The Spirit Key

by Parker Williams

  “What about my mom?”

  I was wondering when he’d get around to asking. “Honestly, I don’t know. I wish I had some definitive answer, but I don’t. All I can tell you is that she told me she knew she was willing to do whatever she had to in order to protect you.”

  “Protect me? From what?”

  This time I gave him a duh look.

  His gaze bored into me, it was so intent.

  This was what I had always wanted. Someone I could talk to, someone who wouldn’t want to put me away in a padded cell for the rest of my life or do weird experiments on me. Tim listened. When he reached out and took my hand, I felt warmth throughout.

  “So why is it in me?”

  I shrugged. “Ghosts tap energy. I’m guessing he came when your mom was sick and found you open and receptive.”

  “He’s been there for a year or more?”

  I shook my head. “I’m not sure. I’ve never really dealt with this kind of stuff before, and a lot of it is just guesswork.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “I have no idea. Your mom said I had to come home, so clearly she thought there was something I could do to help.”

  Tim ran his hand over my chest. “Can I say something without sounding insane?”

  I laughed. “I highly doubt it, but give it a try.”

  He looked down at our joined hands. “What if Mom knew you could see ghosts? She was always going on about how you needed us to be there for you, to help you as much as we could. What if that’s what she meant when she said you were special?”

  Holy shit. “I never thought of that.”

  “Tell you the truth, neither did I until just now. It would explain a lot of things. Maybe you’re meant to help these ghosts after all.” He yawned as he stood up. “Come on. We need to get some sleep. And I want a blowjob beforehand.”

  “You want a…. I said I was hungry.”

  He grinned. “Trust me. You’re going to be eating.”

  I refused to laugh. I might have snickered, though. “And what about me?”

  He grinned and held up a hand. “Five years, two months, and thirteen days.”

  “You have a calendar, don’t you?”

  He chuckled as he led me to the bedroom.

  Chapter Eight

  “GOOD MORNING.”

  Tim ran a hand over my butt. “Hey. How are you feeling? Ass a little tender?”

  Hell yes, it was sore. He’d given me a real pounding the previous night, and I loved every second of it. I never thought I could let someone take control like that, but when Tim had me bent nearly in half and was gazing into my eyes, I realized the truth: I had never trusted anyone enough to get close to me.

  “Depends on if you’re planning to use it again.”

  That made him laugh. “I would, but we have work to do.”

  “Work? But I thought…. Wait. You went to work yesterday, but you said you were retired.”

  “And I am, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have something to fill my life. Your mom taught me the importance of giving back the blessings we have. I bought a small store, and people from the group your mom is in make things to sell there. Rachel and I share the stocking, ringing up customers, and things like that. Once a month your mom stops by and picks up a check for everything we sold.”

  “And Rachel does this free?”

  Tim gave me a sad smile. “Rachel and Gavin had a son, Burton. He was twelve years old when he died of an overdose of Clenbuterol. For a couple years, the two of them foundered. Their relationship suffered because each of them blamed the other for what happened. It took a lot of intense couples therapy for them to realize that neither of them had seen the signs, and only Burton knew why he’d done it.”

  That gave me a flash of inspiration. “What if we see if we can help?”

  “How?” Then he must have realized. “No. Absolutely not.”

  I sat up and twisted on the bed to look at him. “Why? If ghosts are coming to me for help, why not start there? He might not even be hanging around, but if he is, do you really think his parents would want that for him?”

  The argument was working, and I was glad for it.

  “Come on. What do we have to lose?”

  He groaned and scratched his face. “I know I’m going to live to regret this.”

  “You don’t have to come with me.”

  He scowled and tapped me lightly on the side of the head. “Are you stupid? I said you don’t go anywhere without me.” He blew out a breath. “How do we do this?”

  “Do you know where Burton died?”

  “At their old place. Rachel found his body in his bedroom. They packed up and sold the house not long after that.”

