Island of the Forbidden

by Hunter Shea

  Paul waved his concern away. “It’s not frozen. The engine just won’t turn over. Some water may have gotten into the starter. I’ll try it again tomorrow. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

  Mitch crossed one leg over the other. “Good. I don’t like the idea of being stranded on Spooky Island, or any island for that matter. And if you once refer to Rusty and me as Skipper and Gilligan, you’ll have to wear hats to hide the weird shape of your head for the rest of your life.”

  Rusty gave a quick snort but kept his eyes and hands glued to the task at hand.

  “And what’s with that Nina chick?” Mitch said. “I thought you were going to be the lead on this.”

  “I still am. But we need Nina to give her psychic impressions, help build the tension. You’ve seen those shows. Audiences eat that stuff up. The only difference here is, she’s the real thing and not some hack.”

  Mitch gave a derisive laugh.

  Paul took a seat beside him. “No, I’m serious. I’ve seen what she’s done so far.”

  Patting Paul on the arm like he was an excitable child, Mitch said, “No problem, Paulie, we all know psychics are real. I agree that having one on the show will help with the theatrics, and that’s all that really counts.”

  Something had been nagging at the back of Rusty’s brain. He had to scratch the itch before it drove him mad. Turning from his mobile control board, he asked, “What made that noise after Jessica and what’s-his-name went upstairs?”

  Paul shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Nina says it was like a psychic sonic boom or something. It definitely wasn’t the house settling.”

  “Not unless it settled into a sinkhole,” Mitch said.

  Rusty said, “So you think this place is really haunted? To be honest with you, I thought we’d have to jazz things up to make this saleable. I know the gruesome history of the island will have networks drooling, but really, what are the odds of catching anything real?”

  Pointing at the ceiling, Paul said, “Our ace in the hole is what will tip the odds in our favor.”

  Perplexed, Rusty said, “What are they, actors or special effects people?”

  “Nina says Jessica is some kind of ghost lure. And Eddie’s got something going on too. They can’t help but bring them to us.”

  Mitch rose from the chair, his back and knees popping. “Paul, I don’t exactly know what you and your crazy sister and brother-in-law have concocted, and to tell you the truth, I don’t want to know. I’m here to film it, edit it down to just over forty minutes and pitch the fucker. Hopefully you can keep the drama to a minimum so we don’t end up with the paranormal Jerry Springer Show.”

  I’m not comfortable with this at all, Rusty thought, turning back to his gear. There are too many people telling too many lies in too small a place. A psychic sonic boom? What the heck does that even mean? And now we can’t even get off the island if we wanted to.

  Paul and Mitch left the library, debating about where to start the night’s first scene. They closed the door behind them, leaving him to work in silence.

  Rusty ran extension cords throughout the room, expecting that blood freezing noise to erupt at any moment. It was going to be a long five days. He wished he’d packed warmer clothes. It was like working in a wintry graveyard.

  Bad analogy, Rusty.

  He suddenly felt very alone and very, very vulnerable.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  There was a light knock at Jessica’s door. She flipped her cell phone onto the cushiony bed. Out here, the thing was as useful as a rock. She’d been standing on chairs and crawling on her hands and knees hoping to get just one bar. It would be nice to be able to call her aunt or Angela, and exceedingly helpful if she could get a word out to Swedey and see if he was able to dig up more dirt on the Ormsby clan.

  Daphne Harper stood outside the door, looking apologetic. Before Jessica could speak, she held up a slight, pale hand, her eyes downcast.

  “Before you say anything, I want to apologize to you. I understand what we did wasn’t exactly fair.”

  Understatement of the year, Jessica thought.

  “I know it’s hard for someone of your means to understand what it’s like to be desperate.”

  “How do you know about my means?” Jessica asked coldly. Even most of her neighbors back in the Long Island neighborhood where she was born and raised weren’t aware that she was a multi-millionaire.

  Daphne took an unconscious half-step back. She did raise her head to meet Jessica’s icy glare. “You may dismiss her, but Nina does have some remarkable abilities. Truth be told, she frightens me. Which is why I would appreciate it if you and Eddie would stay close to Alice and Jason. I understand it’s a lot to ask, coming from a woman who deceived you.”

  Jessica let a long, uncomfortable silence pass. She had to check herself from slamming the door in Daphne’s face.

  “Paul and his friends plan to start filming tonight,” Daphne said.

  “We’ll stay with the kids,” Jessica finally said. “Someone with some sense has to. You do know why, don’t you?”

  Daphne slowly shook her head. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  Sighing her irritation, Jessica said, “You do know why you brought me here, correct?”

  Playing with the sleeve of her jacket, Daphne said, “Yes, of course I do.” The words were defiant but her tone was defeated.

  “That part of me that you wanted to use to bring out the EBs here. Your children have it too. Didn’t Nina tell you that?”

  Daphne looked genuinely shocked.

  Looks like I’m not the only one getting their chain yanked.

  “From what Eddie can tell, their ability, for lack of a better word, is weak, unrefined. But they have it. I only came here to help them if I could and protect them if it became necessary. So, in a way, nothing’s changed much for me. So yes, we’ll be with them tonight and for as long as we’re here.”

