by Kim Hornsby
A hand rested on my shoulder from behind, causing me to jump.
“I’m here.” Even his low voice was reassuring.
I turned around to see him close behind me, causing me to look up into his face. “Can we go downstairs? Bane just arrived and I’d love to make an appearance.”
“Yes. I didn’t realize I’d left until I returned, as strange as that sounds. I’m sorry.” He helped me to my feet and we hurried along the hall, hand in hand to the top of the stairs, Hodor running ahead.
“I’m not going to refer to you in front of this guy,” I said starting down. “And my mother is under strict orders to not mention your name, but if you know my mother, that means nothing.”
“I know your mother well enough to realize how little regard she has for following plans.”
We entered the salon and I dropped Caspian’s hand I was still holding for some reason. Bane looked enough like my Harry to make me gasp. I stopped at the doorway to study him investigating the piano. Carlos was filming, and Eve was standing by the piano, looking smug. She grinned a very un-Eve like smile when she saw me at the doorway.
“There she is,” Eve said. “The new mistress of the house and grand master of ghosts, Moody.”
This was not Eve’s voice. Eve had a soft, sweet timbre and this voice was raspy and hard. By the look on Caspian’s face, it was the voice of someone he knew. I wasn’t sure which fire to put out first. Eve’s strange behavior, Bane taking the piano apart, or Rachel standing at the door to the kitchen with her oven mitts on fire.
I ran to my mother who looked dumbfounded. Something in her hand was flaming and the oven mitts were actually trying to not catch fire. “Mother, turn around and get to the sink,” I said, pushing her into the kitchen. We ran to the sink with her flaming ball of fire and I thrust her mitts under the tap. Something had burned to a black ball and judging by the amount of smoke, I’d say it was the main course. I left my mother in the smoky kitchen and ran back to the salon.
Bane stood, waiting for me.
“Nice to finally meet you,” I said glancing at the spitting image of my husband. Eve had her foot up on the piano stool, striking a very provocative pose, not looking like my shy cousin at all. She’d even undone the top four buttons on her blouse to reveal what little hint of a bosom she had. If she leaned forward, we’d be able to see to her belly button. “Was that you playing the piano, Eve?” I nodded to our guest. “Excuse us for a minute, Mr. Jackson. Eve, can I speak with you in the kitchen please?” I smiled at the man who took my breath away with the resemblance he held to my husband and told myself he was not Harry. He even wore jeans with a leather jacket.
Eve tipped her head and followed me out of the room, sashaying side to side like her name wasn’t Evelyn Xio Primrose. I saw Jimmy Big Ears in the corner, his eyes wide.
In the kitchen, I pulled Eve away from the doorway and over to the opening to the pantry. “Are you possessed?” I hissed. When someone asks this, they usually mean that a strange choice has been made that the speaker doesn’t agree with. In my case, I actually knew that Eve was possessed. I looked to Caspian, who’d followed us. He nodded.
“It’s Jacqueline,” he said.
“Does Jacqueline play the piano?” I asked him.
“I do,” Eve smirked. “And I’d say I haven’t lost my touch.”
Caspian nodded. “That was one of her favorite pieces. A little too much allegro though, don’t you think, Jacqueline?”
“I didn’t even know you knew the word allegro,” Eve said reaching to pull Caspian closer by tugging on his shirt collar.
“OK, you two. We have a dinner guest and I’m not going to stand here and referee a disgruntled married couple. Please give Eve back, Jacqueline. She’s done nothing to you.”
Eve tilted her head provocatively. “I rather like this body. This lovely Asian woman. Don’t you like Asian women too, Caspian?” Eve thrust Caspian away with the palms of both her hands like he disgusted her.
“Please, Jacqueline.” I said, not sure what the deal was between them, but not caring at that moment. I needed to prioritize my emergencies. “Although it is lovely to meet you, I’m going to have to insist you come visit another time,” I hissed. “This is a dinner party and we’re trying to make a good impression on our guest. Please. I’ll give you something later if you give me back Eve.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Eve said, already fading, and in a matter of two seconds, Eve’s face relaxed and she slumped against me. “Evie. It’s OK now. Are you alright?” I looked into her face as a smile took over.
