He jerked his head up as a familiar chill wormed its way under his skin. Behind his reflection in the mirror, the air vibrated in front of Mary Ann’s body. When she sat straight up in bed and turned to face him, his eyes widened. Her green eyes were now swallowed in blackness like gaping holes. He struggled to get to his feet, but she threw him forward, cracking the mirror with his head. Ears ringing, not only from the blow, but also from an unearthly howling and screaming, he cowered as she tore at his neck, back and arms with her nails.
Crouse managed to push Mary Ann away. She sprang forward, sinking her teeth into his arm. He wrapped his fingers around her throat, pried her off, drew back and landed a solid punch to the side of her face. The gold rings on his fingers left bloody gouges on her cheek. When she rushed him, a kick to her abdomen sent her flying backward.
She charged again - red hair streaming behind her, black eyes boring into him, mouth screaming, face contorted in rage. He aimed his pistol and fired point-blank into her face. She dropped like a stone to the floor.
Crouse ripped off his holster and clothes, sticky with blood and bits of Mary Ann's face. His pistols clattered to the floor. Sounds of a commotion drifted up from the front of the house. After putting on clean clothes, he leaned out the back bedroom window and tossed the satchel to the ground. He hung off the back porch for several seconds before landing beside it. The backyard was enclosed by a low rock wall. He cleared the wall and made a beeline to the center of town - San Jacinto Plaza.
***
J. Fisher Satterthwaite was commissioned by the El Paso Parks and Streets Commissioner to create something beautiful out of the sand and mesquite filled property.
Satterthwaite fenced off the park, put in a walled pond, built a gazebo, and planted seventy-five Chinese elm trees. Then he brought alligators. By the time he was done, the pond held at least seven. No one knew the reason behind his choice, but the unique reptile attraction drew shoppers and on-lookers to the downtown area.
Crouse entered the crowded Plaza expecting to hide himself among the crowd as he made his way to the train depot. He surveyed the people going about their day and hurried to the southern part of the plaza. Couples, families, and lone men passed him without a second glance.
Nearing the alligator pond, he forced himself to shrug his shoulders, take a deep breath and relax. Sunset Heights wasn't safe now. The last train would be here in a couple of hours to take him far away from El Paso.
He paused to admire the alligators bathing in the sun, when a chill dried the sweat on his shirt and made him shiver in the desert heat. Swiveling his head from side to side, he caught other people pulling at their clothes or hugging their bodies.
The shimmer appeared on his right. His mouth went slack as a face with black holes for eyes focused on him. He reached for his holster. Nothing there. Dread clouded his mind as he realized he’d left his holster and pistols at the whorehouse. Panicking, he hopped over the low concrete wall into the alligator pond.
The splash of water as the alligators plunged into the moat reminded him of the danger he'd jumped into. He turned around to climb back over the wall. People with pitch-black eyes peered down at him.
Crouse kept one eye on the alligators floating nearby and the other eye on the increasing number of inky black stares aimed directly at him. When he tried to make his way over the wall, the hands attached to those stares, shoved him down.
Crying out in frustration, he ran to another point along the wall and was pushed back again. On his third attempt, a huge man punched him in the face sending him tumbling down almost to the edge of the moat. He shook his head, trying to clear it, then started up the grassy slope. The alligators charged out of the water. One clamped down on his leg.
He screamed and twisted around using his heavy satchel to beat the reptile’s nose. The satchel popped open on the third blow sending its contents into the air.
Another alligator clamped onto his arm. Crouse tilted his head back to scream. Money floated down in graceful twirls from the sky above him.
Present
It took thirty minutes to get anywhere in El Paso. Lynn entered Kipp’s Cheesesteak to find Hector sitting at a table with a bottle of beer. The prominent sign above the counter read ‘Beer is Good’.
She accepted a hug from Hector as he asked, “How you doing? You want to order something?”
“Pretty good. Yea, I love this place. I’ll probably grab something to take home to Lee, too.”
“How’s he doing?”
“OK, I guess.”
“So, here’s your stuff. I also wanted to tell you a little more history, if you don’t mind.”
Lynn took a bite of Green Chile Philly with homemade fries and listened as Hector told her about the black magic practiced in the basement of the Franciscan Hotel.
When the owners first let them in to investigate, they discovered crude ceremonial circles carved in the floor and Satanic symbols on the wall along with other paraphernalia.
“Creepy,” Lynn said and then she told him everything she’d experienced during the investigation.
“Really? That’s a pretty strong reaction.” He continued on about the hotel and how the owners weren’t able to make a profit. “The hotel coasted along, but never fell into complete ruin.” By the time he was done explaining, it was getting late.
Lynn checked her phone.
