Eximere (The River Book 4)

by Michael Richan

  Steven calmed a little and took a deep breath. This time Roy looked around the room for each person’s ascent before he started the trance and the focus. Steven entered the flow and saw each of the others as their trances formed and their focus began.

  Eventually a stream of light emerged from each of the others, and converged in the center of the circle. Steven saw the ball of light form where the streams met, as before. The ball pulsed and undulated. Steven watched to see if any dark spots formed as they had the night before, but the ball stayed constant. Whatever the participants were experiencing, Steven couldn’t see it. It was all private between them.

  With horror, Steven felt his chair begin to lift from the floor. He grabbed the sides of the chair, and pressed his feet down, trying to feel the floor. He looked, and the chair was about six inches in the air. It slowly turned, facing away from the others. None of the others moved; they were all transfixed with the focus. Steven’s chair moved away from the circle, towards the other end of the room.

  At the far end of the room, he saw the dark woman emerge from the wall. She floated rapidly towards him. As she approached, she raised her head for the first time. Steven saw her eyes. They were white, with no pupils. Her mouth was twisted and her brow was furrowed. She looked angry.

  Steven twisted in his chair to look back at the others in the circle. They were motionless, concentrating on their focus. None of them seemed to know he’d left the circle.

  The dark woman moved within a couple of feet of his face. The cloth of her dark dress floated in the air, leaving black wisps behind as she moved. Steven knew immediately that she was not a normal ghost. The sense of evil that washed over him reminded him of Lukas.

  What are they doing? he heard her think.

  They’re focusing, Steven thought in reply.

  On what? the dark woman thought. Tell me!

  Steven tried to blank his mind. He didn’t want to give her any information.

  Are they all disloyal? she thought, beginning to circle him. Are they after my son?

  Steven concentrated on a blank image, trying desperately to not give away what the others were doing.

  They’ll never reach him, she thought. I made sure of that. He’s mine now. He’s loyal now. They’re wasting their time. She moved in close to Steven, staring him in the face. Now he could see her more clearly. With horror, Steven realized half of her face was removed from her skull – it hung like a flap, as though it had been peeled from her, exposing emptiness underneath. Steven recoiled in his chair, pushing back into the cushions to create as much distance from her as possible.

  I didn’t invite you here, she said to him. You’re not welcome. Tell me if they’re after James, or I’ll kill them.

  Steven could sense both evil and crazy; she was completely unhinged. He didn’t want to see if she was capable of delivering on her threat.

  Yes, he thought, they’re focusing on James.

  The dark woman let out a wail as only a ghost in pain can generate. She drifted back toward the wall, talking to herself.

  They’re going to ruin it, she howled. How could he hate me? I gave him everything. He was so powerful, so promising. Disloyal! But I showed him. Turned the tables. Now it works for me, not him. They’ll be mine soon. But they’re going to ruin it!

  Definitely unhinged, Steven sensed. He remember what Roy had told him about ghosts, how self-obsessed they are. This one seemed much more wrapped up than others he’d met. Roy had told him how dangerous ghosts could be – especially ones that weren’t stable. Her combination of evil and crazy seemed like a volatile mix.

  She turned and moved back towards him. Steven was again shaken by the flesh hanging from her face. Make them stop, she thought. Make them stop, or I’ll kill them all.

  I can’t, Steven thought. They’re all more powerful than me. I couldn’t even join their focus, I couldn’t induce a trance. I can’t make them do anything.

  You are a liar! she thought. You’re more powerful than all of them! I can see that. You’re more powerful than James, too. You can make them stop. You must. Do it, or I will kill you.

  Steven decided he needed to risk arguing with her. He needed more information, and the group needed more time.

  Why do you want them to stop? he thought. What’s wrong with contacting James? We need to know how to find his device.

