Descending Son

by Scott Shepherd

  Sarah traipsed through the kitchen at one point, gave her mother a disparaging look, made a crack about locking doors lest they should be murdered in their beds, and went back upstairs. At least she didn’t scream or attack me this time, thought Jess. She might have been coming around, but was more likely deferring to their mother’s wishes under her own roof.

  Kate insisted Jess spend the night in his old room. His earlier plea to be dropped off at the theater to pick up the SUV had fallen on deaf ears. Kate simply stated she would take him first thing in the morning—that was that. She got up, leaned over, and kissed him good night. He thanked her again for rescuing him from the evil clutches of the sheriff and then Kate went upstairs to bed.

  That left Jess sitting with Lena, the mother of the beautiful girl he had fallen so hard for in Mexico. He wondered if she knew what had happened between them, and if not, whether he should be volunteering any information. As usual with Lena, she was way ahead of him and immediately made the situation a whole lot easier.

  She reached across the table and took his hand. “My Maria is very happy.”

  He didn’t quite do a coffee spit take, but he did have to fumble for a few words. “Th-that’s good.”

  “She’s also worried about you.”

  “No reason to be. Mom and her lawyer got the sheriff to back off. It’s going to be okay.”

  Lena shook her head. “I’m not talking about that. I know you didn’t kill Dr. Edward. None of us think that.” She glanced up toward the ceiling like she had X-ray vision. “Even your sister. You know what she’s like.”

  He used his mother’s words. “Overly dramatic.”

  “Sí.” She still was holding his hand. “I’m talking about what happened down in Santa Alvarado.”

  Jess couldn’t tell how much Lena knew. “What did she tell you?”

  “Nothing. That’s the problem. Maria never keeps anything from me.”

  Jess gently withdrew his hand.

  “She told you about us, didn’t she?”

  “Only because she didn’t want me to get mad at you for taking her down there.”

  “Believe me, Lena, it wasn’t my idea. She insisted on going.”

  “I know. That she told me. It’s what she’s not saying that has me worried.”

  Jess made a decision. Even though he had first learned about the Civatateo from this woman who had helped raise him, he thought it best not to burden Lena with the particulars.

  “We’re okay, Lena. Both of us.”

  “You say that now.”

  “I would never let anything happen to Maria. Please trust me.”

  “I know that. I’m not concerned about the two of you.” She smiled. “In fact, it’s what I always secretly wished for.”

  But her face quickly darkened as she looked out the window. “It’s what’s out there that worries me. I’m pretty sure that also troubles both you and my Maria.”

  Jess was struggling for a response when his mother called from upstairs. It wasn’t quite a scream but enough to make them rush out of the kitchen.

  They found Kate at the top of the stairs. The color had drained from her face; she had aged at least ten years in the same number of minutes. Jess reached her first.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She pointed to an open door across the hall.

  Jess froze. It was Harry’s room.

  “I went in to check on him,” Kate said. “He wasn’t there.”

  Jess moved past her and entered the room. Moonlight illuminated a typical teenage boy’s domain—sports posters, rock gods, books, and clothes strewn everywhere—along with an empty bed.

  “It’s one thirty in the morning. Where could he be?” Kate asked, hysteria creeping into her voice.

  Jess didn’t have an answer. If he did, it wouldn’t have been good.

  He was too busy staring at the open window leading out to the balcony.

  They searched the house—upstairs, downstairs, inside, out. There was no sign of Harry or any indication he had gone out the doors. Jess knew they needn’t look further than the balcony window where Harry told Jess he had heard Walter calling him. But he also realized he couldn’t come right out and say Harry was wandering through the desert with his father who had returned from the dead.

  So, the exterior lights were thrown on and everybody, including Sarah who showed genuine concern for her brother’s disappearance, covered every inch of the grounds. But the teen was nowhere to be found. Kate phoned the parents of a couple of Harry’s friends, hoping against hope that he was knee-deep in some mischief she would normally ground him for but in this case would celebrate. All she got were angry sleepy responses, so they decided it was time to call the police.

  Jess was less than thrilled to spend time with the authorities again, especially so soon after his narrow scrape with Burke. At least he was spared the sheriff on this occasion—a couple of local uniforms responded to the call. They questioned each member of the family, and then Lena, who was the most visibly upset by Harry’s absence because it fell on her watch. She told them he went to bed around midnight, unable to wait up for his mother’s return to the house with Jess. The cops took a few snapshots featuring Harry, alerted the department he was missing, and told Kate to stick close to the phone in case her youngest called. Before leaving, they tried to reassure her that they saw this all the time. Harry would phone and want her to pick him up somewhere or waltz through the door at any moment. It was probably just a teenager being a teenager.

  Jess tried to echo the sentiment for his mother, but was having a hard time being convincing. He knew Harry hadn’t left of his own volition. And it was tearing Jess up inside. He’d been afraid of something like this happening since the moment he saw his father was out of the grave.

  As dawn approached, everyone was still awake. Lena had called Maria about Harry and she came rushing over. Benji had checked in to see what happened at the theater and Jess had brought him up to speed. He was perturbed to hear it had all gone to shit with Clark fleeing, Jess dragged in for questioning, and Harry suddenly missing. Benji insisted on coming by and Jess was happy for the company and support.

