Hell's Bells

by Lesli Richardson

  “Nothing’s wrong. Where are you?”

  His voice definitely sounded concerned. “Tenth floor. We just finished a sweep and we’re heading down for break.”

  “Who’s there with you?” She stared at the mirror as the boy stood a few feet away, watching her.

  Aidan’s voice had changed tone again, from concerned to commanding. “It’s just me and Jeff, we’re waiting on the elevator. Film crew already went down.” Code for, We’re alone. “What is going on, babe? Talk to me.”

  She put the radio down, then softly spoke into the room. “Aidan, appareo.”

  He immediately appeared, alone. “Kal, what the fu—” His gaze followed hers into the mirror. “Holy shit!” he whispered.

  “You see him, right? Please tell me you see him.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, babe. You’re not seeing things. I mean, you are seeing things, just not imagining them. I’m seeing the same thing you are.”

  “What are you seeing?”

  “Little boy, red hair, and white pjs.”

  “Okay.” She felt palpable relief at the confirmation, immediately followed by more nervous anxiety.

  Will’s voice, sounding tight with tension, barked over the two-way. “Kal, what’s wrong?” She knew he still had a film crew in tow because he was the star. Until he was back at base, they’d keep rolling on him. She couldn’t speak to him mentally that far away yet. She’d noticed her distance was constantly increasing as Will’s powers returned, but she was too nervous and scared to concentrate to even attempt to project that far right this minute.

  Aidan replied through his radio as he stared at the apparition in the mirror. “Nothing, dude. Just a big spider. It’s okay. Under control. I’m taking care of it.”

  “What do I do?” Kal whispered. In her time with the show she’d seen things, but never anything like this.

  “You got your BlackBerry on you? Mine’s out in the van.”

  She nodded and handed it over. It had a still and video camera built in. Aidan activated it and pointed it at the mirror. While the little boy was visible to them in the mirror, he wasn’t visible in the image on the phone. He also wasn’t visible if the phone was pointed directly at him.

  “Damn.” He handed it back to her. “So much for that. I can’t bring a FLIR to me, they’re all being used by the volunteers. Someone would notice if one suddenly disappeared right out of their fricking hand,” he snarked. “Might cause a commotion.”

  “Can you talk to him?”

  Aidan closed his eyes and fished his tiger’s eye amulet out from under his shirt. After a moment he opened his eyes and took Kal’s hand. She felt a weird sort of energy flow through her, not unpleasant but definitely not fun.

  “Go ahead,” Aidan whispered.

  Kal swallowed to form spit. “Hey there. What’s your name?”

  The little boy looked surprised. “Bobby.”

  “Hi Bobby. My name is Kal. Why are you here?” She realized Aidan had released his amulet and now held a digital voice recorder. Maybe they could get some proof, at least.

  “I can’t find my mom. I went to sleep and she’s gone.”

  It was times like this Kal felt most conflicted. Knowing the truth of the universe, versus her father’s stringent Baptist dogma that had taught her from childhood all good kids go to Heaven, emotionally pulled at her. In reality, this boy had no heavenly options. Only to move on into another life or hang out, perpetually confused and alone, in an old office building and missing his most likely long-dead mother.

  “Bobby, how old are you?”

  “Nine. I was really sick. I went to sleep for a while and I feel better now. I can’t find my mom.”

  “What’s your last name?”

  “Martinez.”

  “Where’s your dad?”

  The little boy looked sad. “He died last year. He drowned.”

  “Last year?”

  Bobby nodded.

  Kal shared a glance with Aidan. “This will sound like a silly question, but can you tell us what year that was?” she asked.

  “1940.”

  Aidan gently squeezed Kal’s hand. “It was the Tampico Floridian Hotel then,” Aidan whispered.

  “Why were you and your mommy staying in the hotel?” Kal asked Bobby.

  “She got a job here after my dad died. We live in a room for free. I help her clean rooms sometimes when I’m not in school.”

  “What’s your room number?”

  “709. We share it with Aunt Carol. Uncle Michael died with my dad. They were out fishing together.”