“OMG. I had a ghost inside me just now. I was in there too, standing on the sidelines listening to this conversation. Is this what it feels like Bryn? I saw Caspian!”
I was greatly relieved she was fine and let out the big breath I’d been holding. It was only then I looked up from our tight circle of three (two living people) to see that Bane had been watching the whole thing from the doorway to the salon. For a brief moment, I thought it was Harry, then I remembered.
“I can explain,” I said. “But I’m sure you won’t believe it.”
Bane’s forehead was lined deeply, his eyebrows descending into his hooded eyes. “What the hell?”
Our guest of honor would have seen me talking to alter-Eve and asking her to give me back Eve. Bane would not have seen who Eve grabbed by the shirt collar to talk about allegro.
Rachel stood by the kitchen table watching this strange fiasco, the charred oven mitts now off. I looked to her. “Mother, is dinner ruined?”
“It is. I’m sorry.” My mother didn’t mention that I could now see. If she noticed, she was uncharacteristically quiet about the fact I saw her. She seemed to transform from the shocked person with the charred oven mitts to her former self and plastered one of her charming, but untruthful, smiles on her face, turning to our dinner guest. “Let’s get a glass of wine, order a pizza, and save this dinner party, shall we?”
“Eve, do you want a double whiskey? I’d say you earned one.” I knew I’d want one, after that.
Eve was as excited as I’ve ever seen her. “I saw Caspian through Jacqueline’s eyes,” she whispered to me as we filed out of the kitchen, back to the salon. Carlos had been on the periphery of the whole thing, filming, like the opportunist he was, and as I passed him, he whispered to me. “I started when Eve took the ebony and ivories hostage.”
“Good job,” I said.
The woman at the piano had been Jacqueline and it wasn’t beyond the troublemaker ghost to also have something to do with the flaming roast. I turned to Caspian as we walked back to the fireplace.
Jimmy, who hadn’t left the room with us, was seated on a hard-back chair behind the piano looking like he’d just seen a ghost. Eve was right. Aside from his ears, Jimmy was an attractive guy. Bane watched me address thin air.
“Do you think Jacqueline is gone?” I asked Caspian.
“Yes,” Caspian said, smirking. “She can’t stay long, and I’d say she used up her weekly allotment on that spectacle.”
“That would be good news,’ I answered grabbing the open bottle of wine on the side table and heading to the crystal cabinet for glasses. “Don’t worry about dinner,” I called back to Rachel. “I think the ghost of Caspian’s wife ruined it.” I poured a glass of wine and handed it to Mr. Jackson. “Do you like pizza,” I asked. If he said he especially liked pizza with ham, pineapple and black olives, I’d know this man was Harry incarnate.
“I don’t care for pizza.”
I cheered silently. “Then let’s drink dinner.”
“I have an idea,” Rachel said, suddenly recovering her voice. “Pour me a glass, Bryndle, and I’ll microwave the mac and cheese I got today.”
Chapter 15
Rachel insisted Carlos be in the kitchen with her while she “made dinner.” My mother was too frightened after Eve’s possession to be alone, not that Carlos was any help if Jacqueline returned and wanted to jump inside my mother’s body.
/>
Even though Carlos had an intense dislike of my mother, he went off to the kitchen with his camera, shuffling like he was being punished. I was pretty sure that he would make his way to the kitchen table to review the tape of freaky-ass paranormal activity from the last few minutes while my mother microwaved dinner to be served in our grand dining room set with candelabra and silverware.
I poured a second glass of wine into the glass Bane held, his hand slightly shaking. He looked shell-shocked. Eve was drinking whiskey neat and I held no judgment. She’d poured Jimmy a glass too. He hadn’t left his seat near the piano, nor had he said anything since Eve had become possessed. I’d let Eve worry about him. I had Jackson to worry about.
