3 Ghosts of Our Fathers

by Michael Richan

  “He always hated Davy,” Garth said. “Never knew why. He hated him more than he disliked Sean and I. If he learned that Davy was involved in this, I’m sure he’d be furious at him.”

  “So that means,” Steven said, “that in addition to myself, Roy might be at risk. And my son, Jason.”

  “I’d say so, yes,” Daniel said. “It’s worth finding out if either of them have been having bad dreams lately.”

  “What exactly can Frank do?” Steven asked. “He’s a ghost, right? Roy and I have fought ghosts before. They can be dealt with.”

  “Really?” Garth said. “Fascinating.”

  “I’m no expert on soul cages,” Daniel said, “but I do know a little. Frank isn’t a normal ghost. A normal ghost occurs after death, when a person goes through death with their body and soul together. When Frank’s soul was caged back in 1933, his body became like a shell, operating on automatic. Eventually the shell died. But the soul never died, never went through death, where a conversion takes place. Frank’s soul still has a lot of life’s power in it. How much, we don’t know. We don’t know the original terms of the binding.”

  “When I saw Frank at my house,” Steven said, “he was in some kind of glass casing that was restricting his movements.”

  “That’s a physical representation of the cage,” Daniel said. “It has stopped his soul from returning to his body, and from doing or going anywhere else for that matter. But his mind is still inside that cage, active, able to gather information in real time. Do you remember when he touched your neck?”

  “Yes,” Steven said, “the bruising, the way it was moving my skin around.”

  Garth sat back in his chair, overwhelmed by the discussion.

  “Frank certainly didn’t have that ability when he went into the cage,” Daniel said. “He picked up some skills along the way.”

  “The cage wouldn’t stop him from learning?” Steven asked. “Or from gathering abilities or tools?”

  “It would depend upon the tools,” Daniel said, “and the terms of the binding. Some tools are purely non-temporal, so if he was determined enough he could have used the last eighty years to prepare for when he’d be released. This isn’t a ghost you’re dealing with – it’s much more lethal.”

  They both paused and looked up at Garth.

  “Gentlemen,” Garth said, “I’m sorry this has come down on you. I really am. When we did it all those years ago we had no idea what would happen. We just did it to be free of the beatings. But I will tell you this, Mr. Hall. Sean and I were grateful to Davy back when it happened, for helping us do it. I’m still grateful to this day. I’ll be eternally grateful. What Davy helped us do changed our miserable childhoods into something tolerable. I know he felt he was doing the right thing. I think he still would have helped us even if he knew the consequences. But I’m sorry this wheel has turned. I hope you are able to solve it, and if there’s anything I can do to help, I will.”

  “Thank you, Garth,” Steven said. “You’ve been very helpful already. I think Daniel and I will return to Seattle. My father should be returning from a trip today and he might have some ideas on how we can deal with this. I should also check up on my son.”

  Garth rose slowly to his feet. “Old bones stand up a little slower than they used to,” he said. He extended a hand to Steven and Daniel.

  “Is the best way to reach you the number here at the reception office?” Steven asked.

  “Oh no,” Garth said. “Let me give you my cell number.”

  They exchanged contact information, plugging each other’s numbers into their respective cell phones.

  “Please let me know how things go,” Garth said. “In a way I feel responsible for this mess, and if there’s something I can do to help resolve it, I will.”

  “Thanks, Garth,” Steven said. “I’ll stay in touch. In the meantime, please don’t worry. My father Roy will know how to deal with this; we’ll come up with something.”

  Garth followed them out to the main doors of the facility, and watched them go down the front ramp and towards the parking lot. I wonder what Sean will think of this, he thought, turning to walk to his room.

  Chapter Seven

  On the drive back to Seattle, Steven replayed the meeting with Garth in his mind. He was searching for any clue Garth might have mentioned that could lead them in a particular direction. He was coming up empty. He grew frustrated at the idea this problem was something from the past, something his progenitors didn’t take care of. Now it fell to him to figure it out, and he was feeling resentful.