  “Then that’s where we need to go. As far as I know, ghosts are bound to the places that they died.”

  “But my mom—”

  “Had to be an incredible woman. She gave it everything she had, saying she used her connection to me to get to where I was.” I paused, considering my next words. “If Burton is still there, he’s probably missing his parents something awful. I want to do this for him. Please?”

  “Fine. We’ll give it a shot, but if one thing goes wrong, we leave. Promise me that.”

  “I promise.” I crossed my fingers behind my back. Childish? Yes. But I was determined to see this through.

  “And don’t think I don’t know you have your fingers crossed behind your back.”

  Asshole.

  IT DIDN’T take us long to get to the house where Burton died. As we were driving down the street, an overwhelming sadness took hold of me. I’d never known such despair, even when I was trying to drown mine in drugs and alcohol.

  “He’s here somewhere.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I can feel his sadness.”

  I put a hand on Tim’s arm, and he gasped.

  “That’s him?”

  “Wait, what?”

  He sucked in a breath. “What could have happened to make a child so unhappy?”

  “You can feel that?”

  He nodded, and tears trickled down his face. “He’s lost, lonely, and his heart is broken.”

  That was the feeling I got too. I had no idea what happened, but it must have been horrible.

  We pulled up in front of the place, and I saw him sitting on the stairs. He was pudgy, with bright red hair, and he had his face in his hands.

  “He’s crying.”

  “Scotty, maybe we should—”

  I snarled at him. “Should what? Leave this poor kid to suffer? Are you really that heartless?”

  He chuckled and gripped my leg. “No, cranky. I was going to say maybe we should be cautious. Someone else owns the house, and I don’t want them shooting us for being on their property. Is there a way we can do this in the open lot next to the place?”

  Oh. Shit, I’d done it again. “I’m sorry.”

  He leaned in and kissed me. “Don’t be. If what I’m feeling is half of what you are, I know it’s tearing you up. You’re so softhearted, and that’s what made me fall for you.”

  Instead of answering, I opened the car door, got out, and shut it. As I walked to the front yard of the place, Burton looked up.

  “Hi, you must be Burton.”

  He gasped. “You can see me?” He stood and moved slowly toward me.

  “I can.”

  Now that I had engaged him in conversation, I had no idea what to say.

  “Can you help me? I can’t find my mom or dad anywhere. They left and never came back, and I need them to come home.”

  He reached out a trembling hand, and this time I didn’t hesitate. I took it, and a jolt of electricity went through me….

  I was sitting in my room, looking at the computer and crying. I scrubbed a hand over my eyes and stared at the words on the screen.

  Just do it. You know you want to. My mom says they worked for her.

  A sense of longing went through me as I got up and went into my backpack. I fl
ipped it open, reached in, and pulled out a bottle of pills. I opened the top and poured them into my hand. I stood, staring at them for a long time, then brought them to my mouth. They were bitter and bigger than I’d expected, but I got them down.

  After a while, I started shaking. I was sweating, and my stomach heaved. I thought if I were to lay down, the feeling would pass. A scream woke me up, and I jumped off the bed. My mom was on her knees, crying like I’d never seen before. I went to her and put a hand on her shoulder, but she didn’t look at me. When I turned to the bed, I saw her looking at… me.

  After that, things got fuzzy. Mom and Dad argued a lot, and I was sad to see them fighting. I kept thinking they were going to be like Tyler’s parents and would end up getting a divorce. Then one day they packed everything up and left the house. I panicked and ran from room to room, calling for them, promising I’d be good if only they’d come back, but they were gone.

  Then new people came and brought their stuff with them. I had to accept my parents left me, and I didn’t know what I’d done to make them so upset, but I knew it must have been really bad….

  When I opened my eyes, Tim was standing over me, swiping a hand over my face.

  “You ever do that again, and I will beat your ass so hard, you won’t sit down forever.”

