“Kill him now!” I felt fists pummeling me and hands around my throat. My attackers screamed as they contacted the energy surrounding me. My grip on William faltered, but I knew I’d tripped past critical mass - I was at the point of no return. Ground zero, or a few feet from ground zero, it didn’t matter.
My words were gurgled, but I managed to choke out, “Time to finally die, Billy.”
The world exploded in a sea of light.
Knowing that there was something after life gave me a morsel of peace. The heat was replaced with a general sense of warmth, a summer breeze through my soul, if you will. There was a sense of fulfillment, knowing that my death meant something. I was drifting and thought I could hear voices. Straining my ears, I tried to hear what they said.
The floating was nice. I could do it forever. Then something changed. The calmness turned to chaos. The warm breeze changed into a hurricane and a crushing blast rocked my body. Had William survived?
Another blast coursed through my veins, bringing an avalanche of pain with it – very real pain I might add. New voices replaced the previous soothing ones. There was hysteria in their tone.
“Try it again!”
“Charging … clear!” The third jolt hit me.
“Charging …”
“Wait! I’ve got a pulse! C’mon Mike! You bastard, you can’t die on me now!” I struggled to get my eyes open, half expecting to see angels. Instead, I saw the very bedraggled, very wet shape of Jenny Goodman. Angels had more sense – they knew not to be out on a night like this. My last minutes were actually going to be spent with a couple of girls – who knew!
Candy held the paddles in her hand. Her expression was unreadable. She calmly switched off the defibrillator and tossed it into the trunk. “Jenny, get Mike into the back of my car. We need to get him to a hospital.”
Jenny tried heroically to get me into the car. I wasn’t much help. If my head hurt before, slamming into the side of the car didn’t help things one bit. I heard the trunk slam shut. Candy came in through the passenger side door and helped drag me into the seat. Jenny climbed in and was pretty much on top of me as Candy drove off.
Sometime later I was conscious again, once more in a hospital room occupied by Candy.
“Hello Mike.” Her tone was cool. That wasn’t a good sign.
“Hey Candy. Thanks for saving my life. So, what’s new?” I was too tired to remember not to call her that to her face.
“The official story is that we were in Baltimore looking for ya because ya’d been depressed and run off. Jenny called me and we found ya, but you got hit by lightning.”
Official stories rarely contained a smattering of the truth. It was becoming an all too familiar theme and I started to wonder once more about all those stories that dogged Edgar and his family; being labeled as “crazy” was much easier than the reality. “I lead one unlucky life huh?”
“You can say that again! I’m sorry, Mike. It was the only story that we could come up with that made a lick of sense.” For the first time a hint of a smile crossed her face.
“Where’s Jenny?”
“She wanted to stay, but her uncle drove by and picked her up. He tried to get up in my face, but I’m used to his type. I told his ass off.”
“Wish I could’ve seen it.” I took a long look at Candy. There was concern on her face and she looked nervous. I sighed, knowing where this was going, “Go ahead and say it, Candy. I’m a big boy. I can handle it.”
“Mike, this ghost stuff is just too much for me to handle. I’m in hot water with my superiors. Not only was I supposed to be at work, but I’m up here with my patrol car! I’ll be lucky to keep my job.”
She wiped a few tears from her eyes. “I don’t want it to end this way, ‘specially with you lying there after saving lil’ Jenny and me, but this is all way too much for me to take. I was doing things and had no control. When that thing was inside of me, I could see all of them! I could see the ghosts, Mike.”
I wanted to say, “Welcome to my world!” but I bit my tongue. This wasn’t her fault and she made it clear that she was supposed to be the “high maintenance” person in the relationship. The price of dating Mike Ross was clearly too high for her. “I understand. We tried … I guess that’s all we can say.”
Sometimes, the hero doesn’t get the girl. Ain’t that a kick in the nuts! I’d just been given a prescription dose of “It’s not you. It’s me, but really it’s you.”
“Maybe we could try again, down the road?” She left the door open a crack, if only to make herself feel better.
“Maybe, but things are probably only going to get worse before they get better. The ghosts out there aren’t going to ignore me – not when I just ‘cleansed’ twenty or thirty of them in one shot.”
She leaned over and gave me a parting kiss. “If ya need something, ya know who to call.”
The only thing I needed, she wasn’t willing to risk. I nodded and answered her fake smile with one of my own. I was pretty depressed and turned on the TV to try and take my mind off it. After finding nothing on, I tossed the remote control away in frustration.
A doctor entered and looked at the remote on the ground. He picked it up and brought it back to my nightstand. “Hello, Mr. Ross. I’m Doctor Morton. How are you feeling?”
“Okay, I guess. What can you tell me about my injuries?”
“Not much I’m afraid. I’m the on-staff psychologist. From the account the Deputy and her cousin gave, you’ve been suffering from depression lately. Your mother is on the way up from Rockville, but in the meantime I’d like to do a preliminary evaluation and see if we can get to the root of any issues before we release you. Doctor Avery will be in later to discuss the extent of your injuries, but from what I’ve been told you’re a very lucky man.”
It was tempting to ask him to define lucky. I choked back an ironic laugh. Candy just sashayed out of my life, but I was finally going to get screwed – thoroughly.
Episode 13: Rolling with the Change
Weeks passed since the Baltimore incident. Other than rehabbing my dislocated shoulder and having a record of mental health problem that might rear its ugly head at an inappropriate time, things returned to what could be called normal in my life.
My lawyer accepted the first settlement offer from the hotel chain for my supposed “accident”. He worried that if it got to a hearing my psychological problems might hurt our case. Yeah, the gift that just kept on giving. After legal fees, I was left with a couple thousand to bankroll my search for David Michael Ross, Senior.
