The Calling

by Jill Sanders

  “So, why Hidden Creek?” Mason asked Lane.

  She’d heard the story a few times and watched Mason instead of focusing on how Lane had inherited his uncle’s local land and business and had decided to turn the old tire store into an animal shelter slash pet store.

  “And she’s not even listening to us.” Lane nudged her a while later. She’d been thinking about last night. About what she’d seen and, even more importantly, what she’d done when she hadn’t been in control of herself. That was the scariest part. The fact that she had knowledge she hadn’t known about.

  Sure, she’d always been great in school. She’d never had to work for A’s. Yet, she’d always believed that because of her… problems, she wasn’t a smart person. After all, if you thought you heard voices when no one else was around, you had to be stupid, right?

  “Sorry.” She sat up a little straighter. “Long night.”

  Lane frowned at her. “Is Fred okay?”

  Joleen’s eyes moved over to Mason’s. “Yes, it’s just…”

  “We actually ran into each other last night. Stinky broke free and, well, Joleen helped me chase him down.” Mason’s eyes locked with hers.

  Okay, so they’d apparently silently agreed to not to tell anyone what they’d witnessed last night. Currently, she didn’t feel up to explaining to Lane what else had happened last night.

  “Stinky ended up just outside my house,” she replied.

  “He was just a little energetic and anxious after spending an entire day in the car.” Mason shrugged.

  “Well, it’s a good thing you caught him when you did. In the last week, more than two dozen dogs have run away from their owners,” Lane said.

  Mason frowned and opened up his notepad again.

  “All of them in town?” he asked as he wrote something down.

  Lane glanced at her, and she motioned with her hand.

  “He is a scientist. Maybe it has something to do with the birds,” she offered.

  “Right.” Lane shrugged. “Yes, I’ve had a lot of people talking about it.”

  “When did it start?” Mason asked.

  “About a week ago,” Lane answered.

  Joleen felt a shiver race through her. That was when the voice had started up again. She’d gone years without so much as a peep. Why now?

  She watched Mason writing as Lane told him more details. She wondered instantly if she should tell him about the voices. After all, maybe he could help her figure out a scientific reason for them.

  The last person she’d trusted with her secret had turned on her. After confessing to a high school friend that she heard voices, her friend had mentioned it to Joleen’s teacher, who had talked to her parents. She’d wound up spending the next year in church counseling, listening to the clergymen tell her how delusional she was. She’d been on the verge of being locked up, until one day, she’d gotten the idea to tell the man that the voices had stopped.

  She’d told herself to ignore them and from then on out she had, and things had somehow returned to normal.

  But shortly after a strange night a few years back, the voices had stopped for real. At first, she hadn’t even noticed. But she’d been walking home from work one night and had realized just how quiet everything had become. It was strange—looking back at it now, she realized she’d missed the voice.

  When it had started up again, something had changed. Before, the voice had simply told her what was about to happen. Little things like, don’t forget to get gas in the car or don’t you need to be at work in ten minutes. When the voice had started up again, all it talked about was that something was coming.

  She hadn’t really thought anything about it, but after last night… she felt a shiver race through her entire body.

  Lane was filling Mason in on anything else animal related that had changed over the past few weeks.

  “Are we boring you?” Mason broke in and asked her.

  “No, it’s just…” She shook her head. “Sorry.” She sighed and pushed her coffee aside. “I have to…” What? She had three more days off work before Charles would even let her step foot in the store to work again. Still, without saying anything more, she nudged Lane out of the booth.

  “I’ve been keeping you from resting,” Lane said to her and then wrapped his arms around her when she stood. “Go home, get some rest. You look tired.”

  She wasn’t tired, more like… frustrated. She wanted to be normal. To be able to have a future that didn’t include hearing things or, now, seeing things.

  “Thanks,” she said to him and then pulled away to grab her bag.