  I struggled to sit up, but he held me in place.

  “What the hell happened?”

  My mouth opened, but no sound came out.

  Tim hugged me close. “Don’t do that again, baby. I can’t lose you.”

  This time when I tried to speak, I croaked the words out. “Aw, you do care.”

  Finally he let me sit up. I turned toward the house, but Burton wasn’t there. I could still feel his presence, though, and now he was sadder than before. “He didn’t kill himself.”

  “What do you mean? He overdosed.”

  “Yes, on what he was told were diet pills. He was trying to lose weight, and a friend stole some from his mom and told Burton the pills would help.”

  “Did he tell you this?”

  I shook my head, the movement making me dizzy. “I saw it. When he touched me, I saw what he did. It was his last moments of life.” I struggled to stand, and Tim got up, pulling me along with him. “He thinks his parents hate him and left him because he’d been bad.”

  He gave me a sad look. I could tell Tim was hurting, too, but his main concern was my well-being.

  “Can’t you tell him that’s not what happened?”

  “I don’t think so. He knows I can see him, but he doesn’t know me.”

  “I am not asking Rachel to come here.”

  What he was saying made perfect sense. How the hell would I explain to her that I could talk to her dead son, and he needed her to forgive him?

  “She needs to know it was an accident. She can’t spend the rest of her life thinking that her son killed himself.”

  Tim scrubbed a hand over his neck. “This is a really bad idea.” But I think he knew it was the right thing to do. “And what about you?”

  Me? “What about me?”

  He shook his head. “You’re not thinking clearly. If she comes here, are you ready to admit to someone that you see ghosts?”

  Oh. Yeah, okay, I hadn’t thought it through fully. “But you felt his sadness. Could you live with yourself knowing how alone he is, and we did nothing to help?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “That’s playing dirty.”

  “No, it’s playing to win. Something you taught me when we gamed. I mean, it was you who kept knocking my car off the track, wasn’t it?”

  That made him chuckle. “Only because you kept making the same mistake every time. You never go to the outside track.”

  “And you’re just now telling me this?”

  He shrugged. “I liked winning.”

  “Call her. Please.”

  “Okay, but this isn’t going to go well.”

  “When did you become such a pessimist?”

  “The day you disappeared.”

  Oh. Shit. “I’m—”

  “It’s fine. You’re here now, and that’s all that matters.” He took his phone out of his pocket, tapped the screen, and a moment later, closed his eyes. “Hey, Rach. You know me, and you know I’m not prone to flights of fancy, right?”

  I gestured for him to put her on speaker. He shook his head, but I glared until he did.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Remember me telling you about Scott? He’s with me, and we are hoping you’ll come to see us.” He scratched the back of his head. “It’s… complicated, but we think if you’ll come and listen with an open mind, you might find a measure of peace.”

  “A measure of…. Have you been drinking?”

  “No. I’m serious. Could you and Gavin come to see us?”

  “Where are you?”

  Tim swallowed hard. “At your old house.”

  There was dead silence for a few moments. “What’s this about? This is cruel, Tim.”

  “Please, Rachel. I need you to trust me, just like I’ve always trusted you.”

  “No.” She hung up.

  “Call her back. This time let me talk to her.”

  “What? No!”

  “Please.” I held out my hand. “We’re so close, and they all deserve to finally rest.”

  He sighed as he punched the screen again, then handed me the phone. At first I didn’t think she’d answer, but then a sobbing voice came on the line.

  “How could you do this? Why? What did I do to make you want to hurt me?”

  “He doesn’t want to hurt you, Rachel. Honestly, we’re trying to help you and Burton.”

  “I’m hanging up, and don’t call here again or I’ll contact the police.”

  I was going to lose her, I knew it. There was only one thing I could do. “Burton didn’t kill himself.”

  It was quiet, but I was sure she hadn’t hung up. “What did you say?”

  “Burton didn’t kill himself.”