  Disloyalty! she screeched. Although these were thoughts Steven was hearing, her intensity was rising – the thoughts came louder and angrier. How can you turn on your mother? Your own mother, who had such plans for you? Do you know how powerful we would have been, together? Your infernal devices. Do you know I’ve already turned it to my own needs? She began laughing, the kind of laugh that comes from someone truly insane. You’re so misguided. It doesn’t just make less of them, you fool. It makes me stronger. This is what your disloyalty has wrought!

  Suddenly she stopped floating, and turned her head towards the doorway to the room, as though she’d heard a noise, or an alarm. She stopped, cocking her head to listen. Her white eyes widened, and she turned back to Steven.

  Damn your disloyalty, she thought, I’ll make sure you stop. She floated out of the room beyond Steven’s sight.

  He exited the flow and slid off the chair, walking into the hallway that led to the stairs. He could see her faint form in front of him. She was heading towards the stairs.

  He slipped back into the flow as he walked. He wasn’t sure of his physical surroundings when he was in the River and wasn’t used to walking while in it, but he could see he was still in the hallway, and he could see the dark woman more distinctly than if he wasn’t in the River. He wanted to see her reaction.

  Wait! he thought to her, hoping to distract her. I’ll be loyal!

  They’re coming, he heard her think. Hurry.

  He saw her descend the stairs as she had the night before, turn at the base of the stairs, and proceed down the hallway. She didn’t seem to hear him.

  Wait! Where are you going? he thought.

  Hurry, she thought. Hurry.

  Steven realized she wasn’t taking to him. She was alone again with her own thoughts, isolated in a way that only ghosts can be. Within seconds she had disappeared from view. He exited the flow and walked back to the room with the others.

  “Steven?” Roy said, as he saw Steven come back into the room. The others were all staring at him, finished with the focus. “Where were you?”

  “I was following the dark woman,” Steven said. “She yanked me out of the circle.”

  Steven walked over to his chair, which was about five feet from the group, facing away from them. It was still floating several inches off the ground.

  “Christ!” Roy said, observing the chair. “You weren’t kidding.”

  Steven pressed down on the chair, and it slowly dropped back to the carpet. He turned to look at the others, who were all staring at him. “She talked to me. I got a sense of who she is,” Steven said. “Did you learn about James?”

  “Yes,” Eliza said, “I think we got quite a bit.”

  “Good,” Steven said. “Let’s compare notes.”

  ◊

  “Percival was right,” Eliza said. “James made the device. He was obsessed with gifteds, wanted to change them. Which was funny, since he was gifted himself.”

  “What kind of thinking generates that level of self-loathing?” Russell said.

  “A crazy gifted mother, probably,” Steven said. “She’s wacko, and on the evil side of the fence.”

  “You think she was the reason he became so anti-gifted?” Eliza asked. “To the extent he’d develop ways to remove people’s gifts? That’s pretty severe.”

  “Yes, I think she was a crazy practitioner on the dark side,” Steven said, “and James reacted to that. Didn’t want to become that. She kept confusing me with James, and she’d go on and on about how disloyal I was. That was a big deal to her. If he had the gift, he probably hated it because of her.”

  “That’s for
sure,” Myrna said. “He hated the gift. Despised it, every aspect of it. You could feel how much he hated it in the focus. Devoted his life to eliminating it.”

  “Wonder if he ever used the device on himself?” Roy thought.

  “No, he needed the gift to keep it running,” Eliza said. “His justification for using his own ability, but removing it from others.”

  “What a freak,” Russell said. “Truly twisted.”

  “His mother was a great example of being twisted,” Steven said. “Maybe James believed it was the gift that made her crazy.”

  “What do you think, Jonathan?” Eliza asked.

  “I think we need to be very careful,” Jonathan answered. “We saw that he was successful draining many people while he lived.”

  “By the way,” Steven said, “his mother said she’d kill us all if you do another focus.”

  “Really?” Russell said while gulping, his eyes wide.

  “But I’m not sure she’d really do it,” Steven said. “She contradicted herself a lot. She said something about twisting it, making it work for her instead of for James. She kept saying that you were ‘ruining it.’”