  Before Daphne could respond, Jessica closed the door. It wasn’t the most mature thing to do, but damn it felt good.

  Eddie and Jessica ate dinner with the children by the water where it was warmest. He could almost believe it was late spring, this far from the strange house. The trail of EB children kept their distance from them, which was what allowed the heat of the day to penetrate their moveable chill. When they sat down by the water’s edge to lay out their sandwiches and apples on a thin blanket, Eddie cast a mental request for the EBs to give them some space so they could eat without shivering.

  To his surprise, the EBs had responded, granting his wish. It was the first time he’d had a focused interaction with an EB for a year.

  Please let that be a sign that I’m getting some of my strength back. It was possible that Jessica was charging him as much as the dead. It made sense, considering how strongly tethered he was to them.

  Jason and Alice devoured their dinner and had been skipping rocks along the water for the better part of an hour. Jessica had been the one to show them how to get more skips on each throw. Most of Eddie’s rocks sank to the bottom after a two skip maximum. Jessica’s rocks danced atop the liquid surface like frantic dragonflies.

  It didn’t take long for Alice and Jason to become fledgling experts.

  “You keep this up, there won’t be any more rocks left on the island,” Eddie said. He lay on the blanket, propped up by his elbows. The orange reflection of the sun shimmered as rocks rippled the water.

  Jason looked around his feet. “We may run out of good, flat rocks.”

  Alice, who was crouched low, poking around the dirt, said, “We can just find another spot if we do.”

  Jessica offered Eddie the last half of a ham sandwich. Paul had made the dinner for them, in between being called into the library by Mitch. He hadn’t spoken or even looked them in the eye. To Eddie, he looked like a man waiting to be punched, his body te
nsed in a defensive position at all times. Tobe and Daphne had spent their time in the great room with Nina. It seemed to give Jessica great pleasure when Eddie told her he’d overheard Daphne having some harsh words for the flamboyant psychic. No one looked happy in that room.

  “I’m stuffed,” he said, patting his stomach.

  “You eat less than Alice,” Jessica said, taking a bite of the sandwich.

  “I think I’ve conditioned myself to be full with less.”

  “You’re no starving artist, so you need to start eating.”

  He rolled onto his side to face her. “To tell you the truth, I’m usually too sick to eat. Just the thought of chewing food when your head feels like it’s going to crack open is enough to go on a liquid diet. My father used to tell me a dark beer is like a meal in a can.”

  “If you even think of going alcoholic on me, I’ll beat you.”

  Jessica had done her homework after meeting him, reading up on psychic phenomena and the lives of famous psychic-mediums. The fact that most ended up with strange, debilitating medical conditions and substance abuse problems hadn’t flown under her radar. She’d once grilled him about his own family and their gifted and at times renowned lineage. Unfortunately, they did little to break the stereotype of the sickly, addicted psychic medium.

  Jessica suddenly leaned forward, staring hard at a spot on the water. Eddie looked too.

  He hoped she wasn’t seeing the same thing he could.

  Jason had a handful of rocks. Plucking them one after another, he skipped rocks like a little machine gun.

  The ghostly remains of a boy—he looked to be no older than his early teens—rose from the water. Jason’s rocks sailed through the apparition. The boy was bloated, his waterlogged flesh splitting at the seams, his face blown into a distorted mask that would give even the hardest homicide cop nightmares.

  Being as casual as he could, Eddie said, “What’s the matter, Jess?”

  She squinted against the sun. “I thought I saw something in the water, like a fish breaking the surface. Did you see it?”

  Eddie allowed himself a small sigh of relief.

  “It’s not a fish. I think part of you was able to detect it, but there’s not enough there for your brain to piece it together.”

  “Is that your way of telling me there’s an EB in the water?”

  “Right in the line of fire.”

  The boy stared at Jason and Alice with distended eyes. Eddie closed his eyes hard, trying to keep the boy’s image from burning itself into his memory. It was one thing to see the dead. It was another to see a representation of them at the time of their death. There was no pattern to it. Some chose to revert to what they were as a child, or a younger, healthier version of themselves. Others retained their death mask, victims of horrid accidents, drownings and suicides. He’d asked many an EB about it but even they had no answers.

  Eddie had once shocked Jessica when he told her the dead had more questions about the afterlife than the living. She’d refused to believe him, thinking he was holding back on information gleaned from a lifetime of communing with the deceased.

  “Do you think we should tell the kids to give it a rest? I don’t want the EB to think they’re being disrespectful.”

  The apparition turned its heavy head in his direction. For a brief moment, Eddie was able to snatch its thoughts from the cacophony that surrounded him.

  “He doesn’t,” Eddie said. “He heard the rocks skimming over the water and was curious. He thinks Alice needs more practice.”

  Shielding her eyes from the early evening sun, Jessica stared hard at the place where the phantom boy stood hip deep in the water.

  “Straining your eyes won’t make him come into focus for you.”

  “But I did see something before. Maybe you’re rubbing off on me.” She gathered up their empty plates and dirty napkins, tossing them in a canvas bag. “Does the boy need anything from us?”