  Maria and Jess sat on the living room couch in silence. Benji paced back and forth, his eyes straying to the window as if willing Harry to appear in the frame. Lena, Kate, and Sarah could be heard in the kitchen mostly murmuring, but Jess could pick out the occasional sob. Finally, Benji couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Shouldn’t we be putting out an APB on your father?” he asked.

  Jess motioned for him to lower his voice. “An APB on a walking dead man?”

  “Okay, I admit it’s nutso but we should be doing something—at least be out there looking for him,” Benji said, frustrated.

  “We don’t even know where to start,” Maria said.

  Jess nodded in solemn agreement. His cell phone rang. He looked at the number, didn’t recognize it, but answered anyway.

  “Hello.”

  The voice caused his heart to skip a whole bunch of beats.

  “It’s Clark James. Are the police still there?”

  “They left about an hour ago,” Jess said. Maria and Benji stared at him, all synapses on alert at the strained tone in Jess’s response.

  “Then, let’s discuss what to do with your brother,” James said.

  10

  “You better not harm him or…”

  Clark James’s chuckle interrupted Jess’s threat.

  “Or what? You’ll kill me? Sort of missed your chance.” Another laugh trickled through the phone line and tore at Jess’s chest.

  “What do you want?”

  “Much better,” said the undead actor. The connection was a little muddled, almost underwater. But Jess could hear the menace in Clark James’s voice just fine. “We can make this a simple negotiation. Do exactly what I tell you and the boy comes back unharmed.”

  “I’m listening.”

  Benji and Maria hung on every word of Jess’s side of th
e conversation. “Do I call the police?” Benji mouthed. Jess shook his head no.

  “By the time I emerge tonight you need to have confessed to Edward Rice’s murder. I hear you’re locked up in custody, and then your brother can be home for a late dinner.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  “You’ve seen what I did to your father. Perhaps he would like to be reunited with his youngest son.”

  The thought made Jess nauseated. “Please don’t hurt him.”

  “That’s up to you, Jessie,” said James. “Though it would be quid pro quo for what Walter did to my daughter.”

  “That won’t be necessary. I will do what you ask.”

  “I knew you’d understand.”

  The connection futzed again as Jess heard a mechanical sputtering. Clark must have shifted his position because the sound faded away and he was much clearer when he resumed speaking. “It goes without saying all this talk of creatures returning from the dead needs to stop. Your two friends in particular, the girl and seedy motel owner.”

  Jess whipped his head around, wondering if Clark James could possibly be lurking nearby. The actor immediately answered the unasked question.

  “I saw them arrive at the house shortly before dawn. Their silence is part of the bargain. Remember, I hear any more tales of vampires and bodies disappearing, it is easy for Harry to wander off in the middle of the night again, only this time he won’t come back.”

  “Say I do what you want. What’s to stop Harry from saying anything?”

  “He won’t remember any of this.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “My daughter told you what happened when she was turned.”

  Jess recalled Tracy’s story about her mind being clouded in the presence of the Civatateo. It made Jess fully realize the power of what he was up against.

  “She told me.”

  “Then you know I’m not someone to fuck with, Jessie,” Clark threatened. “Sundown tonight. You know where I want you to be.”

  The line disconnected.

  Benji and Maria immediately besieged Jess with questions. He quickly repeated Clark James’s demands. The two of them looked crestfallen.

  “That’s so messed up, man,” said Benji. “You’re really going to turn yourself in for a crime you didn’t commit?”

  “Unless we find him before dark.”

  Benji grinned. That was more like it.

  Jess laid out what he was thinking.

  Clark had mentioned the word “emerge.” Jess figured the actor must be lying somewhere low to stay out of the sun.

  “Maybe an attic or basement at the house?” wondered Maria.

  “I’d check there for starters.”

  “What about that housekeeper there?” asked a worried Benji. “She could be some kind of sentry keeping guard while he sleeps during the day.”

  “Eva?” Maria made a half-scoffing sound.

  “You know her?” asked Jess.

  “She and my mother have been friends for years,” Maria explained. “I would never mistake Eva Lopez for the undead’s gatekeeper.”

  “I wouldn’t have picked out Clark James as a vampire either,” said Jess. “We need to proceed with caution there.”

  He addressed this to Benji, and Maria took exception to it. Jess started to reiterate his unwillingness to involve Maria further, but it was barely out of his mouth when she began protesting.

  “Clark James already knows we’re involved. Why should you be the only one taking the risk?”

  “Because I’m the one whose ass is on the line for murder.”

  “Eva might not talk to you, but I bet she would if I was around,” Maria said.

  “Maria…”

  She put a finger to his lips. “I waited years for you, Jess. I’m not letting you go without a fight.” Then she kissed him on the very same lips. When they broke apart, Jess gave Benji a helpless shrug as if to ask: You got a better idea?

  “What she said.” Then Benji managed a smile. “Without all the lovey-dovey stuff.”