  “There’s got to be something we can do,” Steven said. “It seems to me like we’re running out of time. I’m just guessing here, but I get the feeling Frank will be harder to kill when he’s free of the cage.”

  “Yes,” Daniel said, “he’ll be easier to deal with while he’s in the cage.”

  Steven paused. “Don’t take this the wrong way Daniel, but ‘deal with’ isn’t what I have in mind. Frank’s body died years ago, and his soul had its hand wrapped around my neck recently. Hearing Garth’s story, I mean to extinguish the guy.”

  “Oh,” Daniel paused. “Killing him is certainly an option from my perspective. Just using an euphemism.”

  Steven simmered on the idea for a few moments, steeling his resolve. This would not end like Michael or Jurgen, with life still left in them, problems still waiting to happen. Frank had threatened him directly and he would find a way to eliminate Frank completely.

  “Any ideas on how to kill him while he’s still in the cage?” Steven said.

  “Well,” Daniel said, “the problem is the cage itself. Without knowing the original terms of the binding, we don’t know what type it is and what can get in or out. If we can find that out, we might be able to figure out what vulnerabilities there are and come up with something that would work.”

  “To kill him,” Steven said.

  “Yes, to kill him,” Daniel said a little uncomfortably.

  “And if he gets out before we kill him?” Steven asked.

  “You’re right, it’s going to be more difficult if he gets out. There will be other options if he’s free of the cage, but he’ll be much more dangerous. If we can figure out how to do it while he’s still in the cage, that would be best.”

  “And by ‘do it,’ you mean ‘kill him,’ right?” Steven asked.

  “Yes,” Daniel said, a little irritated.

  “It seems it’s a word you’re not very comfortable with,” Steven said.

  “I don’t think you should ever be comfortable killing anyone or anything,” Daniel said. “It should be uncomfortable.”

  Steven decided to let the subject drop for now. He let the discussion bounce back and forth in his mind instead. Roy should be home by the time they reached Seattle, and he wanted to talk about David with him. He remembered Roy convincing him to not pursue Michael even though he’d been involved in some horrific child murders. He remembered him and Roy leaving Jurgen twisting in pain in his office after removing his powers; why didn’t they just kill him? He deserved it. So did Michael. Leaving these horrible people alive just gave them a chance to recover and pursue more evil. Even the Manitou had left Jurgen alive. People with the gift seemed to have a real reticence to kill, even when it seemed appropriate or necessary. Maybe it was some code. Like the ten commandments, Steven thought. Thou shalt not kill. But that was in a normal world where you couldn’t live forever or trap souls. What exactly are the rules in the world of ghosts?

  “Pardon me for just a moment,” he said to Daniel. He pulled out his cell phone and scrolled through the names, looking for Jason. He found it and hit dial. He hated others who used cell phones while driving but this couldn’t wait.

  He reached Jason’s voicemail. “Jason, this is Dad. Would you give me a call when you get this message? It’s important. Thanks.”

  He returned his phone to his pocket.

  “Does Jason know?” Daniel asked.

  “About Fra
nk? That’s what I hope to find out,” answered Steven.

  “No, I meant about the gift,” Daniel said.

  “Oh,” Steven said. “No. He doesn’t. At least as far as I know.”

  “Do you think he has it?”

  “What, the gift?”

  “Yes.”

  “To be honest with you I hadn’t really thought about it.”

  “I see. Best to just keep him out of this?”

  “Well yes, to the extent he can be.”

  “That’s how I feel about Troy,” Daniel said, “though it’s Eliza’s decision, of course. I suppose it’s the natural desire to protect your children. But if it turns out he has the gift, I struggle with how appropriate it is to deny him the knowledge to develop it. I mean, if you found out your kid had some special skill, like he was a really good baseball player, you would encourage him to play little league, right? You wouldn’t pretend little league doesn’t exist, or worse, bar him from playing it? That would seem cruel.”

  “I suppose so,” Steven said. “Hadn’t thought of it that way.”

