A Very Paranormal Holiday

by J. T. Bock

  “Then give him permission, archangel, because the only way you’re stopping him is over my dead body,” Melena growled out.

  “That can be arranged.” Ariel gave the sensor a haughty look.

  Melena smiled. “But we both know you won’t do it because you need me.”

  Kerbasi began to worry. The sensor had way too much confidence for a young immortal facing against a powerful archangel.

  “You and I will be having a talk about your attitude later,” Ariel replied.

  “Whatever. Are you going to stop us or leave us alone?”

  “If I truly wanted to stop you, do you think I would have waited this long?” Ariel lifted a brow.

  “You’re making no sense.”

  Kerbasi had to agree with her on that one.

  “I waited to see how much resolve he truly had to perform such a feat. Something of this caliber is usually only done by an archangel or a very skilled earth-born healer. I must say I am impressed he made it this far without collapsing.” Kerbasi was surprised to find pride in the archangel’s eyes.

  “Now step aside, sensor. If he’s to complete his task he’s going to need a little help.”

  Melena studied Ariel for a moment, probably gauging her sincerity. It wasn’t often Kerbasi was on the receiving end of the sensor’s protectiveness. Perhaps tonight was a night for all types of miracles.

  “You better be serious,” Melena said, moving out of the way.

  “I am.” Ariel moved closer to Kerbasi and put a hand on his head. “Open yourself to me.”

  The guardian looked up at her and slowly lowered his defenses. Light shined from her hand as she poured strength into him. It burned, but he also felt his power levels rising. The aches in his body abated and he began to feel strong again. Never before had he been given such a gift.

  She lowered her hand. “Now you may finish what you started.”

  He returned his attention to Edan. With the cancer gone he was strong enough for the noise in the room to rouse him. Kerbasi put a sleeping spell on him to keep him under. Then he went to work on phase three, altering the boy’s DNA so that it would not be open to leukemia or other forms of cancer again. This did not require a lot of power, but it was difficult to find the correct strands to manipulate.

  “Here.” Ariel had entered the boy’s body as well. “This is what you must change.”

  Working with her, they altered Edan’s DNA. He was grateful she’d come or he might have searched for hours for just the right genes.

  “Now for the body,” she said.

  There was a lot of damage, but it went far faster with her by his side. They each took different parts of Edan’s body with him focusing on the heart. He repaired each chamber until it was like new with no signs of damage. By the time he finished, Ariel had healed the other organs.

  “Now for the most difficult part of all,” she said.

  He frowned at her. “But we’re finished.”

  “With healing? Yes.” She took hold of his hand. “But you must make him forget about you. He can never guess who healed him or how it was done. To be a true miracle there must be no clues left behind.”

  He looked over at Melena, who had a sympathetic look on her face. “And her?”

  “The boy may remember her, but only as someone who watched over him while he was sick. With time even that must fade from memory so that she will not stand out as special.”

  “And the snowman? How will he remember that?” This came from Melena.

  “Kerbasi will destroy all evidence of it before he leaves. This is the price of performing miracles. You cannot take any credit for them or leave any sign of your presence that might help with recollection. Especially around children. With their developing brains it takes less for them to break memory compulsion.”

  He’d become good friends with Edan and now he’d have to destroy their friendship forever. Kerbasi’s throat tightened. He knew he could never come back or talk to the boy again. It was the price for him to live. Deep down he’d known that when he’d made the decision to come tonight, but that didn’t make it any easier.

  “Wake him,” Ariel commanded.

  Kerbasi did as he was ordered, gently touching the boy’s arm to pull him out of the sleep spell. Edan opened his eyes and gasped.

  “What…what is going on?” he asked.

  It was good to see healthy color in the boy’s skin again and his voice was stronger. Only time could put weight back on him, but it would likely happen quickly. For that, Kerbasi was grateful.

  “It is time for us to say goodbye, Edan. You have been a good friend. The best of friends, but we must part ways.”

  His brows wrinkled. “Am I going to die now?”

  “No.” Kerbasi shook his head. “You’re going to live a long and healthy life.”

  At least, he hoped so.

  Edan sat up. “Then are you leaving?”

  “In a fashion, yes, I am.”

  The guardian was delaying the inevitable. Edan would remember none of this, but Kerbasi still felt the need to tell him what was happening. If only for his own comfort.

  “Why not? I don’t want you to go.”

  “This is the price. I willingly pay it so that you might live.”

  “I’ll miss you,” Edan said. His lips trembled and tears came to his eyes.

  No, he would not miss him, but perhaps that was a good thing. Kerbasi would do the remembering for him and suffer the pain that came with that.

  “Now you will forget me,” he paused, almost choking on the words, “forever. You will recall none of our time together or how you became healthy. Tomorrow you will wake up stronger than you’ve felt in a very long time and you will be glad, but you will not question it. Even Melena will seem but a vague memory to you. Just a woman who watched over you while you were ill. Nothing more. Do you understand?”

  Edan’s eyes glazed over. “Yes. I will forget.”

  “Good.” Kerbasi patted his shoulder and stood. “Now sleep. Tomorrow is Christmas and you want to be rested for it.”

