“I retorted: At least my parents didn’t use me like you want to. Even my brother never used me! I’m nothing less than a piece of fly shit to you. You’re a monster, and I absolutely rebuke you! GO from me, back to hell where you belong!” A blinding pain pierces my temple, and my hands fly up to cover my head.
“Keep resisting, Adam!” Margrit comes closer, placing her palm on my forehead.
I feel the added power and strength flow into me. But the demon isn’t done yet.
A throb of psychic power bursts from me and Margrit falls back. Its voice returns in my head, snarling at me. ‘I’m going. The only thing stopping me from murdering you and this hag is revenge. What I’m going to do will cause both of you years of suffering!’
And then it’s gone.
Gone.
The strangest sensation floods through me. I swear the only thing anchoring me to the ground is Margrit’s hand. Jake joins me in helping the old lady get up from the ground.
Her eyes well with tears looking at me. “You’re free! There’s nothing dark hovering in your aura now, Adam. You finally found your focus and power to banish that evil within you.”
Jake peers at me narrowly, examining me, but I know he’s not seeing anything different. “What? It’s over?”
Margrit answers him but she beams a smile at me. “Yes. Adam is clear now. He finally had enough and his anger focused him. He cast it out.”
But the last threat the demon made, sounds in my head. I turn to Jake. “Can I use your phone, Jake? I need to call my sister and a friend of mine. They may be in trouble.”
He fishes his phone from his shirt pocket and hands it to me. “Should I alert the police in Watertown about your sister?”
My fingers fly dialing Amy’s cell number. “Not yet. She’s in Buffalo with my parents. But I have friends in Watertown.” When Amy answers on the fourth ring, I almost collapse on the ground with relief.
“Hello?”
“It’s Adam, Amy. Are you at home?”
“Yeah. I just walked in the door. I’ve been trying to get a hold—”
“Amy! Are Mom and Dad there? Seth? You guys need to stay together. It’s important!” My heart is pounding as I picture Doug’s butchered body, knowing that my sister may now be in this demon’s crosshairs.
“Mom and Seth are here. Why? What’s going on?”
Jake grabs my arm. “Give me the address and I’ll have a car go there to check on them.”
“Lock the door and stay together. I’ve made an enemy, and you guys may be a target to get back at me. This is really dangerous, Amy.”
“But what about you? Are you in danger?” Her voice is shaking and hesitant, barely holding back the tears. I know I’ve gotten through to her and they’ll take precautions.
“No. I don’t think so. Just stay safe, Amy. I love you.”
I end the call and turn to Jake. “It’s 42 Palmyra Drive, Buffalo.”
When he dashes off to his car to call that in, I dial Mike’s number. All the while, Margrit remains still, silently watching me.
Mike answers right away. Thank God.
“Mike. It’s Adam Rafferty. I’m in Saranac—”
The volume of his voice almost busts my eardrum. “I know where the hell you are! I was going to drive there tomorrow to find you and bring you back here.”
“Wait! I need you to do something for me, Mike! I need you to drive to Buffalo and check on my family. This demon thing has left me, but it might hurt them to get back at me. There’s a cop car going over to the house, but they don’t know about this demon, Mike. You know what it’s capable of.”
“Give me the address.”
“42 Palmyra Drive.”
And then he’s gone. Just like that.
Margrit steps closer and pulls me into her, the two of us standing quietly hugging. We’ve saved me from this possession, but have we unleashed bloody horror on my family?
TWENTY THREE
JAKE COMES BACK FROM MAKING THE CALL ON HIS RADIO. He’s shaking his head.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Well… I got my boss on board. He contacted Buffalo PD and they’re going to look out for your family.” He snorted. “I told them that you’re a witness to multiple homicides in Watertown and you just got word that the perp is going after your family there.” He looked over at Margrit with a funny expression. “It’s kind of weird.”
Margrit blinked innocently at him, but stayed silent.
“What’s so weird, Jake?” I ask.
He turned back to me. “My boss didn’t say a word about paperwork on this matter. Usually when we do interdepartmental stuff like this there’s a ton of paperwork.” He slid his gaze back to Margrit. “He just hopped right to it without a peep.”
“That’s good to hear, Jake,” she said softly. “He must have heard the urgency in your voice.”
“I think he had some help in making up his mind, Margrit.”
She got a faraway look in her eyes. “Maybe just a nudge, Jake. No more than that. I’m an old woman.”
He snorted again and shook his head. “This is sooo weird. Y’know, arresting drunk drivers and rousting underage drinkers is more my speed, nowadays.”
“Oh, Jake!” she waves a hand at him. “Small-town policeman, is that it?” I watch the two of them bantering like two old friends. “You used to be in the FBI! So don’t give me any guff about how overwhelmed you are by this!”
My eyes goggle. “You’re in the FBI too?”
Jake turns to look at me. “Nope. I quit about a year ago to do this.” He plucks at his uniform and badge.
“Isn’t that a step down?”
