by J. P. Rice
I planned to flip the latch open and run to the side before the escaping spirit could envelop me and sweep me away. I held my palm up and placed it on the bottom of the latch. I steeled my nerves and flicked my hand upward.
Opening my heavy eyes, I saw three people I didn’t recognize kneeling around me.
A female voice said, “He’s alive. Oh, thank God, he’s alive.” She made eye contact with me. “We thought you were dead. Are you feeling all right?”
I slowly started to regain my wits and smelled burnt flesh. Oh yeah, I was with a vampire looking into a haunted barn. “What happened?” I asked as I sat up and looked at the remnants of two shattered barn doors lying ten feet from where they belonged.
Roy said, “As soon as you opened those doors, there was a loud blast that blew you back about...hell this must be about fifteen feet or so. It was the red gas this time what escaped when you opened them doors.”
The two ladies helped me to my feet but I didn’t feel any pain. More than anything, I felt tired. “Do you mind if I go in?”
Rebecca squeaked, “Are you sure you want to?”
My delirious mental condition would have caused me to walk through the gates of hell right now. I staggered into the barn and the foul odor was gone. I searched around the empty storage facility and it was spooky, but the darkness had left.
Roy entered the barn with a glowing lantern. “Need some light?”
I waved him off. “I don’t think we’ll need that. Whatever was in here is gone now. Why don’t we start this story from the top? Outside, of course.”
We walked out of the barn and into the sunny day. The four of us sat down at a picnic table under a huge apple tree.
Roy picked at some of the peeling paint on the table. “We bought this place about four months ago. Guy who sold it to us said there were some antique boxes out in that barn you were just in. Said we could keep them and sell them if we want. Sounded like a good deal at the time.” He pointed with his head toward his wife. “What was it, only about a month before all the stuff started happening.”
Rebecca added, “If it was even that long.”
Roy continued, “Strange stuff started happening. Shelves and tables shaking, knocking stuff to the ground and breaking. And that barn. I don’t know how she’s still standing from all the shaking and noises that came from that thing. I don’t get spooked too easy, but this was something different. Then, my dad died suddenly of a heart attack, even though he was healthy as a damn bull. And my damn arm.”
I asked, “Yeah, what happened there?”
His big beard bounced up and down as he talked, “Bookshelf in the house fell on me and I tried to deflect it with my arm at the last second. Plus, there’s all the stuff that happened to her.”
“There’s more?” I asked, intrigued.
Rebecca said, “That’s just the start. Our two dogs disappeared. I lost my job due to downsizing and got this rash all over my body that just won’t go away.”
Carolyn jumped in. “I noticed the ‘for-sale’ sign on our way in. I guess you two have had enough?”
Rebecca said, “Absolutely. We’re even thinking about staying somewhere else until it sells. We want to have kids and there’s no way we’re raising them here.”
This would not be a good place for inquisitive children. “I understand that. Are the boxes still in this barn?”
Roy said, “Nope. Once I figured out that they were causing all the commotion, I buried them in the backyard. I looked up some stuff on the internet and they said I needed to bury the spirits so they couldn’t escape.”
Carolyn asked, “Were the boxes open when you looked at them the first time?”
Roy shook his head. “First time I looked at them, they were closed. When I took them out to bury them, they were all open.”
I had an idea of what these boxes were, but it wasn’t my area of expertise. “Can you show us where you buried the boxes?”
“Yep, they are right over there,” Roy said, and pointed to an open field.
We got up from the table and trekked about a hundred yards away from the haunted barn. The heart punching came back along with my tightened stomach, twisting and turning. We approached a fissure in the ground about a foot wide. I took a wild guess that it wasn’t man made.
Roy explained, “I buried them and then came out here one day and seen this crack in the land leading right up to the boxes. The hole for the boxes had been dug up too just like it is now.”
