“But you said she’s mellowed?” Steven asked. “Since she had Robbie?”
“Oh yeah,” Bill said, “she’s better. Or she appears to be better. But this thing about her renouncing the gift – I don’t think I buy that. When she was training with Mark, she loved it. And even after he couldn’t reign her in, she was still using it to her advantage. I know people can change, but I don’t get that from her. And she’s an awful mother. Talks a lot about protecting Robbie, but it’s all talk. She treats him like dirt.”
“June mentioned bringing Robbie over here, to get him out of the house,” Steven said.
“I wish she would,” Bill said. “Robbie and June are welcome anytime. Evie is not.”
“I don’t think Evie is going to allow Robbie to visit you,” Roy said. “She seemed against it.”
“June is a good woman,” Bill said. “God knows she doesn’t deserve what she’s been put though, with Mark’s death, Evie’s wildness, and now this. If you can help her, I’d appreciate it. I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
Steven and Roy thanked Bill for his help and left his house.
“I think we need to talk to the boy,” Roy said. “We need to find a time when we can visit with him when Evie isn’t around.”
“I’ll call June and see if she has any ideas,” Steven said, dialing his phone while driving.
“The boy is involved somehow,” Roy said, “I just can’t make the connection.”
“Well, he is entering puberty,” Steven said, waiting for the phone to connect. “It might be his heightened hormones and emotional state.”
“For a poltergeist or something like that, yes,” Roy said. “But this is worse, far worse. This is completely on the ‘evil’ side of the fence. For three entities to be involved, there’s more going on here than ghost bangings.”
June answered the line and Steven spoke with her for a few moments, then flipped his phone closed. “Evie’s out of the house, and Robbie is at home. I say we do it now.”
“Agreed,” Roy said, leaning back into the car seat.
Chapter Seven
June opened the door, her hands pressed tightly together holding the token.
“Have a seat,” she said, “and I’ll go get him.”
Steven and Roy sat again in June’s living room. In a moment, June returned with Robbie. He was about four feet tall, thin, and pale. He had blonde hair cut short, and brown eyes. He looked worried as though he was about to get in trouble for something.
“Robbie, I want you to meet two good friends of mine,” June said. “This is Steven, and this is Roy.”
Steven held out his hand and Robbie shook it. Then he moved to Roy and did the same.
“We want to talk to you, Robbie,” Steven said. “Would you answer a few questions for us?”
“OK,” he said, and sat down in a chair opposite the sofa where Steven and Roy were sitting.
“Your grandmother tells me that strange things have been going on in the house,” Steven said. “Is that right?”
“I guess so,” Robbie said.
“She told me the other night you couldn’t sleep because there were hands in your bed,” Steven said. “Is that true?”
“Yeah,” Robbie said.
“Did you see the hands?” Steven asked.
“No, I felt them,” Robbie said.
“You felt them?” Steven asked. “How?”
“When I pulled the covers up,” Robbie said, “I could feel hands grabbing my legs.”
“And that scared you,” Steven said, “so you went to sleep with your grandmother?”
“Yes,” Robbie said.
“Why didn’t you go sleep with your mother if you were scared?” Steven asked.
“Because she won’t help me,” Robbie said. “She would have just told me to get back into bed.”
“How do you know she would have said that?” Steven asked.
“Because that’s what she always says,” Robbie said.
“Have there been any other strange things?” Steven asked. “Something unusual that scared you?”
“Sometimes I can’t breathe,” Robbie said, “when I’m in bed.”
“Is he asthmatic?” Roy asked June.
“No,” June said.
“Why can’t you breathe?” Steven asked Robbie.
“I don’t know,” Robbie said. “It feels like someone is sitting on my chest, and I can’t breathe in ‘cause they’re pushing down on it.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Steven said, smiling at the boy. Robbie smiled back. He’s very charismatic, Steven thought.
“You and Roy can help me, right?” Robbie asked.
“We’re going to try,” Steven said.
“You have what they want,” Robbie said, “like me.”
“What do you mean?” Steven asked.
“Your hands,” Robbie said. “Like mine.”
“You can see something on my hands?” Steven asked him. “What do you see?”
“They’re like mine,” Robbie said, extending his hands.
Steven removed the planchette from his jacket pocket. He held Robbie’s left hand, slipped into the River, and passed the planchette over it. Nothing appeared.
“Like this,” Robbie said, turning his hand over, exposing the palm. Steven passed the planchette over Robbie’s hand again, and two red diamonds came into view. As he examined the markings, Steven expected to feel the revulsion he normally experienced when looking at his own markings. Instead, he felt euphoric.
“Can I see yours?” Robbie asked.
“How do you know I have them?” Steven asked.
“I can tell,” Robbie said, reaching for Steven’s planchette. He let Robbie hold it, and Robbie turned Steven’s hand over, searching his palm for the markings.
“Mine isn’t there,” Steven said, turning his hand over. “Mine is on top.”
Robbie looked at Steven’s markings through the planchette. After a few seconds he handed the planchette back to Steven, his face turning white.