  Twenty minutes later, they piled into Benji’s Mustang and headed down the Stark driveway. Benji drove them to the Palm Springs Cinema where Jess was relieved to see the SUV still on the street with a ticket on the windshield. Maria and Jess switched to the bigger vehicle, followed Benji to a long-term parking lot where they dumped the Mustang for the day, then proceeded to the James estate.

  Jess felt bad about the lies he had spread before leaving the house. He’d told his mother, sister, and Lena that he had heard from Harry, who had been lured by school buddies to a late-night party and stayed out much longer than intended. Jess was letting Harry sleep it off, but would get him home before sundown. Kate and Sarah were so relieved they bought it at first blush. Jess wasn’t so sure about Lena, but Maria got her mother to back off with a strident nod and “trust me” look. Jess knew the truth would be impossible to explain and, even if they miraculously believed it, a full-scale panic would ensue. No sense in that, thought Jess, who was worried enough for all of them.

  When they reached the front gate of the Jameses’ house, Jess let Maria ring the bell and do the talking. Maria was right. Her fluent Spanish not only had the gates open in a flash but a welcoming Eva was already waiting for them by the time they hit the top of the driveway. Maria told the housekeeper they had come to pick up a few things for Tracy, who was joining them on a weekend trip to Mexico.

  Eva buying it so readily told Jess a couple of things. Maria was as personable and loveable as a girl could be, but if Clark James was holed up somewhere inside, Eva would have never let them through the gate, let alone the front door. Even if he were occupying a basement labyrinth Eva had no clue existed, the woman would have been under strict orders regarding drop-by visitors. All of this, coupled with Jess’s once-over of the house when he came looking for Tracy a few days ago, led him to believe they were barking up the wrong tree.

  Eva accompanied Maria upstairs to gather clothes for Tracy, the two of them prattling away in Spanish at fifty miles per minute. It allowed Benji and Jess to look for a secret hideaway. But there wasn’t a hidden passage, or even a basement, on the premises. Maria eventually found the guys in the backyard, staring at the country club below.

  She had a small suitcase in tow. Then, as prearranged, Maria asked Eva if she could trouble her for something to drink before they headed out. The housekeeper, happy to be doing something, went inside to fetch beverages.

  “Anything?” Maria asked.

  Benji shook his head. Jess had moved over to one of the flowerbeds. There was a sprinkler box hidden by a tree. He slid open the panel and flicked the dial to the “manual” setting.

  “What are you doing?” asked Maria.

  “Give me a couple of seconds.”

  He quickly ran through the stations. Water sprayed in an arcing soft drizzle over various landscaped areas. Jess shut them down just as fast and closed the panel.

  “That would’ve been too easy.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Benji.

  “I heard this rushing sound when I was on the phone with Clark James. I thought it was bad cell reception, then realized it was sputtering water. The first thing that popped into my head was the sprinkler system here at the house. But this is like a soft rain. What I heard was more industrial. Like…”

  Jess stopped midspeech.

  He hurried across the backyard just as Eva came out of the house with a drink tray. The housekeeper tried to hand one to Jess but he strode past her to the edge of the property. Benji took his glass and one for Jess.

  “Sorry. He gets distracted when he’s thirsty,” Benji said.

  Maria took the third glass and muttered something to Eva in Spanish. The woman smiled, offered up a “No problema” and returned to the house.

  “What’s going on?” Maria asked, watching Jess stare into the distance.

  “I don’t have a fucking clue,” answered Benji.

  Jess was studying the
immaculate green fairways and bright white sand traps of the country club five hundred feet below. His gaze settled on the red bridge leading from the driving range to the practice area.

  Jess had been standing on it a few days before with Harry. He remembered his brother hovering way too close to the edge, staring into the gorge below. Harry had practically been in a trance when he told Jess he thought he heard his father calling him.

  “Jess? What’s going on?” asked Benji. He had come up right behind him with Maria.

  Jess snapped out of it and looked back at the adjacent driving range.

  Big industrial sprinklers kicked into gear—watering one section of grass after shutting down the previous one.

  Jess tore his eyes away and turned to face Maria and Benji.

  “I think I know where they are.”

  EXCERPT FROM THE JOURNAL OF EDWARD D. RICE

  June 14

  The press conference was held at night.

  Everything in Clark James’s life would happen after sunset from that point forward. It was one of the many things the Civatateo had told me after he had “turned” the actor.

  I didn’t have to fill in much. Things fell quickly into place. I realized it had been trapped by the refracted sunlight in the field of glass for a couple of centuries before the film scout came along and broke open the window to see what was below. The Civatateo, free at last, had immediately attacked the intruders and been strengthened by the infusion of fresh blood. It only wounded Clark James—and I learned this was purposeful. The Civatateo had a use for the actor and, ultimately, me.

  Perhaps the ability for the dead to rise and prowl at night could trace its roots in science. Certain organisms thrive under the lunar pull or regenerate on a regular basis (orchids, roses, seasonal trees). There was even Henrietta Lacks, the African-American woman whose cancer cells became immortal and are still used for medical research, six decades after her death. Maybe the Civatateo was a similar genetic mutation that could be explained in a laboratory, but that would never happen because it would kill the researcher before allowing it.