  “If it’s okay, I’d like to come over in a while to take some readings…” Mason added, his eyes skirting towards Lane.

  “Sure.” She waved him off, then stopped. “Bring Stinky,” she called over her shoulder as she made her way to the front to pay for her meal.

  “He’s cute,” Carla said softly as she ran her credit card through the machine.

  “Yes.” She snuck a glance over towards Mason. “He is.”

  “I don’t suppose he’ll be in town long,” Carla said. “You should ask him out.” The older woman nudged her arm as she handed back her card.

  It was like a hot coal had landed on her skin and, before she could respond, a bright flash blinded her.

  She doubled over in pain and cried out as a scene unfolded in her mind.

  Three women stood in a circle, their hands raised to the heavens as they chanted, while four men stood watching guard in the shadows.

  She knew everyone there and was about to open her mouth to ask them what they were doing, when she felt the presence of something bigger. Glancing around, she noticed a thin figure standing in the shadows. It was too twisted to be a man. Its arms dragged on the floor, and its legs were bent at an odd angle. Its eyes glowed green, and its bright teeth glinted in the darkness. It laughed at them all, as if what they were doing was a big joke. She watched as it slithered closer to the group.

  “You’re too late,” the thin creature hissed. “Now your world is mine.”

  She jolted awake with a scream. Mason was holding on to her, and Lane looked down at her with utter fear in his eyes.

  Chapter Six

  Mason paced outside in the waiting room as he waited at the local doctor’s office for Lane to come out and tell him if Joleen was okay. He hadn’t been standing that close to her when she’d had the episode, but he’d heard Carla gasp and call for help just before Joleen hit the floor.

  He’d been faster than Lane to reach her side and had thankfully caught her before she hit the ground. He’d also been quick enough to see her eyes just before they had closed. Seeing the milky white pools looking back up at him, he’d stilled. Then her eyes had closed, and he’d believed he’d imagined that her pupils and irises had been missing.

  “How is she?” he jumped to ask Lane as he stepped out into the small waiting room.

  “Fine,” he answered and held up his hands. “She’ll be right out.”

  “She’s… they’re releasing her so soon?” He frowned.

  “Yes. There’s nothing really wrong with her.” Lane shrugged. “She claims she stayed up too late last night and was just tired.”

  He felt guilty for keeping her up so late asking her questions.

  “Listen.” Lane glanced down at his watch. “I have to head into work. My store was supposed to open half an hour ago. Could you make sure my girl gets home safe? The doc doesn’t want her driving.”

  “Sure,” he answered quickly, then he shook Lane’s hand. “Here’s my cell number. Call me if anything changes.” He handed Mason a business card from his store.

  Just then, the door to the room opened and Joleen walked out. She looked a little paler than she had earlier that morning and a lot more tired.

  “Mason’s going to take you home,” Lane said to her. Joleen opened her mouth to argue, but Lane raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Yes, Dad.” Jol
een sighed and rolled her eyes. Eyes that were, thankfully, back to normal.

  “You okay?” he asked her as they walked out towards his car.

  “Yes, just thoroughly embarrassed,” she groaned as he helped her into the passenger seat of his car.

  “Don’t be,” he said once he got behind the wheel. “Whatever just happened to you wasn’t physical. I mean…” He shook his head and turned towards her. “Your eyes were white.”

  She frowned. “As in…”

  “All white. No irises, no pupils.” He shook his head. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

  “You mean, my eyes rolled back in my head?” she asked.

  “No.” He looked at her again. “I mean, all of the color was gone.” He started the car and headed towards her house, figuring he’d stop off at the hotel and get Stinky and his gear along the way. “I’ve seen cases of nystagmus.” He glanced at her. “Where someone’s eyes roll back in their head,” he explained. “It usually happens during a tonic seizure, but that isn’t what happened to you.” Before she could ask, he confirmed, “Trust me, I know.”

  “How?”

