Holly And Ivy

by Phaedra Weldon

  Holly & Ivy

  Phaedra Weldon

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright 2010 by Phaedra Weldon

  I never really understood Christmas, or Yule, or Kwanza or Hanukah—pick one. Not until that December 21st after becoming a Wraith. Before then, like most, I thought it was all about the presents. I never considered there were deeper meanings to all the merchandising.

  Like faith, hope, and good tidings. All that commercial stuff. Mushy stuff.

  At that point in my life, I'd pretty much chucked hope and the future down the toilet—I had no idea where I was going. Or what I was going to do with the rest of my life.

  My name is Zoë Martinique, and I'm a Wraith. Don't know what that is? Ha. Neither do I. What I do know is that I can move out of my body at will, I can somehow touch ghosts and help them move on to whatever comes next, and I have a stalker from the Abysmal Plane who coincidentally has my voice. I'm mute, with no medical explanation, and the man I love, Daniel, was in coma in a hospital several miles away.

  Another man who'd wiggled his way into my life by exposing himself to me—literally—had vanished from the same hospital over a week ago. A bartender with a gift of light. He died...briefly. And somehow...I felt responsible for bringing him back.

  Dags McConnell.

  What did these two innocent men have in common?

  Moi.

  Mental Note: I should have a warning label tattooed on my ass.

  On this night—which they called the Winter Solstice—Rhonda had agreed to some ritual or ceremony or something over at the Phoenix and Dragon, one of Atlanta's premiere metaphysical shops. I'd been in there several times—it was on the top ten list of my mom's and Rhonda's favorite places.

  I always enjoyed the feel, and the incredible smell of the building, nestled into the trees off of Rowell road, just inside the perimeter. Though I'd never been in there when the store was closed before.

  It'd taken lots of pushing and threats from my mom, Nona, for me to leave the hospital and go with Rhonda.

  Well no...that wasn't entirely true. I sort of wanted to get out of Northside Hospital, and I was ashamed of the relief that washed over me when this opportunity came up.

  A part of me wanted to spend Christmas eve with Daniel—the man I wanted to make babies with. But a larger part was damned terrified to be there when he woke up.

  The doctors said he should wake any day now. So we waited patiently by his bedside. And I really wanted the first thing he saw to be me.

  Kinda.

  Uhm...not really.

  To be honest, I really didn't want to be near the hospital. But I didn't want anyone else to know that.

  We'd arrived at the store about elevenish. After a quick tour for me and a few others in the little group—with much ogling over the gi-normous holly bush in the side yard that had taken over a piece of fence (and why were they all excited about the fact it had ivy growing all over it? My mom lived to kill ivy...or was that kudzu? I couldn't tell the difference)—they'd all gone downstairs—about six of them.

  Rhonda had told me to be careful upstairs. "This place is haunted. Never know what you'll see."

  Oh. Great. You took a Wraith to a haunted shop? I'd made a rude gesture at Rhonda when she'd gone downstairs.

  I stood in the meditation garden, a beautiful area built up on a hand-made deck nestled at the center of the store, but outside the building itself.

  Cold wind pressed against my cheek and moved my hair over my shoulders. The bite injuries from these little fuckers called Shadow People were still healing. My cases weren't always this physical—

  Wait. Yes they were. Who am I kidding? Blue Cross Blue Shield hated me, though the medical industry probably saw me as the next source of energy.

  I felt only half-alive.

  I'd bundled into Daniel's coat—the one he'd been wearing when he fell from that building. A long, thick wool coat that smelled of his aftershave.

  Before heading downstairs, Rhonda had suggested I pick out a Yule gift for mom. I'd tried to find something. I looked through the clothes, the music, the bags, the statues representing pretty much every iconic figure of faith known to mankind, as well as the jewelry.

  Meh.

  I wasn't feel'n it this year. So I'd stepped outside to take in the cold. There just wasn't any specialness as I looked at the trees twinkling just inside the large windows, and then to the pine and red ribbon trim decorating the deck's edge. Not even the blinking white lights like strings of little fireflies in the night could cheer me up my mood. There was nothing there, no happiness inside. I was as empty of feeling as the sky above me was empty of stars.

