1 Broken Hearted Ghoul

by Joyce Lavene; Jim Lavene

  I absorbed the shock, held tighter to the sword, and pushed ahead. The only way to save us all was to stick to the plan. Mary hadn’t taken me or Lucas. She was toying with us, goading us to come and find her.

  That’s okay. We’re gonna take you down, bitch!

  Mary wasn’t in the cellar. I crept up the stairs to the kitchen door. There was a floorboard that squeaked, but I managed to avoid it.

  Not that it mattered. Mary had us where she wanted us. There was really no need for secrecy.

  There was a thin line of light under the heavy kitchen door. We never kept it locked. If I were Mary, I would keep Kate upstairs, making it harder for me to get to her.

  Pushing at the kitchen door—it stuck a little from other maintenance I hadn’t done—I listened as I heard Kate laugh. Mary had her in the kitchen.

  “It’s about time you got here.” Addie appeared beside me. “We’ve been invaded.”

  “I know. Why do you think I’m here?”

  “Well, I hope you brought a weapon. I tried to hit her with the iron skillet. Useless thing that I am—I couldn’t even pick it up.”

  I showed her the sword. “Don’t worry. We’ll take care of her.” I heard Kate laugh again. “What’s she doing?”

  Addie shrugged. “They’re playing Monopoly.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. They’re sitting at the kitchen table, playing Monopoly. I think Kate is winning.”

  “She is indeed baiting you, lady, daring you to come in,” Lucas warned.

  “Then I guess she wins.” I kicked at the sticky door, and stalked into the kitchen. So much for a surprise attack. I couldn’t even depend on Debbie to get Kate out of the house. There was only one way left to go.

  I faced the ghoul who was sitting across the wood table from my daughter. “Nice to see you again so soon, Mary. You should have called before you came to visit so I could be here to greet you.”

  Chapter Thirty-two

  To her credit, Mary appeared at least mostly normal. Gone were the protruding teeth and killer claws. She was wearing one of Addie’s old housedresses. Her face was almost human.

  Abe was there too. I could see he’d been roughed up a lot. There were scrapes and cuts all over his face. His elegant white suit was ripped in spots, and smeared with blood. He didn’t seem badly injured, yet still he sat there, leaning forward like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

  “Are you okay, Abe?” I risked a glance at him.

  He didn’t respond.

  “I think we should have a talk, Skye.” Mary gestured toward the table. “Would you like some tea? Your ghost has been very hospitable.”

  I glanced at Addie. All the definition Lucas had taught her was gone. She was barely identifiable in her state. Her eyes were terrified, flashing at Kate as though she might try to whisk her out of the kitchen.

  Kate didn’t seem afraid at all. “Look, Mommy. I’m beating your friend at Monopoly. She’s not very good. Maybe you could help her play.”

  “Go up to your room, honey.” I kept the sword and gun shielded away from her with my body. “I’ll come and get you later.”

  “Stay.” Mary laid her hand on Kate’s. “We have to finish our game.”

  “What do you want?” I demanded, itching to use the sword and the Beretta on her. I knew how quickly she could change from a mostly normal human to a monster. I didn’t want Kate to see it.

  “I want your help.” Mary stared up at me. Her eyes were a deep yellow with a sickly brown center. She carefully wiped some drool from the side of her mouth. “I want to leave here with my lover. Put your weapons away. No one has to get hurt.”

  “That’s not going to happen.” I dared a peek toward the dark stairs leading to the basement. Lucas hadn’t come up with me. Where is he? Did he have something in mind?

  “I was hoping you wouldn’t feel that way.” Mary smiled at Kate. “Did Abe tell you that we had a child once? It was before he made me a zombie. His name was John. He died when he was only a baby. I thought I’d never stop crying.”

  Abe’s large, powerful body shook a little at her words. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. A tear slid down his dark cheek from beneath his glasses.

  “I’m sorry for your loss.” The routine words of my ex-profession slipped out. “Killing us won’t bring him back.”