“That’s why they don’t like you,” Robbie said. “You scare them.”
“Why?” Steven asked. “How do I scare them?”
“They think you’re going to kill them,” Robbie said. “At least, some of them think that.”
“Are they scared of you, too?” Steven asked. “You have a similar marking.”
“Mine’s different. Mine’s on here,” Robbie said, showing Steven his palm. “They’re not scared of me. They like me.”
“Do you know what they want?” Roy asked.
“They say they want to play with me,” Robbie said. “But I don’t believe them.”
“Good,” Roy said. “You shouldn’t.”
Robbie raised his left hand and brought his index finger to his mouth, sticking the tip inside. Then his mouth closed around the finger.
What is he doing? Steven thought, but before he could stop the child, Robbie closed his teeth around the finger, digging the teeth into the flesh hard, and pulled the finger from his mouth, stripping off the flesh. He could see the white bone of Robbie’s finger from the last knuckle to the tip, covered in blood. Robbie spit out the flesh he’d scraped from his finger into his mouth. Roy leapt to his feet; June screamed. Robbie pointed the finger at Steven.
“You did that,” Robbie said, “it’s your fault.”
“We’re leaving,” Roy said to June. “Take him to the emergency room. And take the part he bit off.”
“Oh my god!” June said. “Why did he…?”
“He did it because of Steven,” Roy said. “We’ve got to leave to reduce the risk to Robbie. And you’ve got to get him to the emergency room.”
“What do I tell them?” June asked.
“Tell them he went crazy,” Roy said, pulling Steven up off the sofa, “and bit his finger off. We’ll call you later. Come on, Steven.”
Steven was in shock, and even with Roy’s pulling, his legs didn’t engage.
“Steven!” Roy said, grab
bing him harder and giving him a shake. “Come on!”
Steven returned to his senses and stood up. “I’m sorry,” he said to June. She just looked at him, desperate. Robbie had fallen back against the chair he was sitting in, holding his hand.
“Come on,” Roy said, dragging him towards the door, “before something worse happens.”
Roy opened the door. Steven was still half-there, so Roy shoved him through the door and closed it behind him.
“Can you walk?” Roy asked.
“Yeah,” Steven said. “I can walk.”
“Good,” Roy said. “Let’s go then.”
“Where?” Steven said. “What do we do?”
“Back to that old bitch in Gig Harbor,” Roy said, angry. “She needs to come up with a few more ideas. And we’ve got to smarten up.”
“Smarten up?” Steven asked.
“If June needed protection,” Roy said, “what made us think Robbie didn’t need it too? It was a stupid move on our part.”
“Judith said it would protect everyone,” Steven mumbled.
“That’s why we’re going to go see her,” Roy said.
They reached the car and got inside. Steven still seemed dazed.
“Maybe I should drive,” Roy said.
“No, I can do it,” Steven said, reaching for his keys.
“You seem half there,” Roy said. “You sure you can drive?”
“I’m sure,” Steven said, starting the car. “Where to? Gig Harbor?”
“No time like the present,” Roy said, sitting back in his seat.
“So I did that?” Steven said, pulling the car from the curb. “I’m the reason he did that to himself?”
“You’re the reason an entity did that to him,” Roy said. “You didn’t do it, neither did Robbie.”
“The poor kid,” Steven said. “He didn’t deserve that.”
“I’m worried much worse will come to him,” Roy said, “if we don’t get this figured out.”
◊
“Please forgive me for not getting up,” Judith said, setting down her emptied glass of protection, and reclining on her day bed in the same pose they’d seen in their earlier visits. “I have a condition, brought on by a psychic attack years ago, and it comes back on me every now and again. It flared up on me yesterday. I’m afraid it’s quite painful.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Steven said.
“Have you ever had shingles?” Judith asked him.
“No ma’am,” Steven said.
“You?” she asked, turning to Roy.
“Once, years ago,” Roy said.
“Ah, so you know the feeling,” Judith said, “of just wanting to blow your brains out. This is very similar.”
“Well, thank you for working with us, considering the circumstances,” Steven said.
“I must admit,” Judith said, “that after each of our visits I’ve wondered what’s come of your adventure, so I do enjoy getting an update.”
“The woman, the mother of the child, she’s a dead end,” Roy said. “We tried to win her over, but she wasn’t persuaded.”
“That’s unfortunate,” Judith said. She reached for a bell on a table next to the bed and rang it.
God, not more cucumbers, Steven thought.
“I’m going to ask Clara for some tea,” Judith said, “and I hope you’ll have some. It has the most soothing effect. It’s about the only thing that calms my flare-ups. So the woman is out, that’s too bad. What else?”
“We met with a family member, who told us quite a bit about Evie – that’s the mother,” Steven said. “Some of her history, how she was taught the gift but rebelled against her father. Now she’s denounced it, but the family member – Evie’s uncle – thinks Evie is a liar and doesn’t believe anything she says.”
“Sounds like an astute man,” Judith said.