  The bell jingled on the door leading out to the deck and I turned. It was Rhonda, my best friend and an expert in all things metaphysical. At least to me. She and my mom were the only ones, besides a missing bartender, who knew what I was, what I could do, and the trouble that followed me.

  "Oh great Lord and Lady, Zoë," Rhonda muttered as she stepped outside. I caught the edges of some seasonal music from inside before the door closed. She was bundled in a thick, lined peacoat my mom had bought her last year, gloves, and a black knitted hat with a yarn ball hanging off the top.

  The ball made me smile as it bounced around her head.

  She stood in front of me, her boots making thonking noises on the wood. I was a good foot taller. Rhonda Orly wasn't particularly big. More like a Hobbit. Only without the hairy feet.

  Notice I said hairy—they were still pretty big.

  "You're not going to find Nona a Yule gift out here."

  I sighed and shook my head before digging into my pockets and pulling out the small pad of paper and pen I kept with me. I had a dry-erase board as well, but it was back in Rhonda's Beetle.

  Scribble. WHAT SHE WANT?

  "Well, she likes that huge amethyst geode near the stones."

  I blinked at her, flipped the paper over and scribbled again. YOU MEAN THE 1 WITH THE DONALD TRUMP PRICE TAG?

  She smirked. "That's why you buy things like that for people, because you know Nona would never spend that much money on herself."

  Heh. Neither would I. On Nona, that is. On me? Well yeah, but I could see myself with a flat-screen TV rather than a huge chunk of sparkly rock.

  I flipped the paper again and wrote. BAH. HUMBUG.

  Rhonda glanced up at the sky. I knew she was frustrated with me. "Look, the doctors said Daniel's stable. He's gonna wake up at any time. Nona's there, and even Cooper and Holmes are keeping watch. There's been no sign of TC for a week."

  I nodded as I scribbled on the pad. WHERE IS DAGS?

  The bartender had been with me during that last case.

  Only...I couldn't remember why.

  I knew it involved nasty little buggers known as Shadow People, and TC had had his hands in it. And once again I'd sort of blasted TC out of existence.

  I think.

  Damn it was all a blur.

  What I did remember was that Rhonda had liked Dags, and I thought the two of them had seemed like a nice couple. Both of them had been walking encyclopedias full of magical knowledge. But then something had happened afterward in the hospital...

  There was an emergency and I was in his room. Not me, not really. I was OOB, out of body, and watching them as they shocked his heart back to life. But I'd been in Daniel's room, hadn't I? I'd been holding Daniel's hand.

  Before the code blue...

  And I'd been so tired afterward.

  But I still couldn't remember getting to Dags' room.

  "Hey," She snapped her fingers at me and I whacked at her hands. "Look, I don't know where Dags went. He just left the hospital but he didn't go home, or if he did he's not answering his phone or his door. I figure he'll turn u
p again...when he's forgiven us."

  But that was just it. Forgiven us for what? Or was that forgiven me?

  Something bad happened to him—that much I could remember.

  I stared at her again and had to wonder what it was she knew and I didn't. We'd had this conversation before and if there was one thing Rhonda could do —it was keep a secret. She and my mom should start some sort of spy training service.

  "Look, just find Nona something, okay? She's worried about you, and I think if she got something nice from you it might make her happy. Please?"

  I pursed my lips at her and avoided getting smacked by my hair as the wind picked up and I felt a chill race up my back. Who ever said the South was warm was never in Atlanta during December. Close to midnight.

  I followed her in. The music had shifted to a woman's familiar voice singing softly. I smelled pine—but not like that cleanser stuff. This was real—like being outside in a natural Georgia forest.

  I also wanted something to drink. One of the physical ailments I seemed to have inherited with my OOB ability was some whacky form of diabetes. Or that's how it manifested itself on my physical body.

  Weird, huh?