  “The gift is like being a prodigy in some ways,” Daniel said. “They take prodigies out of grade school and put them in college courses so they can advance. Leaving them in elementary schools just stunts them, frustrates them.”

  “I’m confused,” Steven said. “So you would or you wouldn’t teach Troy how to develop his gift?”

  “I’m saying I struggle with that,” Daniel said. “If he even has it. Eliza doesn’t tell me much about him. But I do wonder.”

  “Last time I saw him, his interest seemed to rest squarely in video games.”

  Daniel smiled. “I sent him that Xbox. Eliza was pissed but she let him keep it. She told him she won it in a contest.”

  “I hope I’m not betraying a confidence, but she told me she doesn’t know when she’ll tell Troy.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me. Sounds like she’s right where I am. Thanks for telling me. I’ll keep that bit of information to myself.”

  “We’re getting close to my father’s place,” Steven said. “Do you mind if we swing by and see if he’s returned from his trip?”

  “Not at all,” Daniel said.

  “No job to get back to?” Steven asked.

  “I’m a writer,” Daniel said. “I can make anything work.”

  -

  Roy looked a little sunburnt.

  “How was the trip?” Steven asked.

  “Relaxing as hell,” Roy said. “Dixon knows how to kick back, let me tell you. He’s perfected the act of relaxation to an art.”

  “Glad to hear it,” Steven said. “This is Daniel. He’s been helping me while you’ve been gone.”

  Roy and Daniel shook hands. “Helping him, are you?” Roy asked. “Sounds like something’s up. Well, follow me into the kitchen and you can tell me about it. I have a few things to unpack.”

  They both followed Roy. Steven took a seat at the kitchen table and motioned for Daniel to sit as well. Roy began unpacking several plastic bags. He pulled out a beautiful large shell and handed it to Steven.

  “Look at this!” Roy said. “An animal lived in that thing. Dixon hit the shell like this,” he grabbed the shell back to demonstrate, “and the thing crawled out. Dixon stabbed it and we barbequed it for dinner. Delicious.” He handed the shell back. “Beautiful, right?”

  “It’s a conch,” Steven said, turning the shell in his hand.

  “I don’t remember what the hell Dixon called it,” Roy said. “And look at this!” He pulled two large bottles of dark liquid out of the bags. “Local rum! Want a taste?”

  “Later, Dad,” Steven said. “Listen, I want to hear all about the trip but we need to talk to you.”

  “What’s up?” Roy asked, still pulling items out of bags and placing them on the counter.

  “Your father, David, pissed off a man eighty years ago by imprisoning him in a soul cage. Now he’s getting out and coming after me. After us.”

  Roy stopped emptying the bags and stood still, staring at the kitchen cabinets. He didn’t turn to look at Steven.

  “Frank Wilmon,” Roy said, his enthusiasm gone. “Am I right?”

  “How’d you know?” Steven said.

  Roy returned to unpacking the bags. “My father wrote about him in his book. One of the first things I was ever able to read in that book, because he told me all about him. Frank was one of the first times my father used his gift. He was afraid of Frank and wanted me to know about him.”

  “And you never thought to tell me?” Steven said.

  “It didn’t seem relevant,” Roy said. “Just a story my dad told me.”

  “Well, that story had his hand around my neck the other night,” Steven said. “He threatened to kill me. With you gone I needed some help, and Eliza referred me to Daniel here. He and I tracked down one of Frank’s kids, an old man named Garth. He lives in Olympia. We just came from there. He told us the whole story.”

  “Why don’t you take a deep breath,” Roy said, continuing to unpack, “and start from the top. Tell me everything that’s gone on.”

  Steven and Daniel relayed the entire story, starting with Steven’s first visit from Frank through all the details of Garth’s experiences.

  “You’d think Frank would start with you instead of me,” Steven said, “being David’s son.”

  “I was out on the water,” Roy said. “That’s why he couldn’t reach me. What about Jason?”

