by Sara Clancy
At last, it leveled its mouth to his ear and spoke in a throaty rasp, “What are you?”
Benton jerked back, the sudden motion cracking the internal casing that had held him captive. Instantly and without thought, he opened his mouth and released a Banshee wail.
No two of them were ever the same. This one was tainted with all of his fear and fury. A roar that belonged to some colossal, ancient beast. The earsplitting shriek of static. And somewhere, buried deep within the deafening scream, was something akin to human.
Driven back by the force of the inhuman sound, the ghost’s body ripped apart, dispersing into the sky like crackling sparks. Bone deep terror pulsed though Benton when he saw that the damage didn’t last. The severed specks of her body swirled in the air, constantly trying to combine once more.
I can’t kill it.
Benton reached back, grabbed Adam’s hand, and broke into a run. His voice echoed for a moment, leaving the dismembered spirit disorientated and thrashing. It won’t last. The knowledge lodged in the depths of his mind and spread out like a poison. Adam stumbled and Benton almost dislodged the terrified boy’s shoulder as he wrenched him up. Carrying the extra weight dragged Benton down, but a single, repeating voice kept him going. She’ll heal.
He almost fell as they turned sharply, taking the single path that lead from the parking lot to the campsite. Despite everything that had happened only a few yards away, the campsite was still relatively quiet. The slight slope made his legs burn. Adam slipped his bound arms around Benton’s neck and squeezed until the older boy choked.
She’ll heal.
Seizing the last of his strength, he was barely able to keep his pace as the hill grew steeper and his muscles hardened. She’s coming. He knew it before Adam began to squirm and sob.
Nicole came into view at the peak. She jumped and waved her arms, urging them on while never taking a step toward them. Instead, she threw rapid glances over her shoulder. He was vaguely aware of Wapun’s presence. She held a bowl cupped between both hands, a thin trail of smoke snaking up from its depths. Every muscle of Benton’s back clenched at once, suddenly feeling like stones grinding against each other as he moved. The air went rancid, making him gag. He could feel the woman close to his spine, knew that her hand was pulled back, ready to gouge out his spine. His skin prickled with anticipation.
“Benton!” Nicole screamed.
He flung himself forward at her cry, tucking himself as best as he could to take the impact and spare Adam. The first rays of dawn broke over the horizon and struck the wisps of smoke. Blinding color burst into existence. Benton hit the ground, his eyes burning and body rattling with a pulse of energy. Shielding Adam with his body, he risked a glance.
The blazing rainbow light snapped out like cracks forming in glass, jagged spikes that sought every insignificant speck of smoke. Each contact created another explosion until the air lit up like fireworks. Benton shielded Adam, refusing to look again until the sizzling air stilled and a greenish haze distorted his vision.
He jerked back as a snake of pure light coiled around his arm. It twisted around itself rapidly before slithering away. Another soon caught his eye. He instinctively retreated only to find that there was nowhere left to go. The living auroras moved across the earth, drifting through the air, covering the sky until they blocked out the sunlight. Vivid greens, scorching pinks, neon purples, and a shard of red that he had only ever seen in nebulas. They illuminated the world as they danced and swelled.
Breathed, Benton corrected himself. They’re all breathing. They’re actually alive?
His internal question was answered the moment the woman lunged towards him. In his state of shock, he had almost forgotten that she was there. The light hadn’t. It swarmed to the woman in mass, knotting together to create an impenetrable wall and reducing her to little more than a shadow. Gradually, they loosened, only to rejoin forces when the woman attacked again.
“She can’t get in,” Benton mumbled aloud.
“Benton?”
He snapped around, finding Wapun looming over him. She wasn’t alone. Nicole had pointed out every elder to him and, while he hadn’t had contact with them, he recognized them instantly. The mix of fear and rage that burned within their eyes was also familiar. In his experience, it always came before acts of violence. As subtly as he could, he drew the still weeping boy closer to his side. The action only inflamed the elder’s anger. Still, it was Wapun that spoke.