  As I followed Rhonda inside, toward the triangular desk with its glass viewing cases all around filled with sparkly jewelry of gold, silver, semi -precious and precious stones, I noticed a movement to the right. The only other people in the building were downstairs, in the basement. I assumed Rhonda had just come upstairs to check on me.

  I stopped and looked around the shoulder -high bookcases again. I thought I saw the slight movement of lace...and a blue...bow?

  "Hey, what's up?"

  I frowned as I looked at Rhonda and then dug out my pad. I scribbled. IS THERE A KID IN HERE?

  She made a face at me. "No. No kids. Everyone's downstairs." She waved at me to follow her. We wound our way back through the clothing and then to the left past the statuary, then the audio and to the front counter, which sat before the fireplace. Past that was a hallway that led to the back offices.

  In an open box beside the fireplace was a box full of...teddy bears?

  I waved at Rhonda and pointed at the box.

  She nodded. "Yeah, Candace said the bears came in late. Were supposed to be here for the holiday sales. Arrived today." Rhonda smirked. "They snore if you rub their tummy."

  I picked one up and tried what she said. Nothing happened.

  "You have to pull the tab out of the battery. But don't, okay? You'll run down the battery ahead of time. None of these have their tabs pulled. Candace is going to put them out on the floor the day after Yule for maybe a New Year's gift. So if you get bored, Candace did say it'd be a big help if you would put the sell tags on them."

  I nodded and tossed the bear back on the pile. Even as Rhonda checked the front door, making sure it was locked, I continued staring at the pile of bears. It was kind of spooky with all those bears' eyes...just staring...at me.

  Mental Note: *shiver*

  I whipped out the pad and scribbled. YOU LEAVING ME ALONE WITH BEARS?

  She laughed. "They're teddy bears, Zoë. Since when have you been afraid of bears?"

  Oh, I don't know, since maybe I discovered that I was a Wraith and sometimes really scary things come in cute fuzzy packages???

  She must have been reading my expression as she patted my shoulder. "You'll be fine."

  My gaze tracked up to the mantel over the fireplace. It was covered in pine needles, some green leaves and red berries. I pointed to them and and then scribbled on another piece of paper. WHY ALL THE IVY AND RED BERRIES?

  "Pine, holly and ivy," Rhonda said coming from the door.

  I flipped the page. Scribble. OFF OF THAT ENORMOUS HOLLY TREE IN THE SIDE YARD?

  She nodded, frowning. "Probably. Old tradition. I'll be down in the basement, okay? I need you to stay up here and—" she stopped and closed her mouth. "Shit. I was going to say yell if you see anything strange."

  I arched an eyebrow at her. Yell? Ha! I pulled Mom's phone from my pocket and held it up. "I'll text you," I mouthed to her.

  She nodded. "I just hope the electronics work down there," and with that she moved toward the back offices.

  I turned toward the music section and again caught sight of the blue bow and a little person dashing around the corner. If I could have groaned out loud I would have. I really hoped this wasn't more Shadow People. I didn't have Dags' rather odd power of poofing them away with light.

  I moved past the music to the books, and then turned right. I could see straight into the main area where the triangular showcase was. And standing in front of it was a little girl. Maybe...seven? Heck if I know—I didn't have kids. Wasn't sure women in my condition could actually have them, what with all my OOBing in and out.

  She had her hands behind her back and was looking at me. I could see her details, so she wasn't a Shadow People person. She was also in color, so that meant ghost. Shades had a tendency to look black and white kinda like my doctor's dead son that kept hanging about him. Only my doctor didn't see Joseph. I did.

  I waved at her.

  Sometimes ghosts could hear my thoughts. Tim and Steve—the ghost couple that lived in my mom's house—could, at least. Hi.

  She had long and curly blonde hair. Her dress was a little fuzzy, but I could make out her frilly lacy skirt. Geez...what time period was this spook from?

  Was this what Rhonda meant by weird?

  "I'm not weird," she said finally. "My name's Ivy."

