Caught Dead

by Patricia Mason

  Derek saw his mama come out from behind the oak tree. She pulled at the lighting mechanism of the flare she held, all the while chanting a spell. Once the flare fired, she placed the end against a spot in the grass. Instantly, the grass flamed and the fire spread into a five-foot circle with a pentagram at its center.

  Jonah stopped just short of the circle. Jessica plowed into him from behind and Jonah’s body jerked then twitched.

  “Get outa him, you demon slut.” Increasing his speed, Derek crashed into Jonah a split second later. Crashing into Jessica, like a linebacker tackling a quarterback, Derek drove her forward, out of Jonah’s body and into the flaming circle. His mama’s spell now held them both captive within its boundaries.

  * * * * *

  The ghosts slamming through his body made Jonah feel like he’d been hit multiple times with a nail gun. He took in the sight of Derek struggling with Jessica at the center of the fiery pentagram. Belinda looked on from beside the tree where the ornaments hung.

  Eliza ran around the circle’s perimeter. She opened the wood box she held to reveal the ornament inside. “Hurry.”

  He took out the ornament and fumbled with its glass stopper, finally twisting it free so he could place the thumb inside. Jessica screamed obscenities as the macabre wrestling match continued. Then Jonah saw her open her mouth and he knew she planned to destroy Derek. Jonah added Jessica’s necklace to the witch ball.

  “Alligaverit anima—” Jonah held the ornament aloft.

  In the sky overhead, clouds converged and thunder sounded.

  Jessica stopped. “What are you doing?” She released Derek and flew toward Jonah. But the perimeter of the circle held and she bounced off the invisible barrier.

  “—ad hoc. The demon is bound to this vessel.”

  Lightning flashed behind the live oak.

  “Stop.” Jessica flew at the circle boundary. This time the outer edge stretched but didn’t break.

  “Daemon ad hoc. Bind the demon to this vessel.”

  Thunder crashed. Lightning flashed. Rain shot from the sky landing hard as each drop was infused with hail.

  “Daemon est exorcismo.”

  “Nooooooo,” Jessica shrieked as her ghostly body disintegrated into a black mist. The mist swirled, seeming to form a solid ball before shattering into what looked like a million pieces. Each tiny portion hung in the air, as the flames of the circle died under the rain’s assault, leaving behind only smoke and ashes.

  The pieces that had been Jessica swarmed together and flew into the ornament. After the last piece disappeared through the small hole at the ornament’s top, Jonah replaced the glass stopper, locking the demon inside.

  The rain abruptly stopped as if a tap had been turned off.

  Jonah looked over to see Eliza standing at his side and staring into what remained of the spell circle. Jonah carefully took the wooden box from her shaking hands and put the ornament inside. Then he closed and latched the lid.

  Before he could set it down, Belinda rushed at him. When she reached him she threw herself against him, burying her face against his neck and wrapping her arms tightly around his chest. Her shoulders shook with silent weeping. Jonah closed his eyes, and pressed her head to him with his free hand, while he luxuriated in the feel of Belinda’s long wet hair, the scent of her, the beat of her heart against his body.

  “I’ve got you. It’s okay, sweetheart,” he whispered, his lips against her forehead. “It’s over.”

  The emotion swirling in him was too much to express: love for Belinda, relief at being alive, satisfaction at avenging his parents.

  He felt a movement at his side and opened his eyes to see a grinning Derek hovering in front of him. The other ghosts, broad smiles on their faces hovered nearby.

  “Dude!” Derek shouted. “That was epic!”

  “Baby.” Eliza reached out a hand as if to caress her son’s cheek.

  “Mama. You can see me? Hear me?” Derek asked, excited.

  “Yes, baby boy.” Tears began to cascade down Eliza’s face, and her words came out in a kind of half sob.

  “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you since I woke up dead,” Derek said.

  “Any—” Eliza bit her lip as if struggling to hold back her emotion before continuing. “Anything, son.”

  “What is with this freaking thing?” Derek tugged at the ascot around his neck.