  He sighed and felt his chest grow heavy. “My mother had tonic seizures when she was battling cancer.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said softly as he pulled into the parking lot at the hotel.

  Seeing the hotel manager standing outside his door had him wincing. “Shit.” He groaned as he got out. “Can I help you?” he asked the man.

  “Yes, your dog is barking…” Obviously, Stinky had heard the man banging on the door and was in full protection mode. The barking changed when Mason spoke and now it grew more intense and happy sounding. “It’s disturbing our guests. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

  “He’s barking because you’re banging on the door. Besides, there’s no other hotel in town,” he said just as Joleen exited the car and stood beside him.

  “Shane, everyone in town knows that Mason is your only guest at the moment,” Joleen said to the man, who immediately turned beet red.

  “I don’t like animals in my hotel. I try to run a respectable place. Dogs have fleas and shit all over the place,” Shane added, throwing up his hands. “Either way, it’s my place and I don’t want the animal here.”

  Mason figured the guy was looking for another bribe, but after seeing Joleen, the man’s entire demeanor had changed. Now he doubted he would let him stay even if he paid him double what he had yesterday.

  “You can stay at my place,” Joleen said as Shane started to march away.

  Mason turned towards her. “Are you sure?”

  She shrugged. “You’re not done in town. Besides, I have a spare bedroom and a fenced backyard where Stinky can run and play.”

  “I don’t want to impose…” he started as he unlocked the hotel door.

  “Listen.” She lowered her voice and looked around. “Whatever that creature was last night, it might come back and just the thought of being alone when it does… It’s what kept me up all night last night after you left.” She shivered visibly and shifted her gaze to the dog when he opened the doorway. Stinky started jumping on him and doing the happy dance that he always did, whether Mason had been gone for hours or just seconds. “Besides, Stinky is obviously a great guard dog.”

  He glanced up at her. “He’s going to stink up your place.”

  She smiled. “Fred already does that.”

  “Right, the cat. I don’t think there will be an issue, but…” He thought about just how many squirrels Stinky has chased over the past few weeks and winced.

  “Fred can stay in my room,” she said.

  His eyes narrowed. “You really want me to stay with you?”

  Her smile slipped and her eyes met his. “I don’t want to be alone.”

  There was fear and something else in her eyes that had him quickly agreeing. After all, this way he didn’t have to worry about leaving Stinky alone in a hotel room. Or find another hotel.

  Joleen sat on the bed while he packed up his things then sat in the car with Stinky while he checked out of the hotel.

  “You’re really going to stay with Joleen?” the man asked as he handed him his credit card receipt.

  The look on the man’s face made him ask, “Why?”

  The guy looked towards the door and then shook his head. “There’s been talk about Joleen. She just isn’t… right.” The man narrowed his eyes. “You know. There’s a few of ’em in town like her. Freaks.”

  Mason ran his eyes over the balding middle-aged man, whose large belly protruded out of a too-small shirt that was stained with grease. There was more hair coming out of the man’s nose and ears than on his head, and Mason questioned why he’d stayed in the hotel in the first place.

  “Which means?” he asked, totally interested in studying the man. He had taken enough psychology classes to be interested in why humans ostracized others.

  The man leaned even closer to Mason, and he got a whiff of cheap rum. When the man talked, Mason noticed that he was missing a few teeth near the back.

  “The talk is that, ever since she was a child, Joleen has been hearing things that aren’t there,” he said.

  Mason’s interest in Joleen spiked. “She has?”

  The man looked put off that Mason wasn’t disgusted at this bit of news.

  “Rumor has it.” He stood upright and shook his head. “Possessed, if you ask me.” He tossed the credit card receipt into the drawer and slammed it.

  “Who else in town?” he asked, curious.

  The man laughed. “Everyone knows about Xtina. That woman is the queen of freaks.”