  Kal felt torn between wanting to interrogate the little boy and wanting to cry for him. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Thank you.” His image faded in the mirror. “If you see my mom, please tell her I’ll go wait in our room.”

  His image completely disappeared as Will burst through the bathroom door. Somehow, he’d managed to shake the film crew. “What is going on? Kal, are you okay?”

  Aidan took a deep breath as he released Kal’s hand. “Thanks a lot, dude. You scared him off.”

  Will whirled around. “Scared who?”

  Kal slumped against the sink as her tears flowed. “Bobby Martinez.”

  Chapter 4

  Once fully reassured the entity wasn’t malevolent, Will agreed to let Kal go back to the bathroom with Aidan, a FLIR, and a regular camera. They worried a film crew would only scare the little boy off. After an hour, Bobby didn’t reappear.

  While they were taking a break Kal had a flash of inspiration. “What did he say their room number was?”

  Aidan thought it over. “709.” She consulted the old blueprints the building manager had loaned her and sorted through them. Alone with Aidan, they made their way upstairs into the empty space that would have been where room 709 was located back then. It was a vacant office, only partially demolished.

  They felt something, but still couldn’t find Bobby. Aidan sensed his presence, yet the little boy didn’t appear.

  Kal had an epiphany. “Can you bring us a mirror?”

  Aidan closed his eyes, as if searching the building. “Remind me I got this from the third floor.” A small over-sink mirror appeared, leaning against the wall. Aidan and Kal repositioned themselves so they could sit on the floor and see most of the area in the mirror. After twenty minutes, Bobby reappeared.

  “Did you find my mom?” he asked.

  Kal shook her head. “No, sweetie, I’m sorry. We didn’t.” She glanced at Aidan, who had started filming with the regular camera. He grimly shook his head. She knew that meant Bobby wasn’t appearing on camera.

  She pointed the FLIR at the mirror but only saw their own reflections. Then she pointed it at the area of the room where Bobby would be in relation to his reflection. He appeared on her monitor in stark contrast to the rest of the space.

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “These are special cameras.”

  “Oh.” He looked at the floor and shuffled his feet. “I’m not going to find my mom, am I?”

  Aidan shut off the camera he held and closed his eyes. A moment later, Ryan appeared in the room, out of the field of view of the FLIR. Without saying anything he studied the two of them, then looked into the mirror. Apparently he was having a silent conversation with Aidan that Kal wasn’t privy too. After a moment, Aidan switched off the digital voice recorder. The FLIR didn’t record sound.

  Ryan looked at the place in the room where Bobby stood. “Hello there, Bobby. How are you?”

  In the mirror, Kal watched as Bobby looked surprised, then pleased. “Hello! Who are you?”

  Ryan held out his hand. “My name’s Ryan. I’m a friend of your mommy’s. Would you like me to take you to her?”

  Bobby eagerly nodded. Kal had to shut off the FLIR because her hands were trembling too badly to hold it. She felt her tears just below the surface.

  Aidan slipped his arm around her shoulders as they looked in the mirror.

  They watched Bobby w
alk over to Ryan and take his hand. Both disappeared.

  Kal closed her eyes and softly wept against Aidan’s shoulder.

  “Hey, it’s okay, sweet cheeks. Ryan will make sure he goes on.”

  “I wonder how many nights he said his prayers and wondered if his daddy and uncle made it to Heaven?”

  Aidan sighed. “It doesn’t matter, does it? He’s in a better place, really. No one, not even the shit weasel, lives forever. Some of us just live longer than others.”

  “He’s right.” Ryan’s soft voice startled Kal. He’d silently returned. Ryan walked over to her and knelt next to her, then looked at Aidan. Aidan took the hint and disappeared.

  “Kal, love, we’ve talked about this. Souls go on. It’s energy. He’s not stuck here anymore.”

  “Why did he get stuck?”

  He reached out and gently brushed her tears from her cheeks. “It’s hard to say. Sometimes it happens. There are various reasons.”

  “What did you do to him?”