  Eliza gave a choked chuckle over the emotion clogging her throat. “I’m sorry, baby. My bad.”

  “Your bad? That’s it?” Derek shook his head, grumbling, “I can’t believe I gotta wear a damn asstie for all eternity.”

  “I’ll see what I can do about that, honey. But don’t swear.”

  “Mama.”

  “Yes?”

  “I love you.”

  Eliza broke into convulsive sobbing and covered her face with her hands.

  “Aw shit. Don’t cry. Please.” Derek patted her back, but his hand passed right on through. “Let’s talk about the stupid asstie again.”

  Belinda giggled, pulled back and wiped at the tears on her cheeks. She turned, leaving one arm hooked around Jonah’s waist. “Derek, you rock that ascot. It looks great with the track suit.”

  “Hey,” Jonah said. “You’re my girlfriend. You’re supposed to save your compliments for me.”

  Belinda grinned. “Okay, babe. You want me to tell you you’re nifty?”

  “I want you to tell me you love me.”

  He saw tears pool in her eyes. “I do. Do you?”

  “Oh yeah.” Jonah bent his head forward and pressed a long kiss against her lips.

  At a strangled sound coming from the direction of the house, Jonah lifted his head and looked over his shoulder. In the doorway to the kitchen stood Special Agent Mike Wayburn, gun drawn but hanging at his side. His eyes wide, mouth hanging open.

  “Holy shit. Ghosts.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  A weird kind of celebration party took place in the backyard in the aftermath of Jessica’s defeat. As Jonah dug a hole at the base of the live oak, the ghosts—apart from Derek—chattered and laughed as they flew around, replaying the events of the night. Derek hovered next to Mike Wayburn giving him a full rundown. Wayburn had grasped the part where Jessica fought for possession of Jonah’s body and lost, but the special agent was still having a little trouble processing the rest. Derek kept going over and over past events answering all the special agent’s questions. Still, Wayburn seemed a little shell-shocked.

  Jonah quit digging once the hole reached about three feet deep. As he leaned the shovel against the tree trunk, Belinda poured half a bucket of a quick dry cement mixture into the hole. After Eliza placed the wooden box containing Jessica’s ornament on top of the cement, Belinda poured in the remainder of the bucket’s contents. Once the concrete cured for a while, Jonah would replace the soil over the top and Jessica could be forgotten…forever. By sticking her thumb and necklace both inside the ornament, Jessica’s entire soul was trapped inside and there it would remain until her contract with the devil expired in eight years. Then she’d be taken to hell.

  Belinda took Jonah’s hand and led him over to Wayburn and Derek. “What are we gonna do now?” she asked. “Jessica told me she planted evidence against Jonah at some of the crime scenes.”

  Wayburn considered for a moment before answering. “First thing is to get Jessica’s corpse out of your kitchen and into her father’s house. I can spin it that the distraught father dug his daughter’s body up and transported it there.”

  “You gotta do better than that,” Derek said. “Jonah’s too pretty to go to prison. He’s sure to end up some Bruno’s bitch.”

  “Don’t worry. My report’s gonna reveal that Mayor Bundy was the Slicer. There will be just as much forensic evidence pointing to the mayor and his house as there is pointing to Jonah. The mayor’s death can be explained as a suicide. I’ll backdate a note on his computer that will detail how his guilt over the murders, c
oupled with the grief about the death of his daughter, caused him to end it all. Any evidence against Jonah was the result of the mayor’s attempts to frame someone else for the murders. Case closed.”

  Jonah shook his head. Just a few hours ago he didn’t care if he went to prison. But now that Belinda was safe, he couldn’t stand the thought of being separated from her. “Nobody will believe a ridiculous story like that.”

  “Sure, they will. They want to believe it. And it’ll be easy because there won’t be any more murders. What’s the alternative? It’s not like I can tell them that the Slicer was a demon who changed bodies for over a hundred years and committed some of the most recent killings in Jessica’s body after she died, like some kind of zombie. This way you’ll be off the hook, Jonah. Just give it a day or so before you go back to the caretaker’s cottage.”