“You rang?” Clara said behind them.
“Some more red tea please, and settings for our guests,” Judith said. Clara turned to leave.
“And what else?” Judith said. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
“Yes,” Steven said. “We met with the child.”
“Without protection?” Judith asked, alarmed.
“Correct,” Steven said. “I guess we didn’t think it through very well.”
“Well put,” Judith said. “I see you’re both intact, what about the boy?”
“He bit the end of his finger off,” Steven said. “And told me it was my fault.”
“As it was,” Judith said.
“It wasn’t Steven’s fault,” Roy said. “You told us the token June had would protect everyone in the house.”
“It most certainly was his fault,” Judith said, sputtering. “Do you think he would have bitten his finger off had you not tried to talk with him?”
Roy was silent. Somehow Judith had deflected Roy completely.
“There’s more,” Steven said. “He has a marking, similar to my own.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
“I have a planchette, like the one you used,” Steven said. He removed it from his pocket and handed it to her. “Robbie knew I was marked, even without the planchette. His markings are on his palms.”
“That’s because he hasn’t matured yet,” Judith said. “They’ll flip like yours once he’s finished puberty.” She glanced at the planchette Steven handed to her. “This is ancient. Where did you get this?”
“It was a family object I’ve had for years,” Roy said. “We didn’t realize what it did until we saw your planchette last time we were here.”
“You see these markings?” Judith said, pointing to them with a twisted finger. “Ancient. Let me see your hand.”
Judith held the planchette over Steven’s hand, examining the markings. Then she pulled away from the planchette quickly, raising a hand to her chest to catch her breath.
“My,” she said, taking deep breaths. “I would ask you to remove that object from my house immediately, but I suspect the engravings are what’s keeping us safe. You used this to examine the boy’s markings?”
“Yes,” Steven said.
“Damn,” Judith said. “Now listen to me. You have to make sure these engravings around the glass don’t get smudged or dirtied in any way. And I strongly suggest you keep this wrapped in black velvet. Keep it in a jar, and drop some cedar shavings into it before you seal it up. That way the eye won’t be turned against you.”
“The eye?” Steven asked.
“The glass,” Judith said. “You look through it at things, but things can look back through it at you. The creatures you’re fighting now know about this eye. You’ll have to take precautions, or they’ll know your every move.”
“What about the markings on it? You said they’re protecting us?” Steven said.
“Yes,” Judith said. “The markings are powerful not because of the markings themselves, but because of their age. These are very old. You have a very rare eye.”
“What about the boy?” Roy asked.
“Ah, yes, the boy,” Judith said. “Well, it’s common enough for certain demons to want him because he’s marked. I think you’ve identified what they’re after.”
“So they want Robbie,” Steven said. “What will they do to him?”
“They’ll kill him just before the markings flip,” Judith said. “That’s when they’re most potent and attractive. If they wait too long and they flip, he’ll become like you, and the markings will repel them instead of attract. So they’ll cut the markings out of his hands, or if they’re in a hurry they’ll just cut off the hands entirely.”
“Christ,” Roy said. “How do we stop them?”
“You can’t,” Judith said. “The best you’ll do is annoy them, or get someone like the grandmother killed. The boy has to get rid of them himself.”
“How?” Steven asked. “I don’t think he has any idea how to use the gift.”
“Normally,” Judith said, “a parent who has a marked child ushers the child
through the process, protecting them from those who would take the child’s power. In this case, his mother has left him wide open to attack. It’s almost as though she knows the child is at risk, and she’s doing nothing about it. Perhaps she wants the attacks to occur.”
“Why would she want that?” Steven asked. “It seems inhuman.”
“Could be any number of reasons,” Judith said. “She might have made a deal that involved the powers of the child as payback. It’s hard to say. In any event, to get rid of the demons pestering the child, the boy will have to develop some control over them. You say he’s not been trained at all?”
“No,” Steven said, “I don’t think so. She supposedly renounced the gift, so she wouldn’t have trained him, and his grandfather died before he was born.”
“He must be scared out of his wits,” Judith said. “Poor child.”
Clara returned with the tea, and Judith insisted that Roy and Steven each try some. Steven took a sip. It tasted like the lining of a shoe.
“I didn’t say it was tasty,” Judith said, observing his reaction. “It is, however, quite good for you.”
“What can we do with Robbie?” Roy asked. “If he has to deal with these demons himself, how do we help him?”
“You’ll need to get him someplace safe, so you can work with him,” Judith said. “Let him borrow the token, and then take him out on Dixon’s boat. The demons won’t follow you there. While you have him over water, instruct him on how to trap the demons in a mirror. Any mirror will do, so long as it’s one you can carry around, because when you’re done, you’ll bring it back to me so I can show you how to store it permanently.”
“I’ve never done anything like that,” Roy said, “so I’m not sure how to teach him.”
“Oh, it’s quite easy,” Judith said, “if you’ve practiced it. I’ll show you.”
The Suicide Forest (The River Book 5) Page 8