  Her voice had a quaver to it when she said, “But the doctors told us—”

  “They were wrong. Please, come to see us, and I promise you’ll understand. Trust in Tim. He considers you a close friend, and you know he wouldn’t want to hurt you.”

  She sniffled. “I should say no….” She murmured something in the background, then came back to the phone. “We’ll be there in twenty minutes.” The line went dead.

  I turned to Tim. “She’s coming.”

  “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  It probably wouldn’t help to tell him I was playing it by ear, so I said nothing at all.

  Tim’s gaze strayed to the house as we waited. “I can still feel him.”

  “So can I. From what I saw, I think he remembers going to sleep, but not dying. He saw Rachel crying, and he’s sure he did something so awful that his parents left him, and he keeps hoping they’ll come back for him.”

  Tim seemed dubious. He kept glancing from the house to the road, then to me.

  “I had to do this. I’m sorry if you don’t agree, but there’s no way I can ignore him now.”

  He hung his head. “I know. I can feel the overwhelming despair, and it makes me want to help him too. I just… I don’t want you hurt.”

  “No guarantees in life, remember? And if we can help Burton, maybe we can figure out your problem too.”

  His head popped up. “You think we can do something about it?”

  “I know we can.” I didn’t really but wanted to give him hope. “He’s not about to have my man.”

  He opened his mouth to say something but stopped when a car approached us.

  “She’s here.”

  The car pulled up to the curb, and the people inside sat there for several minutes. Gavin was gesturing wildly and glaring at me and Tim. Rachel seemed to be pleading with him. Finally, the car doors opened, and I got my first look at Gavin. He was a bruiser. It was easy to see where Burton had gotten his looks. Gavin had flame-red hair and dee
p green eyes. He towered over Rachel, and his glare told me that I had to say something before he took us apart.

  “Daddy! Mommy!” Burton appeared on the sidewalk and rushed toward them. When he got to where we stood, he stopped and turned his sad gaze on me. “Why won’t they answer me? Do they hate me?”

  I wanted to reach out and comfort him, but instead I stood in front of him and stared into his eyes. “No, they don’t. I promise, we’ll fix this.”

  “This is bullshit!” Gavin clutched Rachel’s arm and dragged her toward the car. He glanced back over his shoulder. “Get away from us or I swear to God, I’ll rip your heads off.”

  Tim’s gaze shot in my direction. It was now or never.

  “Burton’s hurting. He thinks he did something that made you hate him because you left him alone.”

  “My son is dead, and you’re a bastard for doing this.”

  “Yes, Burton is dead, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t need his parents right now.”

  That brought Gavin up short. The rage was still there, but also a sadness.

  Rachel turned, and Gavin wrapped his arms around her. She was stunning, and I could feel the love they had for each other. “Please, can’t you just leave us alone?”

  “To be honest, I wish I could.” I stepped closer to Tim, who put an arm over my shoulder. “But I can’t ignore Burton’s sadness. He’s so lost, and he’s not sure what he should do.”

  “You can’t believe this shit, Rach.”

  “I don’t.” Her tone showed her doubt. “But what if…. What if Burton does need us? I can’t walk away from that. He’s our son.”

  Gavin huffed a breath, but his gaze softened when he looked at Rachel. “Okay.” When he lifted his head, those green eyes flashed. “Say what you have to.”

  “Please tell them not to hate me. I’m sorry for whatever I did.”

  “Burton says please don’t hate him, and I’m supposed to let you know he’s sorry for whatever he did.”

  A deep rumble rolled out of Gavin. “He’s playing us.”

  “Was it because I was fat? I got teased from everyone at school about it. Did Mommy and Daddy hate me too? I wanted to look pretty, like my mom. When I told Kieran, he came with some pills he said helped his mom, and said I could have them if I wanted.” Burton sobbed. “I thought… I thought if one pill would help, then if I took all of them, I’d lose weight faster.”