  Jonah called to the ghosts. They stopped their partying and flew over to him. Jonah’s gaze went from one to the other until he knew he’d memorized the way each of their faces looked in this moment.

  Swallowing down the emotion that threatened to overwhelm him, Jonah said, “You all saved me. And I’m not just talking about today. You saved me by being my friends all these years and giving me a reason to go on when I didn’t think I had one. Thank you.” Jonah took a deep breath and then let it out. “And even though I’m going to miss you all, I think it’s time I let you move on.”

  There was some excited chatter before Blazer, ever the quintessential biker, stepped forward as the group’s spokesperson. “We’ve had a blast hangin’ with ya, Jonah.” The others nodded. “But—”

  “But you have loved ones in the afterlife you want to join up with,” Jonah finished for him.

  “Yeah.”

  Jonah gathered their ornaments from the live oak.

  One by one, Jonah took the personal items from their boxes as his friends looked on expectantly. Then, with some help from Belinda and Eliza, the ornaments were simultaneously smashed. Like shooting stars each had its own burst of light accompanying the joining of the rest of the soul to the ghostly bodies.

  "Ad aeterno," Jonah chanted.

  Overhead, a split in the sky opened and a bright light shined from within. The twins gave an excited squeal and Miriam, the soccer mom ghost, waved at the sky as if greeting someone she knew.

  “Goodbye,” Jonah whispered as the ghosts moved almost as one into the sky and disappeared into the light. The part in the sky closed and returned to normal.

  “How about you? Are you ready to move on, brother?” Jonah asked Derek.

  Derek shook his head and walked over to his mother’s side. “I’m gonna stay with Mama for a while, if that’s okay.”

  Eliza nodded and gave a happy grin, even as tears streamed down her face.

  Then Eliza stepped forward to hand Jonah the last box—the most precious box—the one he’d asked her to safeguard through the battle with Jessica. Jonah opened it and a mist streamed out, then swirled like a tornado for a few seconds before taking on the beloved form of his grandmother. Jonah blinked back the tears that suddenly stung his eyes.

  Grandma glanced around taking in the setting and all the people there. “What did I miss?”

  Everybody, even Mike Wayburn, laughed.

  “Nothing important,” Jonah said with a chuckle. “Except that I want you to meet Belinda. The woman I love.” He grasped Belinda’s hand and pulled her forward.

  “It’s so good to meet you,” Belinda said with a shy smile.

  “I’ve sent the rest of my ghost family on into their afterlives,” Jonah told his grandmother.

  “Oh, Jonah.” Grandma clapped her hands together. “That’s wonderful.”

  “I know I’ve never said thank you, Grandma,” Jonah choked out.

  “Aw, sweetheart.” Grandma swiped at ghost tears.

  “You sacrificed a lot so I wouldn’t be alone,” Jonah continued. “And now with Belinda, I hope I won’t be. But no matter what happens with us in the future, I’ll be okay…finally. So it’s time for me to let you go be with Mom and Dad and Grandpa.”

  Grandma covered her mouth, swallowing back a sob. “I’ve never been prouder of you than I am right now. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Grandma.” Jonah took her ornament from the box and held it over his head.

  “You take care of my grandson, sweetheart,” Grandma said to Belinda. “And you take care of Sir Fluffybottom,” she said to Jonah.

  “I will.”

  Before he could change his mind, Jonah threw down the ornament and, with a burst of light, it smashed.

  “Ad aeterno,” he said in a choked voice.

  His grandmother’s smile widened and she blew him a kiss as she turned to mist. The mist floated in the air, hanging there for a moment, and then formed an arrow that darted into the sky, disappearing through the part there.

  Belinda put her arms around Jonah and he hid his face in her neck. When he pulled back to stare into her face, he saw his future in her eyes.

  Epilogue

  Six months later.

  Belinda screamed out her climax just as Jonah felt his own release. He collapsed over her and she wrapped herself around him, arms and legs in a full body hug. They rested for a few moments, as their breathing returned to normal.

  Belinda’s next scream wasn’t orgasmic.