  Edan lay back down and closed his eyes.

  “You did well,” the archangel said. “I will take care of his aunt and mother so that nothing points back to you and Melena.”

  “Thank you, archangel,” he said, meaning it. She could have stopped him or just not helped him. It was for the best that she had been here to guide him.

  “You are welcome, guardian. I do believe I’m finally seeing the change in you that we’d hope for when we assigned you to Melena. Perhaps you may even ascend someday if you stay on the right path.”

  This was a high compliment coming from an archangel. Few guardians ever ascended. Not that it meant much at the moment. He was still too numb from what he’d just gone through with Edan.

  “Now, go. Don’t forget to take care of your snowman.”

  Kerbasi could see it from the window. With heavy reluctance he used power to obliterate it, smoothing the snow back out as if it hadn’t been touched. The scarf and buttons he teleported into his hands and gave them to Melena to return to their previous places. She put the scarf in the boy’s closet and the buttons in a dresser drawer.

  With a commiserating look they walked out of the house together. Kerbasi used his magic to lock the door behind them, but he didn’t look back. He couldn’t. Edan had been the first person to totally accept him as he was with no reservation. The first person he could consider a friend. Now he’d lost him.

  Melena pulled the Jeep out onto the road.

  “I’m sorry it had to end that way,” she said, filling the silence between them. “But I’m glad you did it.”

  He clenched his fists. “How is it that you have lost so many you care about and continue to keep going?”

  She glanced over at him, eyes filled with sympathy.

  “Remember how I told you that you need to appreciate all the little joys in life?”

  He nodded. She was always preaching about that.

  “Well,
you can’t recognize the significance of those until you’ve also suffered pain and loss. In life, they go hand in hand. You’ve got to grab every happy moment and hold it close. That’s what gets you through the bad times.”

  “How do you recognize the happy moments?” he asked.

  “I think you know the answer to that, guardian.”

  Perhaps he did. It had only taken him forty-five hundred years and one special holiday lesson to figure it out.

  Special thanks to the Tanana Valley Clinic for your enormous help answering my many questions about cancer care for children in Fairbanks. I also appreciate the local Hospice staff for their aid in my research. Any mistakes I made are my own.

  To find out more about Susan’s books visit her website or subscribe to her book release alerts here.

  Cat & Moused

  A Pierced Series Short Story

  By

  J. C. Mells

  Chapter 1

  Shopping at Macy’s, midtown Manhattan, on Christmas Eve, was probably not one of Moused Thurman’s better ideas. In fact, it was most definitely one of the worst ideas he’d ever had in his twenty-two years on the planet. Last-minute shoppers hustled, jabbed and jostled their way through the various departments of the iconic store on 34th Street; every one of them in a panic to get that item they forgot – or more likely – to get that gift for the ‘loved-one’ they forgot. Meanwhile, what Moused considered to be, the most hideous music ever written was pumped through the sound system on every single floor. We Wish You a Merry Christmas was currently making him bleed from the ears as he made his way over to Men’s Accessories.

  As he perused the TAG Heuer watch counter, Moused caught a flash of shiny black out of the corner of his eye for the third time tonight.

  It was her again.

  There were two things he was sure of. One, the dark-haired woman in the red coat and shiny black pants was definitely following him, and two, she was a vampire.

  Adjusting his glasses – or rather, pretending to – he used them to take a couple of quick photos, undetected, before bending down to look into the glass display case currently housing several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of Swiss chronograph watches. He pointed to the one he wanted and handed the store clerk his Black Amex Card. When Moused looked up again, his watcher was gone. Just like the last time.

  Twice was a coincidence, three times wasn’t. It might be time to call the higher-ups in Vegas.

  Damn it. He knew he shouldn’t have left the house today. He’d been forced to leave the familiar, cozy and secure space of his basement workshop where he was accustomed to spending the majority of his time. Unfortunately, he couldn’t ignore client demands and had just finished spending an exhausting afternoon making nice with Bertrand Wainwright – a big cheese to the big cheeses - at least in the human world. When Moused finally left - the job finished at last - he made the decision to grab that last Christmas present he needed for one of his House Masters. What a stupid, stupid decision to just ‘pop’ into Macy’s on Christmas Eve.

  Way to go Mousey. Just one more example of how book smart doesn’t always equal street smart.

  Moused was normally what he himself referred to as an ‘indoor guy;’ someone that sat in front of a computer for most of the day. These rare and unwelcome ventures into the ‘real world’ were just something he’d have to get through until Reyes was back. The Wainwright Museum on 55th Street, one of their top most demanding clients, had insisted someone in charge be there almost on a daily basis to oversee the upgrades they’d requested to their security system at the last minute. With Reyes, his immediate ‘supervisor,’ out of action for at least a few more months, that left Moused holding the reins.

  Developing and coming up with the software and technology needed to upgrade the system had been his pleasure. It’s what he did. Actually dealing with the clients one-on-one and personally having to oversee technicians as they installed the system wasn’t what he was used to doing. In all fairness to both his employer and his direct supervisor, he’d been warned the time would come when he’d eventually have to do this more personal relations part of the job. Now that Reyes wasn’t going to be a day walker anymore, it looked like that time was no longer fast approaching. It was already here.