“I think there are a few things that we need to discuss, don’t you?”
Chapter 9
“What does it look like?” Adam asked as he clutched Benton’s arm.
Nicole smiled, weary but relieved, as she watched Benton describe the newest band of light to the six-year-old. The color and shape and the way it twisted around his fingers. For once, she truly wished she could see what Benton did. It all sounded glorious.
A few shouts erupted from the RV behind them. All three of them turned, half expecting someone to emerge. No one did, and the voices returned to a murmur. She wondered if Adam knew that he had single-handedly saved Benton. The attempted kidnapping alone would have been enough for everyone to close ranks. Knowing that a murderous ghost was stalking around the edges of the blessed earth would have gotten everyone to battle stations. But add Benton to all of that and everyone was on edge.
Siksika knew well enough to fear ghosts, but there wasn’t anything like Benton in the old stories. Or the new ones. Banshees were a completely foreign concept. They were all ready to fight a coyote, she thought. They don’t know what to do with a badger. It was clear that they wanted him gone. Or, at worst, blamed him for everything that had happened. After all, he was physical and there. He was the one they could take it out on. No matter what she said, their anger and fear only fed one another until they looked to be seconds away from lynching Benton. She doubted she would ever get over seeing them like that.
It was Adam that had stopped them in their tracts. More precisely, it was his complete refusal to let Benton go. The second they had cut him free, he wrapped his limbs around Benton, sobbing wildly, screeching like a wounded beast when anyone tried to physically separate them. Even his parents weren’t enough to tempt him away.
So the elders retreated to Wapun’s RV and ordered the trio to sit on the log outside. That was where they stayed as the arguments drew on and the sun crept higher. They weren’t left alone, of course. There was always one person standing by the door, staring at them in silence. Periodically, someone would come out and switch places with them. Nicole had a sneaking suspicion that this had turned into a tactic. Only Wapun had spent time with Benton. All of the rest had to be curious.
“Can you loosen your grip a bit?” Benton asked. “My fingers are going numb.”
Adam’s cheeks flushed as he begrudgingly shifted slightly.
“You know, Nic saved you, too. And she’s way better at this comforting stuff.” Benton winced as Adam returned to a crushing grip. “Guess that’s a no.”
The look Benton threw her way screamed for help, and she was quick to lean forward, peeking around him to see Adam’s face.
“You were really brave,” Nicole said sweetly. “It’s okay that you were scared. We were all scared.”
“Has anyone tried to take you before?”
She said ‘no’ in the same moment Benton laughed a ‘yes.’ Noticing the twin astonished looks, he shrugged.
“It happens. People are creeps.”
“But that doesn’t mean it will happen to you again,” Nicole rushed to assure Adam.
“And if it does, Nicole will beat them up.” Benton smiled. “Since when can you do that sort of stuff, anyway?”
“Well, after last time, Dad’s gotten pretty insistent that I learn self-defense.”
“Last time?” Adam asked.
“She’ll explain it later,” Benton cut in. “Right now, I want to know what she meant by Dad.”
The obvious answer stammered over her tongue. �
��The man who raised me.”
“I know what a father is. I meant, why does he know what happened?”
“Because I told mom.”
“So?”
“So . . .” she drew the word out. “They’re married. They have to tell each other everything. It’s in their vows.”
“I don’t think it is.”
“Well, it should be.”
Benton’s brow furrowed as he thought. “Everything. So he knows I’m . . .”
“A Banshee? Yep. And he’s really excited about meeting you.”
“What’s a Banshee?” Adam asked.
“They’re from Ireland,” Nicole answered swiftly. “According to legend, they’re beautiful women that scream or cry to warn people that something bad is going to happen.”
Adam stared at Benton in wonder. “You’re a girl?”
“Not to my knowledge.”
“You were born in Ireland?”
“Vancouver.”
“You cry?” he asked softly.