  Jonah glanced over his shoulder. Floating over the bed was an astronaut.

  “What the hell?” Jonah knifed to a sitting position.

  The astronaut removed his helmet, revealing Derek’s grinning face underneath.

  “Mama figured out how to get me outa the asstie. Now I can wear whatever I want.”

  The astronaut’s uniform turned to a firefighter’s. Then, as Derek made a three hundred and sixty-degree turn, the firefighter’s outfit turned to a cowboy’s complete with chaps. “Ain’t it dope?”

  “Are you asking me if you look like a dope?” Jonah asked. “The answer is yes.”

  Belinda laughed. “Do you look like a new version of the Village People? Yes.”

  “You guys are no fun.” Derek changed into an Atlanta Braves T-shirt, jeans and Nikes.

  Belinda glanced over her shoulder at the clock on the bedside table. “What are you doing here so early?”

  “I convinced Mama to bring me over for a play date.”

  “Where is Eliza?” Jonah asked.

  “Outside on the porch, drinking her coffee. She didn’t wanna wake you up. She said I couldn’t bug you if you’re still sleeping. But you ain’t, so I did.”

  Jonah shook his head but had to suppress a smile. “Your timing sucks, Derek.”

  “You didn’t say that when I saved your ass from a serial-killing demon. You’re just being mean because you can’t get over having me inside you. You miss me being inside you.”

  “Quit saying inside you like that. It’s creeping me out.”

  Derek laughed and flew a circle around the room before returning to hover over the bed. “Inside you. Inside you.”

  Jonah gave a frustrated growl. “Just because I’d like to spend a leisurely Sunday morning with my girlfriend—”

  “Damn, bro,” Derek said. “Ever since you got all wifed up all you wanna do is make chick time. You gonna be even worse now that you two moved in together.”

  Jonah smiled as he glanced around the room spotting the boxes, some containing Belinda’s stuff. After working on remodeling his parents’ house for the past few months, it now felt like his. Soon it would feel like theirs—his and Belinda’s. He still worked as the caretaker for the cemetery, but that place was no longer the center of his world. Eventually he’d move on. He’d found a lot of satisfaction in working with his hands on this house and knew that eventually he’d like to branch out, doing construction and remodeling work for others. Meanwhile, he’d take some college courses part-time to learn the business side of things. Belinda had been commuting since the beginning of the term and didn’t find the drive too bad.

  “Chick t
ime is definitely required this morning,” Belinda said, putting her arms around Jonah’s waist and snuggling into his side. “Come back in an hour, Derek.”

  “Make it two,” Jonah corrected as he lay back, taking Belinda with him and pulling the covers over their heads in one motion.

  Belinda giggled.

  “Okay,” Derek said with a sulk. “I’m going outside to play with Sir Fluffybottom. I’ll be back to model all of the new looks I’ve come up with. I’ve got like a dozen of them.” With that, he popped out.

  “Where were we?” Jonah turned and settled his weight over Belinda, resting his hips between her open thighs.

  “Right there,” she whispered, nuzzling her nose against his cheek before taking his mouth with hers in a deep kiss.

  The End.

  Bonus Novella

  The Banshee and the Linebacker

  Copyright 2012

  Patricia Mason writing as P.R. Mason

  Chapter One

  Liam's full lips brushed mine and a sweet hum of pleasure played along my nerve endings. His kisses made me feel safe. Liam made me feel safe. Some might have thought there was something strange about that, him being the star running back of our high school's football team. Weren't all football players supposed to be rough? But Liam restricted his roughness to the field.

  When he pulled back, one of his hands remained lightly at my waist as he smiled down at me. "You're so pretty, Tara," he said.

  "Hmmm." Hiding my face against his chest, I cuddled close to him. My looks bordered on average, but I was glad Liam saw me differently.

  We were lost in our own world even as we stood on the sidelines of Richard Johnson Academy Stadium. My hands rested on Liam's shoulders. With one finger he swept a long lock of blonde hair from my face and tucked it behind my right ear, being careful not to snag the hoop earring I wore.