  “True. I’ve killed until I can’t recall how many have died. I have no wish to kill you.” She smiled, showing where those large, brown teeth were hidden. “I might not even be able to. Abe chose you well. Your family heritage shows in your eyes.”

  I had no idea what she was talking about, and didn’t want to know.

  “Then get out. Take Abe. I won’t stop you. Just leave us alone.” It was a lie. No doubt she knew it too. I couldn’t let her leave. She knew where we lived. It had to be me or her this time.

  “I see. That’s too bad.” She slowly shook her head from side to side as though she read my thoughts. Her voice moaned as though she was mourning a good friend. “Then you leave me no choice.”

  I didn’t know what she planned to do, but I knew I was as ready for it as I could be. I hunched down, and braced myself. Kate cried out when she saw the sword in my hand.

  Addie surprised both of us. With a screech that sounded like all the souls of hell escaping at one time, she became as solid as any human. Leaping across the table, she lifted Kate in her arms. She growled at Mary, her eyes daring her to try to stop her before she pushed upward, and was gone from the kitchen.

  I knew I’d never have a better opportunity to attack.

  I pushed Abe down toward the floor and then grabbed the Beretta, shooting at Mary. I swung the sword awkwardly—not trained to use it. But I managed to clip her a few times, as I pushed toward her.

  I had no idea where I was going with this. I couldn’t kill her. She might be held at bay for a few minutes by my onslaught, but she’d get over that. All I could do was postpone the inevitable.

  It was long enough to get Kate to safety. It was all that really mattered.

  She laughed—a terrible grating sound as she turned back into the creature I’d faced before. “Come on, Skye. Is that the best you can do?”

  “I don’t know yet. Ask me again in a few minutes.” The tip of my sword nicked her chin at the same time that a few bullets hit her chest.

  Mary tossed her head as though it meant nothing to her. She reached out one strong arm, and grabbed me by the throat. “I’d say we know the answer now. There won’t be a few minutes left for you. Too bad about Kate. She’s such a delicious, sweet child.”

  I caught something out of the corner of my eye. It was a soft blue illumination, almost like Christmas lights. As my senses dulled from the strength of her grip that was quickly strangling the life out of me, I saw it move closer.

  “Put her down.” Lucas was wrapped in the blue light. “Do it now, ghoul, or face my wrath.”

  I started to laugh. It was probably due to lack of oxygen. What wrath? Was he going to glow at her? At least he found some small measure of magic.

  “The reluctant sorcerer.” Mary hailed him. “Step aside. I might not eat you right away.”

  “You mock me,” Lucas declared. “It will not happen again.”

  Like lightning flashing through the kitchen, blue light exploded from Lucas, and struck Mary in the center of her chest. The smell of burning flesh was nauseating. Little bolts of blue kept pulsing through her.

  She dropped me. I rolled away from her, coughing and trying to focus. My eyes were bulging, and my tongue felt too big for my mouth.

  “The sword!” Lucas yelled. “Now! I cannot hold her for long.”

  I understood, but my brain was having a hard time processing that instruction into action. Mary lay on the wood floor, her body jerking from time to time. Her eyes stared at the ceiling, and her hands clawed at the air.

  “Is that what Abe was talking about?” I picked up the sword. “She doesn’t look paralyzed to me.”
/>
  “Do it now, or we are lost!”

  I lifted the sword as I approached her. I had never knowingly killed any other person in my life. When all was said and one, Mary was still a person. I’d winged a few felons attempting to flee, but never looked someone in the eyes and killed them.

  Mary shrieked when she saw me move. She was trying to get to her feet again—lashing out at me with her arms and legs—biting at me with her foul teeth. She couldn’t get away, no matter how hard she tried. Lucas’s lightning bolt was still holding her down.

  I thought about Kate, and why this creature couldn’t be allowed to live. I forced my addled brain to respond—despite the misgivings of my emotional side. This was something that had to be done. She couldn’t survive.

  The sword came down on her throat almost on its own. Blood spewed on me, the table, the cabinet, and the floor. But the blade was sharp. It separated her head from her body cleanly, with one stroke. She twitched for a moment, and then lay still.