“All the time,” Benton replied as dismissively as he had for any of the previous questions.
Adam studied him again. “Are you sure you’re a boy? My brother says boys don’t cry.”
Benton barked a laugh. “Your brother also thinks that girls are incredibly impressed with his chest hair. He’s an idiot.”
“He also says you’re a freak,” Adam mumbled.
Before Nicole could but in, Benton laughed again and shrugged his free shoulder. “Even idiots can be right every once in a while. For the record, I saw your brother cry once.”
“Really?”
Benton nodded. “The first night I met him. Did you hear about what happened at the diner with a guy called Victor?”
A torrent of emotions rose up inside Nicole at the mention of her childhood friend. It was the first time she had seen evil at work. It had latched only to him, and she hadn’t been able to free him in time. He had been the first Fort Wayward victim of the Leanan Sidhe. And, thanks to Benton’s help, he had been the last. She snapped out of her memories when Benton continued.
“I’d like to cry more,” he was telling the child. “People cry when they really care about something. It just seems kind of sad if the only thing you give a shit about is not being murdered.”
A moment of silence followed before both she and Adam said in unison, “You shouldn’t say ‘shit’ in front of a kid.”
He turned to Nicole but didn’t get his snarky reply out before Rick came barreling up to the group.
“Adam,” he gasped between panted breaths, “what the hell is going on? I got this weird text from mom and dad. Someone tried to kidnap you?”
“Benton and Nicole saved me.”
Even though Rick was a year younger than Nicole, he was always trying to give the appearance of being far more mature. He wasn’t. Right now, he was struggling to keep a calm air as he looked at everyone in turn.
“The freak?” he asked at last.
“He has a name,” Nicole noted.
“You’re a freak, too,” Rick dismissed with a wave of his arm.
“Shut up,” Adam’s voice squeaked on the words. He jumped up, putting himself protectively between his older brother and Benton. “They saved my life!”
“Is that what they told you?” Rick said. “I’m sure you weren’t in any real danger.”
Shock crashed down on Nicole like a wave, leaving her dumbfounded and gaping. Color rushed up Benton’s pale neck as he stood up and placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder.
“This is a whole new level of stupid, Rick.”
Anger flashed across Rick’s eyes. He puffed out his chest and gripped his hips. Essentially reminding Benton that he had a good deal more muscle than he did.
“Stop warping my brother’s brain. Stuff like this doesn’t happen in Fort Wayward.”
“What do you call Victor, then?” Benton challenged.
Rick stammered, suddenly looking like the young boy he was instead of the tower of masculinity he tried to be. “This stuff never happened until you rocked up! Everyone knows it! Do you know what we call you behind your back?”
“Maybe you could summon the courage to say it to my face one day,” Benton cut in, his voice void of all emotion. He almost sounded bored. It enraged Rick all the more.
“You’re a walking disease! Do us all a favor and stop infecting everyone else!”
The door to the RV slammed open as Adam began screeching at his brother. Benton, for his part, still seemed like he was barely paying attention to everything happening around him. Nicole suspected that he was doing it specifically to get a rise out of Rick. Stepping back slightly, she threw a pleading look over her shoulder, hoping that one of the emerging adults would put an end to this.
“What’s going on?”
The brothers both fell silent at their father’s question. Mr. Auclair’s physical appearance leaned more to the French side of his Metis heritage than Siksika. His bright blue eyes made his tanned skin seem darker. He had a tendency to let stubble grow along his jawline while keeping his cheeks clean-shaven. Sometimes, she wondered if he was trying to grow mutton chops but just couldn’t quite commit. The brothers took after their mother, inheriting her richer coloring, but not her dimples. The Auclair parents came closer while the elders stayed back, lingering by the door and whispering to themselves, simply watching it all unfold.
“Rick was being mean to Benton,” Adam said at last, his voice turning into a whine.
Rick stammered under the sudden scrutiny of his parents. “I’m just saying that all we have is Benton’s word on this, right?”