Dirt had been scattered in every direction and I could see some of the boxes in the five by five-foot hole. I reached down into the pit and grabbed one of the ornate boxes. A fiery feeling pulsed around my fingertips and I yanked my hand away.
My shaky hand touched another box, checking the heat level, and this one was cold. I pulled the wooden box out of the ground and wiped it off. The rectangular object had two doors that swung open when I stood it up. I pushed them closed and swung the little lock between both door handles to hold it shut. It looked like a tiny, ornate cabinet.
Rebecca asked, “Do you have any idea what it is?”
I paused for a moment. “I’m pretty sure I do.”
Carolyn cut in. “It’s a Dybbuk Box.”
I turned to her. “That’s what I think too.”
Rebecca asked, “What’s a Dybbuk Box?”
Carolyn took the lead. “Basically, the box is used to trap the spirit of an ancient mythological demon from Jewish culture. Normally, it is a wandering soul that terrorizes humans.”
I didn’t want to tell them these boxes were probably infested, and we would need to excise the escaped demons from their property.
Roy wondered, “Why would anyone do that?”
Carolyn answered, “The spirits are usually summoned by desperate people who are willing to do anything. How many boxes are there?”
“Twelve,” Roy said.
I needed to do some more research. “Do you mind if I take a few with me?”
Roy immediately agreed, “Take ‘em all. Anything that doesn’t leave with you is going to get burned later on tonight.”
“I’ll probably just need a few of them to find out where they came from.” I turned to Carolyn, and lowered my voice. “Don’t touch any of the boxes. I’m going to take them to Jonathan to find out what they are all about. He knows antiques pretty well it seems.”
She held her hands up and nodded as I pulled a few of the boxes from the ditch. Stacking three on the ground, I picked them up and Roy followed me with another. We stashed them in the trunk of my car and went back to the front porch to talk to the couple.
“I’m going to find out what I can about the boxes and I’ll try to chase them away so you don’t have to worry about moving away. However, we need to talk about prices.” I hated this part. “In this business, each case is different so prices can be somewhat tricky.”
Carolyn said bluntly, “Just tell them about your standard removal rates. Stop trying to give everyone a deal. They just want to get rid of this problem, right?”
Roy said, “Yeah, yeah, we’re not looking to rip you off and this will save us money by not having to sell the house. How confident are you that you can take care of the problem?”
“If it turns out to be what I think it is, yes, we can handle it. The standard removal fee for all this will be one thousand dollars,” I said, and waited for a reaction.
Rebecca immediately said, “Fine, yeah, take care of it then. From broken dishes to medical bills, these things have cost us enough money already. It needs to stop.”
I smiled on the inside that she didn’t haggle with me. “All right then. I will be in contact with you as soon as I find out more information.”
Roy said, “Thank you.” We exchanged another awkward handshake and the couple went back inside.
We got in the car and slowly rolled down the driveway. “Why are you messing around with all this for only a thousand dollars?”
I wouldn’t turn my nose up at a hundred
dollars, much less a grand. “For some of us, a thousand dollars for a few day’s work is pretty good.”
She argued, “Not when I’m paying you sixty times that to just hang out with me.”
“Sixty-one thousand is better than sixty.”
“That explosion must have blasted you harder than I thought if you are willing to mess with that stuff for only a thousand bucks. You’re not very smart, wizard.”
I defended myself, “I took an oath to protect the city. If this turns out to be bigger than just some people on a farm getting terrorized, I need to take action. I don’t think you’ll understand, but it’s my obligation.”
She slid down in the seat as we approached the end of the driveway. “You’re a good young man. Stupid, but good.”
A crunching sound filled my ears, followed by an ominous hissing. The car suddenly tilted to the side. You’ve got to be kidding me. We got out of the car and found that the front passenger’s side tire was flat. I opened the trunk and felt a palpable release of energy from the boxes.
I reached into the back for my T-bar lug wrench. The original that had come with the car was a piece of crap so I had to buy a good one for instances like this. I stacked the boxes, put them aside and peeled the floor covering back to check the spare. Full of air.
