Tales Of The Abysmal Plane (Zoë Martinique Short Stories) (The Zoë Martinique Investigation Series)

by Phaedra Weldon

  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 feelin' 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 outside the large windows, and then to the pine and red ribbon trim decorating the deck edge. Not even the blinking white lights like fireflies in the night could cheer me up. 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 Mom, 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 up again...when he's forgiven us."

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

  Something bad had 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. I felt a chill race up my back. Whoever 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 wacky 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, colored stones, and diamonds, 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, to the left past the statuary, then the audio, and to the front counter, which sat before the fireplace. Past that was a hallway leading to the back offices.

  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 bear 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 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. Scribbl
e. 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 don'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 who 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 who lived in my mom's house—could. Hi.

  She had long and curly blond 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 wicker 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 farther 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. "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 looked 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 log. 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. Then 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 footprints 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, 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.

  I wished none of this had ever happened, and I was normal.

  Or as normal as I'd been before TC.

  "Where is he?"

  The question startled me, and I found the little girl was beside me again. He's in the hospital. In a coma. And it's all my fault.

  She frowned. "Did you do something to him?"

  No. But he was hurt saving me.

  "Then why are you afraid for him to see you?"

  It's not like that. I'm afraid of seeing him.

  "You've got it backward."

  What?

  But she just bounced again, giggled, and vanished.

  No smoke. No mirrors.

  Just...poof.

  Damn, I hated that.

  The music changed again, and the tune returned to the previous one where it started low and then built. I didn't see Ivy again. Instead, I started looking around the jewelry cases. There were so many things there...nice little trinkets I wanted to get Mom.

  Even a few I'd like to have myself. That is, if I wore a lot of jewelry. But that's never been the case with me. Not much into the adornments. Kinda like wearing nail polish. I can't do that either. I can feel the polish on my nails.

  Ew.

  After creeping myself out about nail polish, I moved away from the case and meandered back up to the front where the box of bears sat. As I stared at them, I noticed the music had stopped. Had the CD ended? And with the music gone, I thought I could hear the faint cadence of chanting.

  I would like to have believed it was
caroling outside—but that only happened in the movies. I don't think I've ever seen actual carolers...period.

  With a sigh, I figured I'd do better to just stand up front near the closest exit and price bears. I mean...what kind of trouble could I get into with that?

  The building cracked and popped, almost like pine did when burned in a fireplace. I could see outside through the window behind the counter—the trees moving in the wind. I gave an involuntary shudder as I watched, and a part of me wanted to slip right out of this body and hide in a pot.

  Geez...why was I so spooked? It wasn't like I was being visited by three Ghosts.

  I thought about the little girl and her clothes, a distinct indication of the past. So...if something from the present appeared. I eyeballed the bears eyeballing me.

  That's it, I'm waiting in the car.

  Now I'd seen Rhonda check that front door. I'd heard her lock it. So when the damned thing blew open as I was walking around the desk in front of the fireplace and slammed against the wall, dislodging a few items on shelves, I screamed like a little girl.

  It was a very quiet little girl—but I was sure they heard me on another plane.

  I also scrambled backward for a bit, posing in fear with the fireplace at my back. Frigid, cold wind blew in, and I stood there with wide, terrified eyes, shaking, as dead leaves and debris were kicked inside, and the wind rattled chimes from inside the other room.

  Once common sense kicked in (hey, no jokes please), I moved forward and grabbed the door. With an effort, I pushed it shut again and turned the deadbolt—which I know Rhonda had done before.

  The store had an eerie, silent quality for a few seconds before—

  Zzzzzzz....

  I froze. What was that noise?

  It started as a low hum, but quickly built into something a little more deafening. I was still standing by the door, my weight pressed against it, my back to the fireplace.

  ZZZzzzzzz....

  Oh god. It sounded like...

  Snoring?

  The noise built slowly .as I turned around. I realized it was coming from the box of bears. They were all looking at me...and snoring.

  ZZZZZZZZZZ...

  I was sure I saw a few of them move in the pile—and if there was anything I hated—besides clowns—it was stuffed animals moving. If it ain't designed to laugh and giggle and poop its pants and then it starts doing it all on it's own...without batteries...without the battery tabs pulled?