“Sorry for boring you with all this.”
“No, no. I love this kind of stuff, but Lee usually texts or calls me, and I haven’t heard from him yet.” Lynn squeezed Hector’s arm, “I really liked the tour and want to go on some of the others.” She picked up the to-go bag of food for Lee and the folder with the pictures and tape.
“Well, someone was even ‘possessed’ or more likely followed home, but we helped him with that.”
Lynn stopped. “What followed them home?”
“We’re not sure, other than it’s a sort of malevolent spirit that wants to cause trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“The person was acting strange. Doing things they don’t normally do. Why?”
Lynn shrugged.
“Because we took care of it, so if anything is going on, anything at all, just let us know.”
Lynn shook her head and smiled. “No, I’m sure it’s nothing. Hector, thanks for everything. I hope to go on another one of those tours soon.”
“Great! We've got something going on almost every weekend.”
Lynn tried calling Lee before she started her car. No answer. She left him a message saying she was coming home with food.
When she pulled up in front of their house, the heavy beat of music rattled the windows. Heading to the front door, she thought, That’s not country music. When did that change?
Once inside, the music was so loud she didn’t even bother calling his name. There were empty beer bottles on the kitchen table. Drinking again? Setting the food down, she made her way upstairs, the music pounding in her chest. At the top of the stairs, she found him back at his computer gambling and drinking more beer.
“Lee!” she shouted, “Lee!”
“What?”
Turning her back on him, she went to their bedroom and switched off the music. “Hey!” he yelled from the study, “I was listening to that!”
Enough was enough, she thought as she marched back to the study to confront him. “Lee, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but we need to —”
Lynn went flying backwards and landed hard on her butt. Pain jarred her neck and ran down her left arm into her fingers. She’d never been hit before. Not on purpose. Not with that kind of force. Not by a man, let alone Lee.
She scooted backwards on her rear focusing on Lee's panic-stricken face. His lips trembled as if he was trying to say something. Her attention dropped to his legs. They were moving in awkward, jerky strides. He clenched and opened his hands. “Lee?”
Lynn stared into his now terrified eyes, the muscles in his jaws popping until one
word escaped. “RUN!”
To her horror, an inky blackness leaked from the corners of his eyes and faded into his pupils. “Lee!” she screamed as the blackness overtook his eyes.
He lunged forward. She pushed herself back to the top of the stairs. Lynn fell onto her back and kicked her legs up, catching Lee in the chest. She rolled toward the stairs, sending him crashing down to the floor below.
Lynn belly-flopped down several steps. She turned over, breathing hard. Her husband lay face down on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. “Lee?” she whispered.
The soft, ticking sounds of appliances echoed through the house. She crawled down the stairs and nudged him with her toe, expecting him to sit up and grab her. What the hell just happened to her husband? Her eyes never left his motionless body until she closed the front door and raced to her car.
Speeding away from their house, she tapped the number 9-1-1 and told the operator that her husband had fallen down the stairs. Then she hung up and called Hector.
***
Lynn hugged herself as she paced in front of the impressive art deco Basset Tower. She glimpsed the ten stone eagles, America's gargoyles, perched on the tenth floor of the building, all facing east. Footsteps signaled the approach of Hector and Marcos trotting up the sidewalk to meet her.
Lynn was trying hard not to burst into tears, but her voice came out shaky, “What in the hell is going on? Is my husband possessed?”
“We think he is possessed by a minion of one of the devil’s demons that was contacted using the black magic portal in the Franciscan Hotel,” Marcos explained.
“So, we burn down the hotel.”
“It’s not that easy. The portal doesn’t necessarily belong to this dimension, so destroying the building won’t change much.”
“There’s got to be something we can do!”
“We think,” Marcos nodded at Hector, “and this may sound just as crazy, there is a way to balance out the black magic portal with a white magic portal in this building.”
“Oh, screw this! I should have gone to the police,” Lynn said as she began to back away.
“Hear us out, Lynn,” said Hector, “We think you’re the one who needs to help us close it. Everything we need is in here.” Hector held up a black backpack.
“I can’t believe I even thought of doing this. Oh my God, I should be at the hospital or with the cops. I probably killed my husband!” Her phone rang. She jumped, and almost dropped it, before she answering the call. “Yes, yes I called. Did you find him? Is he alright?” she paused listening.
She stared at her phone until Marcos reached out and touched her arm, “Are you alright? What happened?”
“Nothing,” she said, “He’s gone.”
“Lynn, you obviously love your husband. We don’t want anything to happen to you two. If we try to close the portal, it not only helps you now, it also stops anyone else from using the portal ever again. We can’t eliminate it, but we might balance out the powers again.”