  I closed my eyes, and prayed that it was over.

  When I opened them again, Mary was dead. I dropped the sword, and collapsed on the floor.

  Lucas stopped glowing, and darted over to me. He moved my head, and stared into my eyes. “Are you injured?”

  “Not anymore than I was before.” I tried to smile, but my lips refused. “What about you? You looked like a neon sign back there.”

  He shook his head, staring at his hands. “I am uncertain what that was, but the ghoul was right. I found a certain measure of my magic.”

  “So now you know who you are?”

  He helped me to my feet. “I am the man I was before.”

  “Only now you can glow blue when the mood takes you. Sweet!”

  “I suppose.”

  He seemed as stunned by what had happened as I felt. I made jokes about it, and tried to act like it didn’t matter. Lucas just looked like he’d been hit with a baseball bat.

  “It’s okay,” I told him. “We won, right? She’s dead.”

  “Yes,” he finally agreed. “Yes, I suppose that is true.”

  “It is. We survived. I wasn’t sure we would.”

  “I, too, had doubts.” He finally shook his head, and smiled a little. “If you wish, I can go and locate your friends so you can reassure your daughter.”

  “Yes. Thanks.” I was covered in ghoul blood, and my body felt as though it had been through a meat grinder. Finding a normal space was tough. “I guess that’s it, except for the clean up.”

  Lucas went outside. I heard sobbing from under the table.

  It was Abe.

  I helped him to his feet. He was covered in the black grease that he’d said was ghoul pheromone. That’s why he hadn’t been able to move or react. The stuff had immobilized him, as it had Martin.

  Abe dropped down on a chair, and removed his glasses, rubbing his hand across his face.

  “I’m sorry.” It was all I could think to say. “Are you cut? Did she bite you?”

  “No. I wish she had. I wish I were dying with her.”

  I knew he didn’t, not really. But I understood the feeling.

  “I have to check on my daughter. Will you be okay?”

  “Certainly.” He straightened his shoulders, and put his dark glasses back on his broad face. “Go. See to her. Thank you, Skye. I shall continue, as I always have.”

  * * *

  Kate was surprisingly calm as I explained what had happened. Addie stood beside her with a forbidding expression on her face.

  “I knew something was up.” Kate looked at me with a questioning expression on her face. “You killed her, didn’t you? Are you some kind of slayer, like Buffy?”

  It was my turn to glare at Addie. Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Really?

  Addie shrugged, and looked away.

  “No. I’m not any kind of slayer. You know what I do. Sometimes people are caught up in crazy things that are happening. This was one of those times.”

  “Was she a vampire, or a witch, or something?” Kate warmed to her subject. “Maybe she was a zombie.”

  The irony of that made me smile. “She wasn’t any of those things. Just a very sad lady.”

  I hugged Kate. Her little body was trembling, despite her brave words. It had been so close. I was shaking too.

  “I’ll stay with her here while you clean up downstairs.” Addie stared at me. “Take a shower when you’re finished. You smell like possum.”

  It was good to be able to laugh. Hell, it was good to be able to do anything after the day I’d had.

  I went downstairs to find Abe gone. Lucas, Brandon, and Debbie were hovering around the old hearse from the mortuary. I assumed that was how Abe had arrived.

  I went to join them. A zombie had apparently driven Abe and Mary there from the tattoo shop. He was ripped to pieces behind the steering wheel.

  “What a mess.” Debbie shook her head.

  “I hope there’s a clean up crew available.” I didn’t want Kate to see it. “Where’s Abe?”

  “He’s walking down to the van,” Brandon said.

  “Is he okay?”

  “Who can tell with him?” Brandon shifted painfully. “He said Debbie and I should take him back in the van, and let you clean up here. Bring the zombie and Mary to the mortuary for disposal when you’re done.”

  “Great.” I turned away from the blood-splattered hearse.

  He grinned. “To the victor go the spoils, right? Enjoy!”