I took the first two lug nuts off easily and positioned the T-bar for the next one. I started turning the wrench when it suddenly came loose and smacked me in the nose. I couldn’t believe this recent bout of bad events.
I stood up, and Carolyn had her sunglasses off with an intent look like she wanted to eat me. Oh yeah, she kind of did.
“Do you mind?” she asked, shrugging her shoulders.
“Go ahead.” I leaned my head back and Carolyn started lapping up blood off my upper lip. Okay, for those who haven’t had the chance, a vampire licking blood from your upper lip is quite pleasing despite the fact that my exposed neck sat so close to her razor-sharp teeth. Her lip rings were cold as they touched the side of my mouth.
She kept going until the well ran dry. I was happy we were in the driveway of a private residence and nobody could see this odd activity.
I got the tire off and went to grab the spare. I pulled back the covering and picked up the spare tire. The flat spare tire.
What the what? I’d just checked that tire no more than five minutes ago.
To add insult to injury, Carolyn said, “You probably should have checked that first.”
I took a deep breath and exhaled through my nose. “I did when I got the wrench out. I literally squeezed it and got barely any resistance.”
She smirked, playing with her gigantic sunglasses. “Literally. As opposed to figuratively squeezing it.”
I literally hated it when people overused that word too, but now wasn’t the time for jokes. “You are no help at all, by the way.”
“Oh yeah, do you have AAA?”
I couldn’t afford it right now. “No, I don’t have AAA.”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a petite black wallet. “Help is on the way,” she said, as she plucked the AAA card out of its slot.
A vampire carrying a AAA card, huh? That was stranger than her drinking blood. “Is that safe? Will the vamps be able to detect that somehow?”
“I already got rid of my phone so you’re going to call. I don’t think they have anyone in the know at AAA. I’m pretty positive of it. I’m not scared if you aren’t.”
Why did I feel that I was going to regret this? “Give me the card.”
I called the number and talked to a lovely woman.
I turned to Carolyn. “They said it would be an hour or a little more.” I checked the time. 2:41 p.m.
That meant I wouldn’t get to the auto shop before it closed. My plan to get a new tire, run home, get cleaned up, and get to the restaurant to meet Satoku was falling apart quickly.
“So the woman said that the driver will let us ride with him when he tows the car to the shop on Freeport Road. For now, we just have to wait.”
“You know what’s going on, right?”
I tilted my head to the side, hoping that some of the useless thoughts clogging my mind would spill out of my ear. No dice. “I’m guessing you do?”
“Of course. We are a very perceptive, us vampires. It’s the Dybbuk boxes, you fool.”
“I knew that.” I hadn’t. “How often do you think I smack myself in the nose?”
“Do you really want me to answer that?” She laughed, and we sat on the hood of the car.
“I’m going to call Jonathan so he can find out the background on these boxes. I trust you’ll stay quiet.”
I went through my phone list and found the J section. There he was. I pressed send and put the phone to my ear.
Jonathan answered on the fourth ring. “Micheal Merlino, tell me you have some good news for me.”
“Yes and no. I have something unrelated to what we talked about last night. I stumbled upon some Dybbuk boxes and wanted to know if you could take a peek at them. Maybe find out some background and get an appraisal on them.” Who said I didn’t have any business sense? Oh, right, everybody.
He said, “I could definitely check them out for you. Stop by late tonight, around two. Tomorrow actually.”
“I understand. I’ll see you later on tonight. You know what I mean.”
He laughed and hung up the phone without a good bye. I exhaled, expelling all the nervousness. The entire conversation had me on edge. Lying to a six-hundred-year-old vampire was slightly nerve racking. “He told me to say hi,” I joked.
“Says the guy who smacked himself in the face with a T-bar,” she jabbed back.
Well played. “I guess you’re right,” I conceded.