  He shook his head. “He just wants to watch. I get the feeling he hasn’t been with the others on the island. There are some behind us by the tree line over there who seem to recognize him but can’t communicate with him. I think it’s been a long while since he surfaced, so to speak.”

  “This is such a sad, sad place. I can’t tell you how many times I just felt like crying since we came. It comes in waves, and leaves just as quickly.”

  Alice rubbed the dirt from her small hands. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”

  “I’m surprised your arm doesn’t hurt, you threw so many. You got so good,” Jessica said.

  The little girl smiled proudly. “Is it nighttime yet?”

  Jessica checked her watch. “I know the sun is out, but it is getting late. Pretty soon we have to get you back to the house. Can we talk for a little bit?”

  “Sure.”

  The children sat cross-legged, facing Jessica with smiling, open faces.

  Jessica said, “I want to ask you about the Last Kids. Is that okay?”

  “It’s fine, Ms. Backman,” Jason said. “We’re not afraid of them.”

  “That’s good. You’re two super brave kids, you know that? Has anyone else seen or heard them?”

  The children shook their heads.

  “Have you told your parents or uncle about them?”

  Again, they shook their heads. “It’s our secret,” Alice said. “But we knew we could share it with you and Mr. Home.”

  “And we’re very glad you did,” Eddie said.

  “Have you ever experienced anything like this before, in places you’ve lived or visited?” Jessica asked.

  “A couple of times,” Jason replied. “But never like this. And never with kids like us.”

  “Like you, honey?”

  “Our age,” he said. “Well, a lot of them, anyway.”

  No wonder they’re not frightened, Eddie thought. This is nothing new to them.

  Eddie asked, “When you’re around the Last Kids, how do you feel?”

  They thought about it for a bit. Alice said, “Sometimes, I get tired, like I want to take a nap.”

  Jason nodded in agreement. “That’s not bad, is it?”

  Jessica caressed their cheeks. “No, not at all. I’ve seen the way you to run around. I’m sure you just get tired from being so active.”

  “You’re not tired now, are you?” Eddie asked, knowing they were surrounded by EB children.

  “No, not at all,” they said in unison.

  Eddie set a reminder to ask Jessica how she was feeling. His theory was that now that a larger power source was in their midst, the EBs would focus their attention on Jessica, leaving the kids alone for a spell.

  Jason cleaned his hands on his tan slacks, leaving trails of grime along the outer thighs. “Can we do one more thing?” he asked.

  “Sure,” Jessica said. Eddie got off the blanket and helped her fold it up. It was an odd scene, this faux idyll amidst an island with a dark secret, teeming with the souls of dead children while a handful of fame seekers plotted a way to take advantage of the situation.

  “Would you like to see the cemetery?” Jason said.

  “The cemetery? I thought Eddie and I saw the whole island. I didn’t see any cemetery.”

  Alice rolled her eyes. “It’s not like a real cemetery. It just has a couple of headstones.”

  “Where is it?” Eddie asked.

  Alice pointed over their shoulders. “Behind the house. It’s hard to find because there’s a ring of trees around them. Come on, we’ll show you.”

  “Do the Last Kids go there too?” Jessica asked, slinging the canvas bag over her shoulder.

  Alice said, “No, they don’t like it there. They don’t like us to go there, either, but I figured it would be all right because you’re with us. Right?”

  She looked past them. Eddie knew th
ere were dozens of EBs not ten feet away.

  “Can you see them now?” he asked.

  Alice giggled in reply and jogged off to the hidden cemetery with Jason right behind her.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Paul had changed into a turtleneck sweater and black jeans. The house was downright arctic, but he also had to dress better for the camera. Nina had donned several more layers of long scarves that swished past her waist. Mitch and Rusty were wearing thin gloves.

  “So, how should we start?” Paul asked.

  It was still light outside, but they had closed all the blinds to amp up the eeriness of the house. It would be truly dark soon enough and they would switch to night vision.

  Mitch took the camera from his shoulder and placed it on an end table. “You should stand by the fireplace and introduce yourself, then tell the viewers where you are and get into a little history of the house. Make sure you start with the murders twenty years ago and work your way down. We need to hook people right away.”

  “Is there any way we can start a fire?” Nina asked. The words formed a swirling mist as they left her mouth.

  “It’ll be better if we keep the scenery stark,” Rusty said, framing the scene with Paul alongside the fireplace that was almost big enough for a man to stand within. The stones had been charred black. It looked like a gateway to a bad, bad place. “Just aesthetically speaking.” He walked out of the room and into the library.

  Paul rubbed his hands together. “Rusty’s right. I know we’re all cold, but we have to set the opening scene just right. Nina, do you want to stand next to me or the other side? After I do a little history thing, you can talk about what you’ve sensed ever since you came to the island.” For some reason, Nina gave him the creeps. It wasn’t necessarily the fact that she could see and talk to the dead. Eddie could too, supposedly, and the only thing he worried about with Eddie was getting a swift uppercut in defense of Jessica. The guy was wiry but something in his look told Paul he was happy to put a hurt on him if needed. He was glad they were outside with the kids.