  Mason had done a little research on Hidden Creek before heading down there. A news article from last year had come up about how Christina Warren, or Xtina as she liked to be called now, had helped solve a murder in town. Actually, it was one of the reasons Mason had wanted to stay at the hotel. The murder had taken place in room eighteen.

  “Is she still around town?” he asked, wishing he could think of a reason to bump into the woman.

  “Course she is. Her and her little friends all meet up at the Coffee Corner every day.”

  “Her friends…”

  “They’re the rest of the freaks. Even the new chief of police, St. Clair,” Shane added, before turning to answer the phone.

  Mason stepped outside and glanced around. The hotel was at the edge of the small town, but from this spot he could see the café and the Coffee Corner, a small coffee and bakery shop that sat just down the road.

  Getting into the car, he nodded towards the coffee shop. “How about a cup of coffee before we head to your place?”

  “I’d love a chocolate muffin. They have the best there.” She groaned. “My sugar kick from breakfast wore off already.”

  He drove the short distance down the street to the Coffee Corner. He rolled down all the windows to leave enough fresh air for Stinky and walked in with Joleen.

  Unlike at the café, when they stepped inside, several people called out their hellos to Joleen as they made their way up to the counter to order.

  “Hey, JoJo.” The pretty sandy-blonde woman behind the counter smiled at them.

  “Hey, Jessica,” Joleen replied. “How is Reed today?”

  The woman’s smile grew as her eyes grew dreamy. “He’s still perfect. I can’t believe he’ll be four months next week.”

  Joleen turned towards him. “This is Mason. He’s in from Boston to get to the bottom of the bird-cident.”

  “Welcome to Hidden Creek,” Jessica said quickly.

  “Jess’s husband is Jacob St. Clair. He’s the chief of police as of last year,” Joleen replied.

  “Oh, I was hoping to chat with him about what happened,” he said. He took in everything he could about the woman, since she was married to one of the people the hotel guy had called a freak.

  She didn’t look out of the ordinary. Actually, she was pretty. He was beginning to wonder if all the women in town we
re good-looking.

  “When he’s not at work, he’s usually hanging out around here.” She motioned to the far corner. Mason glanced over and noticed a brown-haired man roughly his age dressed in a police uniform sitting at the back table with a few other people. The guy was holding a very tiny baby in his arms while trying to sip from a coffee mug with his free hand. “The gang’s all back there. Feel free to go bug them,” Jessica said after lowering her voice slightly. “His break is about over, and he needs an excuse to get back to work. Talking with you will officially be work,” she added with a smile. “But first…” She handed over two coffee mugs along with two chocolate muffins. He paid for the both of them.

  It wasn’t until they were halfway to the table that it registered that they hadn’t actually placed an order for their drinks. Glancing down at his cup, he realized she’d written macchiato on it. It was exactly what he would have ordered.

  “She does that all the time,” Joleen whispered to him. “No one in town knows how she gets everyone’s orders right, all the time. Once, I came in here and decided I wanted a café mocha instead of a cappuccino and, bam, she had it ready for me.” She sighed as they stopped by the table, where there were four others besides the chief of police.

  “Hey,” Joleen said, breaking into the group’s conversation.

  “Hey, Joleen,” several people replied.

  “This is Mason. He’s from Boston. He’s here to figure out why the crows dive-bombed me the other night,” Joleen said, sitting at the end of the table.

  “Sit.” Jacob motioned to a free chair at an empty table across the way.

  Mason pulled up a chair to the end of the table and sat.

  “Jacob St. Clair.” Jacob offered his free hand.

  “Mason Barrett.”

  “These are my brothers, Michael and Ethan.” He motioned to the other two men, who looked identical. Instantly, Mason recognized them as twins. “Michael’s wife Xtina.” He motioned to the raven-haired beauty, who was very pregnant. “And Ethan’s wife Breanna.” The last woman Mason stopped on. He recognized her instantly. She was the one who had written the article that he’d read about the town while doing research.