Lynn lowered her head, then nodded, “We need to get going. I think he’s headed here.”
“What makes you think that?”
“His eyes. He was scared and I don’t think he had a choice. This minion wants him to stop me from doing what you think we need to do.”
“OK, I’ll explain on the way up,” said Marcos.
“Way up where?”
“The tenth floor with all the eagles. We think that’s where the portal should be built.”
“What’s the plan?”
“We’ll use the fire escape to reach the tenth floor. Open a window, somehow, and find the center of that floor. Draw a white magic circle with salt. Here, I’ve written out the prayer for you to use. After that, I'm not sure exactly what’s going to happen.” Marcos put on the black backpack and they headed to the back of the building.
Around the fourth set of stairs, Lynn's heard heavy breathing behind her.
“I told you to start working out,” Marcos called back.
“Now? Now’s the time you want to bring that up?” Hector said.
“Just saying.”
“Do something useful and tell her why we’re doing this.”
“Because you can't, since you’re out of breath.”
“Cabron.”
“Lynn, remember all the symbols on this building?” Marcos said.
“Yep.”
“Well, there are five major ones repeated throughout the building. You’ve got the fluer de lis, symbol of the Virgin Mary; an acorn and leaf, symbol of patience; a seashell, symbol of pilgrimage; the Green man, symbol of rebirth; and eagles, symbol of strength and power. All of eagles on the entire building face east.”
“Why?”
“The symbols also have magic properties like air, fire, earth, and water. The eagles also represent air for spirituality and change, with force, if necessary.”
“So why are they on the tenth floor?”
“That's where we need to open the white magic portal.”
“But you don’t know for sure?”
“Well… .”
“Jesus guys!” Lynn slammed her hands down on the railing. “What if this doesn’t work?”
“Hey!” Hector yelled up from several flights below them, “Listen, I think someone else is on the fire escape.” They all leaned over the railing as a black shape rounded the corner on the second floor.
“Hector, you need to put it in high gear.” Marcos ran up the couple of steps to grab Lynn and hurry her up.
“”Wait, let me talk to him.” She leaned over the railing and called down, “Lee! Lee, it’s me, Lynn, can you hear me?”
The figure stopped. The face was Lee's, but his eyes were empty, black sockets. His face screwed up in anger as he let out an inhuman scream.
“Nope, that’s not gonna happen,” said Marcos. “Come on, Lynn, we gotta go. Hector, it’s a couple more flights. Better hurry your ass up!”
Hector muttered, “Chingao.”
Lee sounded as if he was taking the steps two and three at a time. Lynn reached the tenth floor right behind Marcos who was searching for a way in.
“Nothing,” Marcos said, “These are all locked.”
“Do we break in?”
“Yea, but Lee will be right behind us.”
“We’ll need to lock him out when we get in.”
“Right. Back up.”
Lynn held the backpack as Marcos wrapped his arm with his jacket and broke in the glass window. She stepped back while he knocked glass out to clear the sill. Hector yelled from right under them, “Watch it!” as glass tinkled through the mesh of the fire escape.
Marcos helped Lynn inside as Hector pounded up the last flight of stairs.
“Go, go! He’s right behind us.” Hector grunted as he squeezed himself though the window. His black cowboy hat tumbled to the floor of the fire escape.
“My hat!”
“Forget the hat!”
“No way,” Hector leaned out to pick it up as Lee rounded the corner and stood on the landing not even breathing hard. The black holes fixed on Hector. “Ohhhh, shit!”
Lee leaped. Marcos grabbed Hector by the collar of his shirt and hauled him back through the window. Lee crashed to the floor outside as they hit the tiled floor inside. Hector held up his hat, admired it for a second and put it back on his head.
“Happy now?”
“Yea,” Hector gasped.
Lee’s face appeared in the window. Hector and Marcos scrambled to their feet as Lynn called out to them from behind and to the left.
“Guys, come on! This way!” Lynn was holding open a door that lead to a hallway. “Here.”
Hector slid the last couple of feet in his cowboy boots. They passed through and she slammed the door shut as Lee cleared the window sill. Lynn picked up a board to pin the door shut between the door knob and a door brace on the floor.
“This isn’t going to hold him for long,” said Marcos. “The door has a glass window too.”
> “Well, where to now?” asked Lynn.
“This way,” Marcos said, pointing down a short hall to a set of double doors.
They banged through the double doors and scrambled for another way to brace the doors shut. Marcos grabbed two shelves off an office wall and used them to jam the bars of the door handles from being released. “This isn’t going to stop him for long, either.”
“We need to get started,” Hector gasped as he stood, bent over, trying to catch his breath.
Devil of a Ghost Tour Page 3