The injury delayed the return of Mike Ross to the highways of Maryland, but for only a few weeks. I was licensed to drive. Let the world quake in fear.
The party in progress was officially the end of my first year of college. Rusty and the rest of my poker buddies were there mingling with Grandma Meg, Pastor Duncan, and Brother Silas. That of course made up roughly half the guests. The others were visible to only two of us present. All said and done, it was a strange gathering.
Colonel Vincent beckoned me to join him in my room. He rallied his troops and waited for my ‘cleansing’ to occur before returning to the scene. It had taken some time to locate me at the hospital, but by the time the head doctor was done with me, I was reunited with the remainder of the strike force.
“There have been several emissaries from Arlington and other contingents. My men and I have made it clear that you are not receiving anyone at the moment. On your behalf, I stated that the business in Baltimore was of a personal matter and did not constitute the first battle in a new war.”
My expression darkened. “Even if it does?”
Vincent’s replied, “You’re still worried you didn’t destroy Poe aren’t you?”
“There were too many others around, who forced me to let go. Unlike Taney, I didn’t see him destroyed and I was more than a little preoccupied in the aftermath. You said it yourself, Reynolds survived Darren Porter’s attempt and was only greatly weakened for
a month afterwards. I’m a helluva a lot stronger than Porter, but Reynolds was nothing compared to Poe!”
Vincent nodded, “I can only say that I will keep my ears open for any reports of William Henry Poe or, for that matter Virginia Eliza Poe. Should Edgar’s wife turn up, I will do my best to arrange a meeting between the two of you.”
“Thank you.”
“It is the least that I can do for the man that risked everything to win my freedom. Until I fully leave this world, I am in your debt.”
I nodded, the generational gap between the two of us was amusing, “Nowadays, we just say ‘I owe you.’ You’re a bit on the wordy side Strong. I’ll miss that.”
“Are your certain that there is nothing I can do to dissuade you from this journey?”
“Some Skinwalker has my father. He’s somewhere in Arizona or New Mexico. That Skinwalker is going to pay.”
He offered the ghost knife and its sheath. “Take this then. I can make another and am hopeful that I will soon move on to larger objects. Miss Eva is a patient teacher even if our conversations must occur at infrequent intervals and at the edge of the barrier which holds her prisoner.”
I accepted the blade and hooked it to my belt. It was always good to have a backup weapon. I got the feeling that something was going on between Strong Vincent and the Eva, but didn’t want to pry. Kevin and Elsbeth were already enough soap opera for a single guy like me.
Mom cleared her throat, “I’ve accepted that people are there, but I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing you talk to thin air. Anyway, you have a visitor.”
I followed her down the hallway back into the living room. The rest of my Atlantic City haul got rid of enough bills that she could cut back on her waitressing and look after Grandma Meg on a fairly routine basis. Mom was still slightly skeptical about her husband being possessed and stolen, but she knew I had to do this.
My ruminations were interrupted by the irrepressible Jenny Goodman enveloping me in a hug. “Mike!”
Over a few good-natured catcalls from the guys in the room, I returned the embrace. “It’s not like we didn’t see each other three days ago.”
She pouted slightly, “Yeah, yeah, but you’re leaving in the morning and Carleton and I are flying out this weekend.”
I fought against the urge to roll my eyes at the mention of Carleton. Good old Uncle Brian already had “Chaz” wary of my influence on Jenny. I didn’t want to ask if either of the duo knew she was here this afternoon. Leading her outside; away from all the nosy guests, both living and departed, we walked down the street enjoying the warmth.
“You know, that’s twice you saved my life. I owe you…why are you smiling?”
“Sorry, it was from something Vincent and I were talking about before. Besides, you and Candy saved me, let’s put me ahead by only one.” Jenny confessed that in the aftermath, she’d been giving me mouth to mouth while Candy broke out the defibrillator. Privately I wondered if that was the “warm breeze through my soul”. She bruised my arm when I asked if I’d gotten any tongue.
“You need to be careful. I’m going to be so worried about you!”
“Go have fun in Europe. Enjoy yourself. Vincent’s lending me Amos Sweet and I’ll be fine. Silas is coming along and Pastor Duncan’s lending me his Cadillac.” The loaner came with a string or two attached, but I agreed to a few stops along the way.
“What if you do that thing with the light again? What if no one’s there to help you?”
“I’ve got no intentions of doing that anytime in the near future.”
Jenny shook her head. “That doesn’t sound reassuring.”
She found the need to hug me again. I enjoyed it and whispered in her ear. “Keep this up and people are going to start thinking you’re my girlfriend.”
Jenny laughed and pulled tighter. I leaned in and gave her a peck on the lips.
At least it started as a peck; twenty seconds later she pulled back with the widest eyes I’d ever seen. “Mike! That! We shouldn’t … Mike! What was that all about?”
The poor thing was confused and I’ll freely admit that I was as well, but I definitely got some tongue that time. I smiled roguishly. “I’m not sure. Wanna try it again?”
The eyes got even wider. “No! We can’t! I’m with Carleton.”
“Well then make sure Chaz treats you right.”
She looked even more panicked than the scene in Baltimore. “Mike, I’ve got to go. Bye! Have a safe trip. Email me.”
I appreciated her retreating form with a stupid grin on my face before slowly starting after her. The surprise I felt could’ve easily matched hers, but I was more equipped to roll with the changes.
Humming a bar or two of that REO Speedwagon classic, I headed back to my party. The next day, Amos Sweet, Brother Silas, and I would hit the road. There was probably a bad joke in there somewhere. On the way, I’d swing through Texas to look up Sonya Hodges with the hopes of finding Cassandra there. Between her and the one that snatched my father, that was two Skinwalkers who’d crossed me and I was going to get some payback.
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