  “Ruining it?” Eliza asked. “Ruining what, the draining? She wants the draining to happen? I thought the whole thing was James’ way of getting back at her. You’d think she’d be happy we were trying to stop it.”

  “I think she somehow turned that around,” Steven said. “She wants the draining to proceed, and she doesn’t want us to dig into it any further.”

  “All the more reason to keep trying,” Roy said. “That just proves to me we’re on the right track.”

  “And we can’t leave this thing to harm others,” Myrna said. “Can you imagine how many others might be impacted if Percival performs this trick over and over? We can’t allow that.”

  “One thing our focus confirmed,” Eliza said, “it’s already been used to harm hundreds before us.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t go that far,” Steven said. “What did you learn about the door?”

  “Nothing,” Eliza said. “It’s a blank. The door leads down, but there’s something impenetrable about the foundation of the house.”

  “What options do we have left?” Myrna asked. “We could risk another focus, or perhaps trance on our own, see what more we can find out.”

  “I’m for that,” Roy said, “after I scrounge in the fridge downstairs.”

  “Let’s split up and work on our own, just to be safe,” Steven said. “When we meet in the dining room in the morning before we leave, we can share with each other whatever we’ve found.”

  The group nodded its consent and slowly broke apart. Steven followed Roy downstairs to the kitchen, which had a large modern refrigerator. It was stocked inside with all kinds of food, as Percival had said. Roy removed some cheese and began looking through cabinets for crackers. He looked around the room to make sure no one had followed them, then said to Steven, “Let’s find Eliza when we get back up there. The three of us need to talk.” He put the items he’d found on a plate, and Steven followed him as he left the kitchen and carried the plate back to their bedrooms.

  ◊

  “Which one?” Roy said. Steven and Eliza had joined Roy in his bedroom, and he was chowing down on cheese. “Who’s the rat?”

  “I can’t believe it was any of them,” Eliza said. “Myrna is one of those ‘what you see is what you get’ people. Russell maybe, he’s a little smarmy, but he seems naïve most of the time. Could be an act, I suppose. I’ve known Jonathan for years, I can’t believe he’d do it. There must have been some other way they knew we were coming.”

  “I don’t see how,” Roy said. “That conversation was held in our motel room, and just hours later the very door we talked about gets welded shut.”

  “Maybe the motel room was bugged?” Steven said. “After all, there’s peepholes here. I would assume Percival isn’t above spying.”

  “I suppose that’s a possibility,” Roy said.

  “For all we know,” Eliza said, “this room is bugged, and we’re being watched right now.”

  “I suggest the rest of this conversation happen in the River.” Roy said. “Steven, would you blindfold me?”

  “You’re going to trance?” Steven asked.

  “I just want to see how the land lies,” he said. He removed a blindfold from his pocket and handed it to Steven, who stood behind him and tied the blindfold over Roy’s eyes. It was Roy’s preferred way to trance, and Steven had become accustomed to helping him do it. Steven stood by and watched over Roy when he tranced, so Roy didn’t hurt himself by walking into something, or tripping.

  Eliza entered the flow and observed Roy’s trance from there. Steven remained out of the River so he could keep an eye on Roy.

  After a few minutes, Roy reached up and removed the blindfold. “Steven,” he said, “why don’t you join Eliza and I in the River?”

  Steven walked over to the bed and sat down, then jumped into the flow.

  Couldn’t see anything unusual in the trance, Roy thought. The others are in their rooms. Myrna is trancing, Russell and Jonathan are not.

  What about peepholes? Eliza thought. Anyone outside the rooms?

  No, not even ghosts, Roy thought. The place is remarkably unoccupied and unhaunted.

  Except for one big one, Steven thought.

  She’s nowhere in sight, Roy thought. Don’t know about bugs, can’t pick up that kind of thing. So I think we’re safe to talk if we stay in the River.

  What if Myrna tried to observe us? Steven thought. You said she was in a trance.