  “I sent him on his way. He’ll go on, at some point be reborn, and live again.”

  “You lied to him! You told him he’d see his mom!”

  Ryan shrugged. “Who’s to say he won’t?” His face grew sad as his voice softened. “We’ve discussed this too, love. Meeting others in different lives, as different people. Aidan, appareo.” As Aidan reappeared, Ryan disappeared.

  When Kal felt a little better, Aidan sent the mirror back to its original location and returned with her downstairs to their base.

  Will immediately shuttled her outside to talk in private. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” She sniffled. “I’ll be okay.”

  He enveloped her in a hug. “I’m sorry, babe.”

  “What for?”

  “That you’re upset.”

  She harshly laughed. “What’s worse, is I think I’m some sort of freak.”

  “Why?”

  “Because on the way down I thought dang it, we didn’t even get a lot of good footage for the show from all of that.”

  He processed her comment, then laughed and hugged her again. “Hey, that just means you’re a damn good producer, babe. Not a freak.”

  * * * *

  The next afternoon Kal worked alone in her office. On her laptop she had pulled up the state vital statistics database.

  Having the head of the Underworld as your boss guaranteed you special access you might not normally have. Fortunately the records had been digitized. She found Bobby’s death certificate.

  Influenza.

  A little more checking and she located the uncle and father’s death certificates. With those dates, she was able to go to the Tampa Tribune and pull up old newspaper archive stories about the drowning. They were fishing in Tampa Bay when a summer squall blew up and swamped their small boat. She also found the funeral notice for Bobby, including a picture of him. Except for the fact that it was in black and white, it was obviously the same boy. He’d been interred in the Oaklawn Cemetery in Tampa.

  After a little more looking, Kal located information on Bobby’s mother and aunt. Both long dead. Apparently Bobby was an only child.

  Kal returned to her office and shut the door, stewing, in a foul mood. Unable to take it anymore, she left the office and drove first to a florist, then to the cemetery. It took her some searching, but after an hour she found him. His small, plain marker was tucked in a shady corner near the fence. Being here reminded her of her trips to Abby’s grave.

  She pulled a few weeds that had grown around the edges of the marker, then carefully tucked the flowers against the gravestone so they wouldn’t fall. She also knew it had been many, many decades since anyone put flowers on Bobby’s grave.

  She closed her eyes when she smelled the faint hint of familiar cologne. It was the only reason she didn’t flinch when Ryan spoke. “It’s all right, love. It is the natural cycle of things, truly.”

  Kal sat back on her heels and opened her eyes so she could look at the grave. She sensed Ryan stood right behind her, and that if she leaned back she’d be comfortably nestled against his legs. It would feel so right…and yet just wrong enough that she didn’t do it.

  “Part of me was happier when I didn’t know the truth, I think.”

  “This is why The Firm works so hard to keep the truth out of the hands of humanity. It would take away their hope, those who have it.”

  “Wouldn’t it be a comfort to them to know they go on indefinitely?”

  “Not necessarily. One person’s Heaven is another’s Hell. It’s best everyone believes as they wish. Goes back to free will and all that.”

  “Why are you here?”

  She sensed him kneel behind her, intimately close but still not touching. “Will asked me to check in on you.”

  “Why didn’t he do it? Come here himself?”

  “He sensed you didn’t want him here.”

  At first she prepared to object, then realized Ryan was right. She’d wanted to be alone. “So why the heck do you think I’d want you here more than him?”

  “You don’t want me here, love. I know that. However, I am available to answer any questions you may have, to the best of my ability.”

  She studied the marble stone. Robert Martinez—Beloved Son. He wasn’t buried with his father or mother. The hotel had paid for Bobby’s funeral. The manager at the time personally donated the marker.

  A widowed wife, and now a bereaved mother. It was no surprise. Bobby’s mother probably had all she could do to make ends meet as it was.

  She’d died three years after her son, at the young age of thirty-three. Cardiac arrest was listed as the cause of death.

  Kal suspected “broken heart” would have been more accurate.