“Where’s your fight? Your wit? You could have easily said, ‘yeah but I’m the same guy who vaporized that stone man last night.’”
That would have been an excellent line. “My mind is scrambled right now. Between this explosion here, my father escaping from jail, the graveyard uprisings, being the red meat filling of a vampire sandwich, and my girlfriend possibly leaving me for another guy, my head’s a tad bit scattered. Sorry.”
She pulled down the sunglasses. “Holy shit. Did it feel good to get all that out?”
“Little bit, yeah. And now, I might be late to dinner with her and wonder boy. Things are slipping out of my control and I don’t like it.”
“Oh shit,” screamed Carolyn, as she jumped up off the hood. “I hope you’re ready to die, motherfuckers.”
Chapter 9
Her Wolverine nails extended from her fingertips and she raised her upper lip, showing off her fangs as two older men in white suits approached. I summoned my magical ability and brought it to the surface. I started concentrating heat in my chest and tightening a pocket of air in front of me.
“Do you know these guys?” I couldn’t imagine how they had discovered her despite her pigmentation alteration.
She answered, “They know me, but they’re not exactly my friends.”
“Fellow vamps?”
She thought for a second, before she said, “Sort of. They’re demons. Undead demons.”
Perfect. I couldn’t get in trouble with the Celtic Gods for killing undead demons. I kept forming my super-heavy pocket of air and started to inject some heat into it. The two demons kept charging faster than horses. I waited for the perfect moment and released the invisible, fiery pocket of air and sent it hurtling toward them.
One demon slid under the pocket and the other dove over it and rolled over in a front somersault. Deft moves. I pounced on the demon on the ground and punched his waxy face twice. The creature’s neck felt like plastic as I choked it with all my might.
A thundering kick in my shoulder rocked me onto my side. One of the demons lunged for Carolyn, who ducked, and used an uppercut, swiping her deadly fingernails up the demon’s belly and chest. Carolyn giggled as burgundy blood sprayed from the wound, showering her face. She licked some from her lips and
smiled. Backing away, she did a three-sixty, confusing her opponent, and slashed across the demon’s chest, creating another multi-stream waterfall before the man fell flat on his face.
I’d made it back to my feet, and I took a swing at the incredibly fast demon. He ducked and hopped four feet to the left. Bouncing back and forth in a crouched position, the demon was ready to pounce at any moment. I twisted some air into another hot pocket and waited.
The demon said, “Carolyn. Come with me now and save your proud family and yourself an eternity of shame. It’s the only sensible way.”
She spat on the ground. “Come with you so you can kill me. I don’t think so. Nice try though.”
I was confused. She had said these guys were demons, but it sure sounded like a fellow vamp from her clan. “What the hell is going on here? I can’t just go around killing people. I’m held to a higher standard.”
She stared at me with fire in her eyes. “If he escapes and tells Jonathan about this, you’re going to be impaled, so don’t let him get away.”
The man turned and ran. He darted off in an uneven zig-zag pattern, never staying on a straight path. I ran back and forth, stretching out the pocket to counteract his rapid movements, and manipulated the heavy air as wide as I could, making it the length of a full-sized car. Then, I added the fire.
I waited for the perfect moment and released the heated pocket of air. The vamp darted to his left, and one more step would have put him outside the range of my hot pocket. If I missed, he would easily get away. I leaned to the side, trying to move the heated burst to the left.
Suddenly, the wide pocket blasted him from behind. A furious howl filled the air as the man was launched through the air, spinning and twisting, eventually landing on his face.
We ran toward the vamp and Carolyn raced past me as if she was an Olympic champion. The man scrambled to his feet as she closed in. Carolyn dove through the air, arms and fingernails extended in front of her.
I saw it in slow motion as her lethal nails disappeared into the man’s chest. She drove them in, up to the fingertips, and I imagined that they came out the vampire’s back. Both the combatants crumpled to the ground, but only Carolyn sprang back to her feet.