  Can’t stop her from that, Roy thought. But she won’t be able to hear us if we’re in the River. She needs physical proximity for that, and I’ll know if she comes close.

  OK, Eliza thought. What do we do?

  Well, I didn’t want to discuss it in front of the others, Roy thought, since one of them is in league with Percival. I don’t want what we try next to be sabotaged. Eliza, I think it’s Jonathan. He put this thing together, and he always seems to vote for moves that don’t try to solve the problem.

  I can’t believe that, Eliza thought. I’ve known him for years.

  How do you know him? Steven asked, a little jealous.

  Not the way you’re thinking, Eliza thought. I’ve helped him on a few things, and he’s helped me. Completely professional.

  I have to agree with Roy, Steven thought. I think it’s Jonathan too.

  It could be one of the other two, Eliza thought. We should assume it could be any of them.

  All right, Roy thought. We’ll keep what we do quiet from the rest of them – all of them.

  What do we do next? Eliza asked.

  I want to talk to Roger again, Steven thought. He told me he had lots of stories about the place. Maybe one of them will give us an alternative.

  Any chance he was the one who tipped off Percival? Eliza asked.

  Hadn’t thought of that, Steven thought. You might be right. He might have spoken to Percival after we talked. Maybe Percival is watching us, keeping an eye on who we talk to. I’ll find out if he talked to him or not.

  I’d like to trance a little tonight and explore every nook and cranny of this place that I can get to, Roy thought.

  Mind if I join you? Eliza thought.

  Not at all, Roy thought.

  As long as Roy will share the food, Steven thought, I’ll watch over you two while you explore.

  ◊

  In the morning they all slowly gathered at the dining room table. A pot of coffee had been made, drained, and refilled before they all arrived. It was just before sunrise.

  “Anyone learn anything new?” Jonathan asked. “I didn’t.”

  Steven shot Eliza a glance. She looked back at him, then glanced away.

  “Nothing for me,” Roy said.

  “I went through every part of the house I could,” Myrna said. “Didn’t see anything. The place is clean.”

  “Anyone run into the
dark woman?” Steven asked.

  “Her name is Anita,” Myrna said. “James’ mother. I didn’t.”

  “Steven,” Eliza said. “We caught her going up the stairs yesterday around this time.”

  “That’s right!” Steven said, rising from his chair and hurrying down the velvet paper hallway. Eliza was following him.

  “Maybe I can get her to tell me more,” Steven said.

  “Just be careful,” Eliza called from behind him. She could hear some of the others following behind her.

  Steven rounded the bend in the hallway and emerged into the room that held the base of the stairwell. The dark woman was a couple of steps up, beginning her ascent.

  Both Steven and Eliza slipped into the River. Anita’s details came into view. She seemed unaware of them. Steven hurried up the stairs ahead of her, to stand in her way. He turned to confront her. He saw her eyes connect with his. She stopped, looking at him.

  Well? she thought. Are you going to get out of my way?

  I did as you asked, Steven thought. They didn’t focus again.

  Good, she thought, moving to go around him. Now leave.

  Steven could see Eliza at the base of the stairs, watching.

  You want us to leave? Steven asked her. I thought you wanted us to stay, to be drained by your son’s device.

  You’re a damned nuisance, the lot of you, she thought, passing him on the left. Steven turned and followed her up the stairs. He felt frustrated he wasn’t getting any more answers.

  I can’t promise they won’t focus now, though, Steven prodded. They told me they were going to.

  She kept sliding up the stairs, apparently unmoved by what he was saying.

  We’re close to finding the device, you know, Steven tried. We’ve found the door. We’ll get inside soon.

  She stopped. Maybe I hit a nerve, Steven thought to himself. He saw her turn a couple of steps above him. She looked at him. You’re a liar, she thought.

  We found the secret passageway, and the door, Steven said. By the end of the day, we’ll have figured out how to go through it.

  The dark woman looked from side to side, and brought her hands up, wringing them.