  No sooner had he thought of the man – soon to be vamp - he worked under, than his phone gave the distinct vibration to alert Moused that Reyes was calling him.

  “Hey, Rey-Rey,” Moused said out into the empty space above the watch display. The right temple tip of his glasses had a built-in Bluetooth microphone and he didn’t need to do any more than press the answer button while keeping his phone in his pocket. “How are you feeling today?”

  “I haven’t tried to kill anyone in the last forty-eight, so I must be doing a little better,” Reyes laughed. “I can hear you perfectly. You really have improved the audio. How’s Prototype Three of the specs working out so far?”

  “You can hear me perfectly because you recently acquired some awesome yet unnatural upgrades in the hearing department, vamp. Although, not to toot my own horn too much, I can hear you pretty good from my end too.” As he spoke softly, making sure the people surrounding him were paying him no mind, Moused reached up and pressed the relevant letter from the word ‘SegherTech’ on the side of his glasses. “I’m sending you some shots I just took a few minutes ago. I’m pretty sure I’m being watched. You’d better get the boss-man. He’ll want a full report.”

  “Vampire?”

  “Yes.”

  “You know which House?”

  “If I knew which House, don’t you think I would’ve led with that information, numbskull?”

  “And I thought I was supposed to be the unstable and testy one,” Reyes replied with another short laugh. “Where are you, by the way?”

  There was a small pause as Moused debated whether or not he should tell the truth. In the end he just came clean, bracing himself for the ribbing that was sure to follow.

  “Macy’s.”

  “Ooo, someone’s doing some last minute shopping…”

  “Shut-it, Rey. Did you receive the photos yet?”

  “Just got them. Your first snaps using the glasses – how exciting. I feel like such a proud papa-bear,” Reyes chuckled, the sound of his fingers clicking over computer keys filling the pause. “Hubba, hubba, Mousey. Someone who looks like this is following you, and you’re complaining? She’s a knockout and obviously way too much woman for the likes of you, kid.”

  “There’s no ‘hubba hubba,’ Reyes. Young, impressionable, computer nerd here, with pints of fresh, and definitely delicious, human blood running through his fragile, and did I mention human, body? Being stalked by a predator that could bleed him dry in seconds…” As he spoke, Moused made his way over to a relatively crowd-free, side alcove where he felt he could talk without fear of being overheard – even by those with souped-up hearing.

  He rolled his eyes as White Christmas sounded from the speakers above. Maybe his aversion to Christmas music stemmed from being born and raised in the Nevada desert. His first white Christmas had been in New York. Only in big, busy cities like this one, ‘white’ turned to ‘slushy grey’ pretty fast.

  “Yeah, but don’t forget she might want to torture you first,” Reyes countered. “I would think it unlikely she’d only want your blood, kid. I mean, you are privy to all Segher House secrets and technological advances,” Reyes said in his faux-serious tone that Moused had expected. “By the way, I wouldn’t mind her torturing me for a bit either,” he added with an exaggeratedly wistful-sounding sigh.

  “Geez, thanks for that, kemosabe. Is the facial recognition software scoring any hits? I’d sure like to know who she is. If I’m about to be tortured and eaten, I think I have a right to know by whom.”

  “Give me a couple of minutes, and I’ll have all the info you’ll need. In the meantime, Hendrick wants a word.”

  Moused subconsciously straightened his spine and stood to attention. Even after fou
r years of being ‘Reyes’ guy,’ it was still a little intimidating talking to the head of the Segher House without having mentally prepared for it beforehand. Moused, like Reyes before him, was always going to be a smart-ass. That would never change. It was who he was – who they were. That didn’t mean he didn’t have the utmost respect for the Master of the Segher House. The same House that had paid for his fast-tracked year at Columbia, followed by his three years at M.I.T. – and who employed him now. At twenty-two, Moused had more or less taken over running all of the Segher House’s financial affairs while Reyes was out of commission these last seven months.

  “Moused.”

  “Hendrick, sir.”

  “Reyes has filled me in on your stalker. Let’s not rule out the possibility that another House is attempting to make contact with us. I very much doubt another Family would risk an all-out war with the Seghers by harming my Retinue and day walker. We’ve been all but shunned since we aligned with the Nowhere Pack, but even these older Houses, so set in their ways, have to finally realize the advantages of moving with the times instead of adhering so strictly to antiquated traditions.”

  “So, what you’re saying, sir, is maybe this she-vamp doesn’t want to drain me after all?”

  “You’d be far more of an asset to an old House due to your technological skills over being someone’s late night snack,” Hendrick answered, his Scandinavian-tinged voice devoid of humor. “Keep me in the loop. I am handing you back to Reyes, but this phone call will end in precisely seven minutes. He needs to rest so as to better control his blood thirst. He still has at least four months left for his change to be complete, as well as some extra recovery time from all the other…upgrades…he had done.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Oh, and Moused…”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night…and…Merry Christmas.”

  There was a click of the phone being passed back to Reyes before Moused could even respond.