there was willing to take a little personal risk, but seeing Silas get harmed bothered me on several levels.

  Life just kept handing me lemons, but despite my best efforts, the lemonade didn’t taste any better. Maybe I should try mixing in some vodka with the next batch.

  Crawling into bed, I wondered if Karla would come back tonight. After resting, I did one more test and stayed outside of my body for ninety minutes, but didn’t really exert myself. Upon returning, my heart rate was slightly elevated, but it was easily manageable. Just as everyone suspected, the amount of energy I used was what mattered.

  For dinner, we raided the few items left in the pantry. Karla had the last of the chicken soup. My selection was a can of corn with a chaser of peas and carrots. Silas finished off the crackers and most of the remaining peanut butter. Poor Lucky got a chance to lick Karla’s bowl and a few other odd morsels we could scrounge up for him. The strange thing was it reinforced my desire to live. I really didn’t want to admit my personal last supper consisted of vegetable side dishes.

  Naturally, I feared if she did come back, I’d have a bad case of gas.

  Hearing the footsteps in the hall made a slight smile appear on my face. Seconds later, my door opened.

  “You couldn’t sleep either?” I asked.

  “No. I kept thinking about tomorrow and then I couldn’t seem to shut my mind off,” she said.

  Chuckling, I slid over and made room for her while stating, “Not too many people would ever accuse me of over thinking a problem.”

  “I don’t want to get too caught up in you, Mike,” she blurted out and then had the decency to immediately look embarrassed about how that came out. “That’s not … What I meant was …”

  “S’okay,” I said to reassure her and prevent this from turning into a heaping helping of awkward, or at least bigger than it already was. “Let’s keep it casual tonight and save any serious talk for tomorrow night. Right now, it sounds like we could both use a distraction. Am I right?”

  She nodded and our arms intertwined. The sense of urgency from last night wasn’t there. The difference a day later was we still wanted it and somehow that seemed just as important.

  “Okay then Mike, let’s see you distract me,” Karla said between brushes of our lips that were rather encouraging. “Make me forget about everything but you.”

  I didn’t bother trying to argue with that request.

  Two hours later, I left her sleeping figure in my borrowed bed and tiptoed out into the living room. I stood in the middle of the room, in my boxers, and tried to shut out all the scenarios running through my head.

  Lucky was at the sliding glass door, whimpering slightly, and pawing at the glass with a foreleg.

  “Gotta go out, boy?” I asked and reached for the handle. My hand stopped when I saw what the beagle was staring at and my blood ran cold. There were a dozen of them … crows … perched on the concrete and brick fence in the backyard. Every one of them glowed softly in the predawn night.

  A thousand thoughts raced through my head, trying to figure out how he’d found us and whether Von Eckels had decided to “modify” our little arrangement. Still, it no longer mattered. We’d been found and my date with destiny had arrived just a little ahead of schedule.

  Running to the front
of the house, I saw a trio of glowing dogs pacing on the front lawn as a fourth came running up to join them and more birds perched on the house across the street.

  It was like Mr. Hitchcock and Mr. King decided to tag team me! The blessed barrier Silas created might keep them out, but I didn’t really care for the concept of “might” at that juncture.

  “Probably what attracted them in the first place,” I muttered as I sprinted down the hallway and back into my bedroom. “Karla! Karla! Get up. De Soto is here!”

  Yeah, there were probably a million better ways to wake her up, but that was all I could come up with at the moment. The memory of Cassandra calling Karla, “Princess Panic” came to mind as the auburn beauty snapped awake.