  “I have a call out to him, waiting to hear back.”

  “So you’re an expert on time, Daniel?” Roy asked.

  “Well, I do know something about it. I’ve studied it over the years,” Daniel said.

  “What do you think?” Roy asked him.

  “Well,” Daniel said, “I think it’s very dangerous. The cage is definitely collapsing. I figure there’s 48 hours left before he’s completely free. And he’s picked up some skills while he’s been in there. Steven’s skin was undulating and twisting where Frank had grabbed him. His touch left some residual power that was very disturbing. It might have been very small-scale time shifting on a molecular level.”

  “Time shifting?” Roy asked.

  “The cells of the skin each moving backward and forward in time, by just a split second. It would make it appear that it was moving when viewed in normal linear time.”

  “Sounds bizarre,” Roy said.

  “It’s dangerous. It’s hard enough for a human to handle a shift in time if your whole body is involved. What he did caused a piece of Steven to be out of sync with the rest of him. If he could cause that effect on a wider area, say on a vital organ like your heart or your brain, it would probably kill you.”

  Daniel paused. “In fact, that might be the technique of the soul cage. That might be how his soul was removed from him. He might have found a way to use the same power that entrapped him.”

  “So the cage might not be expiring,” Steven said, “he might be destroying it from within?”

  “Maybe,” Daniel said. “Impossible to know for sure without more information on the cage itself.”

  “I like this guy,” Roy said to Steven, nodding toward Daniel. “He knows his shit. And any friend of Eliza’s is a friend of mine.”

  “He’s been invaluable,” Steven said. “Without you here I was kind of lost.”

  “We need to talk to that face in the junk pile,” Roy said. “That’s our next move. We need to know where the garage is.”

  “I can call Garth,” Steven said. At that moment Steven’s cell phone rang. He looked at the display.

  “It’s Jason, let me take this,” he said, rising and walking into the other room. Roy and Daniel listened to half of the conversation but couldn’t tell what was going on.

  Steven returned from the other room. “Jason is at my house, waiting for me to get home. Daniel, can you make contact with Garth and find out the location of that garage? I’m going to go over to my house and talk with Jason.”

  “I’ll c
ome with you,” Roy said.

  “No, I want to talk to him alone,” Steven said. “Daniel, are you up for going with us to visit the garage?”

  “Absolutely,” Daniel said, “if you want me along.”

  “I do,” Steven said. “Dad, can Daniel stay here with you while I go do this? I’m not sure where the conversation with Jason will go but I want to do this on my own.”

  “Sure,” Roy said. “He can stay.”

  “And Dad,” Steven said, “can I take all the protection you’ve got sitting around? I’m going to ask Jason to take some.”

  “Sure, let me round it up,” Roy said, turning towards a cabinet.

  “Would that device you gave me work with Jason?” Steven asked Daniel.

  “Yes, it should,” Daniel said. “Same instructions I gave you. Don’t let it get taken away. You have to keep it close. I can give you another one – I have several in my backpack in the car.”

  “What about the protection you gave me? Any more of that?” Steven asked.

  “I think your father’s protection is probably stronger than mine,” Daniel said. “I’d use that.”

  Roy returned with two large Mason jars filled with a clear liquid. “I made a ton when we were dealing with Jurgen,” he said. He handed them to Steven.

  “Thanks. Would you mind whipping up some more for you and me? We’re going to need it too.”

  “Sure, I can make more while you’re gone.”

  “Can I watch?” Daniel asked.

  “Of course not,” Roy said. “My father told me to never show anyone how it’s made, except when I pass it along to Steven here. Family secret.”

  “Daniel tells me it’s pretty potent,” Steven said. “He analyzed it in his lab in Spokane.”

  “More variants than I’ve ever seen,” Daniel said.

  “One of my father’s obsessions was this protection,” Roy said. “He inherited the recipe from his dad, of course, but he refined it for years, modifying it, making it stronger. Gave me his recipe just before he died. I’ve been making it exactly the same way since then.”