  “I’ll help you, Skye,” Debbie offered. “It’s too much for one person. I can go home later.”

  That surprised me. It meant she was willing to go against Abe’s orders. She was really starting to show some promise.

  I watched Lucas go back into the house. Brandon was headed down the driveway toward the produce stand where we’d left the van. He wasn’t looking particularly happy about the turn of events.

  “I think she wanted to leave with Abe.” I told Debbie what Mary had said about their son. “I think she still loved him.”

  Debbie sniffed. “I don’t know who I feel sorrier for—Mary and Abe—or us having to clean up this mess.”

  “Right now that’s easy for me. It’s definitely us.”

  She hugged me, despite the ghoul blood. “Let’s do this, huh? I promised Terry I’d be home tonight.”

  ***

  Debbie had to leave after we’d cleaned up the hearse. She had an emergency at home. She took the old vehicle, even though it still stank of zombie blood.

  “I’ll drop off the body and get this cleaned out better tomorrow. I know a man who knows a man who does that kind of thing.”

  She was anxious to get home after Terry had called. I didn’t keep her.

  I stood outside for a long time, staring at the stars. I’d made the best choices I could for Kate, and still bad things from those choices had spilled over into her life.

  Should we move? Are we too vulnerable here?

  I wasn’t sure. It was something I’d have to think about. I didn’t know if Addie could go with us if I decided to take Kate away from here. It wouldn’t be an easy decision to leave this place, and all the memories it held.

  There was no point in showering until all the blood was gone from the kitchen too. By the time I got inside, it was already tacky. I groaned, thinking about how long it was going to take to scrub all of that away.

  Lucas had already used the black bag I’d grabbed from the hearse to get Mary’s body ready for transport. He’d wrapped her head in a trash bag, and put it beside her body.

  “I was wondering where you’d gone.” I was happy to see he’d already gotten started.

  “I thought I might as well work in here. You do not want Kate to see this in the morning.”

  “Thanks.” I called Brandon and told him we needed a pickup. I ignored him as he went into a five-minute rant about everything he already had to do. “I’m leaving her outside. She might attract bears.”

  I hung up on his loud obscenities. He’d be there
before morning.

  We moved Mary out to the backyard, careful that the head and body wouldn’t even come close to touching before it could be burned.

  Back inside, I filled a bucket with hot water tinged with bleach and soap. Lucas was curiously silent as we worked. “What’s wrong, besides the obvious? We were victorious. The ghoul is dead. You don’t look the part—unless this is how people look from your time when you win.”

  “I know I have to go, my lady.”

  “Leave? Why?”

  “I feel I pose a threat to you and your family. I do not want you to think of me that way. It would be better for me to seek my answers elsewhere.”

  I glanced up at him as I knelt on the floor with a scrub brush. “Is this a non-negotiable goodbye, or are you open to me asking you to stay?”

  “You should consider what happened this night before asking me not to leave.” He grabbed a scrub brush from the sink, and dropped to his knees beside me. “I could have killed you, or Lady Kate.”

  “You mean that whole blue lightning thing that probably saved both of our lives?”

  He smiled grimly. “That was completely out of my control. I do not know how I did it. Suddenly, it was there. Suppose that had been you, instead of the ghoul.”

  I scrubbed the side of the cabinet. “I know you think this is a bad thing, but I don’t think you’re that kind of sorcerer.”

  “But we cannot know for certain. It is without question that Abe, and the others, have made that clear to you. They will only continue to do so if I remain.”

  “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not easily swayed by the opinions of the people around me. I’m sure you’re a good sorcerer. I’m not worried about you hurting anyone.”

  “Perhaps.” He attacked the blood on the table legs. “I wish I knew. That vexes me more beyond all else.”

  “I know it does. But it doesn’t bother me. I want you to stay. I think we’re safer with you here than if you were gone—blue lightning and all.”

  “As you wish.” He kissed me carefully, just his lips against mine. “Let us get this muddle cleansed. I think we could both do with a good scrub too.”

  “Sounds good to me.”