“It’s a strange household, Mr. Jackson,” I said. I refused to call him Bane, a familiarity that he wouldn’t get from me. And, I had to remind myself constantly that although he looked so much like my husband, they could have been twins, this man was not my husband. Bane sat on the couch near the fire, his Harry face blanched and blank.
I sat across from him on the other couch, with Eve on my left and Caspian standing at the mantel on my right. The second bottle of wine, seconds from being opened, was on the coffee table between my enemy and me. “For one thing, Mr. Jackson, I’d like to address the issue that you think I’m blind. As you can see, I am not. The day you illegally took film of me being helped down the stairs with your most invasive drone, I had a balance issue, due to a migraine.” I hated lying but it came out so easily. I was my mother’s daughter. “I’m not blind, as you can see. I have headaches, and I’d appreciate you not spying on me then slandering my name on your little blog.” I sounded so much like my mother that I wondered if she’d inhabited me from the kitchen.
Eve cleared her throat and I looked over to see her take a sip of whiskey. At least I thought it was still Eve on my left.
“And my assistant, Eve, has just suffered her first inhabitance.”
“I’m fine now,” Eve said, then took a big gulp. “I’ll let you know if I feel like there’s two of me in here.”
I smiled sympathetically and continued. I sat forward and finally took a sip of wine and almost grimaced. The wine was too sweet for my liking. Probably chosen by my mother. Or Carlos who was a beer drinker. “Tonight, you witnessed something that I’m not sure I want revealed to the public. If you decide to write about it, I might deny it. And if that happens, it’ll be your word against mine.”
He sat back against the couch pillows.
I looked between the man who resembled Harry and Caspian. “Eve was possessed briefly by a spirit that lives in this house. That’s who played the piano. I asked the ghost to leave Eve alone and she did.” I nodded to Eve. “I believe she left because she had to, not because she wanted to and that it had something to do with my spirit guide who was also present.”
“What did she mean by asking if your guide liked Asian women?” Bane asked.
“I’m not sure.” It was a good question, something I intended to ask Caspian, although I wondered if I already knew the answer. Before I could say anything, Caspian spoke.
“Jacqueline was referring to the smuggling business.”
I looked to him, horrified. “Please tell me you did not smuggle Asian women.” If he hesitated, I’d be crushed.
“I most certainly did not smuggle Asian women.” Caspian sounded indignant enough that I believed him.
“Then what did she mean?” I realized that the rest of the room only heard one side of the conversation and I raised a finger to keep them from interrupting us. I waited for Caspian’s answer as he stared at me wondering how much to say. I knew this for certainty. My mojo was working again, buzzing inside me like the sixth sense it was.
“This is neither the time, nor the place for this conversation. Your guest is waiting and I think we should discuss this later.”
I had to agree.
I turned to address Bane. “I read you don’t believe in ghosts.” I plastered a snarky smile on my face.
He seemed to have recovered somewhat, the intelligence coming back to his eyes. “This could have been staged. Eve is a wonderful actress, probably as well as being an accomplished pianist although it appeared her hands only hovered over the keys. I’m not sure how you pulled off that one, but I do concede that it appears you are not blind. I haven’t figured out why you walk with a white cane and pretend to be blind in town. Maybe there are two of you. I don’t know. I’m intrigued, Ms. Moody.” His smile was not Harry’s and for that I was grateful. I wouldn’t ask him if he knew about this resemblance. It would weaken my position if he knew he had something over me. “Why have you targeted me?”
He took a drink. “You don’t remember, do you?”
“Remember what?”
Bane smiled like he now had the upper hand. “Twelve years ago, you and your mother did a clearing,” he made quote signs around the word, “at my mother’s house.”
I shook my head. I didn’t remember, but twelve years earlier I’d have been sixteen, right about the time I was rebelling against my mother and not always doing her bidding. “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember you. What happened?”
“My mother was a big believer. She had you come to her house to contact my father who’d just died. Do you remember Jessica Jackson in Port Orchard?”