“Everyone saw the ghost,” Nicole cut in sharply, gesturing at the group behind her and hoping that one of them would back her up.
“Ghost?” Rick asked. “What ghost?”
Nicole tensed, glanced at Benton, and blurted out. “Well, what the hell are you talking about?”
“The ‘man’ that tried to take Adam.”
“Why did you use air quotations?”
“Because no one saw him, right? We just have Benton’s word on it.”
“And me,” Nicole squealed, her frustration getting the better of her. “Not to mention Adam. You haven’t even asked him what happened.”
“Because the freak’s had enough time to fill his head with lies,” Rick replied.
“Are you actually insane?” Nicole screamed at him.
“Calm down, Nicole,” Mr. Auclair said. “He’s got a point.”
Again, Nicole was rendered silent by shock. She turned first to the elders only to find them content with keeping out of it. Next, she turned to Benton. Meeting her gaze, he shook his head slowly. The resigned motion that spoke volumes. How many times has he been through this? Despite his silent request, she couldn’t let the comment pass.
“Sir, with all due respect, what on Earth are you talking about?”
“It’s too early to know what happened,” Mr. Auclair said.
“There are three witnesses,” she replied in desperation.
“You just saw a ghost, Nicole,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “You’re bound to remember things a little differently.”
“It wasn’t my first ghost.” The words were out before she had time to consider if she should confess that or not. Quickly, she decided that it was better for the elders to know the truth rather than dance around the issue. Reaching blindly out, she found Benton’s forearm and squeezed. He sighed heavily.
“And it wasn’t my first experience with a child murderer, either,” he muttered bitterly.
“What?” Rick asked.
Benton waved him off, not bothering to respond with words.
“You really are a freak.”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
Rick bristled at the dismissal. “Okay, if you’re not lying, where is this guy? I want to see him. Is he at the station house?”
“He’s dead,” Benton said, returning to his bland, emotionless speech. “The ghost killed him.”
“Killer ghost?” Rick said slowly.
“It’s true,” Adam chirped.
“See, this is what I’m talking about. Benton’s obviously been lying to him.”
“Perhaps,” Mrs. Auclair said softly.
Benton’s facade shattered like fine crystal. He turned onto the adults with a barely contained fury, absently shoving Adam behind him.
“He’s not an idiot,” Benton snarled. “Don’t treat him like he is.”
Mr. Aucliar bristled. “You want to watch what tone you use with me, boy.”
“You might want to remember you’re a goddamn parent and start acting like it,” Benton retorted.
“Excuse me?” Mrs. Auclair said it as a challenge. “Our son has gone through a traumatic experience−”
“You don’t help someone deal with trauma by belittling what they went through,” Benton cut in. “Or by telling them it was all in their head.”
“We’re trying to help him.”
“You’re helping yourselves. Don’t sacrifice his mental well-being to keep your denial.”
Rage blazed in Mr. Auclair’s eyes. He took a single rushed step toward Benton before remembering himself. Balling his hands at his sides, he spoke through clenched teeth.
“He’s just a boy. We’re trying to protect him.”
“The time for that is so far gone that we can’t even see it on the horizon anymore,” Benton scoffed.
“We want what’s best for him.”
“Then give him the strength to face the truth!” Benton roared. “Life is a cesspool! It’s terrifying, degrading, and disgusting. Just one long procession of misery. And then you die. And that can be just as messed up as life itself.”
Mrs. Auclair glanced around Benton to her young son. “You’re not going to die.”
“Spoiler alert; everyone dies. You, me, her, that guy over there. Death ain’t exactly picky.”
“How can you say that to a scared child?” Mrs. Auclair hissed.
“Because it’s the truth! Life is a constant battle to keep your head above the muck, and the only thing that makes it tolerable is knowing someone cares if your head goes under. Lying to him now isn’t going to magically change what happened. Nothing ever will. All you’re doing is leaving him to drown on his own!”