He smiles and looks over at Margrit. “Nope. Not at all. When you meet my wife you’ll understand.”
Margrit nods. “Jake is doing what he’s meant to do, Adam.”
He lets out a snort. “Yeah! Lawman ghost fighter!” He shakes his head. “Wait’ll Claire and the kids get back from their trip. They won’t believe this.”
Margrit steps up to him. “Now Jake—you know they’ll believe every word.” She’s smiling as she says it.
I am watching the two of them. They are like old friends—comrades in arms or something like that. There is a history between these two. Margrit holds her arms out from her sides. “Sometimes we have to do difficult things, Jake. Things we’ rather not, but which we know are for the greater good, right?”
He waves at her dismissively. “Yeah, yeah…” He cocks an eyebrow at her. “Is this thing with my boss going to come back and bite me in the ass?”
She drops her arms and steps up to him, putting a hand on his chest. “Dear one… if we don’t resolve this challenge...” She gestures to me. “Your boss will be the least of our problems.”
He rolls his eyes at her and turns back to me. “Buffalo PD will probably assign an unmarked car to watch your family just for a day or two. ‘Fraid that’s the best I can pull off.”
Even so, relief flows over me. I have a feeling all this will be resolved in the next day or so. “Thanks, Jake,” I said. “My friend, Mike, in Watertown is going there as well. He’s an ex-cop. He’s a private investigator now. I had just started working for him when all this shit started going down.”
“Oh yeah?” Jake actually smiled watching me. It was the first time he’d done it.
Encouraged, I continued, “The funny thing is, it was the first job I’ve ever done that I actually enjoyed.” It was true. A lot of that had to do with Mike, himself. Even though he was rough around the edges, he was a lot like Amy in how he treated me. He saw my faults, but he also saw the good in me.
“Mike believed me about this demon. He’ll watch over my family till I get home.” Till I get home. My words kind of surprise me but they come from my heart. I have to do this. It’s time to make amends with my parents and brother. Despite everything that has happened between us, I still love them.
“You know you have to talk to the Watertown police. I’ve got to alert the
m that you’re here.”Jake casts a glance over at Margrit and sighs. “I have to, Margrit. It’s my job.”
She nods slowly. “I know. But I want Adam to stay here for a couple of days. There’s a few things I need to teach him about protecting himself from the likes of that entity. This all could have been avoided if he had known more.” She turns to me and her eyes are sad. “Your grandmother should have taught you more when she was alive. It’s up to me now.”
“But my family, Margrit? I’ve got to get back to them.” Even though Mike will be there, I have to see them for myself to be sure they’re okay.
“Like Jake said. They’ll be protected by the police for a day or two. Plus your friend will be there. This is important Adam. You’re important in all this.” She puts her hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze, emphasizing her words.
Jake nods. “She’s probably right. I don’t know how she does all this, but I believe her.”
But what comes through to me from Margrit holds a trace of worry. Worry, that this demon will come back to me. It’s devious, which I know all too well.
“Okay. I’ll spend the night, and we’ll talk about this tomorrow.” I turn to Jake. “Do you mind if I borrow your cell phone? I’d like to check up on my family again. I promise to return it when I get into town to catch a bus back.”
“Sure. But you can probably catch a ride with the detectives from Watertown. I’m betting they’ll show up tomorrow.” He starts walking away, calling over his shoulder. “I guess I don’t need to tell you to stay put until they arrive.”
And he gets in his car and leaves.
Margrit starts to lead the way over to the old stump but I stop her. “I have to call my family, Margrit.”
“Yes. Then, we’ll begin our lesson. It’ll help in your learning if you’re not distracted with worry for them.”
Amy answers on the first ring, barely getting a hello out before my father’s voice blares through, “Adam! What’s all this about? You’ve scared your sister half to death with this talk of enemies. What have you done now?”
My back straightens, and I’m barely able to stop the smart-ass remark, taking a long breath. “I haven’t done anything! But I’ve made an enemy. He’s killed people, Dad! Have the police been there yet?”
“Yeah. There’s a cop car across the street right now. Who is this guy? The cops couldn’t give me any information, aside from the fact there was some kind of tip another cop got.” There is silence for a beat or two before he speaks, “Are you okay?”
I can hear my mom in the background asking to speak to me, but Dad continues, “Did this creep hurt you, Adam? Are you okay?”
Shit, the fear in his voice goes right to my heart. My breath hitches. “Just a scratch, Pop. But I’m fine, really.”
“You sure? You being straight with me?” It had been a long, long time since I ever heard his voice be so… fatherly.
“Yeah Dad, I can handle it.”
There was a pause again, then he let out a sigh. “You’ve taken some lumps in life, Adam-ski.” That was his pet name for me from when I was little, and it shot straight to my chest. “You’re a pretty tough kid when you gotta be.” Another pause. “I believe you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. For real. But you need to come home, son. Whatever trouble you’ve gotten yourself mixed up in, we got your back, okay? All of us.”