  I smiled. Hello Ivy. I'm Zoë.

  She nodded. "You can see me. And I can see..." she narrowed her eyes. "There are two of you."

  Two?

  "Yeah...the one in this shop, and then there's the one that's sort of with me."

  I rubbed at my chin. I was hot and needed to discard the coat. I pulled it off and nearly tossed it on a cat lounging softly in a nearby whicker chair. Seeing the cat I just let the coat fall to the floor. Hopefully he wouldn't pee in it. There are two of me?

  "Yes. Are you dead? You're confusing to look at."

  Said the Ghost to the Wraith.

  Are you dead?

  That got me a sarcastic reaction. "What do you think?"

  I think I need a drink. Sierra Mist, on the rocks. Load me up with sugar baby. Did you die here?

  With a whirl she turned and skipped further back in the room. The music overhead changed, and I thought it'd cut off, until I heard a low hum and realized the next song had a low start. With a glance toward the scary bears, I followed the little ghost into the main room.

  Ivy stood by the window beside the tree, looking out at the window. "I always loved this time of year."

  I came up beside her. I had a reflection. She didn't. She also didn't have any kind of tether or cord. So how was she still here? I knew Tim and Steve were trapped in the house because they died a tragic death there. You like Christmas?

  She nodded. "My dad always brought the Yule log in the first night—of December. And we'd decorate it. All of us. With ivy and holly. I always wrapped the ivy because it was my name. My dad wrapped the pine and my mom did the holly."

  Yule log. Yule log. Why is it I should know that name. Ah! I snapped my fingers. That's right! Mom started the Yule Log tradition a few years after my dad left us. I never got to wrap it in anything. Didn't the Yule log have three candles?

  "Yes. They stood for the past, the present and the future. I always put the one in for the future, because without hope there can be no future."

  I tilted my head to the side. Riiiight. So, you're the future? Made sense. Our future was certainly maintained by our children. No matter how scary that was.

  Mental Note: Re: Millennium babies. May the Great Electron save us all!

  "My dad would always tell the tale of the sun being reborn and returning on the Solstice." She turned and up at me with an abrupt sad face. "Only that last Christmas—there weren't any presents." She looked at the window again. "My daddy told me that before we lit the lo
g. I was mad and I didn't want to light my candle so I refused."

  I felt a twinge of sadness for the little ghost. Did something happen?

  She nodded. "My mommy was already gone, so I was mad at him. I refused to light the future..."

  So there was no future...

  The voice danced on a cold breeze that seemed to come through the glass.

  "He fell down the stairs that night...and the doctor said he would never walk again. We'd have to leave this house." She sniffed. "It was my fault for not lighting the future candle. So I ran away so he wouldn't have to see me when he woke up."

  I didn't think I wanted to know what happened to her when she ran away. Whatever it was—it killed her at a young age.

  So... I looked around for a place to comfortably lay my body. I figured I needed to help this little ghost move on and to do that I'd need to go OOB—

  "Move on to what?"

  I turned and looked at her. To where ever it is ghosts go. I guess to Heaven if you believe in Heaven.

  She looked at me as if I'd just lost my face. "Why in the world would I want to leave here?"

  So you could be with your daddy again?

  And abruptly the music changed to something like a little jig and she was no longer beside me but skipping along the ceiling.

  Barefoot!

  Hey, you get down here!

  Or what? She'd hurt herself? She's already dead.

  Great....Rhonda's down in the basement and I'm up here with a kid dancing on the roof.

  "No I'm staying right here," she said as she skipped, and I noticed little foot prints on the ceiling. Okay I was not cleaning that up. "I know daddy blamed me for what happened to him, because I didn't light the future. This way I never have to see him again!"

  I thought of Daniel then and my mood sobered. I knew there was something important here—a weird parallel between my own fear of seeing Daniel and this little girl's fear of her father's disappointment.

  I left the dancing ghost and moved back to the window and pressed my hands against the cold glass. I wished he was here with me, all better and we were sitting out there together, drinking hot chocolate and enjoying the night.