  Beloved certainly seemed to be a commonly-used phrase on gravestones. Did most of the people who had it chiseled into the cold rock really “belove” their dearly departed before they departed?

  “So where did Abby go?” Kal quietly asked. “Did she get a happily ever after with someone else? She’d what, be about my age if she was reincarnated immediately, right?”

  Kal finally turned to look at him, a wave of anger washing through her. “Why don’t you go find her now and be with her?” Kal didn’t try to mask her bitter tone. “She was your soul mate in her previous life. Go grab her before someone else can! Why sit around on your butt moping about her? Will’s got a soul mate now so it wouldn’t matter anymore, right?”

  Kal regretted the barb as she felt a thick wall go up in Ryan’s mind. “It’s not as simple as that, love.” He disappeared without another word.

  Kal closed her eyes and silently swore. She shouldn’t have said that to him. Especially not as good as he’d been to her.

  Well, despite the whole wraith-possession-deflowered-by-a-demon thing.

  She’d felt like lashing out, angry that a young boy’s life was cut short, a family destroyed. Angry that she felt guilty she and Will were so happy when so many people around them were miserable.

  Including Ryan.

  Kal closed her eyes again and tried to calm her nerves. Where the heck had that come from? However, it was the truth. She felt dang guilty that Ryan had to first watch Will’s happiness at the expense of his own pain with Abby, and now Will was happy again, and so was she.

  Except Ryan was still alone…and lonely.

  Despite Ryan’s best efforts to conceal that from her, she sensed his deep pain. Didn’t understand how she felt it, but every time she was around Ryan she wanted to throw herself into his arms and hug the hurt from his soul.

  She looked around. The cemetery was deserted. “Ryan, appareo. Please?”

  He didn’t appear. “Ry, I’m sorry. Please, appareo.

  Nothing.

  That made her feel worse. She knew she’d really hurt his feelings. She stood and brushed her hands off. “Aidan, appareo.”

  He immediately appeared. “What’s wrong?”

  She grabbed his hand. “Take me to Ryan.”

 
“What?”

  “Please, don’t make me explain. Just take me there.”

  He closed his eyes and touched his amulet. They appeared in Ryan’s living room in Atlanta. Ryan stood at the windows, looking out over the city. Kal wondered how many hours he spent there in contemplation.

  She let go of Aidan’s hand. “Thanks, Aidan,” she said. “I’ve got it from here.”

  He hesitated, confusion on his face.

  “It’s all right, Aidan,” Ryan softly said without turning. “I’ll send her back to the cemetery shortly. Go wait for her.”

  Without another word, Aidan left.

  Kal took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Ry. I didn’t mean it.”

  He nodded, still not turning. “You’ve been through a lot. You’re still trying to come to grips with it all. I understand.”

  She walked over to him and touched his arm. When he didn’t turn, she forced him to look at her. “I’m really sorry.” She hugged him. At first he didn’t return it, his body rigid and unresponsive against her. After she refused to let him go he put his arms around her and drew her close.

  “It’s all right, love,” he whispered into her hair. “I know I’ve brought you into a strange life that’s totally alien to you. I know it’s difficult for you. I will always regret the manner in which it happened.”

  She broke down sobbing in his arms. “He was so sad,” she said. “He wanted his mom. How long was he like that, missing his mom and wondering where she’d gone? Alone? I can’t quit thinking about that. How many others are out there like that?”

  “It’s not your concern, sweetheart. Don’t worry yourself about it.”

  “My parents. One day they’re going to die. I can’t quit thinking about what if they get stuck like that? How horrible is that?”

  Ryan hoped she couldn’t sense his thoughts, that the day would unfortunately come even sooner than she thought for her father. “I could sit here and spout pithy platitudes to you, but I respect you far too much to do that. You have a hopefully long and wonderful life ahead of you with a man who loves you more than his very own life. You are already ahead of the game, as it were. I’m not saying you shouldn’t think these thoughts, but you have a wedding to plan. A life to live. Children—” His voice choked up a little at the last and he forcibly shoved that memory back into its dungeon.