I didn’t but that did not mean I wasn’t there. My mother did all the scheduling. I showed up as a sullen teen and did as I was asked. Sometimes, I pretended to not get anything from the spirit world, just to spite my mother and I wondered if this was one of those times. “I don’t recall the name, but it was my mother who was in charge in those days.”
“You said my father didn’t fall off the roof accidentally.”
This sounded vaguely familiar. “I would not have said that unless the spirit I contacted told me.” The memory of this was starting to return. I recalled a family that was torn with the knowledge that the man had been murdered. I looked to Caspian who was now standing just behind Bane Jackson. He locked eyes with me and gave me a nod.
“A mis-guided grudge,” he said. “Tread carefully, Bryndle.”
Bane did not hear him, of course. “My older sister was charged. My mother turned her in,” Bane said. Did he blame me for the problems in his family? “She went to prison.”
In those days, I didn’t censor what came through. I just spilled what I learned and walked away. I’m not sure I’d do it differently now, but Bane Jackson needed to blame someone and that was me. “I’m sorry Mr. Jackson.” I looked to Eve, who nodded. “Twelve years ago, if I was commissioned to do a summoning, I complied and spoke on what I learned.”
Bane put his wine glass on the table. “You had no evidence. My sister denied it. And yet, you saw fit to tell my mother that she pushed my father to his death.” He stood. “Please tell your charlatan mother, I appreciate the dinner invitation.” He didn’t look appreciative.
“Wait.” I stood. “So, you do believe in ghosts? You just hate me and other mediums who channel information from the other side?”
“I hate you in particular because of what you did to my family. My sister’s life is now inside prison walls, my mother’s life isn’t much better, and I have no way to pick up the pieces. You ruined us. My father was an abusive bastard. He deserved what he got.”
Caspian shot me a look. I understood what he wanted me to do.
Bane started to leave the room and I ran to block his exit. “Mr. Jackson, your sister’s lawyers were in charge of her defense. If they didn’t represent her well, maybe you should have the case reopened and issue an appeal with that in mind. I didn’t kill your father or ruin your sister’s life. I was brought to your house to speak to the spirit of your dead father. I did my job. You need to face that reality. Stop attacking me and concentrate your efforts on putting your family back together.” I hoped something would sink in.
“You ruined my family when my dead father told you from the afterlife that he’d been murdered. If you’d never contac
ted him, my sister would be living a free life.” Bane pushed past me and left the room with Eve on his heels, probably to make sure he made a beeline for the door.
I looked at the door to the kitchen. “Did you get that, Carlos?”
My cameraman lowered the camera, which he’d just turned off. “Sure did.”
We ate microwaved mac and cheese in front of the fire while processing what had just transpired in the last hour. It had been a grand evening at Spook Central. Eve had been possessed by evil Jacqueline, someone my mother believed had the ability to kill an Alive, and someone who’d tried to kill Caspian but only damaged his shoulder instead. We’d had a nice piano recital by the obsessed Jackie until it turned strange and loud and when I’d arrived and taken the shit show to the kitchen where dinner was being extinguished, Caspian was the object of a cryptic comment about smuggled Asian women.
We’d enjoyed a glass of vino in the salon, like civilized people until I ruined the perfectly wonderful evening by asking Bane Jackson why he targeted me. He’d confessed why he was out to ruin my career and the good part was that we got it on film to use against him if he ever mentioned me in his blog again. Jimmy had finally started moving like a human being and was now trying to eat a spoonful of mac and cheese, at Eve’s coaxing. Rachel, for once, had no opinion on my life and what had gone on. She was almost as silent as Jimmy while we ate our surprisingly good mac and cheese in front of a cracking fire, screen in place.
“Just make sure, Carlos, that you don’t ever erase the footage of Bane saying he believes in ghosts, just in case we need to threaten him with it.” I did not want to take this man down any further, but at least I had bargaining power if things got nasty.
“I hope he goes home and sells bikes, instead of what he has been doing.” Carlos reached across Eve for more garlic bread.
Caspian was seated at the piano and began to play. For some reason, it touched my heart that he had this skill. He seemed so gruff. Had his British mother insisted he learn to play?