“I’m fine, Dad. I’ll be home in a day or so. There’s something I have to do here first.” I end the call, fighting tears that sting the backs of my eyes. It’s practically the only time I’ve ever heard my father be anywhere near supportive, let alone understanding. Even Mom sounded worried in the background.
I desperately want to go home, but after all that’s happened, I owe Margrit. We need to see this thing through, one way or another. I know in my bones that this demon isn’t finished with me, and so does Margrit.
Margrit gestures for me to come over and take a seat next to her on the tree stump. “Come here now. There are things you need to know. You are long overdue in your education.”
Walking over to where she is, my fingers flex and straighten, flex and straighten. A big part of me desperately wants to take the next bus to Buffalo to be with my sister. But even Jake said I need to stay put, so here I am.
She turns and looks at me silently for a few beats and then her voice is steady. “You need to believe in yourself, Adam.”
“I do. Well... as much as any—”
“No. You don’t. At least not to the degree you need to, to survive. Sure, you were angry and the strength and focus of your anger repelled the demon from you. But, I’m talking about a permanent state—a way of being in the world.”
Again, Margrit is talking in riddles about concepts while I’m concerned with reality, with what that demon might be doing to my sister and family. But I give her some latitude. “How am I supposed to do this? So it becomes my nature?”
She shrugs. “Simple. Have faith.”
Okay. Enough. I can’t stop the eye roll. “You talk about permanence and faith. How am I supposed to have faith when things can change in a New York minute? This demon shows up, and there are three dead bodies in Watertown. Here one minute gone the next.”
“It starts with your family. Who you are, Adam.”
This time I actually snort. “My family? My father who is actually ashamed of me, or my brother who has always shown scorn? Maybe it’s my mother, who, truth be told, feels like I’m her burden to bear, a disappointment.”
Margrit’s mouth drops and she shakes her head. “You’re so full of shit and you don’t even know it.”
Hearing her swear is surprising, but when she starts laughing, every one of my senses goes into shock. She’s braying; her laugh modulating between an ear-piercing squeal and deep thrum of a bass drum. That’s not bad enough, but there are tears rolling down her wrinkled cheeks.
Finally, she gets control again but still chuckles as she speaks, “Adam, you can be so foolish. You look but you do not see.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Honestly, Margrit—”
“You need the kind of faith that put a man on the moon. The kind that builds towering cities. You need the kind of faith that can change the course of rivers. Faith like a diamond—indestructible.”
I can’t resist being smart-assed. I look around from side to side. “Oh. Got any lying around you don’t need?”
She taps my chest. “You already have it, silly boy!”
I shift away from her, deliberating whether to just leave. “You are totally losing me, Margrit. I don’t have anything close to that kind of faith, dammit!”
“Really?” She looks at me from the corner of her eyes with a sly smile. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes!” I leap to my feet. “Not everyone has that kind of faith, you know! I can’t just conjure something like that up out of nothing!”
“You already have it,” she repeats.
“I wish I did,” I say. I flop back down beside her. “But I don’t.”
She puts her hand on my arm, stopping me, and her voice is soft. “Adam? Does Amy love you?”
“YES!” The tone of my voice is hard and sure.
Hard as a diamond. My shoulders fall as the penny drops.
I understand.
Whether it’s the power of the mystical stump on this ley line or just being near Margrit, a sense of peace settles. I feel myself grow stronger, finally getting what she’s been saying.
She continues, “Love. Love is more powerful than fear. Love is more powerful than hate. Love is more powerful than evil.”
Just when I start to get it, she’s off on another tangent. I sigh, looking at her. “How can you say that?”
She clicks her tongue scolding me and then takes a breath. “Evil, hate and fear are all one dimension.” She pauses, acknowledging my blank look and then continues, “You hate the demon, and only the demon. You fear many things, but only one at a time. The most true and raw face
t of evil is self-absorption, a single dimension. But love... Love isn’t a single, straight line. Love is a sphere which radiates outward in all directions like the sun.”
“I’m sorry. But you’re losing me on all this talk of spheres, dimensions and the sun while we sit here on a stump.”
She pats my knee, “Amy is the nexus of the love sphere. You are in that sphere, but it radiates outward, including your mother, father, brother—all of Amy’s friends. It’s a sphere. There’s depth. Which brings me to that demon.”
Now I perk up. This is what I need to know. Finally.
“This is the final lesson for you to understand. That demon creature is a being of fear, hatred and evil. It can threaten you and make you fear, but it wouldn’t dare to do battle with Amy. In the light of Amy’s pure sphere of love, it would be forced to see how insignificant it really is. It recoils at that kind of truth.”
“So you don’t think Amy is in danger?”
She shakes her head. “Remember this. When we fear evil and respond with hatred, we give evil power. We can’t do that.”
Something isn’t right and I hit upon it in a flash. “But when we first met, you saw the demon and you were frightened. Now you’re telling me to overcome fear.”
Haunted By The Succubus Page 14